Friday, May 30, 2014

Allow Me To Introduce You To A Special Girl

**** BSBP 8: Here's My Bead Soup Piece! =) ****

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Friends - Several months ago, I saw a reporter was looking for some great people from the Dayton, Ohio area.  I sent the writer an email and told her about this wonderful girl who has purchased jewelry from me for homecoming and prom (and has even said she wants me to do her jewelry for her wedding if she gets married someday!) .  I sent her story in and today it was published in the Dayton Daily News

This piece requires a subscription and I paid for a day pass to see the article.

If you know someone going to Prom, Homecoming, Graduating, Getting Married or otherwise have a special occasion coming up - please contact me! I LOVE custom orders! =)


Kyra's Prom Piece





Cinderella’s Closet donates prom dresses

Church program helps girls afford their big night.


By Beth Anspach - Contributing Writer

The prom dress a girl chooses often becomes as important as prom night itself. But for many girls, the expense of the dress, coupled with the accessories, hair and makeup, makes prom night something about which some can only dream.

Carlisle High School senior Kyra Utech, 18, says her senior prom on May 9 ended up being “the best school dance I’d ever been to,” thanks to an organization called Cinderella’s Closet.
 
The group donates prom dresses and accessories to needy girls who might not otherwise have an opportunity to attend.


Linda Anderson of St. Cloud, Minn., a longtime friend of Utech’s mother, Janet Johnston, said Kyra is deserving for many reasons. “I have known Kyra since she was a newborn and have watched her grow up,” said Anderson. “Her family has struggled with a sick child (Utech’s younger sister Zoe) and they nearly lost her. Kyra has sacrificed so much for her sister. She gave up marching band — something she loved — her senior year, because her family couldn’t afford to pay for both girls to do it. As an older woman looking at a young lady, I see that it’s such a sacrifice she made during her senior year for her sister. She has a loving heart.”

And though Anderson doesn’t see the family often, she and Utech correspond often, and Utech has purchased some of Anderson’s handmade jewelry, which she has worn to several school dances. “I’ve been so honored that she would trust me to make some jewelry pieces for her,” Anderson said. “She is a special young lady.”

In addition to marching band, Utech has been involved with Winter Guard and performs in four different choirs. She has also played the piano since the age of 7. Her sister, Zoe, now 17, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was a sixth-grader.

“Zoe was in the hospital for about three weeks when she was first diagnosed,” Utech said. “She has to have surgery this summer because she is sick a lot.”

Utech also has two younger brothers, Evan, 14 and Joah, 9.

Anderson said the family has overcome many struggles, but Utech has a “wonderful stepfather” now. Still, money is tight, and Utech worked a job to help out. “I started working at Dairy Queen to help pay my sister’s band fee,” Utech said.

According to some published reports, average prom expenditures are now surpassing $1,100, with the majority of this spent on that special dress.

Utech found her “fairy godmother” in Cinderella’s Closet. “My choir teacher, Mrs. Shively, heard about Cinderella’s Closet at Center Pointe Church and nominated me and two of my friends, and we were chosen to go and get free dresses, shoes and accessories,” Utech said.

Utech and her friends went to the church on April 12, met her “fairy godmother,” Lisa, and was given the royal treatment, until she found the perfect dress for her special night.”

“Junior and senior high school girls are referred to us by a school staff member, social worker or community liaison,” said Sara Mosteller, director of Cinderella’s Closet in Liberty Twp. “Girls come to us for all different reasons, and we don’t require proof of need. They are paired with a ‘fairy godmother’ who shows them love and makes them feel like they are smart, talented and pretty all day long.”

Girls coming to Cinderella’s Closet go home with a prom dress, shoes and jewelry of their choosing, all of which are theirs to keep. Each also receives an 8-by-10 photo taken in the dresses.
“We have more than 1,500 dresses here, either donated or purchased with donated funds,” Mosteller said. “Prom costs a lot of money and I can tell you that many of these girls just wouldn’t get to attend unless they could get assistance. I have watched countless girls come in with their heads down and they put on a formal dress and we compliment them and it makes them feel good. The most rewarding part is to watch the girls change on the inside because of what is happening on the outside.”

Utech and her friends enjoyed a wonderful prom night at Yankee Trace Golf Club on April 9 as a result of the dress donation. And on May 31, she will graduate from Carlisle High School and has plans to study nursing and also attend cosmetology school.
For more information about Cinderella’s Closet, go online to www.cinderellasclosetusa.org.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Help Me Get Home?

Looking for my Bead Soup Piece? =) Click here!

Hey Y'All - It's looking like I might FINALLY be making progress to get my belongings HOME!  They are currently living in Virginia, right outside of DC, while I'm living in Minnesota.  I need to raise about $700 more dollars and I'll be able to get EVERYTHING home! 

Would you help?  You can make a donation here: Go Fund Me Page or purchase some jewelry here: Cherry On Top Design.Co. I'm SO CLOSE!  Even $5 would be a HUGE help!

Friday, May 9, 2014

BEAD SOUP REVEAL!!

Here it is!!

As a reminder....here's what I sent Lisa (plus some round quartz, silver stardust rounds and a few strands of czech glass not pictured.  I felt like my soup was a little....thin...needed some more ....'veggies', if ya get my drift)  The oranges are some of my favorite beads and the focal was hand made glass discs. 



 Here is what Lisa from http://spudandmrsbutters.blogspot.com sent!  So beautiful, I cried.  Yep - it's true.  Tears.
Click to enlarge


Let me start by saying this was a CHALLENGE.  Not because I didn't have gorgeous soup - because HOLY CANNOLI!  LOOK AT IT!  I felt inadequate.  I wasn't familiar with Czech glass and I was really becoming discouraged.  But let me say this...... I am SO.PROUD. of the pieces I made.  Seriously, I haven't been this proud in a LONG time.   Lisa - I hope I did YOU proud!

One challenge I encountered was scale.  Scale is the size of things and how they relate to each other.  Typically, big things go with big things...little with little.  Well, you'll notice that the coordinating beads are itty bitty while my gorgeous Owlivia (the ADORABLE owl) is a little... on the plus size.  =)  So, I was REALLY struggling to make it all work together until one day it hit me.... make 2 pieces.  (And Lisa thought my biggest struggle would be working with copper...heh heh)  I'll dig into these pieces a lot more, later.  Without further delay...

The first piece features the beautiful itty bittys and the GORGEOUS clasp!  I made the connector out of copper.






 The second piece features my adorable Owlivia!  I wired wrapped her (my first real wrapping experience) and made the clasp, carrying the theme of the flower through the clasp.  =)




Then.... I needed earrings of course.....
For these little gems, I made the pins with the swirls on the bottom, to mimic the swirls on Owlivia.












 





AND I made these little guys - including the pin, ear wire and the flower on the bottom!  Aren't they AWESOME!?!? (If I do say so, myself)




















I had a little fun doing a selfie session with my new pieces.... enjoy! =)


Whoooooo!
Too much?  (both pieces on)
 

Fishface!
Not bad, kid!
Proud and SO GLAD I did this, again!  Thanks, Lori!

Check out what the rest of my 499+ friends did here: