Etsy Artist Feature: Wildflower Hill

One of my favorite things about Twitter is meeting local people. I find it fun to manage to “bump into” someone from the Rochester, NY area in the big, big online world. To run across a local Etsy seller is quite rare in my own experience. Being a firm believer in shopping local even if the shop is online, I wanted to let more people know about this great shop, run by Cindy Macca, called Wildflower Hill. This shop is chock full of gorgeous and very unique beads.

Cindy chose her shop name by taking inspiration from her Bloomfield, NY surroundings where she lives in a log cabin among a big hill of wildflowers that bloom in spring, summer, and fall. She is a wife and mother and has two dogs, five cats, and a guinea pig to care for. Running Wildflower Hill takes up much of her time and is her full time job. She openly admits that her house “looks like a bead factory exploded in it”. Her father and a brother are gemologists and appraisers of fine gems. One might call her bead store just part of the family business of working with precious and semi-precious stones. Her shop offers “a wide variety of stone, shell, fresh water pearls, coral, and glass beads along with copper, sterling, stone and ceramic pendants”.


What struck me most when I first visited her shop were her absolutely gorgeous photographs of her beads. Honestly, are these great pictures or what?! Plus the beads themselves are quite distinctive. I haven’t seen such a unique variety in many small business bead shops online, and trust me when I say I’ve spent a lot of time in online bead shops. The “Matched Set of Beads” section of her shop is genius. She does all the work for you by selecting great bead combinations and coordinating pendants.

I highly encourage you to stop by Wildflower Hill and to take some time to look around. You won’t want to leave empty handed!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade wildflowerhill.etsy.com

Etsy Artist Feature: Beadwork by Amanda Preske

I met a marvelous artist at the Community Nursery School of Irondequoit Craft Show today by the name of Amanda Preske. She makes the most striking, intricate beaded jewelry.

In addition to being an avid jeweler, she is a chemistry student at Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work reminds me of complex molecular structures, almost like she is weaving atoms together. I find it interesting how artists’ lives play out in their work and always enjoy when the two marry so well, as in Amanda’s instance. This piece especially makes me think of long, crystalline chains of atoms.


Her work has been awarded a silver key in a scholastic art competition in the jewelry division. She is a member of the Etsy BeadWeavers Team.

A free pair of earrings accompanies every purchase from her Etsy shop. How nice! Specify what colors you want when you check out. If you find something in her shop you like but want a different color, just ask. She’s open to custom orders.

Amanda offers jewelry parties in your home with some really great deals. Hostesses receive 20% off purchases at the party and an additional 5% off for every $100 in sales. Everyone who attends receives a free gift. I’m sure you and your friends will enjoy her work. More information is available here.

Her website has a page of some of her creations that are not yet offered in her shop but are incredibly nice. They are worth a look-see!

Visit her site for a 20% off coupon good at a craft show or mention this offer in a message if you purchase an item from Etsy.

Amanda, I wish you much joy and success in all your endeavors! I’m looking forward to seeing you again at the craft show at Irondequoit High School on November 29th!

Images used with permission from the artist, Amanda Preske.

Felted Bead Necklaces

Remember the felt beads Mom and I made? We created many pretty things with them!


Mom designed and made the Green and Black necklace.

Mom did most of the designing. I did some too, but I must say that I think her stuff is better. One of hers has little glass seed beads sewn onto the blue felt beads, and it’s so attractive and elegant.




We made this one together.

The necklace with the purple beads was the hardest to make. Figuring out how to get the filigree parts in between the beads to stay put was a challenge. They are sewed onto the felt beads with purple thread. The rest is strung on tiger tail. Mom did the sewing and I did the holding so they wouldn’t get away from her. It was a two-person job.

One of the necklaces I made is my favorite. The tiger tail is woven in and out of the beads in a fancy way. It has a delicate look about it that I find lovely. The other beads are glass. I wanted to do something different, something decidedly non-felt-bead looking.

This one is sold!

Please see my Flickr page for more pictures. There are a lot more things to see!

Some of these will be posted to my Etsy shop soon. Mom and I are still discussing pricing and shipping costs. I’ll let you know when we roll them out. If you are interested in them now I can set something up just for you.

Never Felt Better

My mom’s birthday was a few weeks ago. She mentioned wanting to make felt beads. I found this great kit from starathena at Etsy and could not pass it up. She loved it! The two of us have spent many days crafting at her house. I adore that we do that together. She taught me so much growing up, and I enjoy still learning from her.

For her birthday we had an old-fashioned sleep over! Girls only! Mom, me, my sister, my two nieces… we had a ball! Mom and I stayed up until 2 am making felt beads from wool roving. We rolled beads until our palms hurt! We started with a bit of wool in different colors and added hot water and dish soap to the mix. Then we rolled it between our hands gently and increased the pressure as the ball got firmer. We made big beads, little beads, red, blue, green, and multi-colored beads. She strung some together with beads from my stash and made a really nice red, black, and silver necklace.



She bought some wool yarn that week and we knitted and crocheted that together to make a felted bag. It’s fun to shrink wool in the washer on purpose! I got some yarn, too, and have been knitting away at a soon-to-be zippered pouch. I’m going to ditch the pattern that calls for kitting on 4 double pointed needles because I cannot figure out how to do that. I knit it too tight anyway. A big rectangle folded and sewn up on the sides will do just fine. Different colored flowers go on the front made from knitted squares that are felted. The flowers are cut out and sewn on with little beads for accents. I don’t really need any more new projects right now but this is too fun!



Mom is stitching the felt bag together.