8 more days...

...can you believe there's only 8 days left until Christmas?? I am soooo behind this year, haven't even started shopping, decorating, cooking... AAGGHH!

Are you behind too? If you are, I thought maybe I could help a little. I'm upgrading all shipping in my little shop (here) from now until Dec. 20th to Priority Mail - no extra charge!! If you're in the United States, the post office says you'll receive your package in time for Christmas if sent by Dec. 20th. I have everything in my shop ready to go... so I'll ship same day! (or next day if it's after the post office closes)...

12 more days!

just 12 more days of free shipping in my Etsy shop (here).....

just mention that you read it on my blog and I'll refund your shipping costs!! YAY!

introducing.... healing vials

Introducing... 'healing vials' .... Fran Henry wrote about them in the Cleveland Plain Dealer - and since then I've had a lot of inquiries... (haven't seen the article? read it here ... sorry for the shameless plug :)

So what are they?

Tiny little gemstones captured in a tiny glass vial.
The vial in just over 1" long (including the cap) and 1/4" wide. It dangles from an 18" thin, sterling silver ball chain.

Each one is chosen for its specific healing properties and will come in a gift box - wrapped up in a ribbon - with a little card explaining the stone.

Moss Agate.... (mottled green)... is considered the most powerful of the agates - helps balance emotional energy. It helps the wearer to let go of anger and bitterness so the emotions are balanced. It also enhances concentration, persistence and success..strengthens in times of stress

The Howlite (deep blue): decreases an overly critical state of mind, selfishness, pain and rudeness. It increases subtlety and tact. It helps bones and teeth and calcium levels and leg cramps. It heightens creativity.
Aventurine... a very cheery orange tone... grounds emotionally & allows for thought that is free of fear, troubled emotions, indecisiveness and anxiety. It is a stone for leaders, protectors and counselors. .. adventurine not only enhances creativity, it grants the ability to see possibilities.... this is the stone for writers, artists, musicians or anyone in the creative field.

Rose Quartz (pink): is known as the love stone. When worn, the wearer feels a sense of self-worth. It gives inner peace and helps in all matters pertaining to love in all its forms. Opens the heart to love.

I'll have lots more stones coming very soon.... and stay tuned for 'prayer vials'!

oh... I almost forgot! You can find them in my little online shop... monaco.etsy.com

here it is...........

ok... my daughter got a paper....

I couldn't find one anywhere!'

extra, extra... read all about it!

YAY! Fran Henry -wonderfully nice woman and reporter for the Plain Dealer - wrote articles about Etsy and guess what ? drumroll please.....

She wrote about four local Etsy artists:

hiannie

lazyTcrochet

stonz

.............and me!!! monaco

YAY! I'll take a picture of the page later today... how exciting!

only 45 days~!

that's right folks! Only 45 days til Christmas!

to help you all with your Christmas shopping, I'm offering FREE SHIPPING to anyone, anywhere, that purchases from my Etsy shop... from now until December 10th.

That's 30 days of free shipping!

- I'm only offering this to people who read my blog -so..... and this is important - you must let me know when you order, that you want FREE SHIPPING - and that you read it on my blog.

(when you go to checkout, there is a place where you can write in "notes to seller" just put it in there - nothing fancy - just say free shipping per blog -or something)

so now go ahead and shop!! HERE

drumroll please......

wow! a total of 374 entries for my earring give-away on Designs by Vanessa's blog!!! What an overwhelming response! THANK YOU!

Since I had soooo many people respond, I decided to give away both pairs of earrings.!!

The winner is Jinxy & Me from Minnesota, and she chose the ruby tuesday earrings.

The runner up and winner of the may flower earrings is Jen from Nova Scotia!

Congratulations to both the winners! I hope you love them as much as I love making them!

today's the last day...

to enter to win a pair of my earrings! Enter on Designs by Vannessa blogspot here.

You can win your choice of my 'ruby tuesday' earrings or 'may flowers'.

ruby tuesday

may flowersgo ahead and enter! It's easy!

Earring Giveaway!!!!

I'm giving away a pair of earrings to one lucky winner who will get to choose between the "ruby tuesday" or "may flower" earrings.

Win them just in time for gift giving or as a special gift for yourself!! Either way, they will come in a cotton-filled gift box, all tied up with a ribbon.

Vanessa - of Designs by Vanessa - is hosting this giveaway!

To enter, go to her blog
Designs by Vanessa

and follow her instructions.

The winner will be picked at random from all the entries received on October 9th...

Good luck!!!
and a great big THANKS to Vanessa for hosting this for me!!!!
YAY !

City Expressions 2008

Cleveland Public Art and Cleveland area Scion Dealerships held the 7th annual City Xpressions Street Art Festival this past weekend in Market Square Park - Lorain Avenue at West 25th.
It was also the last weekend for Open Air in Market Square - Cleveland's only urban outdoor market. If you've never gone to it - you should make it point to go next year! It's every Saturday in the summer and there's always a wonderful variety of live music, performers, artists, and such a diverse group of people. I've met some wonderful people (and wonderful dogs!) here this summer.

Here's a glimpe at the aerosol artists at work this weekend! This is Denis DeVerteuil - working on "Bob" - the purple guy. Love this one!
It's a family affair! Artist John Forgus has help from his (really sweet) kids, Kyle, Paige and Bryson.
Ryan & Sam - probably the youngest of the artists had a fabulously colorful display!

It turned out to be a great day with perfect weather.. unlike last year when it stormed halfway through. Make it a point to stop down next year! It's always big fun!

oh.. and here's a shot of two of the friends I've made this summer.... Deby (Deby's Designs)

and John - who's a blast and just wonderfully helpful.

I've been "Squidoo'd"

YAY! Not sure quite yet what "Squidoo" even is, but I know I'm excited to be on it!
here's the link....http://www.squidoo.com/monacodesigns

Long time no see!

My poor blog has been so neglected! I was without a computer for over two weeks and boy have I been feeling the withdrawal! Finally, I'm back... I can't tell you how good it feels to have a computer again. I'm connected with the world once again! YAY!
So much has been happening with the holidays just around the corner. This Saturday I'll be at a small art show at a fabulous place in Lakewood called Bela Dubby's - it's a coffee shop with BEER! and art! Doesn't get any better than that!
The show will be from 10 a.m. til 7 p.m. - stop in and say hi! Here's the info...
Bela Dubby
13321 Madison Ave.
Lakewood, OH 44107
216-221-4479

Monaco Designs in a New Gallery

Hi all! Just thought I'd let you know that kimberlymonacodesigns can now be found at another gallery in Cleveland! I'm excited! Artefino Gallery (originally created by Hector Vega and other local artists) is now carrying my work. Here's the link! Artefino Art Gallery Check it out!

The Front Page of ETSY!!!

YAY!! One of my necklaces (the light blue one called 'icicle') made the front page of Etsy.com !!!

For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, it's this wonderful place to buy and sell all things handmade. I've been selling there since June and have always wanted for one of my pieces to be on the front page - and today it was!!! YAY again! But, as luck would have it, I missed it! Thank goodness for FABULOUS people like Carol Emma (she has two shops on Etsy - check them out!!)

http://carolemma.etsy.com/ where she sells her gorgeous jewelry, and

http://highwoodstudio.etsy.com/ where she sells her inspirational cards (they're beautiful! I have some framed in my apartment!)

Ok.. without further ado... my appearance on the front page!

and now for the close-up!

Cleveland ROCKS some more!

I had a request from a wonderful fellow Etsian to create keyrings with my Cleveland Rocks in addition to the necklaces I've been posting! I LOVE when I get feedback like this - because, in fact, I hadn't thought of making keyrings with them before. This is fabulous! Now the Cleveland rocks really get a chance to get around!!

I'm featured on a Blog on Cleveland.com!!!

Wow! I woke up today and got a message that I'm featured on a blog that's also on the Cleveland.com website!! Very exciting!

Here's the listing.... http://blog.cleveland.com/bloominglily/

Bloominglily - the author of the blog - is also a local Cleveland artist and has FABULOUS work! Her etsy shop can be found here. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=102255

This is one of her beautiful necklaces found on Etsy.