Friday, October 31, 2008

Three of My Pieces Featured in Two Etsy Treasuries!

The Capitol Region Etsy Street Team is having a sale this week, and the girls are going wild snagging treasuries!


The Surfing the CREST treasury features earth-toned swirly things and includes two of my pieces: handblown Murano glass earrings and a fused glass pendant.






The Do You Love a Good Sale? treasury is Maggie Sue Designs' favorite CREST pieces and features my Rock Garden Symphony necklace -- a red stone pendant on hand-wrapped agates.

The Maggie Sue Designs shop is so interesting that I'm going to have to devote a blog entry to my favorite pieces of hers!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Win a Fused Glass Pendant of Your Choice!

I've just discovered a wonderful blog: Etsy Giveaways! Every day, they post links to contests where you can win free handmade gifts from Etsy artists! This sounds like so much fun that I want to participate.


The Prize

One lucky winner will receive a fused glass pendant of his or her choice from my website or my Etsy store! I make my pendants one at a time, designing, cutting and assembling them by hand in my tiny studio at my house in historic Greenbelt, MD. I use all compatible 90 COE glass, heat it to thoroughly scalding temperatures, then slowly anneal it for strength.

How to Enter

Pick your favorite pendant from my website or my Etsy store, and leave a comment on this blog post with your choice. Be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you if you win!


The contest is open through the end of Friday, November 7th at midnight eastern time. On Saturday, I'll choose a winner at random from the comments and contact that person by email. If I don't receive a response within a week, I'll pick another winner! Shipping in included with the prize; due to the high variability in worldwide shipping costs, this content is only open to residents of the United States and Canada.

Update: The contest is over and we have a winner! If you'd like to be notified the next time I have a giveaway, please sign up for my Contests and Giveaways newsletter!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Can I interest you in some cats?

Morning

During a conference call, someone asks, "Do I hear cats screaming?" Why yes, you hear Lazarus and Elvira tearing across the living floor, leaping on each other, wrestling and caterwauling. It's all in good fun, but it doesn't take much feline screeching to be too much!



Lunchtime

I hear a suspicious tinkle and look into the kitchen to find Elvira licking the butter which I have left out on the counter between slices of toast. As I am chasing her up the stairs threatening her with dire consequences, Lucius takes the opportunity to drink from the bowl of soup I abandoned while pursuing Elvira.



Evening

"Meer!  Meer!" You had dinner an hour ago. "Meer!" That is utter nonsense, I have it on good authority that you had two breakfasts. "MEER MEER MEER!" No, PETA will not take your side in this discussion, and you're not tall enough to reach the phone anyway!

When posting new pendants I've taken photos of, I go in search of a particular one to measure it for the product listing. I know I left it on the counter ... but it's gone. If you were 12 inches tall and very furry, where would you hide your stash of stolen sparkly objects?  I locate a flashlight and look under the stove. Aha! Something glittery under there! I fish it out with a ruler, and it's a pendant all right -- but not the one I was looking for!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Sale in my Etsy shop! 10% off all week!


Have you started thinking about holiday shopping? Next week might be a great time to start. CREST -- the Capital Region Etsy Street Team -- is holding its first group sale! We have over 30 shops offering special discounts for one week: Monday, October 27th through Monday, November 3rd.


All items in my Etsy shop will be 10% off the listed price next week. After you place your order, I'll send you a revised Paypal invoice with your discounted total.

You can find items from all of the participating shops by searching for the EtsyCrestSale tag on Etsy.

Happy Shopping!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Packaging for Pets

The UPS man brought me a box from Delphi today, and the cats have been gaily pouncing and sliding in the resulting mound of packing paper!

Packing Paper

Don't tell me that your kitchen isn't full of wine bottles soaking in buckets to loosen their labels?

Among my new toys are a wrought-iron lantern frame, a wooden box with an insert for a decorative glass tile on top, and wrought-iron bowl stands. Time to branch out!