Farm Girl Studio

Here they are the last group for September. I will set another goal for myself in October. I will also gave a couple of give away. Thanks for stopping by, check back soon to see what new pieces I have. 

I set a goal for myself to have 100 items listed in my Etsy shop by the end of the month. With these I gave 95. One more day. 

All listed in my Etsy shop 

Just listed in my Etsy shop 

I went to the famers market yesterday, only one more weekend and it's over for the year.  I love my customers from market and will miss going every week.  I will like sleeping in on the weekends once and a while though lol.  I have been listing beads on Etsy again. Here are todays.  We are going to have a high near 70 today so yard work is first on our list.  I will hopefully get in some torch time this afternoon.  Do you have any color combos you want me to work on?  I am going to try some torch enameling today so with me luck. Have a great day, hope your having nice weather.

My bead making session was a success, I have made beads twice now this month! These are a few of the things I am going to be creating with. I make necklaces with the keys, they are a big hit at the farmers markets. I will post some pictures of the finished pieces later today. The beads are made right on the keys, people are always asking me how I get the beads on the them. Willow and I are headed to a magic show this morning and then I need to finish up some items for the market tomorrow. Have a great day

Yesterday I went to Madison with the Bead Diva's of Galena- Jess, Trish and Jan. We started out at Anthology on State Street. Lucky me had won a 20$ gift certificate to this cute store. The store is the cutest thing ever. So many wonderful thing, great t-shirt, aprons, paper, books, jewelry and buttons just to mention a few. I had really thought that I was going to get a t-shirt but the books got me. I found two books that I had been wanting for a long time. A Compendium of Curiosities by Tim Holtz and Sewing Clothes kids Love very very cute kits clothes and this book comes with the patterns too. I can't wait to sit down with these books this week. We could have spent the day on State Street with no problem but we had other places to go lol. A nice lunch at Cosi and then on to Anthropologie This store is so inspirational we walked away with so many great ideas. Look for alot of refashioned clothes in the future. Then on to the Madison Bead Show Just being aroun...

Yes I know it's been along time, I promise soon I will post some new beads. Until then take a look at Jess's Vintaj Natural Brass Blog . She is working on spring designs, and is using some of my lentil beads. I am headed to the Madison bead show next weekend to get some stuff. Look for jewelry after that.

I have added a couple of new items to my Etsy shop -------------->

This is a wonderful organization Beads Of Courage . I am so pleased to be able to contribute my beads. Please take a moment to look at the great things happening!

This is a wonderful organization that brings joy to kids with serious illness through beads. I have donated before and am getting a group together to send them. Please take a moment to look at their site, they have lots of ways to donate. Beads Of Courage

I never make holiday jewelry, but for some reason this one called to me. Large red lampwork heart with lots of Vintaj will be up in my Etsy store later today

We decided last weekend to make that our last farmers market of the season. I still have a couple of weeks until my first show November 6 th . So I thought this would be a wonderful time to list items in my Etsy store. I have been getting e-mails from people asking me to put some things in the store so they could start their holiday shopping. Follow the link to the right and it will take you to my shop. Hope you find something you love. I will be adding items up until my first show, after that I will add items when time allows. Have a great day!

Check out some great jewelry made with my beads. Vintaj is a wonderful complement with the glass beads. I love how they look together. Hidden Garden: The Scrolled Filigree Ring is the center of attention and functions as a decorative connector in this design. I suspended a beautiful Vintaj Glass Bead handmade by Cathie Roberts, embellished with a Magnolia Leaf & 12mm Filigree Bead Cap which holds a wire-wrapped pink Czech glass briolette. The Branch also works as a connector simply by punching holes on each end using a metal two-hole screw down punch or hole punch pliers. I adorned the branch with Czech glass leaves and freshwater pearls. Pergola Abloom: The same gorgeous green lampwork bead is secured in between a Diamond Swirls Filigree and a Scrolled Filigree Ring, which makes a perfect creative setting. Simply layer the pieces and turn in the swirl edges of the filigree over the ring. Rose also added jump rings through the filigree openings to attach links and clusters of fre...

It was made by me great customer Sharon! I love it! Thanks Sharon!

Please take a look at this blog post, very well written. Munkinarts

I have been really busy here on the farm trying to get ready to plant our garden. Like so many others we are tying to grow as much of our own food as we can. Last summer was so cold and we didn't get enough sun to have a good harvest. I am also doing the Dubuque Farmer market now every Saturday. We have to be up by 4am to leave the house by 5am. The market starts at 7, setting up can take an hour easily. This farmers market is really nice, they have music and lots of kids activies. With Mothers Day coming up I hope my sales are good. The earring display has to be redone, the wind blew them off. I hope to get that finished today. After I get into a routine I will have more beads to post. Until them check out this great bracelet one of my good customers made with one of my lentil beads. Thanks Sharon.

The Fire Divas Spring Challange entries are up and ready for you votes. Follow this link to cast your vote One of my customers, Sharon, entered this challange with one of my purple lentil beads. Her entry is number 10, my glass is sold under Magikal Glassworks. This is what Sharon wrote about her entry. My necklace submission for the Fire Diva's Spring Challenge surrounds the MagikalGlassworks focal bead with amethyst beads, pearl and crystal dangles, and Vintaj brass components. It can be worn in any season to remind those who love spring and lilacs and purple that they will indeed arrive!

This is a great way to combine two of my favorite things, recycling and beads lol. Most of use have or have seen old spice racks at garage sales. These are wonderful for storing beads and findings. The little jars are just the right size for most bead stands. Soak the empty jars in hot water or put them in the dishwasher and let them completly dry. Then fill with beads. You will be amazed what you find when you start going through your bead stash!. I found beads I purchased years ago and forgot I had lol. I collect little jars also, these are good for really small beads. Seed beads and crystals look so pretty in them. One of the great things about storing your beads this way is you can always see what you have. If you can't find any spice racks you can use old baby food jars or condiment jars. Be creative :)

Had a great time at the bead show.  Picked up some wonderful beads that have me wanting to make jewelry today!!.  I love to see artists that I have met along my creative journey, it's so cool to see where their art is headed.  We talked to Kathy who runs Valley Ridge Art Studio .  Take a look at the class list, I am sure there is something you want to take!!.  We all said in the next year we need to get away and take a class