I see a lot of jewelry browsing through Etsy to find the latest & greatest to bring to you, my dear readers. I’ll admit – my eyes start to glaze over a bit…even on some of the most beautiful pieces! And I’m sorry to say, I let this jewelry fall through the cracks. But it’s here now – for you to enjoy!

Even if this jewelry from Charmed by Nature is not quite your style, I know you’ll appreciate the humor in each piece.

Maybe you wear your heart on your sleeve – but maybe you’d like to wear your personality around your neck! This is the jewelry for you!

Lynne, from Charmed by Nature, says her jewelry is inspired by “junk drawer treasures!” I just want to say my junk drawer has never looked this good – or this fun.

You can also find Charmed by Nature on Flickr. And you are a part of the Handmade in PA Flickr pool, right?

Charmed by Nature on Etsy | Twitter

Are you looking for the HiP blog challenge? Improve the effectiveness of your blog with tips from the premiere site for Pennsylvania artisans & crafters!

This week’s giveaway is sponsored by Melinda from Orrtec Designs. Melinda is PA born & raised and currently resides in Muncy in Lycoming County.

Melinda is not a stranger to creative business – she’s been entrepreneur for some time! She says:

I created and owned my florist/home decor & jewelry store for 16 years. Throughout that time I designed florals including upscale silk design for our county residents and local country club. I also incorporated jewelry in my store, designed my own beaded jewelry line and incorporated bead sales as well. I offered on location home decorating advice and custom designs for home & holiday.

About a year ago, Melinda closed her shop doors and began to play with clay! Her designs are organic – many are earth tones but she’s not afraid of bright, watery colors. She creates pendants, earrings, and buttons patterned with various impressions.

Melinda also stocks a bead & supply shop called Pink Ocean. Here you can find various notions and a wide variety of beads for your jewelry-making pleasure!

So how can you win this fabulous “Lime Pineapple Beaded Necklace” from Orrtec Designs? Well that’s easy! You must:

• be a resident of the US.
• comment on this post (below) with your favorite item from the Orrtec Designs shop on Etsy.
• to gain an extra entry, use the Share/Save button below to submit this giveaway to your favorite social network or bookmarking site! HiP’s favorites are Stumble Upon, Twitter, and Facebook.

This giveaway ends Friday, April 10 at noon. A winner will be selected at random and contacted by email! Good luck!

There are several coming up! For additional events, please check out the new events calendar on the right side of page. Mouse over the days to see what events are happening on that day. You can then click on individual events to get more information and check out the event sponsor’s site.

Berks Bead Bazaar

February 28 – March 1

This week’s giveaway sponsor, Sandy, will be showing her beads as well as new HiP readers, Louise and Joan. You can find glass, porcelain, precious metal clay, stone beads – and many, many more! The Berks Bead Bazaar takes place at the Inn at Reading.

Winter Craft Swap at Mew Gallery

February 21

If you’re in the Philadelphia area, Mew Gallery, is a must-see. The gallery/shop features local crafters & artists and is also the home of the Philly Etsy team. This event is also hosted by the Philadelphia Sewing Collective.

Digital Macro Photography Workshop

February 22

Building Character, in Lancaster, and Frost Imaging are hosting a workshop on macro photography. This is the kind of photography that allows you to take exceptionally detailed images of your jewerly, beads, and other small crafts. Mastering macro photography is a great way to get your pieces to stand out from the crowd! This workshop is free and open to the public!

Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival

February 14-15

The Pittsburgh Craft Collective has many upcoming events but, for this weekend, they’ve tipped me off to the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival. Oh, how I wish I could go to this! There will be some huge fiber artists there as well as the opportunity to take classes and meet other knitting & crocheting enthusiasts.

Up for tomorrow, I’ll have my weekly Friday Favorites. This weekend, I’ll be featuring an interview with Melissa Frueh!

And thank you for all your well wishes – Lola and I are coming around already!

The HiP giveaway for this week is sponsored by Berks County resident, Sandy, from One Bead at a Time. Please take a minute to read Sandy’s story and find out about her work. At the bottom of the post, you’ll find out what you can win this week and how to enter!

Sandy began working on lampwork glass beads over 10 years ago. Along with her husband Mark, she owned a bead shop in West Reading (they still own a fantastic drum shop!) and was inspired by a book on glass beads. She says, “When I started lampworking, I knew I had found a craft that I could explore for years and never come to the end of its challenges and possibilities.”

“Lampwork refers to working with glass in a torch. It is one of the more accessible ways to work with glass as the equipment is reasonably affordable and the space needed is not excessive,” explained Sandy.

Although she’s taken classes on new techniques and is inspired by colleagues, Sandy tends to let her creativity run wild when designing new pieces. Like so many brilliant artisans I’ve met, she says, “the creative spark comes from somewhere inside or perhaps from somewhere up above. Right now with my new interest in glass fusing, I do hope to take some fusing classes from Vitrum Studios in Maryland. So I am saving my pennies!!”

Speaking of fused glass, Sandy is newly enamored with fused glass. “Glass fusing is basically cutting pieces of glass from a sheet of glass; arranging and stacking the pieces and melting them together in a kiln.”

Where does Sandy get her inspiration for her beautiful pieces? “I love color. I love to find glass colors that react with each other in unpredictable ways. So often the inspiration comes directly from the glass. I am also inspired by nature. I know – everyone says that but where else can you find such stunning combinations of colors and textures – always changing but always just right? My beads tend to be organic in color and design and I love abstract patterns and textures…I do better if I go into the studio with a very vague idea of where I am headed and just let the process take over.”

I couldn’t resist sharing Sandy’s story of her Ethereal Boro Becoming Bicone Bead (above).

This is a new design for me that came out of noticing how much I liked my beads before they were finished and melted smooth. I like the extreme texture of the bead and the suggestion of angel wings. It has some really nice metallic luster too that is a feature of the borosilicate glass that I use in my beads. Borosilicate glass is a glass that melts very slowly and often has lots of metal in its chemical makeup. The colors of boro often react with each other and the glass can create many tones and shades of color in one bead.

In her Etsy listing, she adds this detail, “Thus – the “Becoming” bead name – a little bead reminder that it is all about the journey, not the destination.” Fabulous!

Sandy also teaches private lessons in her home studio. You can email her at sandree AT comcast DOT net for more information.

So what can you win this week? How about these beautiful fused glass coasters?

To win this set of 4 Sea ‘n Sand Coasters:

• You must be a resident of the United States (please note this change!)
• Leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from Sandy’s Etsy shop.
• To receive an extra entry, share this post on Twitter, Facebook, other social networking site, or your blog. Comment again with the link!

Giveaway ends Friday, February 13, at noon.