Congratulations

The winner of my first ever Birthday Blog Giveaway is... LOIS MOON. Congratulations, Lois. I think we must be related somehow. My middle name is Lois and my grandmother's maiden name was Moon. Send me an e-mail with your address and I'll get your goodies in the mail to you right away.

Special thanks to The Hunter for aiding me in my very technical approach to choosing a random winner. I printed all the names of everyone who left a comment on my Birthday Blog Giveaway post and he pulled one out of the bowl. (The Hunter is none other than my adoring husband). I used to follow a blog where the blogger referred to her husband as The Composer. I loved that, but it didn't quite fit my husband. The Hunter definitely does.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and for the comments. I started out celebrating my birthday and having 20 followers and by the end of the giveaway, I have 41!!!! Wow.

Soak Up The Sun

My friend turned 50 and she decided she wanted a "Wake" for her birthday party. We had a great time. I have to admit it was a little creepy walking into a dark room lite with candles and seeing her "laid out" under a white shroud. She laid there so still as the guests arrived. Several of us tried to get her to giggle or something but she stayed quiet and still for a long time. There was a eulogy and then we rose her from the dead. Her son put together a video of pictures to her favorite song "Soak Up The Sun" by Sheryl Crow. I made this necklace for her in honor of that song. It so fits her. I had made the brightly colored sun buttons. I strung those with waxed linen which reminded me of rope that you often see around the beach. I added the dyed turquoise beads on one side because they went well with the suns. I've wanted to use the dyed turquoise but when I bought them I was thinking fall colors. But they really are bright. The other side of the necklace is a double strand of some water colored stone chip beads. Those really made me think of the beach. And some brass chain. I altered the copper washers and I love the copper in this. Copper always reminds me of sun. I made the clasp with another altered copper washer and copper wire. I stamped Deana on one side of the clasp and Happy 50 on the other side with my new metal stamps which I love.

This necklace is totally not my style. It's very bright and has a lot of different elements in it. Ceramic buttons and beads. Waxed linen, brass chain, copper, turquoise and stone beads. But I think you can definitely tell I was inspired by the song.