New Jewelry Tools, Member of the Family, and Giveaway Winner

Hello all!!

I've got a variety of subjects to touch on today. The first is a touchy one for me. I'm excited about the new jewelry tools I got for Christmas, but sharing them always makes me feel like I'm showing off or something. That's entirely not my intent. I just like to show you what I'm working with now. So here's a quick collage.

Left to right, top row: An enameling kit, bezeling tools, & Euro Punch

Bottom row: Levered Disc Cutter, Dimpling Pliers, and Leuchtturm1917 journal (for bullet journaling)

I've messed around with all of these, you can see proof of that on Instagram. 

Other than the new tools, we have another addition to our house. Yesterday, this cutie joined the family!

I've always loved orange tabbies, but this one is a rare female. We're fairly sure we've settled on the name Leeloo (from The Fifth Element (movie)). 

Now, for the winner of my Romantic Christmas Ornament...

Mischelle, I'll be contacting you to get your info so I can send you your ornament. Thanks to all of you who played along. 

I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas and a fantabulous New Year! I'm looking forward to what's to come and love having you along for the ride. Let me know what's new in your world!

Giveaway Winner and a Little Link-a-palooza

Do you ever have those days where you're absolutely distract-able? When everything going on around you or just the thoughts in your head have you turning away from what you should be doing. . .I'm totally feeling that today. My to do list is just not holding my attention and the busyness of the upcoming weekend has me skittish.

As such, I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. I'll start with the announcement of who won the giveaway of my old magazines.

Shirley Moore . . .come on down!!
Actually, Shirley I don't have your e-mail so can you please e-mail me with your information (address). My e-mail is CraftyHope at gmail dot com.

Since it is Friday, I don't feel like I could get away without posting a few links for

• First is Fat Mum Slim's recommendations on How to Get the People to Your Blog. I just love the way she writes. It's humorous and straightforward.
• Over at the Ice Queen E-zine is a video of Jen Crossley sharing her favorite tools and showing off how to use some of them as well. It's a shame Christmas has passed because I think I might have found some tools I could have asked Santa for.

 I can't leave without mentioning that a few items in the Etsy shop just got marked down and are now in the Sale section.  There are deals from 15 to 30% off!!

Now before I get distracted again let me wish you a fabulous weekend.

Thankful Thursday: Christmas

I thought that for today I would gush a little about the gifts my husband gave me for Christmas since I haven't mentioned them yet. You may remember My Christmas List (part one) and My Christmas List (part two). I don't think Pat even bothered with list two. I suppose he wanted to leave the bead buying up to me. However, he relied heavily on list one for his shopping to say the least. You can use that post to find the links to most of these products.

On Christmas morning I was presented with four separately wrapped packages. These were the contents:

Metal punch

Liver of Sulfur Patina Gel

Renaissance Wax

Nine-piece tool set

I was elated, ecstatic, and happily content with these gifts. They were all needed and wanted and I couldn't wait to get to playing with them. While I was looking them all over, Pat exclaimed "OH wait. . .I think Santa left a few more in my office." He came back with TWO MORE packages.

In these I found:

Texture Hammer with nine interchangeable texture heads

Photo light box with two lights, a tripod, and background sheets that all pack away into a nice, compact case. This one is actually different than the one I linked to in my Christmas list post. This is a Square Perfect kit, but I can't seem to find a link to the exact product.

I took all of those pictures inside the photo box (with the exception of the one OF the photo box, obviously) and even without my photo editing software, I think they came out pretty well.


From the rest of the family I was also spoiled with a new houndstooth coat, a wand that acts as a remote control (super cool), some other crafting supplies, and all kinds of other fun stuff.
It was a VERY good Christmas!!

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I want to learn to be more grateful. Annette mentioned in the comments that she does a Thankful Thursday link-up and I thought that might be the perfect way for me to take some time to think about what all I have.

So, as material and weird as it is, I am thankful for a wonderful Christmas that was full of family, joy, and a really great haul! I'm looking forward to getting to play with all my new toys and becoming more proficient in my craft.


What are you thankful for today?

Hardware and Thrift Store Scores

It's amazing how three straight days of rain can drop the temperature from "heck no I'm not going outside in that heat and humidity" to "Holy cow, open all the doors and windows."  

In other words, it almost feels like fall.

Of course, it's going to gradually warm back up as the week progresses. Sigh! As such, I've tried to get as much done as possible while I can enjoy the lower temps. That means, I've done a ton of chores today and very little crafting. Of course, the craft work I plan to do is a bit of housework anyway.

Before I try to get to what that is, let me share with you some of the items I picked up as Pat and I visited a few hardware stores in the rain over the weekend.

Copper Washers

Cheap wire

Brass Washers and Closet Door Pulls

Dead Blow Hammer and Pliers

We even picked up the storage bench that I've been wanting for under the window in the craft room.

LOVE!

And then. . .I ran out in the rain to the thrift store where I scored another one of these great glass domes

And this awesome bag

Yes, that says "Bag Jewelry $8.00"
Here's a better look at some of the contents

Bracelets, watches, pins, brooches, beaded necklaces and bracelets, and MORE!!


I'm now in the process of taking apart much of the contents of the bag. I'll show you the fruits of my labor when I finally finish getting through this massive score!

Also, I've gotten around to writing haikus for items that need to be re-listed. This is the first of them.

Guards the Key Necklace

Now back to enjoying this beautiful day!!