TOAD-ily SPRING!

It’s finally S*P*R*I*N*G – traditionally, the season for chirping birds, budding blossoms and new life! And hopefully, it’s time for at least a bit of a return to some of the things we’ve all missed over the past 12 months. I don’t have much of a green thumb so there aren’t many budding blossoms in my yard. And the branches on our tall oak trees begin far too high to hear birds chirping in them very often. However, one sign of spring that we do see in the yard pretty regularly are the 🐸frogs and toads🐸 that emerge and begin to spawn following hibernation.

Although I made these absolutely silly copper enamel frogs at the beginning of the year, I didn’t have a plan as what to do with them. But what better time to create a froggy design than the onset of Spring? Initially I was going to play up the sunflower🌻 idea and add bright yellow lampwork. But while I was looking for just the right beads, I stumbled on these chunky black and white striped tubes that complemented the stripes on the frog’s front legs perfectly.

I wanted to incorporate an Artisan component and thought the polka dots on the rear legs was the perfect inspiration. It didn’t take very long to decide on fun lampwork saucers by Ann Spirek-Wierbinski ….almost done. Just a few Czech glass spacers, and some crazy daisy spacers and wallah! Super crazy, one-of-a-kind sunflower frogs – TOAD-ily SPRING!

I would love to know your thoughts – too crazy? Too big?

These earrings will appear later today in my etsy shop, TwinklingOfAnEye

You can find other earrings on my fb page.

Thanks for spending a part of your day with me.🌻See you in a few weeks!

Pop My Top

I love quirky and fun. Bottlecaps the definition of quirky to me. They are an affordable type of kitsch that brings back memories of our childhood, or afternoons tipping back a cold beverage. Good times.

{Pop My Top earrings}

In 2011 I met Cathy Collinson at Glass Garden Beads at the Bead & Button show. I had admired her bottlecap beads for some time and as I pawed through her bins of thousands of different bottlecap beads I asked her if she had ever seen the Point Root Beer guy from the Stevens Point Brewery (they make beer and soda). Yes! She told me that she sells out of them almost immediately because they are so fun with the signature conehead guy (do you remember the Coneheads from SNL? The Pointer guy looks like their grandpa) and the quirky sayings on them. Things like... Get the Point... Turn Me Loose... Twist & Shout... Point Well Made.

{back of the earrings - Turn Me Loose - can spin around depending on your mood!}

I told Cathy that I could get her all the Point bottle caps she could want just by going down the street to the little pizza place. I did that for a few months, stopping by now and then and carting out a bag of bottlecaps at a time. I ended up with a full gallon bag of Point Root Beer bottlecaps and a second bag of other caps. Then I met up with Heather Lawrenz at the booth during this years' Bead & Button and presented my offering and my request: would they take what was useable from this bag and make me 100 bottlecap beads with assorted messages on each side? (Usually they try to match the message.)

{bowl o' bottlecap beads}

Within about a week they had made up the bottlecap beads for me - super speedy! - and I had them in my hands. I have ones with holes from top to bottom, a few with two holes near the top for stringing, and some from side to side, with the images upside down so no matter which way they flip it will be right side up! Clever!

I plan to make fun necklaces and bracelets and earrings like these for sale in our little home town where the Stevens Point Brewery is located... and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, home of the Pointers.  In this pair I used some quirky pixies from MyElements in the Pointers' colors of purple and gold. I hope that the fans snatch them up in time to cheer their team on. Go Pointers!

{Stevie Pointer}

What about you? Do you love kitschy and quirky? Do you have a favorite bottlecap in your collection of things? Do you ever make earrings appealing to a sports team or activity? Do tell!

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.