DAY 100 of the 100 Days 100 Pairs Challenge

O.K., actually this is April 9th, or Day 99, but I'm posting a day early because I wanted to pass on this message in a timely way:

Ears to You  is having a special fundraising event starting today: 

"Join in our 3-day event Wednesday, April 9th to Friday, April 11th to raise funds and awareness of Ears To You!  If you live in Northeast Ohio, we have ETY earrings and new baseball hats, along with brochures and donation boxes that will be set-up in area businesses to encourage donations!  You can choose to donate any amount into the box, AND/OR donate a minimum amount to “wear your support” by choosing a pair of earrings ($10 min.) or a baseball hat ($18 min).  Take one, donate one!  If you live out of the area, please consider a donation here on our website. We rely solely on the generosity of individuals and your donation helps us continue to bring these moments of joy to cancer patients!  We are also looking for direct sponsorships from business owners and community leaders!" More on this link.

So, unbelievably, this is my final installment of ten earring pairs, numbers 91-100. Amy started this challenge back in January, and at the time I figured, "Well, I'll do what I can, but I doubt I'll be able to donate that many earrings!" I  am very happy to have been proven wrong :)

Without further ado, I present my last set, featuring a mix of my own polymer clay beads, lampwork by glass artisans Mona Sullivan, Amy Hall, and Lacy Spencer, as well as a set of Indonesian hand-carved bone components from a previous challenge. My theme this time was "White Plus", a series with bi-colour palettes, all on silver-filled earwires by Soul of Somanya:

 
**More details on components on the 100 Pairs 100 Days Pinterest board**

Right now I am waiting for some special earring cards being sent from the Ears to You organization, so I can get all 100 pairs packaged and mailed.

Thanks, everyone, for joining me, and for your encouragement during the 100 days of this great project :)

The Color of Dreams Blog Hop

Welcome to the Color of Dreams blog hop! Each participant was gifted a beautiful and colourful handmade polymer clay bead made by Patricia Handschuh of The Color of Dreams. Here is a description of our design challenge, as voiced by our hostess and giver of gifts, Rita of Jewel School Friends: 

"Feel free to create in any way you wish, using your bead as inspiration for your colorway, theme, technique. You are welcome to use additional Color of Dreams beads in your design, as well as artisan beads and gems and anything you like. You are not limited to jewelry.


You may share a dream that has come true, one you are working on now, or one you hope for in the future. The one goal of the hop: we'll focus on our dreams as entirely possible, with the idea, "If we can dream it, we can achieve it." So, try creating "from the end" -- as if your dream has already come true -- using your jewelry design to do so."

Thank you, Rita, for creating this lovely blog hop for all the dreamers!

Like many folks of a certain "vintage", I am often tempted to think that my dreams are a thing of the past. As a child, I wanted to visit the stars, to explore this planet and to experience the big events of our world. Then as I matured, my hopes became more "realistic": to find a career where I could thrive (failed); to stay home to raise my children (mostly succeeded); to keep music in my life (success!). I had more-or-less relegated dreaming to the past.

Yet, in my fifties, I have rediscovered the joy of learning new skills, the pleasure of creating a little beauty and the satisfaction of sharing it with new like-minded friends. I have also found a great community that supports and cheers other members as a matter of course. I "found" the internet and I haven't looked back! I am NOT a person who seeks change or growth, but they have found me, and the process of reinventing myself has been profound, humbling and exhilarating. 

You may have guessed that I have chosen a motif? What is a more appropriate expression of change and growth than the miracle of metamorphosis? I selected some simple butterfly-shaped howlite beads, which I love, to complement the lovely colours of Patricia's bead, and fashioned some simple barrel-shaped extruder beads to match them:

The star of the show... a beautiful bead handmade by Patricia Handschuh. Thank you so much for sharing your talents with the world, Patricia. The bead I received is as pretty on either side:

I am now wearing this simple and comfortable bracelet as a reminder to keep dreaming. Will there be more to come when I enter my seventh decade? Change and growth seem inevitable and less frightening to me now. They are a precious gift carried on the wings of our dreams.

Now here is a list of the artists willing to share what they have dreamed:

Honorary Artist: Patricia Handschuh
Patricia's blog   The Color of Dreams
Patricias Etsy   The Color of Dreams

Hostess: TJ   Jewel School Friends
Kay Thomerson    KayzKreationz
Audrey Belanger    Toki No Hourousha
Alicia Marinache    All the Pretty Things
Terry Carter    TappingFlamingo
Jayne Capps    Mama's Got To Doodle
Lori Schneider    Bead Addict
Jenny Kyrlach    Wonder and Whimsy
Asri Wahyuingsih    Asri's Beadwork
Dini Bruinsma    Angaza by Changes
Karla Morgan    Texas Pepper Jams
Debbie Rasmussen    A Little of This, A Little of That
Veralynne Malone    Designed by Vera                     
Kathy Stemke    Vintage Memories Jewelry Design
Mowse Doyle    Mowse Made This
Heather Richter    Desert Jewelry Designs
Lori Poppe    Adventures in Creativity with LorilliJean
Andrea Glick    Zenith Jade Creations
Kathleen Breeding     99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall
Becky Pancake    Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Karen Martinez    Fairies Market
Penny Houghton    Smelly Nelly
Miranda Ackerley    Mirandack  
Carolyn Lawson     Carolyn's Creations
Chris Eisenberg    Wanderware
Christie Murrow     Charis Designs Jewelry
***ME***Monique Urquhart    A Half-Baked Notion***ME***
Eve Shelby     Raindrop Creations Jewelry by Evelyn
Cryss Thain    Here Bead Dragons
Jasvanti Patel    Jewelry By Jasvanti
Nan Smith    NanMade Handmade Jewelry
Sue Kennedy    SueBeads
Jean Yates    Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Debbie Rogers    Debbies Treasures
Marybeth  Rich    A Few Words From Within the Pines
Shirley Moore    Beads and Bread
Shaiha Williams    Shaiha's Ramblings
Kathy Lindemer    Bay Moon Design
Linda Anderson    From the Bead Board
Judy Turner    Silver Rains
Gloria Allen    Gloria Allen Designs
Regina Wood    Ginas-Design
Robin Reed     Artistry HCBD
*Mary Goovars     MLH Jewelry Designs    (please visit after Wednesday, April 9)*
Marlene Cupo     Amazing Designs
CJ Bauschka     4 His Glory Creations
Robin Showstack   The Crazy Bead Hoarder
Cynthia O'Tool   Sparkles and Sweets
Jael Thorp    Jael's Art Jewels
Renetha Stanziano  Lamplight Crafts

*Direct links to the pertinent post will be added as I visit each blog*

Color of Dreams Tomorrow and FB Extruder Challenge On Right Now!

I seldom contribute to any Facebook groups. I just enjoy the blogosphere so much more, and life is too full to do everything online... or maybe I'm just not as organized as many of you clever folks out there :)

In any case, here is one challenge in which I have participated, on the Polymer Clay Collective Facebook group. You can submit anything made using polymer clay extruder techniques, with a randomly drawn prize being awarded. Enter TODAY ONLY and at THIS LINK ONLY. Check it out!

************************************************************************

Also, a reminder that tomorrow, April 6, is the Color of Dreams blog hop. Over 50 bloggers have signed up to create something inspired by the beautiful art beads of Florida artist Patricia Handschuh. We each received, from bead-lover Rita of Jewel School Friends, one of these treasures:

Please join us tomorrow when the dreaming begins :)

Cardboard Cat Castles Contest

O.K., it's time for another random posting for my fellow cat parents. The CARDBOARD CASTLES Contest invites you to submit photos of your cardboard creations for cool prizes. (This would be fun to do with kids and grandkids!) 

More details at the stylish Hauspanther or the humorous Catster websites. They will accept entries from April 2 until April 14, 2014. *Contest is open only to U.S. residents with shipping addresses within the United States. Bummer for me, but I'm going to check out the entries anyway... should be a hoot :)*

Catster's Cardboard Cat Castles Contest... Catster's Cardboard Cat Castles Contest... try saying that fast ten times... after a glass of wine :)

Here's a little something for those lacking architectural inspiration:

Liebster Award from Tammie

Last week, I was excited and honoured to learn that Tammie Everly of TTE Designs had nominated me for a "LIEBSTER AWARD". Now, full disclosure, I have previously received invitations to similar awards, but it was back when I was just getting my "sea-legs" as a blogger, and I was too lame and inexperienced to take part. So, with a nod and apologies to you ladies who kindly nominated me, I have endeavored to meet this challenge head-on this time.

I love reading Tammie's well-written blog and her frequent contributions as a member of the Creative Bead Chat and Polymer Clay Collective Facebook groups. She is always looking for new and better ways to improve her business, and share her art. She started her blog just a few months before I did, but is way ahead of me as an artist and blogger. Thank you very much for nominating me, Tammie!

Tammie has been published again!

Here are the rules for participating in this award process:

►Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and answer the questions they presented.

►Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

►Copy & paste the pink Liebster Award logo to your blog.

►Nominate 5 blogs to receive the award who have less than 3,000 followers. Create a new list of 11 questions for them.

►Inform them of their nomination.  

Here are the questions that Tammie asked:

1. The most beautiful place you've ever visited. Actually, a local waterfall gets the nod. I'd include a photo, but it's rather frozen and unspectacular right now :)

2. If you could invite a historical figure to dinner who would it be and why? Though I love history, this is one that stumps me for now. Whoever they are, they would get the same home-cookin' (see below):

3. What would you serve them for dinner? My prizewinning (just kidding, just for friends and family) Black and Red Chili.

4. If you had a superpower what would it be? The ability to instantly detect bulls**t... I suck at that.

5. Favorite childhood memory? Riding a horse for the first time.

6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Enjoying retirement with Hubby in Nova Scotia (hopefully much sooner than 10 years *TeeHee*)

7. Favorite movie? For the perfect storm of stunning visuals, art direction, musical score, inspiring (though controversial) story and acting chops... I nominate "The Mission" (1986). This movie has another favorite waterfall :)

8. Favorite book? A difficult one, as I rarely read fiction anymore. Most recently read and enjoyed: "Ireland" by Frank Delaney.

9. If you couldn't live in your home country, where would you choose to live? Scotland (Hubby's ancestral home) or France (mine).

10. What did you want to be when you grew up [and are you doing it]? An archaeologist or an astronaut... couldn't figure out if I belonged in the past or the future LOL. I didn't get to do either one :(

11.  Three words to describe yourself.  Spiritual. Introverted. Frugal ('cause how else can I afford BEADS).

Now I need to choose ONLY five blogs to continue the "chain". I follow a LOT of blogs and a wide range of blogs, so I have had to take a few days to distill... and I could have easily picked 50 blogs... but that's against the rules :)

So here are some blogs that entertain, inspire, amuse and otherwise make my brain happy. I chose bloggers with a variety of blogging experience and blog focus, and with various international ties (in honour of my being born in Europe), but who all blog in English:

All the Pretty Things- Romanian-born Alicia Marinache, a fellow Canadian bead-lover, designer, music aficionado, storyteller and traveler on life's journey, has been an early and steadfast supporter on my blogging journey.

On My Side of the World- Since moving from Russia to the U.S., Lena S. has been making her life beautiful with frugality and gratitude. You are a touchstone, Lena :)

Saraccino- Designer Claire Fabian of Germany wants to add a little odd in my life. Yes, please! Her polymer clay work is especially bold and unpretentious.

Sewing After Seven- Sheryl Selves, from the U.K. and now living in Spain, tempts me to take up needlework and sewing again, with wonderful and whimsical projects she shares on her blog.

Traveling Cats- Belgian author Vanessa Morgan combines two of my interests in one blog. Wish I could visit all these awesome spots with MY kitties. 

Here are my questions to you:

1. If you had a time machine, what period of history would you visit?

2. Do you play a musical instrument (if not, which would you want to learn)?

3. Who was your first best friend as a child?

4. How or why did you decide to start blogging?

5. Where would you visit if cost were no object?

6. Favorite guilty pleasure?

7. Are you a big breakfast eater or strictly coffee and toast?

8. What is the one thing you "can't live without"?

9. You think ___________ should be illegal...

10. What is your favorite room in the house?

11. If the story of your life were made into a movie, would it be a drama? comedy? suspense? horror? documentary?

So, for my nominees, I hope you will take part in the spirit this was meant, in your own good time. I wanted to publish this yesterday (April 1st), but I was afraid someone might think it an April's Fool joke :)

*Bonus ('cause I don't think it's a blog, but I want to "pass it on", as their simple header states): Upworthy. Check it out!*

Thank you again, Tammie, and thanks to everyone for taking time to visit :)