Cross Roasd is OPEN - Come see us!

Cross Roads is open for the season. This is where you will find us every Saturday from May through Christmas. Hours are 9 am til 5 pm. We are also open Memorial Day, Labor Day, and a few other special days. See the Co-op's webpage for details. Located on Rt. 21 between Westfield and Sherman, New York.

Here are some pictures of our booth and several other interesting vendors.

Fun Earrings

Dangling Hoop Earrings - Silver, Turquoise, Swarovski and Found Little Indians

How's that for a combination of materials? I had fun picking out the components of this pair of earrings. Mainly, I wanted to get away from wire wrapping for a little while. It seems that's all I've been doing lately!

Now - down to the details.....

Composed of:Silver plated posts, hoops, and beads

Turquoise chips (man made I believe)

Swarovski opaque crystalsTwo little vintage Indian Chief charms I found at a sale. I just love poking through boxes of old jewelry & beads! You never know what treasures you will find.

The finished measurements are approximately 1 1/4 x 3 inches or 30 x 75 mm.

Kool Bead Stuff

I have been getting ready for the May 3rd opening of our Co-op craft market and shamefully neglecting my internet duties. I did find this blog this morning. Her work is so beautiful I just had to share it with you! Maybe some day I can try something similar. It is on my bucket list I guess....

Doesn't this artist use yummy combinations of color? Her cuff bracelets just seem to have begged to be put together. The colors just flow together as if Mother Nature herself created them. Simply beautiful.

Don't read Russian you say? I used Bablefish to translate the blog. It is well worth the extra steps! Enjoy...

Computer Woes

I haven't been able to post anything new for a week. My brand new HP computer refused to go online! What a run around I got. Everyone blaming the other fellow. DSL company said it was the computer Best Buy said it was the DSL company. They told me to contact HP at one point. Well - you can forget getting through to them! Then I was told to return the computer since it was less than 30 days old. When I got there with it, they informed me computers have to be retruned within 14 days. They had their Geek Squad guy look it over. He fiddled with it for a while and claimed there was nothing wrong with it, but when I got it back home, low and behold - it worked! Whatever he "didn't" do to it seems to have fixed the problem. I hate dealing with big companies. They really could care less about the consumer. All I heard was "I'm sorry - but..."

There - that's off my chest. Now I can get back to creating and uploading - I HOPE!

Kid In A Candy Stire

I have been buying all of my cabochons online. Sunday I attended my first Gem & Mineral show. BIG MISTAKE!!! I was worse than a kid in a candy store. My VISA bank will be very happy with me. One seller was from Russia and had the most beautiful cut cabochons I have ever seen. They have a website, so I will give them a plug here. http://rusmineral.com/Default.aspx

My husband had to drag me out of the place kicking and screaming. Well, that's not quite true, but I could see him adding the dollar signs in his head as I scurried from one booth to another. The pictures above are two of the pieces I picked up there. I couldn't wait to get home and start wire wrapping them. Trouble is, I'm going to run out of wire!

Unfortunately, Spring has arrived here in Western New York and I am forced to put my jewelry aside to do yard work - YUCK. I also have to get ready to open our booth at Cross Roads http://www.thecrossroadsmarket.com/ .. So many projects - So little time!

New Discovery

Okay - so maybe felting isn't a new discovery, but it is to me. I have seen jewelry in shops and online made with felted beads. Curiosity got the better of me and I ordered a starter kit on Ebay. I made my first felt beads with it and now I am hooked! I just love the rhythmical, hypnotizing motion of felting with the needles. You start out with a fluff of wool, and end up with a pretty little ball. Now, I must explore this craft further. I can just see it in my husband's eyes.... "Here she goes again". You crafters out there know exactly what I mean.

The picture above is the result of my first successful attempt at making a piece of jewelry with a combination of felted beads and other beads in my stash. I had these lava like black beads and they go perfectly with the deep purple beads I made. So much so, I had to order some real lava beads. I can hardly wait for them to arrive.

Another Shell

This is another of the beautiful shells I found. This week I received an order that included a mix of Swarovski crystals. There just happened to be several in the mix that set off the colors in this shell perfectly. I couldn't resist putting them together to make another pendant. The Sterling silver wire didn't go where I wanted it to. It hardly every does. I just have to go with the flow and create what I can with it. In the end, it almost always turns out, just as this one did.