Irish Dance Charm Bracelets and the Three Rivers Feile

July 30, 2010

I finally finished that Irish Dance Charm Bracelet I mentioned recently.  Here are a few views.


There's a silver Trinity, an antique brass locket and a sterling silver Irish dancer.  I'm going to put a picture of each of my girls in the locket!


There's and antique gold clover, an old "Lucky" charm of mine and a sterling silver Ghillie, or Irish dance soft shoe.


There's a sterling silver Claddaugh and a four leaf clover encased in resin.  I've also used pearls, of course, in the glass, coin and freshwater varieties!  I've also added faceted crystal beads for a little more sparkle.  It's approximately 7 1/2" long on an antique brass double link chain bracelet with a pewter toggle clasp.  I've made a few of these before, all unique.  Here's a peek at another one. 


This one's a bit more plain.  You might even say elegant.  And here's one that sold on Etsy.


There are others, too, all unique.  I hope to be making more in the near future for my Etsy shop.  If you're interested in purchasing one I would be happy to talk to you about your style, etc. and how I might make one for you as a feisanna mama (as I like to call myself!) or even for your daughter, grandaughter, neice or friend!  Click on View My Complete Profile in the right sidebar and it'll take you to "Contact me."

I have Irish dance on the brain these days as my girls and I will be attending the Three Rivers Feile in Des Moines, Iowa the first weekend in August.  It's being run by their dance school, the Foy School of Traditional Irish Dance and Iowa Irish, Inc.  We're pretty excited.  It should be a lot of fun, after the five hour drive, that is! :)  Oh yeah ~ and if you know of anyone in the Chicago area who is trying to get rid of a size 2 1/2 pair of hard shoes, let me know.  We need them!

And if you're in the Des Moines area, stop by the Polk County Convention Complex in downtown Des Moines on Saturday, August 7th.  The competition starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs almost all day!  It's a grand time!  

Hope you all have a great weekend!



I'm Linking Up to


and

Join  us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up      party!

Great Finds Contest

July 28, 2010

Okay, ladies, I'll admit I didn't win the "Pretty Pinks" contest over at Passion's Picks last week.  It was close, but apparently not all my followers voted! lol  Never fear, you have a chance to redeem yourselves (you know who you are...) and vote for my Cha Cha Cha Charm Bracelet over at Great Handmade Finds (click on "Great Finds" in her left sidebar to get to the poll).  So hop on over there, ladies, and vote early and vote often (just kidding, you can only vote once...I think ~ ha!)


For those of you who missed my previous Etsy Treasury Searching post, here's another picture of the bracelet in question.


Time is running out!  So run, don't walk ~ and get that vote cast for Love You More Designs (that's me).  Okay, I'm not being too needy, am I?  Don't answer that!  I appreciate all your support.

I'm off to work on an Irish Dance Charm Bracelet.  My girls have a feis (pronounced "fesh") in less than two weeks in Des Moines, IA and I want to be able to wear it there.  I also need to get moving and make some for my Etsy shop if I can ever find the time!  Hope you're all having a great week!



Vintage Medal Charm Bracelet

July 27, 2010




I'm really into vintage medals these days.  The more I can find at flea markets and barn sales, the better.  This is my most recent creation.  It was inspired by a vintage religious medal snagged at a local flea market ~ a silver Our Lady of Fatima medal. From there I added 9 more charms, eclectically mixed in both theme and metals, as per usual in my designs.

The other 9 charms are comprised of a silver starfish, a mini "crystal ball", two heart lockets (one antique brass and one dark and gunmetal-like), a cross, a decorative silver filigree three dimensionsl charm with a Swarovski 4 mm bicone bead attached, a silver key, a round antique brass locket and a vintage sterling silver and crystal rhinestone charm that was recycled from an old earring! Whew!

The rest of the mix is made of pearls, faceted pink glass beads, crystal beads and hematite beads.  I love the mix and the jingle. Now I'm on the prowl for more vintage medals!

I'm linking this up to Get Your Craft On with Today's Creative Blog.







This Week's Featured Artisan~ Va Beach Quilter



This week's featured artisan is Va Beach Quilter.  Kim makes quilts, table runners, coupon organizers, wallets, purses and more. I LoVe her Olive Floral City Quilted Tote!

You can find Va Beach Quilter @
Her Blog

 {Pssssst........With monthly giveaways!}

So check her out!



Etsy Treasury Searching

July 25, 2010

Okay, I'm really happy to report the recent unveiling of one of Etsy's latest features ~ you can now easily (yes, I said easily) search within the Etsy website for treasuries big and small.  All you have to do is go to Etsy's home page, go to the sidebar and click on Ways to Shop ~ Treasuries.  The rest is history.  Below is Etsy's own Help section's answer to "How do I search for a treasury?" 

Treasury is Etsy's ever-changing, member-curated shopping gallery.

You can search Treasury from the main search bar on any Treasury page (make sure the search dropdown menu is set to "Treasury"). 
You can search Treasury list titles and tags, as well as the titles and tags of items in the lists. You can also search for curators of Treasury lists and for shops with items in Treasury lists.

In addition, you can use "operators" to target your Treasury search. Available operators include:  •curator: •shop: •tags: •title:

For example, to find all the Treasury lists created by curator EtsyStore, you would enter this into the Treasury search bar:  curator:EtsyStore

To find all the Treasury lists that contain items from EtsyStore, you would enter this into the Treasury search bar: shop:EtsyStore

The "tags:" and "title:" operators allow you to target your Treasury search to Treasury list tags and titles, respectively.

So, to search for the recent treasury I'm in, I would go to Etsy's Treasury home page and then type in "loveyoumoredesigns" in the search box since that's my Etsy shop name (example of using the shop operator to conduct a search).  And I get this:



Wait for it, wait for it.....okay, so I'm having trouble getting a (good) screen grab.  (Mine's the Cha Cha Cha Charm bracelet on the bottom, second from the end.)  Never fear, good news ~ you can also go to a cool site, Craftopolis, which will tell you if you or someone else is in a Treasury just by typing in your shop (or someone else's) shop name.  All three of my Treasuries are listed there.  Check it out!  And hopefully by my next Treasury I'll have actually perfected the screen grab thing.....yeah, right.  Here's a better picture of my bracelet:




Anyway, I hope this helped some of you maneuver through the maze that is Etsy.  

Flea Market Friday

July 23, 2010

Today I'm linking up over at Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancy  and The Polka Dot Closet.
   
Here's a peek at some of my most recent barn sale/flea market finds.

This little lovely delights me as a studio decoration, but also as a jewelry display piece.  It makes me smile to look at her!

Gotta LoVe this chair ~ it had a very USED chair pad which I ditched.  I'm going to spray paint the iron white and make a frilly seat cover.  The silhouette cost me all of $1.00 at a church barn sale!  It features two girls and one boy (just like I have) and I just loved it!

Another barn sale find, snagged by my husband ~ it's a towel holder, but I'm going to use it as a jewelry display piece.  And I'm loving the whole bird thing these days so it's perfect!

And last but not least, for a song I snagged  a TON of TULLE for flower making!  More precisely, rosette making!  I can't wait to get started!

I also recently posted about some unbelievable vintage jewelry finds at a barn sale ~ you can read about those beauties here.

Have a great weekend everyone!


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SOLD sniff, sniff

July 21, 2010


I just sold my Peak of Chic charm bracelet this week ~ and I miss it already.  I know, I know, that sounds so queer.  It's just that I only make jewelry I would love to wear, and I feel kinda sad when I pass it off to someone else.  The flip side of this madness, however, is that I also feel fulfilled and happy to know that someone else likes my jewelry enough to actually buy it!  

I haven't been promoting my Etsy shop much at all lately, what with the kids being home for the summer, going away on vacation, the kids being home for the summer (lol that deserves a second mention) and just life in general that keeps getting in the way.  I see the fall as a great time to revamp my shop with new items and to promote it more.  I guess I could do it on this blog ~ promote my store, that is.  But for some reason I've always thought that blogs that only exist to promote their own stuff are kind of cheesy.  (I truly hope that statement doesn't come back to bite me in the behind anytime soon lol.)

That said, I'm going to be cheesy for a brief moment and show you two items I listed in my shop this week. 

Item Number 1

Vintage Silver Pearl and Bauble Necklace 



Item Number 2

Antique Brass Locket and Crystal Necklace




I've held on to these babies for a while because, well, like I said, I actually like them.  But, as my dear husband so readily points out (love ya!) I've got to support the habit, so to speak, no?  Helloooo Etsy.

Anyway, I guess I'm done with the woe-is-me stuff.  I need to get over it and put my big girl panties on.  Time to make more jewelry and get that store stocked up!



Pretty in Pink

July 20, 2010

I'm a contestant in Passion For Bead's weekly blog feature called "Passion's Pick's."  This week's theme is "Pretty in Pink" and my Spring Fling Freshwater Pearl Bracelet by Love You More Designs (that's me!) is one of the bracelets vying to win the reader poll.


Spring Fling Freshwater Pearl Bracelet

Head on over to Passion For Bead's blog and vote for my creation in the sidebar poll.  (Unless, of course, you like someone else's jewelry better ~ but that's not gonna happen, right? lol)
Thanks for your vote!  

This Week's Featured Artisan ~ Creations With Heart


Creations With Heart's jewelry designs incorporate gemstones, crystals, pewter and leather for one of a kind classic and western-style jewelry.  You'll also find some animal-themed jewelry ~ a percentage of all animal-related purchases is donated to animal causes.  Personally I LoVe her leather cuff bracelets!


Check her out on EtsyArtfire and her websiteYou can also follow her on Twitter  and her blog.

Sundance-inspired Bird Charm and Pearl Necklace

July 16, 2010

I know, I'm certifiable when it comes to the Sundance jewelry catalog.  (OK, I love the clothes and shoes, too....)  Anyway, here's my latest love followed by my own version of it based on what I already had in my jewelry stash.


Jes MaHarry's Dove of Peace Necklace






Gotta LoVe it!


And here is my version







I used black rosary-like beads instead of red ones, and pearls instead of turquoise, but I like the way it came out.  Sorry so many photos but I couldn't make up my mind which ones to use!  

I'm linking this up to Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-up Party.  Can't wait to see all the other crafty bloggers who link up there!

Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

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