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I love this simple and fun bracelet and earring set on the Primabead.com project site.  Just in case you aren't familiar with them, Primabead is the retail site and sister company of the Cousin Corporation . Since I love to peruse all the craft store bead aisles, but don't always have time, this is a great site to visit to get ideas. I've spotted quite a few products on the site at my local stores like JoAnn's, Michael's and even Meijer and Walmart. And now, before I forget, here's a link to the instructions for this one. :) Enjoy!

I'm so excited to share my latest heart-happy jewelry/craft project! Anytime I can merge crafting with jewelry making, I'm a happy crafter. :) This is my January project for the Cousin Corporation as one of their jewelry-making ambassadors. All eight of us received the same instructions...to come up with our own interpretation of Valentine's Day in either a jewelry or non jewelry craft project. As soon as I saw those instructions, my brain went directly to a project MERGE! Yay! I have a serious love for paper crafting, but don't seem to have nearly enough time to play with all my supplies and tools. I checked my paper stash that I received a while back from the DCWV (Die cuts with a view) company and found a great paper stack called Glam Gal that was infused with hearts. The purple and white really stood out to me. I came close to a one-tear moment when I realized this would also be a mod-podge moment...oh yeah, I do love decopauging! I gathered my paper crafting sup...

This month the Cousin Corporation ambassadors are on a mission to represent Valentine's Day in a jewelry project.  Permission was granted to use unique colors or techniques. Since I'm not quite to the finish line yet, I thought it would be fun to share a couple of my fellow ambassador's Valentine's Day projects today in case you are looking for inspiraton, yay! Enjoy! Shelly Owen: Valentine Heart Necklace   - Step by step instructions are included, NICE! Thanks Shelly! Allison Cooling: Handmade Chained Heart Appliques   - An oh so sparkly hat, love it! If you have a Valentine's Day project to share, just leave a link in the comments! :)

This week Monday is my Sunday...that means I'm trying to keep a firm grip on the second hand of the clock so it doesn't tick away the next 15 minutes faster than the speed of light! Honestly...this day has seemed like a blur! I was extremely blessed to spend it inside on a cold day with the warmth of the TV to keep me and my beads company. Ahhh...it was great. The only downside is that when I have beads out for more than a couple hours, the morning turns to afternoon in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it my husband was calling on his way home from work. I did the fastest pickup, dishwasher load and shower I've done in a long time. :) 13 minutes till tomorrow...I think I'll spend it reading beading and crafting blogs starting with our friend Jean Yates...she does the most fabulous reviews of beading books ever and she's just posted a new one, Yay! Have a great rest of the week!! Snap out if it, Jean! There's beading to be done!  Jean reviews an excellent book ...

I mentioned last Sunday I wanted to make a new piece of jewelry for the week. I'm SO glad I did! This quick and EASY necklace took about 20 minutes to make. The most time consuming part was figuring out the length. My week started out and even finished on a very BUSY note. It was chock full of meetings, projects and administrative change. I was so glad I had my new calming necklace! There's something so laid back about it and it also makes a great stress "stone" because it's so smooth. Have a great weekend everyone!! Drop me a line if you're crafting. I'd love to see your photos or videos. Maybe we can create something together!

It's that time again! I'm stretching my creative time till the last possible minute. Getting beads out now to see what I can create in the next hour or so. A personal challenge because I would like something new to wear tomorrow. I better get moving! Here's some last minute inspiration to bring the weekend to a close. Our bead and craft bloggers are sharing LOTS of fun and inspiration this week starting off with bezel effects paints!  Thanks to Cyndi Lavin for sharing her step by step process for making this fabulous bezel! Beading Arts The new Bezel Effects paints make a great centerpiece for bead embroidery! ACreativeDream It's a mail art call!!! Come on over and join in! Art Bead Scene Check out Brandi's gorgeous colour palette for this month's challenge piece! Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi utilizes a "saved" crazy quilt block and turns it into wearable art in this special blog post. Eileen - The Artful Crafter Knit and crochet combine in Red Hea...

Ringing in the New Year with a new necklace! We're finally out of the below zero temperatures for a while, yay! Now that it's not so icy outside, I will be happy to wear this very sparkly and icy looking necklace! Every year I make a new piece of jewelry to start things off and every year it seems to be black and white. I do have a tendency to get stuck in unwritten traditions somehow. I fell in love with these crystally Crystazzi pendants and ordered three packages of them not realizing each package had two pieces. It was a very happy surprise! Now I just need to make matching earrings with the remaining pendants and I'll be ready to go! Happy New Year! :)

A friend and I visited JoAnn, Etc. today and bought quite a few pairs of $1 gloves to embellish with sparkly, swirly brads. These will be a gift for another friend tomorrow, but they seemed to shout out for some matching earrings. Sparkly shambala beads always make for a great gift! I seem to be getting a 1950's pink poodle skirt and saddle shoes vibe which makes me love them even more. :) Luckily my friends are very kind when they get crafty gifts from me...whether they like what I made them or not. I always just ask that if they don't like what I gave them, they find a nice home for them. :)