Forest Fern Ornament

This ornament was recently included in Ornament Thursday. Check out some of the other great submissions!

Cindy Gimbrone Puts Up Her Xmas Tree!
Fused Glass Xmas tree ornament sparkles from Cindy’s real Xmas tree.

Friendly Plastic Ornaments and Sew simple mittens
This week in the countdown to Christmas, Michelle shares her recipe for Friendly Plastic Ornaments and Helen sews another tree ornament

Gingham and beads and buttons, oh my
Counterchanges smocked gingham forms the foundation for this homespun ornament

HHH Enterprises
We are pleased to have this special guest join us this month!

New Beaded Ornament
See our special guest’s beautiful creation!

Secret Garden Christmas Tree Ornament
Michelle’s got a special tree from the Botanicabella collection!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a simple winter rose bracelet project this week.

I heard about this via bead-space.com. I think we can all agree that it’s a great cause and I am all over it! I happen to have some assorted pink lampwork beads hanging around that I just didn’t know what to do with. I do now! (pink is not a prerequisite by the way, just thought it was fitting.)

The rules are simple, but you can read more about the guidelines here (pdf).

If you wish to participate, and I hope you do, simply download the participation form (pdf) and send in your donation. The deadline is November 23, 2008.

Friggin’ genius!!

I’ve got my profile all set up. Come join me.

Anyway, I had hubby bring home a selection of washers from work and was immediately inspired by their shapes.

Those first ones seem to tarnish very easily, so those were out. The second ones I have used but they’re quite heavy – too heavy to be earrings I think, but might make a nice necklace pendant. The third one here I loved. It has great grooves in it. I have a lot of coloured craft wire laying around and beads, of course. So, I simply wrapped and beaded and made, what I think are pretty cute, little wreath like earrings.

The grooves in the washer make the beads sit perfectly into place. They were quite fun to make, actually. They remind me of Christmas and I think they’d be great for the upcoming holidays.

And as usual they are available to purchase in my Dawanda Shop.

You’ll never want to purchase store bought earwires ever again! Of course, you can also buy these at McFarland Designs Etsy shop BestBeads.

Once you register you can earn “User Points” by contributing to the site which can be used in a number of ways.

There is a lot going on over there, you’ll just have to check it out for yourself. I have a feeling I’m going to be visiting this site quite often!

Enjoy!

First there is Yellow Brick Road. I originally bought some item’s from them online and their service was good. They have a decent selection, but like most things here in Ireland, are way overpriced for me. I also had the pleasure of finally visiting this shop in Dublin. It’s a charming LITTLE shop, the staff were very friendly and helpful, the selection was decent. I did notice there were quite a few items there that weren’t available online.

Next we have Beads and Bling. They also allow you to shop online. When I was looking for seed beads they didn’t have any online, but they did have some in the shop. They had a good selection of Swarovski Crystals and some very nice stone. Again, the prices are reflective of Ireland. Not as affordable as in the states.

I’ve heard Dublin Woollen Mills carries a small selection of beads, but I have never been there and their website, as of right now, is down.

{ UPDATE:  Dublin Woollen Mills does not allow you to shop online. }

Outside of Dublin we have Gemini Beads. They also allow shopping online, but I have not purchased from them as they didn’t quite have what I was looking for and they seem to be even more pricey than the others. They are also located in Cork which is a little too far from me.

BDI Jewellery, located in Bray, Co. Wicklow, seems to have a lovely selection and a very nice sized shop. They also offer online shopping. I’ll have to look for them next time I’m in Bray!

Amazing Beads is an online shop only. They seem to have a limited stock and the prices are a bit much for me.

[UPDATE]

The owner of Amazingbeads.net, Sue Graham, informs me that she has recently added many more items to her shop and reviewed her pricing system. She also assures me that her friendly and efficient service to customers is second to none! I’ve taken a look myself and am thinking I may be making a purchase there soon. Sue also makes some really lovely jewelry pieces and I feel horrible for not mentioning this before.

I commend Sue on making these changes and wish her the best of luck on all her endeavours.

There are of course possibly others I am unaware of. Some just don’t seem to have websites, others I’ve found no longer exist.

I will probably, mostly stick with Etsy or even Ebay. You can’t beat the selection there and the prices are excellent. Even with shipping, most times it works out cheaper than buying here. Unfortunately.