I Met L!

Yes, that's right, people! The one and only, Lorelei came to meet me at my bead shop! As some of you may know, L is currently on vacation with her husband. It just so happened, they ended up booking their little getaway just miles from where I live and work! When I found out where they were traveling to, I was amazed at how close they would be, to my hometown of Amesbury, MA. I decided to contact her and let her know and see if she would be interested in meeting. After all, when might there be another opportunity like this to meet an online friend that lives far away? I had to seize it! Luckily, L agreed it would be fun to meet!

We made arrangements and so today, on their drive up to N.H. where they are staying, L and Joe made a pit stop in Amesbury, MA. to meet me at The Riverwalk Bead Shop & Gallery, where I work! What could be a better pit stop for L than a bead shop, I ask you?! None, I tell you! Poor Joe, he was in for a loooong wait!!!

I saw them driving into the parking lot. Gah! She was here! It felt a little surreal meeting her in person, but it felt really natural, like seeing an old friend, since we have gotten to know each other so well online. Before going into the bead shop, I showed them around town a little. We grabbed some lunch at Flat Bread Pizza, the best place in town! L and Joe treated! Thanks, for the pizza, guys!!! After that, we strolled up and down the Powow River that runs through the center of town, then it was on to the bead shop!

We dropped Joe, armed with the laptop, off at the coffee shop right next door. Hope Joe was OK with some coffee and WIFI for a while! I was so excited for L to see my bead shop and to show her around. We looked at beads and talked about beads, jewelry, etsy, magazines, and blogging, of course! The time went by way to fast. It was so nice meeting L in person and connecting with her. I got to see the real person behind the blog. Now, I can say I know her. She has such a softness to her personality. She is very sweet, friendly, and easy to talk to. The conversation flowed naturally the whole time and we chatted about everything. I had a great time with her AND Joe. I really appreciate them both for taking the time to meet me and visit for a while. I hope to get the opportunity to hang out again sometime.

Owl Medallion Pendants

I have my stoneware Owl Medallion Pendants back in the shop! These Owls could work nice as a focal piece in a jewelry design for the July Art Bead Scene Challenge. Check it out here. With the stoneware, earthy colors, primitive feel and animal theme, these pendants would make a great art bead choice this month!

Sand Dollars are Back!

Porcelain Sand Dollars are back in stock in my shop and just in time for the Summer season! Hurry they are going fast!
It's time for some beach jewelry! I'd love to see your summer designs with these pendants. Don't forget to post your pics in my Artist's Gallery on Flickr!

My first publication appearance! Yippee!!!

I'm over-joyed!!! This is an exciting time for me because one of my ceramic leaf pendants appears in a beading magazine for the very first time! Yippee! Of course, none of this would be happening if it weren't for my dear, designing diva friend Lorelei Eurto! My ceramic leaf pendant is the focal piece on her "After the Rain" Necklace design in the current (July/August) issue of Step by Step Beads. She even sent me a copy of the magazine as well! Wow! A special THANK YOU to Lorelei! Thank you for all your hard work. I'm grateful for our friendship. You have been there with me from the very beginning. There is no one I would rather share this milestone occasion with than you. May there be many more to come!

Vote for Me, Please!

I entered these earrings for Stringing Magazine's Summer Challenge entitled: Magical Forest. The voting has started on their website! I'm pretty excited! This is the first time I've tried submitting anything to a publication. Even if I don't win, I'm happy that I participated in something and at least gave it a try. That's all that matters, right? Anyway, I looked through all the entries and boy, there are some really pretty and amazing pieces of jewelry! Check it out and Wish Me Luck, I'm gonna need it! My entry is #22. Go Vote! Thank you!

Beach Bum Earrings

Beach Bum earrings by emilyrothfus

I'm not quite back from my vacation yet. I'm still in beach bum mode here. I'm really loving these earrings by Emily Rothfus. She recently purchased these sand dollar charms from me. She made the cutest earrings with those charms! Thanks, Emily! You can find these earrings in her Etsy Shop here.

Island Vacation

Ocracoke Island, N.C.
This is the beach at our campsite. My brother-in-law, my husband and me on the beach.

Last week, My husband and I drove down to North Carolina to visit his brother, who is currently stationed on Fort Bragg. He took some leave time off to take us to the seashore and spend a few days on the outer banks of North Carolina. The Outer Banks are so beautiful. A beach lovers paradise! Driving down the one stretch of road on the islands, there is ocean and sand dunes on either side of you. It makes you feel like you're at the edge of the world!

We spent most of our time on Ocracoke Island, where we camped right next to the beach! Ocracoke is the southern most island of the Cape Hatteras area. Cape Hatteras consists of three islands of the Outer Banks - Bodie, Hatteras, and Ocracoke. There is one stretch of road the connects the islands except for Ocracoke, which you take a 40 minute ferry to get to, but even the ferry is fun to ride! Once on the island, we headed for the camp site. We set up our tents right on the other side of the sand dunes. If you ever camp here, be sure to have bug spray and mosquito netting with you! Ugh! The mosquitoes are pretty vicious! But other than that, I really enjoyed the beach camping. I would do it again in a heart beat. In fact, I can't wait to do it again!

It was nice being a beach bum for a few days. No make-up. No hair dyer. Just salt water and ocean breeze to put a wave in my hair. The evenings on this island were amazing. The sunsets were so gorgeous. I wish I had gotten some pictures. When the sun was all the way down and we were back at our camp, we would walk over the dunes and hang out on the beach, look up at the stars and just watch the waves roll in under the moonlight. Pretty incredible!

There's so much that we didn't even get to. Ocracoke's little harbor village is so cute and charming. I wish I could have done some shopping, but I was with a bunch of boys! lol! Oh, well...Next time I will have to do a girls trip and hit the shops and bead stores that are down there! :) Even though I didn't get to shop, I did bring home some beach treasures! Take a look below at these seashell pieces I picked up off the beach. Their edges have been rounded and smoothed from the ocean tides like sea glass. Aren't these cool! We don't have shells like this in New England. I've never seen shell pieces like this before. I think they would make great pendants and charms for jewelry. Now, I only wish I had spent even more time looking for these. Can't wait to try making something with them.

Ocean-tumbled seashell pieces