Penny for Your Thoughts

Etsy is a great place to find talented handmade crafts. I was fortunate to find JustDogs by Vicki. She makes dog pendants and necklaces. We emailed back and forth; I sent a variety of pictures to Vicki of our new dog, Penny.

Vicki sent pictures to me throughout the process and asked questions to make sure we were on the same page with the glass colors, etc. She was a treat to work with and did a beautiful job. Vicki captured Penny's expression perfectly, including the raised eyebrows, the soulful eyes and the tilted ears.

I wanted pennies in my necklace design when I received the pendant. It took me a while to find the right chain and the mixture of crystals and pearls to wire wrap into the chain.

Fleur de Lis reversible pendant

The design is by Cynthia Rutledge in the Beadwork magazine. She has the other side of the pendant as a gold oval. But I found two shell ovals that I liked, so I created a reversible pendant. It might not show in the pictures, but one fleur de lis is purple and one is pink.

First Embroidery Piece

This is the first time that I've tried bead embroidery. It's not elaborate, as I wanted to keep it simple. When Mom went to Arizona to visit a cousin, she saw the turquoise cab and thought of me. Once I learn more stitches for embroidery beading, I think I'll enjoy the techniques all the more :) But for now, this is a start!