Are YOU a Stalker?

The Biggest Stalker is determined by several things...

Most importantly is how often we "see" your pretty faces :) Whether it be in threads, in the 24/7 BHR Chat, in the BHR forums, emails we've received telling us what you've done to prove you're the Biggest Stalker.... (although we do require that you refrain from doing anything illegal).

If you've chained yourself to a lamp post and screamed "Listen to blockheadradio.com" as everyone passed by... we wanna see the video.

Of course you don't have to take it to that level. But that would be cool ;)

Let us know when you've blogged! Bring a friend to the show. Support the BHR Charity Sampler box. Email us if you've told some random person on the street. Get that random person to email us. Tell them to let us know you sent them.

How the Biggest Stalker is decided is totally up to the Stalkers and the precedents they set forth. Bombard every host in every way you know how. Emails, blogs, chat, shows.... Just stop short of hiding outside their houses in the bushes.

Dazzle us with your persistence and creativity.

I will tell ya this... The Biggest Stalker every month will be handsomely rewarded!

Pass this blog along. Let us know ya did. It'll earn ya those frequent stalker points. No little annoying card to keep up with either.

I copied the above from the BHR Blog, go there to comment and let them know YOU are a stalker! Of course I'd love a comment here too :) And guess what? I'm one of those hosts they talked about you stalking . . . so tune in Thursdays at 9pm EST for a lot of fun, some great music, and to get to know a wonderful artisan better!

Weekly Special - Spirals and Hemp!

Only $7.60!

This is one piece that I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! Ok, I love how a lot of my pieces turn out. I'm easily excited and entertained after all. *wink* But I just knew these beads had to go with a spiral weave in hemp...and it turned out just like I visualized it! I love it when that happens :) And today it can be yours! The $7.60 price includes your 20% discount, and shipping to anywhere in the world!

This bracelet is designed to be fastened by tying the ends in a simple knot, because of this, it can fit a range of wrist sizes. Over all length is 9 1/2 inches.

Hemp Jewelry Information:
As you wear your piece the fibers will bind tighter together and it will slowly gain a "smoother" appearance than it does initially. Hemp itself is very diverse in it's uses, and has been around for thousands of years! It's use in macrame become popular because it's not too slippery and it's very sturdy. Macrame has been around for centuries, and it's use in jewelry has recently seen a revitalization. I hope you enjoy my pieces!

Treasury Goodness!

I'm in a treasury! Woot! A big HUGE thank you to peacoxcreations for featuring my Purple Mountains Majesty Earrings in her treasury!


Did you know there is now an awesome site you can go to and find out if your in a treasury? I love it! Especially since my computer can be slow sometimes...so searching through the actual treasury to find out if I'm featured gets tedious. Just go to www.craftopolis.com and enter your user name and you'll find out if your featured!

Amy The Awesome of BlockHead Radio

Thursday night I had the privilege of sitting down with the Amy the Awesome and interviewing her live on the air! Many followers of BlockHead Radio are already familiar with Amy. This wonderful gal has a passion for life, and as a part of her passion she has done a lot to support BlockHead Radio! In fact, she's now on staff here, and doing a fantastic job of helping maintain the blog, and promoting BHR to the masses.

Amy is a stay at home Mom with two rambunctious boys. When I asked her why she had named her etsy shop "Mamas Little Monkeys" she told me it was because it sounded a lot better than calling them rascals! Sounds like normal little boys to me though, and she obviously loves them a lot.

On top of taking care of her boys and her work with the radio, you can find Amy doing lots of fun creative things and spreading that creative goodness all over the web! On etsy you can find her under MamasLittleMonkeys and FleurdeInk. She's also a faithful member of CafeMom and she sells on several other venues as well! Unfortunately I don't have every one of her links to share with you.

In her shops Amy sells childrens clothing, recycled crayons in fun shapes, photography, graphic design, toys, soaps, pretty pens, and whatever else her awesome mind comes up with! Do you have kids? Then Amy probably has exactly what your looking for!

Did I mention that Amy blogs as well? She does a lot of the blogs posts here on this BHR's blog, and she has her own blog! So head on over to it and learn even more about Amy! Plus you can get to know her better by tuning into her show, Mom's Cafe, Wednesday night at 9pm on www.blockheadradiolive.com.

Featured Etsy Blogger - Designs by Nora!

It's time again for the etsy bloggers team's featured artist! Woohoo!

This month's featured artist is DesignByNora, and I've actually had the privelage of buying from her! Now generally, as a jewelry artist, I don't buy jewelry. I don't, however, make stud earrings, and that's what my Mom usually wears! So I went searching and bought a couple pairs of flowers like these from Nora. She was great to work with!


Nora also sells some of her uncles Naz's purses in her shop! I liked this one in particular. Can anyone guess why? LOL

And don't forget to check out her blog!

Thinking and Hoping to Grow

I've been thinking lately about the ways I approach my business. Well, honestly, I do that a lot! My latest musings is realizing that I haven't been doing a very good job at building relationships in the bloggy world. Oh sure I use entrecard, and I HAVE made some connections with some awesome bloggers! But I still fall short. How? I don't do a great job at replying to my comments. What you say warms my heart and encourages me, but I rarely let you guys know that.

So my new goal is to try to respond to your comments as much as I can :) I'm sure there will be times I miss responding because I'm too sick, or because I can't figure how to respond to a smiley face, but I really do want to get to know my readers better! I look forward to talking to you :)

Some Patriotic Sparkle and A HuGE Challenge!

So I'm a little late - but it's time once again for my weekly special! This week brings us to my "Patriotic Delights" section. I originally created this last year, as a new artist in the selling world, to celebrate the 4th of July. I've kept it in my shop instead of distributing the pieces to other sections because I think we all have our moments where we want to show off our pride in being Americans!

Patriotic Sparkle Bracelet

The say diamonds are a girls best friend, but I think Swarovski crystal is pretty close! And that's exactly what this bracelet is, a band of Swarovski crystal hand woven on a base of white Delica beads. Very reminiscent of a tennis bracelet, and because of that you can wow your friends, without all the expense!

Bracelet is approximately 7 inches long but could easily be made to fit any size wrist :) Please allow one week for special orders.

Only $18 for this bracelet this week on this blog! That's 20% off with only $2 shipping (already included) to anywhere in the world!

And now...for the Challenge!!!!!!!!

Do you remember me mentioning the Artisan's Challenge returning? Well it's back...and it's time for you to go vote! So go...go...GO and vote!

The Bead Museum in Phoenix

Ok, I promised to share more about my trip to the bead museum - so here's some pictures and commentary! They had beads there that were around 15,000 years old! If you believe that the world is that old. Some how I didn't manage to get a picture of it though.

Amber Necklace - Isn't it incredible?

Can you imagine wearing REAL beetles around your neck?
That's what these we're! Kinda creepy.

This looked heavy. Tribal obviously, not exactly my style :P

Fetish Necklace. Reminded my of the work of my friend StoryBeader.

There is apparently a big beading society down in Phoenix.
Of course it's a big city, so that makes sense eh?
Anyway, each piece of this necklace was made by a different member.
It was commemorating some anniversary for the museum.

Can you imagine wearing skulls around your neck?
Don't worry, this was for the men :P
The plaque said that they often carved the skulls from wood.
From the dimensions of this I'm hoping it was one of the carved ones.
But it didn't say.

One thing I find fascinating about jewelry is the different traditions
that are often associated with it. This Beaded apron was given
to a girl when she came of age as a sign to all that she
was ready for marriage. I can only imagine how long it
must have taken! I wonder if they worked on it as a community?

And these are the Ladies! From left to right:
Cheryl, Sharon, Grandma, Ruth (MIL), Me, Jamie
We didn't all go through the museum, but we all explored the bead shop!

One of the best parts of going to the bead museum was getting to connect with Jamie. This is my husbands family, and for most of them it was the first time we'd met. Jamie has fetal alcohol syndrome and, as a result, is mentally much younger than she looks. She's not the first "young" adult I've met, but I wasn't quite sure how to connect with her at first. Then we started talking about jewelry and we had a blast! Going through the museum with her I had a lot of fun explaining the different exhibits to her. I'm a natural teacher, so it broke down any inhibitions I had! Plus I could often expand on what the exhibits said because of what I know about beads :D That was fun!

I didn't buy much at the bead store attached to the museum because the prices were kinda high. But I did buy a dichroic cabochon to play with. We'll see how long it takes me to get to it. I have soooo many projects I want to work on!

Crafting on the Road

I was in Arizona this last weekend visiting my husbands family, and I thought I'd bring some crafty stuff with me. After all, I bead in the car when we're driving long distances, so why not when flying or lounging around at the hotel? It was a good theory. Especially once I discovered that current TSA laws allow for scissors under 4 inches! So I packed up my little sewing bag with a project to start, and threw a box of beads in the suitcase in case I had time to start another project.

I knew I wasn't likely to get any crafting one the first morning of our trip - I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning! So I left my craft stuff in the suitcase and just dozed and read in the airport and on the plane. I never ended up pulling it out for the rest of the day either because I was so tired.

Saturday started out bad. I didn't have a super-serious asthma attack, but it was bad enough to completely wear me out and leave me hurting. So plans for the day got shifted around and I went to bed as soon as I could breath again. Woke up, hubby and I walked a few blocks to TGIFriday's for lunch, and then I slept for another hour!

That was the afternoon we went to the bead museum. Fortunately the two naps left me strong enough to walk around again! I'll be blogging more about it later this week sometime.

That evening was the only time I actually managed to bead! I started a bracelet that I've since put down because I've decided I need to get a different color combination. Always frustrating.

Sunday I never beaded because, well, I had a real bad day asthma-wise. Getting through the airports and flying home was real "fun" because of it. I had to use a wheel-chair to get through the airports :( I hated it, but my husband loved the fact that it meant we didn't have to wait in any lines! So oh well, some things are hard, but they can have their upsides right?

Heading Home

I've been in sunny Arizona all weekend visiting my husbands family. It was a lot of fun! A few of them made it up to Washington for our wedding, but this was my first chance to meet most of them. Plus, of course, I love the sunny weather!

It was so sweet Mo's Grandma knows that I do jewelery, so yesterday the ladies and my hubby took a trip to a bead store and bead museum. I'll blog more about later this week when I can download all my photos and stuff to show off! Saw some incredible things :) I even saw a bead that's supposed to be 15,000 years old! Not sure if I got a picture of that one though.

Isn't technology wonderful? I'm sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight, connected via wifi, using my laptop :D I love it! Off to go get some food now.

Weekly Special - Rosita's Coffee House!

I can see this necklace around the neck of a gorgeous Colombian girl named Rosita. She works long hours in a coffee house, but she still loves coffee so much that she even wears jewelry pieces that reflect that love!

This necklace has been a long time in the making and it's become very special to me! The pendant is a resin pendant made with real coffee beans! It's surrounded by a variety of wooden beads and 4 lampwork beads made to look just like coffee beans. The earrings come FREE with the necklace :)

The necklace is approximately 18 inches long and the pendant adds another inch and a half in length. The earrings are approximately 1 3/4 inches long.

The pendant was made by http://www.gogokioko.etsy.com/ - check out her awesome work!

The lampwork beads were made by http://www.crazyladybeads.etsy.com/ - check out her awesome work!

This week only you can buy this necklace for only $21, right here on this blog! That includes shipping and handling and a 20% discount :)

Don't forget to check out my March Madness Sale!

This is going to BLOW your Mind!!!

Did you do participate in the old Artisans Challenge? If you did then you know that it was a MAJOR opportunity to get your name out there! And it's coming back!!!

For all of you who've never heard of it before - the Artisan's Challenge is a weekly contest where other people come in and vote for YOUR art. Here's the rules:

Blockhead Radio Artisans Challenge Rules:

1. You must be the creator of the item you are entering. It must be handmade not a mass produced item.
2. It is first come first entered into the challenge. All entries are held in Que on our server till they are put into an active challenge.
3. The Artisans Challenge is well promoted. You will be notified when you are in a challenge. To increase your chance of winning, let your friends, teams, groups, and forums know. Only one vote per ip address per category.
4. Winner is determined by the most votes received.
5. Voting is held from 1 p.m. eastern time Monday till 9:13 a.m. the following Monday. This gives us 4 hours to tally up all votes and get the next challenge started.

Weekly Challenge:

Each week we will have a challenge with Artisans that won from each of the twelve categories. The winner of the weekly challenge will have an in stream audio ad with click through banner the week after the challenge.

Categories:

Primitive and Rustic

New things made to look old. It can be 2D or 3D with no size limitations.

2D Art

Any art piece that can be hung flat on a wall. This can include painting, drawings, aceos(see miniature/sfa), collage, etc. It should have a smooth and flat surface and has no size limitations.

3D Art

Depth, width, and height. This can include sculpture, ceramics, pottery, etc. No size limitations.

Candles/Bath/Beauty

Any handmade candle, soap, lotion, fragrance, lip balm, salve, scrub or skin care. No size limitations.

Knitting, Crochet, and Needlework

If it is knitted, crocheted, or sewn(hand or machine). No size limitations.

Photography

Any image that is available as a print. No size limitations.

Miniatures/Small Format Art

Miniatures are defined by the Association of Miniatures as:

·Minute in scale vs. life sized. For practicality following the general 1/6th scale for my work sent to formal miniature exhibitions and shows.
·Delicate and painstaking technique that withstands magnification.
·Small in format and size. 25 inches or less for surface area. Sculpture should fit inside an 8"x8"x8" cube including the base.
·High in quality. The work should exemplify Fine Art ~ demonstrating a mastery of composition, color, values etc.

Small Format Art (SFA) is defined as any type of artwork that has a maximum size of 14 inches (35.5cm) in any one direction. This will include aceo, doll house miniatures, small sculpture, etc. If you have any concerns if you item fits in this category, please email us with a description. Many items can fit into this and 2D/3D art category. It will be up to the entrant in which category they want to enter their item.

Jewelry

Any handmade item meant to be worn. Necklace, ring, bracelet, etc. This category will include unstrung pendants and beads as long as they are handmade. No size limitations.

Paper Crafts

Any item that was created using paper as the main material. This category will include downloadable patterns and collage sheets. No size limitations.

Any Holiday Any Format

Open to any art format that has a holiday theme. No size limitations.

Clothing/Bags/Accessories

Any handmade item that would be considered clothing, purse, bag, and clothing accessory will go into this category. No size limitation.

Wild Card

This category is for any handmade item that does not fit in any of the other categories. No size limitation.

I also wanted to let you know that we are doing some changes at BHR. We're going back to more of where we started. We will be kid friendly so you can listen and not worry about your children hearing things! We'll continue to play music, but we'll be doing some more Artisan and Family orientated shows :) So look for new shows to be coming. AND we will be rebroadcasting shows so if you miss one - you might be able to catch up!

Come Meet Kamila's Dolls

Like these dolls? I sure do! Which is why tonight's guest with me on the radio will be Kamila, maker of these awesome art dolls! I'm so looking forward to it...will you join us? Awesome chatter, awesome music, and learning more about Kamila's art!

Check out her website here: http://www.woodedwoods.com/

And join us tonight at 9pm EST for the radio show! www.blockheadradiolive.com

Selling on Commission at Main St. Beads

It's real - it's official - my jewelry is on sale in a real store! I'm so excited! Now if this dumb cold would just go away I'd be able to jump up and down too :) Here's a shot of my box of tricks as I was getting ready to go out the door this morning :)

And here's my display set up! The bracelet stand and the board with all the earrings and a few necklaces. All in all I have 47 pieces in the store right now :D


I'm working on a tutorial on how I created the earring display. Hopefully I'll have that up for you on Friday :)

Here's hoping for some sales!

I need to get more business cards printed and then those will be in the store too. So it could lead to some on-line sales too! You never know!

For those of you who live in Vancouver - my jewelry is for sale at Main St. Beads in downtown Vancouver.

Working - working - working!

I was hoping to post a tutorial today - but I just don't have the time! I'm busy getting ready for setting up in the bead shop tomorrow. I'm really excited! Lot of work though. Today I have:

1. Made a display. (taking photos!)
2. Created an inventory list for the necklaces and earrings going into the shop.
3. Labeled all the necklaces and earrings.
4. Made 4 pairs of basic earrings for the shop.
5. Started a pair of woven earrings.
6. LOTS of other regular life stuff!

Left to do tonight:
1. Finish the pair of woven earrings.
2. Make another pair of earrings.
3. Inventory and label the newly made earrings.
4. Inventory and label the bracelets.

Sleep.

I should sleep tonight right? Don't worry - I will!

Back to weaving earrings!

Coming up this week: Pictures of my set-up in the bead store. This weeks artist for my radio show. And hopefully that tutorial :) We're going on vacay this weekend so I'm hoping to find time to pre-write some posts - but we'll see!

Getting Ready

I'm so excited about putting my jewelry out to be sold on commission! It's a lot of work to get ready though. I already had a bunch of stock created (whew) so this morning I pulled out my lamps, camera, and took a whole bunch of photos! I'm not sure when (if ever) I'll get a chance to edit them, but at least I have visuals for myself now if I want to look back and see what I created for the shop. I have a nice mix of earrings, woven earrings, some necklaces, charm bracelets, link bracelets, and woven pieces. I love it because I get to showcase most of my styles of work! Woohoo! Really the only one missing is hemp ...and that's because she said hemp doesn't really sell in her store. That's fine with me! I'm a rather eclectic artist anyway :P

So what's next? Well I need to finish preparing one of my display stands (probably do that tomorrow), create an inventory list for myself and to give to the store owner, and tag all the items.

Whew.

I'll get it done though!

Oh - and of course I haven't completely stopped creating while I work on this. I need breaks after all! Last night I finished the next piece in my Elements Series - Swiftly Changing Waters :) I love how it turned out!

New Site to Share - and MORE

I found out about an AWESOME site today that will save you some time on Etsy! Do you love looking through the treasuries? Does your face light up when you find out your in one? Do you get tired of searching through the pages with bated breath to find out if your IN a treasury? Well be tired no more! Click on the picture below and find a one stop, 3 second, stop to find out if your in a treasury!


Now this is a contest you'll have to visit NOW if you want to enter. Why? Because it's all about finding out when the babies coming! So go here and enter your guess - it could be any minute!
Look at this big sale that's going on over at my friend Mama's Little Monkey's shop :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*HUGE CLEARANCE SALE~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~
20% off EVERYTHING in Shop (Except Items Marked "Made with Love by Katrina)
Wait for adjusted invoice before making payment, or I can refund you via PayPal!

Making Room for NEW Items!!

And while your out there - don't forget my HUGE sale over in my shop! 20% off many items!

Oh So Much Going On!

Where to begin? That's the question! Ok, I'll start off by telling you about my sale item of the week. I absolutely LOVE the earrings! I'll be sad to see them go, but I'll also be glad to see them go to a good home! Here's the details:

Don't you just want to get up do a groovy dance with these wild and fun earrings? The center blue circles are made from African opals and the pink has a shiny finish that's sure to catch people's eyes!

These earrings are shoulder dusters at 3 1/2 inches! On sale on this blog for only $10 including shipping and handling! What a steal eh?

Now I was planning on waiting a few days before I listed my next set of contests and sales that are currently going on. Then I found out about a WHOLE bunch yesterday - and I decided I just had to share them with you today!

You can find this lovely bag and more over at Tilt Creation's St. Patty's Day Sale! All items in that section are 15% off! Woohoo!


CeeJayBags is doing not one but TWO giveaways! You can enter the first one here:

And the second giveaway here:

MercyMing is doing an AWESOME sale in her shop! Buy 3 get one free sale. Buy any three cards and she will send out the 4th of your choice at no charge! And I got to say - these cards are fabulous - time to stock up!

And while your having fun shopping, saving, and entering contests, don't forget to stop by my March Madness Sale!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

I'm so excited! I started the ball rolling back in January to sell my work on consignment in a local bead store. Well, we had one meeting and then I got sick, then she got sick, then I got sick and didn't get better. *sigh* So...since I've finally been feeling better this last week...I went back in and made another appointment!

The meeting was this morning and it went FANTASTIC! I have a contract signed (you may now ooo and ahhhh) and I'm going in Wednesday morning to set up my display! Woohoo!!!

Can you tell I'm dancing in my seat here? Totally dancing! I'll do a post next week with photos of my set up and everything :D

Lots of Contests and Sales Going On!

I'm doing a HUGE March Madness Sale - and that got me thinking. I know that some of my friends over on the Pluggers United Team are doing sales or contests right now - I should feature them! So I sent out an e-mail and here's the responses I got :)

Head on over to the Damn Nation's blog to get a chance to win this lovely bracelet! And while your there, why not sign up to follow her blog? She's a fun gal, you won't be disappointed!


Kate, of Om Shanti Handicrafts, is doing an all things green sale! In honor of St. Patty's day don'tcha know :) Not only does she make incredible jewelry pieces, she has a wide variety of bath and body products - so head over there today!


This next contest is actually sponsored by one of my team mates, and hosted by another! The contest is being hosted by TiLT Creations and sponosered by Pigatopia. There are lots of fun ways to win entries - so head on over and check it out today!


And of course, don't forget about my March Madness Sale while your checking out all this fun stuff! I have a whole bunch of items at 20% off - like this wonderful necklace - currently only $16!!!

Introducing Phat Hemp!

Shiny Rainbow Fiber beads on Brown Hemp Bracelet

Tonight I get the pleasure of interviewing a great gal that I originally met through Twitter. She does some incredible work in hemp - and she's the one who inspired me to start dabbling in it! I'm no where near her level though, and I love looking at her pieces! So check out her store, and come listen to the show tonight at 9pm EST :)

MARCH MADNESS SALE!!!!

It's been awhile since I've done any sales in my shop - and this is the biggest one I've ever done! So head on over to check out my "March Madness Sale" section to find over 25 items on sale for 20% off! Including the lovely bracelet you see above :)

What's in Store???

Don't you just love that face? Why did I post this today? Well...I had this big brain storm this morning and I planned on unveiling it tonight. I got a lot of work done on it today...but it's not done yet! So this blog post is simply to say - come back tomorrow and see what I have in store for you! :P You won't be disappointed...

Goodbye February - hello March!

Ok, I'm not going to do a recap this month because, well, February was just too frustrating of a month for me! There were highlights, but I spent waaay to much of the month dealing with migraines. I seem to be on an upward turn though - and I'm hoping it lasts!

I do want to say a quick thanks to all my entrecard droppers this month! I had a lot of you stay with me even though I was pretty inconsistent about visiting blogs this month, and I really appreciate that! So here's a list of my top droppers - click on their name to visit their blogs!

Tech-blog

John Wright Art

Youniquely Chic

Alteredevents

Robin's Nest: Scrap out loud

My gypsygoods

Unique You

Blazing Minds

Stroll Through Storyland

Things That Are Me

On a different topic - welcoming in March - my health DOES seem to be improving! I'll blog about it in a few days when I decide if this is just a fluke or if we really have found the key to solving these migrianes :) So if I am getting better...then hopefully that means lots of fun stuff for March!

It's the Sale of the Week!

I meant to get this posted yesterday - sorry! My sale of the week this week brings us to the "Simple and Fun Bracelets" category of my shop. Looking through it I decided to give one last "hoorah!" for all my friends still caught in Winter snows by featuring on of my favorite bracelets "Night of the Snow Flakes."

I love using natural stones in my work - I use a lot of other things as well - but these will always hold a special place in my heart. So for this bracelet I used a combination of striking Snowflake Obsidian beads with Black Agate Chips. The bracelet is 9 inches long, originally $8 plus shipping and handling, and on sale for this week only for only $9 INCLUDING shipping and handling! That's both the 20% discount and a little break on the shipping :)