What does your jewelry say about you? Fun?

There are thousands of jewelry shops on Etsy and there are almost 1,000,000 pieces of jewelry for sale! I am fortunate that I belong to several teams with fabulous jewelry artisans. There will be several blogs about jewelry because there are many types and that many sellers I would like to showcase.

First and foremost, Kim of VisionQuest.etsy.com. Kim is an amazing metalsmith. Her jewelry is elegant, very well crafted, simple and organic. She has stacker necklaces that are so cool.

They come in many different colors have great names such as life savers, Lil bit of sunshine and purple rain to name a few.

One of her latest is a custom Family bracelet. I am waiting for the K9 version featuring me, one large dog and one medium dog! I can't wait.

KimzVisionz.etsy.com is another shop which is a combination of beaded jewelry and a little destash. The Red Brick Gallery on Main Street in downtown Ventura also showcases Kim's fun, funky and really cool jewelry.

Also check out the HandmadeinCalifornia.net for more great shops.

Bubbles, Suds and More

I love soaps, bubble baths and scrubs and all those other girly things! I am allergic to most floral scents and many natural ingredients so I have to be very careful. I tend to go towards fruit, coconut or peppermint scents. Here are just a couple that I have found to be intriguing or downright gorgeous!


The first one is Lemon Soap enriched and cocoa butter and shea butter from PacificParadiseSoaps.etsy.com. I have not tried this specific soap have tried the Dead Sea Salt Soak and the Whipped Hand and Body Butter with Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil and Shea Butter. My skin tends to be dry so but body butter is perfect.

Look at this gorgeous soap! How fun is that. This is next on my list of soaps to try. It is from Carol of Intentions.Etsy.com! This one is called Put da lime in da coconut. I cannot wait to try this. I think what intrigued me the most was while the scents were the same as other shops, the originality of the design and color combinations were striking. You look at one item and keep want to go deeper.

Lily of the Valley - This was my grandmother's favorite scent. Wouldn't this look gorgeous in your guest bathroom. Think of your guests being wowed! This beautiful soap is made by Soaps at Soaps.etsy.com. Check out her store for many other fun and gorgeous soaps.


These are just three examples that I think stand out. There are also savor.etsy.com, who I would have included but her shop is on vacation. Very original combinations.

AdorationSoap.etsy.com has a watermelon cooler sugar body polish I am dying to try.

I have also purchased from DennisAnderson.etsy.com and LaveMeSoapCo.etsy.com and I keep coming back for more.


Enjoy, experiment and be clean!

Lampwork Beads - I really do like them afterall!

I have never been fond of lampwork beads. All those dots around another bead seemed rather silly to me. About a month ago I shared a booth with Anita of www.Jewelz076.etsy.com. Anita works mainly with lampwork beads. But there are beads and then there are beads. Anita used to make her own by now purchases from many artisans all over the world.

Check out this gorgeous necklace with a dog of course. See the different lampwork beads and some with paw prints! (You knew I was going to love this one!)

It struck me as being totally different and how much I really liked it.

Besides dogs, I really love the ocean, seashells, sand, dolphins. So imagine my delight when I spied a lampwork seashell bead!

I really enjoy Anita's jewelry. She has a love for glass, jewelry and design. Visit her shop and have a wonderful time!

Another fabulous lampwork artisan is Amy of FormFireGlassworks (FormFireGlassworks.etsy.com). This heart is stunning and I never thought really understood it was a lampwork bead.

What is lampworking: It is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowed and shaping with a variety of tools and hand movements. IT is also knows as flameworking or torchworking, as the moder practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Althought hte art form has been practiced since ancient times, it became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in th 14th century. In the mid 19th centura lampwork technique was extended to the production of paperweights, primarily in France, where if become a popular art form, still collected today. Lampworking differs from glassblowing in that glassblowing utilizes a blowpipe to inflate a glass blob known as a gob or father, thereby inflating it by blowing air into the blowpipe, whereas, lampworking manipulates glass either by the use of tools, gravity or by blowing directly into the end of a glass tube.

Lampworking is used to create various artwork, including figurines, trinkets, curios, Christmas tree ornaments, beads and much more. It is also used to create many scientific instruments as well as glass models of animal and botanical models that so closely mimic the realy thing; they are virtually indiscernible from the actual thing, save the fact that they are not living.

This information was obtained through wikipedia.com.

Here is another example from Amy of AKDLampwork.etsy.com. Look how gorgeous these beads are! I am simply in awe.

The next time I see something I think I don't like, maybe I better investigate a little further.

This blog is a little different. I have been writing about personal beliefs, things happening in the world. I am going to change the tone some and feature some of my favorite sellers or themes.

This is also my first attempt at adding stores and pictures. I need to work on the links going directly to the stores. Baby steps. Never thought I would blog in the first place.