When It All Began

What are the first symptoms of MS? Every person is different, but for me I think my first symptom happened in the fall of 2007. I began taking tap at a local dance studio and noticed my big toe on my right foot felt "funny". The best way to explain the feeling I experienced is to say it felt a little numb and crampy. I chalked it up to wearing tap shoes and using my feet in a way they were so not used to. In the spring of 2008, my toe seemed to be just fine again. Woo-hoo! All was well! Then sometime in 2009, the big toe on my left foot started feeling that same numb/crampy way. Again, I was still dancing, so just figured it had something to do with the tap shoes & dancing. This time the strange feeling only lasted a couple of months and then was back to normal. All was fine in my mind and no more thought was put into what had caused the toe issues.

Twists & Turns....Downs & Ups

Keeping up with this blog has been a weakness of mine, but things are a-changin' around here! I have recently (September 2013) been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis(MS)and want to share my experiences with anyone who is interested in knowing. Will still continue posting my Sweet Whimsy creations sporadically throughout this journey, as that is still a huge part of my life and hope it continues to be!

Molds....and not the fungi type

The past 4 years I've been creating pendants using resin on top to give them a glass-like appearance. Every time I make a batch, I hate throwing out the extra resin that is left over. Recently, I purchased a few molds (ones I found on Etsy) and started using the extra resin to make resin pendants. Decided to research (oh, how I love thee, Internet!) and found out how to make my own. This is my first mold attempt.
First I bought the mold making set.

Next, I took out equal parts of A and B.

Smushed the 2 parts together for 1 minute

Flattened the mold putty and embedded the object I wanted a mold of (in my case, a starfish).

Here's the finished mold. Now I just have to wait 24 hours before I can pour my resin in to create a starfish pendant!! Will post pictures when it's done!!!!

Love this!

My friend, Yvette, over at Aqua Seventy6, just created the cutest fabric button ring! This is just not something in my realm of creativity since fabric and I don't quite see eye to eye. Yvette & fabric, on the other hand, are fabulous friends!!! Take a peek at this adorable fabric ring!

Yvette also creates beautiful everything pouches, kindle cases and more! Check her out at Aqua Seventy6.

Creations on the move

Was approached by a friend (thanks, Teresa) and was asked to create some custom logo items for a local company to raffle off for an upcoming event. This event is Forbes Riley's Empowered Women’s Workouts for Charity and all proceeds are going to Erase Hate Tampa Bay.
I had a blast making a few different pendants and a keychain to help out the event. Here's a pic of some of the items...

Hope everyone likes them come Feb 29. Oh, and if you're in the Tampa area and would like to know more about it, check out the event post here.

LunchBots Duo Stainless Steel Snack Container

Tired of those plastic lunch/storage containers? These LunchBots containers look like the perfect alternative!!!

Eco-friendly LunchBots are lunch and snack containers made from the highest quality 18/8 food-grade stainless steel. Even the lids are stainless steel, so there is no plastic anywhere in their makeup. Can't wait to try these containers for both myself and the kiddos!

Punky Purple Pendants!

A friend contacted me looking for something special for her niece. After a few questions about her favorite color, if she's a "girlie girl", etc, I came up with a new design that I have fallen in love with!

Here's the finished pendant for "Jade".

I also decided to create some initial pendants using the same design & LOVE them too!

Hope the glitter, purple and bling wind up being well received. I certainly like them & think I'll make myself a "J" pendant to wear when I'm feeling in a purple mood!

Autism Awareness

April is Autism Awareness Month and I am donating the proceeds of my autism pendants to Lake Myrtle Elementary's autism unit.

I spoke with a mom of one of LMES' autism students the other day & she raved about what a difference LMES has made in the life of her daughter! The teachers at LMES are wonderful & after hearing from a parent whose child is receiving autism services there, decided that I would donate proceeds from these pendants to LMES.

Here's a photo of some of them.....

The pendant itself is $7 & if you need a necklace, it's $3 more. Help me support a wonderful school that is doing it's best to help their autistic students! Email me at oursweetwhimsy@verizon.net for more info!

Shopping Cart Coupon Organizer

I just LOVE anything that makes my shopping trip easier & this shopping cart coupon organizer does the trick! Have had mine for some time now & can't leave home without it!

VA Beach Quilter has the BEST coupon organizers! She has lovely fabrics & they certainly do the trick to keep me saving lots of money at the grocery store!

Take a peek at her Artfire shop. You'll be glad you did!

Love is in the Air

A collection from artists on Artfire. Love all the red! :)

Love is in the Air

Curated By: sweetwhimsy

ArtFire.com

Handmade Soap

Sterling Silver!

Have been a huge fan of sterling silver for some time & am slowly incorporating it into my work.  Am getting ready to jump a massive hurdle & begin some silver soldering so I can create pendants using easy to find sterling silver pendant bezels.  

Just ordered a couple of books & as soon as they arrive, I'll post my thoughts on the books.


Working with the sterling silver trays I already have, here are a few of my creations so far....

 Sterling silver pendants created using silhouettes cut by Keith Donaldson. 

 Sterling silver pendant using a photo Katie Alexander, of Organic Images, took of my son.

We'll see how my work changes as I learn more techniques using sterling silver.  Stay tuned to see what's in store! 

Customizable Wedding Pendant Collection

A new line of customizable wedding pendants is now an option for bridal parties and/or wedding guests!  The following photo is just a glimpse at some of the options that can be chosen.  Background colors can be customized as well as any wording on the pendants, and is included in the price!  All pendants are $10 each (which includes the necklace) and are created either under glass or on Scrabble game pieces. 

Since these pendants are all custom orders, you will need to contact me, Jan,  at oursweetwhimsy@verizon.net to place your order.  The pendants you will receive are handmade by me in my home studio and take up to a week to be completed and shipped.

Purrfect Alphabet Pendants

Am having a GREAT time creating new digital images for pendants!  The latest ones I've designed are for the "wild" side of us ladies.  These are domino and scrabble alphabet pendants with purple leopard print.  Of course, there's a touch of BLING to make them stand out in the crowd too!

Any letter can be created for either style.  Scrabble pendants are $7 & domino pendants are $9!  Visit www.oursweetwhimsy.com to order yours today!

A few new pendants!

This summer finds Sweet Whimsy busier creating than usual.  Am loving all of the time to get crafty & work on new designs.  Here's just a "taste" of a few new items we're offering.

These "Dance" pendants can be created in any color combination, so if you don't see something that catches your eye, just email Jan (oursweetwhimsy@verizon.net) & she can create a color scheme that's sure to appeal to your little dancer.  :) 

We also have heart charm bracelets, where you can choose the designs you want on your bracelet!  So stinkin' cute!!!!

 

There's so much more we're creating, so let us know what you're looking for & we'll create it just for YOU! 

Monstrous Possibilities

I've been a doodler all my life & have recently been "inspired" to get back to the drawing board.  Have begun creating cute monsters for pendants.  I'm LOVING the results so far and hope to add to the monsters I've created in the near future.  There are 2 monsters already on pendants; the one eyed flyer & imaginary guitar player.  

Here they are:

 Will post new "monsters" as they are created. 

It's my turn!

So often I'm using other artists' work in the pendants I create, but this time, I decided to use my own! 

Years ago, back in my teaching days, I took a painting class at Funky as a Monkey studio.  (Man, that place was great & I hated seeing it close!)  It was the first actual painting class I'd ever taken and I painted a canvas that is currently in my son's bedroom since it's ocean themed.  Here's part of the actual painting.

Decided to try out turning some of the fish into pendants & here's the result.

I'm really happy with the final product & hope that others will enjoy wearing my little fish.  :)

We've been FEATURED!

Jen & I are so excited to be featured in Laura Barbosa's blog!  http://laurabarbosa.wordpress.com/  Laura's featuring one artisan a month to spotlight how they are using her work in their creations.  Sweet Whimsy is the FIRST artisan to be featured!  So exciting!!! 

Here are some of the pendants we've created so far that feature Laura's work.

(We've actually created more than this, but just haven't gotten around to taking photos of all of them....yet.)  

Laura's paintings are everything from realistic to surreal to contemporary.  She's such a talented artist and we love that we can help share her work with the world through our pendants!

Creating time

Finished our last show of the spring season.  It's just way too hot here in Central Florida to do anymore outdoor shows until fall.  This will give us tons of time to create new pendants to stock up for our incredibly busy fall to come! 

Took some photos of our booth at yesterday's Shop Among the Flowers event.  The booth is almost to the point where we're happy with it.  Still waiting to get risers for displaying pendants, but Dad is still working on those.  

                       

 


We even had a little friend join us at the event!  He was the cutest, fuzziest caterpillar.  Couldn't resist taking pictures!

Silhouettes Galore

We've been busily creating silhouette pendants from Keith Donaldson's hand cut silhouette art. Just finished & shipped out 13 pendants! Whew! Here they all are grouped together before adding the necklaces. :)If you'd like to own your own silhouette pendant, visit www.icutyouout.com. Submit a profile picture of your child/children and let Keith know that you'd like a pendant made from the silhouette. He'll send everything to us & we'll create one for you!

So many pets...so much love!

We have had a very furry last couple of weeks. We did Barkfest at the LOL Rec Center, Get Rescued in Gulfport & Pet-a-Palooza at USF! One of those little furry critters at one of the events even schmoozed his way into my life! Wound up with a loveable mutt from FL Little Dog Rescue. His name is Sam & we are already in L-U-V with him at our abode! He's been waiting for a forever home for over 2 years & I think the timing was right & he's now found it!

I'm in the process of creating a Scrabble size charm & larger pendant for a necklace with Sam on it.


Took some pictures of a few of the beautiful dogs that stopped by our booth and wanted to share those with you also.
Jennifer & I are so crazy for animals, and we just adore making pendants out of their loveable "mugs". If you'd like us to create a custom photo pendant of the furry friends in your life, please contact us & we'll happily start working on them for you!
oursweetwhimsy@verizon.net