Great Give Away for you

Oh I have a wonderful give-away for you from Lynn Steven at Trash to Treasure Arts- she is celebrating her three year anniversary of her blog and she is giving away some fabulous treasures. Be sure to check out her blog and read carefully for some extra goodies. Hope you win.

Well...its been some time.

I haven't posted in a long time- summer is vacation time for me and I guess I took a vacation from blogging as well as from work.  I'm back to school now and starting to gear up for the fall craft shows.  I struggle with photographing my jewelry but after some researching on the internet, I discovered that I could buy a magnetic macro lens that attaches to my point and shoot camera.  I received it today and have been playing with it and I am excited to report, I think it is going to work!  I only paid $21 with free shipping instead of buying a new fancy camera for $$$$$$.  WooHoo!!

Deryn is offering a new class....

Wow- Deryn is offering a new class and it sounds great.  She is offering two spots as a give away and I am keeping my fingers crossed.  Looks like it would be a wonderful learning opportunity. 

Jewelry Shows

Jewelry shows are done for the year and I did well considering the ecomony. I entered seven shows this year in a variety of locations- schools, churches, fairground and even a library. I sold many items- I think people are starting to shop again this year. My long eclectic necklaces with lots of charms and vintage pieces were great sellers- I couldn't keep up with the sales on them. That was very exciting- I love them but its encouraging when other people like them too- like them enough to buy them! I saved enough to go on vacation for Spring Break- Yippee!!

One World One Heart Winners

I picked my two winners this morning ( i was too tired to stay up until midnight last night).  I used the random number generator and it selected lucky number 196 (Kathy) and lucky number 56 (triciatoo).  I sent you both emails and will wait to hear from you.  I had so much fun looking at all the creative blogs and meeting new people.  I even won four things- can't wait to get them!  I will post some pictures when I receive them. 

One World One Heart Ends Tonight

Hello all- tonight is the last night to visit the long list of blogs and enter to win any of the give aways. There are so many wonderful and creative blogs to visit! I had so much fun checking out all the creativity- so much talent out there. I have a long list of blogs I want to revisit when I have some time. I hope every took the chance to check them out and enter to win some door prizes! I will be picking my winners tonight before I go to bed! Good luck!

One World One Heart 2011

It is that time of year again...One World One Heart http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart-1.html

Lisa again is setting up this wonderful blog event for the fifth and final time. It is a chance to meet bloggers from around the world with interests similar to mine. I participated for the last two years and met some wonderful new friends AND I won some wonderful doorprizes.

So first, let me introduce myself.... I am a mother to three young adult men ages 23, 21 and 17. I am an occupational therapist during the day working with special education children. Since I have boys and have always been involved in "boy" things ( I cannot tell you how many hockey games I have watched), I returned to crafting and jewelry making when the boys were in elementary school. I have a room for just this purpose- I go in there, close the door, turn on music (that I like), and happily create. One embarrassing fact about me...I have four dogs. I just seem to collect them somehow. I have a Boston Terrier, a minature poodle, a black lab and an Old English Sheepdog named Ralph. I blog sporatically...I wish I could post on a more regular schedule but somehow, life always seems to interfere and the blogging gets moved down to the bottom of the list. So thanks for stopping by and have fun checking out all the other bloggers. Click on the link to get to the list of participants.

Now the "door prize" for stopping by.... I will be giving away two pairs of earrings to two lucky commenters. That's all you have to do...leave a comment that somehow links back to an email so I can notify you if you win. The fun ends on February 17 at midnight and I will pick a winner in the morning with the random picker thingy. The pictures are at the top of the post and this post will stay on top for the duration of the event. :)

New Header

Thank you to Cheryl at ArtsyFartsy- she gave me links and a great way to edit so I could get a header that I really am happy with. I think it looks fantastic! What do you think?
I also have a great deal for you- follow this link to be an early bird for a new payment system on the internet. All you have to do is provide your email (and set up a user name) and you get a FREE $25 in your account http://www.paybox.me/r/nmarko and I get $10 for a referral too.

New Look

I was trying to get a new header for my blog but I give up. I can't find one that I like that fits in the spot I want it to go. I don't know how people get just what they want- maybe I'll have to hire someone to do it for me. Every year, I vow to post more but I get busy and forget. This year, I am going to post more! And, I wanted to post my word for the year...SHINE. I am a shy girl but I really want to shine this year and step out of my comfort zone.

another great give away

Lori Anderson of the blog "Pretty Things" is having a great give away until January 25. She is giving away a wonderful set of letter stamps given to her by PJ Tool and Supply. She made some cool projects with these new stamps and they turned out wonderful. I love her mothers bracelet- very different and modern looking. I think I might have to make one like that but I have to learn how to rivet first. Here is a link to enter the give away.

http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2011/01/metal-stamp-giveaway.html

One World ONe Heart is Coming

Lisa is hosting another big blog event- One World One Heart. It is a wonderful way to meet lots of other bloggers and check out some very creative blogs. I participated the last two years and met lots of new friends and book marked tone of new blogs that I could check out later and add to my blog list if I wanted to keep checking on them- I have so many now that I sometimes have a hard time reading them all! Anyway- here is the link to Lisa's site and lots of information about participating. Oh and did I mention the fabulous door prizes?

Snow

Lots of snow in western Michigan tonight-Its starting to look a lot like Christmas..... It makes me want to get my decorating finished. There is nothing like sitting warm and cozy with a puppy while enjoying a beautiful twinkling tree.

Bead Giveaway

Don't miss out on this gorgeous focal bead drawing at Love My Art Jewelry. You just have to post in your blog and answer an easy question and voila...you are entered in the drawing. How much easier can it be? Good luck!

oo la la

I just found that mairedodd is offering a fabulous pair of earrings on Love My Art Jewelry. So Pretty

Back in the Groove

oh my it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I am off from work in the summer and keep busy with lots of other things but mostly out by the pool- lounging. I'm back to work now and back in the groove!

The Olympics

I have been watching the winter Olympics each night and really enjoying them. I am not much of a TV watcher as a general rule but the Olympics are fascinating, even the events that aren't popular like the biathalon. And curling...what could be better than that? the commentators could be better but the actual competitions are great.

OWOH Winners

I was so excited to pick my winners today- I could hardly wait. I had so much fun visiting the amazingly creative blogs and people who participated. There were over 1100 participants which is incredible. Many thanks go to Lisa who organized the whole thing. I have lots of new art blogs bookmarked that I will be visiting again in the new future and I am a new follower on several. I also met some new friends that I have had several conversations with already.

So....here are the winners of my giveaways.....Random number generator numbers 43 and 56! I had to count the old fashioned way from the top and the numbers corresponded to:

43 is FairlyGirly....yay
56 is Shelly....yippee

I'll be sending you an email in a minute for your addresses and I'll get your earrings out tomorrow. Thanks for all the wonderful comments and encouragements. I hope to be visiting some of you again in the near future. Nancy

One World One Heart

I have been visiting so many creative blogs and have decided to jump on the Magic Carpet with my own giveaway. I only blog occasionally and I don't have a shop to sell my things (in fact...I mostly give my jewelry away to family and friends) but I think thats OK. I have already met some new friends that I hope will continue to be friends after this event is done. If you want more information about this blogging event, you can go to Lisa's blog and read about it. So, I am giving away 2 different pairs of handmade earrings to 2 different people. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with some way of contacting you if you win. The blogging event ends on February 15 and I will announce the winners and send them an email to get their addresses. The first pair of earring is made of four different colors of freshwater pearls and handwrapped with sterling wire. These are one of my favorites and I wear an identical pair almost everyday. The second pair is made of red tigereye drops with a creamy pearl on top, again handwired with sterling wire. Sorry my pictures stink- I guess I should have paid attention when bloggers let me in on the secret of taking good pictures of your work. Anyway, good luck and have fun checking out all the creative bloggers. Nancy

A Gray Day

Michigan in the winter is rather depressing- oh its great when there is a fresh sparkling coat of new snow but generally it is gray, dirty and cold. The trees are bare outlines of themselves and the birds huddle and hide. Neighbors come home from work and quickly shut their garage doors and pull the curtains shut as it gets dark earlier. I brought my hibiscus plants in the house when it got too cold for them outside....all the leaves fell off (it is Michigan) but they are both blossoming every day- reminding me of summer. I love the spot of color and the promise of spring. There is a fun blog event going on now where you can meet other bloggers from different states and countries and even win a prize. The link is here- I have been thinking that I need to make something to add to the give away. Its fun and rather addictive to look at all those great blogs- so many creative people out there.

A Fun Blog Event

There is a fun activity starting in a few days that you will want to check out. The whimsical bohemian is hosting a blog event where you can check out tons of blogs, meet other bloggers and sign up for free gifts- really lovely gifts. Check out her blog for the details. http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart.html