Ultimate Blog Party '08! Get Yer ParTAY on!

Oooh, it's time for another Ultimate Blog Party!! Hosted by none other than the lovely ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom.

I participated last year and had a lot of fun and met some cool people as well. So I figured I might as well join in this year's fun! Are you coming? Check it out! There are a ton of prizes to be given away. Some of my favorites are:

37 — Moby Wrap
117 — $25 Gift Certificate
137 — Go BPA Free Sippy Sampler Kit
84 — Baby Sling
60 — $25 Gift Certificate
140 — $20 Gift Certificate
114 — $20 gift certificate to Lush
91 — Burt’s Bees Naturally Ageless skin care line
59 — $25 Cash
79 — Skin Care Kit
100 — 3 books
101 — Devotional Bible for women
36 — Marketing for Entrepreneurs

As you can see I like gift certificates. *giggle* But if I win anything, I'd be thrilled!

If you're new to my blog, welcome! Maybe I should tell you a little bit about me. I'm just a weird little redheaded Texan girl that likes to laugh. I have a strange sense of humor, thanks to my wonderful husband of 7 years. He can be an odd one, my hubby, but he's a good, strong, intelligent man that I would just be totally lost without. We do not yet have children, but we just started the adoption process and will hopefully be parents sometime this century! We do have two little furbabies that bring us constant laughter...

Trixie, our silly and crazy Shih-tzu mix:


And Molly, our shy but totally lovable Mini Schnauzer mix:


I am a housewife who works plays at home. My wonderful momma and I own a business, called 2 Belles & a Bead. We are jewelry designers/amateur metalsmiths. We absolutely LOVE what we do. I mean, we get to pound, cut, saw, and melt metal and even play with gemstones. What could BE more fun than that?! If you love jewelry or know someone who does, I urge you to check us out. Our prices are good and our pieces are quality. We even have a newsletter! We send it out via email about once a month and being on that list makes you eligible for secret sales and also contests. Sometimes I blog about new pieces and give my readers sneak peaks. Sometimes these pieces are snatched up before I even get to put them on the site! What can I say? My readers have been good to me. LOL :o) I might put together a little prize for this par-tay. What do you say? (Ok, nooo more rhyming for me!)

Other interests of mine are reading and music and food. I write songs and play a little guitar. I've shared some of my lyrics on here in the past. I love talking about food and photographing it, but I don't like cooking it and a lot of times, I don't like eating it! I wish I could get all necessary calories in pill form. That would make my life so much easier. :o)

I love God and He sure has been taking me on an interesting journey the past few years. It's been a tough one, but I think He's dragging leading me through.

I get myself into some kooky situations and you, my dear readers, get the pleasure of reading about it! I have no shame. I blog about embarrassing things, *and* I'm known to make people lose control of bodily functions because apparently I make them laugh a lot. So, read at your own risk things such as when I locked myself in the bathroom... naked and how I called a grooming device a sick freak.

So anyway, that's me! All 5 ft, 80 lbs of me. Welcome to my insanity, errrr, blog. *grin* Pull up a chair, grab a chocolate chip muffin (I JUST made them yesterday - and they.are.GOOOOOD. Maybe I'll be nice and share the recipe this week!) and have yourself a good old time!

Ultimate Blog Party - Jewelry Contest #2!

"Let's Play Favorites"


For our last jewelry contest of the Ultimate Blog Party your assignment is to think of your favorite piece of jewelry that has an interesting background or story to it. It can be funny, it can be sickingly sweet... but whatever it is, make it unique. It's even better if you can share a photo! (Post on your blog, or post a link to it from someplace like www.photobucket.com) Leave a comment with your story (and hopefully picture) to enter! :o)

There will be one winner of this contest. If you win, you will receive a beautiful pair of brand new earrings lovingly made by Momma Belle. They are designed with golden shadow swarovski crystals and swarovski pearls, and they are set on 14k GF chain and earwires. They are about 2 1/2" long.







Time to share!


And of course, if you haven't done so already, don't forget to head on over to 5MinutesforMom to visit the host of this most awesome blog party and participate in the fun yourself!

Ultimate Blog Party - Jewelry Contest #1

Due to all the interest in the jewelry contest, I have decided to go with that. I'll be doing a couple of contests over the course of the next 6 days. Here is the first one.

"Name That Photo"

Since jewelry designing takes a bit of creativity, I thought I'd open the floor to your creative juices. My little dog, Trixie, the oldest of our two furbabies, was feeling a little left out of the party, so she decided to donate a couple caption-worthy photos of herself. Your task is to come up with the funniest caption you can that beats the ones my family already came up with. Guess for one, or guess for them both, but please put yourself on the honor system and refrain from reading everyone else's guesses until you have made your own. You get one guess per photo (unless yours ends up being a duplicate, then I'll grant you one more guess so you can have a unique one) and each photo will have a winner.

The winners will win 1 sterling silver ring with genuine blue/green turquoise stone, made to the best of my ability to the size you specify. These are custom made rings, made to order, and I'm new to ring making so please understand that it may take me a little while to make it and get it out to you. How long it takes will largely depend on the size you want and how many orders I have in queue. :o)





Ok, so now that you've seen the goods... here are the photos. Have fun! :o)



Funny dog photo #1:



"I'll get you for this!!"



Funny dog photo #2:



"Is it Friday yet?"


And of course, if you haven't done so already, don't forget to head on over to 5MinutesforMom to visit the host of this most awesome blog party and participate in the fun yourself!

What? Did someone say PARTY?

That's right, the ultimate blog party has officially begun! Are you coming??

To kick off the celebration, I'd like to welcome to you my blog and tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Crystal, and I'm married to my wonderful husband of 6 years. We have two cute little dogs, and hope to grow our family sometime soon. We live in Texas, and I'm a work at home wife. My mom and I started up a little gig selling artisan jewelry, lovingly designed by us. :o) My mom was in a car accident a few years ago, and has a lot of free time on her hands, and making jewelry has become a way for her to relax and enjoy life. Me? I just like working from home and hope to be able to continue doing it after I have children one of these days.

Our business is named Two Belles & a Bead and we're hoping to get our official website off the ground really soon. Until then, you're more than welcome to click here and check out our photo gallery! We have a great inventory right now, and we also do custom pieces. You tell us what you're looking for, and chances are pretty good that we can make it for you and perhaps even beat our competitors' prices. :o)

Other than making jewelry and collecting beads, I enjoy watching movies with my husband, writing music, singing, and tinkering with my blog. I have a billion and one hobbies and am always looking for a new one! I've recently gotten interested in photography and photo editing and hope to someday learn website and graphic design. Who knows if I'll get there. ;o)

In honor of good times and clean fun, I'm thinking of holding a contest here on my blog, for some free jewelry made one of the Two Belles. If there's enough interest, I'll do it for sure. So if you'd like to get a chance to win some free jewelry, leave a comment here and tell me! :o)

It's party time... all week long. So grab a yummy cupcake or two:



put on your dancing shoes, and tell me a little bit about you! :o)

Don't forget to visit 5 Minutes for Mom, the host of the week long party, and join in the fun. There are a lot of great people to visit, and over 90 prizes up for grabs. Enjoy and party on!