Hi everyone!

I’m having a special giveaway this month for my birthday 😀  This giveaway is actually taking place on my Facebook page, you just need to (LIKE my page first of course!) leave a comment on the “Ivy Covered Door” photo and then SHARE the photo on your wall. That’s it! The winner will get their choice of either an 11×14 or two 8×10 Ireland photos from either of my 2 Etsy shops, RubyClover & The Irish Still.  Lots of choices!  I’ll be choosing the winner on November 1st aka my b-day! 

#38 – PennyMindingMom ……….. #18 – Denise Glazier ……….. #7 – PickleSpear

I’ve posted the official number picking video on my facebook page . Huge thanks to our featured artisan, Suzi Skelton, for being so generous with the giveaway gifts this month! Visit her shop and facebook page for lovely handmade jewelry, she always has new listings to check out and I think her designs are perfect for this mystical time of year.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated and remember to subscribe to my blog so you can get an email update on the 1st of each month when each new giveaway starts! Thanks again, everyone! And congratulations to the winners!!! ♥♥♥

This month we have a special 3 WINNER giveaway! The fabulous Suzi Skelton from DashAngel Designs has very generously offered up a beautiful necklace, bracelet and pair of earrings from her whimsical Day of the Dead line. She uses semi precious stones for her creations including turquoise, amethyst, howlite, quartz, jasper etc.  I love how she mixes natural stones into these playful designs, giving them a bit of voodoo edginess but keeping it lighthearted with bright colors. In her own words, her jewelry is inspired by a “Fantasy Land of Goddesses, Fairies, Angels, Day of the Dead, Ancient Egyptians, Mermaids, Flowers & Pirates”

These are the 3 super cute pieces you’ll be entering to win, see rules below:

ENTRY RULES:

3 steps~ 1)LIKE DashAngel on Facebook  2) Share her Facebook page on your Facebook page  3)Leave a comment on this post HERE saying that you did those 2 things. That’s it! (if you don’t have a facebook account, tell us your favorite item in her shop  for your entry. Or Tweet!). This giveaway is worldwide, anyone can enter! I’ll pick the winner on September 10th and notify you by email (that’s why you have to put your email when you comment, but NOBODY sees it but ME!) Good luck!

Now read all about Suzi and her fabulous life as a costume designer below, don’t forget to visit her Etsy shop for all sorts of fabulous jewelry!

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I’ve been making things since I was a kid, my Mum said she had to check matchboxes in case I had created some little world inside!
I guess making clothes for my dolls was next. At 15 I made decision I was going to art school and spent the lunch hours in the art room getting a portfolio together. I went at 16 and studied Printed Textile Design for 5 years and then worked as a colour technician for a fabric printers. Costume making started when a friend in a cabaret act (that pretended to be popstars of the time) asked me to make him a Prince outfit and I started making all their costumes. I then went to work in a London costumiers and after 2 years went back to art school to study Theatre Design. While there I worked as associate designer, wardrobe supervisor and also ended up as a performer…and got to work for my hero in theatre, Lindsay Kemp who taught David Bowie and Kate Bush their Mime and movement.  Then it was on to wardrobe for English National Ballet,touring most of the time and working with dancers on the choreographic workshops designing and making their costumes.

Over the 90’s I designed and made costumes for 20 shows for a childrens theatre company and also worked for Welsh National Opera (but much prefer dance to Opera, it’s just not me!). I loved working for The Lindsay Kemp Company the most, we toured Italy & Spain and Japan…I never intended to be a performer but with Lindsay you get no choice!

I have always loved music and going to gigs, at art school I got to see many groups I still love and enjoy. I was a big Bauhaus fan and loved Japan too, it was a great time to be in the UK. I have even taken inspiration from some Bauhaus songs for my jewllery. I also love photography and took many photos from the wings while at the ballet. I always took my camera to gigs too in the 80’s when it was film and focusing your shots, not like now where its all digital and point and shoot (took photos for Peter Murphy in 2009 at his London show).

These days I don’t do alot as I’m looking after my disabled Mum, that’s why I started making jewllery. I had studied millernary at art school so had the equipment. I’m also making and designing a jazz dance show for someone I met on the first theatre show I worked on 25 years ago who has her own dance company now 🙂

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Wow…the woman has got some serious experience! A huge thanks to DashAngel Designs for offering up these really fun and pretty pieces for our monthly giveaway. Again, LIKE her FB page, share it and leave your comment here…that’s your official entry for the contest. Winners picked on Sept. 10th, 1st number picked gets first choice and so on. Thank you everyone and good luck!!

I’ve had so much artsiness going on this summer and I’ve really been neglecting my poor blog something awful! But I’ve been hard at work on some new jewelry since i just got a giant shipment of new lovely czech beads in…they’re beauty-ful little things! I’ll also be adding some jewelry organizers that you can hang on the wall, made with old frames, burlap, buttons and vintage handles…very cute! Keep an eye out for those and also for my September 1st giveaway.

In the meantime, here’s a few of my newly listed jewels that you can find in my Etsy shop. I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! ♥♥♥

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Hello loves!

I’m having a little giveaway over on my Facebook page. Just “Like” my page and share the giveaway link on your own page to be entered! Make sure you leave a comment on my page saying you liked/shared, that’s your official entry. They’re made with a rhinestone and bow studded hoop with a pretty olive green Czech glass bead suspended from the center. Good luck!

 

I’ve been working on lots of new earrings lately and thought I would share them with you here and also give my readers a special offer. Use coupon code “THX11” at checkout and receive 20% off of EVERYTHING in any of my 3 shops… RubyClover,  Bohemienne and TheIrishStill ! 

 New visitors, you can get email updates from my blog (only a couple per month) by clicking the “subscribe” link at the top of the page, this will keep you updated on my giveaways. Also want to thank my current subscribers…new giveaway to start on June 1st 🙂

1)Rosemarie …#55        2)Jeanette …#31       3)Dawn …#23

I’ve posted the official number picking video on my facebook page if anyone would like to have a peek. Huge thanks to the birthday girl, Ruth, for being so generous with the giveaway gifts this month! Visit her shop and facebook page for lovely handmade items, there’s always new listings to check out.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated and remember to subscribe to my blog so you can get an email update on the 1st of each month when each new giveaway starts! Thanks again, everyone! And congratulations to the winners!!! ♥♥♥

Hi folks! We have a fantastic and very generous BIRTHDAY BASH GIVEAWAY for you this month, thanks to the fabulous Ruth from R.Nicholas Photography whose birthday happens to be today!! Happy Birthday, Ruth!!

She’s having 3 winners chosen for her big birthday giveaway ~ 1ST PLACE gets an 11×14 photo of their choice… 2ND PLACE gets the Nature Series Set of 5 Bookmarks and also any 5×7 photo of their choice…3RD PLACE gets 2 large 4×8 cards (Paradise & Greener Pastures) 

Rules of entry can be found below at the bottom of this post

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Now let’s learn a bit about Ruth, shall we?! I’ve asked her some questions and this is what she had to say…

Raised in Australia, I’ve always loved taking photos since I was a kid, but only ever saw it as a hobby. One of my pride and joy photos that I took with my box brownie when I was around 15-16 years old is this image of my siblings during a family vacation at Halls Gap, VIC Australia.

Being of the creative ilk has always meant that any job I had eventually bored me. Living in America for about 15 years now I have definitely worked the gamut! I’ve been a receptionist, administrative assistant, personal assistant, real estate agent, production manger, designer… the list goes on. And with each job I’ve had, I would cherish the creative aspects but sadly they were never at the core of my duties.

Then last Sept/Oct I went home for 3-weeks and met my niece and nephews for the first time (it had been 6-years since my last visit!). It was a very significant time for me as it gave me space and perspective from my life in America, allowing me to just stop, take time out and enjoy my family. While there, I took a zillion photos… of the city, nature, my family, the children, and it was my youngest brother who suggested that I seriously consider making a little business out of my photography. He loved my photos of the kids and felt they were easily comparable to professional photographers he’d used in the past. So with his words ringing around in my head and a renewed sense of spirit, I returned to America to do just that!

I love shooting children, especially babies up to 6-months old. They are so pure and full of life… and their expressions are priceless. Converting some of my children pictures into nostalgic fine art photographs has been one of my favorite things to do. And with the winter now done and a new season upon us, I’m excited to say that my prospects are beginning to pick up. This photo is from a shoot I did just the other day…

 Then of course there’s my Etsy Shop which I opened in the New Year. So I’m happy that I’m finally taking my photography seriously, and that people seem to be enjoying my work.

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I also love anything to do with the ocean, I just wish I lived closer to the shore. I’d specialize in ocean photography with children in a heart beat!! And lately I have to admit I’ve been thoroughly enjoying getting intimate with nature, listing various flowers in my Shop. With digital photography, the creativity that post processing allows me is invaluable. Having the ability to add textures and special effects to my images allows me to add deeper meanings and visual depth into my final photos… and is what makes my craft so fulfilling.

  Any free time I have is usually spent hanging out with my husband, since we’re pretty much joined at the hip! We’re both big film buffs, so an ideal lazy afternoon for us is spent curled up on the couch together enjoying a good movie. I also love walks by myself…I can reflect on life, cleanse my mind of stresses and use the time to come up with new ideas and inspirations for my photography.

In honor of my roots, I want to mention my grandfather, John Colbourn… an up and coming artist before he died at age 34 in 1945. Not only was he a recognized architect, but also an exhibited linocut printmaker whose artwork can still be viewed today in several Australian galleries. Photography was also one of his passions, and I like to think that his creative spirit lives on inside me. I would like to share this copy of one of his linocuts, titled ‘Prelude to Winter’ …

You can also find out more about Ruth on her blog and Twitter

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~RULES~

You’ll be able to enter up to 3 times on this giveaway, the rules are as follows (and you MUST leave your comments on this blog post to be entered, that’s the only way I can keep track of everyone! And make sure to leave seperate comments if you’re doing all 3 things, so you have more of a chance at winning!):

Mandatory Entry:

 LIKE Ruth’s Facebook page using your personal profile (make sure to come back and leave a comment HERE saying that you liked her on FB!) That’s your official entry and the only one you MUST do to enter

Additional Entries:

1 entry: Visit Ruth’s Etsy shop and leave a comment here with the link to your favorite item of hers

1 entry: “SHARE” any of the posts/links on her Facebook page that mention this giveaway (then leave your comment here saying that you did so)

THAT’S IT! We’ll pick the winners next Sunday, May 8th and contact you through email. Thanks a million to Ruth for being so generous with her Birthday Bash Giveaway!! Ruth and I would both like to thank YOU for taking the time to enter and want to wish you GOOD LUCK on winning!

#16- Alina! … #37- Ingrid! … #13-Kaytee! … #7- Ann G! … #2-Ira G!

I’ve posted the official number picking video on my facebook page if anyone would like to have a peek. Humongous thanks to Me2Designs for being so generous with the giveaway gifts this month, she’s a star! Visit her shop for lovely handmade items, there’s constantly different new listings to check out.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated and remember to subscribe to my blog so you can get an email update on the 1st of each month when each new giveaway starts! Right around the corner on May 1st we have another fabulous photography giveaway starting (with multiple winners again! woohoo!) ♥♥♥

I’m excited to say that this month we will have 5 winners! Meg from ME2Designs is a true Jill of all trades with her arts & crafts, she always has such a lovely variety of items in her Etsy shop and I’ve wondered for years how she can hold a full time job and create SO many things in her free time! She’s also a huge supporter of handmade artisans and a huge asset to many in the Etsy community.

This is a special 2 week giveaway, ending on Friday, April 15th. We will choose 5 winners who will each get their choice of a vintage jigsaw brooch from a hand picked selection by Meg. (See some of the options in the slideshow below).

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TO ENTER, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from Meg’s shop, just one entry per person! Good luck and I’ll be contacting the winners on April 15th!! Meg is also having a sale in her shop while the giveaway is active…Enter coupon code RubyC at checkout for 15% off your entire order!! Now lets learn a bit about Meg, shall we?

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My initials are MEME, so ME2 Designs has been my brand since the early 1980s.

My Mom is an artist and my Dad was an architect, so I had the creative push from a young age. I won my first award for a painting that I did when I was 4 (watercolor of watermelons). In the last 25 years I’ve designed clothing and home furnishings and have had gowns, furniture and paintings in several juried exhibitions in Florida. 

Sarasota is located on the Gulf of Mexico (west coast of Florida), with white sugar sand beaches, aqua blue water, and has a long, rich history of arts & culture. I wanted to live here since I was a little kid and made the move 20 years ago – driving from Illinois with sleet coming down & Stevie Wonder singing “there’s a place in the sun” on the radio 🙂 *Sarasota is known as the cultural capital of Florida, and has more arts per capita than anywhere else in the US outside of Manhattan.

My day job overworks my left brain, and creating & my Etsy shop provides the balance I need from my right brain. Love all kinds of music, and I play my piano whenever I want to relax and get lost in music. I cannot create in a silent void, and music is my constant companion.

I have collected old wood jigsaw puzzles for years, and after I opened my Etsy shop I started making pieces from various puzzles into brooches. (US states being the most poular!) It’s my way of upcycling and trying to keep these precious pieces that will never be produced again out of landfills, etc. I’ve found that these old pieces are conversation starters (for example, people always look for Sarasota on my 1915 Florida brooch when I wear it, but Sarasota wasn’t incorporated until 1921, so it’s not there).  I have collected quite a few GJ Hayter ‘Victory’ wood puzzles as well. All the wood pieces in these were hand cut at the Hayter Company in Bournemouth, UK in the 1960s.

I’m giving away a total of 5 of these brooches! I’m giving away 3 US state wood brooches – these are from a Parker Brothers jigsaw puzzle from 1915. It’s amazing how many cities/towns outside of the northeastern US did not exist nearly a century ago – we are definitely a young nation! I am also giving away 2 bird brooches from the Victory Bird Watch puzzle from the 1960s. Each wood bird brooch also has a companion wood brooch that contains the bird name. Since these items are vintage or antique and are not reproductions, they’re ‘wearable history’ in a way.

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THANKS MEG and thanks ahead of time to everyone who enters! Meg is also having a sale in her shop while the giveaway is active…Enter coupon code RubyC at checkout for 15% off your entire order!! I’ll email the winner on April 15th and you can also check my facebook page for updates. Good luck! ♥

#52 … Micki!! Congratulations, you’ve won a set of gorgeous handmade bracelets from Portugal for your daughter! I know she’ll love them! Visit my facebook page for a video of the winning number being picked: http://www.facebook.com/pages/RubyClover/107410095945870?ref=ts#!/pages/RubyClover/107410095945870

Thanks a million to everyone who entered and a huge thanks to Ana Maria of TISANA for offering up these gorgeous bracelets and sharing a little piece of her life with us 🙂 Don’t forget to visit her shop in the future for amazing one of a kind (and very affordable!) creations.

Something is telling me that a trip to Portugal may be in my near future! This is our second giveaway in a row from artisans in this beautiful and colorful country. Today you have a chance to win a set of two coordinating bracelets from Etsy shop TISANA! I ordered a whole customized bundle of these for Christmas presents and I absolutely LOVED them, it was very hard to part with them! So let’s get to it…please take the time to read the feature on this creative beauty, answered in her own words. Giveaway rules are at the end 🙂

Tisana is Ana Maria.
My crafting is my Tisana – a blend of things I like and am inspired from, all put together in a handmade object.
A Tisana a day makes me feel good and is a nice healer! My shop also allows me to share my ideas with others and it is also very satisfying to send my items to someone else in a faraway place.

My interest for crafts developed from an early age, when I used to make clothes for my loved plush toy animals. Since then I have never stopped exploring new techniques, mixing materials and everyday objects.
Inspiration comes from everywhere in nature, everyday life, and imagination. I love animals, plants, the sea and mountains and they are a recurrent theme on my work. 

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I always have more projects in my mind then actual time to fulfill them!
I also do photography, clay figures, some work in web design and animation. I too dedicate some time to my little balcony garden!

I live close to the sea in a town neighboring Lisbon.
In my travels outside Portugal there are a couple of places that I keep close to my heart; One is Scotland where I lived for about 2 years and where I keep going back whenever I have the chance to, and the other is the Spanish island of Lanzarote – these two places really feel magical to me.

I love to be surrounded by nature – I could spend hours photographing insects, flowers and mushrooms. Also love to go to the beach and collect shells and sea glass.
I like to bake 😛
I like to read
Love music but also love silence
Love to be with my cats and family

I am giving away a set of 2 crocheted bracelets – they are my best selling articles. These bracelets are crocheted with cotton thread, around a rubber core. They measure approximately 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) radius, fitting a woman`s small wrist size or a girl`s wrist.
One of the bracelets is crocheted in plain turquoise thread and the other in a mixed color and adorned with tiny turquoise glass beads.

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Thank you so much for taking us on a trip into your world, Ana!

How lovely is she? And how cute are those bracelets?! This is where you can find Ana:
http://www.tisana.etsy.com/
www.facebook.com/pages/Tisana/123674257305

GIVEAWAY RULES: Please visit TISANA on Etsy, have a peek through her items and leave a comment here with your favorite piece. ONE comment per person. It’s very easy and I promise you’ll love looking through her creative and colorful jewelry! Your comment IS your entry, in one week (next Tuesday,March 8th) I’ll manually pick the winner the old school way from little numbered pieces of paper…and I’ll make a little video of it too 😀 

♥ Thanks so much for taking the time to enter and GOOD LUCK!! ♥

#14…Aik! Congratulations my dear, you’ve won yourself a stunning handmade Portugese ring!! Ana will have it out to you in no time 🙂 See my facebook page for the video: http://www.facebook.com/pages/RubyClover/107410095945870?ref=ts

Thank you so much once again to everyone who entered, we both REALLY appreciate your efforts and wish you good luck on the next giveaway coming up March 1st!  Woohoo, congrats Aik 😀

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“This ring is quite big and unusual, but so much fun! Vibrant and fun colors, perfect for Spring and Summer. Hand knitted red wire with beige, turquoise and red beads. You can find glass and wood beads together in this piece. It’s attached to a silver ring base, so one size fits all!”

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*To enter this giveaway:

1 entry: please leave a comment below telling us your favorite item from Nanouke‘s Etsy shop 

1 extra entry: LIKE her Facebook page and come back here to tell us

1 extra entry: LIKE MY facebook page and come back to tell me you did

1 extra entry: Twitter this giveaway link and come back to tell us

  Winner will be chosen in one week, February 8th, I’ll contact the winner then. Thank you, good luck and feel free to visit Nanouke on her blog .

 

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             “For all of you readers that don’t know me, I’m Ana from Portugal (nice to meet you) and I live in a small town called Torres Vedras. Hi! *waves* 

I’ve been hurting my fingers wire knitting since 2006. I started knitting with wire because it started to get really weird knitting wool at the beach, in the summer, and people started talking about me. I decided to be seasonal: wool in the winter, wire in the summer. But I got hooked with the wire.I do know how to sew, and other stuff, but I only rock at knitting.

I love going out. Nothing fancy though. I go to a small bar when I go out, where I meet my friends, sometimes we go out dancing. One particulary cool thing about my town is that we take Carnaval very seriously. For 5 days we put on costumes, drink, dance, and don’t sleep that much.

I have a full time job as a Geologist/Mining Engineer, and my boss wouldn’t like me to knit while I’m working, so I pretty much knit on my free time: on the bus, subway, while watching Battlestar Galactica (yeah, I’m totally addicted to that show)

****THANKS, ANA ♥♥♥  Someone is going to be very lucky next week when they win this ring! *Jealous!!* I got a pair of gold circle earrings from Nanouke a few years ago and they’re one of my very favorites! They are totally gorgeous, really lightweight and always give a cool uniqueness to your look. And not only does she make awesome stuff, but she is one of the sweetest people and a really smart cookie!!

#68! SHARON!! My dear friend from Co. Galway, Ireland who just so happened to leave us all behind in Chicago right before the new year! Congratulations Sharon and we miss you! I know you’ll rock the hell outta these babies around Galway, make sure to send us a pic of you wearing them and I’ll add it here so we can all have a wee nosey!

*This is where my video is supposed to go, but apparently I don’t have an acoount that supports video?! See it on my facebook page for now (shows us picking the number!)http://www.facebook.com/pages/RubyClover/107410095945870?ref=ts

 I can’t thank everyone enough for participating…THANK YOU SO MUCH ♥ The only drawback to doing giveaways is that I’ve got major guilt about all the people who took the time to enter but didn’t win 😦 But hey…there’s always next month! The 1st of each month will start a new giveaway of something handmade and fabulous, you can easily subscribe to my blog so you’re sent an email saying that the giveaway has started. February 1st, be on the lookout here for a fab piece of jewelry by my lovely Portugese pal NANOUKE! See you then!! *yay Sharon!!*

Well it’s about damn time we had another giveaway around here! So I’m starting off the new year with a giveaway from RubyClover aka …ME!! I’ve been decoupaging alot lately and making loads of  cute little wood earrings. These particular ones are sort of bohemian, sort of rockabilly and totally hot 🙂 They’re painted red and the front is adorned with a vintage flower image and some glittah! The back has an exerpt from Delta of Venus, an erotic book by author Anais Nin. This pair isn’t too naughty at all, however some of my other ones are quite explicit…so if you’re browsing my shop, make sure you read the backs first before purchasing a pair for Grandma! Although she’d probably say it was the best gift she’s gotten in years 😉

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TO ENTER, just leave a comment below (email remains private, it’s just so I can contact you if you win) You can tell me whatever you want…favorite item from my shop, or my other shop, or my other other shop , what you dreamed about last night, your favorite drunken misadventure (if I was actually involved, even better) , your favorite song on my playlist on my other awesome blog…whatever you want, baby…just say somethin’ 😀 As usual this is an international giveaway, so all folks worldwide are welcome to enter. I’ll pick the winner out of a hat next Sunday, January 9th. Good luck and thank you so much in advance for entering! ♥♥♥

PS the earrings I’m wearing in the photo are NOT the same earrings, I just wanted to show the size. These babies are brand spankin’ new and just for you!

I’ll be adding lots of new decoupaged earrings into my shop, they’re all very drinky, travelly and eclectic. The alcohol ones are dictated by which beers etc my husband and his band are drinking at the moment since I steal all of their scraps, it’s all very green and recycley…

The holiday craft season is fast approaching and my kitchen and dining room tables are no longer visible,  completely covered in bottles of paint, pretty papers, photos and art supplies of every variety. I’ve got dozens of different things in the works, trying to stock up some goods for a holiday bazaar I’m doing next month, while trying to keep my etsy shops updated with new things. It’s alot of work, but it sho is fun 🙂 I’m finishing up a bunch of decoupaged earrings today and then it’s on to more boxes! ♥♥♥

I wanted to share some of the gorgeous jewelry coming out of Dublin shop BALANCED lately. The proprietor, Rachel Van Walsh, has been creating some fantastic new designs with different hand cut metals and vibrant beads. You’ll remember her from that fabulous giveaway we did earlier this year.

I love the whole Geode Slice series and these rain drop earrings are to die for! They would make a fabulous Christmas present, I might have to start my shopping a little early this year 😉