Leap Day Sales

Leap Day is special! It only comes around once every 4 years. The shops of the EAOC Team are celebrating with a Leap into Savings. These Specials are good for ONE DAY ONLY, so be sure to take advantage. Starting at 12:00AM EST on 2/29/08 and ending at 11:59PM EST the same day, the shops listed below will offer their Specials.

Mention code "EAOC Leap" in the Message to Seller to receive your discount and wait for an adjusted invoice. This is a great way to stock up on favorites and or buy gifts for upcoming holidays and birthdays.

mosaicsbyah - 10% Off trivets and small votives
ayanacreations - 20% Off all flowers (sale items not included)
theivorymagnolia - 29% Off all orders. Free roll-on perfume oil with orders of $29 or more (after discounts and excluding shipping)
lamarlynch - Buy 4 blank floral cards set, get any card free
jamilary - 15% off any order
origamicentral -20% off any order
callidora - $2.29 Shipping on any first item, $.29 for each additional item
raghousenternational - 20% Off all scarves
satindollco - $5.00 Off all items before shipping

These savings are so fantastic, they only come around once every 4 years.

Happy Leap Day from the Etsy Artists of Color Team

African Wisdom

Ananse Ntontan means "spider's web". It is the Adinkra symbol that represents wisdom, creativity and the complexities of life. Ananse, the spider, is a well-known character in African folktales. I personally do not like spiders, but I do appreciate their webs (from afar).

Since my goal in 2008 is to have more wisdom, I have been inspired to create jewelry with Adinkra symols on them. So this is my first addition to my African Wisdom Collection, a pair of Ananse's Web (ntontan) earrings made with yellow horn bone beads and antique brass web focal beads and antique brass findings. Measures approximately 1 1/2" in length from earwire.

History of Beaded Flowers and More

Recently Rosemary Kurtz submitted an article in EZine about bead flowers. The article includes the history of bead flowers, the 9/11 wreaths, the Swarovski project and much more. Click on the following link to view the article.
http://ezinearticle%20s.com/?expert=

To view Rosemary's work go to http://www.rosemarykurtz.com/

EAOC Feature

The Etsy Artists of Color snagged another treasury. :D My stephanotis were featured. Click on the image to view. Thanks!

Aaawww Moment

Okay this is an "Aaawww" moment. One of my customers bought a forest fire dahlia a while back for his wife and she loved it so much that he wanted to buy a sweetheart rose this time. So for Valentine's day he purchase one sweetheart rose and a dozen real roses. When he gave her the flowers, he planned to tell her the following: "I will love you until the last rose dies." I'm paraphrasing, but you get my point. One of the best things about my beaded flowers is that they never die. Now I don't know how she responded, but if that were my husband....he would have been a very happy man that night.

Featured Again

My work has been featured again. This time in the Etsy Treasury West. This is so exciting. My French beaded moss rose and ivy brooched was featured on February 11, 2008. Thanks for adding me ShineAndSparkle. Click on the following image to view feature.

My First Etsy Treasury

This is the first treasury that I have been able to grab, literally. I wanted to feature the art that is closest to my heart...beaded flowers. I picked flowers from various etsy artists to show off this lovely vintage art. So for your viewing pleasure, click on the following link

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=1594

Beaded Birthday Gifts

This year I plan on making a birth flower for each month, if I haven't already done so. These flowers will be on sale during their respective month, so check back often for undates.

January - Carnations & Snowdrop

February - Iris & Violets

March - Daffodils

April - Daisy & Sweet Pea

May - Lilies {{{My birth flower}}}

June - Roses

July - Larkspur & Water lily

August - Gladiola & Poppy

September - Aster & Morning Glory

October - Calendula, Cosmos

November - Chrysanthemum

December - Holly, Narcissus, Poinsettia

Cleon my Dæmon

I couldn't resist finding out which dæmon I would get, so now I'm sharing it with you.

Customer Appreciation

"The bouquet and boutonnière are beautiful! You did an amazing job! Thank you so much!!!!"
- Customer, Conneticut

"Perfect!"
- Customer, California

"Beautiful. I love them!"
- Customer, New Jersey

The DIVA Behind the Beads

I've decided to talk more about me this year so that my customers and potential customers can get to know me better, besides the fact that this is my blog and I can write about what I want to. So....Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Crystal and I'm the DIVA behind Ayana Creations. Ayana means "beautiful flower" in Ethiopian and so I sculpt beautiful flower creations. :-D My gift is making beaded flowers using the vintage art of French beading. Just to clarify...I do not use any vintage supplies, I use a vintage technique.

I also make jewelry and accessories. I began making beaded flowers when I was trying to decide on a stress relief outlet during my internship as a domestic violence/sexual assault counselor in addition to graduate studies, family and other responsibilities. I am a self-taught artist and I’m passionate about making flowers come to life with my seed beads. :D

I am also the wife of an amazing husband and mother to an energetic son.

I am currently a full-time social work graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University and I'll be graduating in May...on my birthday. Isn't that exciting?! Well it is for me.

In the little spare time that I do have, I write poetry. Check out my poetry blog The Seeds of Life. One day I plan on being a slam poet...of course that will only happen when I have more free time. *sigh*

So in a nutshell . . . that's me, the Diva behind the beads.