Day Four - 12 Days of BAO Holiday GiveAway

Here's day 4 . . . three beautiful organic raku connector beads by LisaPetersArt.

Tuesday, the winner of these beads will be selected. So head on over to the BAO Blog and see how you can win these beads! Good luck!

Day 3 - Twelve Days of BAO Holiday GiveAway

For Day 3 - here's what you'll get if you win . . .

For details on what you need to do to enter into winning this pendant by MaryLou (one of our very talented beadweavers at time2cre8), go here. Have fun and good luck!

Day 2 - Twelve Days of BAO GiveAway

The post just went up in the BAO blog. Here's the giveaway from Day 2!

This is a sapphire blue crystal bracelet by MistyRidgeBeads. Head on over to the BAO Blog for details on how to win this bracelet!

Gift Guide Giveaway - 12 Days!

The BAO Team is doing a 12 Days of BAO Holiday GiveAway. Head on over to the BAO Blog to see what this is all about. It'll be a fun 12 days you won't want to miss! The Day 1 gift has already been posted! A hint about Day Two: think scavenger hunt :o)

What about Naftali? I will have something in that 12 GiveAway as well. Stay tuned. But in the meantime, head over to my shop to see my special that's going on just today, Thanksgiving!

BAO Open House

Beginning Black Friday through Cyber Monday, some members of the BAO team will be offering special pricing and free shipping. Below is a list of the participating members and their specials. Be sure to put "BAO Open House" in the notes to seller when ordering to receive the savings.


Carol (Sand Fibers): Free shipping and a set of Sand Fiber coasters with every purchase! (A $12 value)
Anna (ARoseByName): free shipping
Heather (Humblebeads): free shipping on all orders and a free gift with purchases of $50 or more
Lisa (LisaPetersArt): free surprise gift (at least $5 value) with any purchase over $30 (note that this special is being offered through the end of the year)
Mak (MAKUstudio): free shipping + 10% off purchases over $50 and 15% off purchases over $100
Dee (Malodora): free shipping
Swanee (MistyRidgeBeads): free shipping
Melody (SalamanderHouse): free shipping
Smadar (SmadarsTreasure): free shipping + 10% off the second item purchased
Sarah (thebeadedlily): free shipping
Darcy (thejadedog): free shipping
MaryLou (time2cre8): free shipping on entire order with the purchase of anything with the "bao team" tag
Lisa (tqbdesigns): free shipping
Triz (TrizDesigns): free shipping
Carli (juiceglass): free shipping


And as for me, I'm offering free shipping on any item. On Wednesday and Thanksgiving only, I'm offering 10% of any purchase off purchases of $50 or more. Be sure to put "BAO Open House" when checking out and wait for a revised invoice.

And if you love handmade, the BAO team has made a holiday gift guide. The artists cover a wide range of styles and medium. There will be prize drawings and more. And while you're there, sign up for the BAO newsletter. We have regular drawings for all our newsletter subscribers!


I hope you and your families all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

BAO Item of the Week

It's Monday and you know what that means . . . this week, from November 24 - 30, there are a number of Bead Art Original members who are offering specials. You just might want to check this out!

Marvelous Monday

A little bit of texture . . . a little bit of color . . . together they make for a marvelous Monday!

My BAO Item of the Week

So, it's no suprise I'm offering this necklace up as my "BAO Item of the Week" right? Free shipping on any color combination you so choose. The color combinations are unlimited and as always, I plan to have fun playing with more color (yeah, I'm back in the sandbox again)!

Houndstooth Saturday

I just listed this item in my shop. Houndstooth - it's very hot right now :o) . It's been on my "to do" list for a little while and it's finally done! I'll be offering it with earrings, cuff links, and rings. So stay tuned! It can come in many colors . . . here's a few.

And if you like that, check out this cool bracelet that my pal Carol of SandFibers has in her shop!

Coming Home . . .Again

Well, that burst of creativity is about to take a detour as I go and pick up my Julienne from college tomorrow. I'm grateful that she's only an hour and a half away. And the tradition has started as I never miss a trip to the UConn Creamery - their ice cream is always a treat! Anyway, Jules already has a list of meals she would like me to cook. She must have way too much time on her hands to dream up these dishes. And with all the sports Lily does, quite frequently the question is not "what do you want for dinner" it's "where do you want to go for dinner"? And I'd prefer to leave it that way!

Speaking of creativity, this is one necklace I'm particulary happy about. Why? Because it's been in my head way too long and now I can finally release it from my "to do" list. But there are other patterns and colors coming - and hopefully with earrings!

BAO Item of the Week

Here it is - the weekly specials from the Bead Art Originals team. Of course, you can click on the image to get all the great details! Happy shopping!

Marvelous Monday

I'm not sure how I ever missed this featured Etsy seller. She was featured on Etsy back in August of this year. I'm a huge fan of modern design and collectible modern design furniture - so it's no wonder I would love these graphics design decals. Her shop is called shanon1972. It's not just the decals that are great, she also presents them very well. The decals are complimented beautifully with the modern design spaces. If anyone wants to purchase anything from this shop for me, feel free :o). The tour bus is coming . . . grab a seat and enjoy the ride! (Of course you can just mosey on over to her shop and see the whole shabang - I had too much fun!) Here are some of my favorites . . . and have a marvelous Monday!

New Work

I've been busy making jewelry for my Etsy shop. In the process, I've been making a number of some new earring designs. They're sweet little things and have the just right swing . . . who doesn't like a little swing? I've also been making some necklaces. So if you haven't been to my Flickr page recently, you'll see them here!

Have you noticed how popular ribbons are these days? I use either cording with ribbon or hand dyed silk ribbon. A few of my sources are Ancient Moon Beads (they're located here in Watertown, MA), Jamn Glass on Etsy, or Class Act Designs.

Have a great weekend!

Road Trip!

Has anyone else noticed all the shows that are taking place this weekend? Up here in the Northeast, we have the Snow Farm 2nd's Sale (which I hear aren't really 2nds) , Craftboston and over in Philly (not really New England - but you caught that, right?) there's the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. It doesn't get much better than that! My friend Elaine has been asking me to go to Snow Farm for their sale the past few years. Snow Farm is a place in New England where they have various craft programs. They are located in the town of Williamsburg, MA close to Northampton. In my twenties, I used to head up to Northampton for a fun meal (it's just always about the food, isn't it?) Northampton is located along the banks of the scenic Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts. It's recognized as a top rated town for its distinctive downtown, arts & culture and its historic preservation. Think renovated factory buildings with high ceilings. Beautiful spaces and I'm so looking forward to going back!

You can read up on the Snow Farm Sale here. There just might be someone who know. Oooh, hold on, I think I hear my muse calling . . .

Marvelous Mondays

This past week, I came upon Joanne Russo's basketry work. She exhibits in many fine craft shows across the country. I think you'll agree her work is very special. I especially love this family of chili peppers.

In her new work, she describes the process as follows: "I may use rows of hooks and eyes to imply that the basket’s construction is carefully held together, while on another, a zipper adds an illusion of function. For the finishing touch, spiraled, thread-wrapped rows define the basket’s top. On some baskets I’ve left the last few rows twisting out into space, reaching, as a tendril, for a safehold. "

Check out her website to see more of her work . . . and have a marvelous Monday!

BAO Item of the Week

From now until 11/16/08, I'm offering free shipping on my Raspberry Crackle necklace. It comes with a 32" hand dyed silk ribbon.

Other specials being offerred by members of the BAO team are shown below. Feast your eyes on these beauties!

And, of course, for more details, click here.

BAO on the Front Page!

This lovely treasury was made by Smadar, our self-proclaimed beadaholic from Israel. It's hard to believe she's only been doing beadweaving for over two years now! Today, it hit Etsy's front page! She ironically titled it "I Need a Title". But . . . I guess a title wasn't really necessary after all. Thanks Smadar!

And if you want to see any of Smadar's creations, click here. Here's a couple of my favorites by Smadar at the moment . . .

BAO Item of the Week

Better late than never (been having a few computer problems this week)! This week's specials (11/3 - 11/9) are from 13 artists. Feast your eyes . .

And for more details on these great deals, click here.

Picture Collage

With a lot of things to catch up with . . . orders to go out, I thought I would post a little about the Bat Mitzvah today. I had previously posted the beginnings of a collage I was doing for Lily's Bat Mitzvah. I said I would post a picture of the final collage. It's rather large and I had it in the entry way to the temple. This picture is one of my favorites. That's Lily on the left with her best friend. I just love the look of pure joy on her face! Her friend is Hannah and that's our dog Luca (he's a Coton de Tulear). French for "cotton" and Tulear is where they originate (in Madagascar). This next shot is when Lily was playing at a neighbor's house. Jessica, my daughter Julienne, and Lily were apparently playing "house". They made Lily the baby (for obvious reasons - they were probably 6 or 7) and put her hair in these pig tales. Apparently this child was bad so they had to put her in a time out :o( I can just see Jessica and Julienne with evil grins as they were running the show. Lily had the sweetest, saddest expression (can you see the pout?) on her little face. Next is a photo of both grandfathers who are deceased. I literally cut their shapes out of their individual pictures, and raised them off of the white paper behind. I think that's my favorite piece of the collage. Can you tell Lily's theme for the party was basketball? In the picture in the middle is a great shot of her (where the #13 is) as she either went for the ball or was shooting it. To the left of that picture is a sweet photo of Mark (with a beard at the time) holding Lily. And if you notice, most of the photos are of a younger Lily. Being the second child I don't have nearly as many shots of her from 9 - present. That's where school photos come in handy I guess. Oh well!

The bat mitzvah was so much fun. Lily did a stupendous job, was well poised and confident as she read the Torah and Haftorah portions. There were over a hundred kids alone (who were so well behaved). The hors d'oeuvres and dinner was unbelievable. Today, I'm off to deliver everything to a shelter in a city nearby.