Owls

I'm into owls in a big way lately. You may have noticed this influence in my jewellery.. with items such as these popping up in my etsy store:

And with my baby now less than a month away (eek!!), today I've been busy blowing the cobwebs off my mum's old sewing machine and getting right into making some home made toys for the baby using old scrap bits of material I had and some assorted ribbon and oddly enough, they're... well... owls!

I made a really rough pattern and used calico and other cotton prints for the body/wings, adhesive felt for the eyes and adhesive courdroy for the beak (I cut up an old iron-on patch!), and sewed in little bits of ribbon folded in half like tags. On this one I used a larger peice of ribbon on top so it can hang from a plastic ring and attach to a pram etc.

Given I probably haven't used a sewing machine since the days of making clothes for my cabbage patch kid & barbies, they are no where near perfect (don't look too close!) but I don't think baby is going to mind!

and the winner is......

Congratulations to Kellie Christie for winning this handmade crystal white rose cabochon ring in the giveaway! Well done and a huge thank you to all that entered!

Using Random.org List Randomizer I entered all the names from the entry comment (giving a bonus entry to those who were or had become followers of this blog). The list was then randomised and the name that appeared at the top was the winner!!

Congrats again to Kellie - Please contact me ASAP at petaliferous@optusnet.com.au to claim your prize! (if I haven't heard from the winner within 24hrs, I will re-select another random winner)

A Botanists' Delight

I just listed some brand new 'Poison Ivy' earrings which are a little different to my normal stuff, and I managed to score a treasury slot so I thought I'd include them and make it a botany theme. Please make sure you check it out to give it heaps of views... http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=127373

DUST Team Craft Swap

This month I participated in one of the DUST team's monthly Craft Swaps. If you don't know what a Craft Swap is, basically all members who wish to participate in a swap,  register their name, and then the lovely Julie-Ann from DUST (and JulieAnnsJewels) partners each of us up. We then contact eachother and make eachother a surprise to send, and of course - we get one in return! This was my first Craft Swap experience so I was very excited, and needless to say I am very pleased with the result :)

My partner was the lovely Kirsten from KLBaileyART. Kirsten does gorgeous water color paintings in a myriad of dreamy pastel colors and also converts some of her work into wearable art. I really love her stuff so I was extremely happy when my parcel from her arrived in the mail.. and this is what I got: (I was totally spoilt)! A gorgeous original watercolor painting featuring a silhouette tree & bird with gorgeous pastel background, and the same picture made into a wearable glass pendant! Also a card and two postcards of prints of her lovely paintings.

Thank you so much Kirsten!! I adore them!

In our coverstaions Kirsten had told me she liked blues, pinks and purples, liked my rose cabochon styles and also some of my polymer clay bracelets. Therefore I came up with this special package for her... containing a hot pink rose cabochon necklace, purple rose cabochon ring, blue/black/silver swirl bracelet and 3 little mauve courdroy bags I whipped up on the sewing machine. I hope she likes them!

So basically my first craft swap was great, and I'll definetly do more in the future. It's so enjoyable interactacting with other artisans, making a special item for them and recieving something special in return - It's a great way to support your fellow etsian's, and afterall who doesn't love getting a surprise in the mail!!

Check out Kirsten's blog feature about the Craft Swap too at http://www.klbaileyart.com/2010/04/20/more-swappy-goodness/

Another day, another treasury....

Since posting a few treasuries, I've been in four more treasuries this week, that's 6 all up just since the weekend. Something is definetely in the air with treasuries lately!! Thank you to Gaby from hopelesslydevoted,  Emma from noogal, Kavitha from poetry jewelry and Rhonda from glimmeringgems for inclusion in these four new gorgeous collations....

Giveaway Time!

Entries Close at 2pm (EST) 26 April

I've decided to run a little giveaway here on my blog (rather than facebook). I'm gonna be giving away this handmade crystal white rose cabochon ring to the lucky winner...

 All you have to do to be in the running is:

1.  Become a facebook fan (leave your facebook name in comment), and;
2.  Make a comment below this post, telling me which is your favourite item on my etsy store & why

Also, for an extra entry (optional)... become a follower of this blog (please just mention your avatar/ID name in the comment)!

One lucky entrant will be randomly drawn and announced on this blog and my facebook fanpage on 26th April (so you have 1 week to get your entries in!). If you are the winner, please contact me with your details within 24 hours to claim your prize or another winner will be drawn. Thank you and Good Luck!