November ABS Challenge

The Way Of The Jealous Heart

The inspiration piece for this month's Art Bead Scene monthly design challenge is called "Madonna Pietra degli Scrovigni" by Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927).  The woman is a character from the Italian poet Dante. She was described as a heartless lady dressed in green. In her hand she holds a crystal bowl reflecting the figures of Love and Dante:

As I was coming up with a design for this challenge, my mind kept going back to the green and the heartless woman wearing the green, and the words "jealous heart" kept coming up.  

Jealous people are usually people who have had their heart broken so many times that it almost seems they are heartless.  They have tried to mend their own beaten and broken hearts by building up walls and defenses.

From this frame of mind came "The Way Of The Jealous Heart":

The focal is made from brass pieces riveted on top of one another with the definition for "heartless" decoupaged into the heart shape.  The  brass heart falling from the cutout frame has been pierced, beaten and sewn up, leaving a long chasm in the middle of it.

The focal dangles from a chain made from beautiful art beads from http://www.firebabies.etsy.com,  http://www.blueseraphim.etsy.com, http://mermaidglass.etsy.com and http://www.beadsofpassion.com, and the heart 'window' is from Rings and Things.

Check out the other beautiful entries for this month's challenge at the ABS Flicker site.

New (for me) Beading Techniques

After going through (most of) the Bead Soup blogs, I was struck by the large number of seed bead artists are out there.  I know this shouldn't surprise me, but I am, at heart, a wire and metal gal, and don't do a whole lot with seed beads, except to use them as accents in my wire and metal pieces.

I also love to fuse glass in my kiln, but, to me, there seems to be a limited amount of things I can do with my glass 'globs' once they are cooked.  

Then I toured the blogs and realized that I can use seed beads to make bezels for my 'globs'.  Inspiration!  A light turned on in my brain, and I decided to teach myself how do do them.

I downloaded a great tutorial from Fusion Beads and was on my way!  So...here is a picture of what I've been working on with my newly learned skill:

I've got lots of beads and glass to work with, and I'm excited to see what else I can learn - bead embroidering, for instance...

Now, have you had a chance to check out "Grateful Living" yet?  Nellie Wortman of Early Morning Thoughts is today's contributor, and she wrote a beautiful piece speaking about being an optimist - well worth the read!   

Grandma's Quilt: September Art Bead Scene and Love My Art Jewelry Monthly Challenges

"Grandma's Quilt"

Art Bead Scene Inspiration Artwork
"Housetop" by Lillie Mae Pettway

My grandmother is one of my most favorite people I was blessed to have in my life. She taught me so many things, and was an incredible influence on my character - on the woman I am today. I wrote about her in a blog post called "Teapots" (which you can read here) where I spoke about my childhood and the wonderful times I spent with her.

When I saw this month's challenges for Art Bead Scene and for Love My Art Jewelry, I knew that I would be combining them into one piece called "Grandma's Quilt". She was the person who taught me to sew and to embroider. I'm not very good at all at either, but she was patient and persistent, and I loved the stories she would tell me as we sat together at the sewing machine or with our projects on our laps.

Her mother used to knit, and made the quilt squares these pictures were taken on that my grandmother crocheted together into a quilt. I've had it for my whole life, and someday I will pass it on to my grandchildren and tell them about the remarkable woman who gave it to me.

Glass Mosaic Micro-Mosaic Focal:  Molly Alexander

Lampwork Beads: Blue Seraphim

Vintage buttons, beads, etc.

To see more of the Art Bead Scene entries, you can go to their Flickr group here and read more about the inspiration artwork here.

To see more of the Love My Art Jewelry Art Spark entries, you can go to their Flickr group here and read more about this month's challenge here.

What Makes You Happy? Love My Art Jewelry August Art Spark

The color red.

I gravitate towards it without thinking.

It warms my heart and makes me smile. It makes me feel alive.

On days when I am down, I put on red lipstick and the world seems brighter.

A red sweater in the cold winter warms me despite the temperature.

My house has touches of it throughout, so I can go into any room and feel it radiating through me, lifting me up from where I am, despite circumstances.

Life and love.

Happiness.

The color red.

These beautiful poppy lampwork beads are from Tanya McGuire, and the pewter leaf is from Lynn Davis, and they hang from a soldered copper chain I made to go with them.

You can see other Art Spark entries on Flickr here, and learn more about this challenge here.

Art Bead Scene August Monthly Challenge

It has been a long time since I've participated in the ABS monthly challenges.  Life has slowed down a bit now with everyone back in school, and I've had time to create this week, which is a lovely change for me!

This month's challenge is based on this 1899 illustration for American Crescent Cycles by Frederick Winthrop Ramsdell (you can read more about this artist and the illustration here):

I wanted to play up the color palette from this month's challenge by pulling out the deep rich teal, gold, sienna and lichen.

These colors compliment the hand-etched and colored copper, and are reflected beautifully in the lampwork beads from Blue Seraphim.

I also added some industrial touches with forged and riveted links:

Take a few minutes to check out the other entries for this month's challenge at the ABS Flickr site.

Bead Table Wednesday

I've spent the past couple of days playing in my studio and etching:

I've got some ideas about how I'm going to use these pieces, and I think some of the etched gears may go up in my Etsy shop.

To see what other artists are working on, check out the BTW Flickr site HERE, hosted by the fabulous Heather Powers of Humblebeads blog.

What are you working on today?

Some Treasury Love...

Take some time to check out the wonderful artists included in these beautiful lists:








Thanks so much for including me in your treasuries!

Bead Table Wednesday

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  I'm working on some commissioned wedding jewelry, and I thought I 'd share a bit of the work in progress:



As always, thanks to Heather Powers of Humblebeads blog for hosting!  Click on the picture below to go out to the Flickr group and see what others have going on today:

What are you working on?

Eye Candy With Bead Trends' July Issue

If you haven’t had a chance yet, run on out and pick up July’s Bead Trends.  As always, the photography is phenomenal, and this issue is chock full of eye candy.

The featured designer is Cherrie Fick of En La Lumie're, and her designs alone are worth picking up the issue, just to see them for yourself.

I have a couple of designs in this issue as well.  I had originally created this necklace called Light As Air completely from scratch, fusing the focal and the chain using my torch:

Realizing that not everyone has a workshop where they can create their own chain and focals, I decided to challenge myself to re-create the necklace as closely as I could using store-bought elements:

Both necklaces turned out great, and I was satisfied with the look of the store-bought elements, although I personally prefer the handmade bits and pieces.

Enjoy the issue - there are some beautiful designs included!

Julsbeads Rocks!

Over the past few months I have been collecting a lot of Julianna Cannon’s (aka Julsbeads) gorgeous beads.  You know the kind of beads you buy that sit for a while on your workbench because you know that the piece you use them in needs to be extra-special to do them justice? 

That’s the kind of beads Juls creates.

So…I’ve had these beads for a while, and have finally used them in a few designs that I wanted to share with you.  This bangle/earring set features a gorgeous tangerine heart with companion beads that I’ve shared with you before:

I liked the tangerine set so much that I bought a second heart set in a deep red that I used in another bangle/earring set: 

A couple of weeks ago, my Bead Table Wednesday post featured a stunning red/orange/cream/silver bead set that I have turned into this necklace/earring/bracelet set:

And finally, I pulled out my new Crafted Findings riveting tool from FDJ tools to rivet a cool chain featuring a Julsbeads focal:

 If you are as obsessed with these beads as I am (and why wouldn’t you be – they are gorgeous!), hop on over to Juls’ Etsy shop to pick some up.  And while you are hopping, you must check out her funny, inspiring blog!

** All of these pieces will be listed in my Etsy shop soon – happy shopping!

Last Cup Of Bead Soup

As always, I am behind the eight ball on getting my posting done, so bear with me here!  I wanted to share the final jewelry design that Lori Anderson has made with the Cup Of Bead Soup I sent her (you are in for a treat!):

I love the green and purple color combination, and Lori definitely outdid herself in these designs.

I want to thank Lori sooooooooo much for featuring my beads and my shop on her “Cup of Bead Soup” blog for the month of June.  Keep visiting her to see some fantastic bead artists, and the beautiful designs Lori creates with them!

June Bead Trends

Just a quick post about this month’s Bead Trends magazine.  But first, if you haven’t had a chance yet, go out and check out May’s issue featuring the enormously talented Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio as their monthly highlighted designer.  In addition to her trademark wire work, Cindy features some beautiful vintage-inspired designs that are definitely worth your time!

June’s issue is also stunning, full of beautiful designs and featuring Judith Glende of Judith B. Designs.  She includes unique jewelry full of etched metals, cold connections and wire work in varied styles.

I also have a set included in this month’s magazine called “Summer Skies”:

I used beautiful drawn copper cable and stunning dumortierite from Rings and Things and a lovely glass copper disc from Blueseraphim.

As always, thanks go out to Bead Trends for including me in their gorgeous magazine!

Collaboration…

When I received an e-mail last October from my amazingly talented friend, Diane Cook, asking if I wanted to participate in a collaboration with her and five other women, I sent her an immediate resounding “YES!”  So the seven of us started a journey called “With One Finding” that I’d like to share with you:

Diane’s idea was to give each of us the same starting point:  the ‘Marianne’ focal piece from Brass Bouquet:

Using this beautiful focal, Diane unleashed our creativity, and it was remarkable to see the unique designs that each of us came up with that really showcased the personality of each designer.

Here is a picture of my design:

In addition to the ‘Marianne’ focal, I also purchased three different brass chains from the Brass Bouquet.  After I decided on the structure of the necklace, I started adding (and adding, and adding, and adding) many different sizes and colors of glass pearls to the main chain, finishing the focal with another length of chain and pearls.

This design process pushed me a lot.  I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated by the caliber of the other women participating, and I wanted to make sure my design could stand up with theirs.  What I discovered was that, instead of worrying about what they were going to do and instead trusting my instincts, I was able to create a necklace that was uniquely my own.

The complete article is featured in the Summer 2011 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry, and I highly recommend you pick it up!  In it you will also see the stunning designs of all of the talented women:  Diane Cook, Marie Dodd, Diana Frey, Julie Pishny, Riki Schumacher and Cindy Wimmer.  Diane also has more pictures posted on her Flickr site.

Thanks so much, Diane, for including me in this fantastic collaboration!

Cup Of Bead Soup – Time For A Refill…

In this post I told you about Lori Anderson’s “Cup Of Bead Soup”, where she features beads by individual artists in designs each month.  Well, she has just come out with her second design using my enameled beads, and has hit it out of the park again:

* Photos courtesy of Lori Anderson

I absolutely love the summery feel to this piece, and the balance of the asymmetrical design is absolutely perfect.

For more details Lori’s creative process, hop on over to her blog, Pretty Things:

Bead Table Wednesday

I’m getting ready to start on some holiday sets with these gorgeous glass pearls from Sedona Stones:

What are you working on this week?

Bangles...

I've been on a bangle kick for the past week or so:

I can't seem to get enough of these relatively simple, fun, colorful designs.  I have been collecting loads of lampwork beads from various fabulous artists, and I wanted to use them in a few designs, and here's what I came up with - check them out in my etsy store!

Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge for May

This month, the inspiration for Art Bead Scene’s monthly challenge is Berthe Morisot’s “Hide and Seek”:

 

You can find more information on the artist and the painting at the Art Bead Scene  blog.

I love the color palette – the warm clay tones in particular - for this challenge, and decided to make my jewelry piece based on that:

I used a simple bangle design and covered the heavy gauge copper wire with coiled copper wire and handmade lampwork beads from Firebabies and Gardanne Beads.

I decided to spice up the design by wrapping long strands of copper wire with balled-up ends over the beads and coils, again bringing in the deep pinky-clay colors from the painting.

Take a couple of minutes to check out the other beautiful entries at Art Bead Scene’s Flickr group.

* If you are interested in purchasing this bangle, you can find it in my Etsy shop.

What’s Old Is New Again – Artbeads Blogging Challenge

It is time to share another Artbeads Blog Partners Blogging Challenge design with you!  For this challenge, we were to create a design that took inspiration from the past and to incorporate at least one old or antique element, combining that element with modern pieces from Artbeads.

 

For the focal, I etched and distressed a large copper heart and brass washer, and used eyelets and rivets to connect them, giving it a steampunk feel.

For the chain, I used Artbeads’ antique brass-plated box rolo chain coupled with a large-link silver-toned chain from my stash.  I also created spring links from steel wire and filled them with amazonite rounds secured by copper wire to add more of an industrial feel to the piece.  The clasp is made by coiling wire onto a loop that fits over a fantastic steamppunk-themed button.  The rolo chain and button can be found in Artbeads’ steampunk collection. 

For the “something old” part of the necklace, I have been saving some antique sewing machine pieces and parts that fit perfectly into the piece.

I loved this challenge, and have a couple more designs up my sleeve to share soon.  If you are interested in purchasing this necklace, it is available in my Etsy shop.

Necessary Legal Stuff: I am honestly reviewing the products above which I have received free of charge from Artbeads.com, and I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to them.