Rednesday for Christmas Colors

It's that time again when we gather together to share our Red on Rednesday with Sue from over at "It's A Very Cherry World". Please stop over and see what all of the ladies are sharing on their blogs this week.
I actually brought out the Christmas decorations this year. It's been a long time since I have done any Christmas decorating. I know that my friends here in "blog world" have motivated me this year to partcipate. It's not a whole lot...just a little mantel display with some of my favorite Mary Engelbreit Christmas decoration.

I'd actually forgotten that I have a ME Advent Calendar. It's so special. The Collector "Believe" plate was tucked away with the Christmas decoration, too, so it was a pleasant surpise as was the "Let It Snow" Christmas ornament. The cast iron "Believe" stocking holders sits in my studio/office all year round. Thanks for stopping by and sharing with me.

Happy Birthday & Random thoughts

If you've read this blog before you might have seen me mention that I love the "stats".  Do you ever look at your "Audience" statistics here on blogger?  I happened to click over and look at mine for today.

United States 195~seems normal

Australia 5~I attribute that to the Beadersshowcase.com website that I belong to

United Kingdom 5~They speak English, too, why not

Germany 4~hmmm?? Who knows about me in Germany??

India 2~Ahhhh....I know who that is

Russia 2~Huh? I don't know anyone there

Canada 1~Ehhh??? I would have expected more from there

China 1~Is that the guy who keeps spamming me trying to sell me beads??

I think it's kind of intersting to know that what we have to share in our blogs can go beyond the borders of our own country. Makes it seem more like "One World".

Bee Happy!

M.E. Monday

Welcome, again to Mary Engelbreit Monday. Please join us and post the link to your blog with the related Mary Engelbreit pictures to share with everyone. It can be a ME licensed product or something that was "inspired" by Mary Engelbreit's artwork. It "should" be a photo that you took of something that you own. We're flexible here....let's have fun above all else.

Yesterday I downloaded this very cute ME Santa Claus screen display to my laptop from Mary's website. It's free and it makes me smile when I look at my computer. I "spruced" the photo up with graphics from Picnik's website...for free.

Here's some of my ME Christmas Stash this year. The one trip I made out on Black Friday was to Michaels where I bought the Fried Egg Flower Christmas Wrap and the ME Penguin Wrap. I've almost finished up my Christmas box for the box exchange with Sarah from Hyacinths For The Soul. We've agreed to mail them off on Dec. 1st. After she's had a chance to receive it I can then share pictures of the box that I designed for her. Lucky for me she's a MacKenzie-Childs and Mary Engelbreit fan. I look forward to seeing what she designed.

Once you've posted your picture come back and add your link in Mr. Linky below. Please share the link back to my blog so that everyone can take part in sharing their post and picture.

The Elves Have Been Busy

Please stop over and see what the ladies are sharing on Fingerprints on the fridge this Friday.

I was pretty good for Thanksgiving until it came to dessert time. That pumpkin swirl cheesecake put me over the edge. I was home by 8 pm, asleep by 8:30 pm but back up again at 10 pm. That turkey just puts me to sleep! I'm proud to say I brought no leftovers home. How did you do?

I had some time to play and create this little Smilebox presentation to feature some of CC Christmas Jewelry for 2010. Enjoy the Holiday music, too.

Rednesday & Cherry Christmas Bracelet

Thank You to our hostess, Sue, over at "It's A Very Cherry World". Please click over and join all the wonderful ladies who are sharing their Red for Rednesday.

This is one of my personal favorite bracelets. I just know Heather was thinking of me when she designed these adorable glass lampwork beads. I just love the Red Cherries in it. I've used sterling silver findings to design with this time along with Swarovski crystals. It's for sale in my Artfire.com shop here but know that if it doesn't sell...It's mine! bah..ha..ha ;-)

The Trunk Show follow up

I've had so many comments about the Trunk Show this past Sunday I thought I would follow up with more about it.


Click image to supersize



















This is Kathy...she is my "longest" not "oldest" friend, we met in 1976 at my first job. She moved on but I stayed for 8 years and we have been unconditional friends ever since. She's my biggest cheerleader, she's my business partner in My Paperwork Managers, Inc., she's my accountant and tax preparer, she's my Mom's financial advisor and tax preparer, she's my best customer at Cherry Chick Jewelry, she is generous beyond words, and she was the hostess for my recent Trunk Show. She is one of the people that I am "thankful" for this Thanksgiving.  The pictures were taken at her lovely townhouse.

Click image to supersize

We had an intimate gathering of seven ladies. There was a new face, another Vicki. We munched on some wonderful appetizers and drank some wine from the Cupcake Vineyard. No...it didn't taste like cupcakes. I think everyone had a nice time hanging around the table looking over my "wares" and sharing conversation.
It was a long time on my feet, more bending over than I usually do in a days time but it was a profitable and fun afternoon. I am ever so grateful to the wonderful women who came to support me and to my friend Kathy who always supports me.

This was a new necklace that I had recently finished beading using a peyote, tubular herringbone technique. I knew that Kathy would probably love it and I shared it with her while I was setting up the table. Yep...she loved it but Kathy is the kind of lady who will let everyone else have a look at it, too, and then she will purchase it once the others have had a chance. She loved the matching Black Spiral bracelet, too, and is the proud owner of the set. I really enjoy designing with someone in mind. Another thing that I am "thankful" for. Thanks for letting me share.

Self-Acceptance Scale

So in my email box today came an invitation to entry "The Best of Oprah's Favorite Things Sweepstakes". While that would certainly be a nice thing to win, I found the opportunity to check my "self-acceptance" much more interesting.

After answering the 10 questions in the test I found that I had scored an 88 out of 100. What that means is "If you scored 80 to 100 Percent:

Self-acceptance is the deep realization that "You are what you seek." You understand that happiness is a fragrance of your soul, love is your spiritual DNA and that peace in the world begins with peace in you. Self-acceptance also enables you to give yourself fully and freely to the world because you are not looking for approval, you are not afraid of rejection and you are simply interested in living an authentic life. Self-acceptance is an endless journey of self-discovery. Keep saying yes to who you really are, and you will live your best life."

I can live with that analyzes. Then I went to the kitchen and baked some little mini chocolate chip cookies. What does that say about me?

M.E.Monday.....do it yourself style ;-)

Welcome, again to Mary Engelbreit Monday. Please join us and post the link to your blog with the related Mary Engelbreit pictures to share with everyone. It can be a ME licensed product or something that was "inspired" by Mary Engelbreit's artwork. It "should" be a photo that you took of something that you own. We're flexible here....let's have fun above all else.

Warning whining alert!!!!

I wanted to get the link up Sunday night for those who like to post early. I had my "Trunk Show" this afternoon at my friend Kathy's house and I am just "dog tired" tonight. My feet are "barkin" and my back is aching. I've had my hot shower and all I can think about is gettin' in bed with an ice pack on my back and watching the American Music Awards on tv. Hey...and it ain't cuz Miley Cyrus is on there...ugh!
We had an awesome time and it was a wonderful afternoon. I actually remembered to take pictures this time of the table display of my stuff. I'll try to get a photo of that up before I crash but I promise to put my M.E. up tomorrow. Thanks for your patience and support.

Before

After

Once you've posted your picture come back and add your link in Mr. Linky below. Please share the link back to my blog so that everyone can take part in sharing their post and picture.

Christmas Grinch

I just finished up these custom order bracelets last night and I thought that they came out too cute not to share. I'm so Thankful for my wonderful clients who allow me to create for them.

Shop at Mornin Glories & a giveaway

It's Thursday, again, so that means Cindy over at "Mornin Glories" has opened her lovely shop up again for all of us to share our wares.

I just realized that the watch I shared last week is called "Polka Dot Cottage Rose Watch. So this week I'm calling this watch "Stripes Cottage Rose Watch".  Eventually, you run out of names for these pieces of jewelry! Then there's the whole thing of trying to come up with something descriptive that the search engines will pick up on and place right at the top of the search engine pages. It'd be so much easier to just "walk" over to Morning Glories and place the watch into Cindy's beautiful wicker display case. Cindy, it is wicker??? Right?
Thanks for stopping by today. You can find the watch here.

I'd, also, like to share with everyone the wonderful work of my Famous Friend Heather over at Dragonfly Lampworks. She is having a giveaway in the next few days for this darling set of glass lampwork beads, Pink Saltwater Taffy. Heather is the "best" at what she does and you couldn't ask for a nicer woman as your friend. If you happen to be the lucky winner of her charming set of beads you can always contact me to design you something special with them. We work well that way. ;-)

Cherries for Rednesday...What else is new!

Thank you to our hostess Sue over at "It's A Very Cherry World". Please click over and join all the wonderful ladies who are sharing their Red for Rednesday.



Click Image to Enlarge



I'm calling this my "Crocheted Cherries" necklace. As some of you may or may not know I've been "moonlighting" at a couple of the local Michaels stores as a Bead Corner Academy Instructor. Michaels is now offering fundamental beading technique classes in their stores. One of the newest classes is a necklace crocheted with wire. I tried a couple of designs at home this past weekend and this was my second attempt. The first one I did with pink wire, pink Swarovski crystals, and various pink Czech pressed glass flowers. I like it, too, but you know me and cherries.

This view is a little closer up so you can see the details. This version of the "Crocheted Cherries" is 18 inches in length and is finished off with a black toned toggle clasp making it easy to put on and take off. I'm offering it for sale in my Etsy.com shop here. Thanks so much for stopping by to see my Red for Rednesday.

ME Monday is back!

Welcome, again to Mary Engelbreit Monday. Please join us and post the link to your blog with the related Mary Engelbreit pictures to share with everyone. It can be a ME licensed product or something that was "inspired" by Mary Engelbreit's artwork. It "should" be a photo that you took of something that you own. We're flexible here....let's have fun above all else.

Click Image to Enlarge

If your recall, back in early October I had a wonderful opportunity to spend $35 of CSN Store's money in one of their 200+ online stores. I've already shared with you the "oh so cute" cherry flip flops that I found there but I never got around to showing you the other item that I got for "FREE".
Since I took possession of my 3rd set of Cherry dishware I had no place to really put it. I had one plate rack already but it wasn't large enough to hold the ME "Cherries" set of dishes that I "stole for $40" from my friend Christina.


Old Plate Rack



Now all of the "Cherries" set of plates & bowls fit on the "Ten Strawberry Street Black Round Triple Tiered Plate Stand" that was $14.99 when I ordered it. But now I see that it has gone up to $17.99

I would say that I had a Good experience shopping online with the CSNstores.com. The cherry flip flops came right away and I love them. The plate rack took a little while to get here but it was in perfect condition especially since they packed it with a million little cardboard "peanut" thingies that I feel I should recycle some how.

The one thing that I feel needs improvement is their search capabilities on their websites. It's really not very user friendly and I think it could use some tweaks so that searches can be more specific within categories. But hey....I managed to find a couple of things that I wanted so it can't be too bad. I am grateful for their generosity and thank them for giving me the opportunity to check out their stores.

Once you've posted your picture come back and add your link in Mr. Linky below. Please share the link back to my blog so that everyone can take part in sharing their post and picture.

Shopping at Mornin Glories

It's Thursday so that means Cindy has once again opened up her Mornin Glories shop for all the ladies to show off their fine merchandise for the next two days. Please stop by, say hello to our shopkeeper and see what the other ladies have to share with us all.

Today I am sharing a charming little earrings and watch combination. These lovely little lentil shaped, glass lampwork beads remind me of Mary Engelbreit's Cottage roses. I paired them up with Swarovski crystals and black/white stripe lampwork beads to complete the watch. The watch measures 8" in length and is very easy to put on with the large ornate toggle clasp. $40
The co-ordinating earrings are the same little lentil shaped Cottage Rose lampwork beads finished off with asst. Swarovski crystal wire wrapped dangles. $25 pair
I hope just the right lady comes through the shop today and finds them irresistible. This is where you can find them if Cindy's busy with another customer.

How do you mend a broken heart?

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief... and unspeakable love." ~ Washington Irving

"The greatest pain that comes from love is loving someone you can't have."

Fresh Cut Friday

Today I am joining Liz over at Rose Vignettes who celebrates Fresh-Cut Fridays on the first Friday of the month. It's a good reason to buy yourself fresh cut flowers once a month. I'm up for that! Liz says "They can be from your garden or the grocery store. They can be from a garden that you have visited or maybe someone thoughtful sent you posies. Don't limit yourself to a vase!"

My good friend and business partner, Kathy, sent me these charming tea roses. Pink is my favorite color (bet you thought it was red) and these roses were absolutely beautiful. They looked perfect in my Mary Engelbreit vase.
 

Just a little Press....How Fun!

The ole' Cherry Chick Jewelry "corporate headquarters" got  a "feature" over on this great blog that I found about a month back. I was hunting for some ideas for my neighbor to be able to display her rubber stamps. Eventually, I landed on Crafty Storage.

You might recall my blog post back in September about my studio redesign and my lack of love for IKEA and their "all assembly required" Expedit workstation/storage unit.  I do love my new studio and now the "whole world" will be able to see it from the Crafty Storage blog.  Many thanks to the ladies over there. You will be inspired by the amazing places featured on their blog that women create in. I highly recommend it if you would like to "ohhh & ahhh" and have Studio Envy.

Cindy's Mornin Glories Store

Cindy has once again opened up her Mornin Glories shop for all the ladies to show off their fine merchandise for the next two days.  Please stop by, say hello to our shopkeeper and see what the other ladies have to share with us all.


Click Image to Enlarge




















I call this my "Olive Garden" bracelet and earrings set. The colors are olive and the flowers remind be of a garden. What were you thinking? Lasagna and breadsticks? Are you hungry now? ;-)
This is OOAK Artisan Designed jewelry created with glass lampwork beads, Czech glass leaves/flowers and glass seed beads. The bracelet measures 8.25 inches in length and the earrings are about 2" long.
You can find this charming jewelry for sale here.

Remember these??

Remember this picture from mid October???

Well....this is what happened to the little fellows.

"CherryChickJewelry"

Custom Order

Rednesday with Red, Green, & Gold

It's been a crazy busy day today so I'm scrambling for something to share for Rednesday this week. Out to vote, off to the post office, a quick trip to Publix (Ben & Jerry's Buy one Get one Free this week) Warning! Stay clear of the "Boston Cream Pie" flavor they now have. To die for! How come when it comes in those little pints it's so easy to eat the whole thing at one sitting????

I've been working on beading my little "wings" for this Christmas Cha-Cha Bracelet everywhere I went. I was finally able to get it strung together this weekend. I've done other color variations and I think this came out really elegant.


Please join our lovely hostess Sue over at "It's a Very Cherry World" and see what all of the other ladies are sharing for Rednesday.