Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Karen Snyder and I've been a crafter for about as long as I can remember. I am a stay-at-home-Mama of two beautiful children with a husband who makes my dreams possible.

This blog is about all sorts of crafting. I am a paper-crafter from early days, a jewelry-maker with an unending obsession for chain maille. I make chain maille purses, many of which will be chronicled in this blog as their future owners await their completion. I love metalsmithing. I am an indifferent beader and don't get me anywhere near seed beads... they scatter, screaming to get away from me. I love to try new things, have a short attention span so if its a long-term project... I'm probably not doing it LOL.

If you have questions, ask. If you have tips, share. Same with suggestions - share! I want this to be a great forum for people to brainstorm and problem-solve with a good attitude. Crabby Apples need not respond, this is a feel-good kind of blog :)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

...And They Lived Happily Ever After!


You want to know how the fairy tale ends, don't you?  LOL!  Let's get right to it then.  The winner of the 1300 Facebook Fans earrings is comment #27 (excluding my comments) so our winner is Miss Kimm!  I have sent you an email from KSnyder169@aol.com with instructions on how to claim your prize.  Congratulations Miss Kimm and thank you for participating :)

Now for a name!  I'd like to thank every one of you who submitted a name for these earrings!  They were all wonderful!  (I'm going to ask you all for help naming pieces more often too!)  I had to choose just one though and after a lot of thought, I've decided to name these earrings "EnWraptured Maille"!  Kristen Natale will receive a pair of these earrings for the winning name submission.  Congratulations Kristen!

Thank you all so much for helping to make my business such a success and for sharing me with your friends!  May all of you receive blessings and joy this Holiday Season!

Friday, November 26, 2010

A 1300 Facebook Fans Fairytale


Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a young man named Chain Maille.  He was handsome, rugged and strong.  As he strolled along one day, he spotted a beautiful young woman.  Chain Maille was anything but shy, so he sat down beside her and struck up a conversation.  Chain Maille learned that the young woman's name was Wire Wrapping and he fell immediately in love with her strength and beauty.  Chain Maille courted Wire Wrapping, taking her to places like the museum and the theatre, and they were soon engaged.  Chain Maille wanted to do something special to show his love for Wire Wrapping and asked the Royal Jeweler (hey, it's my Fairy Tale... I can be a Royal Jeweler if I want!!!) to make a pair of earrings to show Wire Wrapping how he felt about her.  These are those earrings :)

The Royal Jeweler constructed these from pure sterling silver.  She chose to wire-wrap lovely components with 26 gauge wire and a few amethyst Swarovski crystals, then suspend them from sections of Byzantine.  The Royal Jeweler is very proud of them!

If you would like to own these Fairy Tale Earrings, simply leave a comment on this post with your name and email address.  While you are here commenting, perhaps you'd like to help the Royal Jeweler name this earring design?  If the name you think up is chosen, you will win a pair of earrings too!  This drawing will be open until Sunday evening, November 28 at 8 pm, at which time a winner will be chosen.