I'm Still Here

Sorry I've been MIA lately!  Life is just busy, busy, busy.  I feel like we need to catch up. :-)

Here's what I've been up to over the last couple of weeks...

~Home renovations.  We're putting in new laminate floors and painting our house from top to bottom.  We're planning on listing our house to sell in the next few weeks.  Why is it that my home always looks prettiest when I'm selling it?  Right now it looks like a tornado hit it but I'll be sure to take a picture when the floors and paint are done.  I think it's going to look really good!

~House hunting.  We're looking for the perfect house with a nice backyard.  Our current townhouse is great but it's time to find a house.  It has to have a great kitchen and a great studio too!  Wish us luck!

~My husband and I just finished a 12 day herbal cleanse with no gluten, dairy or sugar.  It was tough but I feel great!  I also realized that I have a pretty severe gluten allergy.  I've been gluten free for two weeks now and I feel better than I have in months!  It's really quite amazing actually.

~This one is really exciting for me... I am going to be published!!!  Bead Trends magazine has accepted 2 of my designs for their August issue and 1 for their September issue!  I can't wait to see my designs in print!

~I am the Call to Create winner for March over at Love My Art Jewelry!  I won some beautiful beads by Clay Designs by Glee, Patty Lankinsmith and MACarroll!  If you are not following LMAJ yet you should check it out!  Their Call to Create challenge for April is one of the coolest yet!

~I bought a dress form mannequin.  Her name is Gretchen.  I realized that when I look at jewelry on Etsy the first photo I always click on (if there is one) is of the model wearing it.  Since most of the time I'm in sweats with my hair in a ponytail, Gretchen will be modeling my jewelry for me from now on.

~I've been making Spring and Summer themed jewelry even though it's still cold and rainy here.

Now for some photos!  Here's a piece that I made for my sister who is in sunny Mexico right now for a friends destination wedding.  Her dress is white with coral and yellow flowers so I made her this bright and cheery piece.  The shell flower is kind of special because I bought it when we were on vacation in Hawaii last October.

Tropicolor Necklace by Lisalu Jewels

Made with a mother of pearl flower combined with yellow agate and Swarovski pearls.

Keeping with the bright and cheery palette I made this fun bracelet.

Strawberry Sunshine Bracelet by Lisalu Jewels

This bracelet is made with some pretty lampwork beads by Mandrel 2.

Remember this one from BTW a couple of weeks ago?

A Little Bit Country by Lisalu Jewels

Modeled by Gretchen

I hope Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods even though we're still waiting for it here.  My blog posts will probably be a bit spread out over the next few weeks  while we complete our renos but I promise to keep in touch. :-)

Until next time,