beading | Bead Happily Ever After

October Giveaway

Posted on October 4, 2010 by crystal

Welcome, welcome!

I hope everyone had a delightful weekend.

Why are weekend days the fastest days of the week? We are simply baffled about that here at Bead Happily Ever After. One minute it’s Friday night, and an hour or two later – it’s Monday morning! How can that be?!?!

To help take the sting out of the beginning of a new workweek, I do have a new giveaway! 😀

If you’ve just landed here for the first time, I hope you’ll decide to visit often. We have lots of fun discussing everything! There’s a great group of “regulars” but don’t let that scare you away! They were all “new” at one time. We’d love for you to join us. 🙂

You’ll never miss any of the action if you subscribe to the blog. There are buttons in the sidebar to help you. Choose either the RSS feed (orange button), or use the “subscribe by email” box. If you have any questions about the process, click here to let me know. I’m happy to assist!

Now on to the giveaway!

October’s giveaway is this very chic pair of earrings! They’re a rich velvety “hematite” shade of grey, with sparkling silver accents.

I‘ve used some very special vintage Japanese faux pearls in a baroque shape. They’re medium charcoal grey with a gorgeous luster.

The faux pearls are accented with Czech Preciosa “Vitrail” faceted rounds. These Czech beads have a mirrored silvery surface and one side is covered with the lovely Vitrail (rainbow) finish. So elegant – like a tiny disco ball!

Made with only high quality components. All findings are Sterling Silver, including the artisan-crafted earwires.

Contest Rules and How To Enter

Any day you leave a comment on this blog – it is counted as a chance to enter the current giveaway.

For example, if you answer today’s question (you’ll find it below!) that will give you one chance.

But if you then come back tomorrow and comment on tomorrow’s post too – you will have earned another chance – so you’ll have 2 chances!

Return another day, comment, and you add a third chance, and so on.

When you comment, you do not have to mention that it’s an entry in the giveaway. My blog program shows me all of the “comments” as they come in – so I do not miss any of them, and all will count to be entered into the drawing! 😀

Today’s question is:

Do you fold laundry carefully or do you have a more casual approach?

The Boring Stuff . . .
You must be 18 yrs. old. After the completion of the contest, the name of the winner will be listed here. The winner will also be notified by email. If the winner fails to respond to email within 3 days from the time notification email has been sent, the win will be null and void and a new winner will be chosen. The prize will be mailed via USPS First Class Mail

All entries must be received by 9:00 p.m. EST on 10/31/10, and the winner will be selected on or about 11/01/10.

Noodling Around

Posted on September 27, 2010 by crystal

Monday Greetings!

On Friday, Carapace hoped I’d be “swimming in beads” over the weekend . . .

I was! 😉 (And I hope she had a chance to paint!)

I began by working on some jewelry orders, but I made sure to spend a little time “playing”, too.

I wanted to come up with a creative use for these beautiful Vintage Swarovski jewelry components.

Click photo to enlarge.

Because they’re such sparkling “hoops” – earrings seemed to be a natural choice, but I didn’t want to go the usual route of using wire or jump rings to make them dangle . . .

Ever since I returned to using thread last month with my Summer Wind flat spiral bracelet, I’ve been reminded just how much I enjoy it.

So I dug out the 11/0 seed beads and here’s what I ended up with. Earrings!!!

Click photo to enlarge.

They’re based on a Dulcey Heller design, and I may have to make some in other colors, as well! I have some gold rings with ruby red rhinestones that would be gorgeous for the holidays!

If you like to “play” with beads – the rhinestone rings seen above are available in my shop.

Are you ready for a weekly question? 😀

Here at our house, whenever we lose power during a storm, we have multiple clocks blinking as soon as the electricity is restored. Sometimes, right after we get every one of them reset, the power goes off AGAIN – for a minute or two (kind of a practical joke from the electric company, I suppose) so we have to do all of them a second time. Grrr! This has had us wondering if we really need all the clocks as we have.

How many clocks you have in your house? And could you function without a few of them?

Hugs,

Falling for Autumn

Posted on September 22, 2010 by crystal

I must admit I’m just giddy about the fact that Autumn is almost here!

We’ve had some rather chilly nights lately, so our leaves are beginning to show the first hints of glorious color. Can I get a “Woo hoo!” on that??? 😉

And last night for dessert, we had pumpkin pie for the first time this season! Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely LOVE pumpkin pie?

In fact, I’m so excited that fall is approaching, I even pushed aside my purple beads and decided to make something, well, fall-ish! Just a simple little choker necklace for a casual Autumn day . . .

I chose Swarovski amber-colored crystals and Czech glass beads with a coppery metallic finish. Perfect for a touch of sparkle at the neckline.

Hugs,

Crocodile Tears

Posted on September 16, 2010 by crystal

Yep, I’m crying . . . well, not really (but I’d like to!).

I have been trying for two days to get a good picture of this bracelet.

It’s similar to one I made a couple of weeks ago, except this one has gorgeous vintage Czech Peacock Beads!

See the largest round ones? They have amazing facets that pick up a rainbow of color. I hesitate to even show this photo because it doesn’t come close to the beauty of the piece in real life. Grrr! 😉

But you don’t want to hear me whine, and actually after telling you how frustrating it was – I feel so MUCH better. Thank you!

Feel free to tell me what’s bugging you.
After all, you listened to me sniffling – so I owe you one! 😀

Hugs,

Giveaway – Soft Blue Earrings

Posted on September 7, 2010 by crystal

Tuesday Greetings!

Today, there’s a new giveaway and are you ready for the new weekly question? 😉

Here in my neck of the woods, we’re very grateful that on Friday night, Hurricane Earl spared us as he whooshed on by. The rest of our Labor Day Weekend was full of bright blue (almost cloudless) skies, which inspired me to offer these pretty dangle earrings for the giveaway.

Fun and flirty, they feature artisan-crafted lampwork glass beads in a gorgeous shade of blue with a soft shimmer. I’ve accented the lampwork beads with Swarovski Lt. Sapphire crystals and beautifully textured silver-plated beadcaps.

The earrings measure approximately 2″ in length (including the sterling silver earwires).

Contest Rules and How to Enter:

You can have multiple chances to enter!
Any day you leave a comment on this blog – it is counted as a chance to enter the current giveaway.

For example, if you answer today’s question (you’ll find it below!) that will give you one chance.

But if you then come back another day and comment on a different post – you will have earned a second chance! Visit again and comment and you’ll have 3 chances, and so on.

(When you comment, you do not have to mention that it’s an entry in the giveaway. My blog program shows me all of the “comments” as they come in – so I do not miss any of them, and all will count to be entered into the drawing!) 😀

Today’s question is:

If you were asked to give a five-minute talk on a topic of your choosing, what would you talk about? Tell us a little of what you would say.

All entries must be received by 9:00 p.m. EST on 09/30/10, and the winner will be selected on or about 10/01/10.