Beautiful Butterflies....

Back in December, my hubby and I decided to take a weekend trip to Niagara Falls.  The trip was two-fold: See Etsy sellers in the Niagara Holiday Market and see butterflies at the Butterfly Conservatory.  The Holiday Market was smaller than we expected but it was kinda nice to experience a market since I want to be in a craft show sometime in the future.

The next day we went to visit the Butterfly Conservatory.  The place was swarming with butterflies, fluttering around your head. You had to be careful where you step or an unsuspecting flutterer would become a smushed bug.  There were a few of those on the floor.
Here's a few of my favourite pics I took with my DSLR. If you want to see more pictures of the butterflies, visit my Photobucket.

Bead Soup Blog Party: My beads have arrived!!!!

My partner Shanti Johnson and I shipped our beads at the same time, so, of course we got them at the same time. Except I "got" mine a few days later cause it was cold and snowy this week and no one wanted to walk/drive the "long" distance to the mailbox that was down the street. But, yesterday, I went to check the mailbox and was so excited to see the package that I literally danced/jumped all the way back home. 

Shanti sent me a beautiful bead soup mix. I love the colours and the toggles. Here's the soup of beads and some closer shots. 

The mixture had two orange butterfly focal beads which I can't wait to use.  I love butterflies and I'm always looking for more butterflies to make into jewellery. There's also a leaf toggle and a cute little elephant clasp. Another favourite are the orange rondelle beads. Love them! 

Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet but it is definitely going to take me out of my comfort zone of pearls and bridal jewellery making. Can't wait to get started!

Did you notice the editing done on the pictures? I just discovered an updated version of Picassa that integrated Picnik's editing tools.  Love it!

Remember the Bead Soup Blog Hop is on March 3rd! 
Also, visit Shanti's blog to see what I sent her!
And of course, go check out Lori Anderson's blog, the host of this party.

Packaging my Jewellery

I've gone through many changes when it comes to packaging my jewellery.  In the beginning, I used organza bags where the earrings would just hang from handmade cards.  But I thought it didn't look nice enough and also it could easily be damaged during shipping.

 

So, I switched to using kraft boxes.  These boxes worked very well, but I guess I was picky on how it should be presented. I went from ribbon to paper ribbon but was never satisfied with how it looked.

Now, I'm using these black boxes and I like them so much better.  It looks a lot more professional and classy. Just the way I like it. :) What do you think?

Bead Soup Blog Party

I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be part of the "Bead Soup Blog Party" hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things Blog. One of the reasons why I wanted to be part of the Bead Soup was so that I can create something that I wouldn't normally make. Trying to think "outside the box".  It also sounded like tons of fun! What I didn't realize was that it spurred on this new desire to blog more often. We'll see what happens!

My wonderful partner Shanti Johnson and I sent each other our 'bead soup' this week.  Can't wait to see what's inside and create something really, really pretty!

Here is what I sent her:

A teaser of the beads I sent...

Of course, I can't reveal the bead soup just yet.  You'll just have to wait till we both get our beads!

The Best Banana Bread Ever

That's the name of the recipe for this delicious, sweet tasting banana bread.  Ever since the I made it for the first time a few months ago, my in-laws have been raving about it. So yesterday, I went out and bought an extra loaf tray and made two batches of banana bread.  I had made a loaf a few weeks ago and my husband took the last half of the loaf to work, so the in-laws didn't have a chance to eat it.  That's why the extra loaf.

When I had my bridal shower back in June, I wanted to do something that involved making something.  I wanted to do something that was different and I didn't know much about. My sister suggested baking! That lead to going to a baking workshop where a bunch of my girlies and I learned how to make chocolate chip cookies, red velvet cupcakes, and BANANA BREAD!  Yum!

My father-in-law and dad are diabetic, so I used substitute sugar (Splenda) instead of sugar.  I used half the amount of what I would normally use for sugar since Splenda (and the bananas) were already sweet. I also put some dried cranberries in it.  Mmmmmm.... I think I'll go have some more now.  Maybe I'll post the recipe one day.

Bridal Jewellery: Moms

 I finally have time to post some designs that I made for my mom and mother in law to wear during my wedding.  I made silver and white Swarovski pearl necklace for my mother in law to match her silver dress. It was a simple design so she actually wears it regularly with casual outfits.  For my mom, I made a necklace and bracelet set. She wanted a design that used the shiny Swarovski rondelles that I had.  I had wanted to hand knot the set like I usually did but it didn't look good with the design. So, I opted to use a thinner thread and hand knotted parts of it so that if the thread breaks, most of the pearls won't fall off the thread.

I have now made these designs for sale in my shop. If you are looking for jewellery for your mom, click on one of the captions to purchase your own.  :)

For my mother in law (click here)

For my mom (click here)

For my mom (click here)

Treasury Trade with the Canadian Team

A group of members from the Canada-Canadian Etsy Team have pooled together and created treasuries from each other's shops.  Here is mine:




or click here Naturally Canada

I chose these products because of my fascination with butterflies.  Since I didn't have time to raise any this year (I was too busy getting married), I thought I would post some items from my fellow Canadians.  I was surprised to see so many shops with butterflies products.

Here are the other treasuries from the other members.  Take a look around.

Amber & Oranges of Canada
Christmas Gift Ideas
Canucks Love Doing It Outdoors
Canadian All Stars
Romantic Reds Canada
Loving Green and Canada
Canadian Talent
Down to Earth Canadian
Richness of a Candian Autumn
Romantic Canada
From Canada with Love

I love being Canadian!