Taking a bit of a break! But before I do-

I cannot wait to tell you all about my unplanned trip up to Castle Hill this weekend, and about the cute little groundhogs I saw here in Manhattan. It was quite magical to say the least.
I have never in my life been to Fort Tryon park, or the Cloisters before, but a quick spur of the moment car rental changed all of that.
We also saw Indiana Jones... Really a funny one.

There are deadlines and parties this week for me to attend to and plan so for now- I am officially "OFF" for two days.

Please enjoy the posts below all about Jamie Noel and Pat Winter. Click on their names to visit them.
Also be sure to visit the other blogs listed below and on my sidebar for added inspiration!

I will resume mailing swaps and prizes after the 7th.

A lot of fun art is happening!

Being happy and creative!

Amber Dawn

~*JAMIE NOEL!*~ Have you seen her OUTSTANDING art to wear?

May I please share with you the wondrous works of the skilled and talented ~*Jamie Noel*~

YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!

~*Please visit her shop and see what she is up to!*~
Click on her name above or below.


WHAT A TREAT!



ABOUT THE ARTIST-
I enjoy creating unusual and unique items that have a vintage theme.
My inspiration comes from things I love…old toys and games, vintage circus and boardwalks, old books, vintage penny arcade machines, okay… basically anything old!
Things that fascinated me as a child seem to find their way into my work.
I really enjoy creating my 'interactive' pieces.
It has become a passion that consumes most of my waking hours - how to make the new design I dreamed up actually work.
Most of these pieces are created through much trial and error, (more error!), and usually I make about 4 prototypes before I have a design that I am happy with.
I want my pieces to be whimsical, fun and creative yet well designed and sturdy to bring years of enjoyment.
I hope you enjoy wearing (and playing with) my pieces as much as I love creating them!

About me:
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and now live in the California foothills of "gold country". (Between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.)
I am married to a very logical and analytical husband, who deserves sainthood for putting up with my years of 'creative' housekeeping! (lots of laughter and fun, not a lot of organization or clean laundry!)
My biggest joy in life is our two teenage daughters.
I am extremely proud of what genuinely wonderful people they are.
They are also both hilarious and unique characters and they keep me laughing 24 hours a day. They are my biggest inspiration.
(Above text- from her Etsy profile)










She made the above piece as a special order.

























Let her know that you saw her work on my blog!
I am such a fan of Jamie Noel.

Charms charms charms!

"Crazy Quilt" Artist ~*Pat Winter*~ (click her name to visit her blog)

Designed this prototype of a 1x1 micro crazy quilt, encased within soldered glass.

The picture shows the pre solder stage.

Visit her blog to see her progress and read about her process.

Ah, to be chosen...

*She says with a grin*

Marva chose me as one of her three to tag.
Marva's Blog- PurplePaintMuse
The rules are: link back to the person's blog who tagged you.
List on your blog these rules and list 3 unimportant things about yourself, then list 3 more bloggers who are tagged to do the same, so here goes:

OK 3 things about me that are unimportant.
(somehow I find everything that I do to be important... But here are just some facts about me and my week)

1. I helped my sister get ready for her prom all day Monday.
We watched Stardust on DVD while her hair dried and we ate lunch.
I designed accessories for her during the few hours before she needed to leave, did alterations with a needle and thread, curled and styled her hair and gave her some good advice on how to treat others.
If you have ever helped a young teenage girl get ready for a prom or important dance, you can relate to how exciting and stressful that can be all at the same time!
The end result was wonderful.
She not only looked fabulous and elegant, she walked with grace and confidence!
What a knockout!

2. My real name IS Amber Dawn (I am often asked if it is)

3. I am 5' 9 & 3/4" tall

Okay, now to tag 3 more bloggers...

3rdEyeMuse Michelle, cool ideas and fun stuff to read about.

Catskill Paper Patti Gibbons Cool cards and whimsical Victorian stuff.

Joseph in India An Indian man who likes to write about his world.

~*A NEW PAGE ON ART-E-ZINE!*~

Just a few moments ago, I got an email from ~*Gillian Allen*~, letting me know that

she designed a new page, featuring a pin swap that I hosted.

Come take a look!

~*CLICK ME*~

~*And the WINNERS ARE-*~

I LOVE picking winners!!!
I do feel bad for those who did not win this time, but I am going to post another drawing very soon!!!
To document this drawing- I video taped it- the whole thing!

CLICK HERE TO *WATCH* THE DRAWING ON YOUTUBE!
Nothing fancy, just my hand, a cup, and some papers with names on them!

OK!!!
So do you want to know the winners in the order they were chosen???
I decided to make it a drawing for 6 charms because I made some Friday that I felt pretty good about----
~*(((Read with the raspy voice that movies are usually narrated with in a trailer)))*~
IN THE ORDER THE NAMES WERE CHOSEN- BY THE RANDOMNESS OF FOLDED PAPER ---IN A CUP ----BEING PULLED OUT ---THEN FOLDED BACK UP AND TOSSED BACK IN AFTER EACH WAS OPENED---

~*BILL Charlebois!!!*~ (A fellow zine maker)

~*MONICA Magness*~ (A girl gone thread wild)

~*LORI- WHO I DO NOT YET KNOW!*~ (Left the comment that starts with "Cheers" at 1:15 on 6/22/08)

~*Again! MONICA Magness*~ (I think she is still going wild!)

~*VAL Foster*~ Who I do not yet know!*~

And the last name that was pulled-
The last person who's name was extracted from the cup o'names---
~*TERESA*~ (A very entertaining and hilarious woman!)

Thank you to all who left a comment for playing this round of Amber likes to share!
YAY!

And to those who I do not yet know- Val, and Lori- I am requesting that you leave me a comment with your email address so that I can contact you for your mailing info!

~*PLAY TIME!*~ CHARMS GIVE AWAY!

I have *5*, small and pretty handmade by me, charms which I would like to send to 5 people whom I will randomly choose by the 23rd.
All anyone need do is leave a comment!
Be sure to check back ON the 23rd to see if your name has been chosen!
FUN FUN FUN!
I just hosted 6 charm swaps this month and these pretties are from the stash which I had left over.
Each person who leaves a comment between now and the 22nd, has a chance to win all of them.
Each one is different.
Once a name is pulled, it will be put back in the bowl, and may be chosen again!
Happy Times!!!

Leave just ONE comment on this post to be entered!
(Feel free to leave a fun comment! I enjoy reading!)
Please note that I moderate the comments, so if it does not post right away, you may have to wait a day or two before you see it.
All are welcome to enter.

~*Being Me!*~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/inventivesouls/sets/72157613815394597/
Check it out!

I am SO happy for ~*Ruth Rae and Kelly Snelling!*~

I am SO happy!
The CHARM book that Kelly and Ruth have written and compiled has been printed AND... Kelly posted PICTURES OF THE BOOK- on her blog!
CHECK IT OUT!
It looks FABULOUS!
MANY congratulations to all of you who are in the book!

Amber

23 have signed up so far for our THINK PINK charms exchange

I am happy to report that the word is spreading fast!
The charm exchange and fundraiser has 23 artists and designers signed up so far.
Please pass the word on. Feel free to copy the button and post it along with the blog link to your blog.

Details can be found by clicking on the "Think Pink Charms Exchange" button (picture) on my sidebar, and in a few posts below from this one.

There is no sign up deadline, however, it would be great to have all of the charms by the first week of August.

Thank you to those who are already spreading the word!
*Smiles*
:o)

Amber

Last call for the black and whites!

I am going to wait until the end of this week before I start to swap out all of the creative charms that have arrived.
You have until the end of the week to get them to me!

Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to be on time, include all of the proper info and follow the directions!
It is a pretty cool swap!
VERY interesting, creative and unique charms have flown in from all over the globe!
(*Hi Melanie!*)
:o)

Amber Dawn

~*Fun Times!*~

Here I am with Terri Ventura at, "The Store Across The Street"- from Tinsel Trading.
Terri invited me to come down to meet with her face to face.
I blogged about her back in April, after I saw her work at ABC Carpet in downtown Manhattan.
This photo was taken by Lisa Kettell of "The Faerie Zine" fame. This is the link to her blog so you can see the GORGEOUS class she held. I met Pamela Huntington, and the ladies of Art-Is-You were there too.
It was fun meeting everyone!
The picture here shows a pin that I made, which Terri added to her masthead... CLICK the picture to see her Flickr photostream!

Karen, one of my students from the art store I used to teach at, was also attending the class. She can be seen on Lisa's blog.
She is the cute one, wearing all black.
After we met Terri and the rest of the enchanting ladies, we browsed through Tinsel Trading . I'd never been there before!- I thought that I might have been, back in the 80s sometime, but no!

Although it was a rainy day, Cisco and I had a LOT of FUN!

We walked through Bryant park and enjoyed the trees and birds.
There were soft pretzels on the ground which were being torn apart and devoured by pigeons and sparrows. It was quite amusing to see the parent sparrows feeding the babies. They hopped back and forth, dodging the beaks of the larger birds.

By the way, should you be in the vicinity and need a restroom break- the bathroom there at the park is amazing for a public outdoor bathroom! CLASSY!

We walked up to Madison avenue for a small bite to eat.
Then we caught a taxi cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which I have not been to for 14 years or so. (I was busy!)
What fun!
I would like to share that a couple of my own favorites to see at the museum are-
"Broken Eggs" and "Study of a Woman" by, Jean Baptiste Greuze.
The icons- wood and paint trimmed with gold- one of which- Saint Catherine of Alexandria by, Pietro Lorenzetti- I love looking at the impressions that were hammered into the wood for the ornamentation.
I cannot tell you about all of my favorites as there are just too many to list.
The Met is a WONDERFUL place to spend a few days walking around.
You cannot enjoy it all in just one day.

Distant cousins of mine own gallery space in the museum and I wanted to see how it looked after all of these years.
The American wing was being renovated, so we only got to see one of the galleries they own, which houses a panoramic view- a painting by John Vanderlyn called The Palace and Gardens of Versailles

I SO enjoyed looking at the JEWELS of France, Asia and Europe.
WOW!!! Diamonds and color galore!
It was so lovely, and a bit mind blowing to see how much detail many of the pieces contained.
May was a fabulous month!
Thank you to everyone who helped make it so!

~*PiNk*~

If you would like to advertise the THINK PINK charms exchange on your blog, feel free to copy the picture below, and link it or add the link to the Makes a Wish blog link below.

The basic info for the swap-
It may be a 12 for 10
Create 12 wonderful, artistic, loving PINK and perhaps sparkly charms.
Send them to me by the 1st week in August. Then you will get 10 charms from other artists and designers in return in September.
THINK PINK charms exchange.










http://makesawish.blogspot.com/

The extra two charms will be used to create bracelets which will be used as a prize for the THE PINK ARTIST PROJECT=to raise awareness & donations for breast cancer research