"I love sewing" charm bead

Does she love sewing?  Does she love quilting?  Hand embroidery?  I've designed this charm bead just for her.  Drop by my Charmish etsy shop and see all the other charms for crafters I have in stock.

 Charmish beads are universal fit with all other European charm bead brand bracelets, solid sterling silver, and threaded, so your beads stay put.  Shipping is always free, even internationally.  It's my gift to you.

Engraved lettering on the end of the spool.

The perfect holiday gift for the stitcher in your life.   I have designed this thread spool charm with great care and detail.  She'll love to wear this on her European charm bead bracelet all year around. 

Facebook?  Join my Charmish Beads page to see new releases and share your own ideas.

English Tea and Viking Chain

English Tea Set is my latest design. I like the off-set feature, so they are different on each side.
Flower Tea Cup, Flower Tea Pot. I was tempted to sell them as a set......


I would like charm lovers to be able to wear their charms on a necklace. The one necklace I had in the shop was rather dear, so I've been searching for something more affordable. I bought one of these handmade Viking style chains for myself and just love it. It's made by basically hand knitting the wire, then drawing it down through wooden "drawplates" with a smaller and smaller diameter, until the little loops of wire are fine and smooth.

I've been wearing mine for three months now and adore it. I can wear pendants as well as my charm beads! 15" which is about collar bone length. If you are interested in a longer style, let me know.

I'm also going to carry a really simple silicone rubber necklace. It's fun and inexpensive. May also be a nice accompaniment to a gift bead.

These will all be in the shop in the next few days.

Travel, food, hobbies, oh my!

I'm so excited about all the new designs that have come in this week!

Food, hobbies and travel? Those are some of life's great joys. Let's celebrate- European bead charm bracelet style.

Sushi Tray charm bead.
My family loves Sushi Station, where we sit at the bar, watching the chefs prepare all the yummy sushi, and place it on the conveyor belt for us to choose. The kids know all their favorites and are willing to try anything new. Here's one for all us Sushi lovers!




BoomBox.
For musicians, music lovers, dancers, this little boom box charm bead with get your groove on.


Lucky Sapphire Dice charm bead.
Feeling lucky? Maybe you'd like to have this sparkly sapphire and ruby cz to remind you. What do you feel lucky about in life? Or do you need a little extra luck? Bling bling.


Lil Camper charm bead.
I designed this European charm bead camper after the tiniest of Airstream style campers. It's so cute, I just wanna eat it, or go traveling!!!
Food, hobbies and travel? Those are some of life's great joys. I hope you get a kick out of my new designs debuting this week.

Important News: Please shop the "sold" section. WHAT? Yes, let me clarify: as it is my mission to keep bringing the latest, greatest, newest choice of designs into the shop, I can't possibly contain all my designs at once. I pick up a few of each new design as it comes out, and when those are sold, I move onto the next new set. BUT most of the designs are continuously available behind the scenes. So, please feel free to ask for things that have sold recently. I can either get them for you right away, or put you on a waiting list. My production team has made changes that get the "refills" to us sooner, so the wait won't be long in most cases.

Coming soon: my English garden tea set, and Irish pot of gold.

New Designs

Happy end of August. Some Oregonians have complained that it's cooled down to 83 degrees. I love it. Warm sunny days, cool nights, and the last week of August. We are still visiting the outdoor pool most days, and walking the dog. Planning one more "big" camping trip before school starts. That reminds me: thank you to everyone who has been so patiently waiting for their orders as I get caught up from the last camping excursion.




You'll see more and more holiday charms wandering into the shop, having a look around, and hopefully being whisked off to new owners. I'm happy to have reunited Vampire and Werewolf beads at this time, and getting the second 1/2 of the pair sent off to those who could only capture one.

New Designs, Baby!

My business plan involves keeping some favorites in the shop, but a focus on new designs coming in. New goodies is great for everyone. This means I carry small batches of beads at a time. SO, I am formally inviting you to also shop in the "sold" section. My bead reorders are coming more promptly, so feel free to request beads you'd like that aren't currently in the store.

Japan treasury- european beads Maneki Neko

My Charmish bead, Maneki Neko, landed in this etsy treasury collection. Many of the items were so cute, I had to visit their shops and mark favorites. The ninja buttons made me laugh.

Charmish beads are designed by me, but not handmade by me, so they must be marked as a "supply" which puts them outside of Etsy's regular search engines. "Supplies" are their own category. Thus, word of mouth is incredibly important in helping my Charmish business grow. It's fantastic and very much appreciated when Charmish gets blog coverage, makes it into treasuries, and excited customers share my business cards with their friends.

In an effort to get beyond a "supply" I'm about to market bracelets featuring collections of my beads. I've commissioned a local glass artist to make several sets of custom glass beads that enhance my designs. Collaborating with another artist is a great deal of fun. Im a big fan of lampwork glass.





Holidays: you will start to see a smattering of holidays bead designs entering my shop: Christmas Elf, Gingerbread Boy and Cottage...... other wee surprises. Planning ahead for holiday fun.

Happy August!

Let them eat CAKE

Yey! I'm happy to announce the release of happy cupcake charms! Cherry on Top and Crown topped.

Let us also celebrate that the photos are now watermarked. The European beads market happens to be a little competitive. Knock off companies will not only take my designs and copy them directly, they will also snag my photos for use in sales. Talk about lack of creativity. As serious as that sounds, I don't worry about it, or spend time looking to see who's got what. I'm full of new design ideas, and always moving forward. Creative, positive minded people rock, right? LOL!

I'm posting them in the store now. Enjoy!

Australia Series - pandora style european beads charm bracelet

I'm pleased to share the Australia charm bead series. I have been eagerly awaiting the first production of these beads to arrive. Eventually there will be more animals in the set, but these beauties are a great place to start collecting.

This is the Australian flag super-imposed on a map of Australia, and wrapped around the bead. I have designed one for the US, and UK as well! (soon soon). Unique pieces for your European Charm Bead collection.




This shows the scale of the tiny tiny work and the craftsmanship. See Tasmania down there? So cute.



Koala mum and baby. Many of the Australian souvenir jewelry and other company's charm beads show a single animal. I wanted to celebrate the special animals of Australia and motherhood! Coming soon: Mother kangaroo and joey, Echidnea and Platypus.


Sydney Opera House. I wear one of these on my own charm bracelet along with the Eucalyptus Leaf bead. I feel like I have a little pieces of Australia with me. I was inspired to design this series for my children who have dual citizenship, but haven't visited yet, my beloved Australian clients, and of course my natural love for Australia.

If there are any opera fans out there, you might like to know that many SOH productions are available to view on Netflicks! Huh.

Koala, Kangaroo, Clown Fish, Eucalyptus, and Sydney Opera House are still available. The sample set with the Map/Flag of OZ sold out, but I'll be getting more in. If you are interested in these, please ask to be on my waiting list. :-)

Birthstones, Beads and Bees

Charmish beads update:



Birthstones are in at Charmish! I love this design and wear it on my bracelet (with my April birthstone). I don't have them all listed just yet, but have all the birthstones in stock. A nice bit of bling!

I also have a Love Yo Motha, sale going on, with selected heart designs. Easy to spot in the "featured" section of Charmish.




A view of my bracelet. I don't have it filled with charms yet. I'm holding out for some designs still in the works. I have been collecting handmade glass by different artists. Hand made, lampwork glass looks gorgeous next to all the silver charms.


Spring bee friend, hanging out on the bamboo, during a photo shoot. I'm planting some bee- encouraging flowers in the garden and yard this year. Oh and I got a new camera. You probably can't tell the difference, but it's really lovely to use!

Garden project- Spring goodness:

Before: You can see we had planted two curly willow starts in the previous fall. Actually we'd put in three but one died. Willows and threw some leaves on to kill the grass over winter. Oooo, it's gonna be so pretty! It's part of an out door "room" by my art studio.

See that tall green tool against the fence? That's my dandelion puller. I got it for my birthday two years ago and LOVe that thing! It's so much fun to use, neighbors literally stop by, when I'm out front, and ask to have a try. Then I have to wrestle it away from them 20 minutes later.... We had a six year old child over for a play date, and HE got picking dandelions for half hour. I had to lure him away with a snack. Later I told his mum what HE'd like for his next birthday.... oh yea, everyone loves this tool. LOL.



Digging in the stand-up bricks and getting them even was a JOB. I'm glad to have Max's patience! I love the planning and doing parts, but not the fiddly stuff. I put in two lovely bushy flowers, a lava rock and an old stump, and lots of seeds. The funnest part was planting a whole package of alpine strawberries by seed! I put them in all along the bricks, as a surprise for the kids. I hope they grow. Have you ever planted strawberries by seed?

I'll take some more photos for you as things start growing.



This stump has been in our vege garden for two years and we've worked around it. Who wants to dig out a stump that big. One day Max discovered that it was just sitting there on top of the ground! LOL. Turns out you can just pick it up! It was home to a garden snake and many bugs and spiders (sorry for the relocate guys). I brought it to the flower garden as a fun focal piece, and tamped dirt and seeds into crevices to see what happens.

Where oh where?

where oh where have I been?



Let's guess..... have I been locked in the studio, training heaps of wild High Flying Easter bunnies??





Have I been hiding in a snow cave??






Have I been on a journey to the ends of the Earth??





Have I been sitting at the computer till my European beads jewelry store got it's first treasury???


And the answer is...

Yes, yes, and yes, but not the last one, although I am nicely pleased about that!

We took two actual vacations in March, and one day trip out of town. Including a get-away during spring break and now I'm BUSY. Holy mackerel Easter Bunny!!! I am sooo busy.

I planned well, but life has a way of gently expressing,
"HOW DARE YOU GO AWAY FROM HOME!!!!!"

So I've been a tad busy this week.

************* onto the news with dates*************
I am at Meet Your Maker indie craft show
4/3/09
Friday evening
5-8
Broadway Winebar
Downtown
as part of the First Friday Artwalk

Come down and say hi, see your local artists and crafters in action, and please please please take home a bunny. You have no idea what it's like to live with all these High Flying Easter Bunnies in training.......

*****
And tomorrow is the big Birth Day!
4-4
!!!!!!!!
*****

Stay tuned for next episode, of As the Plush Turns, in which I host a birthday give-away, and reveal WHICH plush bunny I created but could not put up for sale!!!