GIVEAWAY!: Burgundy Pendant

I´m happily hosting my second GIVEAWAY!
Here is what you can win: this beautiful pendant!



The pendant is 0.9 inches long (24 mm) and it´s made with Swarovski crystal and golden chain. This color is very trendy and perfect for any ocassion!

Who can enter the giveaway?
Everyone from everywhere! All of you are invited to participate and win this lovely pendant.

How can you enter the giveaway?
Just leave a comment on this post and you will automatically enter the giveaway. It´s that simple!
Please, leave an e-mail address to contact the winner. Or if you have a shop at Etsy or Art Fire, just leave the link of your shop here.
Note: if for some reason you don´t feel comfortable leaving your e-mail in public, just send me an e-mail with the subject "giveaway" after commenting here. You will find an e-mail buttom at the right column of the blog.

When is the limit date?
Next Thursday, 5th March.

When will the winner be announced ?
On 6th March.

Thanks so much for participating and good luck! :)

My Chessboard Ring Was on Front Page!

This ring made Front Page at Etsy yesterday!

I´m very happy about it, it´s a great honor to be a part of the gorgeous Treasury which was chosen.

Here you can see the Front Page.

The curator was Jealousydesigns.

Thank you so much!

A Classic: French Manicure

One of the most elegant and classy ways to do your nails is this: French manicure.

HERE I found a very easy to follow guide to do it yourself:


"1)Using a cotton ball soaked in nail polish remover, wipe off any old nail polish prior to painting nails. Wash hands and soak in warm water for a few moments.

2)With an orangewood stick, gently push back the cuticles so they are all even with each other once the water has softened your skin.

3)With nail clippers, beauty scissors or a nail file, shape your nails evenly.

4)With a steady hand, carefully paint only the tip of each nail with a white hue. A second coat may be desirable, depending on the thickness and opaqueness of the polish. Allow polish to dry between coats.

5)Using a slightly transparent pink or nude color, paint the entire nail once the tips have dried. A second coat may be necessary. Allow nails to dry thoroughly.

6)Once all the coats have dried, apply a clear topcoat to protect your new French manicure. To lengthen the manicure's lifespan, make an effort to paint a clear coat on each night. Be sure it has ample time to dry completely. "

This is one of my favorite ways to do it and I think the result is very pretty. I hope you will find this guide useful.

Thanks for reading!

And The Oscar Goes To...

Yesterday, Hollywood celebrated its most famous tribute to Cinema. A vibrant evening, fueled by very impressive Broadway-styled perfomances.

Marvelous pieces of jewelry, stunning dresses and a lot of glamour. That´s one if the most characteristic parts of the Oscars.

The winners this year were:


Best Motion Picture of the Year
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008):

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER
Sean Penn for Milk

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
WINNER
Kate Winslet for The Reader

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
WINNER
Heath Ledger for The Dark

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
WINNER
Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Achievement in Directing
WINNER
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

More winners HERE.

And the Winner of my Giveaway is...

CHRISY!!

Congratulations!!

I have used random.org to decide the winner, as you can see in the video and pictures (sorry for the quality of the video).

Next week, there will be another giveaway, stay tuned!

Thank you very much everyone for participating!!

The Treasury I Wanted To Make

Yesterday, I tried to curate a treasury in Etsy but I coulnd´t.
I was so sad that I thought "Ok, I´ll blog it". So I took a screenshot of my poster sketch and here it is, my "treasury".

The lovely artists featured are:

www.iragrant.etsy.com
www.PetitPlat.etsy.com
www.miamiamia.etsy.com
www.emmapardos.etsy.com
www.Kreativlink.etsy.com
www.Sigmosaics.etsy.com
www.swiedebie.etsy.com
www.karuski.etsy.com
www.glasfaden.etsy.com
www.ExoticFlavour.etsy.com
www.lacravatteduchien.etsy.com
www.XbyLeinaNeima.etsy.com
www.FebystanDesigns.etsy.com
www.TheHouseOfMouse.etsy.com


I hope you like my picks and let´s see if I´m luckier the next time.

Thanks for reading!

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I´m doing a Giveaway! More info HERE. TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY.

How To Make a Button For Your Website

In my old blog and some other websites I have used this simple way to make a button to link any other site.

Here are these very easy steps to do it:

1) Choose the pic you want to be seen. For this example I chose a screenshot of my Etsy site.

2) With an editing program, resize the picture (maybe 150x150 pixels is ok, but it depends on your taste and how big you like it).

3) Upload it to a server like photobucket.com or picasa.com

4) Copy this format:

5) Where you see a red box, put the website you want to link and in the green box, put the link to your picture in photobucket, picasa, etc.

6) Now, type this code in the html template you want!. In blogger, add a new element and choose "html".

7) Now you have a button!

You can use this steps to create a button for everything!
I hope this will be useful and let me know if you have any question about this mini-tutorial.

Thanks for reading!


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I´m doing a Giveaway! More info HERE.

Tagged!

I´ve been tagged by two of my lovely blogger friends: Karen Faulkner and MeaCulpaBodyandBath. I´m sorry I delayed this post so much, I had one hundred things in my mind and I completely forgot.

Here are six random things about me:

1) I´m very shy in person.

2) I´m very picky with perfumes. One of my favorites during years was “Noa” of Cacharel.

3) I´ve read all the books of “The Lord of the Rings”, watched the movies and I have this ring:

4) I have a calendar with cats in the wall of my studio. I love cats and dogs.

5) My favorite colors are blue and purple, that´s why I have so many designs in those tones.

6) I love singing. I studied music and played piano when I was a child.


The rules: link to the person who tagged you > post the rules on your blog > write six random things about yourself > tag six people at the end of your post and link to them > let each person know they've been tagged.

I tagg these friends:

Rachel

Sugarelli

Crystal

Lost Mitten

Jennifer

Xtine

Thanks for reading!

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I´m doing a Giveaway! More info HERE.

New Designs

These are the designs I added this past week to my stores.

The first one is the pendant Nolina, made with sterling silver and a big Swarovski crystal pendant.







This is the bracelet Zoe, which is similar to a very special custom order I made months ago. Very fresh and in pink, one of my favorite colors.

This is the pendant Spiga. I took new pictures of it and relisted it. It´s made with Swarovski crystal drops and sterling silver. One of my customers says this design is a "piece of art".

I´ve also started listing brooches and this is the first one: the Strawberry brooch.

And last but not least, I took new pictures of these earrings and relisted them. These Hearts of Lavender are made with Swarovski crystal hearts and sterling silver.

All these are available in my two stores:

http://www.leelabijou.etsy.com/

http://www.leelabijou.artfire.com/

Thanks for reading!

I´m doing a Giveaway! More info HERE.

Breathtaking Photography

One of my biggest passions is photography. I love the wonderful results of a well taken photo.

I want to share with you the amazing work of ara133photography, who achieves a breathtaking result with her photography.

Visit her beautiful shop at Etsy and you will find more treasures like the ones shown in this post: http://www.ara133photography.etsy.com/

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On the other hand, my first giveaway has been featured on ShesDaily.com!

More info about my giveaway HERE.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Valentine´s Day!

Happy V Day! Enjoy it and have fun!


And don´t forget to participate of my first giveaway! More info HERE. You can win this Red Leaf pendant of Murano crystal:

Have a nice weekend!

GIVEAWAY: Red Leaf Pendant

I´m happily hosting my first GIVEAWAY and this is the gorgeous pendant you can win!

This beautiful pendant is made with Murano crystal and the size is 2.1 inches (55 mm). This colorful piece is in the company of a red velvet choker.

Who can enter the giveaway?

Everyone from everywhere! All of you are invited to participate and win this lovely pendant.

How can you enter the giveaway?

Just leave a comment on this post and you will automatically enter the giveaway. It´s that simple!

Please, leave an e-mail address to contact the winner. Or if you have a shop at Etsy or Art Fire, just leave the link of your shop here.

Note: if for some reason you don´t feel comfortable leaving your e-mail in public, just send me an e-mail with the subject "giveaway" after commenting here. You will find an e-mail buttom at the right column of the blog.

When is the limit date?

Next Friday, 20th February.

When will the winner be announced ?

On 21st February.

Thanks so much for participating and good luck! :)

Chocolate Cheese Cake Recipe

Some time ago I found this delicious recipe. I have made it twice and it has been a great success.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, oil, and 1 1/4 sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, then stir in the zucchini. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan.

Make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch; beat into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Beat in 1 egg, milk and vanilla. Pour over batter in pan, distributing evenly. Pour remaining batter over filing.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

I hope you like it!

For more recipes go HERE.

2009 Oscars: Youtube mini-game

Today I found this very funny game about the Oscars 2009 in Youtube.

To play, you have to spot the differences between the pictures. There are 32 levels and it is trully a challenge sometimes.

Just click in the difference to pass the next level.

Let me know how far did you come!

Enjoy it :)

My Latests Designs

These have been the designs I have been working this past week.



This is the Sahara Ring. A very sparkly design in a trendy green color. It is made with two Swarovski crystals cabochons and sterlin silver.

The Delicate Blue Chessboard Ring is made with Swarovski crystal cabochon and sterlin silver. This design was sold and now is available now again.

These elegant earrings are also new. They are made with Swarovski hearts and sterling silver.

The Violet Moon Ring is the last addition of the past week. Is made with Swarovski crystal and sterlin silver.

All these are available in mine two shops:

http://www.leelabijou.etsy.com/
http://www.leelabijou.artfire.com/

Also, if you are interested in another colors, just contact me. I make custom designs!

Thanks for reading!