Spring Arrives in Style

Spring is here! Blue skies, singing birds, blossoms and flowers bursting out everywhere ... it is just beautiful!

Just yesterday, my little 1st grader came in from playing outdoors grinning happily from ear to ear and holding out this bunch of Spring daffodils. "These are for you, Mommy!! Happy Spring!" He was so cute and sweet and it was such a beautiful, thoughtful gesture. We made a big show of putting them in water on the kitchen table. (Yes, I am a Japanese pottery addict). I was, however, a little mortified, because you see... I have never, ever planted daffodils on our property. That means that someone, somewhere in the neighborhood is now missing three daffodils.No illicit flower activities for me, but I have been gathering rushes of pussy willow branches - which I just love to decorate with. A container of dried branches adds instant visual height and a certain sculptural element to any room. If you have cherry trees, a vase of cut flowering cherry branches is a great idea too.
And what a lovely backdrop they make for a glamour shot of one of my Bird's Nest Necklace Deluxe necklaces. These have driven me absolutely batty trying to photograph them, but I finally achieved some decent pictures and they are up on the website. Each one turns out so unique that I decided to list each one separately so you can choose your favorite.
And if you've checked out my etsy site lately, you will see a fresh crop of pink hand crocheted embellished brooches. These are so festive for Spring and look just gorgeous pinned to a shirt, hat, purse or blouse! And each one is one of a kind, so you'll have a true original.

More exciting Jeweled Elegance news: The very sweet and talented Nyx Enchantments is doing a running blog article on etsy sellers and was so kind as to feature me! If you've ever wanted to know more about the inspirations behind Jeweled Elegance, check it out here.

This week is the start of Spring Break for us, so my little guys and I will be busy enjoying the nice weather, going on field trips, working in the garden, and baking yummy goodies. We are not so fortunate as to be able to go on vacation, but we have our copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys on hand (which they adore) and we are going to have some great boy adventures! I hope you all are having a happy Spring!

Easy Felt Ribbon Rose Pin Tutorial

Hi everyone! It's time for my first tutorial! I only had six spots on my camera card, so it's a five step tutorial plus one beauty shot. Here's what your gorgeous felt ribbon rose pin will look like when it's done. Perfect for Spring!:
Step 1: Gather your supplies. A long strip of felt in the color you want your rose, a pin backing, and one or two leaves cut out of green felt. Also, a needle, and thread colored to match the felt.
Step 2: Fold the felt in half lengthwise and starting at one end, stitch a running stitch along the entire bottom edge.

Step 3: Pull the thread tight until the the felt curls into itself and makes a rose.

Step 4: Tack the rose layers together at the back and then, holding the leaves and pin in the exact spot you want them, stitch the leaves and pin to the rose.

Step 5: Finish with a jeweled center stitched or glued to the center. I used a pearl center (my favorite type of center), but try crystals, gemstones, a felt ball or anything else you can think of. And voila! You have a beautiful rose pin!

Easy Felt Ribbon Rose Pin tutorial copyright Jeweled Elegance LLC

If you make one of these, please let me know, I'd love to see yours! Now... I'm off to Michaels to buy more felt. I'm hoping to have 20 of these in different colors finished for the start of Saturday Market, but with the weather so nice now, it's hard to stay inside and work :) I wasn't planning on selling these online, but if anyone wants a few, just let me know!

**Update: I've entered my tutorial in the Easter Parade & Giveaway at Quill Cottage. Go visit and have fun looking through all the beautiful Easter/Spring links!

Have a great week & a Happy Easter!

If It's Rare, If It's Exclusive ..... Does it Taste Sweeter?

You know those lists of 1001 things to do before you die? Well, mine just gained a new one: go to a Laduree store in France (a luxury cakes and pastries company based in Paris) and gaze at the mouthwatering goodies until I choose just a few and walk out with a divinely packaged piece of culinary heaven.

Here's some of their fantastic store window displays. It shows their world famous macaroons and their superb packaging. Anything in boxes that pretty would taste good before you even opened the box.

One of their mouthwatering desserts.
Another dessert. Yum!
And if you stay to indulge at the store, sitting down to drink gourmet coffee and eat bakery sweets, you can eat inside here! How posh is this!?

All Laduree images from roboppy at Flickr

Now my chances of getting to France are less than 1% and horrors - it looks like they do not ship product. You can only buy AT the store. So ... on the list it goes and tonight I will dream of Laduree. And what sweet dreams they will be :)

And my bloggy friend Natalea, from Kandeland has honored me with The Angelic Angel Award!! Thank you so much Natalea! Now, I am supposed to nominate 5 bloggers that inspire me daily, but honestly ... look at my blogroll on the right ....WAY more than 5. And each and every one inspires me in art, in artistic vision, in life, in spirit, in cooking or in just the special way they view the world. So, I give this award to all of them!

Mail Love!

I am so happy to be a participant in the Speckled Egg nest swap! I strayed out of my normal artistic territory and did my first shabby chic piece. I think it turned out just darling! Love the expression on the little bird and all the egg-laden branches woven into the nest.
My swap partner for the nest swap was Karla! Here is the queenly bejeweled bird she sent me. Isn't she beautiful perched in her teacup "nest"? And surrounding the base is the stunning "amour" banner I won from Bristol at Honey Bend. This is SO gorgeous and the photo doesn't do it justice at all. Even the back is completely and meticulously finished with a great toile. Thank you Karla and Bristol!
What do you know? I won something in the One World One Heart Giveaway! I won this delicate beaded heart pin from Bev at Big Black Dog Studio. This is so lovely and I have already worn it several times around town, receiving many compliments on it. I love how it has the little flower embellishment too - perfect for spring!

Thank you to everyone who sent good luck wishes to banish my weird steak of bad luck - looks like it worked! The whole family decided to get out of town and go to the coast last week just to get away from it all, and nothing horrible has happened since we got back (knock on wood!). I hope to have some pictures of our trip to share soon. It was our youngest's first time seeing the ocean and it was just so enchanting to see it through his eyes. And .. nothing makes you feel better than a little retail therapy. Japanese crackers, an awesome new Japanese craft book (these are a great source of innovative and fresh craft trends - even if you can't read them), and dreamy yarn that looks like 18thc. French ball gowns -- ahh! Feeling better!!
I even squeaked in a little studio time after getting back from the coast to make several sets of dreamy Italian paper magnets (at Etsy). LOVE this paper - it's making my run-of-the-mill fridge look very elegant and upscale :) I love displaying artwork made by my two little guys, so our fridge is usually covered in construction paper artistic masterpieces. It takes a strong magnet to cope with all that art, but there's no reason strength and beauty can't go together, right? :)