Ribbon Project Update

This chain is so cool!

It's shiny and has a fun, slightly rebellious vibe about it. Not sure what it is.

It appears to have sort of a cut finish that makes it really shine.

I am about a third of the way done with my ribbon bracelet project. I have ironed on a backing and sewed chain on one side so far.

I just need to sew on the other side's chain, embellish and add a cool clasp!

By the time I'm done with this fun project, I'll be ready to start on a HALLOWEEN project, yay!

That will be the October Cousin Corp. project and I can't wait! :)

Bring on the Weekend!

Yay, happy weekend! It's so hard to believe September just FLEW by!

It was a very busy month at work AND play! Speaking of play, when I look back over the month I'm kind of amazed at all the fun stuff I found time to make and play with!

It helps me remember I really did appreciate and enjoy the moments.

Here's some extra inspiration for the weekend just in case you haven't caught the crafty bug yet...

First up is Cyndi's Beading Arts blog. She's sharing 13 projects that incorporate lampwork beads. FUN stuff! Love her necklace pictured here called, Rock Candy Necklace. :)

Beading Arts
Cyndi believes that you can never have too many ideas for how to use your lampwork beads...

About.com Jewelry Making
There is still plenty of time to make some Halloween jewelry.

Art Bead Scene
Heather shares some tips of the trade for jewelry designers who are interested in wholesaling.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie shows the results of the liquid clay slip application experiments she recently made.

Resin Crafts!
This week Carmi shows you how to glaze a feather with resin!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Bead Soup, the great book by Lori Anderson, has arrived! Enjoy this review about Lori's delicious concoction by jean!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares his latest win! Check out "Night of the Shaman" that top honors in Nina Design's most recent design challenge.

Looking for Beads at Midnight?

Well, I've been there several times myself...a couple of times while working on my book and also the day before teaching a project.

Just in case you didn't know this, Cousin Corporation has beads at Walmart AND now they are in Meijer stores! Love it!

I've bought beads in the middle of the night at Meijer before so I'm excited to see their new products on the wall.

I also wanted to share this cool bracelet project that Cousin created with the products at Meijer.

Hello, this is so appealing to me and totally shouting my name. (Could be the dangles!)

I love the fact that very few products were used to create what looks like a very intricate bracelet. NICE!

Fun for $1.49

I just had to share this FUN find! This pink plastic bracelet was a total of $1.49 at Marc's, a local discount grocery store.

It is a pink FLASHING bracelet, yes, it lights up and is extremely bright!!

As soon as I walked by it, I was retracing my steps back over to get it. I just couldn't resist regardless of the fact I couldn't think of anywhere I would be going in the near future to wear such a thing.

So, here I am hanging out in the comfort of my living room with my happy $1.49 flashing bracelet. It's not every day that you find that much happiness for that price! :)

I couldn't get a picture of all the lights flashing because they flash one at a time. You would never know it when it's going to town, but hopefully you get the idea.

The lights flash red, yellow, blue, green, blue, yellow, red...so FUN (and juvenile)...the fun always wins!

Enter to Win a Free Class at CraftArtEdu!

Our good friend Tammy Powley of About.com and the Crafty Princess Diaries has a great giveaway going on...yay! Make sure to enter by September 30!

Tammy is giving away a free class at CraftArtEdu.com!

They offer classes in jewelry making, polymer clay, fiber, fine art and other media, wow! Check out all the great instructors and wide variety of classes.

HOW TO ENTER: Click here and leave a comment on Tammy's post. It's that easy!

Featured Designer: Roxanne McGovern of 3Graces Jewelry

I'm pleased to introduce you to Roxanne McGovern of 3Graces Jewelry! It's a rare occasion that I have someone local to spotlight, so today is a great day!

Roxanne was the store manager for a very hip and longstanding bead store in Columbus, Ohio called Byzantium. She was with Byzantium for 12 years before they closed due to the retirement of the owner.

I'm guessing that she probably had a chance to meet just about every beader in the local area and lots who would travel great distances to take their specialized classes.

She had some very cool news to share about her glass bead making classes...they're back! Torch and kiln glass bead making classes are available if you happen to be in the Columbus area. Check out 3Graces Jewelry website for classes, a blog and an Etsy site!!

My favorite part of Roxanne's bio is this, "Becoming a successful glass artist, glass art therapist, and teacher is a dream realized." 

Wow, what a wonderful feeling! Congratulations Roxanne and thanks for sharing!

Assembling the Pieces...

Here are some of the pieces I have assembled for my next jewelry project. :)

I just love this wired ribbon with the silvery plaid highlights. When I saw it, I immediately thought it would make great jewelry or accessories.

The current plan is to make a bracelet using either velcro or ribbon clasps for the closure. That decision will come a little further down the road.

My first steps will be to sew the pieces and parts onto the ribbon before applying a backing...fun craft project!!

As you can see, I've assembled the pieces and parts from my Cousin bead stash, yay!

By the way, just in case you didn't know this, Cousin does a bead giveaway called sweeps every week on their facebook page. They throw in more beads based on the number of participants. Check them out here.