Summertime Fun

This summer is flying by and Bead Fest is right around the corner.  I still have a TON of beads to make in order to have inventory for the show.  

However, it sure has been nice to have time with the family.  I will take last minute crazy preparations in order to have days like these 

(art by Rochelle Carr)

https://rochellecarr.wordpress.com/

Last week we spent a day at a water park with my Mom.  Justin had to work, but it was nice to have some quality time with my mom and the kids.

It was a long day, and it was a blast!

The next day the kids and I all went to Crystal Cave with both my parents.  That was really cool, and you can read more about it here if you want.

After two day trips, I was REALLY feeling behind in the studio- though my soul was refreshed for sure.

So then the hubs (aka Justin) says to me, lets do a day trip to the shore this weekend.

Ummmm.......ok.  

You see, its hard for us to plan vacations with him being self employed.  This is the busy time of year and he needs to work when the work is there.  So, we do a lot of last minute things.

So, yesterday we went to LBI (long beach island NJ) for the day.  We got up early and were on the road before 9.  

We hiked the rocks at the lighthouse, we at lunch by the bay, we had hours and hours of perfect ocean time, had a nice dinner, walked around bay village, got ice cream and came home.  The day was packed, but it was nothing short of perfect.

This is the end of the jetty at the lighthouse- right off Barnagat Inlet

Lunch by the bay

The ocean was gorgeous.  I even went in !!!  It was deep right off the beach and then got shallow further out, so I could literally swim, right off the beach, which was nice for me, cause I don't go out far.  This picture is zoomed, they are out pretty far in it

 Hubs and I in our happy place

 I scream you Scream- we LOVE Iceberg Ice Cream (in Brant Beach?)  BEST ice cream on the island- all homemade.  There is always a line, but it is sooo worth it.

So now, I am back to the grindstone.  

I have set some goals for myself this week.  I want to make at least three ovens full of polymer beads and get ONE bronze firing started if not finished.................................by Thursday.

IF I meet my goal, I will celebrate by marking down some newer and favorite jewelry and doing a summer destash event on Facebook.  I will also list some items in my shop and do a sale in there for those not on Facebook.  So fingers crossed.  I need to make beads or I will be selling HUGS at Bead Fest.

Like I said, there are worse reasons I could be behind.  I have had the best time with the kids and I am glad we had the chance for some REALLY fun day trips.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!

Gone Fishing.............

Finally got to making some fun beads again.  Still working in smaller batches, but I am working, so that is good.

These fish were begging to be made.  I had a blast with the textures on the, each one is totally handformed using various tools for texture.  I made both flat tribal focal style ones, 

and long round sardines.

They are currently in the shop, I didn't make too many, but what I have is in there.  I will hopefully be making more this week after taxes are done!

www.stacilouiseoriginals.com 

Some Exciting Things Going on Around here

I am wrapping up listing a round of my newest style polymer beads- carved beads with color.

 

I first fell in love with carving beads in black, but have since moved on to adding color to them, and loving the results.

 

you can pick some up here www.slartisanaccents.etsy.com

 

The other news is that the voting for the Peoples Choice awards in the Bead Dreams competition has begun.  To cast you vote, use this link

http://apps.kalmbach.com/survey/default.aspx?sid=2289&auth=gXZJ0LQrPm

 

If you want to vote for me, my pieces are Sea Swept

 

 and Zen Circles. 

 

If you follow the link, and scroll down through the pictures, they are a little over halfway down.  They are named, but there are no artist names applied to the pictures. 

 

So that is what is new and exciting with me. 

 

I hope you all have a great memorial day weekend!

Thanks as always for your support!

 



 

 

 



Listing

I am finally listing some new jewelry in my shop!  More to come next week too.  Check in later this afternoon - everything should be listed by then.

 

www.stacilouise.etsy.com

 

 

If time allows I am going to list some beads as well.

 

www.slartisanaccents.etsy.com

 

Have a great weekend!!!!

 



Painting the Beads

I have finally begun painting the beads.  It is taking forever.  I only have the first layer on.

 

As I am painting them, I keep thinking there is probably a quicker way to do this.  To sort them out ahead of time, and do groups in one color...but I can't.  I just cannot do it that way.  Each bead gets picked up, looked at, until I know what color it should be, then I paint it, and then I add complimentary colors.  And then I take some off, and put some more on and do that until I am satisfied.

 

Then it gets put aside to dry.  This is layer ONE.  These beads will get 2-4 more layers of paint and sealer until they are considered done in my book.

 

Yeah, I could pump these out and save time, but then they wouldn't have that had loved feel to them.  They each wouldn't be unique.

 

So this afternoon, back to painting.  I only got two trays done...I have a packed tray of earrings to do yet, a bowl of loose beads for sets, my stars for the kits Genea and I will be selling, and my doodle beads.  That's all. 

 

Oh yeah, and more metal clay.

 

So here is what I got done yesterday.  Hoping today is more productive.

 

Here are my Graffiti Beads.  Some get a layer of antiquing, others done, then sealed.

 

Here is a large spiral flower and a little Totem Owl

And these are the majority of my colorful beads- fish, hearts, owls and random donuts and connectors in some fun colors.  they get layers of antiquing, crackle, more antiquing and sealing yet.  Maybe I won't crackle them all, we will see!!!

If I get another kiln of bronze done tonight, I will post some pics of my new metal clay tomorrow.

 

In the meantime- since not all of you can make bead fest, I am giving 20% off in both my shops until next Wednesday!!!!  I will not be listing new items- and this wouldn't apply to special orders or requests (which I most likely don't have time to do right now anyway- sorry). 

 

So use code NOBEADFEST to save 20% in both shops! 

 

www.stacilouise.etsy.com

 

www.slartisanaccents.etsy.com

 

 

My Bead Soup Partner is.......

Gaia Copia aka Emily Greer

 

 

Emily and I quickly exchanged emails and became fast friends.  I must say, she is a beautiful person, and we have a lot in common.  If you haven't seen her jewely, well, you are missing out.  You can check it out here www.gaiacopia.com and follow her here on facebook as well.  Beautiful person, beautiful jewelry.....once again, I am so happy I got to meet someone new.  I can be kind of a home-body and don't get out much, so meeting people online is such a wonderful thing for me.

 

Here is one of her mixed media cuffs- in polymer and sheet metal. 

 

*swoon*

 

 

Even the back is beautifully done...I admire anyone who pays such attention to detail

 

 

 

So we really got on the ball and sent our soups right away.  I got mine yesterday!  Here are some pics.

 

 

I love that bright green focal she sent!!!  And she sent sari silk too- in a hippie rainbow!  I don't often work in bright colors, but I doooo love them.  So I am excited to have a bright focal for a challenge.  I need that push sometimes to add more color to my work.

 

She sent lots of earthy beads, nuts, stones, wood, and some hand rolled paper beads I just love, they have great texture and a nice boho feel to them.

 

 

She also sent a wood skull she embellished and some polymer spikes and a beautiful shell that she made.  I think I will be making more then one piece with this soup!!!  I already see two full pieces in my head.

 

 



This is my lovely handmade clasp that she sent me!

 

 

and she even sent me some molds that she made- since she does polymer and bronze clay too!  Soo sweet.

 

So, thanks to Lori Anderson of Pretty Things for once again taking on this monumental task of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

 

I can't wait to dig in and create! 



Cyber Monday SALE Last Day to Save

I am having a HUGE Holiday Sale ON NOW through Cyber Monday, in both my online shops.  

The shops are stocked with LOTS of new items. For the first time in....well, ever, I am happy with how my jewlery shop looks!!!! 

  In my jewelry shop, use code artjewelry20 to save 20% on your order.

and you will be finding lots of new jewelry for holiday parties or gift giving. Like earrings................

and in my bead shop use code artbeads15 to save 15%.

I will be adding new items here and there through the sale.  If you purchase more then once or from each shop, I will refund the extra shipping.

That is not all though. I am giving away a $20 gift certificate in each shop after the sale. Each item you purchase enters you one time. So the more items you buy, the more entries you get!!!

Names will be picked at the end of the sale by random.org.

To keep it interesting, I will also be adding random 1/2 price items to the shops throughout the sale. These items will be listed at 1/2 price, AND you can still use your discount on them. So stop by frequently and see what the deals are.  In my bead shop, much of the polymer hearts and swirl connectors have been marked down some up to 50%!

I am also doing a giveaway right here, for sharing my sale information. If you share this post, via facebook, twitter or blog, please leave a comment below (separate comments for each way you share) and be entered to win this..........

 

It's a lovely raku like polymer pendant, with a crackle finish.  If you are a jewelry lover and not a designer, I will add a bail and a ball chain with it.

I will not be reserving items for the duration of the sale. I just feel its more fair that way.

If you are shopping Cyber Monday- stop by Love my Art Jewelry to see all the shops participating in the cyber monday sale! Link can be found there.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope some of my creations find their way into your holidays!

Art Bead Scene November Challenge M.C. Escher

I love a good challenge!  Being as busy as I was with shows this year, I missed out on a lot of them.  So I am happy to have a little more free time to play, and create.  This month, Art Bead Scene's Artist Challenge is based on M.C. Escher.  He was one of my early favorite artists.  Not only that, but it happens to be one of my favorite works by him as well.

 

 

Here is what Art Bead Scene says about the challenge.

Three Worlds, 1955 by M C Escher

Lithograph

 

About the Art

Three worlds depicts a large pool or lake during the autumn or winter months, the title referring to the three visible perspectives in the picture: the surface of the water on which leaves float, the world above the surface, observable by the water's reflection of the forest, and the world below the surface, observable in the large fish swimming just below the water's surface.

About the Artist
Maurits Cornelis Escher, June 1898 – 27 March 1972, usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.

Did I mention that grey tones are my favorite as well?  Anyhow, I was planning on doing some polymer the day I saw this, and thought about making a cab, with fish scales, in greys.  It took awhile, but I love how it turned out.  (had to cast a mold of that baby, didn't want to hand stick all those scales again!).

Then I prong set the cab, and to give it a coy like appearance, I added flowing wire fins on the side and tail.  Then I added a couple pearls for eyes.  I typically don't do "realistic" or try to make animals in my work, but this was stylized enough, that I really felt it still was still true to my aesthetic.  

To represent the tree's, I used a bronze cast of a drift wood branch that I'd been saving, along with some actually wood beads made from branches.

The rest was just beaded.  I pulled out my bins of grey and black beads, and got to work, just randomly combining shapes and colors so that they flowed around the necklace.  I also used two of Genea's lampwork discs in grey that have been waiting for just the right piece!!!!

The only thing I wanted to do, and didn't, was add an additional backing, to hide the wires for the fins (they run across the back horizontally), and add text to that backing, but I knew adding any more rivets to the front would take away from my Koi.  Other then that, I am very happy with my piece!  Hope you like it!

Any other good challenges going on out there I should know about???