COM Art Jewelry Elements Reveal

I got picked to be part of the most recent Component of the Month Challenge over at Art Jewelry Elements.  How lucky am I? 

This is what I was chosen to receive (karen sent me the one on the right).

One of Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio's UBER TEXTURED donut beads.

i love it against my floor

Let me start by saying, I did snag some of these donuts up at Beadfest, but she did not have the larger ones there at that time, or else I would have grabbed them.  These big ones are divine.  They are so highly textured, yet smooth and refined at the same time.  They have a meditative quality that makes you just want to touch them.

Originally I wanted to make a ring, so that I could touch the piece and play with it, and FEEL it on.  It would lay flat against my finger, being tube set from the center. 

Unfortunately I ran out of time. 

I ended up with two because I contacted Karen to see if I could buy another bead that sort of matched, I wanted to make a matching necklace.  Time ran out, and I did not get to make the ring.  I will make it though. eventually.....

So, for the challenge, I made another one of my Gypsy Charm necklaces with the piece I received.   

Here it is!

Her bead is so perfect for a necklace like this. It is rich, and meditative, and just draws you in!

Anyhow, if you want to see what everyone else made, hop on over to their blogs too!

Monthly Winners

Lindsay Starr / Phantasm Creations

Sherri Hartman Stokey / Knot Just Macrame

Staci Louise Smith / Staci Louise Originals

AJE Blog Team

Diana Ptaszynski / Suburban Girl Studio

Susan Kennedy / Sue Beads

Caroline Dewison / BlueberriBeads

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lesley Watt

Melissa Allford Meman

Francesca Watson

Jennifer Stout Cameron / Glass Addictions

Thank you to Art Jewelry Elements for the opportunity to work with Karen's beads!



The Last Hoorah

Why is it that when we have little to no time left at all, our inspiration kicks it into overdrive?

I have my last jewelry show of the year this coming weekend

(Crafts in the Meadow- Tyler Park PA...it's a wonderful juried show full of amazing artists)

Since Beadfest I have been dying to play with all my beads.  Not only the ones I have made, but the ones I bought and traded for.

I have been sketching necklaces for weeks, trying to figure out what to make.  I really don't need anymore to fill my booth, but I HAD to make new stuff!!!  I have really been loving the way more and more artists are embracing wire, and wanted to really play with wire this year.  I got to see some of Susan Lenart Kazmers work in person at Beadfest this year, and I love her free form use of wire.  I also loved how she used wire as the back of the necklace in lots of fun ways.....like this piece.

Great use of wire to make a cage sort of neck wire to match the cage on the ammonite. As I admired her work, I promised myself to do even more fun stuff with wire.

This may sound funny, but the piece above sort of inspired this new style. I had originally wanted the wire part in the back of the necklace, but liked how it looked in the front better.  Plus, its is much more comfortable this way.  I love me some fun art jewelry, but it also has to be wearable to me.

They look really nice on as well.  It allows me to let the focal shine, yet still gives some character to the necklace.

I also wanted to make more charm necklaces.  I have always adored charm necklaces, and haven't made any new styles in this past year.  Here are a couple from last year.

I love chunky charm necklaces, and I have tried in the past to do the "over - charmed" look.  Yet I can never make it work.  It always felt too busy to me.  

Then I found this on Pinterest, and I loved that the chunky front was balanced by that wire back that I had been admiring.  I thought I would give the "over-kill" charm look a go again.

The necklace is by Allison Bellows

www.allisonbellowsjewelry.net 

(take a peek, all her stuff is amazing!!!!!!!!!!)

So with this sort of wire in the back, charm necklace idea..I started to draw pictures and think about it. How things lay for me is important, which I think is what always stopped me from completing this style.  I like to be able to see everything and don't want things to turn sideways, or be hidden, ect........... I also need things to be very wearable and comfortable, which to me, means they should be adjustable.  So, I started to play.  I am very happy with the results- and even more happy that I got to use a ton of my favorite beads on each one of these!!!!!!!!!!

This was my first one, not tooooo much charm wise.  I added the sari silk last, because I thought it needed another long element and another pop of color.

I decided to use chain in the front, along with one larger element, and then hang the charms off the chain, so that way, they can still lay sort of flat and be seen.  Plus, it totally allows this to be adjustable.  The hook at the end of the neck wire is where you fasten the chain.  even better, the weight of the charms holds the chain down, so it doesn't come undone.  I also did little spirals at the end of the hook clasp so it couldn't come off easily.

This was my last one I made.....lol!  You can see I made my way to overly charmed!  But i like it.

 I had some very pricey brass chain I had been hoarding (all these chains are handmade solid brass- not made by me) and so, I made this one for me.  I haven't taken it off at all!!!  I love the jingly heavy charm feel of it!

Picture of me wearing it.  It is soooo mine!

This one I just had some fun with.  I had to re-do it quite a few times until it had the right flow to it.

I kinda laughed at myself, because you would think these would be quick to make, just adding this or that, but they all took a lot of adding something, removing something, or shifting it to the side, ect ect.....

Anyhow, I am hooked.  Crazy wire everywhere.  I had more fun then I can even imagine.  I have been sketching and looking at my beads for far too long!  Often when I sketch a new idea, it doesn't always pan out, but I think these did.

If you are planning to come out to the show this weekend (if you are local, you should, it is a GREAT show!) please stop by.  I have lots of new stuff to show you!

Here are some more pieces I made for this weekend.  I still want to spend a couple days doing silver bezels of odd stones.  I have movement in mind with that batch, so we will see how movement and silver bezels end up.

Sorry for the loooong post and all the exclamation points.  It just felt that good to get to play with all this stuff that has been brewing in my brain.

How about you?  Do you sketch your designs?  And if yes, how excited are you when they work out????    

Here and Gone.....a Bead Show weekend

It is insanity for over a month.  There is planning, and creating, and finishing, and prepping, and pricing, and packing......and then you are there.

Berks Bead Bazaar was this past weekend.  I am finally home, in my jammies, sitting on a heating pad, relaxing with the hubs. 

All I can sit here and think, is "it went so fast".

There are many things that have changed in my life in the last few years, many new directions both in business and life in general.  Making and selling beads, along with making and selling jewelry, well, it has seemed to complete something.  Making the decision to sell beads as part of my business was one of the most wonderful things I could have done.  I feel like doing both jewelry and beads full fills something that doing just jewelry alone didn't.  Along with taking that step, is the people I have met while making and selling beads. 

I have met so many kind hearted people.  I have found ladies and men who have done this for years and years, who have welcomed me into this beady world, and given me encouragement and advice.  I have met friends on the same path as me right now, whom I never would have found....people I can't imagine not being friends with.  I have met, and become friends with people I used to deem "famous" and have bead crushes on. 

And then there is the fact that people like and buy my stuff.  WOW!  That just never stops feeling good.  I love that people "get" my art.  I love that it allows me to keep going, because I think my mind would collapse in on itself if I couldn't not keep making new things all the time.  And my house is not big enough to just store them....people have to buy them so my kids have room to play.

Shows are so much fun, I meet my customers, they come back and show me what they made with the beads they bought last year (I LOOOOOVE that part of it).  I also get to see my beady friends.  I never had a big group of girlfriends.  I had one or two girl friends and then mostly guy friends.  I must say, I love the camaraderie I have found with my bead friends. 

So thank you to my customers, both new and returning!  I loved seeing what you made, I love to hear what you are up to, see what awesome jewelry you are wearing and talk beads with you!  Thank you for your support.

Thank you to my beady girls.  You all know who you are.  Everyone of you mean the world to me.  If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would meet friends online, and travel and hang out with them, and that they would become some of my best friends, I would have told you, you were crazy.  but here I am, and you guys are.

I already miss you all.

Oh, and the beads.  The beads are pretty awesome too. 

So now that I got all sappy on you, here are the pictures!!!!!!!!!!

my booth all set up!

Diana's booth all set up with Collin on duty

Diana and Jenny setting up, playing with the beads

Julia with her very own table thanks to the kindness of Joan Miller.  She encourages new bead artist, even at 9 years old!

Julia modeling her new pinwheel ring she made

Julia and Chloe (Marsha Neals daughter) hanging out, craftin and bead shopping like old girlfriends.  They have it down already.

Dinner with the girls (and Collin)

Side story.  Julia makes and sells beads, and she loves to buy and hoard beads, but she has had no desire to make jewelry.  However, this year she really got check out Yvonne of My Elements booth - which is bright and fun- right up her alley- and she got some components and now she can't wait to make stuff.  As a matter of fact, she bought a bracelet display at the show so we could make bracelets to sell the next day.  So we enjoyed some mom and daughter time making stuff saturday night at the hotel.

breakfast with Julia

 Julia with her wares for sale- the new jewelry

Since saturday was a blur of sales and friends and girls and beads, I finally got around to take some better pics on sunday.  Here's Jenny at her booth!!!

Patti Cahill of Dyed in the Fire Designs at her booth hanging out with Joan Miller.

Dona Jones of Kindred Spirit Designs- she embodies her shop name, and is a kindred spirit to anyone who is blessed to know her!!!

Here she is loving on my girl!

Julia hanging with a new friend on Sunday.  they were talking about how pretty each stone was that they bought!

 Did you know that Jenny is teaching a class at Beadfest in August?  She will be making these mixed media pendants.

I will be teaching also!  These are the class samples below

Sally came by to shop and hang out!!!!!

and just like that, it was time to pack it up.  with the iffy weather- snow and sleet - barreling down on us, many of us packed it up early to beat the storm home.  Julia was ready!

such a sad sight

its always sad to leave

and now I am here, ready for bed.  tomorrow I will get pictures of my new beads from trades and such.......and sometime this week I will be putting pictures of the bead trays online for people who want to snag some up.

I am beat, and happy!  time for bed...night!