Earth As Art Color Challenge From Treasures Found

It's here! The first of November I signed up for the Color Challenge that Erin Prais-Hintz, of Treasures Found, always has in November. I did it last November for the first time. If you're really wanting to challenge yourself or just get new inspiration, you should really check out her Color Challenges. Just as the name implies, they will challenge you.  She has a different theme every time and selects one or two color palettes for you to use to make a piece of jewelry.  This time around, Brandi Hussey from BrandiGirl blog picked out 40 of the 120 NASA pictures from their Earth As Art photographs and made color palettes from those. They are truly inspiring.  Then Erin picked out the 2 color palettes for each of the 80 participants and e-mailed them to us, letting us pick which palette we would work with.  These are the 2 palettes I received.  The first is the Great Sandy Scars from Australia.  I love these colors and picked this one to be the main one to work with.  Description: In a small corner of the vast Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia, large sand dunes—the only sand in this desert of scrub and rock—appear as lines stretching from left to right. The light-colored fan shapes are scars from wildfires. Isn't that cool?

This is what I came up with from my Color Palette.  I used some Glass Beads from Hobby Lobby, some Purple Potato Pearls and Green Daggers (can't remember the name of the bead on these) I had on hand, some Light Green/Yellow sari ribbon I had and the cutest little blue/gray owl I received from Natalie Pappas along with a brass colored Leaf toggle clasp to make it appear the owl was in the leaves of a tree high overhead the Great Sandy Scars. (I know, he probably wouldn't be in that part of the world, but I liked the idea.)  I added some dark brass colored chain I had to wrap around the Green and Purple strand.  Did I catch the essence of the Great Sandy Scars?

Here's the second palette I received. This one was really a challenge for me. I'm not a fan of blue and these are not colors I usually or ever work with.  I'm still trying to get my Kumihimo braid finished off for this necklace, so not sure I'll get it done in time to post.  But I took Dyed Imperial Jasper Sapphire, Natural Shell rice, and Carnelian dyed nuggets from Michael's along with some Yellow Round hole beads from Hobby Lobby and some Copper Filigree beads I had received as a gift and strung them to hang with the Salsa yarn and Gold and Orange ribbon to make my Kumihimo braid. Finished off the braid with brass/copper bead caps and attached all 3 strands to copper jump rings and chain. Then I finished it off with a Copper Square Toggle clasp to match the square Filigree beads.  It is from the Color palette Lake Eyre, also in Australia. Description: Do you see a scary face looking back at you? The hollow-appearing eyes, narrow nose, and slash of a mouth are inundated patches of shallow Lake Eyre (pronounced "air"). Deep in the desert country of northern South Australia, Lake Eyre is an ephemeral feature of this flat, parched landscape. When seasonal rains are abundant, water fills the lakebed to some degree. During the last 150 years, Lake Eyre has filled completely only three times. When brimming, it is Australia's largest lake.

Unfortunately, I've run out of time, between company, appointments, cooking for some volunteers that are coming this weekend to help us and other things, so I don't quite have this piece done, but here it is so far. I still have to finish off my Kumihimo braid, then attach all three strings to the copper chain and the copper toggle clasp, which is in the picture. Hopefully I'll get it done and post the finished project Monday or Tuesday. So if you'd like to see it finished, check back then and let me know what you think.

I thought it was interesting to read about each of these spots, too, so I included the description of each from USGS/EROS Image gallery. To see more great Earth as Art pictures click the name.  So what do you think?  Did I capture the essence of Lake Eyre in this necklace?  Did I meet the challenge of using colors I never work with and make something you would wear? Keep checking my blog or Etsy shop as this one at least will be listed for sale soon. If you like either one and want it sooner, you can e-mail me or convo me from my Etsy shop, KayzKreationz and let me know.  And be sure to check out Treasures Found for the other 79 participants in this Color Challenge.  And if you're looking for more Stained Glass, Mosaic, Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden, or more Beaded, Wire-wrapped jewelry for yourself or as gifts, check out my shop for those, too, KayzKreationz.

Kalmbach Books Bead Soup Blog Party

With the release of Lori Anderson's new book Bead Soup-32 Projects (for my review of her book, click here)  Kalmbach books asked Bead shops across the country to send in 'Soup' mixes of a focal bead, a clasp and some coordinating beads to go with it.  Then they asked for jewelry designers to sign up and drew names to send these soups to.  I was fortunate enough to get a soup mix and it came from Wired Up Beads in Texas!  Yay!  We were to take that soup and create a piece of jewelry or more from it, using at least the focal and the clasp. We could use just their beads or we could raid our stash and add to it.  This is the soup I got from Wired Up Beads.  Isn't it great?  The focal is one from Patti Bullard at Wired Up Beads.

I chose to use only the beads they sent me and added chain and fiber from my stash.  This was my first time making a Kumihimo braid. I found 8 different strands of fiber/yarn that I thought would compliment these beads and went to work.  It wasn't long enough, however, so I capped it off, after winding some smaller chain around it and attached it to the heavier chain to lengthen the necklace.  I then attached the Teal beads to the small chain wound around the Kumihimo braid.  I then added another shorter length of chain to the main part of the necklace and made dangles with the orange/red beads and the green beads to attach to that.  I also used the smaller chain to make 3 dangles with one each of the beads, attached it to a headpin and ran it through the focal bead to make my focal pendant.  Then I had to figure out how to hang the focal pendant.  So I used the heavier chain, draped it around the Kumihimo braid and attached the Focal to it.  I used the end caps for the Kumihimo braid to make a pair of earrings, hanging one each of the 3 beads on the small chain again and running through the bead caps to the earwire.  Although it didn't really come out as I envisioned it, I think I like it.  My mother said she thinks it's gorgeous, except that my focal reminds her of a 'fishing lure'!  LOL  Didn't really expect that.  What do you think of my Bead Soup Necklace and earrings?  I think I have enough beads to make a dangle/charm bracelet to go with it.  Thanks for stopping by. This set will be showing up in my Etsy shop KayzKreationz before long, unless it sells before I get it listed.  I've had some interest in it.  And for Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden, stop by my shop, KayzKreationz.  Plus you can go to Kalmbach's Facebook page and vote for your favorite piece. The winner gets prizes.

Thanks for stopping by and all your lovely comments.

Bead Soup-32 Projects

I recently received Lori Anderson's new book Bead Soup-32 Projects Show What Happens when 26 Beaders Swap Their Stash, from Kalmbach books. It's a great book. Lori started with the Bead Soup Blog Party basically by accident back in about December 2010.  She decided to see if people would want to swap bead stashes and create, preferably with things they hadn't or wouldn't have chosen to use to challenge themselves and then blog about it.  Since then it's grown to over 400 participants this last summer.  I have gotten to participate in 2 of those Bead Soup Bog Parties. They are fantastic and cause you to really challenge yourself to create something you might not have otherwise.  This book is written like a Bead Soup Party.  There were 26 designers involved, asked to swap beads and design.  I love the way the soup is written on 'recipe' cards in keeping with the soup theme.  Then the directions are described as 'recipes'.  What's fantastic about this book, is that although you can follow the directions exactly if you wish, it also teaches or encourages you to work with your own stash and see how you can create these projects or something very similar with what you already have.  This is great, since it gets us to go through our stash and see things in a different light.  The first chapter focuses on the Leftover method, where you use beads left over from other projects. It moves on to the Focal method which focuses on the focal of our piece.  It finishes up with the Color Palette method and the Random Purchase method.  Each project is named, gives us the 'utensils' (tools) to use and then encourages us to stretch our imagination.  She gives us little tips and substitutions to try.  She's very thorough in the way she approaches each project and then describes it. The photos are great.  In the back she introduces us to all the designers and contributors of the projects and gives us a shopping list, if we just have to have the same 'ingredients' used in a particular project.  In accord with the release of this book, Kalmbach books asked Bead stores from across the country to send in Soup mixes and then asked people if they'd like to sign up to participate in another Bead Soup party to celebrate the release of this great book.  I am thrilled to say, I was chosen and sent a fantastic soup from a Bead Store from my own great state of Texas, Wired Up Beads!  They're in Southlake, Tx.  Stay tuned in the next day or two for the reveal of my pieces.  In the meantime, run right out (or get online) and order this book. You won't regret it.  It will help you stretch your wings in your beading creativity.
And if you're looking for some of my Wire-wrapped, Beaded jewelry or Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.  I'll be glad to help you any way I can.

Don't forget, check back for my Kalmbach Bead Soup reveal from Wired UP Beads.

Treasuries!

In a thread in the forums on Etsy tonight, someone explained that you could go to "Treasury" and put your name in the search box to see if you'd been listed in any Treasuries.  Since I hadn't heard that I'd been put in any, I decided to search.  And I was tickled to see that in the last few weeks my glass had been put in 2 different treasuries! Yay! The first is for the "Handmade Artist Forum Twitter Ring".  This is a team I belong to, and we've formed a twitter ring to tweet about other Handmade Artist's shops and such.  The curator of this treasury put my Stained Glass Mosaic Birdhouse feeder in this one.  I love making Glass Kreationz for Home and Garden, so this is one of my favorite items.  If you're looking for something for a friend or family member that loves gardening and feeding the birds, this is just the ticket for you.
The second Treasury is "Poinsettia" and the curator put my Stained Glass Poinsettia panel in it.  If you love Poinsettia's, the color red, or Stained Glass, this panel is for you.  It would look great adorning your wall or window.

If you're looking for something else for your Home or Garden, be sure to check out my shop, KayzKreationz.  I also do some beading and wire work and have some jewelry, pendants listed.  Thanks again to those that included my glass in their treasuries.

Special for this weekend-Saturday Blog Shopping

Things have been so busy, I haven't had much time this last week or so to get anything new listed.  So this weekend, I'm offering 10% off of the jewelry on my site.  You can check out Mom's jewelry/bracelet here, my Dichroic glass pendants here, or my Jasper and Copper wire wrapped pendant here.  If you're interested, just convo me about the piece you'd like with the code: SBS and I'll either re-price the piece for you or send you a new invoice.

And for more Glass Kreationz for your home or garden be sure to check out the rest of KayzKreationz for unique Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass Kreationz.   

And be sure to check back later this weekend or early next week for a fun, new wire-wrapped pendant.  Have fun.

Beaded Bookmarks, Little Red Fused Bowl and other things all Glass

Within the last 2 days I've been contacted about 2 different items in my Etsy shop: KayzKreationz being featured on blogs. I love the Etsy community and the fact that most are so willing to help others. My first item featured is my Little Red Fused Glass Bowl. This has so many different uses. You can put it on your dresser/nightstand to hold your rings, jewelry and other things. It can hold a small candle for a romantic feel, it can be used for a small candy dish. See how many other uses you can think of for it and then treat yourself by purchasing it to use or as a gift. :)
My second item is my Silver and Turquoise beaded bookmark. I love reading and like unique ways to mark my place. So this bookmark came about. It's just the right size for a small book. But you could use it to mark a recipe in a cookbook or other things. It too would make a great gift for that book lover you know, whether it's you or someone else.
Be sure to check out KayzKreationz for other great Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass items for your home and garden, too. I make all kinds of things from glass and they make great gifts for yourself or someone else.

Great Web Design

My sons have always loved computers, programming and web design. After doing it just in their spare time and working for others, they recently decided to start their own business designing and programming web pages. They do a really great job. The oldest has been doing this for about 10 years or more, even working for EBay. The youngest has been building web pages for small businesses and independent businesses or people since he was a teen. He is fluent in Spanish too, so is also able to help ones that want their web page in Spanish or Spanish translation on their webpages. So they decided they might as well be doing this for themselves. And although there are lots of do-it-yourself webpage design programs out there, they seldom can really make your Web page/business stand out like it needs to, to get the traffic and business you want and need. So if you're looking to get a Web page for your business, or just looking to dress it up or redesign it to really expand your business, check out ExpertWebCreation. They offer different pricing packages that will get what you need or want at a price you can afford. Plus you'll have a "Professional" web page that does justice to your business. Check them out. They'll be glad to help you.
(Now if I can just get them to help me redesign my web page for KayzKreationz) :) You'll love them and their work.

Etsy Blog package giveaway

If you're looking for some help with your Etsy Shop or just a great giveaway, check out this great Business package being offered on the Etsy Blog. It offers some Ad Boxes for your shop, some Photo Editing and some other great prizes. It ends today, so hurry. Just click on the title or here to get to the giveaway:

Etsy Blog giveaway

Support Handmade

There's a movement going on Etsy right now to help support Handmade/Handcrafted items. It's called 30on30. It's very simple. To help support handmade items and artists you simply spend $30.00 on November 30th. (Or whatever you can). It's a great way to help support these artists or even your local economy instead of the big box stores like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target and others. Plus you get something really unique for yourself or as a gift for someone else. And usually these items last much longer than anything you'd buy in the stores and often become things handed down from generation to generation. Plus it gives you or your recipient a special joy knowing it was handmade/handcrafted and you picked it out or had it customized just the way you wanted. If you're interested in helping support your handmade community, whether local or worldwide, search for "30on30" on Etsy and see what wonderful things you come up with. For instance, I make Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass items for your home and garden. You won't find anything like this Birdfeeder in your local Wal-Mart. Or this great little Romantic Blue Plate in Pier One or BedBathandBeyond. So check out my shop: KayzKreationz or the many other great handmade items on Etsy now or this Monday and help support Handmade/Handcrafted with 30on30.

Sorry for not updating

I just noticed I hadn´t updated since the end of July. We've been so busy with the volunteer work we've been doing in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, I just haven't had as much time as I'd like for my blogging or my glass. Plus we found out just before we came back home this week for a spell, that our well had basically "gone dry". The water table has dropped about 150' here where we're at because of the prolonged drought (some are saying it's the worst in 50 years) so the water level dropped below where the pump was and since we weren't here it kept trying to pump water and burned itself up, melted the casing, something has dropped into the bottom of the well and the bad news is: We have to drill a completely new well! :( We were hoping he could get to it this week while we've been home, but no go. So hopefully he'll get it done next week. We've had a trickle of water, so he put a new pump on it (down far enough that the water pushes back up a little to cover it) and it pumps for a few minutes and partially fills the pressure tank and then shuts off. Then a little while later when the water comes back up it pumps again for a little while. Basically, we've got enough water to take a shower, then wait about 15 minutes or so and can take another shower or possibly wash a load of clothes. Can't do any of my outside work I needed to do. But hopefully that will get fixed this next week. If so, I'll be taking some pics of the new well being drilled and posting about them. Thanks to all who've been thinking about us and sending thoughts our way.

My blog was awarded the Premio Meme Award

Joyous Treasures of Etsy just recently awarded my blog the Premio Meme award. Thank you so much. Her blog EtsyTreasureChest has some really nice features and articles, so check both her shop and her blog out. Her shop features some very pretty jewelry and cute crochet items.
To accept this award I have to share 7 things about me, so here goes:
1. My family comes first in my life. I have a wonderful husband of 32 years and 2 great sons, along with one adorable daughter-in-law that are the best family anyone could have.
2. Horses have been a passion with me since I was a baby. The first word out of my mouth was my version of "horsey".
3. I love crafting, but have to be very careful about not getting too many things to do, thus never getting enough time to do any of them. So my glass has become my passion. Although now I'm finding more and more things to do with glass, so am trying to limit that. :)
4. I am extremely cold-natured. When everyone else is sweating and fanning themselves, I'm walking around with a sweater on. I would keep my house at 82 degrees if my hubby would let me.
5. Gardening is my next passion. I love flowers and all kinds of plants and would fill every inch of house and land I own with them if I could afford it.
6. I enjoy doing volunteer work, and right now am helping out with some volunteer work in the "valley" of Texas.
7. My hubby and I are learning Spanish and are hoping to travel to Peru later this year. Our youngest sons speaks spanish fluently and is helping us.
I hope you enjoyed these little tidbits. Now I am passing this award on to 7 other great bloggers I know.
BlackFeatherFarm
ClayItAgain
CTJewelryDesign
MyMothersGarden
SaladForBreakfast
Sherry'sJewels
RedHeadHomestead
Enjoy

My mosaic birdfeeder is in a Treasury!

I hadn't been in a treasury for a while, so it was a nice surprise this morning to get a convo saying noahsarkcollection had put me in their treasury. They featured my mosaic Birdhouse birdfeeder. I love making these birdfeeders and especially like this little birdfeeder. So check out the treasury by either clicking on the picture of it or the title to the post and give it some love. Here's the birdfeeder they featured.

Protecting our Birds while enjoying them-Cleaning our birdfeeders

Do you love birds and watching them at your feeders? I do. I also love making my stained glass mosaic birdfeeders for them to feast at like this one to the left. But feeding the birds also involves making sure they're safe. One way to do that is to make sure we keep our birdfeeders and the area around them clean. Here's a few of the things we can do to insure the birds stay healthy while getting a good meal at our feeders.

The first thing to do is to give our feeders a good thorough cleaning and disinfecting. A dirty birdfeeder can harbor bacteria, mold and other diseases that can decimate the bird population in our backyards. Infected birds can spread the illnesses to other backyards and wild bird populations, creating epidemic problems that wipe out whole nesting colonies of birds. But if we conscientiously clean our bird feeders we can minimize the disease potential. And clean feeders will attract more birds, a plus for us. So to attract the most birds and help keep them healthy, follow these guidelines:

1. Clean regularly: All feeders should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a month. Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned each time you refill them. Popular bird feeders may even need to be cleaned more often depending on how many birds you have feeding at them.

2. Use proper cleaning solutions. Feeders can be sanitized with one part bleach to nine parts water. A mild solution of unscented dishsoap can also be used.

3. Clean all feeder parts. For the best sanitation and disease prevention, each feeder should be cleaned inside and out, including all feeder ports, perches, lids, platforms, etc.

4. Use proper equipment. Use rubber gloves to avoid contamination and use stiff brushes to ensure thorough cleaning. You can get specialized brushes at pet supply stores, but regular bottle brushes can be just as effective. And an old toothbrush is great for cleaning small parts, feeding ports and tight areas.

5. Rinse thoroughly. After cleaning, the feeder and all cleaned parts should be rinsed thoroughly for at least 10 seconds to ensure you have all cleaning solution rinsed off well.

6. Dry completely. While this may sound silly, the feeders should be completely dry before refilling. Remaining moisture could lead to mold and mildew that could cause illness and rotten, unhealthy seed, thereby negating everything we've just done.

So be sure to follow these guidelines to ensure you have good clean feeders and enjoy watching all the birds flock to your yard and feeders to enjoy their meal.

If interested in the mosaic feeder pictured, it is available in my shop: KayzKreationz. I also have several other feeders with different themes not listed. You can convo me for more info or post a comment here.

Another great giveaway from SoadDeli

Rebecca's handmade, cold process Garden Mint Gardener's Shea Butter Soap is the perfect bar soap for the gardener, artist or mechanic! It contains fine ground pumice, poppy seeds, and apricot kernel meal for scrubbing away caked on dirt, grease, paints, and anything else you might get your hands into. The fresh scent of spearmint, lettuce, and rain makes it pleasant to use, while natural, unrefined shea butter helps to prevent hands from drying out.
So starts out Rebecca's description of this great handmade soap she's offering free in her giveaway. Click on the title to this post to go right to the giveaway for your chance to win a bar of her Garden Mint Soap.

New Giveaway from Sassy Glass

Sassy Glass on Etsy has some of the greatest stone & silver jewelry. While browsing the blogs I follow I found out about a giveaway of one of her gorgeous pendants/necklaces on LillyShayStyle's blog. Be sure to check it out, to see the pendant and for a chance to win a beautiful piece of jewelry. Tell 'em KayzKreationz sent ya.

I love Horses-Interview with Texas Artist HossLass

I love horses. My mother says the first word out of my mouth was "foifee" which was how I pronounced "horsey". I've been talking, dreaming and for a short while, owning horses ever since. Last winter when I was participating in a Marketing Exchange I found this great Etsy shop that features horse art. She does original fine art and functional art designs featuring horses, wildlife, the Southwest and western Americana. I fell in love. Recently I ran across her again as part of my EtsyTx team. So I decided it was about time to do an interview with her and find out how and when she started crafting. I hope you enjoy her interview as much as I did and be sure to check out her shop HossLass. If you love horses or western things you'll fall in love, too.
1. When and why did you start crafting?
Well, as a young child I started drawing and painting, mostly horses. As I was a horse crazy girl from a non horse crazy rural poor farm family! So my first horse didn't come along until I was old enough to get a job and pay for the upkeep myself at age 16. Until then, I painted many imaginary horse friends! As I got older I wound up leaving my art world behind to make my way in life like most people. Then about three years ago I think I hit my mid life crisis and reached out to art again as a fresh start! Somehow watercolor pencil painting appealed to me, very new and different to me than the oils/acrylics I used in my youth, so that's the medium I focus on. I decided my next career move is to become a full time self supporting artist!
2. What do you enjoy most about your crafting?
I really enjoy the creative journey, from the excitement of the new idea, deciding on the design, colors and composition, the actual work in progress and the final product. I often have at least two or three other projects lined up in my head while I'm working on the current one! I really enjoy creating a series of paintings or functional art, for instance the series of Prancing Horse small format paintings, and I have two other southwest wildlife series sets I'm working on. The eagle beaded bookmark is one of a set of southwest wildlife bookmarks, planning on a cougar and bear also. Right now, I'm in the process of making a series of three small hiking or trail riding journals which are beaded with semi precious stones and each journal cover will have an original miniature painting of another set of southwest wildlife (mustangs, elk and buffalo).
3. How did you find out about Etsy and why did you start selling there?
Etsy peaked my interest from an artist forum I was on (a lot). Many artists there kept mentioning Etsy as their store so I checked it out! I liked what I found on Etsy very much and decided this was the way to begin to sell my art online on my budget. I started my store in October of 2007. I have learned so much, my Etsy shop is a work in progress, I'm getting more the hang of what I want visitors to experience when they visit my shop and look at the artwork.
4. What is the hardest thing to do for your shop or you dislike the most about selling online?
I think the hardest thing for me in my shop now, besides building new inventory, is promoting. Especially online networking and promoting. Like most artists, I just want to devote all my time to making my art as best as I can. Which for me, requires quite a bit of mental energy, and I'm the type of artist who needs to be in that creative zone. Otherwise if I make myself work on my art everyday, that's what it looks like, to me, as if the piece was worked on and not naturally flowing with color and feel. I have discovered I feel the same way about promoting online. I have gotten better about spending time promoting at least one to two days a week. If I had the budget, I'd hire someone to promote my art for me!!
5. Do you rely on Etsy to help pay bills or is it mainly for fun & extra spending money?
My goal is to rely on sales through Etsy to pay my bills and be part of my full time financial support from online sources (like Artfire and Ebay). And the sales I have made do go toward bills, seems like as soon as the money is in my paypal account, I've got it going out to pay for something else! I would like to have several sales a month, but it's not that way yet. I have faith that time will pay off for me! My Etsy shop is fun for me anyway!!
6. Have you tried or do you sell in offline shops? Do you enjoy that more or less than Etsy & why?
No, I'm in the process of building more inventory, creating more art so I'm just focusing on online sales right now. However, my goal is to have my own website, also to be more in depth about my art and then use all the online shops to showcase my art to anyone. Then I can go out to brick and mortar shops locally with a great portfolio and a big Texas smile!!
7. Where else can you be found online?
I have an Artfire store, http://hosslassart.artfire.com , on Twitter http://twitter.com/hosslass , my blog http://hosslass.blogspot.com and I now Plurk http://plurk.com/hosslass and one day my own website, name to be determined!
Thanks for the great interview HossLass. Be sure to check out the box to the right for a few of her great Etsy items, and then visit her other shops, too.

I´ve Been Featured on Ecogeneration

I had a pleasant note today. I've been featured on a great blog by Ecogeneration. They have a wonderful Etsy shop where they upcycle/recycle things for longer life/usefulness. I recently won one of her coffee cup sleeves and it's great. Then she asked about featuring me for her Fabulous Friday Featured seller posts. Read about it by clicking the title to this post or her: Ecogeneration. Enjoy.

Another great giveaway from Silver Parrot

I just found out about this great bead giveaway. This is an awesome pile of beads. But it ends today, so if you're interested in some great free beads be sure to check it out and leave a comment and post on your blog. It will be a great prize for anyone who beads or knows someone who does. It's at Silver Parrot. And this pic is just a few of the free beads she's giving away. Check out her blog for more pics.

Kim's Country Cottage and Rosebuds Afghan Giveaway

I recently just found out about this great blog, shop and the lovely giveaway she's having. She makes fantastic afghans and is giving away this Romantic Rosebuds Afghan. I've added her blog button to my sidebar on the left, if you want to check out her blog, or you can click on the title of this post to go right to the giveaway. But be sure to hurry since the giveaway ends on June 15th. It's to help promote her new Etsy shop.

Pure Natural Minerals Giveaway

I just found out about a great giveaway. I've heard so much about natural minerals makeup and have been told several times I should try it since my skin is SO oily, I can't seem to keep makeup on in the Texas heat past about 11:00 in the morning, if that long. So I was intrigued when I found out about this giveaway. I'm hoping I can win and it will give me that extra little push to try this mineral makeup out and see how well it does. So check out this giveaway at Salad for Breakfast.