Giving Love

Last week, if you read my post about my October "To Do" list, you'll know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... but rather it's been a really good, busy few weeks here.  I wanted to share with you a moment last week that just makes me glow.  My mission in life is to spread love and happiness.

For the Open House I did at a friends house last week, I always make a special little something to say "Thank you for sharing my jewelry with your friends."  Well at this particular party, there were two hostesses and they invited both of their circles of friends.  As a showing for my appreciation I made them each a bracelet - different and representing each of their personalities.  Upon opening their gifts together, I hear a squeal and "Oh my gosh - it's so beautiful... Look, I have goosebumps!" 

Just being me, those moments are what I live for.  This was of course followed with big hugs and happy dances all around.  I appreciate it so very much when people believe in me enough, and love my designs enough to want to share me with their friends.  It's a personal referral that means the most to my heart!

I'll get pictures of my open house and such posted after I get them off my camera.  I also received the most amazing two packages last week from my friends which I can't wait to share with you as well.  I've got so much to say, but first, I must get my fur babies out for a walk.  They are both giving me that look - and if you have fur babies, you know the look I'm talking about! :)  Of course they get cookies when we get back and I just might dive into a piece of leftover birthday cake from our party yesterday... just maybe!

Make it a terrific day!
Hugs!

Dawn

New Blogmania Sponsor - With A Touch of AWESOMENESS

You'll think so too when you meet Julianna Cannon from Juls Beads!  I am so excited to introduce you to our newest team member.  As part of Team Favorite Things, our Blogmania giveaway centers around some of our favorite things.  Well this girl... she just LOVES Fire & Glass.  And you should see what she does with her fire & glass.  She makes the most amazing lampwork glass beads.  I met Juls while wandering around Blog-o-sphere a while ago.  I instantly loved her sense of humor and the way she communicates with her readers.  Seriously if you visit Juls Blog and don't laugh... then you probably aren't yet fully awake and should grab another cuppa java!

Not only does Juls create one of a kind beautiful glass beads with her bare hands... but the finished jewelry she creates is equally amazing.  What she can do with those itty bitty seed beads never ceases to boggle my mind.  Juls Jewelry (wow that's a tongue twister) is stunning and sure to tease your eyes as well.

When Julianna inquired for the scoop on Blogmania I was tickled to share with her.  She has been inspiring me with her blog and beautiful creations for some time.  She's one of those gals when I met her I felt like we could be sisters from different Mrs. & Mr.'s.  She's a southern gal from Alabama, quite the free spirit moving and creating as inspiration strikes.  She's also stubborn like someone else I know (after all, I am a redhead!) :)  When I asked Juls what made her tick, here's what she said.

"Art is reflection of the soul; fueled by emotion and awe inspired. While we may leave a part of ourselves with every person we touch, our words inevitably fade to whispers. In art there is a melody we sing right out loud; leaving behind a footprint of tangible expression~ of ourselves and of our humanity."  ~Julianna Cannon

I just love her artist statement and I've grown to love her as one of my blogger sisters!  I'm really excited to be able to introduce you to Juls.  If you've been a follower of my blog, you saw many moons ago about one of Juls beautiful beads that I won... because I made her laugh so hard she snorted Dr. Pepper up her nose... true story! :)  As a special treat for you and to kick off Juls joining Team Favorite Things Blogmania Giveaway, she is hosting a Back to School Sale in her Etsy store! She's put EVERYTHING on sale... yes everything.  But you only have until Saturday to scoop up all the beautiousness you can handle. 

To get in touch with Juls and share a few giggles you will want... no wait... need to book mark her site!

Blog:  http://julsbeads.blogspot.com
Lampwork Glass Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/julsbeads
Bead Destash Etsy Store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/dietbeads

Juls, welcome to our team!  I hope you feel cozy enough to put your feet on our virtual coffee table. :)  One thing is certain, whomever wins our prize package (which is currently over $500) is going to be one lucky person!  It'll be like Christmas in September.  To find out more about Blogmania visit my blogmania page above.  Hope you get a few giggles as you get to know Juls!  She's really a wonderful friend!

{Hugs!}
~Dawn

Trying New Things

I think it's SOOOO important - both in life and in profession - that in order to grow, we have to try new things!  That's why I love following other blogs that share tutorials for different styles and techniques for jewelry design and beading.  It allows me to play which = peace and serenity AND who knows when that new technique will become a critical "WOW" in a new piece!

So today, I want to share with you one of my favorite blogs for learning new things!  Mortira over at Inspirational Beading is often sharing different styles of beading.  Over the weekend I saw her tutorial for the double spiral rope for making bracelets and necklaces.  I LOVE IT!  If you remember, earlier this year I was thrilled to learn how to create a simple spiral rope with seed beads.  But now, a DOUBLE spiral.... is that like bliss for this curly girl?  LOL

If it's sparked your curiousity, head over here --> to Mortira's Inspirational Beading and check out her great tutorial.  What I love about Mortira's tutorials are her AWESOME how-to photos.  She makes it so easy to she exactly what goes where. 

Thanks Mortira for sharing your beady knowledge with so many people.  Your work is amazing and you are an inspirational teacher!

Prize Update - Blogmania Prize Package is Growing!

Our Blogmania Prize Package continues to get better and better!  Stacy Petersen, an incredibly talented crafter has created a new product that she's also including in our HUGE Blogmania Giveaway!  I personally love these recipe books!  Not only are they cute, they are absolutely practical!

Finding the perfect gift can be complicated and adding a personal touch can make the task even more daunting.  So where do you go from here?

You go to SLMPetersen's Etsy Shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/slmpetersen?section_id=7131769) and pick up one of these cute Recipe Albums.  Then when it arrives in your mailbox you tear into it with excitement and joy, fill it with your favorite recipes, wrap it up in pretty paper and give it to that special someone.  People appreciate "Recipes from the Heart" because you've put it together with love and you're giving them a taste your family recipes!

These great little albums make great gifts for ANYONE!  Yes, anyone – Mother, Father, Grad, Bride, Groom, Best Friend, Love of your Life.
Need ideas on giving? 

-  That next Bridal Shower you are hosting, ask each quest to bring a favorite recipe or two to fill the little album with, at the end of the party you can present the bride to be with a lovely gift that represents everyone who was at the shower.  This is a gift she will treasure and use for years to come.
-  That Family Reunion you have planned for this summer is going to be loaded with great food!  Ask everyone who will be attending to bring a copy of the recipe for the dish they will be sharing and tuck them into one of these albums.  What a great way to remember all the food and all the people you love.
-  Off to College!  What a better gift to give the kid who’s headed to college this fall.  Fill it with all their favorite dishes and copies of mom’s easy to fix dishes.  Won’t take up much room, but just might cut down on the home sick feeling when comfort food is the cure.


There really are endless ideas for the great mini albums!  Be creative and get giving!  I just love how creative Stacy is.  Like me, she is a die-hard foodie.  So we share a lot of food stories, memories and great ideas.  To connect with Stacy, please check out her blog - http://slmpetersen.blogspot.com.  You can also find her on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/SLMPetersen2!

Want to learn more about Blogmania or interested in joining our team?  Click on the "Blogmania" tab above to get all the information you need an meet all of our sponsors!

New Blogmania Partner - Butterfly - Fondant Cakes & Desserts

Eat your heart out everybody!  Seriously... our newest Blogmania partner is going to make you want to! 

Vanessa Edil, the owner of Butterfly - Fondant Cakes & Desserts has partnered with Team Favorite Things for Blogmania.  I feel very lucky to have known Vanessa for over 16 years (yikes!)  Vanessa has always been incredibly talented and creative.  Since we last saw each other in person, she's gotten married, moved to Istanbul, Turkey, had two beautiful little boys and started her own cake and party supply business.  Now that's a whole lotta shakin' going on!  I honestly think she's found a time machine to generate more than 24 hours in a day.  :)

Vanessa's Cakes originally caught my eye when she started posting photos on her Facebook Fan Page.  Every picture I saw, I said "Oh, that's my favorite" until I saw the next and the next and said the same thing about each one.  It simply amazes me Vanessa, just what you can do with your gifted hands and some frosting!  

For those that know me... I have a very, ummmm, gifted sweet tooth :)  So one of my favorite things is birthday cake!  Which means Vanessa and her beautiful fondant cakes fit our theme perfectly!  For Blogmania, Vanessa is giving away one of her ADORABLE High Heel Cake Servers.  While it might be challenging to get a iris cake all the way across the ocean, the cake accessories and party supplies will be able to ship globally.

Isn't this adorable?

To get in touch with Vanessa and see her amazing "Cake-ability"  you have to check out Vanessa's Facebook page and blog.  :o) Here's the links to connect with Vanessa via her internet real estate:

Website & Blog:  http://www.partybutterfly.com  *Make sure you follow and see more of her awesome work!
Facebook Profile:  http://www.facebook.com/vanessaedil
Fan Page:   http://www.facebook.com/ButterflyCakesDesserts

Vanessa, Welcome to our team!  We can wait to see more of your creations and share your ever growing cake and party supply business with our fans and blog readers!

Blogmania Update

What an incredible team we have for our Blogmania Event September 15-16th. Our team, "Team Favorite Things" is having a HUGE giveaway (and growing) of some of our FAVORITE things! Currently our giveaway for Blogmania is nearly $400 in prizes and includes the works of very talented artisans.

Our Blogmania Giveaway includes custom designed jewelry from Azure Islands Designs, Barbara at Second Surf and myself, a full set of custom designed notecards from Purple Vine Design AND a washable mini-cookbook and recipe card holder perfect to take exchange recipes in your purse from Stacy Petersen!  And there's one more surprise partner that we'll be revealing very soon... so stay tuned. 

Right now registration is closed to enter as a blog.  However, as we've found out, working as a team makes Blogmania even more fun... and our reach is extending much farther than any of us could have reached on our own!  Right now our team is in the US & Canada with our newest team member coming from Istanbul TURKEY!!!  That's the power of partnering up as a team!  I don't think any of us would have been able to connect with a large part of the Turkish population, but sharing & cross promoting each other, our reach goes beyond with the eyes can see.

As a team, we cooperate with each other following each other's blogs and cross-promoting each others creations from our online stores.  Between Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media outlets, we're sharing everybody's talents with a global market.  I also have given our blogmania team members exclusive advertising on my new website - Designs by Dawn Marie.  Everybody has unique talents and one-of-a-kind creations and I think my team will agree, it's much more fun to co-op and share them as a team.

If you're looking to get more traffic on your website, blog or to your online store, working with a team to cross-promote is a great option.  Team Favorite Things is happy to welcome new team members for our Favorite Things Blogmania Giveaway and cross promote your work too!  If you're interested in joining us (and having a LOT of fun) you can e-mail me directly at designsbydawnmd@gmail.com and I'd be happy to get you more information. 

Blogmania is growing... our giveaway is growing... the fun we're having is definitely growing... are you growing?  :)

{Hugs!}
Dawn

  |    This is a GREAT Book if you want to learn more about
 V   online marketing.

A Giveaway & A New Website - Oh My!

I'm so excited to announce the unveiling of my new website.  http://www.designsbydawnmarie.com  A dear friend and wonderful customer, Sky Purington, asked if she could feature Designs by Dawn Marie on her blog.  I was absolutely tickled and we planned it for the last week in June.  When she sent me a reminder e-mail about a week ago, my head spun circles because June seemed to be speeding past me!  LOL

Here's the surprise for you... Sky selected a piece of my jewelry that she's hosting a giveaway for ... and I wanted to double the chances of you winning , so I threw in ANOTHER piece of jewelry for the give away.

So there will be TWO WINNERS chosen on Sky's Blog to each receive a Designs by Dawn Marie original design.

To enter, just head over to Sky Purington's Blog by clicking here, and you'll see how you can enter.  As a bonus, to anybody that reads Sky's blog, I've offered an additional promo if you purchase something from my new website... you'll have to read it to find out! :)

Hope you are having a spectacular weekend!
{Hugs!}
~Dawn

P.S.  Here's the first book in Sky's Scottish Trilogy.  The third book in the series was just released this month.  So now you can read 1 - 3 without having to exhibit any patience... other than the time it takes to ship after your purchase. ;)  If you're looking for a great read at the beach or under a shade tree... this is a dynamite read!

Blogmania Partner - Second Surf

As promised in yesterday's post, I'm really excited to introduce you to my newest Blogmania sponsor this morning!  Barbara Bechtel from Second Surf is our newest Team Member.  As part of our theme "Our Favorite Things" Barbara is excited to be sharing her custom designed jewlery.  For Blogmania, she is going to be creating a one of a kind piece that showcases her talent and unique style.

I met Barbara through a mutual friend's Lisa's blog when she was showcased as the Designer of the Week.  I fell in love with her "Love is All That Matters" necklace the moment I saw it.  You can see why... it's so delicious you could kiss it!  In reading her blog I found out I love that too!  It's not a wonder she was featured a featured designer.  She's really super talented in lots of areas of crafts.  From jewelry, to vintage items to artwork, Barbara has many irons in the fire and creates beautiful pieces!

Barbara operates her Etsy Stores from her home in Florida.  What fascinates me about Barbara is that she she has yes, 3 Etsy Stores for each of her unique creative outlets.  Floridity is her store where she specializes in handmade polymer clay beads and original one of a kind jewelry using these beads.  Each of her pieces are one of a kind, and custom crafted!

Barbara, we are so blessed to have such an inspirational woman such as yourself on our team.  Thank you fo joining us in helping to make Team Favorite Things' Blogmania giveaway better than EVER!

You can check out Barbara via all of the websites below!  She's a gem, and you'll really be glad you took the time to meet her and see what she's up to!

Second Surf Blog:  http://secondsurf.blogspot.com/
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/2ndsurf
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/SecondSurfcom/168725313514
Floridity Store: http://Floridity.etsy.com
Kit of Parts Store: http://kitofparts.etsy.com/
Second Surf Store:  http://2ndsurf.etsy.com/

Barbara, I don't know where you find the time to do all you do... but we sure are glad you're sharing your talents with the world.  You have many gifts dear!

{Hugs!}
Dawn

Blogmania Update: Ides of June

Tis the ides of June... a.k.a. the middle of June and I wanted to give you an update on Blogmania and our team, Team Favorite Things!  Our prize package is growing steadily and is now over $300!  Yes, that's a $300 prize that anybody can win by visiting this blog during Blogmania, September 15-16th.

Our Giveaway for blogmania is "Our Favorite Things!" because all of the prizes in our HUGE giveaway are some of our favorite things.  Thus far I've introduced you to two of our team sponsors, Azure Islands Designs and Purple Vine Design, both incredibly talented creative women.  Tomorrow, I'm going to introduce you to a brand new sponsor on our team... She's another multi-faceted woman with her hands in so many crafty areas.  You're just going to love her - I promise!

As our team is growing, we're really generating LOTS of traffic.  Sending new eyes (both readers and ready buyers) to each others websites daily.  Using a co-op marketing style, we're able to spread the word  about our sponsors and their great products all over the web.  If you are interested in joining our team and sharing in our co-op advertising all summer long, click here to get more information.  Then in September, when Blogmania takes place, all of our sponsors will be front and center on our blog post and the traffic will be crazy!  I promise!

During our last Blogmania event, there were THOUSANDS of viewers on the participating blogs and their sponsors.  Blog followers increased by 300% and more on many blogs- in that one day alone!  Sales were made and relationships were built.  This time, the event is BIGGER - prizes are bigger, the participating blogs are more numerous and the event is two whole days rather than just 1!  So we're upping the stakes and it's going to be huge! 

I can't wait to share more, but right now I must utilize the sunshine I have and snap some photos for my online store.  Enjoy your day!

{Hugs!}
Dawn

Book Giveaway!

I wanted to share with you about a new giveaway from a dear friend of mine!  Lisa Crone the author of A Bead A Day is giving away a copy of her incredible book, A Bead in Time! 

I purchased Lisa's book about a year ago.  What I loved about it is that she offers great illustrations with her written instructions.  So regardless of your skill level, anybody can follow her tutorials and create beautiful jewelry!

Here's how you can win - head over to Lisa's blog (click here) and leave a comment on her post.  I personally, would love for YOU to win.  I've gained TONS... seriously, tons of inspiration from this book.  Lisa shares with you her inspiration behind each project and it gets your creative juices flowing beyond what you might have imagined before.

If you're impatient Irish like me, you'll want your copy whether you win or not.  So you can purchase it directly from Amazon below.  Good luck and may your inspiration flow! :)

Great Gift Idea!

A while back, I was introduced to a wonderful potter... via his wife whom makes incredible beads!  And this wonderful potter had a giveaway to spread the word about how amazing his wood-fired pottery is.  As it happened, I chose the wrong lottery numbers that day, but my luck was in the his drawing!  Because I won this beautiful wood-fired coffee mug.

The amazing potter is Bill Perrine of Splitfire Pottery.  He and his wife Mary Ann operates MACarroll Beads (which has been an object of my drooling for the better part of a year now.)  :)  Bill and Mary Ann are both wonderful people.  I've enjoyed following their blogs and really enjoy seeing the "reveal" pictures every time they open their kiln. 

Bill is an art teacher by day... but by night, he wears many hats.  His love for art has "fired" is passion for creating one of a kind pottery pieces.  In Bill's Etsy Store, Splitfire Pottery, you'll find coffee mugs, decorative jars, bowls, vases and more all in unique finishes and colors!  Right now, he even has a tea pot that is just beautiful!

The day Bill's package arrived happened to be a really hectic morning.  So imagine my surprise when I open my mailbox and find a package in there!  It put a smile on my face and as I'm sure all of the ceramic treasures Bill creates do for anybody that receives them!

Thank you so much, Bill, for sharing your creativity and talents.  I feel so fortunate to have won your giveaway, and continue to love my mug daily.  It is absolutely my favorite coffee mug. 

Please, take some time to check out Bill's Blog and his Etsy Store, Splitfire Pottery.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/splitfirepottery He's a wonderful potter and a really talented artist!  You'll just love his work!  And what a perfect gift to give someone!

{Hugs!}
Dawn