Handmade Birthday

Ok, sorry it's been awhile. As some of you know I am having a new home built in North Carolina which should be done in June..so I've been going nutso.

Anyway, last week I celebrated my 38th birthday and luckily the hubby got me something I wanted. I love being able to just email my Etsy favorites to people and say here get my gift from here.





My husband got me this beautiful lampwork Teapot necklace from Helen's Harvest. I've been coveting her work for awhile. She just makes the most beautiful lampwork jewelry. Take a look at her shop and peruse the floral pieces. Absolutely gorgeous. I love my Teapot..it's black, which is like my color and the pink roses make it more cute. I can't remember what this piece cost but I think it was around $35. Her prices range from $27 on the low end to $197 depending on the piece.















My boss was another "what do you want for your birthday cause I don't know" person, so I also passed my Etsy favorites on to her. She got me this gorgeous Silver Wreath necklace from Erin Elizabeth. I just love the Garnet surrounded by the simplicity of the setting. I've bought from Erin Elizabeth myself and she does not disappoint in her service and her work. I think this necklace cost around $30 or so. Erin Elizabeth's prices range from $17 to $250 with many inbetween. There's something for everyone price wise here.

Now this last one I did not get for my birthday, I won it in a treasure hunt type contest. But, it's cute no matter what you say. It's this crocheted flower bookmark from Joyous Treasures. It's made to look like a Primrose bloom and when you shut your book, you've got this little flower growing from your book, it's really unique. She's got rosebuds, full roses, daffodils (that one is really neat and I featured it on Rare Bird Finds the other day) and a ton more. Very reasonable prices too. My primrose bookmark will run you $7. Prices range from $3.75 to $15 for the bookmarks. Very unique and way better than a paper one or doggy earring the page.

So, a good birthday and even better were the gifts. I can honestly say I got what I wanted for my birthday.

Almost the New Year and New Stuff for Me :-)

Ah yes, Christmas is over. The frantic shopping, wrapping till 1 am on Xmas eve and baking those dam, I mean wonderful cookies all month long. But, at least we all have some new things to show off right?


Over this past month, I've won some blog contests, gotten a special discount code and of course gave my husband (and Secret Santa) some Indie items that I wanted. So all in all I had a nice Xmas season. Here's a little run down on some of the delightful things I got this past month.





















I received a nice 50% off discount via a blog giveaway to Nyblaque's Etsy store. Nyblaque is an Etsy jewelry store in which I found a most unique necklace that just kept getting my attention. It's call "Cornucopia" and as you can see by the picture it is such a cornucopia of things. Framed by this simple ebony wood rectangle, the simple golden circle is bursting with a variety of autumn colored gemstones.

Here's the description straight from Nyblaque's listing:



"This design was my expression of a cornucopia...filled with labradorite berries, mandarin garnet oranges, carnelian pumpkins and lemon quartz squash..bursting out of the horns' copper, brass and oxidated alumunum twisted and soldered handmade 20m "ring". Captured in a 35mm tiger ebonywood picture frame. "


It hangs from a very delicate chain and is a rather heavy pendant. I don't care how heavy it is though cause I think it's one of the best pieces I own. I can safely say, I have the only one :-) Now, this piece was originally priced at $50 but I was able to get it for $25 with my discount. I know this type of piece takes a long time to make, just look at the work that went into it, but I see this as a unique style for Nyblaque and I hope to see more of this style in the future.























I had also recently won another blog giveaway (it's been my lucky year what can I say) and in this one I received this necklace that I call my New Year's Eve ball, but it's actually called "Ice Princess" by Vandiva on Etsy. The necklace is on a very long chain, which is not usually my style, but when paired with a turtleneck sweater, it looks just right. The pendant is made of lead crystal, accented with pearls, clear crystal and opalite beads. The retail value of this piece is $49! I have actually had a piece of Vandiva's in my Etsy favorites for awhile called Rain Cloud which you can find on the first page of the shop. If you like chunkier styles, then I would recommend you take a look there.












This next Indie item, well it's not something I would've have bought for myself no matter how much I wanted one. My husband would've killed me if I bought one, so what better place to ask for one than in a Secret Santa! And, it's my Butt Freckle! Here's mine, ain't she cute lol. Butt Freckle is another wonderful Etsy store filled with, well these Butt Freckles. Tiny little friends with a lil charm (or freckle) on their backsides, as you can see in the next picture (butt freckles on Butt Freckles will vary). Butt Freckles range in price from $4 to $22 for xtra large ones. The purpose of said Butt Freckle? No purpose, you just have to have one cause they are so dam cute.








Lastly, I had this one on my Xmas list that my husband got to shop from. I had first seen these Flapper Hats on Rare Bird Finds and just thought they were gorgeous. The variety of colors, flowers and the like just made for a unique, conversation piece of a hat. You can find these Flapper Hats at Melissa Happy Stuff on Etsy. The hats cost $30 each and let me tell you, if you go and look at her sales..it's just pages and pages of these Flapper Hats. They are selling like hot cakes over there. The photo on the right is the exact one that my husband got me. The colors are perfect as they match the coat I wear.


So, lots of good stuff right? I'm very happy and very satisfied with all of these great Indie items. What did you all get for Xmas? Let me know.

Coming up soon here on Products..my list of the Best of 2008 (based on my product reviews during 2008).

WELCOME WELCOME

Good evening everyone! I hope you've had a nice Veteran's Day holiday....I wish I had but that's a story for another day (it involves a 3 year old)

Anyway...I just wanted to welcome some new advertisers to Products. I traded with them for some wonderful jewelry and I just wanted to tell the world :-)

Amy Peters' Studio has some wonderful Sterling Silver jewelry with cute and inspirational sayings. I really like her "Dainty Disks" which have a cute raised design on the front and a simple one word phrase on the back. I have both the "Shine" necklace with the sun on the front side and I also got the "Soar" necklace which has a shooting star on the front..as you can see from the photos.

Amy was also kind enough to donate $100 worth of her jewelry to my PTO's Bingo Night...I showed some people the "prizes" and there was some serious Bingo playing that night :-) For Bingo, I got another "Shine" necklace and this matte choker with the two charms. It came with the cute little winged heart and the charm with the "Let Your Heart Soar" message.

The "dainty disks" start at $45 (depending on the chain length you want) and the "Matte Chokers" start at $50 (again depending on the chain length). There are many other styles at Amy Peters' Studio including her "Fortune Cookie" necklaces and her "Message in a Bottle" necklaces (as seen here). They start at $100.

I want to also welcome Weekend Jewelry! Now, if you're an old timer here at Products, then you may have read a post of mine a long long long time ago in which I coveted some pieces from Weekend...well..I now own my coveted piece :-) And, here it is..the Gold Necklace with Purple Mother of Pearl and Blue Pearls! I love love love this necklace..it just is so unique. I can wear it either casually with a sweater and jeans or it could be worn for a fancy evening (but with two kids..those are hard to come by as you know lol). This is a $66 necklace and you can also find coordinating earrings and a bracelet. So you can have a complete set if you so desire. The other necklace that I was deciding between is this Lilac Chalcedony Flower necklace with the green periodot leaves/stem dangling down. This pretty will run you $64.

Some of you may remember last November, Jen Lownie of Weekend Jewelry, made me some special earrings for that Bingo Night. Jen designed them around our school logo and they were quite popular (it got a bit aggressive that night) with some of the moms.

So, please help me welcome these two wonderful stores into the Products of the Day Family. I can honestly say that their jewelry is made with care and the pieces are of high quality..somethin you know I look for in anything I buy. Christmas is coming and I'm sure someone in your familu would love something unique.

Pleasant Under Glass

Ok, so I've been on a jewelry kick lately...sorry so sue me :-)

My most recent acquisition is from Under Glass on etsy. And, let me tell you this is one of the most unique jewelry stores I've come across. The necklace I got was this beautiful Snowflake on a blue background. It looks large in the picture but it is actually very dainty. Carol-Ann, the artist of Under Glass, placed the digital image of the snowflake under a thick, glossy coat of resin. The result, naturally, makes it look like it's (sorry bad pun here) Under Glass. The pendant has these black and white stripes around the sides and as simple as they are, they add depth to the pendant. It hangs on a silver plated chain...(I usually prefer Sterling Silver but the silver plated chain is actually much brighter than most of my Sterling. ) There are many other snowflake pendants on Carol-Ann's site that are just as or more intriguing than mine. They run $24 and are really little pieces of art.

And, there aren't just the snowflake necklaces at Under Glass. Carol-Ann makes another kind of series of necklaces called Reliquary Pendants. They are basically glass tubes in which she will place an inscription on and some sort of design on it. Inside there are coordinating glass beads that will roll freely inside. Some hang horizontally on the chain or vertically with some added glitz like the one I have shown here called Garden Girl. The Reliquaries go for $29.

And, it's not just the jewelry that caught my attention. When I got my package in the mail, the presentation Carol Ann makes is just as unique and pretty as the necklace inside the box. Just take a look at how my necklace was packaged. It's this kind of attention to detail, not just in the main body of work, but how the customer receives their merchandise..is truly something you don't normally find in this day and age.

Of course, I'm only cruising by the tip of the iceberg here. There are many many unique works of art at Under Glass. There are several other types of necklaces and of course, earrings and bracelets. I'm sure you'll find something just as unique as you are.

Saints N Sinners

I want to welcome a new advertiser to Products of the Day...Barbe Saint John and her Saints & Sinners store. Barbe makes fantastic jewelry from vintage items..she also makes homespun yarn and mixed media art.













We actually did a trade :-) I was able to get this fabulous necklace..and let me tell you it took me 2 days to decide on what I wanted to get. It's called "Birds Sing Sweeter in Summertime." This is a mixed media piece with the cute sparrow bead, the resin birds in a tree piece, vintage beads and a wonderful quartz stone. How Barbe was able to find all these different things in the same blue color is amazing lol. One thing I just love about it is that each side of the necklace is a different chain. I just love this necklace. Chunkier necklaces are not usually my style but I ended up loving it when I got it.


Here are some of the other pieces that I was trying to choose from.














This cute little piece with Cardinals sitting on a branch (and you all know I love Cardinals) is called Lisa & Ethel Gossip Time. The birds are lampwork figures and they sit in little wired nests. Their "tree branch" is actually a piece of black coral. Lucy & Ethel are $45.

















Then there's these Paris at Night earrings. They are made with vintage French brass charms, antique brass chain and antique beads. What's unique about these earrings is that they each have their own image on the focal part. I just thought these were cool and I love the blue color. Paris at Night will run you $34




















Barbe also has this collection of necklaces called Wunderlust. Each piece has an etched disk with a vintage piece of map (protected by resin). The one I loved was the Paris piece in Sterling Silver. This line is just simple yet so unique. If Barbe ever makes on of Rome (hint hint hint), then I will probably have to buy it :-) The Wanderlust necklaces range in price from $43 to $60. This one of Paris is $60



You will find much more at Saints & Sinners. Feel free to click any link here in the post or scroll down to the Shop Shop Shop section and click on Barbe's banner. Just let me know what you bought wink wink.