Mermaids and Octopuses

I made this for Treasury Tuesday! No features for me this week, again. Most of FAETeam has been too busy to make treasuries, it seems.

On a completely unrelated note, today is the last day to enter the giveaway for my leaf anklet, hosted at Aquariann's blog. Click this link, or the handy button on the right. I'd like to thank all of you who have come to this blog via the giveaway! Good luck :)

Do you want to win an anklet? Of course you do.

I'm so excited that I can finally announce this! The wonderful Aquariann is hosting a giveaway of the above anklet at her blog, The Art & Tree Chatter of Aquariann. Just in time for Summer weather, too! I actually wasn't sure what I wanted to offer for the give-away (I was thinking maybe a gift certificate), but when Aquariann suggested this anklet would be perfect, I knew she was right. Not only does it go well with the theme of her blog, but it helps to promote a line that I'd like to draw more attention to. And it's very representative of what to do, which is to say that it is 1: green 2: leafy and 3: something you could wear to belly dance.

And would you believe that there's more exciting news coming down the pipeline for me and Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs? I have been a busy little gal behind the scenes lately! Oh sure, it seems like I spend all my time hanging out on Facebook, going to belly dance classes, and reading China Mieville novels, but I really do get some work done sometimes.

By the way, I've decided to continue my weekend sale all through the week! I really want some spending cash for the belly dance workshop I'm taking this weekend, which is probably the last big workshop I'll do until November (probably). So remember that if you want to buy something, you should use code DISCOUNTME for 20% off!

Artbeads.com Bead IQ Trivia Sweepstakes!

Artbeads is currently running a fun sweepstakes with an optional Bead IQ Quiz! Until September 16th, you can enter by following this link, taking the quiz if you want, and then entering your information for the prize drawing. One lucky winner will receive a prize package including $150 worth of beads and supplies and a $100 Artbeads.com gift certificate. Pretty sweet!

I got an 8 out of 10 on the quiz. What's your score?

(Yes, I am still an Artbeads.com blog partner, no, I am not getting any sort of kickback for promoting the contest)

Congratulations

Carol Diane H. is the lucky winner of the earring drawing over at my Facebook fan page! *throws virtual confetti* Congratulations, Carol!

As I mentioned previously, there will be another giveaway of some sort next month, this one not Facebook-centric. I have no idea what the prize will be, but I promise I'll make it just as beautiful as these earrings are.

Anyway, my three hours of classes last night were great! In addition to the usual Anaya-style tribal class that I've been taking since the summer, I'm now also taking a class on finger cymbals (aka zills), and learning a drum solo choreography. I don't usually do choreography, so it's forcing my brain to work in a different way while my body is also learning new moves. Combine this with a stuffy head and the fact that I didn't get to eat a snack between classes, and it will be a miracle if I remember what I've learned so far when I return next week. But still! It was a great time and I'm sure I'll enjoy the classes even more next week when I'm back to my usual health.

Don't forget!

You can still enter to win these gorgeous earrings by becoming my fan on Facebook! The drawing is tomorrow night.

And now I must go get ready to drive up to Tempe for three hours of dance class. Woohoo!

Earrings! You can win a pair!

As promised last week, some new goodies made with Valentine's Day Beads from Artbeads.com. These two pairs of earrings feature the glass heart beads that didn't quite match the ceramic heart pendant that I used for The Sun Spirals Ever Onward.

I didn't pay much attention to the description, and thought that the brown hearts in Herbal Love Potion were bronze metallic, but they're actually dark brown pearl. The finish is slightly satiny and very attractive. It seems pretty durable, too, and didn't have as much excess pearl-coating around the hole as some pearlized beads do. There's a bit of angling at the hole on a couple of them, but they still hang straight and are perfectly heart-shaped.

Hearts in Motion features tortoise shell glass heart beads. I love tortoise shell because it's such a warm, earthy color. In these earrings, it's joined by Swarovski crystals and crystal pearls as well as red tiger's eye, for a rainbow of yummy brown shades. These hearts are even more well-formed than the brown pearl ones. I like this size of heart because a 4mm Swarovski bicone nestles perfectly at the top.

Do you know what else is special about the Hearts in Motion earrings? I'm giving them away! To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is become a fan of Erthe Fae Designs on Facebook. Current fans are automatically entered into the drawing. On Friday night I'll draw a random name and the lucky winner will receive these beautiful earrings free of charge.

(Boring official rules: Contest is only open to US residents age 18 or over. My family members are exempt from the drawing, even though I know they're my fans, because that's how these things go. Earrings have a retail value of $25. Winning fan will be notified via Facebook on Friday night).

I know some of you aren't into Facebook, but I have plans to start doing giveaways every month, and each time the way to enter will be different, so everyone has a chance to win something.

Speaking of winning stuff, do you know what's even better than winning a free pair of Erthe Fae Designs earrings? Winning a $1000 Artbeads.com shopping spree! That's a lot of beads. The contest is about to close, so don't forget to enter before it's too late.

FTC Disclaimer: The glass heart beads used in the above earrings were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for promotional consideration. I have provided my honest review of the free products given to me.

The Lucky Winner!

Congratulations to Grace Danel for winning the gift certificate! Thank you to Artbeads.com for providing this prize for my blog readers.

There are many different ways to randomly choose a winner. I did this the gamer way... I went to the Wizards of the Coast website and used their dice roller to roll a virtual 9 sided die (since there were 9 entries in the contest). The winning number was 2, and Grace was the second poster!

Tomorrow I'll post a full report on my belly dance recital experience.

Making your holiday cheery

If you read the comments section here, you may have noticed that I had the good fortune to win an Artbeads.com gift certificate from Dawno's blog (thank you, Dawno!). And perhaps you're sitting there thinking to yourself, "Gee, some free bead money would sure brighten my holidays." Well, now's your chance to win!

Artbeads.com has generously provided this blog with a $25 e-mail gift certificate to be awarded to a reader. How do you enter the drawing? It's very simple. Just post in the comments section with a story about your favorite homemade gift -- it doesn't have to have been a Christmas gift, any occasion is fine! -- and make sure that I have a way to contact you if you win. Contest runs until 11:59 pm MST on Saturday, December 19th. I'll randomly choose one entry and contact the winner on Sunday.

This contest is open to US residents age 18 or over who are not personally related to me (got to keep things on the up and up, after all).
If you want to win even more free bead money (and really, who doesn't?), you can also enter Artbeads.com's $100 gift card give away! It's being run through Facebook, so you may need to be a Facebook user to enter.

Oh, to be full of win!

I've already told you before that TotusMel's Wunderkammer is one of my favorite blogs ever. It's a finds blog that features dark, steamy, and unusual finds, quite different from the cutesy cupcakes and indie fashion that other blogs focus on.

To celebrate the blog's beautiful new look, TotusMel is having a give-away, and that is why I wish I was full of win, or at the very least, one of those lucky people who wins drawings. All of the prizes are amazing, but I'd really love to have the custom bustle skirt pictured above! I know, I know, I already have a bustle skirt, but this one is a totally different style. These things are important.

Would you also like a chance to win fabulous steampunk prizes? If so, you should head on over to The Give-Away Post and read up on the rules. There are so many ways to enter, and the more people who enter, the more fantastic prizes are available. Jewelry! Crowns! Sexy bustle skirts! What more could you want?

Temptation of another sort!

Today, I'd like to tempt you with news of an awesome giveaway! The very talented tatter TotusMel, from whom I have purchased tatted cuffs and barefoot sandals is celebrating her one-year blogging anniversary with a Super Awesome Giveaway! The cool thing about it, besides the beautiful prizes, is that you can actually increase your odds by telling others about it. The more people who enter, the more prizes she's offering. So go forth and enter, and maybe shop a bit in her store, too! I can vouch for the quality of her products, I just love my cuffs and sandals and will probably be buying hair flowers from her soon.

Speaking of hair flowers, I want to make some. A lot of tribal bellydancers wear real or silk flowers in their hair. It looks nice, and I'd like to incorporate that into some of my dance costuming. But I'd also like to give it my own twist, and wear some beadwoven flowers instead. I'm daydreaming of beaded flowers on combs, hairsticks, barrettes, and various sorts of pins, to be woven into my hair or worked into turbans. I started one the other day, but I got distracted by shiny crystals, and now I'm sick. Woe is me! But as soon as I'm better, it will be flower time all over again.