Jewelry Design Star

Just a quick reminder about round 4 of the Jewelry Design Star contest sponsored by Artbeads.com!

Here's some info from their website. Make sure you pop over if you are interested for all the details.

"Show the world your creativity and get the chance to become a Jewelry Design Star! For your chance to be a Jewelry Design Star, upload a photo of your favorite design with a brief description and what inspired your creation. Then, other Artbeads fans will be able to vote for their favorite design. If yours wins, you’ll be crowned our latest Jewelry Design Star.

Enter the contest by Wednesday, July 18 at 11:59 PM Pacific. Come back and vote for your favorite design Thursday, July 19 through Tuesday, July 24 at 11:59 PM Pacific. Enter or vote now!"

Good luck! :)

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!

Happy Friday! Here's some inspiration to get your weekend off to a crafty start.

First off, Melanie of Earthenwood Studio is sharing some of her vintage finds from the Bead & Button show, yay!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles

Check out the treasures that Melanie picked up at the Bead & Button show in this series of blog posts.

About.com Jewelry Making

Lisa Niven Kelly is featured in About.com Jewelry Making's July jewelry designer interview.

             

Art Bead Scene

Art Bead Scene introduces a new monthly challenge with a Picasso painting with an added twist to benefit the 7000 Bracelets Project

             

Beading Arts

July begins with a bang...along with a Beading Arts celebration of all things gemstone and pearl!

             

Carmi's Art/Life World

Carmi makes a special necklace on her day off featuring Klimt!

Resin Crafts!

This week on Resin Crafts blog there is a very unique post about pouring resin into a petal shaped component.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!

Jean is speechless at the beauty of the "Bead Soup" which her partner Dana Hickey has sent her! You will love it too! 

Let's Name that Bead!

Here's a sneak peak at some of the leftover beads I used with the Purply Plum Econoflex wire this week.

So sparkly and cute! I bought two different sized strands in the same colors not knowing what I was going to make at the time, it seemed like a good decision!

The tag on the beads used a reference number instead of giving them a fun, inspiring name. That seems like the best part of being in the bead business.

Swarovski has mastered this element of sending all their masterpieces out of the factory with special names like, padparadscha, pacific opal, provence lavender, crystal luminous green...ahh, love them all!

I thought it would be fun to step in and come up with something that accurately describes them while inspiring a happy spirit at the same time! What do you think, are you with me?

Here's my thought...Rock Candy Sparkle. How about you? Please share your bead name ideas if you have a sec.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope your day was filled with things that make you happy! Family, friends, pets, beads, food, fireworks, you name it!

If you made any jewelry for the occasion, please share!

It's ALWAYS great to hear what fellow bead friends are up to and this is a great way to share! :)

Purply Plum!

The best thing about Hobby Lobby is they carry the Softflex line of beading wire called Econoflex!

As the name implies, it easily fits into your budget, which is one of the reasons I love it ($3.47).  It stands the test of time AND the colors are really fabulous!

This is the plum wire I picked up Saturday and here's a link to the Softflex site, where it is priced even better than Hobby Lobby!

I wore a new bracelet featuring the plum econoflex wire today and was so glad I took a chance on combining MANY colors on this wire. 

It has a very cheerful vibe! Stay tuned for a final project pic. I'm still considering adding dangles. :)

Vacation Crafting

Did I mention it's vacation week? Yay!

That meant a trip to the craft store today. I don't usually get to Hobby Lobby, but they have a fairly new store close by, it just doesn't seem to be open when I get the bug to shop!

I printed out my 40% off coupon before heading over and ended up with a handful of sparkle!

After all these years, I have pretty well honed my "I can't live without that!" radar. It's a feeling that involves just a tiny bit of tingling...  It doesn't happen every trip, so I'm happy when it does.

This is one of the strands I found, pretty cool! I liked the variations and the way they worked well together considering the contrasts.

I've already got a project going with a couple other sparkly strands, so stay tuned! I don't have any ideas formed for this strand yet, but I just couldn't walk away. As always, please share if you were struck by inspiration when you saw these.

Hope your week is off to a great start too!

Crafty Princess Giveaway!

I've got exciting giveaway news for you!

Our friend Tammy Powley of About.com has 4 books up for grabs, yay! Just pop over to her "Crafty Princess Diaries" blog to enter.

The contest runs through July 31 and you only need to comment once to get yourself in the running.

Tammy loves to survey other beaders and get conversations going so she's also interested in hearing about your favorite jewelry and favorite type of jewelry to make!

Should be fun reading all the comments!

Just make sure to include your email address in your comment so you can be easily contacted if you are selected.

This is a great series of books filled with eye candy galore: 30 minute earrings, 30 minute bracelets, 30 minute necklaces and 30 minute rings!!!! Good luck! :)