Flowers and Leather

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments about the artwork in my last post.  I'm so excited about what I've been working on and hope to be able to share all of the details with you by the end of the month.

Something you may not know about me is that I'm a jewelry lover.  Not big expensive precious jewels, though I am lucky to have some expensive jewelry, I rarely wear the smoochier stuff.  No, my jewelry lovin' leans more towards quirky, eclectic, and the unusual...plus reasonably priced.

I love finding pretty little bracelets, earrings, and necklaces that I can mix and match to whatever I'm wearing that day.


 

So whenever I stumble upon something and the price is right, I snap it up and I haven't regretted one single piece I've purchased.  Like for instance, the sweet little leather rosette bracelet above that I recently found at my friend Dawna's store...Cecil's Country Store.

I can't tell you how many great pieces of jewelry I have bought from Dawna over the years but right off the top of my head I can name a few pieces that are personal favorites and pieces I get comments on every time I wear them...like my pewter crab cuff bracelet, my jeweled snowflake pin, my shell bracelet, and the list goes on and on.

As soon as I saw these pretty little floral bracelets made from tooled and cut leather I knew my collection would be growing.  I also picked one up for a friend as a thank you for my lameness lately...you know who you are! ;-)

The best part is that no 2 are alike, some have pink flowers, 2 flowers, purple, you name it, and the price was too good to be true.  I'm thinking I may just need to pop back by and pick up a few more...some for myself of course but these would also make great gifts that span the generations.

I haven't had a chance to wear mine out since I bought it...can you say stuck at my computer lately?!  But I know that when I do, people will say, "oh what a cute bracelet," and they'll want to know where I bought it.  Be sure to stop by Cecil's if you want one of your own, I know that they will go quickly...sometimes I wish I could keep these great secrets for myself, but dang it, I just can't!

Good To Know

I bought this skeleton years ago, I can't even remember where, but I love the cute sign that hangs around his neck and the cheeky little smile on his face.

When I have him out during the Halloween season he reminds me that friends are always welcome, even if his sign says "fiends"...

We all need friends, they are the family we get to choose and the ones who are often there for us the most during our lives.  Kind of the way you all were when I had my grumpy day the other day...so thank you for always leaving kind comments that make me smile even on the dreariest of days!  Sometimes I may not be able to reply to all of your lovely messages, but please know that I appreciate each and every one of them!

In my last post I mentioned that I had picked up a bracelet for the fall.  I bought it at Lola Belle Co.where I always seem to find the best jewelry at really great prices!  We are very lucky here in southern Maryland to have all sorts of wonderful shops where you can pick up something as a gift, or those special things for ourselves without breaking the bank!

I also told you about the pumpkins I picked up last Saturday from one of my favorite Mennonite farms.  Here are some of the miniature white pumpkins all lined up along the bench on my front porch.

They still need a good bath, but it has been raining the last couple of days, and today it's sunny but a little nippy, so I'll wait and do it this weekend when it's supposed to be a bit warmer.  Besides, I kind of like their fresh from the field appearance!

And here are the johnny jump ups from my friend and talented floral designer Doug Vogel!  Doug recently took a job with a shop in LaPlata, Maryland called Studio Three, so if you need flowers and live in the area be sure to give him a call!

Last week was a busy week, and this one is following suit, so I am WAY overdue in giving thanks to Michelle from the blog Emerald Cove!   She gave me and several other bloggers The Versatile Blogger award!

If you've never visited Michelle's blog then you don't know what you've been missing.  She is always full of inspiring design ideas, and her fun loving personality and sweet nature come through loud and clear with every post!

Thank you Michelle for this wonderful award!!

Well as the recipient of this award I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself...of course first and foremost I love my family, but I thought I would share a few other things this time, so here goes, try not to get too excited!

1.  You may have figured this out from the last post, but I am married to the greatest guy in the world.  My great aunt once said "Wow you have him trained well!" to which I replied "He came pre-trained!"

2.  I've always had a little voice that has guided me throughout my life.  Call it a guardian angel or whatever you like, but I haven't always listened to it.  Once when our daughter was little the voice told me to double check her high chair tray to make sure it was securely fastened...I was rushing around and didn't check, and sure enough she pushed on it and toppled out of the chair.  Thankfully she wasn't hurt, but after that I never ignored that little voice ever again and it has served me well over the years!  I always say to my family, listen to your gut, and that is why!

3.  I am a HUGE procrastinator!

4.  I love a clean house, but I don't always have one.

5.  I go by lots of different names...Katherine, Kath, Kathy, and Kat...and I answer to all of them!

6.  If I won the lottery I would set up a fund to help others travel, I think there is no greater teacher than a trip to a foreign land!

7.  I secretly think Martha Stewart was invented by a man to make women feel inadequate about themselves...hehe!  Hey it could be true! ;-)

Now I'm supposed to pass this along to several other bloggers, but my policy on that is that I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by leaving them out.  So consider this an invitation to all of you to share 7 things about yourselves...either in a post, or in the comments section!

I hope all of you have a wonderful day and I look forward to reading your comments!

What A Crazy Week and A Giveaway

Since last Wednesday my life has been topsy turvy to say the least!  On top of Ms. M's stroke, a dear friend's father passed away suddenly and completely unexpectedly due to a heart attack!  

With everything going on at the moment it will be a little while longer before I'm back to my regular blogging schedule...real life has crept in to remind me that life doesn't always revolve around the internet!

Last night before collapsing in to bed, I went out and just stood on our dock for awhile and watched the full moon rise above the water.  It was nice to just have a quiet moment to reflect on this past week's craziness and to stop and be thankful for family, friends, and good health!

I had promised you all that I would show you a gorgeous waterfront home, and I haven't forgotten!  When life slows back down a little I'll be sure to show you more of this lovely home...you won't want to miss it!

And along with a fun house tour, I'll also be introducing you to some beautiful bedding that will be in stores this fall.  I know you all will love it, and here's a tiny sneak peek at just one of the collections!

But because life has been so crazy, and I haven't been around to work on my own blog, reply to your wonderful comments, or visit anyone else's blogs...I thought a wonderful Giveaway might tide you all over!

You may remember a while back when I featured a giveaway of some beautiful beach glass jewelry made by my friend Julie of Frosted Trash.  Well she has kindly offered me these stunning earrings to use for another great giveaway!

I love everything Julie creates...I'll be showing you a pair of earrings she gave me recently that I LOVE and have already worn almost daily!  Once again Julie has outdone herself by designing these gorgeous earrings that combine pale turquoise sea glass with crystals and pearls to create something you'll want to wear every day too!

All you have to do to enter to win the earrings pictured above is to visit Julie's blog Frosted Trash 

1.  Then come back and tell me which pair of earrings (that she has featured in her latest post), you can't live without!!

2.  For a second chance to win let me know that you are a follower of my blog, or Julie's (I know she would love to have a few more friends and followers of her blog!) and you'll be entered for a 2nd chance to win! (Be sure to leave a separate comment)

3.  And for a 3rd chance to win, blog, tweet, or post on facebook and then leave a 3rd comment for yet another chance to win!

The contest will be open until Tuesday, August 2nd at midnight PST and is open to everyone!!

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and understanding!  I hope to be back to blogging full time very soon!  See you then my friends!!!

Frosted Trash Giveaway

Another day and my back is slowly healing.  I attribute that to all of the well wishes from around the world and to Mr. Tide who is a saint among men and has been doing nearly everything around here!  And thank you to everyone who played along with my 10 Things I Love post, it was great hearing about some of the things you all love or that we share in common!

I thought while I was on the mend I would have a lovely giveaway to thank all of you and to introduce you to jewelry artist and new friend Julie O'Brien.  I met Julie through my friend Susan whose beautiful house I showed you a little of in this post.  Susan has wonderful taste, so when she mentioned that her friend Julie made gorgeous jewelry from sea glass I knew I would love it, and of course I did!

When I went to take scouting shots of Julie's home for a magazine, I was treated to some of her talents and I took some photos of her great jewelry to share with all of you!  Julie doesn't have a website yet, but she just started a blog for her business called Frosted Trash.

Isn't that a great name, Frosted Trash?!  Julie's husband suggested it, and I'm so glad she decided to use it!  Since some people consider anything that washes up on a beach to be trash, it seemed very fitting.  Luckily for us, Julie knows these frosted bits of glass are far from trash, and she uses her "trash" to create pieces of jewelry you will want to wear day after day!

Julie creates gorgeous jewelry from the sea glass she finds in her own backyard along the banks of the Potomac River.  She even occasionally finds rare lavender glass like the pieces she has used in the earrings pictured above.  These lavender and sterling earrings with those beautiful freshwater pearls are on my wish list!

Julie's love of the water and her passion for jewelry making is evident in each of her wonderful pieces.  She often incorporates crystals, silver beads, and other interesting details along with the sea glass to make a one of a kind piece of wearable art!

She also combines complimentary colors like these pink and green earrings which I adore!

I love the rich green of the piece of sea glass she used in this beautiful necklace!

And who wouldn't want this gorgeous bracelet?!  Along with her own bracelet designs, Julie has also perfected a technique for making sea glass charms which will work with Trollbead bracelets!  You can click HERE to find out more about these unique sea glass charms!

More lavender glass makes this pendant perfect for the romantic in all of us!

These earrings feature sea glass in the most beautiful shade of aqua and are paired perfectly with matching blue crystals and delicate coin pearls!

Julie's sea glass is all homegrown so to speak.   Although it may have traveled the world before landing on her doorstep, she finds it while walking along the beach in front of the home she shares with her husband and two cats.  She never tumbles any of her glass, and instead relies on mother nature to provide her with materials and inspiration!

These cobalt blue earrings are highlighted by beautiful silver beads in the most delicate and feminine pattern.  I love how they really set off the dramatic blue of the sea glass!

And I think these earring are to die for!  Not only are they the perfect shade of turquoise, but they are so fun and unique looking, which is always what I want in any piece of jewelry!

So now for the fun part, here's how you can enter to win one of Julie's beautiful pieces of jewelry!  She has graciously offered to create a one of a kind aqua pendant especially for one lucky reader!  The pendant will feature aqua sea glass and will be similar to one of the pendants featured above...can you say gorgeous?!  Thank you Julie!

1.  For a chance to win just leave a comment telling me what your favorite color of sea glass is.

2.  For another chance to win become a follower of Low Tide High Style and leave another comment letting me know.  If you are already a follower, leave a comment letting me know and you'll also have a second chance to win!

3.  Tweet, Facebook, or Blog about this great giveaway and leave me a 3rd comment letting me know for another chance to win!

The Giveaway will be open until Monday, May 31st at Midnight PST!

And for more information on Julie's beautiful jewelry, be sure to visit her blog by clicking HERE, or you can email her at jobrien16475@gmail.com to get more information on pricing and to place an order!

Scarborough Seashells Giveaway

First of all I'd like to thank each and every one of my followers and readers for all of your wonderful support!  And  thank you so much for all of the kind comments and encouraging emails I received about my great day yesterday!!!  I really do appreciate each and every comment and email, and even if I don't get to respond to each one, please know that I do read and enjoy every last word!

So it's been a week or so since my last giveaway, and I know how you bloggy friends love a good giveaway!  So, along with a wonderful artist profile, you'll have a chance to win something too!

This month's artist profile is of a very talented jewelry artist, Tara of Scarborough Seashells!  Tara and I met very early on through blogging, and as soon as I saw the lovely things for sale on her website I immediately knew I wanted to feature her work.  Not only is Tara a super talented jewelry designer, but she is also a terrific person!

Tara's unique pieces have everything I look for in a great piece of jewelry...simplicity, one of a kind beauty, and of course a beach theme.  A true artisan, Tara skillfully incorporates seashells, sea glass, and bits of pottery found along the coast into each of her gorgeous handmade pieces of jewelry.  Along with Tara's beautiful jewelry, on her website you'll find lots of other great handmade items inspired by the beach, such as sea glass wine charms, seashell encrusted mirrors, and other home decor.  And even her logo is cool and beachy, so what's not to love!

I was able to interview Tara recently and ask her a few questions about how she started her business and what inspires her as an artist.  Below you'll find her answers along with photos of some of the breathtaking pieces of jewelry she has for sale. And you won't want to miss the beautiful earrings Tara and Scarborough Seashells, who is also a sponsor, has graciously donated as a Giveaway, so be sure to read all the way to the end of the post to find how how you can enter to win!

How long have you been designing and making sea inspired jewelry and home accessories?

I started in 2003- when I learned I was pregnant with my second son, Aidan.  I worked in a very physical field and had to go out on leave for the duration of the pregnancy.  We lived on the beach, so I took up walking in the mornings and had soon amassed huge containers of rocks, sea glass, shells etc.  After a few months of looking at piles and bowls and baskets overflowing around the house, I decided I should do something productive with all my finds and as an added bonus, make a little extra money.  That’s when Scarborough Seashells was born!

I love how you incorporate sea glass and pottery shards into your jewelry pieces, where do you find the sea glass and pottery pieces that you use?  

My first and favorite beach will always be Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, RI where we live, but over the years my family and I have found lots of great little nooks hidden away along the RI coastline.  Many we get to by the good grace of friends who allow us to “trespass” their properties to make it down to the rocky shores where there is no public access, some are only accessible at low tide and others we’ve come across by accident while clamming for our dinner!  I am so fortunate to live in the Ocean State where there is coast all around me.  I love taking day trips with my husband and discovering new beaches to hunt for glass!

Do you have a studio in your home where you make your wonderful creations?

I do.  One of the requirements when we bought our house last summer was a studio space for me to work in.  If I were not so embarrassed of the mess, I’d show it to you!  I am creative, not tidy.  Lots of times I have multiple projects going at once and am fortunate enough to have the space to accommodate them, so to visitors, it often looks like piles of junk everywhere and a mishmash of boxes, bins and tools- but I assure you I know where everything is and it does get cleaned up periodically!  One of my favorite things in my studio is a shelf that my father and grandfather made for my mother’s kitchen when I was growing up.  It holds all of my most precious pieces of sea glass and pottery in perfect little rows of canning jars, all sorted by color and size.  Sometimes when I am struggling for inspiration I will grab the jars and dump a few of them out onto my workbench and just start playing around with the pieces and  before I know it, I’ve made two or three things!

Do you have a favorite type of jewelry that you enjoy making more than others?

I think my favorite things to make are rings.  When I was learning to solder, the first thing I successfully made was a sterling silver ring, and I was hooked.  I love hammering the metal, shaping the bezels and fitting the stones.  Soldering and bezel setting is very hands-on in its basic form and I get a lot of joy knowing that the finished pieces were formed with little more than a few rudimentary tools and my own two hands.  (Although I admit that the thrill of wielding a torch capable of temperatures in excess of 1500 degrees F is pretty cool too!)

I noticed from your website that you use mostly sterling silver and that you often incorporate wire wrapping on some of your pieces, is this something that you trained yourself to do and why do you prefer working with silver rather than other metals?

Wire wrapping is something I taught myself to do (and boy, do I have some BAD beginner pieces to prove it, lol!)  When I was starting out, I browsed around on the web looking for jewelry designs I liked to use as inspiration, then I tried to figure out how they were made- which is still something I do to this day!  Whenever I have the opportunity to look at any wire wrapped jewelry in person, I zoom in to find the end piece of wire, then trace it backwards with my eyes (like doing a maze in reverse) and make an image in my head of how it’s done.  It’s very interesting to me to study the styles of different artists.  The variety is amazing!
 
Honestly, the main reason I use sterling silver is because it is my own preference for jewelry.  The only piece of gold I wear is my wedding ring.  That being said, sterling is also much more affordable than gold when learning, so mistakes are less costly.  I wish I had a more romantic answer for you!

You have so many wonderful things for sale on your website, from shell encrusted picture frames to wine glass charms, do you make everything that is for sale on your website?

I make all of the jewelry on my website but some of the home décor pieces are by other artists.  Being a mom to 3 active boys ranging in age from 4-13, I just don’t have enough time in the day to create all the gorgeous stuff I dream of making!

Where do you find inspiration? 

Most of my ideas come to me while I am walking on the beach.  It is generally the only time during the day that I am alone and not required to talk, cook, mend or care for anyone but myself.  Many times my mind wanders from random thought to random thought and something as simple as a squiggly piece of seaweed that tangles on my shoe can jar me from those thoughts and become instant inspiration for a new design.

What is your favorite part about making jewelry?

Wow, this is really hard.  I have started to answer this questions 3 times and each time erased it because it didn’t quite capture what I want to say!  I guess I just love knowing that I have taken something discarded by so many and found the beauty in it. 

Tara has offered these gorgeous sterling silver and blue pottery shard earrings to one lucky winner!  I love these, and they remind me of what the sky can sometimes look like when you're out on a boat as nighttime approaches, I can almost see a few twinkling stars can't you?!  Thank you Tara for this wonderful giveaway!


So, in order to be entered to win you'll need to:

1.  Kindly visit Scarborough Seashells Website HERE and then come back and leave a comment telling me what wonderful things you found.


2.  For a second chance to win, you can let others know about the giveaway through Facebook, Twitter, or by posting about it on your blog.  Just be sure to come back and leave another comment letting me know that you've done one of those.


3.  And for a third chance to win, leave yet another SEPARATE comment, letting me know that you are a follower.  I've tried to find a way to assign numbers to each follower so that you wouldn't have to do this, but I've yet to figure that out, so you'll need to leave me another comment letting me know if you become, or already are, a follower. 


The Giveaway will be open until Midnight, PST, Monday April 12th.  Be sure to check back on Tuesday, April 13th when the winner will be announced.

Flower Power and a Giveaway!

Well you all did it, you've supported me from day one, have given me encouragement, helped me with answers to silly questions, and now you've taken me over the 200 Follower mark, and for that I can't thank you enough!  It really has been fun sharing some of my wackiness with such wonderful and inspiring people from all over the globe.  And I've been so inspired by your creativeness and wonderful blogs!

And for all of your wonderful support and friendship, I want to host yet another great giveaway.  What?!  Two giveaways at once...has she lost her mind?!  Hey can you ever have too much of a good thing, well maybe, but once you see the darling flower pin you could win you'll be thinking the more the merrier!

You might remember my friend Sheryl from my post about her wonderful slipcovers, you can read about her beautiful slipcovers HERE.  Ok, that was back in the days when, as my kids put it, I did a lot of unnecessary and annoying bolding and enlarging, but hey it still has lots of great pics of Sheryl's masterful sewing on it!

And you might also remember that Sheryl is one of the wonderful women from one of my very favorite stores, The Vintage Source.  So when she contacted me recently to tell me she had begun making fabric pins I knew without even seeing one that I would love them! 

So a few days ago I stopped by Sheryl's house to take a peek at her latest creations, and just as I suspected, I fell in love with her beautiful fabric flower pins!  And while I was there she took me on a tour of her home again, and I can't wait to show it to you...it's to die for, but that will be in a later post!

Along with the tour, she offered to give one of my lucky readers a sweet flower pin, just in time for Easter!  So be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post for a chance to win one of her wonderful pins!

Sheryl just recently began making these wonderful pins from leftover fabrics from her slipcover business called Slipcover Cottage.

Some are made from felt like these sweet pink ones!

Aren't they perfect for spring and summer?!

Even the way Sheryl has her pins displayed is too cute!

I was like a kid in a candy store looking at all these wonderful and fun pieces of jewelry!

The pins look like a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers hanging off of the branches...so clever!

Remember these ravishing red ones I gave you a sneak peek of the other day?!

  That yummy slice of angel food cake is no match for these delicious pins!

I love how Sheryl uses vintage buttons, like these black and white buttons to make each pin even more special!

And I love these nature inspired floral pins.  The rich browns and cool camel colors would go with almost anything.  

See that sweet tan and cream one?  That was made from some scrap upholstery fabric, how clever and beautiful is that?!

I can see any one of these paired with pinks, corals, aqua, lime green...you name it! 

Are you a lover of everything creamy yellow, golden, and peachy?  Then these are the pins for you!

See that sweet little creamy yellow one at the bottom of the ribbon?  That is actually a hairpin!  How cute would that be in a lovely little lady's hair?!

And even the tags Sheryl uses are gorgeous and colorful!  Added to her darling pins they make the perfect presentation for a wonderful gift!

And what is springtime without a little green?  Check out these spring'y' beauties!

I'm in love with this big green one with that gorgeous mother of pearl button! 

Any of these would be perfect for Easter or Mother's Day...hint hint Mr. Tide, Bugs and Angelfish!

Sheryl's wonderful flower pins range from $6 up to $20, quite a bargain for these lovely gems!

Sheryl doesn't have a website, but you can contact her to order some of these wonderful pins by emailing her at either slipcovercottage@gmail.com or homespun@md.metrocast.net.  Or, by phoning her at 301-904-2801.  And please tell her Kat from Low Tide High Style sent you!

And without further adieu, here is the wonderful, cheerful pin that Sheryl is offering to one lucky winner!  Thank you Sheryl!!!

I'm sorry but this Giveaway is currently closed.  Please check my sidebar for my Current Giveaway.

If you would like to become a Follower, please join in, the more the merrier, but it's not a requirement to enter.

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what flowers you carried in your wedding bouquet.  Don't worry if you aren't married or if you chose to elope, you can still enter to win, just leave a comment telling me the name of your favorite flower!  I enjoyed reading everyone's favorite beach comments from my last giveaway and can't wait to see what you all tell me this time! 

If you tweet about it or post it on your blog, be sure to come back and leave another comment for an additional chance to win!