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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Lifestyle Change!

Whew!  I haven't been able to spend as much time on the computer, since I was laid off from my past job.  I have another job with a local dance company...thank goodness! BUT, I can't play on the computer!
I have had some successful jewelry sales at a local market over the summer and am getting inventory ready for the "St. Andrews Waterfront Market" in Panama City, FL in the fall. Exciting!
http://www.historicstandrews.com/Home/st--andrews-waterfront-partnership/st-andrews-festivals-and-events

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk

I joined the walk  for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (American Cancer Society) The walk is Sat.,Oct 9th near Pier Park in Panama City Beach, Fl  

 http://makingstrides.acsevents.org

Friday, June 25, 2010

http://www.thedowntowngroup.com/farmersmarket/




Come by the Poplar Head Farmers Market this Saturday between 8 and 12 and stock up on fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, freshly ground wheat, fresh cut flowers and so much more.
Be sure to look for Bella Rosa Cottage. She's a new artisan at the market and will be selling her gorgeous, hand crafted, one of a kind, jeweler
y.
Susan Culpepper will be demonstrating basket weaving at the entrance to the Poplar Head Park. The museum will be helping the children arrange cut out pictures of fruit, vegetables and plants to collage self portraits. If you need a break from the sun, step inside the book mobile and check out some books for your summer reading enjoyment!There's a lot going on at the Market this Saturday, don't miss it!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Poplar Head Farmer Market

Bella Rosa Cottage will be showing her jewelry at the Poplar Head Farmers Market in downtown Dothan, AL on Saturday, June 26th from 8:00 am - Noon. Be sure to come visit the market.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Shells, Shells & Shells


This is perfect for summer with the black lip shell pendant and turquoise shells beaded into the necklace with green sea glass and turquoise oval beads. Length is 20" and it connects with a toggle clasp.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Slimming Tricks: Lose Weight Instantly with Jewelry

You can lose weight instantly by dressing to flatter your figure. Different styles and cuts of clothing can make you look pounds slimmer. How you wear your jewelry, and what jewelry you wear, can make a big difference. Here’s how you can lose weight in the blink of an eye by choosing jewelry that makes you look slimmer.

Highlight Your Best Features

Others will naturally pay more attention to those parts of your body that you choose to adorn with jewelry, so wear jewelry in a way that highlights your most attractive assets. If you have a pear shaped figure, long necklaces, chunky earrings, bangles and bracelets will attract attention away from your wide hips and thighs. If you’re an apple shaped woman, wear short chains, bracelets and earrings to draw attention away from your midsection, and up to your bustline, neck and face. Anklets also flatter the apple shaped figure, since many apple shaped women have attractive legs and dainty ankles.

Wear Big Earrings

Large, flashy earrings, hoop earrings and dangly earrings have a slimming effect and they can also downplay big ears, because others will be inclined to pay more attention to the earrings you’re wearing than to the ears you’re wearing them on. Hoop and dangly earrings frame your face and add definition to your cheekbones. They also attract attention upward, toward your face and neck, and away from your midsection, hips, thighs or other problem areas.

Wear Bracelets

If you have thick wrists, wear thick, chunky bracelets to disguise them. Thick, heavy bracelets will compliment your body shape. If you have thin, delicate wrists, however (as many larger women do), avoid chunky bracelets that could look too large when balanced against your fine wristbones.

Wear Long Chains

If you’d like to make your neck look longer, wear long chain necklaces. Long necklaces make your neck look slimmer and longer by drawing the gaze downward along the length of the throat. However, be careful when combining long, dangly earrings with long necklaces, as the effect can be overwhelming. Wear shorter, flashy earrings with your long chain, to attract some attention to your face and keep people from staring at your belly.

Wear Cocktail Rings

Wear cocktail rings if you want to downplay the appearance of short, stubby, thick fingers. In fact, cocktail rings are ideally suited to the larger woman. If you’d like to draw attention away from your fingers and hands, wear a stylish, tasteful cocktail ring. Just make sure the ring you choose isn’t so big that it overwhelms your hand.

Let One Piece Do All the Talking

Wearing the right jewelry in the right places can make you look pounds thinner, but wearing too much jewelry, or too many flashy pieces at once, makes you look tacky. Wear one flashy piece, such as a stunning pendant, and keep the other pieces simple and complimentary.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

"Beautiful Serenity" - Sea Oats at Panama City Beach, Florida

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Yatta Abba Days - Beautiful Dogwood (Native American)


Bella Rosa Cottage will be participating in Yatta Abba Days in Abbeville, Alabama, Saturday, May 8, 2010. Hours 10:00AM - 4:00 PM

Sunday, April 25, 2010

http://www.etsy.com/listing/45534797/aqua-waters-necklace

























I have a new listing! I just love this necklace made with beautiful "water" colors. It has lampwork, foil lined glass beads, sea glass, aqua chips, amber crystal and a silver hook clasp. Necklace length is 22".

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Etsy Treasury - Pink and Chocolate


A necklace from my Bella Rosa Cottage collection was featured in an Etsy Treasury.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/44116492/wire-wrapped-blue-quartz

This beautiful blue quartz is a 24mm teardrop...huge and so pretty! I used brass wire to wrap it and the crystal bicones with.

I am getting my supplies together to make feather earrings! I have:
• Black and white grizzly rooster feathers
• Lime, aqua, yellow and hot pink saddle coque feathers - ordered
• Peacock
• Black goose biots - ordered

When I get all my feathers, I'm going to give it a try. I thought the feathers might draw attention to my booth at a festival on May 1st, Dothan, AL. My daughter told me they are the rage. Kate, Dancing With the Stars, was wearing feather earrings last week. Siobhan, American Idol, had feathers in her hair last night. Simon thought they were leaves! What does Simon know? In looking at pictures of feather earrings, I see they look a bit like hair extensions.


Tuesday, April 13, 2010











This is a new listing! It's Green Australian Jade Chips, dark green Adventurine and seed beads made as a 3 stranded necklace joining onto a tiny silver branch and down to one chain with a lobster clasp. I made a matching 3 stranded bracelet - not pictured or listed yet.
Link with details:

Sunday, April 11, 2010

I am getting excited about a jewelry booth I will have on May 1st! It is downtown Dothan, Alabama in front of the Civic Center on the lawn. I am working hard to make lots of wonderful pieces to show and SELL!!!
I am getting lots of display ideas from the internet, utilizing things I already have. I am using 2 black frames (owned by me) with black screen handware cloth to hand earrings onto. I am making larger boards (lightweight material) covered in beautiful fabric to hang the necklaces onto using pins. The fabric is a royal blue lame' with black organza over it - 2 layers which shows a pretty sheen through the black setting off the jewelry very nicely. Black velvet is sooooo expensive by the yard and I needed at least 5 yards so I hoping to get a nice look without the velvet.
I plan to have the jewelry mounted on the frames and on the boards before setting up my display the day of the show making set up quick and easy.
Suggestions are appreciated, if you have comments!!!
This is a chalcedony long briolette pendant beaded with solt aqua glass chips, pearls & amazonite (some faceted some smooth). The clasp is an s shape clasp. To see more views click the link:

This is a matching bracelet. Link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44520842

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Regal Blue Necklace


I found these beautiful regal dark blue beads recently. They have the richness of velvet! I have beaded them with amethyst chips, Alexandrite czech glass rondelles and amethyst glass round beads. The catch is a lovely silver magnetic bead.

Delicate Sisters





I  love the delicacy of these two pieces!  I have friends who are twins.  They look alike, but not identical and are easy to tell apart from one another. I think of these two pieces like my twin friends.  So I need to call them June and Joan.

Link for silver necklace:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43173170

Link for copper necklace:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43174969

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Miss Elegance is finished! I have added the 54 x 23mm teardrop focal bead pendant. I just love it for spring. It would make a perfect Mothers Day gift!

Sunday, March 28, 2010














I made this one last night using amethyst chips, turquoise, and some various glass beads and pearls. I found the exquisite bail at Michael's and have ordered a turquoise pendant the same size and shape as the one pictured left. I am not using that pendant! It's just an example of how it will look with the turquoise. I can't wait to receive it from Foxy Findings in Tucson, Arizona. I had to share this one because it turned out soooooo gorgeous!!
The colors are very vibrant and I attemtped to capture this is the photo It's a beauty.

Jewelry Photography


Photographing my jewelry to put on my Etsy site has proven to be a challenge for me! It's been an ongoing learning process. I am constantly taking the pictures over & over, as I learn an improved technique. My website jewelry pics are improving and looking better. I am not a photographer, but am getting better at it! It's a journey, not a destination!!!

I recently purchased 90 watt daylight bulbs the size of floodlights for my lighting. Next, to get the camera white balance setting correct for the new bulbs...I think I got it!!

The shiny crystal pieces are a challenge because of the reflection, even though I am not using a flash. The pic above of the black, pearls and crystals has been my biggest challenge. I have another poorer quality pic of it on an earlier post. This is the new improved version!!

I look at my lovely pieces of jewelry and think "It's gorgeous!!! I've just got to share the beauty of these pieces through better & improved photography."

I am having my first live jewelry showing on May 1st in Dothan, AL from 10 - 1 pm at Fieldcrest
Apartments Clubhouse. I'm going back to the internet to order more beautiful stones, beads and findings so I will have lots of beautiful choices of jewelry for my customers.

New Listing on BellaRosaCottage.Etsy.com

Antique Copper and Yellow Jade Necklace
Diachronic Glass Globe Pendant


If you like polka dots I think you would love the fuscia, black and white necklace and earrings above. It's very sweet!


Saturday, March 27, 2010

New Necklace Listing! Subtle Statement



I found this new style antique silver chain yesterday. It's so pretty! I had the beautiful round feldspar focal stone which worked perfectly with the gray veins running through it. I added the little charms effects on one side and the hook and eye clasp on the other side.

Friday, March 26, 2010



Posted by Picasa

New Items to Show!

"Shades of the Sea" has a most beautiful diachronic round glass bead with a sterling silver rondelle.
This necklace is a beauty and far more beautiful than the photography captures. It has dark blue faceted glass beads, silver beads with a pretty antique silver focal.l

I find this piece very interesting with the different stones, textures and colors. It feels very casual, like it would complement everything. I've used turquoise wood beads, double bicone glass beads, amazonite, chocolate pearls, orangy oval stones, hammered gold oval ring, and a turquoise with brown veins teardrop focal stone and connects with a gold tone toggle clasp.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Coral and Shell Necklace





I ordered the beautiful red coral from Hong Kong! It took about a month to arrive, but worth the wait. I added stacks of turquoise shell, silver spacer beads and a turquoise wood bead in the center with the silver filigree pendant as a focal. Necklace length is 18" and has a graceful hook and eye catch. Check out the matching earrings!
I live near the Gulf Coast of the North Florida Panhandle and am crazy about shells, coral and the beach!

Black and Creamy Pearl Necklace

I couldn't wait to make something with these big beautiful black faceted beads. They are 18mm!! Huge!! And the sterling silver spacer beads worked perfectly. It closes with a decorative magnetic catch and it is 18" long. It has matching earrings.
I am frustrated with my photography of this one. The crystal beads don't show up...it's very beautiful in person!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Seafoam Pearl Silver Bracelet


I just loved how this beautiful pearl bracelet turned out. It's perfect for evening with the glitter of the rhinestones in the spacer bars. It's so elegant and has a soft feminine allure. I used a magnetic catch for ease to close.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A few more new pieces:








I just loved the pretty silver flower pendant. The beads are green ocean glass, turquoise ovals, turquoise wood, and green fire agate. I used silver wire to wire the beads together and the clasp is a sterling silver toggle.

New Jewelry Posted!




I found these wonderful huge (18mm) mosiac turquoise beads at an Etsy shop called "Stoned". This necklace is 18" of gorgeous beads. It has 2 large sterling silver beads, turquoise, peacock pearls, fire polished czech glass aquamarine faceted beads. The clasp is a pretty magnetic rose! It would make a lovely Mother's Day gift!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Sea Glass Bracelet by BellaRosaCottage on Etsy


Sea Glass Bracelet by BellaRosaCottage on Etsy

I love the big brass hoop earrings! You will feel fun and fancy free when you wear them!
I bought the round brass hoops with the intention of using one hoop per necklace as a part of a focal piece. But, once I looked closely at them all I could see was a cool pair of earrings to wear with jeans or shorts at the beach. Oh, Panama City Beach is calling my name. It's a gorgeous day today!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Purple Beaded Silver Filigree Cross Necklace





















My friend requested that I make a necklace for her to give as a "thank you" gift to a young woman in her church. I found this beautiful antique silver cross and added amethyst chips and fire polished glass beads using silver spacers and a hook and eye type clasp. The necklace length is 20". I will deliver it to her tonight when we meet with our high school graduating class girlfriends monthly get together. I'm not telling what year we graduated from Dothan High!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Southwestern Watch with Turquoise rondelle beads

Etsy Shops

I discovered shops for handcrafted and vintage items at ETSY.com a few months ago. They intrigued me with the variety of all of the adorable items avaibable. You can even shop by location.
Then, I started making jewelry just because my daughter's earrings were hurting her ears after having her 2nd baby. She needed a higher quality earwire, like sterling silver. Well, I discovered a new addiction, making jewelry. It's so enjoyable and offers a creative outlet for me.
Check out my shop at: www.bellarosacottage.etsy.com