All I want for Christmas is whirled peas...

Save yourself the headaches and fights of battling crowds and 4 am shopping in those big box brick and mortar stores, and give yourself some peace for Black Friday! From now unitl Cyber Monday, buy anything $10 or up in my shop and recieve a free pendant (like the one above, pictures may vary but will be similarly styled to your order)! Just put "black friday" in the notes to seller in checkout. With many necklaces priced at only $10, this is a great chance to get those stocking stuffers and gifts for coworkers done and save big! Happy Holidays!

Seaside Dreams and the great blogs

Its a charmed life! Ever go to the beach with your kids, collect boxes full of shells that you lug back, only to wonder a week later what to do with them? Anyone with kids is probably faced with pocketfuls of rocks shaped like things, pretty shells, and other outdoor treasures all over the house. After our recent trip to Clearwater, Florida, visiting my grandmother. We brought back tons of shells from the number one rated beach in the US, Caledesi Island. One look tells you why it's so highly rated:

Not to mention it's one of the few beaches left with great shelling. We found probably 50 unbroken sand dollars alone. So upon our return, I decided to start making things with the shells, in the grand tradition of grandma, whose house boasts a vast assortment of shell crafts. One of my favorite things I have made so far is this charm bracelet with shells we found:

The greatest thing about this bracelet is that not only is it the newest thing in my shop, it is one of the 50-plus things on sale for 20% off from now until October 19th, for Bluegrass Etsy's Octoberfest Sale! Check out my shop for awesome deals, or go to the Bluegrass Etsy site for a complete list of great sales in tons of shops.

As long as you're browsing the web and reading blogs of artsy people, check out Cherished Dreams. She writes about tons of interesting crafts, mainly showing off beautiful quilts she makes. We're keeping it Bluegrass this week, since I am in the quilt capital of the US!

Drink of the Week, and a Big Big Sale!!

I'm really feeling fall this week. The crisp fall air, sleeping with lots of blankets and the windows open, leaves almost too pretty to rake up, and the wonderful smell of cookies baking in the kitchen. Mmmm...

Since we've been baking cookies today (hey, homeschooling means I can teach fractions by doubling recipes, and eat the results!), I've decided to make the drink of the week today an Oatmeal Cookie shot.

Oatmeal Cookie

1 part cinnamon schnapps or Goldenschlager

1 part butterscotch schnapps

1 part Irish Cream liquor

Shake over ice, strain into shot glass(es), enjoy!

While enjoying cookies, be they actual cookies or these yummy shots (or both), hop skip and jump over to http://www.bluegrassetsy.blogspot.com/ and peruse some awesome huge Octoberfest Sales, just in time for holiday shopping!! Most shops are offering 20% off AND free shipping, including me!! Just enter in the code, "BEST OF" in the message to seller in checkout, and wait for a revised invoice before paying. Sale goes until October 19th, but at these prices, handmade, one of a kind items will go fast! Check out my shop here!

Enjoy!! xoxo

Fall Beauties

Today is another beautiful fall day and I cannot get enough!! I finally get to open the windows this week, after a summer of captivity to the air conditioner thanks to Josh, whom I swear sweats in the snow. Yesterday I even took a long walk with my mom and Sierra, hills be damned! Of course my mom, visiting from Illinois and not used to hills at all, was not as gung-ho about the walk through the neighborhood as we were. But, at least it was just cool enough to not sweat about it.

It was also nice enough for me to take plenty of pics of my new jewelry, just in time for the team wide sale the Bluegrass Etsy team is having in a few days. One of my favorites is this necklace I made, using coral, slices of shells, and freshwater pearls:

Super big news about a super big sale coming up!! Details announced Sunday, October 5th!

Big Contest, Big Prizes!

To celebrate the launch of my new line of pendants, and my 120th blog post, I am having a big sale for readers of this blog only! From now until September 26th, enjoy 20% off all orders $12 or more (including shipping). All my new pendants come with your choice of a necklace, complete with silverplated hardware, so you can completely customize your experience!

I am also woman enough to admit when I need help. Readers, I need your help! My talents apparently do not extend into naming stuff and even writing descriptions. I see witty, clever names in other shops, and I want that too! So, from now until the end of September, if you can come up with a clever name for any of my shop sections (on the top right side of www.daydreamartstudios.etsy.com), and I use it, I will give you a $20 gift certificate! Name them all and win big! Thanks all, and happy naming!

Inventory Clean Out Sale!!

I have spent the last few days hard at work taking inventory of everything I have made in the past two years. In doing so, I have found things I have forgotten all about!! All of this hard work is in preparation for the craft shows I have coming up- the KWW's 33rd Annual Arts and Crafts Show on Labor Day weekend, the Paducah BBQ on the River Festival September 25th ,26th and 27th and Hunter's Moon Festival October 10th. Check out this little pretty:

To celebrate cleaning and organizing all my inventory (no small feat, if you have seen my studio!), I lowered all my prices in my Etsy shop!! So even if you have been there before, go back and look again! Almost everything is 25% to 50% lower than before!!

xoxo

Its Not Easy Being Green

My newest jewelry features digital art printed onto pendants. Pretty, modern, and easy to wear! Check them out, these are the last two days to get free shipping on anything in my shop! xoxo

Blog of the week and NEW jewelry!

The blog of the week this week is written by Annette Piper. Annette is an jewelry artisan that writes Under the Loupe, about gemstones, jewelry, the creation process, and interesting sites. Her work is lovely and her blog informative and interesting. Check it out!

Speaking of jewelry, I have some new items soon to be appearing in my shop. One of my new favorites, this dancy, fun, yet sophisticated shell and pearl bracelet:

As promised, I am running a fab sale this week! Enjoy free shipping all week on any order!! Sale is Monday through Friday, July 28 to August 1 only, so get it while its hot! xoxo

Drink of the Week

It's raining and gloomy here. I can't take pictures of all the new jewelry I made this week. Which is too bad, because I have some great new stuff. Keep an eye out next week! I will also be having a sale (details announced tomorrow) to coincide with the FAM Back to School Fling. The Fling is and event sponsered by the Fabulous Artistic Moms (FAM), specifically a fun back to school treasure hunt. Visit various FAM stores on Etsy and look for the hidden owl in each shop. You can win FAM bucks, good for merchandise in participating FAM shops (including mine)! For more details, visit the FAM blog.



Sierra is just now finally recovering from her Brown Recluse bites, of which she managed to get not one, but two, this week on her arm. For those of who who don't know, Kentucky, specifically this part apparently, is lousy with these nasty spiders. We have both been bitten on a few occasions since our move here in 2005. I got a crash course in what not to do when bitten when I almost lost my leg to one a month after moving here. Needless to say, we're experts now, and Sierra is fine. But it has been a long week. Our new kitten, Tramp, also went missing, but is found again and also fine.



In addition to all the other activity around here lately, Lea, the exchange student from Germany I found a host family for, arrives Tuesday. We are very excited to meet her and show her around. In the spirit of friendship, my drink recipe of the week is one I created for my lovliest of friends, Andrea, or Dre:



Behold, the most refreshing and tasty of all martinis, and sure to be your favorite too!

Fruit Punch Martini (aka Dre-tini)

1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz triple sec
1 1/2 oz Rose's Watermelon Mixer
splash grenadine
splash cherry juice from maraschino cherries
Shake over ice, strain into chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a orange slice and maraschino cherry.

To chill a martini glass, fill with ice and water before making drink. Dump out right before straining drink into glass. Enjoy!! xoxo

I've hit 700 hits this week on my website!

722 actually. Which is totally wierd since I have neglected all things online this week for preparing for Sierra's big ten birthday party this week. However it happened (I would like to think it's because I'm fabulous, haha), I'm going to run a sale for readers of this blog only!! Since I got 600 hits, I'm offering $7.00 off any purchase of $13.00 or more, just by entering coupon code: 700HITS in "message to seller" when you check out. Then, instead of going on to pay, just sit back and wait for that cheaper invoice to hit your e-mail. Easy-peasy!

Thanks! Have a fabulous day in the warm sunshine!! xoxo Corinne

83 and counting...

The Grid has really caught on, especially once the word got out on Etsy, the greatest place online!! I am now up to 83, only 17 away from my goal of 100 I set only a few months ago. I set this goal thinking it would take quite awhile to reach, but in this short amount of time, I have met super talented artists from around the world and seen so many ideas. If you haven't yet checked out The Grid, or haven't visited it lately, go look!

Other than that keeping me busy, I have, as always been creating new art. This week, I bring you shrink art hand drawn jewelry. All is handmade, handdrawn, and one of a kind, and fun, fun, fun!! Maybe some patriotic earrings are in order:

Check out this new jewelry and more in my Etsy shop, daydreamartstudios.etsy.com

I have also just lowered all my prices for a limited time only, so even if you've seen it before, check it out again!! Thanks! xoxo Corinne

Ocean Breeze- new painting

It's been awhile since I finished a painting, but what can I say? The drawbacks of having a short attention span, and working on five or six things at once is that a full studio does not mean anything to show for it sometimes. Despite all the craziness this month has brought, I have been feeling pretty crafty! Here's my new mini painting, and it can be yours now for a mere $25.00! What a deal for some original art!

Ocean Breeze, oils, 6" x 6" on a 1" deep gallery wrapped canvas

Starving Artist Sale!

My loss is your gain- and you can have the satisfaction of helping put food on my table! Since I am still not back to work at my regular day job (or evening, as the case may be) we are very broke this week!! We need grocery money, you need beautiful handmade jewelry at rock bottom, fire-sale prices! I really need your help- $15 can feed our family for a day, and I have priced all my high quality bracelets and necklaces to move. All are handmade by me, one of a kind, and very nice! Keep checking- I will be adding new products all week.

Thanks for all your help! xoxo