Swarovski De-Art Pendant Giveaway!

Yay, it's time for this month's SWAROVSKI Crystal giveaway! Phew, I almost missed posting this in June!

WOW!! This is a fabulous crystal! It is called the "De-Art Pendant" in the color, Montana, and a nice 24mm's in size! It's coming from Artbeads.com, so the link above will give you all the details from their catalog!

I'm thinking it would look great on a chain all by itself with a little wire wrapping at the top, but I'd love to hear your ideas too! Ideas aren't necessary to win, but it definitely makes it more fun! :)

Please comment on this post by Monday, 7/4/11, and I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, 7/5/11.

As the World Beads!

Wouldn't it be cool if there were an internet site where beaders from all over the world could gather to share their passion for the absolute most wonderful beads and beading projects in real time?

Kind of like walking through the door at a recreational center...sharing the excitement of working with great

beads and sharing ideas for different techniques!

Here are a couple of my favorites that I would be sure to bring with me!! :)

The cognac CZ and the orange CZ drop!

If you have a fave or two, let me know and I'll post them here as well.

Time to Design!

Yay! I'm back home and so ready for vacation! I have lots to share with you about my Beads, Baubles and Jewels television taping experience today!

For now, I've been giving some thought about a piece of jewelry I had made for myself a while back and gave away. Every time I see the pieces to make another one, I don't seem to have the time to do it!

Now I have the rest of the week to hang out with my husband and dog to leisurely play! I am truly grateful for that! :)

I'm contemplating making this one tomorrow since I have wanted my own for a while. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Monday Sparkle!

It's a perfect day for some special swarovski sparkle, so I wanted to share this beautiful grouping of crystals with you!

I hope your week has gotten off to a GREAT start!

Wouldn't these beads be great on some white beading cord or hemp cord??? Yummy!

This Week's Project: Ye Olde Stand-by's

Since I haven't started working on my vacation celebration piece, I wanted to share a couple of old stand-by's.

These are pieces of jewelry that I wore and wore and wore!

Not only that, I LOVED them both dearly and felt happier when I had them on!

Somehow time passes, things change and we bring in new things.

I honestly don't think we recognize these things when they are happening!

Must be what people mean when they say, "time heals all wounds" I think what that means is that over time, memories fade into the distance...

I hope you like these just a little even though they are old news. :)

Have a GREAT new week everyone!!

Bead Blogger Saturday!

It's Bead Blogger Saturday, YAY! Wait till you see all the goodies in Andrew Thornton's virtual yard sale!! (See the first link below)

Here's a sneak peek! The BEST part is, there is also a giveaway valued at over $200. Pop over to his site to check out the details! Good luck!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew hosts a week-long Virtual Yard Sale! The week is filled with Ebay sales, new products added to the Shop, lots of giveaways, and some major deals!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Andrew Thornton, a wonderful person and a member of our group, is having a "Virtual Yard Sale" as he calls it . Check it out on Jean's blog and then go have FUN!

Resin Crafts!
Resin Crafts has a great tutorial showing you how to create a pendant with a spoon.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi's new ring features a rock garden!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie opens a weeked bead store at her local artist market and has lots of pictures of her booth to share.

Art Bead Scene
Looking for some creative jewelry displays? So is ABS Editor Heather Powers. Come check out what she's found.

About.com Jewelry Making
Looking to make some easy metalsmithing jewelry? Take a look at these new jewelry videos.

Beading Arts
Free-form peyote stitch and wire work...what could be more fun than combining the two?!

Featured Designer: Cherie Ranfranz

Happy Friday! :) I'm very excited to share this week's featured designer with you!

Cherie Ranfranz, of "Happy Skull", shares in her Etsy profile that she has "fallen in love with lampworking!"

She also shared the story behind her shop name...

"Welcome to my shop! I'm Cherie Ranfranz and I live in lovely NW Wisconsin. My studio is located in my home that I share with my husband, Golden Retriever and two cats. I hope you enjoy my beads as much as I enjoy creating them! The name "Happy skull" just came to me right after I made the mosaic which is now my avatar!

After reading some articles on branding I maybe should have chose my name and a picture of myself. Hopefully the name will make people curious and not creeped out. :) I like to make pretty things and hope that others will like them too."

Shown here are a couple of my favorites from the "Happy Skull" Etsy site. Her Summer Citrus and Spicy lampwork beads are so cool!

Thanks so much for letting me share your work here tonight Cherie!

Bracelet Request

Today a coworker mentioned this bracelet I made last fall. She

admired it anytime she saw me wearing it. I need to get it back out tonight so I can put it on her desk when she least expects it.

I do enjoy giving pieces of jewelry that I made for myself if and when people I know admire something that much.

I hope that doesn't seem strange to get a "used" piece of jewelry, but I so enjoy it passing things along! :)

I'd love to hear your stories of sharing jewelry pieces with admirers.

THANK YOU!

I love you guys!

THANK YOU so much for all of your support this week!

It really does mean a lot to me!

I wish I could make all of you thank you bracelets using some of these great charms!!

Hopefully sharing them with you here today will express how I am feeling! You guys are the BEST!!

Celebratory Beads!

What cheerful little beads! These are the tiniest drops I have ever seen and the colors are so perfectly balloon-like! Don't these remind you of walking into a party?

So, the question is, how can you use these in a jewelry piece without losing that celebratory flair?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. I'm guessing these are probably 3 or 4 mm's. The drops are perfectly rounded and even seem to have a rubbery looking texture!

I'm going to be working on a new jewelry project next week while I am on vacation (after the PBS show taping), but I haven't pin-pointed yet what that is going to look like.

Have you ever experienced many good things coming to you all at the same after hoping and believing for what sometimes seems like forever? I am so grateful to be celebrating not only a week's vacation and fabulous new media experience, but also a new job. After 20 years in the same division, I'll be moving into a department that I have only dreamed of from afar. I owe it to wonderful people believing in me and the ability to believe in myself.

AND, every new experience deserves a new piece of celebratory jewelry, don't you think?

If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them! :)

Hand Painted Originals

Wow! You know I LOVE merging jewelry making with arts and crafts.

I happened to be perusing blogs and jewelry sites this evening when I came across these fabulous hand painted pieces.

The artist is Moni of "Moni Originals". My favorite part of her story is her "eureka moment"... Here is an excerpt from her website:

"I have been painting these charms (thousands of them, now) since early summer of 2002. The idea actually came to me while on a morning walk with a friend. I was frustrated in trying to find charms my customers wanted and dealing with gouging by distributors. While airing these concerns to my friend, we passed a car parked along the side of the road. The "Eureka Moment", if you want to call it that, was when I said, "paint sticks to cars. Cars are metal. Why can't I paint right on the charms?"

Moni paints buildings, bridges, landscapes and flowers and states that "All Moni Originals® Dangle Charms are painted on .925 silver. The designs are painted in layers between layers of a durable, commercial-grade resin with UV protection. Most designs contain ultra-fine glitter, adding extra sparkle."

If you have a chance to stop by, here's Moni's story. I was feeling a kindred spirit connection when I noticed each piece has an option for "glitter" or "no glitter". LOVE IT! Thanks Moni!

This Week's Project: Getting Ready for TV!

I have been keeping this to myself, but I'm about to explode with excitement over it so it must be time to share!...

I am so full of gratitude to have been asked to be a guest on the PBS television show, "Beads, Baubles and Jewels!", YAY!

For the first moment I was nervous and then I thought, YES, I am so excited to share my ideas with everyone!

I will be heading up to Cleveland, Ohio for the taping in about a week or so which means I have been wrapping up loose ends in preparation for this experience.

I was asked to demonstrate a specific project from my book, A Bead in Time. For those of you who have the book and know the projects, it's the "Florida Palms" macrame project.

I was surprised this was the request at first, but after a couple minutes of thinking about it, it completely made sense. It is a project very near and dear to my heart, it's a very unique project and has the potential for a variety of new ideas you could incorporate into your designs!

Today's project is one of the "alternate" variations. THIS was so exciting to create and I have been loving on it for the last two weeks. I hope you like it too! :)

Peace, Love and Bead Blogger Saturday!

Wow! Our bead blogging pals have been busy this week! If you have a chance to peruse these blog posts you will find free designs, tutorials, a $200 giveaway and MORE!

Today's photo is courtesy of Art Bead Scene...beautifully sunny and summery!

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene dishes up some lovely sunshine - come get some!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Cyndi Lavin, multi media artist and beader extraordinaire, has added a new chapter to her e-book! Please read my review of it! Her book is now 5 chapters long and is filled with great ideas and beauty -- irresistible! Plus, as you may know,the first chapter continues to be a FREE download! Hooray!

About.com Jewelry Making
Get in the mood for summer jewelry fun with two turtle jewelry tutorials from Tammy.

Resin Crafts!
Resing crafts has a special $200 give-a-way ending June 21!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi is experimenting with Apoxie Sculpt!

Beading Arts
Cyndi's favorite wire guru, Paul Bishop, shares a wonderful tutorial with Cyndi's readers!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Want a "post-Bead&Button Show" stash of jewelry-making goodies? Enter to win this week's Thursday Giveaway!

Beads & Books
Have you ever wondered how much traffic websites such as Etsy or ArtFire get? Michelle shares a free online tool that gives you quick website statistics.

The Bead Dreamer
Ever wonder if the Knew Concepts red jeweler's saw frame is really better? Charlene shares her take on it.

Featured Designer: Anna Maria Yoakum

This fabulous ankle bracelet exudes a great SUMMER vibe!

I was checking out Anna Maria's blog and when I saw these ankle bracelets wished that I had one right now!

Her blog post is entitled, "How to show your ankle", and features a couple of sweet ankle bracelets made with delicas!

I know you need to have good vision and dexterity to weave seed beads! I haven't done it in a while and now wonder if I still can.

Here are the details about the sweet blue ankle bracelet:

I beaded this from #11 Delica seed beads in Cobalt blue and Gold adding a picot trim in #15 cobalt blue Charlotte beads. Wire heart and extender chain are also handcrafted by me and links are embellished with light cobalt blue fire polished Czech glass 3 mm beads. Measures 9.5 to 10 inches depending upon which link is used for the 14k gold filled spring clasp. Price $16 (includes shipping and handling.)

Wow, what a great deal! Make sure to check out her etsy site in you are interested in these sweet items.

Thanks so much Anna Maria, for letting me share your work here tonight and spread a little summertime cheer with everyone!

Lampwork Diva Treasures

Here's the big picture of all the wonderful treasures I received from Cindy Gimbrone this week!

I had so much fun sharing them with you individually so we could take our time ooh-ing and ahh-ing over them.

In this photo you can really see the details of what Cindy calls the fairy house and I have become fond of calling the "gnome homes".

I can just see a village of gnomes working around their little mushroomy homes.

How fun!

Now it's time to start creating!

THANKS CINDY! :)

"Everyone Needs an Ally"

Cindy Gimbrone's fabulous word beads have made my day! When I received them earlier in the week, I photographed them, but hadn't had a chance to study them until tonight.

I popped over to Cindy's website to get some insight on them and this is the description I found:

"Everyone needs an ally, someone who supports and loves you no matter what. These beads express that sentiment and have a well loved feel to them, just like that special person.

Handmade of a custom mix lavendar polymer clay. Each bead is hand formed and hand stamped then cured. Each bead is given a well worn patina and a final coat of clear satin. Beads measure between 12-13mm with a 2-3mm beadhole. These beads are matched pairs perfect for earrings or a set of necklaces, one for you and one for your ally!"

What a neat idea to use these two beads to make a necklace for yourself and one for your real life ally! Nice!

The Universe in Your Heart

The amazing Lampwork Diva has truly outdone herself in this

clay heart. I could feel the love radiating from this piece when I read Cindy Gimbrone's description of it:

"...This heart design is an outgrowth of the Red Lotus Pods. Made with the same color clay and with the same shabby chic look, the heart too has a special meaning connected with it. I've named this the Heart Mandala based on a general meaning of the word "mandala:"

a mandala is geometric designs (usually circular) symbolizing the universe.

The heart represents metaphorically our emotions, our feelings. Pairing the symbol of the heart with a mandala means to me the universe is in each one of us, it is in our hearts.

So, I give you the universe in this heart.

Details:

The heart is hand carved from polymer clay by me. It measures 31mm by 32mm and is 9mm thick. It has been antiqued and had a final matte finish added to seal it. The loop is 20 gauge Vintaj wire."

Thank you Cindy! It's so amazing when you can feel the love an artist puts into their work. This is a great example of that!

Surprise Package!

Wow, I received the greatest surprise package today from the LAMPWORK DIVA!! Cindy Gimbrone is such a sweetheart!

I never expected to receive such a fabulous package of handmade treasures, THANK YOU Cindy!

After taking this all in, I was feeling SO in awe of Cindy's artwork that I couldn't come up with any words and felt my mouth hanging open! I was very taken by all the work involved, the personality of each piece, Cindy's generosity and even the sweet/earthy packaging with business card and ribbon adornments.

Once my head came back down to earth, I thought it would be fun to show you a glimpse of the treasures and share them with you a piece at a time which is my favorite thing to do! I love a treasure family, but remembering to share the unique qualities of each piece is important to me too!

So, wowee, wow wow (yes, I watched a lot of cartoons as a child)!.... This fabulous glass piece appears to be lit up from the inside! I promise there is not an LED light inside, it is just a happy piece of art glass!

I had to keep the piece that was intertwined in it in this photo because it just makes me SMILE!!

Thank you so much Cindy!

This Week's Project: EARRINGS!

This week's project ended up being 3 pairs of earrings!

I made one pair, the amber dangles, when I should have been in the car on the way to work, yikes!

For whatever reason, I had this feeling that I absolutely could not wear any pair of earrings I already had and needed some large and dangly sparkles to embellish myself!

Luckily, you can pretty much whip up earrings in a few minutes if you have your tools handy!

I made the blue pair last night using the Artbeads.com vintage flowers in preparation for a graduation party today since a close friend is the Mom. And, who are we kidding, these celebrations are mostly for the parents! :)

The third pair, made with the vintage birdies from Artbeads.com, are for a friend and co-worker I will see in a meeting tomorrow.

She has been hinting about needing earrings and while I think she would have preferred sparklies, I felt I HAD to make these for her! She is warm and earthy by nature. She respects the universe and creation more than anyone I know by expressing it in the way she lives her life.

Hopefully, the jewelry creator knows best. I'll let you know if I get one of those "thank you's" that you know are just to be polite :)

If so, I will learn from it and make her a sparkly pair tomorrow night!

Have a great new week everyone!! Thanks for stopping by, you really make my day so much better.

Peace, Love and Bead Blogger Saturday!

It's that fun time again, yay! Time to take a leisurely stroll through some beady blogs to see what our friends are up to!

This week you will find bead reviews, industrial chic, fun projects AND shrinky dinks!

Speaking of shrinky dinks, I posted this photo of my favorite shrinky dink bracelet because I just pulled it out of hibernation for the summer.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean "reviews" a few items from the fabulously lush and unique online bead store, ARTBEADS! See what she does with some of the materials which she purchased there!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe shows off The Queen and her Industrial Chic Crown

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Cindy's put together a few of her favorites and come up with a sweet ring.

Resin Crafts!
Resin Crafts blog has a post introducing shrinky dink to resin.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei put together a nice collection of items that would be great for your Art Bead Scene challenge entry this month.

Beads & Books
Michelle shares two different summertime necklaces she made using components from Earthenwood Studio.

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy has a new Twitter account and an updated Facebook page for her site. Please like & follow her!

Art Bead Scene
Come see what ABS has in store for this month's challenge!

Beading Arts
Copper tubing makes wonderful copper beads!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has featured her "Waiting for the bus" ring.

Featured Designer: Carmi Cimicata

Happy Friday everyone! Yay!

I'm going to get right to this week's featured designer...guess what Carmi Cimicata posted on her new Resin Crafts Blog...

SHRINKY DINKS!! ...I know, these are amazing!

Yes, I have a thing for shrinky dinks!! I love them and I think it has something to do with having made them when I was little. In today's world, creative people are taking them to a whole new level!

On her blog post, Carmi shares how she made these using an interesting and easy to use product!

Here's a little tidbit she wrote about this product, "These tiny tiles are the result of one layer of Envirotex Lite as a glaze. I always try and remind my readers that one coat of Envirotex Lite is like 50 coats of varnish. Why not let Envirotex Lite do all the work for you?"

Carmi, you have sold me, I am going to look for some of this!

Faux Stoneware from Polymer Clay!

I was checking in with some blogger pals tonight and was surprised by the post on the Polymer Clay Tutor's site. Cindy Lietz is such a pro, I am always so impressed by her work!

I have never seen something like this in polymer clay, so I wanted to share it right away! FAUX STONEWARE!

Here is what Cindy wrote about this:

"The beauty of polymer clay is that it is the great pretender. It will mimic all kinds of materials including metal, glass and stone. One thing it does really well, is copy the look of ceramic and stoneware.

Many polymer clay artists have their own way of getting the look of faux ceramic and stoneware, using a variety of different techniques. Most of them use liquid polymer clay. I find that although the liquid polymer does give wonderful look, it still lacks the shine of real ceramic or stoneware glaze. So a further finish is usually needed.

I have come up with a faux stoneware or ceramic technique that gets that glassy glazed look, in one easy step. I think you are really going to enjoy it."

Thanks so much to Cindy for always having something new and interesting to teach!

A Very Happy Necklace!

Oh wow, is this adorable or what? What a brilliant idea to use this ribbon to create a necklace!

Michelle Mach of Beads & Books created this fabulous necklace using one of the ice cream charms from Earthenwood Studio.

I mentioned Melanie's fabulous ice cream cones a couple months ago, but it is a completely different experience to see them used in a real project created by someone other than the bead maker.

If you have a minute to pop over to Michelle's blog, she wrote a great post about the creative process she went through to make this. I LOVE hearing what goes on in people's heads when they are creating!

Polymer Clay Artist

Wow, look at these!! Amazing!! I am so drawn to polymer clay that I am just going to have to break down and get myself into a class!!

I am in awe of these! I just read a blog post over at Art Bead Scene about polymer clay artist, Barbara Bechtel and wish she was my next door neighbor! Wouldn't that be GREAT?!

I wonder if she just lets random neighbors come in her house and play with her clay? Hmm, I might have to get in touch with her and ask. :)

I did a post about Barbara last June and continue to be a serious fan! Maybe one day when I retire in Florida I will have a chance to learn from her in person.

There is something so natural about these blue "eggs"on one hand and so M&M candyish on the other. Two good reasons to LOVE them!

Elvis Lives

Okay, I just cannot get this song out of my head! I heard "Burning Love" over the weekend and all of a sudden it came into my mind this evening and it's not budging!

I figured the best thing to do was EMBRACE IT! :)

As always, if you ever want to find anything, just Google it! I am thoroughly enjoying this YouTube video.

And, of course, since this is a beading blog, you will not believe all the Elvis beads and charms out there!!

Here are just a couple of fun ones and a great website if you are interested! Thanks to Elvis who will forever bring joy and charm into the world!

Fairy House or Gnome House?

After posting bead blogger links yesterday, I had a chance to do some visiting!

I just HAD to share this adorable creation that I found on the Lampwork Diva's blog.

Cindy Gimbrone creates many different types of beads and has a new collection of red lotus pods.

According to a recent blog post, this fairy house just appeared under one of the pods! :) Awww, cute!

I was thinking this would make a GREAT gnome house too! Love it!

Peace, Love and Bead Blogger Saturday!

Saturday now means it's bead blogger link time! Yay! This is a GREAT day to leisurely pop in to see what this group is up to!

Lots of great new jewelry designs and tutorials!! Enjoy!

Beads & Books
Michelle shares the bracelet she made with a 4-hole porcelain bracelet bar from Chinook Jewelry.

The Bead Dreamer
Charlene creates a book and an alphabet stepping way outside the box. Don't we all need to from time to time?

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton

Andrew hosts another great Thursday Giveaway! This time ceramic beads from Golem Studio are up for grabs!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reviews the third in a fine series of books by Marthe Le Van. This one is expressly about rings which you can make in 30 minute or less! And they are OUTRAGEOUSLY gorgeous. Come see!

Resin Crafts!
Carmi has a four part series on mold making on Resin Crafts blog this week.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Summer is just days away. Come on over to check out the latest installtion from the Earthenwood Design Team.

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Look what's sprung up underneath one of Cindy's Red Lotus Pods!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi features a newly molded pendant on this week's necklace sample.

Beading Arts
Wire tutorials and resources galore on Beading Arts this week!

Art Bead Scene
The trend is bracelets. Check out the cool art bead components ABS found for you!

About.com Jewelry Making
There are lots of recent graduates out there. Here are some jewelry tutorials designed for the graduate.

Featured Designer: Patty Evins

Happy Friday everyone!! Yay!

This is such a great day because it kicks off the weekend AND I get to share a new featured designer with you!

Patty Evins of "Patty Evins Studio" wrote in her profile,"My love of creating color rich artwork has been a long journey in my life. I received a BFA in drawing and painting and continued my studies for four more years in private art institutions. My paintings have been exhibited and sold in Japan, Europe, the far east, Puerto Rico and the United States.

My love of glass began many years ago when I started collecting old stained glass windows.

Fascinated with the jewel-like colors that light and glass

creates. I became obsessed in capturing these qualities in my paintings. In 1998, my artistic career took a new direction when I attended a class in fused glass. I fell in love with molten glass and its ability to create abstract paintings. I signed up for another fusing class, only to have it cancelled a week before time to attend. I substituted a lampwork class, never imagining what was in store. It was love at first bead..."

Wow, Patty tells a great story! Exciting stuff and another reminder that really great things could be right around the corner for all of us!! :)

You can visit Patty on her blog for more fun stories or visit her storefront.

Thanks so much Patty for allowing me to share your work tonight!

Simple Photo Necklaces

I hope you aren't all gnomed out yet!! I wanted to share the other version of this necklace which uses a smaller label holder frame than the choker posted yesterday (below).

I also used the brad that came with these scrapbooking supplies in the bottom hole of the label holder so I could hang this as a pendant.

Connecting it close to the toggle clasp gave it more of an interesting look and also helps keep it in place.

Here is the glue product I used to get this effect. I didn't have time to learn about how to use resin products, so I was looking for some way to get a similar effect.

I had read about this product on a couple of blogs so I gave it a try. It is Triple Thick from Deco Art.

I uploaded the actual gnome photos I took in the back yard, sized them to fit on the computer, printed them on photo paper and cut them out so they would fit just behind the label holder.

To give it a little more weight, I glued a piece of cardstock or decorative paper to the back of the photo.

The best part about using this product was the unexpected fuzzy effect the glue had on the photo. I LOVE IT!

It reminded me of the kind of picture that would be glued to a plastic ring from a gumball machine in the 1970's or in one of those souvenier kaleidescopes. :)

I placed the label holder with photo in it on top of a disposable plastic container lid and just poured it over the entire piece. It does need to dry for a couple days to feel secure enough to turn it over and do the same on the back, but once it's done it is like you have traveled back in time and visited a Kmart to get one of those gumball machine treasures!

Very simple and very crafty! Something kids can do too because there are no dangerous fumes involved.

Very Gnomie Necklace

As soon as I can find where I very carefully stored a box that has "GNOMES" written across it in all capital letters, I'll get a better photo and include the simple instructions for making this kitschy necklace.

I remember wearing it on a wintry February day in an attempt to bring summer more quickly! :)

While I was looking for the box I came across the classic Disney film, "The Gnome-mobile"!! Oh my gosh, if you haven't seen that one, it's well worth checking out from the library. It's very colorful and quite wacky!! Perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon!