Sunday, Beady Sunday!

Happy Sunday! Was busy all day yesterday prepping for a trade educational event at the end of the month, boy am I pooped! More to do today, so just a quick, fun blog linky and the beady links of the week!

Check out my friend Rachel Greig's blog...she was kind enough to take my niece Madison's Flat Stanley for a trip around Sydney. Check out the pics she sent Madison. I sent her kids a bunch of Flat Stanley books. They didn't know about him... and they're going to hopefully make a Flat Stanley of their own to send to us in NJ! We'll take them to the beach, and who else knows where!

Enjoy the wonderful beady links!

• About.com Jewelry Making Tammy has discovered another outlet to sell your jewelry on-line. This is really a place for other crafters too.
• Art Bead Scene What's the best suggestion you ever received? ABS Editor Cindy Gimbrone's was The Rainbow Suggestion. ABS readers weigh in and tell us theirs!
• Jewelry & Beading Cyndi details the products and methods she likes best for creating her bead-embroidered necklaces.
• Katie's Beading Blog Here's another opportunity to use your beady powers for good. Read Katie's blog to find out about Beads of Courage®.
• PearlEsq. Robin's got some great news, tips and samples on everything Memory Glass!
• Savvy Crafter The Savvy Crafter is in the Philippines this week. Candie's Travel Tip: Look beyond the everyday souvenir and you will find beads!
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean hand made a chain maille double standed bracelet with some very special names on it: her two grandsons! It is offered as a free project in Beading Daily online!
• The Impatient Beader Ever wonder how a designer comes up with new ideas? Get a peek inside the creative mind of Margot Potter as she shares two bitchin' and bad ass new designs, paging Biker Crafts Magazine!

Journey of a Strange Stamp

Happy Wednesday! Hump Day as some would say, which is a perfect segue to my topic. Remember the talented Rachel Greig and the hunky guy in the Speedo stamp that she won? Well, here's the results of this "special" stamp's next stop, and they are insane! Sarah Schwerin of Australia has paid homage to "Down Under" as well as Mr. Holtz himself. I don't think she'll mind my sharing some of her results...check out the rest! They are a riot. Now Mr. DS, as he is called, is on his way to his next temporary home! I'll keep you posted.

Of course now Rachel's asking me whose image it is...I usually remember where the many, many, many (think of a large number, and that's probably close to the number I've owned over the past 14 years) stamps came from, but this was an unmounted stamp (Oh, no, the puns that I can think of...hump day, mounted v. unmounted...hehehe!). This one has got me flummoxed. It's pretty crazy, because as some scrappers can name a paper company by pattern, which I cannot do, I can usually identify a stamp by the type of wood used, or just by the art...now that's just sick!

Things are slowly but surely coming together for CHA...Phew! I'm also starting to work on classes. As a heads up, I'll see if I can add some type of a calendar on the blog, but in the interim, I know I'll be teaching the third of the triumvirate of classes at Paper-Potamus in February, right after CHA (I'll have samples finished this weekend!) as well as my first of classes at Tinsel Trading in NYC...check 'em out!

Enjoy the rest of your Hump Day and the Adventures of Mr. DS!

Inky Hugs, Robin

Sunday Slang and Beady Links

Remember my contest? Well, winner Rachel Greig finally got her stamps...and she did not hesitate to use 'em! She couldn't wait to get her hands on the "speedo" guy, or as they apparently say in Australia, the "Dicksticker" guy (if you think that this could not be a common word, just "Google" it, and boy, is it ever common verbiage "Down Under"! You've got to check out her sample-she's also going to share the stamps and have a "Round Robin" where stampers will get to create and pass on some of the stamps and will also get to keep some...I love to share the fun of these older stamps that I can't use!

This is a fun picture that I recently found and scanned in from my pile of family photos. This is probably at Ocean Grove, NJ beach in the late 1800's. No bikinis or "dickstickers" here! The second woman in line is actually my maternal grandfather's mother, Marcella Dale; my middle name is the same as hers; my grandfather's sister, Margie's middle name was also Dale. The name derived from Marcella's mother, whose last name was Dale. No one knows what happened to my great-great Grandmother's husband...my grandfather was never told, so I guess we'll never know! One of those "family mysteries"!

What is not a mystery is the fabulousness of the week's beady links! Enjoy!

• About.com Jewelry Making Tammy at About.com's Jewelry Making site has a long list of ideas for jewelry makers to give and get this holiday season.
• Art Bead Scene As a thank you to our loyal readers, the editors of Art Bead Scene present 12 Days of Christmas: 12 free projects using art beads, running over the next two weeks. These projects are quick and easy gift ideas, perfect for the holidays!
• Jewelry & Beading Stunning jewelry and other artwork are featured in an interview with Penny Purdie, one of Cyndi's favorite artists in the Swarovski Design Contest!
• PearlEsq. Check out the travels of Robin at Tim Holtz' Holiday Hideaway!
• Savvy Crafter Candie takes a walk down Candy Cane Memory Lane.... See two different versions of beaded candy cane ornaments on her blog. Yum!
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beadng to be done! Jean displays a little parallel chain style chain maille and borosilicate bracelet for her chain maille gallery on her site: Margot Potter has the perfect name for it!
• The Impatient Blogger It's week three of Ornament Thursday! Margot offers a simply lovely and quick idea in this week's post, plus links to the amazing ideas of the rest of our talented participants!

Beady Hugs, Robin

Creativity Overload!?

Happy Weekend! I can't believe that Ranger U is almost over already, and it just started! Every time another Ranger U comes around I feel like I'm getting ready for a wedding. Prep, prep, prep-it's over! A wonderful group, too! We've got attendees from: United Kingdom (3), Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Canada (2) as well as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Illinois, Texas and California! And all for the love of Ranger! I always get so pumped with all of the excitement and energy in the room. And the creativity! OMG!

I also wanted to share the talent of one of the attendees, Wendy Vecchi. If you haven't heard of her, watch out. I think you will know who she is, soon!!! The wonderful alphabet exemplar is from Rachel Greig and, of course, Maya Road chipboard, oh, and no surprise...Distress Ink!

Well, I'm absolutely exhausted, so I'm going to crash. I just wanted to share the "creative love"!

Inkingly,

Robin