CK Stitches

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you a fabulous year of health, happiness and prosperity!

CK Stitches is an Etsy shop I stopped by this holiday season for a couple of gifts. 

I purchased the following scarves that are very well made and of soft, comfy fabrics.

Chevron scarf

Cheetah Scarf

Besides fabulous adult and children's infinity scarves, the shop also has pretty coffee sleeves. These are great little gift ideas!

Coffee Sleeve

 If you know someone having a baby, burp clothes are always needed!

Burp Cloth Set

We ladies can never have too many pouches for keeping organized!

Zippered Pouch

Wristlets are perfect for low maintenance gal!

Wristlet

For the little ones there are crayon rolls.

Crayon Roll

So next time you are looking for a new accessory or a cute gift idea, stop by CK Stitches. I'm sure you will find something just right!

Thank you for stopping by! ~Val

Pookie Bags, Eggplant and Birthday Flowers

Walker Bag
I asked one of my oldest and dearest friends of Pookie Bags if she could make a walker bag for grandpa!

It is perfect! There are easy on and off snap straps. The multiple pockets are easy to use with no zippers or other difficult closures. I suppose at age 100, one does not want to fiddle with zipper and buttons!

How fun is the mustache fabric? I know he will love it. He is popular with the ladies at the assisted living home and this will make him even more popular!

Birthday
So I celebrated my 41st birthday! Jim brought home a bouquet of lilies. It was the first time he gave me a bouquet of lilies only. 

It is stunning and the fragrance it amazing!

The flowers open up to be really huge and dramatic! They are still going strong a week later.

I remember being young thinking 40 something is so old! Now that I'm there I actually feel better than ever having reached all my goals I set out for. I'm even in better shape than ever thanks to yoga and healthy eating! I get better and better each year dealing with anxiety which has always been challenging for me. Meditation is on my list of things to learn.

Roasted Eggplant
I have never been a huge eggplant fan with the exception of Parmesan style with the skin removed. Then I saw eggplant "bacon" being prepared on tv and wanted to try it. Well that was an epic fail! 

I decided to roast the rest of the eggplant.

I was surprised how delicious it was, even with the skin! 

I tossed them with olive oil and equal parts cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Now I have an urge to roast them with other veggies for a delicious sandwich!

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you an amazing week ahead. ~Val

Eyeglass Necklaces and Sharyl's Jewelry

New Eyeglass Chains
I'm trying out this necklace style in my shops.

The wearer simply slides 1 eyeglass arm through the ring of the necklace to keep them handy. This earthy piece is available in my etsy shop. 

Sharyl's Jewelry
Sharyl is a talented jewelry artisan. Besides creating one of a kind jewelry, she also makes findings and beads for us to work with!

I received these polymer clay goodies from Sharyl.

 and wintery stamped metal. 

 It arrived in such beautiful packaging too!

I look forward to incorporating these into my jewelry.

I have a lot of favorites from her shops so it was difficult to choose only a few to show!

Shades of Gray Necklace

I love how she paints findings.

Red Patina Earrings

These copper pieces are really cool.

Copper Findings

This heart has me thinking of the upcoming Valentine's Day!

Heart Pendant

To see more of Sharyl's work, check out:

Artfire

Etsy 

Artisan Component Marketplace

Facebook

Pinterest

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed a peek at Sharyl's Jewelry!

Have a great week and a strong start to 2015! ~Val

Fairytale Flower

Square Wire
I've never worked with square wire before.

I love how rich it looks when coiled! I will be experimenting with it more. These white howlite earrings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Fairytale Flower
For a while now I have been wanting to do features on my findings customers and am finally doing so! My first feature is Fairytale Flower on Etsy. 

This beautiful shop makes boutonierres using my stick pins. The shop owner has offered a photo of her creations that I include in my listings as an example! Great idea! 

The boutonierres are so sweet and great for wedding parties like these handsome red ones.

red flower boutonierres

The accessories are quite varied and oh so beautiful in this shop. I love this golden flower hair clip for the bride or special occasion. I also think it can translate well in a casual look too.

golden flower hair clip

She also make marvelous crowns which are so in right now!

leaf crown

Corsages are gorgeous accessory for brides and/or wedding parties.

corsage

If Jim and I do decide to tie the knot someday, the ceremony will likely be on the beach in Florida. Barefoot sandals will be a must!

barefoot sandals

If you are looking for fancy accessories for a special occasion, please stop by Fairytale Flower.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a beautiful week ahead! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Freeform Wire Earrings
I had some time to play around with wire! I love the look of freeform designs. These findings were made with 18 gauge sterling silver filled wire and hammered flat. Since they are for myself I used inexpensive steel ear wires!

Eventually I will get around to making findings like this for the shop!!! The various loops are great. The findings look pretty solo but all sorts of beads could be dangled to make unique earrings or pendants!

More Etsy Stuff!
My 10 year old niece is into One Direction! More fun things to shop for on Etsy! If you do not know what One Direction is, they are like the new New Kids On The Block or the new Nsync.

Niall Horan is her favorite One Direction band member.  This bracelet is from iccgiftco. It came with 2 different bands so she can change out the look with outfits!  You can find all sorts of fun bracelets here.

This Mrs. Horan 1D necklace is from Tag Soup. This is a great shop for personalized hand stamped jewelry pieces.

This unique nightlight is from Cheryls Creative Block. Each side has a different photo of One Direction! This shop also carries a variety of other fun nightlights for any obsession.

This personalized water bottle is from On Your Mind Designs.  This shop has cool tumblers, water bottles and more!

I also made her a necklace using zebra print beads. I could have sworn I took a photo of it but can't find it!!!

It is time to say Happy New Year! I hope you all have a brilliant, prosperous, happy 2013. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post!

Rose Quartz and Copper
This week a customer asked me to change a pair of my rose quartz earrings from sterling silver to copper.

This was my first time pairing rose quartz with copper. So gorgeous together!!! I would typically pair copper with earthy tones so this certainly has brought me out of that box!

Tie Tacs
I think I am going to start selling my tie tacs in sets instead of individual listings.

This is my first listing including black onyx, natural mother of pearl and blue paua shell. A great set for a man with style!

eBay Purchase
I refueled on my body mist this week via eBay! I recently switched to Victoria’s Secret’s Bombshell which I love!

I did save a few bucks off retail as well as a trip to the mall which I do not have time for!!!! This yummy fragrance is a blend of passion fruit, peony and vanilla. It is made in the USA too which is a nice sentence to read on a product these days.

Puppy Love Creations
I attended a baby shower last weekend where I gave this super sweet card to the mom to be.

This was made by Deana of Puppy Love Creations on Etsy. Her cards are adorable. Besides other cute baby cards like this one

She also makes wedding cards.

and beautiful sympathy cards.

Deana also does cross stitch that is ready to frame! This piece is gorgeous!

Stop by Deana’s shop next time you are in need of a sweet greeting card!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Elegant Lanyard

This pretty lanyard is made up of beige and pewter colored glass pearls and accented in gold for a chic lanyard that will dress up any outfit! Available at Miss Val’s Creations.

eBay Purchase
I love when I find a great piece of used clothing. So much pollution goes into 1 garment of clothing during production and shipment so it makes me feel good to make this type of green purchase. I know used clothing creeps some people out, but not me! My work wardrobe typically includes a little jacket. These staples are great with pants, skirts and jeans so I always get my money’s worth.

I found this sweet green jacket on eBay. It’s label is Kay Unger which I had never heard of. So when doing my research I discovered this is a somewhat luxurious label. Her jackets are sold in the stores I can not afford like Saks, Neimans, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, etc. The lining is 100% silk! I have never owed a garment with such lining….it is heavenly! It had elegant touches too!

Vintage Cutting Board
Here is another green purchase I recently made. I purchased this cutting board as an after thought for Jim’s birthday (a gift that included wine and cheese)! This is from Dave of handmadebydave on Etsy.

Dave carved this cheese board from oak of an old barn in his home state of Virginia. What I love most is that the wood has been reused to create a timeless, useful item!

His newest handmade additions are K-Cup holders!


Dave also carries wine stoppers featuring handblown glass.


The shop also includes great other items like this Arabian coffee pot.


Or these amazing mother of pearl butter knives.

Stop by Dave's shop for unique handmade and vintage items!

I hope you all had a great first week of 2012 and wish you many more!!! As always, thank you for stopping by. ~Val

Pookie Creations!!!

I just received this fabulous handmade tote bag from my dear friend of over 20 years, Melissa!

It is reversable too with a plain brown fabric inside! Coffee is one of my favorite treats so this java theme fabric is perfect. Unfortunately I am sensitive to caffeine and have to limit my dose to 1 cup a day!

This bag is big and roomy for bringing my daily parcels to the post office! This is my first load.

Check out Melissa's shop Pookie Creations on Etsy!

She makes the most adorable coin purses like this one!

Her pouches are great for carrying all sorts of things!

Her owls make me smile!

Pretty clutches too for a night out!

You can also find Pookie Creations on Facebook and her blog!

New in my shop are copper and gunmetal findings. These are sold in sets of miscellaneous findings.

I wish all my readers a great week ahead! I am looking forward to picking up a new car this week after driving the same one for 13 years!!! Woohoo!!! ~Val