NEW BLOG!

Rachel and I are splitting up. I know, I know - it's very sad when bloggers go their separate ways. You always wonder - what will become of their little blog posts. But don't fret, they'll be just fine. They'll go through therapy and come out better in the end. And Rachel and I will continue to do what we love - me: lampwork beads; her: super-fun kid art. We'll just blog about it on our very own blogs.

So follow me to my new blog - Maybeads - musings of a lampwork critter bead artist.

And follow Rachel to her new blog at Raspberrykidz - very cool!

Thank you!

Lauren

The Dog Days of Summer

Here in the Midwest, we've finally had a sample of the Dog Days of Summer. The mild weather has given way to a few hot and humid days in a row. I've decided to use it as an excuse to put some of my dog beads on sale. They're getting hot and tired in my bead box, and they long to travel via bubble mailer to other parts of the world. So please check out the SALE section in my Etsy shop to see which pooches have new prices. Thanks so much! And remember to give your doggy plenty of water on these hot days!

My Dog, Chunky

This is my dog. His name is Chunky, but he'll answer to Chunk. We got him when he was a year old, so he came with the name. He had large paws, so his breeder assumed he would be a good-sized, chunky dog. Turns out he's a smaller dog with large paws. Chunky is an English Springer Spaniel and was bred to hunt, but we aren't a hunting family. Instead, he chases tennis balls - and he can do this for hours. He is obsessed with tennis balls. He is also obsessed with my husband. He goes to work with him every day - he spends more time with my husband than I do. Right now my husband is out, and Chunky is here keeping me company. So for a bit, he's my dog.

Thanks for meeting my dog!

Take Me To Your Reader . . . or Beader

Last week I hosted my own bookmark giveaway here on the blog. To enter, I asked readers to tell me what they thought would make a good lampwork bookmark. A couple people suggested an alien bookmark, and one reader (Lethargiclass) thought a spaceship would go nicely with an alien. Well, I listened! I loved the alien/spaceship idea, and I had a lot of fun creating this bookmark. I have another alien/spaceship pair in the kiln right now, but this bookmark is ready to go. Hope you all like it! Thanks for the great ideas!

Turtle Bookmark GIVEAWAY WINNER!

I picked the winner this morning the old fashioned way - put all the entries down on paper and mixed them up, then pulled one out. And the winner is . . . j2fabfunk! I'll contact you soon for your address.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I really enjoyed hearing what you are reading, and the bookmark ideas were outstanding! I've already made the alien and spaceship beads to turn into a sci fi bookmark. Watch for that one to land in my Etsy shop sometime soon.

And please check back here for more giveaways. This was really fun, and I plan on doing more!

Maybeads Bookmark GIVEAWAY!!!

Turtle Bookmark Giveaway!

I love to read, and right now I'm engrossed in a really good mystery, with a lot of humor sprinkled in. It's called Fade Away, by Harlan Coben. It's in the Myron Bolitar series. I love this author and his characters.

So I thought a good first giveaway on my blog would be a bookmark. The lampwork turtle atop this bookmark will hold your place and keep you company while you get lost in your latest summer read. The turtle bead (made by me) will slide up and down the ribbon to fit your book. The turtle and the second bead on the bottom of the bookmark are both made with blue and pink glass, to match the pink ribbon with blue stitching. My bookmarks run from $14 to $16 in my Etsy shop, and I'm happy to make custom bookmarks.

All you have to do to enter this giveaway to win this bookmark is to visit Maybeads, my Etsy shop, and come back here and leave a comment about what you think would make a good lampwork bookmark. Be sure to include your email address in your entry. To see other bookmarks already in my shop, click on the bookmark section on the right side of my shop.

Extra entries:

For an extra entry, leave a comment about a good book you're reading, or reading to your kids.

For another extra entry, tweet about my giveaway (then come back here and let me know).

For yet another extra entry, blog about this giveaway, with a link back to my blog.

For another extra entry, become a fan of Maybeads on Facebook, and post this giveaway on your wall.

-- For all of the above, leave me a separate comment and be sure to include your email address.

This giveaway will end on Sunday, August 2.

Fire Divas Bead of the Day

My turtle bookmark has been feature on the Fire Divas blog as the bead of the day! Check out the blog for more gorgeous glass from my Fire Diva friends!