Winter Enchantment!

It's almost the end of February and clearly it has been a difficult winter for most of the country. At least those of us in New England are used to lots of snow and cold and we are supposedly a "hardy" bunch. I haven't felt all that hardy this winter. One thing that I've noticed is that I haven't felt all that creative, which throws me off balance. And feeling balanced is important to me. As a result I've felt "out of sorts".

So having Artbeads approach us for another blogging event couldn't have come at a better time. The theme for this event is "Winter Enchantment" and Sheryl and I talked for a long time about what we might like to do to represent how we feel about winter and where we draw our inspiration.

Funny that both of us decided on pearls, given that pearls would likely not be a typical choice to represent Winter. I guess our ambivalence shows! A bit of winter, a bit of summer - seemed right for us.

Once we started to look at all the freshwater pearls on the Artbead's website, we knew we had made the right choice. We chose Biwa Pearls and Head Drilled Nugget Pearls from the website.

We used these two beautiful strands of freshwater pearls from Artbeads and added Rhodochrosite and Quartz Crystal beads to make a multi-strand necklace that highlights both the muted colors of winter, the sparkle of fresh ice hanging from the trees, and the longing for the warmth of the sea. And as is our way, earrings are a must to match.

We hope you like what we've created.

Terry

Disclaimer: Artbeads.com sometimes sends us products to review on this blog. We are free to choose from designated beads/findings and are free to make whatever we choose. We do not receive any compensation from Artbeads and we are expected to review their products honestly.

Rememberance

I find myself sitting at the computer attempting to write about my family, my father Lou, mother Beatrice, and brother Gary, all of whom are gone. Try as I may to write, I keep discarding the copy - nothing seems right. I can write about how important each of them was in my life, how much I miss them, how sad I can get when I realize there are very few people in my world "who knew me when".....Nothing I seem to write does it for me.

So instead I am going to provide a pictorial story of my family - hopefully their essence will shine through. I tried to put the photographs in order of date, but on some I am guessing. I wish I had more photographs of my father when he was a child, but I don't seem to have any.

For Beatrice (1925-2007); Gary (1945-2005); and Lou (1918-1983). You are loved and missed.

Elaine & Terry Spier-Kalmar

Our Daughter Winde and Granddaughter Alya

Our niece Lindsay and Alya

Our cutie granddaughter, Alya

Life continues. New family, new joy!

OWOH Giveaway - Winner Announced!

Well, the time has come, the 2011 OWOH Giveaway is now over.
What an amazing experience this has been. My thanks to Lisa for hosting the OHOW giveaway for the past five years. I believe she has something new she is planning so keep a watch!
It has been a great adventure, visiting so many blogs, and seeing the variety of work produced by artists throughout the world. And 210 people left comments on my blog - wow! As I said in my previous post, I feel a part of a community which feels wonderful.
I have a winner (which was chosen using a random number generator) and she is:
Cara of Caramakes!

Congrats
I will notify Cara by email, and send the necklace off to her as soon as I receive her mailing address.
Looking forward to visiting many of the blogs again this coming year. It was a treat! Thank you to all that entered.
Terry www.magicalbeadstalk.com