Good Quill Hunting

Terttu Necklace

goodquillhunting — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:29:45 +0000

I started and finished this necklace while I was waiting for the copper beads. The name is Finnish and it means ‘bunch of berries’, appropriately enough. To see more images and details, or purchase go HERE

I finished the copper piece as well and if you are friends with me on Facebook, you have already seen it probably, but I will do a separate post on that one tomorrow. Have a great night everyone!

25% Off Finger Cuffs

goodquillhunting — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:40:51 +0000

Hi everyone! Thought I would share here as well as Facebook that I am having a 25% off Finger Cuffs Sale. The sale will end today. Just email me your email address and the name of the cuff and I will send you a PayPal invoice with the price revision. Email to: christina (at) goodquillhunting.com

I made 10 more Finger Cuffs since my last blog post, so there are some good choices.

I have a few things almost done. I am waiting for copper beads from The Beadsmith and I will have a new piece to post later today made with a Rodingite from Kazakhstan. It is a beautiful stone! If you have a moment, you should Google it

I shall return a little later for a photo and link of my newest piece.

New Finger Cuffs

goodquillhunting — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:17 +0000

I just finished a bunch of Finger Cuffs and wanted to share.

I have sold a few since posting these yesterday, but you can see them HERE.

I am also in the middle of another piece for The Beadsmith with the metal seed beads. I have to wait for more beads, but here is a tiny weeny sneak peek.

New Year

goodquillhunting — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:30:37 +0000

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! In December, I decided to join the Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild. I made a cuff, with quickness, because I didn’t have much time until the deadline. The theme was ‘Winter Wonderland’.

To view more pics/details/purchase, just go HERE

With that, I decided to make a matching barrette, which I have yet to put on my website.

Below is the Etsy Treasury made by Kinga Nichols for this challenge.

Click Image to go to Treasury

The cabochon is lampworked glass by Melissa Vess, Melissa Beads, on this next piece. She sent me 3 of her beautiful cabs last year. They ar ea great size and a very flat back, not curvy or rounded like you would think with lamp work.

I have yet to list this on my website.

This piece I started before we moved. It is worked up with a beautiful dichroic/fused glass cabochon by Kerry Collett., Celt Craft Designs.

I have yet to list this on my website.

Quill Earrings Winner

goodquillhunting — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:53:53 +0000

Thank you all for your feedback for the earrings! Judith Giffin won! I went from 1st comment, Cynthia as Number 1 comment and up to the 11th comment, Judith’s was number eight!

I had no bids for the necklace, so there wasn’t a winner for that. Thank you all that commented!

Feel free to share the banner for the Contest as well! Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Click on Banner to go to Rules on my Website

500th Blog Post Party

goodquillhunting — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:34:48 +0000

Here it is-my 500th blog posting since the beginning of my blog, September 2007. To celebrate, I raise my glass to all of my friends, family, supporters, followers and fellow beaders. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Today’s celebrations include:

A new Beading Contest

A Giveaway

A Silent Auction

First of all, the new Beading Contest!!

: Click on Banner to go to Rules on my Website

This contest is for all bead work entries to be submitted flaunting feathers! We are ‘birds of a feather’ and I want to see feathers incorporated into your work!

Next up is a GIVEAWAY! Shipped in time for Christmas!

RULES FOR GIVEAWAY!

Comment on this post with what you would like from Santa, but just KNOW you won’t get it. Also hit the VOTE button for 5 stars at the top left of this post. All comments, pertaining to rules, will be put in the Random Number Generator on Friday (December 16th) at noon (CMT) and be shipped out to you that day!

Next is a Silent Auction for this item.

This is named ‘Cherry Pie’ made from my Mielikki pattern. It lengthens out to 22″ and has a Sterling Silver S-Hook clasp. This is one of a few pieces I did at Sherry’s house, during our homelessness

RULES FOR SILENT AUCTION!

Bidding starts at $20. USD

Email your bid to: christina@goodquillhunting.com

Email SUBJECT: Silent Auction Bid

Highest bid by Friday (December 16) at noon (CMT) WINS!

Prize shipped by end of Friday..in time for Christmas for self or gift.

I intended to also have a free pattern today, but couldn’t pull it off…blame the puppies LOL I WILL have a free pattern for you, most likely next week…wish I wasn’t human sometimes!

No Words

goodquillhunting — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:07:51 +0000

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to the warm and generous people I am acquainted online with, Facebook to be exact. As most of you know, Dave and I were ‘displaced’ a month ago from the place we landed a year ago when we moved to Denver. Several miracles happened within this past month of chaos. First, was the night we had sucked up our pride and decided to go stay with a ‘friend of our landlady’ vs hotel room. We were all packed up and pulled into her yard and found out the room was way way too small for what we were bringing with us. We promptly decided to go get a 2nd storage unit. As we were putting my beading stuff into storage, we both broke down and cried our eyes out! Tired, worn, angry, stressed and full of despair, we just let the tears flow and bawled! After gathering ourselves, we went back to this lady’s house, with less stuff, only to find out she didn’t have internet at her house. I NEED internet for biz purposes. This put us in quite a quandary right in her driveway. Then Dave’s cell phone rang. It was our generous friend, Sherry, who insisted we come to her house to stay and bring our bed. So we went. Sherry kept saying we weren’t homeless, but technically, we were We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with her and her incredible family! It was THE best Thanksgiving I Have had in a VERY long time!!! Thank you Sherry!!!

Second, was last week. We had found a place through a friend of a friend. The price was right and she knew of our new puppies and it was not a hindrance. We were in battle with another person for the place and ended up ‘winning out’ for the length of lease we wanted. Phewwww that was close too! Dave had been told (by Coworkers) all along that his Boss would lend him the 1st and sec dep. That worked, because his Boss never works the crew 40 hour weeks (which is why Dave now has a 2nd job) and we couldn’t have begun to save 1600 in a month. So, Dave signed the lease and promised to have the money to her on the 1st. We had 24 hours after Dave’s Boss refused to lend it to us. So, here comes the emotional roller coaster, Up signing the lease, Down being refused the loan. I went outside and cried at that news. The hiccup crying, puffy eyes and runny nose. This could NOT be happening. Then I started wondering what on Earth kind of bad things have I done to have such bad luck, bad karma. I came in and typed my bad luck on my Facebook wall. Many of you had been following the saga and knew we had the place and were facing eviction before even moving in. Having just been through a Foreclosure, being homeless again was not something I was looking forward to. I am not ashamed to say, I have been homeless about 4-5 times in my life. Living in my car in Walmart parking lots, living in a tent in a State Park/campground. Bad luck seems to follow me, but to many other extents I have good luck..finding my Dave for example, and my 4 incredible kids, and to all my VERY supportive friends, both real and virtual!!

My friend, Robynne, posted a ‘thing’ on her wall asking everyone if they could, to help us not be homeless for Christmas and posted a link to my dot com. I can’t begin to tell everyone the joy, never mind amazement, at the orders that started pouring in. Jewelry purchases, website work offer, pattern purchases and just plain cash sent and a loan from a very sweet friend from back East. Everyone was sharing Robynne’s plea and this quickly went around the world! I received orders from France, Germany, Israel, USA, etc. It was hard to send out many of these because my eyes were watering so bad. Dave was speechless when I told him about the day and he is very thankful to you all and is still in awe, as am I!! We had raised it all within 4 hours of the pleas from my friends, on my behalf!!! Profound!!

Quite simply, there are no words to say, nothing I could do, that would be great enough for the outpouring of support, love, generosity and caring that you all showed me and Dave.

We are still in the thralls of moving things in, making everything fit and juggle puppies and of course, putting up the Christmas tree, it has been 5 years since our last one. I will share photos as soon as things are finished. I can share puppy pics though, which I haven’t shared on here. They were born a week before we moved out of our last place. They will be 6 weeks old this coming Saturday.

This is Chauncy, he is MY boy! Their Dad is a Husky/Border Collie mix and Mom (our dog Zippy) is a pure Australian Shepherd.

This is Stunt, he wasn’t terribly thrilled about the photo op. I had to hold him. We are keeping him as well. He is lovable and I think a tad shy,although he is the first to untie my shoelaces LOL

This pup is unnamed, so I call him Lil Man. He is moving soon to the Western Slope here in Colorado. He is super sweet and looks lots like his Dad, Diamond. Lil Man is a good boy! I will miss him!

This sweet girl is ‘Maui’. She is going to the Son of the Dad’s owner. I called her Lil Miss, then Missy, and am having trouble calling her Maui, as named by soon to be owner. Missy stuck LOL She is the only girl and feistiest of all of them. She is also a Houdini! Have fun with that new owner

I am very very anxious to get back to my routine. We are making our new place cozy and Christmas-y! I did make a few pieces of beadwork while I was at Sherry’s, I still need to set up the house and work more on my beading area. I will share very soon though. Look for goodies next week! Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Illumination..and a few others

goodquillhunting — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:48:15 +0000

This past month has FLOWN by! I have indeed been beading, just slacking on the rest and the icing on this last month is that we are having to move, as many of you know. As it stands this second, we are putting all of our things back in storage and going into a hotel until we find a place. This is of no fault of ours, the landlady wants to cover her entire mortgage, so she found a family to rent the house. In any case, I had to finish this last piece with quickness because there were many different beads on here! This is a collaboration with Kerry Collett of Celt Craft Designs. I have 2 more pieces to do for her, I may tackle another one today even Here is ‘Illumination’.

To see more images/details and more links to Kerry’s work, or to purchase, just go HERE.

I have also done something I have been wanting to do for many months now. I will be listing this on my website later today. I bought the spikes way earlier this year and finally have gotten around to using them!

I need to take more pics of this still as well, but you can look for it on my website later.

I have also made a few Finger Cuffs. The Indigo Scarab is SOLD

and ‘Spike’, I still need to list on my website.

Hoping everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! I am moving this weekend, but will be packing projects and my light tent to go to hotel with me, since I am unsure how long I will be there. Bumming too because my brand new desk and chair will be in storage! I will probably be working off a camping cooler..again!

be back soon!! We WILL have our comp with us where ever we land

Quandary

goodquillhunting — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:37:38 +0000

Yesterday it came to my attention that a ‘friend’ of mine was selling kits and a tutorial of something I had done. Needless to say, I was not very happy. My GOOD friends backed me on this! She had emailed me a while ago, which I had forgotten about (thankfully I save emails), to inquire about the purchase of a certain supply I was using. I replied back that I didn’t want to divulge my source as everyone would find it soon enough and that I wanted to sell as many as I could..you know, try to make a living. She replied back ‘no problem- that her supplier carried them anyway’….not sure why she asked to start with. She also stated that she is overseas and ‘it wouldn’t affect me anyway’. TO ME that implied, ‘she is going to make them anyway, whether I say ok or not’. Mrs Nice Girl that I am responded back with ‘I can’t stop you from copying me, if you are going to, at least don’t use the same name I did for the item (since I had heard someone had already been making them and calling them the same exact thing I did [also overseas]).

Now the item I am referring to is not a difficult thing at all, it is not rocket science, just bead embroidery. I expect people will make them. BUT at the same time, I am hanging on as long as possible and credit would sure be nice!! I expected she was going to make some to sell, so when I saw she make a tutorial and kit…I am sorry but that is crossing the line in a very large way!! No credit given and the promise not to post them on Facebook was also breached, which tells me this person is a two faced liar, not to mention a thief! I hope karma is in progress!

I feel I am very generous in letting people sell my finished designs after they purchase a pattern, make and sell all you want. Why did I do that? Because I don’t want to worry and follow unethical people around..I would rather be beading!

My quandary is: I don’t want to be mean and come across bitchy when people ask me something regarding a situation like above, but at the same time being tactful and pleasant seems to allow people to think I am a sucker and pushover and in turn do something like this.

A bit of irony here is that she make something from someone’s book for fun and gave that person credit, then published on Facebook 2 pics of my work she had copied and didn’t give me a bit of credit. Maybe it is because I am not a book author? That means I am not worth giving credit too? (in her eyes).

Funny too, I have been asked to write a tutorial for these pieces, but have refused because I wanted to sell the finished items. So, next week, I will indeed write a tute for them and will be selling the kits, rightfully so!

**If you don’t know who it is, please don’t ask me, Mrs. Nice Girl is still busy being nice (don’t ask me why there either LOL)

Kodachrome Series

goodquillhunting — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:16:49 +0000

Since my last post, I have completed 2 new cuffs in my Kodachrome Series. I have at least 6 more to go at this point, maybe more.

Here is THE toughest color I have ever had to work with!It took me weeks of staring at it to finish

This one is one of my favorites, as I am partial to pink.

I have these colors left to work up: verdigris, white, brown, frosted amethyst, ocean blue and I have to see what else I have left. If I don’t sell the 2 I have in the shop, a group photo will be lots of fun!

I have also made the 3rd of the original trio of my boxes. I have more to make and some goodies on the way in the mail to make a few REALLY cool boxes. I can’t wait to share those with you!

and the next image is 5 pairs of earrings I made for my daughter, she is in school learning how to cut hair and stuff.