Twisted Silver

LOVE how this turned out. It's a very addictive stitch and there will be more to come!

New Season

Well, it's yet another season of our lives!
Not long after I wrote the last post, let's say I get really tired. Really, really tired. I then lived in a tired  haze for quite some time made up of work, sinus headaches, soaking my feet and collapsing onto the couch.
We are having a little baby girl in November :).
So, needless to say my focus and what energy I had during the first trimester were not about beads. And then as my energy returned it was about getting through each work day and putting my legs up and resting when I got home.
I am now starting my third week home and not working as my legs would not handle eight hour shifts on them at a go. I am spending a lot of time organizing and cleaning, getting the baby's room ready and nesting.
But it also mean I have time and energy to bead! Yay!
My poor Etsy shop has been sorely neglected. I'm debating about finding a new street team on Etsy or waiting until after little girl shows herself and seeing how her days go first.
Either way, it's also a new season for my beading.
As yes, I have maternity leave and a bit of money with that, but not as much, I'm hoping to get back to selling a little more often and putting more efforts into that online I seem to have sold more in person over the last few years, but I have the time to try to advertise and such more now.
 It will also be a new season in that, since I'm not working right now not all the profits will go to missions. I will still have times where this is true though.
I have some pieces to photograph and listings to update, but mostly I'm excited to play with my beads again :)

I'm also excited to have time to look at other beady buddies blogs and get back into the beading community online :).

See you all soon!

With love to Moldova

I have not blogged for Regal beads in over a year? OUCH!
I will admit I sell more in person than online and gave up putting out all the online effort for quite some time. I find sometimes once my job is over for the day and we've eaten dinner, gone out or whatever is going on that week that sometimes I just don't have the energy! But, it's all about priorities.

Last fall I got pretty ill and during that time I had a lot of time to think and pray as I could not do much else. God convicted me that I was becoming greedy with the money I was making from my jewelery and also that there were those in need whom I could help with the talent He had given me. So, I decided from there on out to give 100% of what I make from Regalbeads to ministries.

This is the second year that the month of December has meant sending money to Moldova: there is a church there whom my church has sent funds to each Christmas for quite a few years. They help the disabled and needy who cannot work or do not have enough to have food in the winter. In the summer they eat from their gardens, but in the winter they have great need.
I don't know about you, but I've really never had to worry about food. I can't imagine worrying that my child will have food to fill their stomach.

Pastor Andrew (the pastor of this church) came and spoke to us the summer before last and shared pictures and stories of those whom we helped. To say it was moving does not begin to sum up the impact.
A woman asked if our offering provided them with enough food to last all winter. The answer? Well, not really but sometimes it's all they have so they are encouraged to make it last.

So, all of the money I made last December and again this year will be going to Moldova.
So, anything and everything you buy in my etsy shop or in person for those of you who live here will go to feed the needy.

Won't you help to fill this basic need?

Red Panda

I am a longtime fan of RedPanda's amazing Chain maille!
Just this week I finally made a purchase of my own, these amazing and funky earrings!

She makes such a variety of styles that exude quality, originality and pizazz!
She is sure to have something that will fit your style.

Of course, I am partial to her colourful pieces, but that goes without saying :)

(Aren't her photo's amazing?)


Right now Red Panda is running a contest in which you can win one of her pieces!!!
Be sure to go and check it out!!!
RedPanda's Bog

Happy Canada Day!!

To celebrate, here are a variety of Canadian etsians (only a sampling of course!) for your enjoyment.

Earrings :)

I know that I have been painfully abscent from this lately, I am going to make it a higher priority. Pity when work and life get in the way of my bead obsession!

Some earing eye candy today, to tempt you (all for sale in my shop):

Snow Queen

When I hear the phrase "Snow Queen" the first thing to come to mind is the picture of an evil witch who held a mythical country under her spell for hundreds of years of winter, always winter but never Christmas!

This months etsy challenge is titled "Snow Queen", and the entries are amazing!
Be sure to stop by and vote for your favourite piece from the 9th through the 15th of the month!!

Newest

Lately I have fallen in love with "larger" beads and incorporating them into my work.
By larger of course I mean 5-8 mm sized beads :).
Here are two of my latest cuffs using larger beads, both using pressed glass beads.


Dress up for a night on the town, or wear on a boring day of work to feel classy!
Both are for sale in my shop.

Complimentary Contradictions

The Etsy Beadweavers monthly challenge is here for September, and the them is complimentary contradictions.
This is my piece, Opposite Attraction.

On the colour wheel colours that compliment each other are opposite each other.

Such is the case for purple and yellow.

Be sure to go and cast your vote for your favourite piece between now and the fifteenth!

Go and give your input

In response to some really hateful, and specifically some racist comments that have been poisoning the forums, Rob posted this new thread.
In it he asks for our opinions on what should and shouldn't be allowed. He wants our opinions and our input. Let's give it!

Really disturbed-racism on etsy

Now, there are trolls to be found in plenty, and they are annoying, but, this is another thing all together.
Why does admin allow racism to continue?
And not only that, those who are being attacked are muted while the racist continues to roam free, feeling that they are fine treating others in such a hateful way?
Is this really the new face of etsy?
How nasiating.

One by the name ChickenTrollStalker has been seen saying such things as this:

French cities have to be organized so they won't get into fistfights in the streets and kill each other. You stay there and I stay here. Of course, you don't know much about anything. I knew your husband had a citizenship so you could come here. You are living on borrowed land. It is not yet your country. You are here on his citizenship. Did he find you in a magazine for foreign girls?


All you "citizen only" naysayers, she said she was not a citizen, I didn't. If the US wanted non-citizens to vote, they'd make a law saying they could. Meanwhile, our government doesn't believe they should have a say, so why should I? We are proud of our country, we take voting very seriously. If you don't become a citizen, you are living off the land for free. She doesn't have to pay taxes, gets free medical care if she needs it, even gets social security, just like the illegals do now.

So Hyena, you're not a citizen yet so why do you think you have a right to say who should be President? When you become a citizen, then you can vote.

And yet she roams free, unmuted.
What are admin NOT thinking.
I find it odd that she truly believes that there is no racism in GA. She just proved otherwise.

And no, this has nothing to do with a personal vendetta. I have been annoyed with this person, especially with their spreading lies of my being muted.
It makes me almost feel bad for them,because they must truly believe that the only reason to not post is when one has been muted. Not because you have been busy and out of town.

If racism had not come into play, I would not have opened my mouth. Because trolls come and trolls go.

Admin need to wake up.
Unless this is truly the new face of etsy.

Art Deco

It's time to vote again!
The August Challenge for the Etsy Beadweavers Street Team is Art Deco.
You MUST see these entries :).
Head on over to our and vote for your favourite piece!!!
Voting ends on the fifteenth of the month :)

BobbiThisnThat

Back in May Etsy made a few changes, and all of a sudden I could find beads!! When I looked, I didn't give up because everything was drowned in fished product, I was thrilled!!
Towards the end of the month I stumbled into an AMAZING seller BobbiThisnThat
Her beads drew me in, I loved the idea that she was in Canada so that I could get my goodies right away, but her amazing customer service kept me.
I have ordered from her again since and will return to her for my beading needs!!

Here are a few (of the many!) favourites!











I have some of these, some I am tempted to buy (but I should behave ;) ) and some are on the way to me!

Bobbi also has some beautiful silver findings and charms!
Whatever you do, go and check her out!! She makes it worth your while!!!

EBW Team Mid-summer sale!!

MANY (myself included) members of the etsy beadweavers street team are having a sale!!

I am offering free shipping!!
The sale runs from now through the 27th of the month!!
For a detailed list of who has what sale, go here

Etsy Buy Handmade RegalBeads

Oh Canada!

I was out all day enjoying Canada day and came home to a pleasant surprise!
wMarlaine of Rainy Lane
created this beautiful treasury that made the front page!!

Thank you for including me!
Be sure to go and check out her shop!

Happy Canada Day!!

Belladio

My featured seller today is Belladio:
http://belladio.etsy.com
http://belladio.blogspot.com

What she has to say about herself:I am a Stay at home mom with 3 boys living in Indianapolis. Six years ago I began playing around with beading during a play date with friends. I started out just making jewelry for myself and then giving them as gifts. As more people took interest in my work I started taking it more seriously. A few years into crafting, buying beads and stringing them no longer thrilled me, so I decided to go to the next step and make my own beads. Thus began my work with polymer clay. Polymer Clay opened up different avenues for me as I was able to sell my designs in the antiques/tea room where I worked. I am never content for long and felt the need to branch out even more and added wirework to my designs. In between all of these ventures, a friend turned me on to Cafepress. I started to design t-shirts from drawings that I had done. Looking around, I wanted to express my faith to any generation so I made designs that had scriptures in them, but could be worn by anyone. Thank you so much for stopping by and looking through my shop.

cserpent

My featured etsy seller today is cserpent:


http://cserpent.etsy.com
http://cserpentDesigns.blogspot.com

What she has to say about herself:



Hi my name is Susan and I'm the creator of cserpentDesigns! My husband nicknamed me Sea Serpent during our scuba diving days (picture a tall person in a purple and black drysuit with a pink flotation vest coming out of the water with big black fins on her feet ... yep sea serpent fits!). He even got me a sea serpent stamp to use for my "signature" on my hand made cards.

I got started in jewelry making when one of my soccer teammates got me to go to a wirewrapping class with her. I made my first bracelet in that class (and as I look at it now I want to take it apart and redo it to look a lot nicer!). I then saw a beaded watch band in a magazine and figured I could expand on that idea and make myself a cool beaded watch band in PURPLE! (my favorite color). I started the watch band using gold plated findings, finished it up at another wire wrapping class and got interest from many of my friends and family in having jewelry made for them. I still was just dabbling and got really mad when the gold plated findings started to tarnish in a very short amount of time. From that I learned my lesson about making things that last - don't make them with gold or silver plated parts if you want them to last a long time and remain beautiful!

That 2nd wire wrapping class really drove my interest in making jewelry with beads. I took more classes in basic jewelry making (stringing, knotting, ...) and have been making jewelry for family and friends and other customers for 4 years now. My jewelry designs are also for sale at a gallery in La Jolla, CA - Gili Anna - so I'm starting to expand my sales base.

I have a great time buying the parts needed to make my jewelry. I REALLY like the gorgeous artisan lampwork beads that are available through etsy as well as other online sites. My "inventory" is quite large so I really have to get designing more so I can share these beautiful beads with others. Sometimes I'll find one interesting bead or gemstone and that will be the kick start for a piece of jewelry. I really enjoy the creation process and get excited when I finish a piece and can share it with folks I know and with Etsy I can now share my creations with a much larger family.

Meet my sometime codesigner!
----------------------------
My mom enjoys buying beads as well, a little too well if you ask me. Since she won't stop buying them I told her she'll have to start making jewelry for sale with some of the many beads she's purchased (and which I "store"). She has made many jewelry pieces for herself, family and friends but she buys way more beads than she has used in these designs. So my bead bins overfloweth and mom has to help clear them out by making designs to sell.

Be sure to check out all her goodies in her etsy shop!!

Lucky Girl Trading

Etsy Buy Handmade LUCKYGIRLTRADING

My featured seller today is Lucky Girl Trading :
http://luckygirltrading.etsy.com
http://luckygirltrading.blogspot.com/

About the artist:
In the spring of 2001 I was overwhelmed by sadness and huge piles of clutter. My marriage was in the midst of a very ugly ending, and he had left tons of his stuff behind. I suddenly realized that I was a very lucky girl to be rid of him, and Lucky Girl Trading Company was born. I began listing his stuff for sale on eBay, clearing away both the clutter and the sadness. A few years later I met my lucky guy--who was selling a bit of jewelry--and married him in a hot air balloon ceremony in 2006. We've worked together to build Lucky Girl Trading into a fun and fulfilling enterprise. I've also discovered working with glass--one of my all-time favorite creative outlets. I've also discovered two ancient arts: Kumihimo and Temari. Both are centuries-old crafts, and both give me a zen-like tranquility while working.

I truly am a Lucky Girl! Every day I gather pretty, sparkly things and send them to people. I imagine a person opening their mail and taking out their new pendant or chain or pouch. It's perfect--they have a huge smile on their face--and so do I. I'd love for that person to be you!

Gilbea

My featured seller today is Gilbea:
http://www.gilbea.etsy.com
http://gilbea.blogspot.com/
http://www.gilbea.com










About the artist:

I used to be a watercolors painter, but a few years ago I discovered silk painting, and now I'm hooked to it!!!

For a few years I have been seriously working on silk fabrics, making all kind of different stuff, from silk paintings that hang from the walls to silk scarves or brooches and t-shirts.

Right now I'm experimenting with new things for this next season: Spring/Summer 2008. Silk bags, shirts, headbands, and a big etcetera. Come back again in a few months to see my new creations!

For more information visit my website:
www.gilbea.com

Katrin Lerman Jewelry

My featured seller today is Katrin Lerman Jewelry:

http://KatrinLermanJewelry.etsy.com
http://katrinlermanjewelry.blogspot.com/

What she has to say about herself:

I come from a family of makers and have been doing jewelry since I was a little girl (if making friendship bracelets is considered jewelry ; ) Originally from Germany, I settled in Massachusetts, US almost ten years ago. I can’t believe it has been such a long time already! Nonetheless, I draw inspiration from my German childhood as well as from the time spent here and from every little moment I can remember happening in between. Sometimes, photographs of finished jewelry pop into my mind and I have to quickly run to jot them down before they are gone. Other times, I have an idea in mind and it takes a lot of drawings until I have figured out how to best do what I was thinking about. Of course, those sketches are not written in stone and I often change a design while I am making the piece to arrive at the best end result possible.

I graduated from the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University in Boston with a Degree of Fine Arts in Interior Design. Interior Design is all about color, form, and texture – and that’s what I’m integrating in my jewelry designs.

Now that I have a beautiful baby girl, I try to spend every free minute (and those of you who have a baby know that there are few) creating jewelry. Naturally, I have lots more time thinking than creating and so my sketch book is filling up with ideas for years to come. I can’t wait to get working on all those ideas and designs!!!


Be sure to go and look at the rest of her shop!