Whimsy Wednesday! Writing the Story of Spring & Mermaid's Treasure!

Hello Hello!
Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday and posts chock-full of ...you guessed it...whimsy!
Warm temperatures are definitely heralding Spring in, here in my neck of the woods, and one of the creations I have to show is inspired by that!

Title: Writing the Story of Spring

Ingredients: Artisan glass, hand-made silk bead (USA), lead-free pewter, metal, brass and copper pen (USA).

 The tender, spring-time palette begins with the lilac-hued pen, accentuated by the blue hand-wrapped silk bead inscribed with lovely French words (the language of l'amour, some say...). The focal point of this pen and design is the beautiful floral bead in silvery tones, both lush and spare at the same time, and reminiscent of the spring growth waiting to burst forth!  This is flanked by two artisan glass beads of subtle yet fiery hues and shining silver-coloured accents abound!

Also, all of the beads spin freely, making this the perfect fidget toy to use when mulling over that perfect word choice in your head! I tested this pen myself, and the weight of the silver foliage bead towards the end of the pen gives this pen a very comfortable feel while writing! 
Whee!!!

Onward to the second creation of this post!  A wine bottle stopper!

Title: Mermaid's Treasure

Ingredients: Mermaid's Tale Mood bead, Rosy-Posy Mood beads, Stainless steel (and rubber).

 My favorite parts of this creation are the Mood Beads (of course!).  These beads change colour as they change temperature! How fun!  The larger round bead in the center of this wine bottle stopper features a Mermaid!  I've included a photo of both her head and her tail, so you can see how she's swimming around the bead!  Isn't she gorgeous?!

She is surrounded top and bottom with two smaller mood beads in a rosy-posy pattern (which also change colour).  This colour-changing ability would be especially fun to see as this is used for it's most practical purpose- a wine bottle stopper!  Other fun things about this creation - the mermaid!  Mermaids are, of course, denizens of the deep and tend to be pack-rats (or is that pack-fish?) or hoarders of wonderous and valuable things!  What a lovely statement (and inspiration for this creation's title) of how one values their fine bottle of wine!

YAY!

Well! I think this post has gone swimmingly (couldn't resist), yet it is time to batten it down (ha!) for the day.

I'll see on Fini Friday!

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Sharing Stories and Shinies!

Hello Everyone!!

Welcome to Magical Monday!!  I hope your weekend was superb!

Mine was and I have stories and shinies to share!

This past weekend saw me and Sprite Creations returning to the Bean Factory Artist Market! It was much fun as we saw old friends and made new ones! Thank you to everyone who stopped by!! We also had a chance to try out a new tent/table layout as we set up in the soaking rain on Sunday morning! I'm sharing this with you because of the serendipity(and thus magic) of the circumstance! We were happy to use the two day show as an excuse to catch up with good friends. The visit was long overdue. They had a rainbow umbrella languishing amongst other unclaimed garage sale items and asked if we had a use for such a thing. My response was, "How could I not have a use for a Rainbow Umbrella"?!!!  A photo of it is below!

Isn't it so cheerful and bright?

This wonderful addition to our lives helped us tremendously the next day as we set-up our tent and sidewalls in the pouring rain.  As many of you with tents know, it is really difficult to have a completely waterproof tent canopy and the rain started to seep in around the seams.  We erected the umbrella inside and underneath the canopy, clustered the tables, displays and creations underneath it's bright colours and hung creations and a banner from it's support spokes and structure!  YAY!! Now it's a festive feature to draw folks in on a rainy day!  Fortunately, the rain cleared out in only a few hours and the rest of the day was filled with sun!  We received many compliments on our set-up and now we are plotting more uses for our fabulous accoutrement!  Yay! for good friends and magical timing!

This next story is of the necklace pictures below, A Mermaid's Tale. You can find the story and details of it's growth here!  We were paid an absolutely delightful visit by someone who was cheerful, fun and was a delight to have in our space! As it turns out, she adopted a this very special mermaid-themed necklace!  I think there must have been some magic afoot, as she reminds me a bit of a mermaid herself!  It is such a gift to an artist when someone immediately groks an intricate piece of art that you've created and so it was with she and this creation!    YAY!!!!

So!  Now you know a little of the magic that happens at the shows, perhaps you'll join us next time you're in the area?!  

That would be fun!

My next event is August 11t!

Saturday only!  10am to 6pm

The Coffee Grounds!

 1579 Hamline Avenue North
Saint Paul, MN 55108

See you on Wednesday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Summer and the Sea!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

I have a bit of a potpourri of nifty things to show you on this beautiful summer day!

These two lovely photos are of summer flowers that bloomed or were given to me over the last few weeks!  I love the vibrant orange of the hibiscus and indian paint brush and the daisies have always held a simple , vibrant beauty for me.  I hope you enjoy them, too!

 The next news is a bit of promotion!  An Etsy Treasury titled Sunny Must Haves featured a Sprite Creation!  You can see it here!

My Gifts From the Ocean creation is the third from the left and top! Isn't that a gorgeous, summery collection?!

I've included a close-up of that featured Faerie Flower Barrette!

Let's continue and conclude our summer and sea-sational theme with a photo of a newly-grown creation!

Title: Mermaid Finery

Ingredients: non-toxic, hand-coloured resin, upcycled brass bracelet. This was created with several layers of hand-coloured resin that I poured myself and I'm so pleased with the multi-dimensional texture and colour of it!

Wondering where to find me in July?  

Check out my event schedule below!

Tuesday, July 17th from 3-4pm (CST, USA)

BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton!

Messages From the Faeries #9!

July 28th & 29th     Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J&S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

See you soon!
Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! In a Creative Mood!

Hello and Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

Today has been a beautiful summer day here and I hope the same can be said for you-all!

I've a Mood Bead Creation and a Custom Creation to show you today, so let's get started!

This necklace creation was borne of both the fabulous knotwork in this neck cord and the Mermaid Mood Bead!

Take a look!

Title: Celtic Beauty

Ingredients: Mermaid's Tale Mood bead, lead-free pewter, rayon fiber, quartz. 

I thought the Mermaid a fitting combination with the fine Celtic tradition of sea-faring adventure. Other nifty details are the fluid spirals in the accent beads that are reminiscent of the Celtic triple-spirals (meaning the never-ending cycle of life)!
You'll see this in my Etsy shoppe tomorrow!

Let's end this blog post with a peek at a Custom Creation! 

A lady who adopted a Pen Creation from me at a show in May commissioned a Pen with a Turtle on it somehow and this is it! 

 Title: Just Keep Swimming! 

Ingredients: Turtle Island and Blue Mystique Mood Beads, lead-free pewter, steel pen (USA), ink.

That's about it for me here!! 

I've lots going on in the studio, so stay tuned! 

I'll see you here for Fini Friday! 

Ciao!