CRAVING COLOR...

With all the seasonal blooms surrounding me with vibrant color this summer, I was beginning to think that my jewelry shop needed some splashes as well. I love sterling silver jewelry because it just GOES with everything you could possibly wear, but there's nothing like color to perk up your spirits! Sorry for the self promotion here today, but I wanted to share a few brand new pieces I've just added to my shop. My favorite color is blue so it's only fitting that this is where I start! The first photo above is a lariat necklace with Aqua blue (my favorite shade of blue) chalcedony briolettes called "Sea Breeze".

Dreamy Blues... AAA London Blue Topaz Earrings


And for those that love soft pastels...Hopeless Romantic Coin Pearls


Thanks for letting me share. I'm off to dig through my stash of gemstones for some more colorful additions to my jewelry shop. Next is a necklace to match the pearl earrings.

Have a great day and enjoy seeing all the summer colors because they only last for so long!

MOTHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY/CONTEST

As promised, I'm excited to announce my latest giveaway for Mother's Day! These beautiful "Forget Me Not Earrings" are a new design for my shop, BeadinByTheSea. I thought these would be an appropriate choice as they were one of my mother's favorite flowers and I think of her everytime I see them bloom in the Spring.

Sadly, when I was in my early twenties, I lost my mom to cancer. It was difficult to be without a mother at such a young age especially as I was just beginning a new career and my adult life. Even though it's been almost 20 years since her death, I often think of how much she has influenced my life. I credit her with giving me a love for creativity. She was always trying something new and encouraged me to explore new crafts often bringing me home craft kits to try. I would sit and watch her sew and be fascinated with how things are put together. She taught me how to knit and crochet and played a huge part in fostering my love of sewing which I further pursued by obtaining a degree in Fashion Design.

I miss her dearly and so I dedicate this giveaway to her loving memory.

And now for the contest rules:

1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a comment telling me what you love about your Mom. Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box. Comments without contact information will be discarded.

2. Come back on Mother's Day, May 10th to see if you've won.

3. Entries close at 4:00 PM PST.

4. Open worldwide to anyone age 18+.

5. If you can't wait until Mother's Day, these earrings are available for purchase in my shop.

Meanwhile, if you are blessed to still have your Mother, I encourage you to take the time to express to her how much you love and appreciate her!

SWEETNESS OF SMALL...

Or how about itty bitty? I have to admit that lately I've been thinking small, well at least with some of my jewelry designs that is! I've been adding to my collection of clay cutters and I just received some flower shapes. The charms below are PMC pieces before being fired and they range from about 3/16" to 5/8". The larger flowers are going to be made into earrings but the rest will be put on hoops made from Argentium Sterling Silver wire.


And here are the small flowers after being fired, tumbled and oxidized. Sweet!

So now I have hearts, dots and flowers. I think stars may be next. What kind of shapes do you like? Do you tend to wear chunky jewelry or like to keep things small? I'd love to hear your input in the comments below.

WHERE IN THE WORLD PHOTO #4...and GIVEAWAY CONTEST

Here's my cat Ace, looking out the window once again wondering where in the world I'm going to take you this week for my giveaway contest! There are only a few days left to enter before I draw a name on Valentines Day February 14th. I guess last week's photo was a little harder than I thought. Bunny B was the closest guess with Parikia, Greece. The windmill threw many of your off, but it was taken on the island of Mykonos in Greece. I took a wonderful cruise around the Mediterranean Sea a number of years ago.
Can you take a wild guess where Where in the World Photo #4 was taken?

Here's the contest rules to win my Argentium Sterling silver "Modern Simplicity" earrings shown to your right from my shop Beadin By The Sea :

1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a wild guess of where the "Where in the world" photo was taken. You don't have to be correct to win! Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box.

2. Come back on Valentine's Day, February 14th to see if you've won. You will have 3 days to claim your prize.

Keep those guesses coming and don't be afraid to take a stab at it. I'm enjoying all the comments and speculation and I can't wait to give someone some free earrings!

Click here to go to last weeks Photo #3.

WHERE IN THE WORLD PHOTO #3...and GIVEAWAY CONTEST

Here's my cat Ace again, looking out the window and wondering where in the world I'm going to take you this week for my giveaway contest! I submitted last week's blog post to EtsyGiveaways blog which really increased it's exposure, so I'm sorry but I'm going to have to wait until the contest is over on February 14th to let you know exactly where the waterfall is. I'll give you a hint though, I took the picture during a helicopter ride, and it is in the United States. This week, I think the photo is very easy! It's a pretty well known landmark. Can you take a wild guess where Where in the World Photo #3 was taken?

Where in the World Photo #3:


Let's go over the contest rules to win my Argentium Sterling silver "Modern Simplicity" earrings shown to your right from my shop Beadin By The Sea :
1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a wild guess of where the "Where in the world" photo was taken. You don't have to be correct to win! Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box.

2. Come back on Valentine's Day, February 14th to see if you've won. You will have 3 days to claim your prize.

Keep those guesses coming and don't be afraid to take a stab at it. I'm enjoying all the comments and speculation and I can't wait to give someone some free earrings!

Click here to go to last weeks Photo #2.