My First Giveaway!

Here is my first blog giveaway! I have these lovely brass leaf earrings with yellow swarovski crystals in yellow acrylic flowers. They are fairly large, measuring at about 56mm long, but very lightweight. All you have to do is:

• Follow my Blog
• Visit my Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/GreyFrogDesigns and come back here and leave a comment on which piece is your favorite.
• Become a fan of my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/GreyFrogDesigns/58338655129

That's it! A winner will be chosen at random and announced here on Tuesday, April 6th. Also, make sure there is a way I can contact you through either blog or email in case you win!

My Love of Baking Soda

As I was polishing my silver the other day, I realized, baking soda has got to be one of the most useful items on the planet. I mean, really, what can you not do with baking soda? You bake with it, clean with it, deodorize with it, vacuum with it, clean out drains with it, brush your teeth with it, and polish with it. In my experience, it has been the best medium to use for a metal polish. I mix it with water so that it's a watery paste, then dip a soft cloth in it and polish my piece. Then rinse. That's it. It's fantastic for copper too!

Rowing Away

So, I'm sitting at my desk the other day with a boat load of crystals, brass wire, and brass chain. I stared at these for a bit and then it came to me. Rows. Definitely rows. Absolutely simple and absolutely timeless. I mean really, what can you NOT do with a row necklace. It's wonderful that such a simple design can easily go from jeans to a bridesmaid. Not to mention that the number of stones and color combinations is endless. Needless to say, I will be featuring lots of new rows for spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I grew up associating St. Patrick's Day with green leprechauns, shamrocks, rainbows, and gold. Today, I mainly associate it with green beer. Well, I finally looked it up and apparently St. Patrick was an Irish Catholic Bishop who, according to legend, used the shamrock to teach the holy trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people. I had no idea! Or if I did, I completely forgot. Another interesting little tidbit I found is that the very first St. Patrick's Day parade in the whole world was held on March 18, 1737 in the U.S.! Anyways, here's wising everyone a wonderfully green and feisty leprechaun filled St. Patrick's Day!

Nesting

I've been playing around with the Vintaj wire and starting making these precious little bird's nests. I actually found a great tutorial on YouTube by Denise Mathew http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBLL5M1dgcs. I decided to make mine with more of a bottom to cradle the eggs, but Denise's video was a great start. I like to use gemstones that look more like real eggs and also experiment with different sizes.

Back in Brass

I'm finally back on the creative bandwagon and totally in love with brass. Vintaj brass. Vintaj is 100% natural brass that is nickel and lead free. Each piece is hand embellished and made in the U.S.A. I love the rustic and vintage look of the pieces and how they contrast with sterling and brass. Be sure to check out my shop at Etsy, as I will be featuring the latest in Vintaj stampings very soon.