seed beaded witch hat earrings: pattern and giveaway!

**this giveaway is now closed, thanks!**

I created this cute witch hat earring pattern...just in time for Halloween!

Feel free to use the pattern to make yourself a pair (or enter to win a pair, details below!).

You will need to know how to do a two drop brick stitch and fringe.

Size 11/0 round or cylinder type beads will work best. I used Toho treasures in a black, yellow and green shade.

(click on photo below for larger image)

finished product:

check out this website for really helpful, free beading tutorials:

Bead Stitching Tutorials by Ann Benson

want to make your own designs?

look here for free bead graph paper:

http://shala.addr.com/beads/resources/graphpaper/

Like this pattern?

Check out my book of 15 patterns!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007M0KV0U

Oh...and about the giveaway!

If you would like the earrings pictured to be yours,

leave a comment in this post with your name and a way to contact you if you win. I will randomly draw a name on next Friday, October 17th.

Good Luck!

© 2008 threemoonbabies / Marjorie Dalgarn, All rights reserved.

You may use this tutorial to make jewelry for sale. If you do so, please link back to Marjorie Dalgarn (http://livingwiththreemoonbabies.blogspot.com) in the item description.

thanksgiving stuff already?

Is that what you are thinking? Well, yes...I just added some really cute Thanksgiving items to my Etsy shop. If you are thinking ahead too...come check them out!

Isn't he cute?

...and what about this cute set?

Thanks for looking!

things I've learned on Etsy

Although, I'm sure most people (especially Etsians) already know this stuff...I thought that I would share some cool things that I have learned on Etsy recently. Maybe someone will find these tidbits of information useful. I sure did!

Did you know that if you go to http://www.majaba.org/heartomatic.php , you can type in your Etsy user name and see all the hearts for your items in one place?

You can find Etsy's top sellers here: http://www.etsywiki.com/index.php?title=Top_Sellers?

There is a blog dedicated exclusively to coupons valid at Etsy shops? It's called Etsy Secrets.

This is where you can find all sorts of cool Etsy downloads:

http://team.etsy.com/downloads.html?

You can find the cutest (free!) backgrounds for your blog here:

http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/backgrounds.php?pageNum_rs_backs=8&totalRows_rs_backs=272&cat=39

Have you ever heard of Entrecard, a place "dedicated to your success as a blogger":

http://entrecard.com/

Need help snagging that treasury? Check this discussion out:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5841892

And these are just a few of the things that I have learned by reading the posts in the Etsy forums. Everyone is just so eager to share things that they have learned and help each other...and it's refreshing! Thank You!

flowers, flowers and more flowers

I don't know why, but I have been in a flower making mood lately! I just added a bunch to my Etsy shop today.

...and because of my blooming flower mood...I decided to share some of my Etsy flower finds too: look at this gorgeous polymer clay rose pendant by theluckyrose:

and I just love this necklace from LieblingDesigns:
look at this great headband from ChamberryCherry (the flowers are removable to use as hair clips!):
betzwhite has the most amazing flower decorated stocking in her shop:

this is such a unique necklace from mamaslittlebabies: LullabyLamb's crochet hat is so sweet (my daughters would look so cute it!):
look at these dainty little daisy earrings from beadbug's shop:
and I could go on...and on...and on......happy flower picking:)

new beads and a charity listing...

Hi!
I just added a bunch of new beads to my Etsy shop! I added some simple round beads, present beads, a sock monkey and (my favorite!) a retro rocket ship.

Today, I also listed a really cute purse brooch on eBay.
100% of purchase price goes to Susan G. Komen for the cure.

Free shipping too!

Take a peek if you get a chance!

felt

So....I have been digging into my felt again. I recently decided that I wanted to make felt versions of some my polymer clay beads. Here are a few that I have done so far:

The felt that I had in my stash was just a not so nice, purchased from a large chain craft store, polyester craft felt. I have been putting a lot of work into hand sewing my little dolls and thought that it would be a good idea to look into buying a higher quality felt. Plus, I wanted something more Eco friendly. I came up with two alternatives that looked good to me: ecospun felt and wool felt. I like the wool felt, because it is natural and all around better...but it can be pricey. I like the ecospun felt, because it is made from recycled post-consumer plastic bottles, and was less expensive. I ended up purchasing from a wonderful Etsy shop called felt craft studio. I bought her less expensive wool felt ( because is not 100% wool. "It is 60% wool, 40% viscose. Viscose is a natural fibre and feels exactly like mohair/wool"). It is really soft, and came very quickly...even though it had to travel to the US from Australia. I also found Felt o rama (they also have an Etsy shop) that sells the ecospun felt, which I might purchase in the future. Oh...and surprise of the day...I bought a couple sheets of felt from Walmart, just to use on crafts that I was planning to do with my kids (they had a horrible selection of colors, only black, white and brown). When I got home, I looked at the sticker to see what it was made of. It was ecospun felt! It is much nicer than the previous craft felt that I had purchased. So, if I choose to go with something other than wool...it will definitely be ecospun (and Felt o rama has a much better color selection).

What kind of felt to you use? Any favorite sellers to recommend? What do you do make with it? I would love to hear from you!

to blog, or not to blog

That is the question that I have been asking myself for a while now. Obviously, I decided to blog! What pushed me over the edge was this lens that I found on Squidoo, http://www.squidoo.com/promote-handmade-products, called "10 FREE ways to promote handmade products" by Suggy. As I read it, I realized that I had done most of what was on the list....except for set up a blog. Also, after noticing that many, many sellers on Etsy have one (and I do read a lot of them), I thought maybe he's right...maybe a blog is a great way to promote my Etsy shop. Psst...which is http://www.3moonbabies.etsy.com where I sell super cute polymer clay beads, etc...! Hopefully, I will be able to make this blog somewhat interesting and informative....so maybe someone out there might read it!