One of a Kind Gifts For Valentine's Day!

 Be Mine' Copper Heart and Freshwater Pearl Necklace

I love Valentine's Day!  Hearts and birds have always been two of my favorite shapes to decorate with and create with!  So, I thought it would be fun to show you a few items that I have just created --- perfect for

Valentine's Day!

'U Make Me Sparkle' Crystal and Sterling Silver Necklace



Having a Valentine's Day Party? Or invited to a party? My 'Recycled2Party' Wine Charms would be fun to bring as a hostess gift or a unique conversation starter at your own party! Earth friendly, these pretty hearts have been created with recycled soda cans! Each heart is one of a kind! 



 'Crazy Hearts' Recycled2Party Wine Charms



'Hearts of Gold, Black & Red' Recycled2Party Wine Charms

Not listed yet!



'Pretty Hearts' Recycled2Party Wine Charms




Bracelets and Earrings are also wonderful gifts to receive!

'Love Birds' Copper & Swarovski Crystal Bracelet

'Twitter Love' Antiqued Brass and Crystal Earrings




How about something a little different?
Once again, I put those recycled soda cans to great use by helping the earth
 and decorating this adorable birdhouse!
It's also a wonderful gift for a bird lover and their lucky birds this spring!

'Love Birds- Recycled Soda Pop Charm' Birdhouse





 My 'Heart with a Connection' Collection, and handpainted Jewelry/Keepsake Boxes are also one-of-a-kind boxes that are perfect to fill with chocolates or jewelry for another unique gift! Inspired by my love of the ocean, I create my 'Heart with a Connection' Wood Heart Boxes, with wonderful natural treasures that have been hand collected from the shores around the world!

  'Israel Rocks' Wood Heart Box



'Goldfinches' Handpainted Wood Heart Box

'Something Old, Something New....' Wooden Heart Shaped Keepsake Box

 This gorgeous shabby chic heart shaped box was created with a bride in mind! This would be such a great way to present an engagement ring tucked inside with a handful of her favorite candy! A perfect bride's gift with a seaside wedding or just a wonderful treasure for anyone who loves the ocean!

Visit my Shop for more beautiful items for Valentine's Day!

I love working with people to create personalized items they can treasure!

Many of these items can be customized for parties and bridal party gifts.

Contact me if you have any questions at
tkdesigns4u@gmail.com



'Crystal Hearts' Wine Charms



I hope to be featuring more beautiful and unique items from Etsy and Artfire Artists, just in time for Valentine's day!

Have a great day!

Tracey













HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 I WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY,

HEALTHY, AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

Kaylee--our husky, getting ready to party!

H A P P Y    N E W    Y E A R !

Kaylee drinking HER water!

 MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION IS TO DRINK MORE WATER.......
EXERCISE.....

Cali our cat enjoying a little catnip mouse!

 TAKE MORE TIME TO HAVE FUN.......

Cali taking a little personal time in a paper bag!

EAT BETTER .......  MAKE TIME FOR MYSELF....

AND BE THANKFUL FOR ALL THAT I HAVE! 

Cali and Kaylee

         I HOPE TO GET BACK TO BLOGGING AGAIN SOON.....SO, KEEP WATCHING FOR

MORE TO COME IN THIS NEW YEAR!!!

~~~~~~~2011  ~~~~~

Tracey :-)

Beading Times!

This month I had the good fortune to have one of my beaded necklaces included in a wonderful online beading magazine, The Beading Times!   My Freshwater Pearls and Copper Necklace was featured with square beads in the Design Corner(September issue). This column features a different bead shape each month, offering lots of wonderful examples to inspire the reader and get those creative juices flowing!
Editor Sandra J. Paluzzi offers great beading, design, and marketing tips for the beading enthusiast. Meet featured bead artists, and enjoy a free monthly bead project! Clear, step by step instructions and great pictures make it easy to follow along! I loved this month's project, a framed bead pendant by Carol Ladine Lagoski!

  

Sandy also owns The Bead Peddler (Wholesale Beads, Beading Supplies and open to the Public) and has a shop on Etsy, beadpeddler.

It was very exciting for me to have a piece of my jewelry included in this informative online magazine, especially after the difficult summer I had. It was just what I needed to get that little spark back into me!

Have a great day!
Tracey

*It's important to note that inclusion in this design column is free, and by invitation only.  Their jury exclusively searches through etsy and finds the look they need. They would appreciate not getting pictures or links to sites.   

July - A month of turmoil!

Summer Rain - Happy Crying Cloud Raining on a Flower - mini ACEO print 3.5 x 2.5
By moonflygirl on Etsy

This month's weather has been hot, with lots of rain...
great for the garden... hard on the soul!
Unfortunately,
my life has been the same!
Needing some time to sort things out, I decided to temporarily put my shops on vacation mode..... a first for me!

On a Rainy Day Original Watercolor Paintin
By LaurenAlexander on Etsy

I hope to keep blogging when I can, and open up shop again some time in August!
The picture below reminds me that sometimes we have to go through some bad weather to reap the wonderful rewards at the end.

My shop items are still available to look at in my Artfire Studio. http://www.tkdesigns.artfire.com/

Any questions feel free to contact me at tkdesigns4u@gmail.com

Showers Often Bring Flowers 8"x 10" mixed media
By junepfaffdaley on Etsy

Not Camera Shy!!!

While sitting on the beach reading my favorite jewelry magazines,

I noticed this Herring Gull watching me.
After 5 -10 minutes went by, I looked up again and

realized he hadn't moved! So, I slowly took my camera out

of my beach bag and started taking pictures.

Instead of flying away,

he seemed very curious and walked closer to check out my

shiny silver camera! Unfortunately, he got so close

many of the pictures came out blurry!

Later the same day, this little Laughing Gull

decided he wanted to be in pictures too!

Tracey :-)

This Storm Started Backwards!!

 While we were on our vacation at the Jersey Shore

I unwittingly captured this strange storm that actually started backwards?!

After having dinner on our deck that overlooks the ocean, I spotted this beautiful rainbow in the sky! I quickly grabbed the camera (which is never too far away) to see if I could catch what I thought was a fleeting rainbow. The day was hot and sunny---- perfect beach weather, for our first day at the shore! There was no mention of showers or rain in the weather report.

But, as I began taking pictures, I realized that the rainbow was beginning to change. 

Clouds began to form.

As the rainbow began to fade (left) this cloud formation began to form over the ocean to the right of it. The sun was beginning to set, giving the clouds a rosy/purple glow.

Then the rain began.

The rainbow was now totally replaced by this mushroom type cloud that seemed to rise from the ocean!

The sky looked threatening but it also reminded me of cotton candy! The gorgeous blue sky above this storm was such a pretty contrast to the cotton-like clouds. 

As the storm moved off into the distance I was able to see the rain coming down only from the vertical cloud. In the picture, it looks like a UFO hiding behind a large cloud!!

Eventually, the whole storm moved out to sea!

It was amazing! 

 I'm so glad I had my camera to capture it!

We had a wonderful week with lots of sun, and some rain (mainly at night!) I saw dolphins swim by, a whale spouting water several times before moving off, lots of surfers and even wind surfers! The waves were big and the sand was beautiful but hot, hot, hot! I picked up lots of shells for my mosaics and even found some wonderful pieces of seaglass!

Vacation is wonderful.....but there's no place like home! We were happily greeted with wagging tails, and doggy kisses by our family pets! 

Tracey :D 

A Gorgeous Collection of Beach Towels For Everyone In The Family!

Custom Beach Towels by kadydesigns on Etsy

Jersey Shore, Here We Come!!

Since my children were little, we've been going to the Jersey Shore for our vacation!

Having such hectic lives year round, we just love to relax at the beach!

Our beach towels have been well worn through the years and its time to search for some new ones. Of course ,I turned to my favorite shopping spots online, Etsy and Artfire to see what was out there! I was overwhelmed by the selection, there are so many wonderful beach towels and accessories available, that I thought I would share some of my finds with you!

Towels For Everyone in Your

Family!!

Custom Embroidered Loralie Beach Babe Towel by threadmagicians on Etsy

These fun beach towels come in a large selection of colors to choose from, and many   cute beach diva designs to fit your personality! 

Soccer Beach Towel by threetreesembroidery on Etsy

Great for the Soccer player in your family! These can be personalized with a name also!

Custom Fire Dept Towel by threetreesembroidery on Etsty

Too cute!

Personalized Embroidered Beach Towels by Freshvintageshop

A choice of several beautiful color combinations are available in this style.

Great for anyone, but I thought they would be good for your older daughter or son!

Personalized Beach Towels for Everyone in the Family by FabricYarnAndDesign on Etsy!

Perfect for keeping track of everyones towel during a day at the beach!

A Few Accessories For Utilizing your Towel to its Fullest!

Cabana Caddie Beach Towel by cabanacaddie at Etsy

I love that this is a duel functioning beach towel that keeps you comfortable & organized!

2 Beach Towel Clips by mardie9999 at Etsy

Great to way to keep your towel in place from shore breezes!

Towel Bags by SoxonyDesigns on Etsy

These towel bags are amazing!  They are made using a beach towel that folds up perfectly into the bag for easy transport. There is an extra large zipper pocket in the interior to keep your belongings out of the sun, sand and water!

PLUS - The bag itself fits onto the back of most beach chairs preventing your towel from sliding down your chair!

Great Beach Towel & Accessories For the Little One in the Family!

Hooded Peronalized Infant/Toddler Super Plush Towel by Snuggles of Love at Etsy

  Personalized Set of 2 Pacifiers Clips by snugglesoflove at Etsy

What a great way to keep those pacifiers out of the sand!

These wonderful shops are filled with lots of different items that have adorable designs and many personalized items! So check them out!

I hope this helped with some great ideas for beach towels and a few accessories!!

Tracey :-)

Just Beachy Wine Charms

Summer is finally here! At your next party enjoy using these beautiful beach themed metal wine charms, featuring SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS crystals! These are fun, gorgeous and a practical way to personalize your wine glasses or coffee mugs at parties, picnics, shore house, or even at the office! Never mixup your glass again!

  Just Beachy Set of 6 Wine Charms

Growing up close to the Connecticut shore, I was at the beach anytime I had a free hour or two! During the summer months through college I worked on Cape Cod, MA, and after graduation found myself living along the Maine coastline. So, its safe to say I have always been inspired by the ocean environment.

  Something Old.. Something New...Wooden Heart Box

I now live in NJ far from the ocean---

it took some time to adjust driving several hours just to enjoy a little beach time!

However, many of the items I create are uniquely linked to a shore somewhere in the world. I love to incorporate many natural elements found along the shore into my mosaic boxes, heart boxes, jewelry, trivets and frames. I also have a  new line of ocean inspired mosaic glass and shell placques that I will be adding to my shops any day now.

Colors From The Sea Mosaic Trivet/Decoration

This is a One-of-a-Kind Trivet/Decoration! I used gorgeous genuine hand collected Sea glass, created in a beautiful mosaic, rainbow swirl of color! Each piece of sea glass has been collected from many places around the world such as Ireland, England, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, California, New England & Israel. Many of the colors are very difficult to find, some are even rare. 

A Sea Glass Lover's Dream Collection all in one beautiful,

decorative, and useful piece!

So take a peek at the wonderful variety of handcrafted items I have created using the ocean as my inspiration!

TKDesigns Etsy Shop

 Check back soon for a fun collection of Beach Themed items I found created by other great artists!

Daylilies

Thank you for stopping by! 

The daylily above is one of many I have flowering in my yard. They are so pretty, and grow wild along many of the roads and woodlands here in NJ. They are called daylilies because each flower only blooms for one day! Luckily, daylilies have many buds to extend their flower time!

See you soon!

Wednesday.s Woodland Walk

This is one of the many birdhouses scattered along our woodland path. I painted this birdhouse with my children about 10 years ago. It has had many occupants over the years, but the past couple of years I noticed during very bad rain storms, you can usually see a little face peering out! Our gray squirrels are quite inventive and have renovated many different items around the yard (many of them my birdhouses) into little safe havens! 

 

Goatsbeard (Bride's Feather's) - Arnucus dioicus

A wonderful 3-6' native woodland plant. Arnucus means goat beard in greek.  I love its airy white plumes of tiny white flowers that rise above many of the other woodland plants.

Orange Honeysuckle - Lonicera ciliosa

Vines are also an interesting part of a woodland setting. Many times here in the east you will find virginia creeper, boston ivy, escaped wisteria vines and many other vines, climbing up tree trunks, rocks, or along the ground.  Many of our trees were covered with wisteria vines when we bought our home.  Wisteria slowly strangles your trees to death, so we cut them all down and had to diligently keep an eye out for newcomers.  We also had virginia creeper, that too lovcs to climb up the trunks of the trees giving a beautiful vertical dimension to the woods, however, I like to keep them short enough to be able to keep it under control.  

 Along our back fence I planted orange honeysuckle vines for added privacy from our neighbors. They can grow up to 18' along the ground or scramble up fences and other vertical structures. They are so pretty with their beautiful yellow/orange trumpet shaped flowers. However, the berries on this plant can be mildly poisonous if eaten by people, so beware of planting this if you have small children.

Hummingbirds love these vines!

 

Yellow Foxglove - Digitalis grandiflora

  They really stand out in the woodland setting with their pretty pale yellow flower spikes and dark green leaves. 

Oakleaf Foamflower 

The native foamflower bloomed earlier in the spring, but this is a hybrid called the oakleaf foamflower, receiving that common name because of the shape of its oak-like leaves. It is blooming now during the late spring.

Thanks for joining me on my woodland walk. 

See you next week!