Holiday Boutique & Beads...

Hi all, hope you are doing well & have been having fun getting ready for Christmas & Happy Hanukkah too, today is the 7th day...we are doing well...the puppy is doing great, she is so much fun, we are wondering how come we never got a puppy before...
This past Saturday we had our second annual Holiday Boutique at Graceful Studios, it was so much fun, there were lots of people and goodies there to be had...below are some photos...Grace also has a story and photo on her blog...click here to see

I made a few new beads, added them to my etsy shop...will be adding more in the days to come...if you are a returning client, send me an email and I will send you a new coupon code good for 10% off your purchase when you check out...also I added some beads on remake request only, so check them out...

Last week's organic yummy silver red beads go to Elizabeth of Virginia, send your address girl...for this week the giveaway is a focal bead from my Earth From Above series...I love this bead and have been hanging on to it for a while...enter to win it by making a comment on this blog post...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Happy Thanksgiving New Beads & Coupon...

Hi all, hope your holiday weekend is going well...we had the best time at our house hosting the family for Turkey dinner, everyone brought a dish and together the meal was very yummy...from the start to finish here is a photo collage of our party, loved the yam yummy I made in the orange cups with marshmellows...

New Beads & Goodies: I added a few items to my etsy store, more ornaments & icicles (all gone now sorry) & more beads & goodies, you can use the discount code NOV2010DISCOUNT to get a 10% holiday discount when you purchase any item from my shop...

The puppy is doing great, here she is telling me, no way it was not me, I did not chew the button off the chair, it was not me, no way no how...she is so cute...we are so happy to have her...

Last week's yummy focal bead goes to Rickie, please send your address girl...this week I have a set of 3 beads for you in the shades of red, & opal golds...very yummy, enter to win it by making a comment on this post...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good & full...
Jelveh
Peace

New Items & Etsy Discount Code...

Happy Early Thanksgiving everyone...I know I just did an update, but I have time so I decided to do another update and let you know about this new coupon code that etsy is offering the sellers now, so instead of me discounting you after you have paid and sending you a refund via paypal, now I will just send you a coupon code whenever I am having a discount and you use it at checkout to get your discount...its kind of cool, so lets try it out, so only the people on my email list will get the code, so I am sending it to you in a few minutes...
We saw the movie Due Date, it is a great movie & even has a good message...

I added a few more beads, Christmas ornaments & icicles to my etsy shop, check it out & let me know what you think...

Last week's bead giveaway goes to Linda from Aloha Letterpress...send me your address girl...for this week I have the yummy bead above, its a great silver foil lentil focal bead about 24mm...enter to win it by making a comment on this post, just about anything you like, perhaps even a good different recipe for a side dish at the Thanksgiving table...
Thanks for stopping by, life is good...have a great Thanksgiving....
Jelveh
Peace

Silver Glass Beads & Puppy...

Hi all, hope your November is going well so far, ours is good & busy. We got a new puppy from the shelter, her name is Mooshi Bella & she is a Shih-tzu Jack Russel or something mix, she is a shelter puppy, she is only two months old and she is so much fun & she wears mommy out so fast...good practice if all the baby making efforts payoff...

New Beads: I have new beads posted in my etsy shop, several new sets including some transparent green ruffle disks & some yummy new purple plum silver glass beads...check them out when you get a chance.

New Twisted Grace Icicle: Grace came up with this great idea of using the Jelveh Designs Key Mandrel to make twisted icicle ornaments, I named them Twisted Grace, they are so much fun, I will have a few up for sale in my shop by Tuesday morning...if you have questions about how to make them, send me an email...

Class Photos: A couple of week's ago I had two fun classes, thanks all for attending, here are some photos of the classes...

December Holiday Boutique: Graceful Studios will have its Annual Holiday Boutique on Sat Dec. 4th from 12-6pm, we will have tons of goodies for you to see and enjoy, I will also make some beads & blow some holiday ornaments & Twisted Grace Icicles, see you then...

New Tool: Last but not least, Grace & Frank have a brand new yummy tool for beadmakers, it the Jumbo Roll About Mashers, check them out, they are very cool...I love using this tool...

The winner of the last blog bead is Ginny C. of FL.  The current blog giveaway bead is shown above, it is one of my splat beads that actually I believe Ginny helped name this style of bead for me years ago, this one comes in earthy tones of blues & sage, its lovely and large, enter to win it by making a comment on this blog or sending me an email...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good & busy....
Jelveh
Peace

Winners of Beauty Contest Announced...

Hi all, hope you are doing well & are all ready for this Halloween weekend...As promised today we learn the name of the winners of the Beauty Contest on my blog. Here is a link to the original page of the contest with all the entries... and to see what everyone won...
Here is the email I got from the lovely people at Fire Mountain Gem & Beads today with the Winners list.

Dear Jelveh,


Thank you for having us participate with your contest. On Behalf of the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Designer Team of the Content Development Group and The Jewelry Making Contest Team; the Winners are below.

1st Place: Mellisa Meman: Copper links Blue and Green Beads

2nd Place: Samantha’s Designs ?: Pink Black and White Swirl beads and Silver charms

3rd Place: Lori Anderson Designs: Silver ,Pearl, Pink and Blue

Sincerely,
Susan Phelps
Marketing Events
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads
541-956-8246
Phelpss@firemtn.com

I have added new beads to my shop and will be back in a few days with the winner of my weekly bead giveaway...
Thanks for stopping by...Life is good...
Jelveh
Peace

Where have I been & New Beads...

Hi all, again two weeks & no blog post from me...what is up with that? well I have just been busy with other things in life...Thinking about all kinds of things like how smart is the idea of trying to become a mom at this stage in my life...? even though I ask this question of myself often, I am very excited about trying to have a baby, I think hubby & I will be good parents. I know we will try to be anyway...but first we have to get pregnant & have a baby...so we are still a long ways away from parenting...

I did make a ton of beads the last couple of weeks, I just started to list them in my etsy shop, so there are all kinds of new beads. Stop by & take a look...let me know what you think...

You still have a few days to enter the Beauty Contest...I am loving all the goodies so far...you can enter items made with my beads no matter how long ago you got the beads...

I have also been getting ready for my Silver Class & Glass Ornament class this coming weekend...there is 4 spaces in the Silver class & 2 left in the Ornament class, send Grace an email if you are interested...

Melissa M. wins the bead in my last post...enter to win this week's yummy bead by making a comment on this post...

Thanks so much for stopping by...Life is good...
Jelveh
Peace

Photos, New beads & October...??



Wow its already October...!!! do you wonder where this year has gone, I sure do...the weather does not know its October yet or that is was September last weekend when we had our first ever of many to come I am sure, SBG NOR CAL meeting at the studio...photos below, it was great fun for all, sadly Sharon Peters could not be there, she hurt her ankle & could not go anywhere...
New beauties have been added to the beauty contest, click here to check them out...

I made some fun beads this week & have been listing them in my etsy shop...enjoy...

I have two classes coming up, first one I am teaching a class on all the fun tricks you can do with silver glass & how to do them...this one day class is on Sat 10/23/10, for intermediate students & costs $180.00 it included lunch & all supplies & materials...you can bring your favorite tool if you like...

The second class I am teaching is on 3 different Christmas Ornaments, 2 blown ornaments & one not...this one day class in on Sun 10/24/10, for intermediate students & costs $180.00 it included lunch & all supplies & materials...you can bring your favorite tool if you like...

Last & certainly not least last week's bead set goes to Ginny of Florida...for this week I have a very lovely bead from my Deep Sea Ribbon series, the question is which photo do you like from it best, please make a comment on this post about that or anything you like & you will be entered in a drawing to win the Deep Sea Ribbon bead...

Thanks for stopping by, life is good...

Jelveh

Peace

Beauty Contest & New Beads...

Hi all...This one is going to be short & sweet, well I hope its sweet...life is good around here but very busy with the Nor Cal SGB September meeting happening at our studio on Sat 25th of September...Grace is recovering from her illness & all is good here...

The Fall 2010 Beauty Contest has started click here to go the page, read the information & enter to win...a few have already entered...Deadline has been extended to 10/21/10...

I have also made some new beads, been listing a few of the sets today, they are yummy...check them out in my etsy shop...check out the photo to see them...

Leslie C. of Canada I believe, wins the Wild Thing Red focal from last week...for this week I have up for grabs a set of 3 matching beads, due to the shape of the focal I think this would make a great bracelet earring set...it has a bit of twisty, a bit of olive greens, reds, ivory & Goldstone...a yummy set for sure...enter by making a comment on this post...

Told you it was going to be fast & sweet...Thanks for stopping by...Life is good for sure, I gave the piggies a bath tonight & everyone is happy, dry & sleeping...

Jelveh
Peace

Beauty Contest Fall 2010

Hi all, its October 28th and time to announce the winners, congrats to all who participated & the winners, you will be able to enter another contest of mine in the Spring time...for now here is the email that I got this morning from the lovely Susan & Marlynn from Fire Mountain Gem...thanks again everyone...

Dear Jelveh,
Thank you for having us participate with your contest. On Behalf of the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Designer Team of the Content Development Group and The Jewelry Making Contest Team; the Winners are below.
1st Place: Mellisa Meman: Copper links Blue and Green Beads
2nd Place: Samantha’s Designs ?: Pink Black and White Swirl beads and Silver charms
3rd Place: Lori Anderson Designs: Silver ,Pearl, Pink and Blue
Sincerely,
Susan Phelps
Marketing Events
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads
541-956-8246
Phelpss@firemtn.com

http://www.firemountaingems.com/


Hi all, welcome to the fall 2010 Beauty Contest, where you will get a chance to showcase your beautiful Jewelry and or other Accessory art made with my beads...

Here is the important information:
Winners will be picked by Fire Mountain Gem as usual...

* 1st place winner will get a $100.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop
* 2nd place winner will get a $50.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop
* 3rd place winner will get a $25.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop
Rules:

* The pieces that you enter have to incorporate one or more of my Lampwork Glass Beads in them...
* You can enter up to two items...
* You need to send me a high quality photo of your item...
* Let me know if you like your name or business name on the photo, I will add it...
Deadline:
* The deadline for entering the contest has been extended to 10/21/10...winners will be announced 10/28/10
* As photos are sent in I will add them to this blog post...
Looking forward to seeing all the yummy designs...thanks so much for playing...
Jelveh, Peace...
PS I will add one photo to the top, one to the bottom everyone time there is a new entry...

SGB NOR CAL Meeting & New Beads...

Hi all, hope you are doing well...things are a bit nutty around here...lets see Grace is in the hospital with her back injury, the good news is she will be home soon & will continue therapy & will be back on her feet in no time...

Hubby & I had our 7th wedding anniversary, we went to Negeen our favorite Persian food restaurant & the funny thing is we got each other the same card...life is good...

Over the weekend, my sister treated mom & I along with her friend & her mom & sister in-law to a two day one night visit to Sonoma, we had a blast, had way too much wine & cheese & stayed at the Sonoma Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa...it was an awesome Girls weekend...one that I hope we repeat again with the same group, they are all so much fun...

I have been making a ton of beads but have been slow about listing and or sending an email out to everyone, finally got a few listed & will be listing more as the days go by...stop by my shop to see them all...36 items listed already...

Society of Glass Beadmakers Northern California, aka SGB Nor Cal is holding their September meeting at our studio on Saturday September 25th, the fun will begin at 1pm and go on till about 6pm...several artists will be on hand to show & tell about their art, they will included Silver Artists, Glass Artists (Sharon Peters & Lori Peterson to name a few) & a Rock Carving Artist among others...it is going to be a pot luck...bring your beads, your art to share, show & sell...need more information send me an email...

Last week's focal Ribbon bead goes to Sioux G. for this week I have a rather large yummy focal bead that goes with two of the sets of beads that I am listing tonight called Wild Thing from an older series of mine, I just love these colors together...enter to win this focal bead by making a comment on this post...

Thanks again for stopping by...life is good, specially now that Grace will be coming home soon...oh more information on the Beauty Contest soon...as you may have guessed the deadline has been extended again...
Jelveh
Peace

Leksi Designs...This Handmade Life: BLOG #75 BLOGMANIA GIVEAWAY! TWEET TWEET

Leksi Designs...This Handmade Life: BLOG #75 BLOGMANIA GIVEAWAY! TWEET TWEET: "THEME: EVERYTHING 'TWEET TWEET'!!!Follow all of the blogs via the BLOGMANIA LINKY!!GIVEAWAY #1 GOLD SPONSOR! WIN A $450.00 Boutique Graphi..."

OH NO She Hurt her back & New Beads...

Hi all, hope you are doing well...life is good here, well kind of, Grace hurt her back really bad last weekend after the very successful Toni Lutman class came to an end, Toni was the best teacher ever, the students, Grace, Frank & I feel very honored to have had her here...photo below...

The SAD news is that Grace hurt herself really bad, she has been off of work for a week & she is on her way to an MRI & a Neurologist on Wednesday...Due to this unfortunate accident we have to cancel Heather Trimlett's class next week...rest assured everyone will be refunded & her class will be rescheduled for a later date...we are thinking Spring 2011...Grace did add more firt to the shop, she just wont stop working...

This past week, while Grace was suffering, hubby & I took a few days off, went to Montana to visit the grandparent (hubby's)...we had a great time, they were so much fun to hang out with...from picnics to lovely drives & conversations that went on forever, we enjoyed our time with them & laughed so much...& cried a bit too, specially when Grandma gave hubby this very cool book of all the letters & cards that he & his brother had sent them over the years...Hubby & I went for a long two and half hour float in a tube on the Madison River among other fun times...

Now about some new yummy beads, if I say so myself,  I made a couple of weeks ago & have been listing them in my etsy shop today...shipping is still free for all orders over $50.00 until Tuesday the 7th of September...

Last week's delicious bead goes to one of my favorite jewelry designers & new glass artists around, Lori of Pretty Things...for this week, I have one of my Ribbon Beads, the colors are mostly blues & soft greens...yum, to win it make a comment on this post...

Beauty Contest Rules & Dates:
Please send a high resolution photo of your jewelry/art piece entry made with my beads by September 20th...photo should have your names, but I can also add it, so no worries, you can enter two items if you like...winners will be picked by Fire Mountain Gem as usual...
1st place winner will get a $100.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop
2nd place winner will get a $50.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop
3rd place winner will get a $25.00 gift certificate to my etsy shop

Thanks for stopping by, life is good...
Jelveh
Peace

Frit & Toni Lutman...

Hi all...this one is going to be quick and easy...ok there are so many things to tell you about, first off I love love love giving a bath to our guinea pigs, they are so cool, they just sit there & let you wash them & dry them & clip their nails...we saw The Kids Are Alright, it was a great movie...Other than that I have been busy at the studio with students & frit & making beads, beads will be added later this eve, so when you wake up on Sat & Sun this weekend you will have a choice of a ton of new beads...so check out my etsy shop often to see all the new yummies...

I will be teaching a class today to two sisters from Arizona, who are also here to take Toni Lutman's sold out class on Saturday...I know you wish you could take Toni's class too, we are so excited to have her, sign up for my email list to find out about classes, beads & new tools...

Grace has new yummy COE 96 frits in her etsy shop for sale...yours truly helped out with picking  colors & testing...it was very fun for me...I love the new colors which are called. Amazon, Monterrey, Ocean Breeze, Purple Passion, Tropical Sorbet, Victorian Pink & very warm Indian Masala...check them out they are awesome & well priced...

Lets see we had our monthly meeting last Friday at the Studio & there was so much fun to be had, Ed Ferner came with a video of his work that won an award, Jen & Jim brought out the big machines, I learned how to trim & polish my fused pieces, its a long process dont know why all the great fusing artists out there dont charge more for their work...although if I had done it right in the first place I would not have too much polishing to do...we had a few new people at our meeting, and then second...you can see all kinds of photos and stories on our Studio Blog...

Last weeks winner of the yummy set of 3 garden beads is Brenda H. send me your address girl...they yummy bead above is a pillow shape bead silver foil encased in two transparent colors and details in white stringer, I love this bead, been holding on to it for a while and today I decided to let it go...enter to win it by making a comment on this post...

Thanks for stopping by...life is very good
Jelveh
Peace

A little of Everthing...& Heather Trimlett...

Hi all, hope you are doing well...life here is good if not a bit cold for this time of the year...I just wish the weather would make up its mind, be warm when its supposed to be & cold when its supposed to be...

This past week Grace, Frank & I had the pleasure of taking a one day class in enameling with Gloria B. one of the most talented & generous people I have met in a long time, she ...having never done any enameling I had no idea what to expect & I am happy to report it was so much fun...I am looking forward to making more enameled pieces & we will bring one of Gloria's most favorite teachers to do a class next year...life is so good when you get to create...

Speaking of Creating & great teachers, we are happy to announce Heather Trimlet will be here at our studio to teach a class on her very famous Hollow Vessels, Spare Tire beads & if time allows Core Formed vessels, the class is going to be held on September 11 & 12 2010...for more information on the class & to reserve your space send an email to Jelveh or Grace...we are so very excited about this class...photo below is small representation of Heather's awesome glass art...

Grace & I also did some fusing, kind of my first time, I have fused 104 glass before, broken in half beads to be exact,  but this time it was honest to goodness coe 90 glass dichro on black & I even added some copper cut outs from my new friend Katie's etsy shop to one of my pieces, now we have to cut and polish them...

About my new beads, like the weather, I too could not decide what kind of bead mood I was in this past week, so I made a little bit of everything...I have started listing them all in my etsy shop & hope to finish by later tonight...in the mean time the photo below is of all the beads coming today...

And last but not least, we have a winner for last week's bead giveaway...Mary, from Mary Me wins the beads for last week, please send your addy girl...and for this week I have the delicious set of spring flower beads above, enter to win them by making a comment on this post...

I almost forgot, dont forget this Friday the 13th of Augest (3pm to 7pm)we will have our monthly meeting at the Studio, there will be lots of fun to be had, from demos to giveways and dont for get the food...

Thanks for stopping by...life is so so good...

Jelveh

Peace

Let's try something NEW....

Wow over two weeks since I blogged, I could tell you we were on holiday, but that’s not so, I could tell you I was busy with family, well that could be true, I could tell you a whole bunch of reasons for not blogging, but mostly I have to say I was just plain lazy…I was making beads & teaching classes, seeing movies (Must see Inception & Salt, both good)…buying a bunch of new glass related goodies which I will list below…we also attended Grace & Frank’s (my friends & studio partners) daughter’s wedding which was awesome…the whole day was lovely & it felt like there was a lot of love & romance in the air, check out some of the photos on our studio’s blog at www.Gracefulstucoms.blogspot.com Grace used a cool program called Smile Box to do a slide show of the wedding photos which is rather cool...

I have been adding new beads every other day, so there are a lot of new beads to check out in my etsy shop, more to come every day or so…

what I am most excited about this week is using Copper Cut Outs from Katie of Katie Lee Designs in my beads, they are so very cool, I have used copper wire and copper mesh in my beads before, but not cut outs, these are just perfect, I just love the fact that Katie is making these for us to use, the cost is very reasonable too, you get a bag of 25 cut outs perfectly sized for use in beads for use under $3.00, she has a tons of designs…below is a photo of one of my new beads with two of her cut outs…I love them…you will too…

Speaking of new glass goodies, check out the new frit book from our friend Val Cox, called Frit Secrets-Condensed, this is a abbreviated version of the original Frit Secrets by Val Cox, which is the best companion for all frit users & lovers…while you are at it check out her great frit too...

Last new item, not new, but just a reminder that Graceful Studios is now selling the ever popular Squeeze me Right Mashers in the new larger size named Big Brother Mashers, check them out I have one of every masher they make and love them all….also don’t repeat this it’s a secret but a new masher is being developed as we speak…

Now for the winner of last time I had a bead for giveaway goes to Stefanies Sammelsurim from Germany…please send your address…for this week I have the delectable set of 3 beads olive green encased silvered ivory organic beads with a copper cut out leaf on each side…ready for fall or any other time of the year…enter to win this set by making a comment on this post or sending me an email at

A quick reminder that Heather Trimlet & Pati Walton’s classes are coming up fast and I think Pati’s class is full but we are taking names for the our waiting list…need more info check out our blog or send us email Jelveh or Grace…

Thanks for stopping by…life is GOOD…

Jelveh

Peace

Hot hot days of summer....

Hi all, hope you are having a great summer like we are...our trip to the Russian River was very fun, some photos below, we had a great 4th of July weekend...The river was very nice, but the Red Woods were amazing we took a couple of long hikes in the park...the tall tree canopy made the park a very cool place to be at...the one tree we are standing in front of is 1400 years old and named after the founder of the park... oh we saw the best movie ever so far this summer Despicable Me...you will love it...

since then I have had a couple of students & made a ton of beads most of which have been listed  in my etsy shop...a group photo of the beads below...last week's discount still applies to everyone on my email list, if you remember what it was please mention it at checkout in etsy and I will refund your discount via paypal...

Dont forget to join us at the studio on Friday Aug 13th for our monthly meeting, Toni Lutman's class for Aug 21st is all booked now, we still have a few openings for Heather Trimlets class in Sept. & Pati Walton's class in Nov. check out all the info & see all the new tools at Graceful Studios Blog...

Last week's encased flower bead goes to our own Amber...the random picker like her...this week's bead is a yummy bead I made with silver glass...enter to win by making a comment on this blog post...

Thanks for stopping by, Life is good...

Jelveh

Peace