A Tribute to my Brother

It has been stormy this past week here...continuous rains for several days...and it has matched the mood of our family. 

It is with deep sorrow that I share with my blog friends that a week ago, my eldest brother passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. It was quite a shock to us all...he left us at such a young age of 50. We try to find consolation in the memories we have and the belief that we know he is now in a better place, awaiting for the time that we can all be together....complete, with my mother, as a whole family again..

Please keep him in your prayers... 

I share with you some memories and words of comfort...

me with my brother-

'What the caterpillar perceives is the end, to the butterfly is just the beginning' 

Family - 

High school friends with Lyle - 

OSRP/SBN-

 My dad with my brother-

Mary Elizabeth Frye (1904-) 

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight.

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there -- I do not die

~

I'm Free

Don't Grieve for me for now I'm free,

I'm following the path God has laid you see.

I took His hand when I heard Him call,

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day,

To laugh, to love, to work, to play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way,

I found that peace at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void,

Then fill it with remembered joys.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,

Oh, yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow.

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life's been full, I've savored much,

Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,

Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your hearts and peace to thee,

God wanted me now, He set me free

Giveaway Winner!

I wanted to apologize for just getting to the giveaway now...I have been feeling under the weather the last couple of days and couldn't really get myself to the computer. Anyway, I only got to it now....and there were a few entries that were added past the deadline but I decided to include them anyway since there were just a few entering...

So, in total, there were 13 entries...and I listed them on Excel....

And the great random unknown chose......

Yey! Congratulations Kristen! I'm off to your blog to let you know! Do email me your address at - 

myearthlyjewels(at)yahoo(dot)com ...

this will be going out next Tuesday since it is a holiday in our country on Monday (our national hero, Jose Rizal's birthday).

Thanks to everyone who participated! It's always a lot of fun having a giveaway!

That's all for now...Have a great day!

Last Chance to Enter Giveaway

Just a couple more hours to enter my giveaway...

Click here to be entered by leaving a comment

GIVEAWAY BLOG ENTRY

I will be choosing a random winner this noon!

My Polymer Clay Creature Henry...and the giveaway!

First off...my giveaway is still on-going...so far only few have entered..so you guys are lucky if it ends up with just the two of you!!! But seriously, I hope you stop by and leave your comment to enter the giveaway!

Here's the link to the giveaway

-Click Here for Current Giveaway-

Second, I want to share with everyone the new Polymer Clay Guild here in the Philippines...Officially called Philippine Polymer Clay Guild ...

You can see the works of local clay artists in our FB Fan Page - click here.

We are starting our first group event...our Black and White Bead Swap which starts tomorrow and ends June 30th. So, the big reveal will be on July 1st. I'm already planning out a few designs that I will be doing...

For now, however, U haven't been in the mood to make beads. Instead, I felt like making something cute....so I came up with my polymer clay creature, Henry...

Here he is...

(Sorry for the blurry photos...I took these at night...)

Isn't he a cutie!!! He reminds me of a hippo.... I think I need to make more poly clay creatures!

And last, I wanted to share my latest photo of my puppy Charley...What a growing boy he is...

That's all for now...have a great day!

My Giveaway Announcement (Watercolor Impressions Pendant)

This is it...my promised giveaway!!! 

There's so much to celebrate that I figured it is about that time again to have a giveaway....

First of all, I wanted to introduce my new bead shop EARTHLY JEWELS BEADS where I list my handmade beads made of polymer clay as well as some semiprecious and natural (hand polished) stones. I am uploading beads everyday to stock the new store but, I decided to go ahead and have the giveaway already.

I am especially announcing my WATERCOLOR IMPRESSIONS LINE of beads and focals. Lately I have been inspired with the Impressionism Style Art with painting such as Claude Monet's. I love the colors and the textures of the art. So I gave it a try on clay....

You can also check out my other beads from silly owls....

to the intricate fantasy beads...

to faux ceramics (that are wonderful because they are light and durable).....

and some wonderful semiprecious and natural stones....

to sooo much more at my shop (uploading stuff everyday until the shop is loaded).... Check it out here - EarthlyJewelBeads....

Shipping on my site is a flat rate of $5 (international shipping no matter how many items you purchase!!! So, you can make the most of your shipping fee by ordering several beads on your purchase.)

I also offer wholesale for those that would like to carry my line of handmade art beads in your shops and countries...Send me a message through Etsy or you can email me (myearthlyjewels@yahoo.com). Discounts can go up to 50% off!!! 

(I'd love to get these art beads out there so, let me know if you'd like to be a distributor in your country.)

So, now for the giveaway prize....

I am giving away one of my Watercolor Impressions Pendant.....I created this one with Monet's Irises in the Garden (The Artist's Garden in Givenchy) 1900 in mind...

And here is my wearable art pendant inspired by this painting...

(Note - the prize is for the focal bead pendant only. I'd love to see this pendant in one of your jewelry designs!!! However, if you do not make your own jewelry, I can include a bail and necklace cord so you can still use the pendant right away. Just let me know....)

How do you enter this contest? Here are the guidelines...

REQUIRED ENTRY

This contest is open worldwide!!! 

No purchase needed to enter.

It starts today (June 6) and ends on 12 noon on June 16 (

I am following our clock here in the Philippines). 

Here is what you have to do...

To enter, visit my etsy shop (click here).

Then come back to this blog entry and leave a comment on which item in the shop you like the most! 

Please make sure to leave a way to contact you (your email or any other way) on your comment. 

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES

Here are some additional entries you can do. Remember though, you have to do the first one above to qualify for the contest. One separate comment per additional entry please.

1. Share this giveaway any of the following way - facebook, twitter, blog. 

You can do all 3 for 3 entries just make sure you leave a comment for each telling me which one you did.

2. Become a follower of my blog. Leave a comment once you become a follower and let me know which. If you already are a follower, leave a comment letting me know you already are!

3. Each purchase from the shop gets a free entry too! (1 entry per item purchased)

(Note - since this is my 2nd Etsy shop and is brand new, I am awaiting my very first sale. I will have a freebie surprise awaiting the first person to place an order! **Smiles**)

That's it...I'll choose a winner on  June 16 and contact you within 24 hours. Please reply within 48 hours or I will have to pick a new winner. Good luck everyone!

Getting to know me...

I recently joined a local Polymer clay guild. It is a brand new group and things are still being set up. One of our "assignments" for the group is to come up with a little introduction about ourselves (like an artist statement) and to give 3 photos that is representative of our work.

So, I was quite busy with it since the deadline is today.... I decided to post my little introduction here on my blog (along with my pictures) just so you guys can learn a little about me as well....

So here goes....

Hi...I'm Penny. I am married to a wonderful husband of 7 years. We don't have kids yet, but  we pray everyday for that blessing. We do have a very sweet little puppy who right now, I shower all my love to.  I used to be an instructor in computers, then a call center agent...and then a nurse.  I never really found something that I wanted to stick to and so I resigned. My husband thought it would be better if I could stay home and my develop my own business (and it may also give us better chances of having a baby). So, I am lucky enough to work at home and develop my craft in hopes that some day I can make a living from something that I truly love....that is, art and crafting.

As I am new to polymer clay, my creative expressions revolve around exploration and experimentation. I have not come up with a particular style that I can call my own,  however, I am quickly discovering that I love both sides of the artistic spectrum..from subjects in nature and reality that are bright and full of color to rustic, deep, dark mysteries of the abstract and fantasy.  I love the potential that polymer clay allows especially when  incorporating embellishments (such as stones, small nick nacks, etc) and its quality that it can imitate other media.  It is these properties of polymer clay that first attracted me. I have wanted to work with earth clay  and ceramics for a while now but since I didn't have a kiln, I searched for an alternative. I found the magnificent possibilities in polymer clay and jumped right in. I have no formal training and learn most techniques online or through the many trials and errors of experimentation (just these past two months).  

I have been a long time crafter starting (and especially) with beading and making handmade jewelry. With the ease of aquiring materials here locally, handmade jewelry has become common place.  I wanted to raise the bar on my own creations and this is when I found the Art Bead Scene blog. This taught me that I can actually make my own beads and focals for my jewelry and to make it... "artist quality" or as they call it an "Art Bead". I realized that jewelry and beads can be a creation that is unique, one of a kind...an actual piece of art. 

Thus, I am hooked!!!

I know  I have a long way to go but for sure, I am enjoying the journey!

That's me!!! Nice to meet you :-)

I know I promised a giveaway soon and that's still in the works...I just wanted to finish uploading my new beads first on my etsy shop....so maybe another day or two...

That's all for now... Have a great day!

BTW..Watercolor Impressions Art Beads

My Wednesday was very productive! I was working on a few of my new line of hand painted pendants which I call the Watercolor Impressions. They are very much inspired by the Impressionist style of painting. Last week I sculpted out a dozen or so of them and today, I set out to do my favorite part...the painting... Here's one in the works... you can see all the globs of paint on my palette

It takes a few layers of paint to get to this...almost finished...

Just a touch of magic (gold) and we're done painting...

I did a lot of picture taking today too..I had to finish a current assignment in a local guild that I just joined...more on that on my next blog... Although a day late (for some reason, blogger didn't want to upload yesterday)...happy Wednesday...

You can also check out what everyone has on their bead table this Wednesday by visiting the Flickr group - click here.

I'm happy its June and I'm brewing up a giveaway sometime soon (check back later or maybe tomorrow)....

That's all for now...have a great day!