Showing posts with label jewelry designers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jewelry designers. Show all posts

Friday, September 30, 2011

Of Life and a touch of Copper

Life has been an emotional roller coaster these past few months. For those of you that don't know...two of my sisters AND my mom have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 months. It is CRAZY that this is happening to my family all at the same time. No, it is not in our family. They are the first. We were completely taken by surprise when my first sister was diagnosed then to have 2 more diagnosed in such a short period of time seems unheard of. I am too much in the moment of it all and unable to put my emotions into the proper words so I will give you a brief update on how everyone is doing.

Sister #1 has set the tone for everyone. She has handled her diagnosis and treatment with the utmost amount of Grace. I can't even begin to tell you how easy she has made it for the rest of us to cope. She had her last chemotherapy treatment last week. Although she will continue with additional weekly treatments for another six months, we are looking forward to her strength (and hair) returning.

Sister #2 began her chemotherapy treatments and is half way through already. She had a different course of treatment, so although it is shorter in terms of time she is getting mega doses of chemo in one shot. She has followed Sister #1's lead and is in a very good place emotionally and showing an incredible amount of Grace as well.

Mom will begin radiation treatments shortly. This will be new to us so I'm not quite sure what to expect. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Right now I don't want to know more. I can't even believe how much I have learned about cancer, treatments and cancer centers. We will deal with this one day at a time, just as we have everything else. And of course Mom is ever graceful also. I guess her girls learned it somewhere ;).

While I am here I would like to give a shout out to the beautiful people that work in cancer centers daily. They are truly amazing people!! I think they are angels here on earth.

My life is one day at a time. One appointment at a time. One person at a time. I don't do much thinking ahead or trying to plan a schedule for the family like I used to. Just one day, everyday filled with as much happiness as is possible. I strive to be joyful and creative everyday. I am surprisingly finding joy. It really is about the small, simple pleasures and enjoying the company of each person I come into contact with.

Creativity has been a bit more difficult. I don't have the drive to be as creative as I was in the past, but it really does make happy. So I try to do one creative thing everyday.

I haven't felt much like melting glass so I have been working a bit with metals. I have been practicing a new technique of etching metal when my time allows. I purchased a wonderful tutorial from Payton Jett. She totally rocks! You can find out more about Payton and the tutorial in her Etsy Shop. I have only etched copper so far but today I am experimenting with brass and silver. I can't wait to see what happens. I will keep you posted. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped to show you what I have been up to.

This was my second attempt at etching. The first didn't come out quit so well but I think I didn't have the right type of ink to make it work and I got excited and rushed the process along. You can't do that and expect great results. I was much happier with my second attempt.




Here is what those cut out circles look like. They are one inch discs. I have since drilled one hole in each disc. I am thinking they would make cute earrings.



And today I will etch these...
 The group shot.
 One inch disc with heart. Sterling Silver.
 One inch disc with owl. Brass. Isn't he cute?
And of course I had to do a tree. This is a 2 inch disc in copper.

I hope I will be adding some of these to my Etsy shop, Ema K Designs, one day soon. But as I said earlier, one day at time.
If you have an interest in any of them. Please do contact me. I still need to make some money but I haven't been very good at listing lately so do contact me if you like what you see.

Peace and Joy to All,

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sisterhood of the Traveling Bead Box


A girls just gotta have fun
There are so many responsibilities of my daily life that sometimes I get far too caught up in all the to do's. Every once in awhile I am reminded that I need to play too.  It is a long shot, a lottery of sorts so I may not win, but I could use a little speck of happiness in my life right now, a little something that I can look forward to. So I am hoping the stars will align and I will be chosen the lucky winner.


This fabulous box of beading goodies is currently in the hands of  Alice of The Bliss Guild. Alice will be adding her own touch of goodness to the traveling bead box and on August 18th she will be drawing the new recipient. Oh how I hope it will be me. :D


If you want to be part of the game visit Alice's blog at The Bliss Guild to enter.
Here is a bit more info on the Traveling Bead Box. (The following has been taken directly from The Bliss Guild Blog)




The traveling box of goodies began with Heather Powers' (aka Humblebeads)generosity. The box was passed from one lucky winner to another. Here’s a list of the previous winners. You can see how much she’s traveled.


1.Heather Powers of Humble Beads- San Antonio, Texas 

2.Mikki Ferrugiaro of MFD Beadwork Originals- Utah 

3.Nancy Dale of NED Beads- Vermont 

4.Hannah Rosner of Good River Gallery- New Mexico 

5.Chris Neit of Good Quill Hunting- Maine 

6.Sandy Spivey of Sandy's Treasure- California 

7.Katie Nelson of Katie's Creations- Texas 

8.Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay- Pennsylvania 

9.Lorelei Eurto of Lorelei Eurto Jewelry- New York State 

10.Becky Caldwell of The Gritty Bird- North carolina 

11.Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio- Virginia 

12.Cindy Gambrone of Lampwork Diva- New York State 

13.Paige Maxim of Paige Maxim Designs- Maine 

14.Cristi Baxter Clothier of 2 if by Sea- Florida 

15.Tracey Nanstad of A Beadiful Mess- Wisconsin 

16.Marianna Boylan of Star Girl Jewelry & Lampwork - Michigan 

17. Lois Moon of QuĂ© Onda Q'town - Georgia 

18. Collette Collins of Firefly Myst Artisan Jewelry – Michigan 

19. Alice Peterson of Peachtree – Kansas—that’s me 

The box is ready to go to the next lucky winner! Here's what you need to know:

The giveaway: The entire box of goodies - bead, findings, tools, supplies.

The stipulations: Must have an online forum to host the next giveaway. Must be living within the United States to enter and be willing to pay for shipping: $15.00 for flat rate priority mail billed via Paypal.

The rules: You'll take what you want from the box, add in items from your own bead stash of LIKE VALUE to replace the items you took, and do the same giveaway on your blog. We'll keep the beads traveling for as long as we can.

To enter: Leave a comment, be sure to include your email. [If you are on Blogger, think about linking your profile to your email]

Bonus: Blog, facebook or twitter about it to enter more than once. Leave another comment letting me know how you helped spread the word. 

The winner will then have 2 weeks to go through the box and pick out their items and contribute to the box, and then host their own giveaway.Heather asks that each time it passes hands, the winner will email her when the next giveaway starts so she can enjoy the traveling and help promote your giveaway!

International bloggers: Sorry, but due to shipping only those in the U.S. can play along.

Finally, you must stop by the The Bliss Guild to see what Alice has taken out of the box and exactly what she is adding to the box, lots of special pieces to be sure. 
Thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Metal Stamp Giveaway

Lori Anderson of Lori Anderson Designs is giving away some Metal Stamps. How cool is that. I think you should stop by and read her blog.

I have always wanted to do metal stamping. I purchased the metal. I purchased some stamps, plain and simple stamps. I just haven't done it yet. If you have been following my blog you know that this year it is my intention to pay more attention to the details of my life and make my heart sing. Working with metals is one of those details I really want to make happen.

The set of stamps Lori is giving away is beautiful. The stamps are made by ImpressArt. In fact, quite recently, I was reviewing their products and consideed purchasing a set of these stamps.


LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Kleenex Softness Worth SharingKleenex Soft Tissues