2 Great Giveaways!

So, there's this other blog I'm involved with: HandmadeMN. HandmadeMN is a "team" or collection of artists & crafters in the Minnesota/Western Wisconsin area. The big thing we have in common, besides geography, is that we all have shops on Etsy. In fact, that's what brought us together, and we formed what's called a "street team" on Etsy. We share ideas & network with each other, have a great blog, do weekly giveaways on that blog, and get together for local sales a few times a year. So that's the skinny on what the other blog is all about, and now to my main point.............

I'M DOING A GIVEAWAY!

Here's a pic of the

Spring Wildflowers & Dragonflies

necklace you could win in the giveaway:

You have 2 weeks to enter!!! The giveaway started today on the HandmadeMN blog, and it ends on Saturday, May 5th, at Noon. Go over to this blog post to enter: HandmadeMN. Every comment you leave there is an entry. The blog post will also give you instructions for several ways to enter---and be sure to leave comments because each one is an entry!! Oh and be sure we have a way to contact you in case you win!

But wait, there's more! There's another way to win! I'm doing ANOTHER GIVEAWAY at the same time for all my FACEBOOK fans, through Saturday, May 12th, at Noon!! It will be another glass necklace similar to this one, but a little different. Even if you're not a fan yet, you have time---click here and "Like" my page now: GlassGardenDesigns.

The only rules of the extra giveaway are:
1. Be or become a Facebook fan of GlassGardenDesigns.
2. Leave comments on this post and on any Glass Garden Designs Facebook post between today and Saturday, May 12th, at Noon. Each comment is an entry; be sure I have a way to contact you if you win.
3. You can't win both giveaways.

Please feel free to share this with others and enter as many times as you wish! Good luck!

Here We Go!

I have to be honest, this truly IS a work-in-progress... I don't even know how to change my fonts yet, LOL! So, I'll play around til it looks the way I want. In the meantime, I'll try to post interesting bits here about glass, art, and life... maybe a couple times a week. Think I can do it? We'll see!!! ;)

I'll just start at the beginning. I have a husband, a teenager, a house, and a full time job. As if all that isn't enough to fill my days, I have these creative urges too. I'll admit, I'm a typical crafter/artist. That is, I love trying different mediums - and different tools & processes within the medium of choice - and I'm easily distracted by pretty, shiny things... like Swarovsky crystals, gemstones & pearls... and glass. So jewelry making was a logical choice... here are some wedding sets I made a couple years ago:

Like so many before me, I have accumulated lots of supplies for scrapbooking, painting, beading, and more... A good friend & I like to say that we have "Art A.D.D." {squirrel!} ...never really settling on one thing, but always coming back to it.

One thing I've consistently stuck with is GLASS, mostly kiln-fired in a variety of ways.

A few kiln-fired pieces...

So while I can never seem to find enough time to play with all the tools and pretty materials, I make a pretty good effort, and love coming up with new designs, color combinations, and even new processes that I may have once feared (like reaching into a 1700 degree kiln!) then finally tried, then inevitably obsessed on for awhile. And I even still manage to work in some old school beading & scrapbooking!

Why "Glass Garden Designs"? Many of my designs and color combinations are inspired by nature... trees, flowers, sunsets... so it was natural for me to brand my designs with something along those lines... and with Dear Hubby's help, a few years ago, we came up with Glass Garden Designs and set me up a little studio in the basement (oh, that was a happy day!). Then I set up shop on Etsy, and a good friend helped me develop an image and a website too. Oh, and yes, I still have a full time "regular job" too!

So now my glass studio is my "garden," one that I can tend to year-round. That, and my family, give me great pride & pleasure.