Happy Halloween.... and the winner

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope a good day was had by all!

I am happy to announce the winner of my ring giveaway.......

Pam Ferrari

Pam choose the button ring! Send me your address Pam (hatrudeau@hotmail.com) and I'll get your ring right out to you!!!

Here's a few pics of my dogs in their costumes for you to enjoy! Biscuit was a Hippie Bus, and Mocha was an Egyptian Princess! They are such good sports - the best dogs ever!!!

Friday's Peacock Find

Socks......That's right - peacock socks!!! Head to your local Target store to find them in the dollar section up front!!! Ugh - please don't mind my pale white, dry ankles!

Don't forget to sign up for the ring giveaway in my previous post! The drawing will occur on Halloween!!!

Ring Giveaway!!!

Here are some new rings I've made with the blank rings from the Industrial Chic line. They are just so fun to find little elements to fill them with! I've decided that I will give one of these rings away to a lucky reader on Sunday, October 31st - Halloween!!! It's like trick or treating for adults.

To win, leave a comment on this post with your choice of ring and why you like it best. If you blog, facebook or tweet this giveaway, let me know for an extra entry. All of the rings have adjustable bands, but read on to see the specific details about each one. The two rings left after the giveaway will be listed on Etsy.

This brass button was actually a connector from Ornamentea. I snipped the connecting pieces off of the sides and filed them down. Then, I wove some thread through the holes and adhered it to the bezel.

This one is filled with a cute little mushroom charm from Humblebeads. The charm had a little hole at the top, but I filled it in with some putty and colored it with some ink.

Lastly, this is a fine silver peacock button from Miss Fickle Media. I snipped the shank off the back and filed it down so that it would lay nicely inside the bezel.

Good luck everyone!!!

Friday's Peacock Find

Sorry - I just had to do it! I promise, not all Friday peacock finds will turn to baby stuff, but I just couldn't resist! Of course I am finding all kinds of baby things that are peacocks or owls. I know it will be must easier to pick things out once we know the gender, but I still have a feeling that my husband and I will have some tiffs over the nursery decor. This being due to my obsession with peacocks and owls.

Anyway, you can find this cute little rocker here. It's one of those things that won't be needed right away, but would be a great first Christmas gift???

Also, check out the Art Bead Scene blog today. Lorelei has graciously included one of my wood burned pendants in her "wordy" collection today. I have to say, I love word beads too! And speaking of my little Loose Feathers shop, I know I have been neglecting it for some time. But I have been working on new pieces to add soon. Let's hope I have some energy to do it this weekend!

Holding Pattern

So, I had a doctor's appointment this morning and got to hear the baby's heartbeat! That was exciting! Other than that, I don't have anything else too important to report. Although my pants are tighter, I do not have what I would consider a baby bump yet - it just looks like I've eaten too many carbs (which, I probably have). Just waiting out this last stretch of the first trimester.

My due date is May 17th - one day before our 9 year anniversary. And, a few weeks after my husband finishes his master's degree. He is only in 1 class this semester so he has to take 3 in the Spring to graduate then. Needless to say, it's going to be a busy time. We are going to try to get as much done (nursery, classes, etc...) before he starts that 3 nights a week class schedule!

Food aversions and cravings are as weird as ever. Last Thursday I was sitting at work at about 3:00 and was starving! I had already eaten all of the food I brought for the day. Working at a food company, I do have access to our brands of snacks during the day but for the most part I try to stay away from that. Not that my cravings are that much better! At that time, the only thing that would satisfy me were fries from McDonald's and one of their fruit smoothies. I figure the fruit offsets the fries! So, I ran out and got some, quickly eating the fries in my car before I got back! Doesn't it make you wonder what kind of chemicals they put in their fries to make you want their fries instead of say Wendy's?

Jon's class is on Mondays right now, so I consider myself on my own for dinner on those nights. It's hard enough to cook for two let alone one! I can usually satisfy myself with a bowl of cereal those nights. This past Monday, I was craving Olive Garden's bread sticks dipped in their alfredo sauce and some of their salad. The closest Olive Garden for me is about 20 miles. I thought that would be a little excessive to go there. So I ended up at Panera Bread for their signature mac and cheese. Have you tried it yet? It's pretty darn good with a hunk of their bread on the side. But as I sat there eating it, I wondered why I just paid $8 for this when I could have made Kraft at home for $1. Oh well, such odd things pregnancy makes you do.

Speaking of Panera, last weekend we bought a loaf of their Asiago Cheese bread. Ummm, I only got one slice of that bread. In the course of 24 hours, my husband ate the whole thing! Who's the pregnant person here?!?!??! Maybe he is already trying to sympathize with my symptoms.

Anyway, just a few funny tidbits I thought I'd share......

Lorelei's Michael's Challenge

Welcome to my post about Lorelei's Michael's reader's challenge! As you can see from the first pic, I laid out all of the beads Lorelei picked from Michael's. The only ones I couldn't find were the brown cinnabar. I also laid out a couple of pendant options. I ended up choosing an owl from Nancy of Round Rabbit in a dreamy shade of green.

Instead of using him as a centerpiece, I put him off to the side as a connector. Then, I just started wire wrapping some of the beads in no particular pattern. The other pieces I added were 2 wood circles and instead of wire wrapping them, I used the white chain to integrate them into the piece.

This was really fun and I am pleased with how the necklace turned out. The biggest challenge for me was the size of the holes. The holes in the jade, wood, and cinnabar were large enough for the wire I was using (or even for some cotton cording), but as you all know, pearls have much smaller holes! I had to use some eye pins for those up the back.

I will be listing this necklace - called "Jaded Owl" - in my Etsy shop. But in the meantime, check out the other participants in this challenge with the links below. Thanks Lorelei for organizing this fun event!!!

Mary Harding

Hilary of Fryestyle

For My Sweet Daughter

My Life Under the Bus

Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns

Linda's Bead Blog & Meanderings

Copper Diem

Andrew Thornton

TyneBodenNecklaces

Raida of HavanaBeads

Erin of Treasuresfound

Molly of BeautifullyBrokenMe

Beading by Malin de Koning

AuntieAnnie

Gr8Findings

Deborah M Purdy

Spirited Earth

Erin Siegel Jewelry

beads by breul

Beads for Busy Gals

Cynths Blog

Nayas Organized Chaos

Crafty Hope

2 catch a hummingbird

Rosebud

For the Love of Beads

Jamberry Song

Peacock Fairy

Elysian Studio Art

Designs by Debi

sweet girl design

Silver Rose Designs

Tropic Beads

Friday's Peacock Find

Today, I bring you this awesome scarf from Old Navy. It is a great deal at $12.50, and it is a huge scarf! Very soft material! Enjoy!

Metamorphosis

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes and congrats! It really means a lot to me! I will certainly keep you updated as I go through my pregnancy, and am planning on making a scrapbook as well. I can't wait to take pictures and journal my thoughts. Since this blog is mostly about jewelry/my business, I do like to share little tidbits about my life from time to time. So, I plan to continue with that type of format.

I was able to get into the studio last night, even though I would have loved to have layed on the couch. But, I was excited to work with some new things I had gotten over the weekend. The above pendant is from the Industrial Chic line at Michael's. My Michael's has totally revamped their bead section and I am so happy about it! I had not seen this component, and several others, in the collection before. So I was happy to see that it seems like the IC line will stick around for a while. This is a little metal label holder that you might have seen on old library drawers. The "stock" image that came in it - the butterflies - I totally loved! I had no intentions of switching them out for a peacock feather which is shocking! I wire wrapped the two sides so that it would hang nicely from the strand of colorful pearls. I love how the colors blend into each other and gradually change, just like a butterfly. And just like my body over the next 7 months!

Announcement..... as promised.

The sticks don't lie! I am happy to announce I am 8 weeks pregnant. One of the main reasons we were so excited for my parents to visit this weekend - so we could share the news. Now we can start getting it out in the open more. Not that we didn't want to earlier, but there's all these "suggestions" about how long you should wait to tell people, yada, yada. You might be wondering why I decided to blow $20 on MORE sticks to pee on. Well, at about 5 weeks I had a little scare and because I am a neurotic worry wort, I kept taking them to "reassure" myself I was still pregnant. The upside to the little scare though was that I got an ultrasound that week (I probably wouldn't have gotten one until my appointment later this month) and was lucky enough to see the little heartbeat fluttering! That made me feel so much better!

Anyway, we are very excited! I have been feeling pretty good overall. No real sickness, however when I am hungry I have a hard time finding something that appeals to me. Oh, and very tired! Very tired! Naps are a necessity on the weekends and during the weeknights I don't do much. This is hard for me because I am used to being productive, so I have to give myself permission to rest. Hence, not a lot of new jewelry to show. But, I hope to get some motivation soon. It was hard enough for me, these last few weeks, to get my house decorated for Halloween. But since it is my favorite holiday, I knew I would be disappointed if I did not do it.

So, I will leave you with a very easy (and semi-healthy) pumpkin muffin recipe that my family enjoyed this weekend - I know my Dad wants the recipe so here it is. (I was craving pumpkin and cornbread last week. This week it's yogurt and mac & cheese. Oh, and hot dogs from Culver's.)

1 box of spice cake mix
1 16oz. can of pumpkin
Mix these two together - add a little bit of water to make a thick batter consistency.
Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 18 minutes

For the frosting, mix one tub of fat free Cool Whip with one package of sugar free cheesecake flavored pudding mix. I recommend letting this mixture sit for a few hours so the pudding granules can absorb the moisture - it will thicken up.

That's it! Easy and delicious!!!

Chihuly @ Meijer Gardens

Let me start out by saying last week kinda sucked. The first week of every month of my job is spent closing the books of the previous month. It's a week of lots of stress and long hours. Add into that the fact that I am now covering for someone who is out on maternity leave through the rest of the year, so I had double the stress. Then, about midweek I get a call from my husband who was on his way home from work when some maniac decided to hit him for no apparent reason.... not once, but 3 times. All is fine, everyone is fine, and the insurance will work it all out. No need to rehash all of the details again.

The only thing that got me through the week was looking forward to my parents coming to visit for the weekend, and the promise of beautiful weather! We planned to go to the Meijer Gardens on Saturday to see the Chihuly installation they had this year. It was wonderful and a good time was had by all! The blown glass sculptures were as spectacular as I thought they would be.

Stop back tomorrow for a special announcement!!!

Friday's Peacock Find

I have been tossing the idea around for a while now to try to have some kind of regular weekly post on my blog. Since I seem to have so much luck finding peacock items, I thought I would start to share them with you on Fridays. As with anything, don't hold me to it too strictly, but it is something I am going to try to keep up with for a while.

This weeks find is:

Peacock Shrug Sweater by One World

The One World brand is one of my favorites. Their tops are so comfortable and effortlessly stylish. I own many of them, and find that they will always have some kind of peacock or owl patterns. You can find this brand at most major department stores. This particular sweater also comes in black. Both colors feature peacock feathers up the sleeves. I really like these open, flowy sweaters that are so popular now!