May 2009 Give Away

It's capri wearing weather here in Chilliwack, and I love the soft whimsical sound of a tinkling anklet when I walk. So for May's Give Away I decided to offer this Pretty Plum Brass Anklet.

Prize Description: a tanzanite colored glass bell flower, a lavender colored faceted glass rondelle and an antiqued brass puffed hollow heart dangle from a delicate brass oval link chain.

How to Win: reply to this post in the comments section below making sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you for your mailing address in the event that you're the winner. Include your ankle measurement in your comment - measure loosely to leave room for bending your ankle. This is a promotional giveaway so it would be nice if you stopped by RadianTrace Jewelry to take a peek at the other pretties I have available for sale. That's it. That's all you have to do.

The Winner of April's Give Away is . . .

Congratulations Carey Lynn! You won the sterling silver wire wrapped dragonfly ring. Thank you to everyone who participated. The item for May's Give Away will be posted later today.

Gathering Goodies For You

Sometimes I feel like a happy little squirrel running around all over the internet gathering up cool little goodies to bring home to my readers. Today's goody is Block Head Radio. I stumbled upon this online radio station yesterday morning quite by accident.

I'm not even sure how I found them, but I'm glad I did. It's run by Rod and his wife Huckleberry. (I don't know her real name....yet) They promote indie music and handmade artisans. Cool combo eh? They have a live chatroom onsite where you can meet the friendliest folks just chillin and chatting during their morning show called the BrewHaHa. Last night I was fortunate enough to catch host Ruthie's interview with the amazingly talented art doll artist Kamila of Wooded Woods.

Earlier in the afternoon I popped in just to check to see what was up and I fluked into winning a little giveaway hosts Rod and Chain were offering to anyone who could guess Rod's favorite item in a featured artist's Art Fire shop. My prize? One of my items featured on their site some time next week! How much more fun can it get? Launch their music player from their site and sit back and listen to really cool music by indie artists.

If you're looking for some fun, a chance to connect with talented artisans, and a great way to promote your handcrafted products stop by and check out what's going on at Block Head Radio.

UPDATE:  Blockhead Radio is no longer online

April 2009 Give Away

UPDATE: the winner's name has been posted below! I feel in the mood for a little whimsy, and to me there's nothing more whimsical than a playful little dragonfly for your pinky. 'Dragonfly Pinky Ring' made by me.

Prize Description: tiny detailed pewter dragonfly bead meticulously wrapped in 22g sterling silver wire.

How to Win: reply to this post in the comments section below making sure to leave your email address (and ring size) so that I can contact you for your mailing address in the event that you're the winner. This is a promotional giveaway so it would be nice if you stopped by RadianTrace Jewelry. to take a peek at the other pretties I have available for sale. That's it. That's all you have to do.

The winner of April's Give Away is Carey Lynn. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Great Deal For Canadians

The prices at RadianTrace are in US dollars, but now my fellow Canadians receive an at par exchange rate on your purchases. Meaning a $12.00 US pair of earrings will cost you only $12.00 CAD.

I've adjusted the Order Form to include a check box for you to let me know you're Canadian eh. *This offer is only available at RadianTrace.com.

Also, new items have been added to the following sections at RT.com: Earrings, Bracelets -> Gallery Two, Necklaces, Wire Rings, Word Charms, & Matching Sets.

You Are Worth The Time

The Winner of the Follow Your Dreams Give Away is Giggles. Congratulations, and thank you for participating.

Soul Song

¸;•´¸.•¤´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.*´ (¸.*`¤ ~ I envy those who can hear their soul's song ~ ¤

Spring Is In The Air

Tomorrow we set the clocks forward one hour. Apparently Spring is in the air although I wouldn't know that going by the wind storm we're having here right now. I think my wind chimes blew out into the neighbour's yard along with the other neighbour's business sign.

In any event....because I want (need) to believe Spring is on it's way I'm offering a 50% discount on selected graphics at Mable's Makings. The graphic discount applies to items located in the Web Sets, Collections and Extras sections. You can view these sections by clicking the 'Graphics' link on the main menu at Mable's Makings.

The image displayed in this post is an example of the graphics you'll find in the Shanty Spring web set regularily priced at $10.00 on sale now for only $5.00. Go check it out. This sale will end on Wednesday April 15th, 2009.

Follow Your Dreams Give Away

UPDATE: The winner's name has been posted below! Following dreams has been the theme of my life for the past several weeks. So, I felt it was important for it to be the theme of my next giveaway. 'Follow Your Dreams' necklace hand assembled by me.

Prize Description: zinc alloy lead and nickel free teardrop shaped two sided charm, white fresh water pearl & glass bead dangle from a 24 inch rhodium finished 1.5mm ball & bar chain. (retail value - $20.00)

How to Win: reply to this post making sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you for your mailing address in the event that you're the winner. This is a promotional giveaway so it would be nice if you stopped by RadianTrace Jewelry to take a peek at the other pretties I have available for sale. That's it. That's all you have to do.

*UPDATED: The Winner is Giggles. Congratulations, and thank you for participating!

And The Winners Are . . .

Three names were chosen after I printed & numbered the 430 comments left in my One World One Heart entry. My daughter chose 3 numbers then my partner chose 3 numbers. They both chose the exact same number (#213) for their second choice so I chose one of each of their other two choices.

The winners are as follows...

Love Charm Necklace winner is #416 BlueMoon
Rough Road Ring winner is #97 Emily (IndustriousHead)
Heather Hoops winner is #213 Wendy P (Wendy's Little Corner)

I've heard back from all 3 winners. Thank you ladies! Your goodies will be on their way this week.

Thank you to everyone for stopping by and entering my draw. I hope to get a chance to finish visiting everyone on the Gypsy Caravan over the next few weeks.

Dream Dancer

Rarely do I sleep long enough to go into the REM dream state, but when I do I have very vivid meaningful dreams. I had one last night. I dreamt I was a dream dancer sent into the dream world to help a horse overcome fear. Or so I thought I was a dream dancer. It turns out I was the one who needed help overcoming fears, and not one but two horses were sent into dream land to help me. When the first horse arrived it frightened me because I thought he was a dead horse with his skeleton showing. The image to the left is of a Shadow Horse, and I'm fairly certain this was the intent of the first horse who 'danced' with me.

"Shadow Horse - Brings complete transformation, the balancing of unequal energies, endings and beginnings. Unifying darkness and light, Shadow Horse reveals that which has been hidden in the darkness and brings courage to declare what has been unspoken. Shadow Horse has the power to create something from nothing, to reveal the underlying structure of events, to generate radical new possibilities from a space of complete emptiness."

The second horse to arrive looked very similar the brownish red one shown here called Blood Horse. These two horses and I danced together in swirling circles to the sound of mysterious magical music that I've never heard before my dream. The dance was very beautiful and I felt free. The dream reminded me of my long lost love of horses. I've been thinking about them a lot lately. Remembering when I was a teenager living on a ranch. I lead trail rides and helped take care of the horses. Long lazy summer days spent laying on a hillside daydreaming while watching the horses graze.

I awoke from the dream feeling refreshed and inspired with a greater understanding of what I need to do for myself in order to obtain my goals and actualize my own personal dreams. I'm posting this here in my blog as a reminder to myself for the days when I fall off track and forget like I sometimes do.

"Blood Horse - Carries the intention of uniting energy, exchanges of power. Blood Horse carries messages of grounding, the bonding of shared intention, and the merging of forces. Blood Horse represents the power of mutual support and creates a space where bonds between body and spirit are possible. Blood Horse can carry the energy required to be in action, the life force required to complete the task at hand."

Bad Habits & Time Management

I have a very bad habit of not updating my Sold Items page regularily at RadianTrace.com. I tell myself I'll get to it soon and before you know it I have hundreds of thumbnails waiting to be added. So, I'm sitting here right now with pieces of paper all over my desk trying to sort out what sold and if I added the images to the right folders in the control panel of my website.

I'll get it all sorted out sometime today. I also need to add several pieces to my RT.com site that I originally had available in my Etsy shop. I keep telling myself it would be soooo much easier if I just kept on top of this stuff in the first place, but time and time again I convince myself otherwise. Yikes! I just remembered that I also need to change the copyright dates on my Mable's Makings site. Bad Ronnie.

Love's First Blush

I think I'm in love. You know how you get all warm and fuzzy inside and your cheeks blush a soft pink when you start to fall in love? Well, that's how I started to feel on January 19th as I began working my way through the list of participants in this year's One World - One Heart blogging event.

I'm in awe of the talent and generosity I've witnessed unfold before my eyes each day ever since. I'm a genuine visitor to my fellow bloggers. I take my time and read as many entries as I can in about a 45 minute visit. I'm awed by you all. There's some really funny and talented, and soulful people online. I feel blessed.

The earrings shown above are titled Love's Blush. They are available for sale at RadianTrace.com along with a matching necklace.

OWOH GIVEAWAY (One World One Heart)

I'm participating in One World One Heart for the first time. This give away is a chance for us all to read some interesting new blogs and visit some very creative people. Lisa Swifka is the founder and host of this worldwide blogging event. Go check it out. You won't regret it.

UPDATE! I added two more prizes to increase your chances.


FIRST PRIZE is this 18 inch Inspirational Love Charm necklace. It's garnet red faceted Czech glass on an antiqued brass chain with a cute little brass heart and a brass tag with the word 'Love' stamped on it.




SECOND PRIZE is this turquoise and sterling silver wire wrapped ring. It's called the Rough Road. When I contact the winner for this ring s/he will need to provide me with a ring size.



THIRD PRIZE is this pair of sterling silver Heather Hoops. These were made in honor of a very dear friend of mine who has a beautiful loving heart so I figured she's enjoy them being a part of the One World One Heart give away.


This give away is open to EVERYONE! All you have to do to win is leave me a comment on THIS post. Make sure you leave your name and email address so that I can contact you if you win.

The winners have been announced HERE! Congratulations!

Click on the One World One Heart Logo above for more information. Click on the prizes for a closer view.

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED

Organizing My Life

I'm stir-crazy and restless. Being ill for a long time has made me feel meloncholy. I used this unplanned down time to do some serious thinking and decided it's time to do a major restructuring of my life. So, I started by giving my blog a little fluff. New backgrounds are from The Cutest Blog on the Block.

Here's my plan; Mondays will be for planning my week, writing up 'to do' lists, and scheduling various appointments & meetings over the phone or by email. But, before I can even start my plan I will need to clear off and sort out my desk which I will do later today. It's too early in the morning to start making decluttering noises. My Ole Goat is still sleeping.

Tuesdays I will be in my studio all day either making jewelry, or sketching design ideas. I might carry on with this task on Wednesdays as well. Thursdays will be for doodling graphics and filling graphic orders. Friday is the day that I'll review my week and decide if I want to make any changes for the next week. It's also the day that I'd like to post a 'Friday Feature' interview with various fellow artists whose work I admire.

I'm going to take one day off on the weekend as a personal day just for me to do whatever I'd like to do for myself. It could be clothes shopping, reading, going for a drive, buying new jewelry supplies or art supplies. Anything I feel like doing on that day. I'll more than likely make jewelry everyday after I've done my assigned tasks for the day.

Oh yes, and before I start my days from now on I'm going to do a 30 minute work-out, have a shower and get dressed in casual street clothes. I have a bad habit of wearing pjs all day because they're so comfortable. I want to keep this routine going because without routine & structure in my life I wander around aimlessly not finishing the projects I start. Wish me luck! *Ü*

Who Is Ronnie?

I'll be 50 in April and I can't figure out what happened to all the time! I have 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren. The youngest was born on December 13th, 2008. I live in Chilliwack, B.C. Canada. I'm a bush woman. I love the river. My favorite thing to do is hike along river trails.

I doodle graphics and make jewelry. I desparately want to become a metalsmith before my 60th birthday. I also sketch, paint and play with polymer clay. I have a lazy old cat named Tavareesh, and a crazy Pit Bull named Baer. No that's not spelled wrong. He's the second black dog I've had named Baer. The first one's name was spelled Bear. Baer is my forever friend....my animal soul mate. My familiar. I have arthritis and sciatica. I live with chronic pain, but my sense of humour prevents me from becoming depressed about it. I love to laugh. I laugh A LOT. I talk fast and get excited easily. I'm like a crow. I follow shiny things. I'm a sucker for links. I can get lost for days following links.

I'm a control freak. Everything in my kitchen and my studio has to be arranged a certain way or else I get thrown off track. No one is allowed to mess with anything in my studio. I like music. I like Southern rock, blues, loud bassy rock, and folk music. Ya I know...weird. I have very long reddish brown hair. Down past my butt. I keep trying to gather enough courage to cut it, but I always chicken out. I suspect it will be totally gray before I finally cut it.

I like salads. Any kind of salads. Fruit, bean, veggie, broccoli. Just throw a bunch of unrelated food stuff in a bowl and call it a salad and I'll eat it. My youngest son is schizophrenic. He's 23. The past 10 years have been really rough. For both of us. There's a lot more to me than what meets the eye. Like everyone else I'm multifaceted. Everything that shows on the surface is just a fragment of what lies beneath.

Cool Toys

This museum style photo of my sterling silver Suzie Q hoops was done online at DUMPR. The hoops are available for sale at RadianTrace.com.

I've been elbow deep in KatoClay for the past few days. Lovely material. There won't be any photos of my clay pieces for quite awhile. I like to perfect whatever I'm working on before I offer it for sale. Other than working with polyclay I've been getting ready for a home jewelry party, and organizing my pieces for the upcoming spring season. I have a few craft shows booked and I like to get new designs ready well ahead of time.

Music as Inspiration

I listen to music when I'm doodling graphics or making jewelry. One of the bands I've been enjoying recently is Kings of Leon. I thought I'd share them with you.

Oh and in case you don't already know I'm also a commercial mousedraw graphic artist. My graphics website is Mable's Makings. The little 'Real Women Donate' to the right is one of the graphic characters I doodle. At some point in the future I plan on making a series of 3D polymer clay figurines based on my Real Women characters.

Inner Reflections

And so it seems I've managed to clear my head of the mental fog I had been aimlessly wandering around in. All it took was millions of hours spent sitting on my butt watching youtubes of Charlie Rose interviews. Um yeah, I think the cobwebs are gone now. Both my mind and my butt have expanded.

I've added the men's jewelry items to RadianTrace.com. You can view them by clicking on the link to the Men's Jewelry section. The brass ring shown in the above photo is called 'Inner Reflections' and it will be available for sale at RT.com soon.