Unexpected Twists

Today, I have a few unexpected "twists" to share with you...hope you enjoy. :)

1. You thought there was going to be ONE giveaway winner.

TWIST: There are going to be TWO!

I've been totally blown away by the number of entries for this contest!  So far, I have 42 comments which translate into 52 separate entries from 19 different ladies...and there are still 2 more days to enter!  Due to the overwhelming response, I decided to give away two necklaces instead of just one.  Good luck!

{If you haven't entered yet, click here.}

2. My friend Erin had an adorable little boy named Collin on May 22, 2010.

TWIST: She and her hubby got a surprise blessing, another baby boy, Cameron, who arrived on May 17, 2011!

Congratulations, Erin and Stephen!

Cameron weighs an impressive 9 lbs 2 oz, and is 21" long.

He and Collin are less than a year apart, which means Erin has her work cut out for her, but she is one amazing mama and I know their home will just have double the love and double the joy now!

Erin is a crafty mama herself; you may remember her as my inspiration for the super-cute handprint sheep we made back at Easter time.  She also happens to have entered my giveaway, leaving this comment.

"I like you lots in person and on facebook!
I am a follower (well, will be in one second...)
I would loooove 4 eggs for my sweet little family of four!(The boys birthstone is green, so maybe two green eggs, and then a blue and a red? who knows...)
I shall post this on my facebook page now, and spread the news!
PS. Love you. Does this give me extra points ;) "

Yes, sweet Erin, yes it does!  In honor of Cameron's birthday, I've made you a special present to represent your new family of 4.  I took a little creative liscense with the colors; I haven't been able to find the right size red beads, so I did two green ones for the boys and a blue and a pink for Stephen and you.  Hope that's ok!

I hope you like it!  It wasn't an entirely selfless gesture, mind you, I'm hoping this gives you a good reason to invite me over to meet the new little cutie after you guys get settled at home. :)

3. This is a different kind of "twist," but my latest project has been "twisted wire rings."

I got this inspiration from my new bloggy friend Kelly over at The Girl in the Blue Glasses.  A few weeks ago, she was doing a giveaway herself, featuring the art of her former student Megan, who makes {among other things} these really cool looking wire rings. You can find her on Etsy here.

If you know me at all, you'll know that of course I felt the need to play around and see if I could do something similar-ish myself.  My first attempt was with my dark purple wire.

Not as good as Megan's, but still fun, right?  This morning I tried again with some turquoise wire:

I do like it, but I still like Megan's better.  And it turned out just a little too big.  I haven't been able to find anything to wrap the wire around that's the same size as my finger, which makes sizing a bit tricky.  It also means that thus far I can't figure out how in the world to make them for anyone else unless I can see them in person and wrap or measure their finger...

Next, I tried a silver one but it looked too boring, so I added a few seed beads into the mix.  I'm liking it.

Aaaannnnnd, finally....

3. You thought the bird's nest was a really cute necklace.

TWIST: It's equally cute, if not cuter, as earrings and a ring!

The other day, I experimented with making mini nests and turning them into earrings...mostly because the blue beads I bought were too small...lol.

Then, this afternoon, when I put the seed beads in that silver twisted ring, it occurred to me that I could probably turn something similar into the nest.  I pulled out my rapidly decreasing wire supply and went to work.  Here's the result; it's my favorite of all the rings by far!

Well, that's about all the twists I can handle for one day. ;)  Little Crafter is happily napping, so it's time to log on to fox.com and watch me some Glee!  Hope you all have a great afternoon!