Let's Play Indoors

With Summer taking longer to get here, it seems I have been spending more time indoors.  I look around at all I have to do; laundry, dishes, vacuum, etc and I begin to drift off to that magical place..... my jewelry supplies!

I have put together a few new things in the past couple of days.  It has helped that I have learned to say "Laundry, you will have to wait".  I have asserted myself to the towels; yippeee!!! 

Instead I have been mixing lotions, making necklaces and earrings and I have been just so happy.  Now when the sun comes back out to play, I will have to tend to the garden, and chickens and spend more time outside, but in the meantime.... let's play indoors!

Now, don't get me wrong.  I love to be outdoors, but there is just something about the days  you get to be inside.... your imagination wanders and sometimes it creates beautiful things.  And when the sun does peek its head out for just a few minutes then you get amazing photo's like this.  Then it runs away again, knowing you are trying to accomplish something.  Kind of reminds me of my kids!  :) But They would never do something like that, would they?

So with a little bit of effort, a lot of time and more material I know what to do with I have made bags, and hair barrettes.  I have made three bags and I rarely use them.  I love the colors, and the shape and simplicity of the design.  I have even learned how to put in a pocket with a zipper! Not that I am great but I am learning.

With all the fun things I have put together over the past week, I am starting to run out of place to put these fun things!  Does this mean I get to start wearing them and using them for my own?  The chickens already love my earrings, and they peck at them every time I go out and pick one up.  What would they do with some real bling??  They would get jealous, that's what they'd do!

Just us chickens..........wearing our bling

Shining Brightly

With the sun out, and the fresh crisp air, I have been rejuevenated to create! I have so many ideas that even after the sun is done shining brightly, I am still up piecing together my next new idea.

I have just had to piece them together in between girl scout cookies, booth sales, events and everyday home life.... I guess that just leaves the midnight hours to get things done!

At least I have cookies to snack on through those late nights! mmmmmm....... cookies!

I have just finished some earrings and necklaces that are fun, bright and whimsical. And with the traditional designs I have been accustomed to, this is me branching out! I love trying new things as you can see by the older posts. I am still going strong with the Sea Salt Scrubs and body butters, but I will never be able to leave my true passion for jewelry. After almost 14 years, I would have to say that it is part of me. And as we all know after doing something for that long.... well, I guess you would say that it's an addiction. At least this is a healthy one though, right? :)

So I am off to post more items in the stores: etsy and artfire. If you have not already become a fan of Plum Valley Designs on Facebook, then come on over and check it out! I am hoping to have a giveaway soon! Just don't hate me if I am a little slow on the link love.

To try something new

On Wednesday, we went to the Library for the summer reading program. I have been wondering what to try next with my jewelry to mix things up. You know how it gets when you have beaders' block...

I found about five books on making jewelry and thought I would learn something new. I made a vintage style 1950's bracelet in purples and more purples. The second I did with the keshi pearls and blue cultured pearls. They are beautiful.



The Second piece I put together was a garden necklace and earring set. This was a little more difficult due to the spacing and the colorings. I had to be sure not to get a blue two times in a row. And beings that I made this when I should have been fast asleep, this was more of a challenge than usual!



Finally I came across a pendant that was so pretty! But it never fails, and my rendition never looks as it should. I guess I should read the directions more often. So as for my feeble attempts to try something new, I think I will stick with what I can make up on my own. Directions and I do not seem to get a long!

Oh to be back in the Land of Blog........

I have to admit, I have really fallen down on the job this time! It has been nearly three weeks since I have been here. I have not kept up with blogs, give aways, new postings, etc. I have been guilty of going off and having fun as soon as the kids were released from school! We have not stopped since the beginning of June.

It all started with the Girl Scout bridging ceremony on the 6th. Pizza, cake, badges, and 5 girls bridging from Brownies to Juniors, and a Junior to Cadett (mine)! We had about an hour and a half ceremony.... 14 out of the 17 girls out of my troop showed up for this event. Of course, I managed to find the one picture of none of the girls that were bridging.

Then after that, the kids were out of school on the 9th with a kindergarten and 6th grade graduation. I am not sure why they do the graduations for the 6th graders now. I never had one of those. It was an intro to puberty class and off you go! No special instructions other than you will have more homework and less time to mess around. Ahhh, I digress! :)

Then after that, we (and when I say we I mean me) gathered supplies for Girl Scout Day Camp in less than a week. I wasn't even sure we were going to put it on due to lack of registrations. But none the less, 23 registrations in at the 11th hour. Literally.
The girls had so much fun with the theater theme last week. They made crowns, fairy wands, sets, props that were supposed to resemble a goat and so much more.
he girls got to put on a dinner theater for their parents on Friday night. We even had Miss Klamath County and Miss City of Sunshine help us during the week with our activities. It went so well, and I am so proud of the girls for their hard work.

Then of course it was a mini vacation for the family as soon as the Day Camp was over. We went camping in Antlers, California. We went swimming in Lake Shasta, made s'more's and spent a great three days away from the home (and the phone)!

So this brings me to Thursday. A far cry from my Marketing Monday's. But I have a few small things I wanted to post in the stores before I am off to another event. July 11 and 12th I will be in Bend, Oregon for the Bend Summer Festival to sell my things! I am sooo excited! This is a two day event in Downtown Bend by Drake Park. I just love the festivals. I am such a social person that this is a great event for me. So I am off to get a few more things in the stores before I start all over again, Monday.

Oh to be back in the Land of Blog........

A day to rest....

I have been all over the state of Oregon the past week! No, I have not been to shows or events, but even bigger! I have been on my daughters 5th grade field trips!

It seems as the year winds down, the field trips get more abundant! Last week we drove to Portland Oregon to spend the night at OMSI. It is a wonderful science museum that has so many great things to offer for kids and adults. The kids got to explore the museum, watch a show in the planetarium and watch a movie in the OmniMax theater. This is a huge theater that the best part, well one of the best parts!
Then less than week later we were off to the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. So worth the 2 1/2 hour drive (on the bus with the 5th graders I might add)! There were such beautiful displays of artwork by the early Native Americans of this area. It so inspired me to want to make something! And so I mastered the spiral stitch on the bus no less!

Thinking that this was my day to rest, I realized we have a band concert this evening for my older two children. But I just had to get back into the swing being that it is "Marketing Monday" for me. I have a couple of things I wanted to share that I have been working on. They will be listed in my Artifre store today, as well as Etsy. Hopefully by Wednesday they will be in Silkfair and 1000 Markets too! Yes, I have many online stores to visit, but not everything is out yet. I just seem to keep getting caught up in those field trips!.... Maybe I should say Thursday, we have a 6th grade field trip on Wednesday! :)

Butterfly Garden Earrings are a fun pair of earrings, with rose colored ab Swarovski crystals dancing below an inquisitive butterfly. The butterfly has a light green shimmery tint to it's wings that catch the sunlight just so. Just above the butterfly is another crystal that seems to catch her attention. These are just so springy and fun I just had to get them out there. You can find them here.


The "be still my heart" Necklace is a lovely piece that inspires romance with it's vintage style. A shorter necklace, 16", has a captivating filigree antique bronze heart and three small Swarovski pearls dangling lightly behind or in front of it, as if they were children playing hide and seek. You must check them out here.




There is also "A Fairy's love" earrings. These were so fun to put together. I have attempted the "Banana Bobian" style and added my own flair. These dainty fairy's have a light green shimmer to their wings. They look as they are shining so brightly with the Swarovski crystals behind them. There is a rouge color to the rose earrings just above the fairy and a single crystal that is wire wrapped above the fairy. She is gently rests atop two heart shaped filigree pieces that have been combined to accentuate her glorious backdrop. View her and more great items here.

So with two more field trips this week and next, I will be sure to get something done on the bus to show you all next week!

A little inspiration

I want to first and foremost thank Baroness Bijoutery for her kind words and her blog about my store. She has been a great source of information and help with my new endeavors. Thank you!

I have been cooped up the past few days with the rain and snow falling. I have been working on some new items that I hope to have in my stores (yes there are many!) soon. I have also been working on a "How-to" that will soon be published on a new web site for avid beader's. As soon as I have that need to know info, I will pass it on to you. There are hopes that the bead website will be up this month. But as all of us know, there is always some kind of hang up or glitch that holds us back. I am keeping my fingers crossed though. It sounds like a great site!


I wanted to share with you my new earrings that seem to have fallen right out of the sky into my lap. I call them "Stormy Clouds". They are an antiqued silver oval that I have added individually wire wrapped Blue Iolite rondelles and silver daisy spacers on sterling silver head pins. They are easily finished off with Hypo-allergenic ear wires. The combination of both dark and light silver give this my impression of a cloud with a silver lining. The blue Iolite represents the rain falling. I just love these earrings as they are so very simple but would accessorize so much!

Its counterpart, of course is a little more of a yearning for summer. These are called "Summer harvest". I have wire wrapped Carnelian stones to a gold plated oval ring. They have gold plated ear wires.

My thought is that you can never have too many earrings. They are easy to put on, they add a splash of color, and they set the mood no matter what time of day. Come visit one of my stores and see what "moods" you cannot live without!


*stores in this ad are referring to http://PlumValleyDesigns.artfire.com and
hppt://plumvalleydesigns.etsy.com.

Adventures In the World Wide Web

Yesterday, last night, and this morning I have been searching for eggs. ArtFire has been putting on their Easter Egg Hunt Contest and I have been searchin'. I have come across a lot of beautiful items that I had to share. First, I love Highwater Studios lampwork bottles. They are absolutely beautiful! I can only dream of making what they create! The bottles are about (the one I bought) is about 2' long. It also has two corks as to allow the perfume oils or what ever your putting in there to slowly be released. They even sent a couple of extra beads in with the order. How cool is that?!

Next I visited AndreaDesigns and found beautiful shawls and scarves. I have never been much on shawls but she has some really nice things there. I think my most favorite one is the Southwest Scarf. I just love the colors she used. They draw your attention and hold it.

Then I made it to MarionsDreamWorks Studio, and let me tell you. I have never thought chainmaille to be as elegant as she has made it. I always thought big, bulky and, well, outdated. But this takes the cake! There are so many things I could not choose, but if I had to I would have picked the Byzantine Chandelier Earrings

I have not made it all the way through the easter egg hunt list yet. But I will be there again this evening. My stepson had a great time looking for the eggs, while I window-shopped! For all of you who are hunting for eggs, sign in and say hi! After visiting my shop you can convo me through ArtFire and let me know how your hunting is going!

You should also check out Flight Fancy Friday giveaway #3. It will be going on for two weeks.