Nest Ornament Project

I made this nest ornament for my tree.  We do a woodland theme and I'm going heavy on the birds and nests this year.  I thought I'd share the directions. 

I've been having fun making a few art bead ornaments, getting ready for the Art Bead Scene ornament blog hop - you can still sign up to play along!

Supplies:

Snow dove - Humblebeads

Disk bead - Earthenwood Studios (or Jangles.)

Filigree brass leaf

Brass blank leaf

3 red 4mm crystals

1 brass 3" headpin

1 brass 7mm jump ring

3" green wire lace

34" brass color 18 gauge wire

3" brass color 24 gauge wire

(Wire, wire lace, crystals and leaves from Bello Modo)

Directions:

1. Cut 4" of the 18 gauge wire, create a large spiral on both ends and hammer with a ball peen hammer.

2. Form a 2" circle with the remaining wire, wrap the wire around into a circle two more times to form the wreath/nest.  Continue wrapping the wire around the nest to form the texture on the nest. Leave a 4" tail of wire.  Form a loop at the top of the nest and wrap the remaining wire around the loop.

3. String the 3 crystals on the 24 gauge wire, center and twist the wire to hold the crystals in place.  Wrap the wire under the top loop.

4. String the wire through the two leaves and wrap around the top loop and through the wire of the nest to attach securely. 

5. On the headpin string the disk and the dove, wire-wrap a loop and attach to the nest with the jump ring.  Attach the wire hanging to the nest.  Tie on the lace ribbon.  Pinch the ends of the lace and pull the middle of both sections to create the leaf.

This would make a cute teacher's gift, hostess gift, office gift-exchange or Secret Santa present.  You could use different color birds and disks to personalize each one.

Holiday Freebies

'Tis the season!

Now through Tuesday you can get the following deals in my Etsy shop:

All orders: free shipping

Orders over $25: free Willow Charm (shown above)

First 10 orders over $50 - free snowman bead. 

These are limited editions that I'm no longer making!

Free gift wrapping for all jewelry purchases.

Free Gift Idea!

Use one of my tiny charms like the mushroom, willow or starfish charms to create a sweet little pendant for preteens or teens on your gift list.  Attach the charm to the 18" gunmetal chain with a 6mm jump ring.  (You can find them at Rings and Things or your local Hobby Lobby.)

Adorable!  Aren't my nieces going to be lucky this year!!!

Add a little bead on a sterling silver wire-wrapped bail and a sterling silver chain for a more sophisticated look.  Stocking stuffers anyone?

And the last freebie of the day - win this Modern Forest toggle clasp! This design was featured in Handcrafted Jewelry Magazine. Tweet or facebook about my Etsy specials (with a link to this blog post) and leave a comment letting me know you did - I will enter you in a drawing for Tuesday and will pick one random winner. 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day.

And a really big thanks to those who purchased during the Plumber sale!

My Pain - Your Gain Sale!

It's more like the DAMN I have to pay for the plumber - time to have a quick and huge sale.

Okay this is the scoop:

Today and tomorrow only

50% off your entire order from

www.humblebeads.com

Yes, you read it right - any size order you get the wholesale price.

Doesn't not apply to my Etsy shop or any previous purchases.

You must use discount code: PLUMBERSALE

when you check out.

Please allow 7-10 business days before these orders will ship out.  Beads from my website are made to order.

This sale includes the jewelry section - great for holiday shopping.

Please share this sale with your friends, social network, etc.  Thank you in advance!

I will also draw one random customer from this sale to receive a free set of Purple Disk Beads!!!!

Sand sculpture photo from Tesla314

Glad Tidings

I picked up some of Diane Hawkey's word beads and Earthenwood's porcelain disks at Bead & Button this year and decided to order more for a series of pendants. Here they are, I created 3 of each design. I wanted something that was "holiday" but could be worn all year. Diane's beads remind me of worry stones. I could see someone wearing the pendant and touching the bead to remember the message they carry.

That reminds me of my Great Grandmother. She would play with her necklaces while she waited her turn at cards or while visiting with family over a cup of coffee. Beads rubbed between fidgeting fingers mindlessly while she recounted the details of stories from her past or news of friend of the family. I catch myself doing the same thing every now and then.

Nest Earrings to match the other pieces in my collection. I really love these. They are made with tiny eggs, makes me wish I could still wear earrings!

After the holidays and the book deadline I'm going to work on offering a line of jewelry to shops. The nest pieces will be part of that. I miss making and selling jewelry as part of my business so I'm easing back into it. 

Etsy Opps!

Squirrel 1: "What do you mean it's not in there?  It was here a minute ago."

Squirrel 2: "I don't know, I just found it that way...burp."

For those of you who are trying to check out from Etsy per my instructions for the discount - ignore it.  I didn't realize Etsy changed their shopping cart and you can no longer check out without paying.

So to take advantage of my 20% off discount: add 'winter20' to the note section, complete your purchase, pay and I will refund the discount back to your Paypal account.  This seems to be working the best for everyone.  Thanks!

Ye old Etsy Shoppe