Kristi Bowman's Design With My Own Tweak

Kristi Bowman is one of the blogs I enjoy following. I can get so inspired by her work! So imagine my excitement when one of her sets of earrings ended up in and issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine? Her earrings are titled Aladdin's Lamp and I just loved them!  Since they were in the magazine as a tutorial, I know it's ok for me to create these earrings with my own twist, but I give TOTAL credit for the inspiration to Kristi. Here are my two interpretations of her original work:



This pair is called Scheherazade's Dance. I used large hole
purple glass beads, recycled gold sari ribbon and
copper wire. They're a little on the long side, but I
love them!



Another view of Scheherazade's Dance

This pair is called 1,001 Nights. I used a pinky/purply
sari ribbon and the beads are from Javabead.com by
the very talented Russ Powers. I had been hoarding
these beads until I went back and saw Kristi's tutorial
again and knew I had to make these!

 

View II of 1,001 Nights. Aren't the colors in those
beads just gorgous!?

So that's all I managed to do this weekend. We've been very busy with our church and a Revival meeting we're having the rest of this week.  I highly recommend you follow Kristi for great inspiration (and drool-worthy work) and go check out Java Beads for handblown glass beads that will melt your mind.

Pantone Spring ~ Copper Candy Twist

I only had a little time to play with my beads and wires this weekend and that was on Friday night.  And that wasn't even until late in the evening!  Oh, well, I got to play!  Anyway,  I decided to play with two of the colors in Patone's list of what's going to be "hot" this spring and to use copper wire to bring it all together. I don't know why copper wire except the beads themselves seemed to just beg for it.  They whispered insistently in my head that copper wire was the way to go! (don't look at me like that! you know you ALL have beady little voices whispering to you, too, or you wouldn't be here!)

ANYway, this is what I made Friday night in a fit of creativity: (and, yes, I decided to keep these for myself. LOVE the color mix more than I tho't I would and it's my first real wire work of any kind! eeeeeesoproudpatsselfonback)

Copper Candy Twist ~ the light orange
beads are a tiger's eye sort of bead (not
real tiger's eye, but that sort of "movement"
in the bead) It's a little richer than the lighting
makes it look.

Played with the copper wire (also a deeper tone
than the lighting makes it seem) and did some
(semi-) serious twisting. This is the back of it. I
like that I can still see the beads if the necklace
gets twisted around this way.



The front ~ (do I have to mention the lighting
again? plus, it's taken with an iPhone)

connector between the dangle/focal and
the necklace. (honest! the colors are a little
richer than this!)

I kept the same colors (the tubes were a dark
orange) and pattern throughout

Matching earrings

close-up of one

Don't Forget ... Personal March Madness! :)

Don't forget, folks, I have a contest going on for the month of March. You only have two weeks left to participate then I'm drawing the winners.  Go here to join in and be entered in the drawing!

Click on the above link to see what this might be...... :)

Busy Weekend

 I had a busy weekend with the camera.  Here are a few new items (and a couple of old) going into the store on Etsy. 

Skies over Jupiter



Dream!

Rustic Berries

Rustic Teal

Teal Swirls

Red Daisy Dangles

Blue Daisy Dangles

Hot Spring - Lanyard

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT!



Moss Amethyst

 I read an article by the Silver Bear on the JETs blog called "Fakes, Frauds & Rip-Offs" about the various "gems" out there that are really just quartz with fancy names (well... he said "trash" but I still like most of the quartz available, they're gorgeous)  Still and all, Silver Bear had some great points to keep those of us who do use these stones, but don't know the difference between semi-precious and quartz, from being taken in by outrageous pricing (he's a gemologist... he knows things).
I think I'd add something to his dissertation, however: remember the names of the stones you sell!  We who use these stones in necklaces and bracelets need to be able to let our potential customers know what we've used in a design. Maybe we don't need to go into the detailed explanation Silver Bear did but we still need to let them know "Hey, this is quartz versus actual amethyst" or vice versa.  To that end, those of you we buy from need to be sure you correctly label the stones you sell.
As an example, there's a lady in my town who owns a bead and yarn store. It's like walking into Aladdin's Cave she has such wonderful things! BUT!  Some of her stones aren't labelled.  I asked about one I was interested in, it had a great color and pattern but no name label.  Chances are, according to Silver Bear's post, it was some form of quartz.  Regardless, her reply was "Oh, I don't know.  I buy stones I like and don't always get the name."  Uhm, sorry, but that's bad business in my book.  If I don't know what a stone is, I'm not buying it since I can't tell potential customers what they're getting (leaving it at "quartz" is lazy in my book, I'd want to know what kind of quartz before I bought from someone).  So, that day, she lost a potential sale on that particular stone.  She actually has lost a lot more in the sales department from me.  She really hikes the price of her wares and I think it's because she needs to read Silver Bear's article.  Not every stone with a fancy name and huge price tag is worth the money.
It's like buying a car, folks. Do your own research.  Don't buy just because you HAVE to have it (and might never find it again! gasp!) or it's pretty or unusual and the high price must indicate it's quality.  There are always variations on that particular stone out there.  Learn about the stone before you buy.  You'll save yourself, and any future customers, a bundle of money.  Not to mention that, if you have a savvy customer who researches before buying and they know that particular stone isn't worth the $50.00 price tag slapped on it...?  You lose out on 1) them wanting to buy anything else from you... if you overcharge for what they know is worth only $20.00 what else have you over priced? 2) you lose out on the money you paid for an over priced stone to begin with.  And, 3) you lose out on word-of-mouth.  It works for bad as well as good.  Do you want people to tell others "Oh, buy from so-and-so on Etsy (or wherever)! They have great products and great service!" or do you want them to say "Well, they have a great looking product but the prices for the items they sell? Yeah... well, it's up to you but I wouldn't pay that much for simple quartz." 
Educate yourself before the fact.  Don't lose customers because they knew what you didn't.

Pics After A Delay

Oh, my gracious!  I had no idea how hard it would be to re-take all the pics of the things I had in my Etsy store as well as get new pics of all the things I'd made to add to the store! Then, on top of that, I got sick last weekend and wasn't even able to take the pics until Monday night.  At which point I learned about photo editing.
Fun.
Right.
I love my new camera and my new table top studio, but I do NOT want to get either of them out again any time soon (which is a really ridiculous thing to say since I'm not going to stop creating!)
Anyway, here's a few previews of what's going to be in the shop by this weekend! (I hope! I plan!!)
Enjoy :)

I went SO nuts on the earrings! You don't even know! This isn't a 1/4 of what I have to put in the store (phew!) and I plan to have it all done over the weekend? Stay tuned, folks, and see if she escapes from Ward B! (hahahahaaa)

Necklace for Glasses

Again I say, this is why I don't (normally) work my beads on a week night. I was creating some earrings and a commissioned lanyard Monday night (which sold, btw, in spite of the lousy pic she was shown... stoopid lighting!) and was up until midnight with my playing around.  So, I determined I would set myself a time limit for Tuesday night.
Right.
SO didn't work!
Started by making a bunch more earrings. (I'm getting very good at those! ~haha!~) and then thought, why not make a chain for holding my readers when I have to take them off so I don't lay them down and then waste five minutes (or more) looking for them!  Inspiration!
Because I didn't want them to be heavy and drag my glasses off my face, I turned to my wooden beads.  Now, I don't have a lot of those BUT!  I found some really cute ones at Michael's one day and bought them out.  They had a dragonfly etched into them!  (yes, I am the dragonfly queen around here!)  Then, I looked next to them and saw daisies!!  Saner Sister LOVES daisies so I had to buy a bunch of those!  But... they've been sitting forlornly in my stash for weeks and weeks, now, without me having any inspiration for their use.
Until Tuesday!
They would be PERFECT for my glasses chain!  Cute as a bug (get it? get it!?) and light as a daisy! (aw, c'mon, help me out here, folks!)  Anyway, just as this inspiration struck, I looked at the clock and realised it was 9:00pm! 
Okay (I tho't to myself), I can do this.  Get the design laid out and, maybe, wire up a few beads before shutting down for the night.
Did that work?
Oooohhh, noooo! 
You parents know that whine you get from your kids on a school morning when you're trying to roust them out of bed?  "Just a few more minutes, Mom!"  Yeah, that one.  It was sort of like that. 
Glance at the clock - 9:30... okay, I've done the design, I can do a few beads and then I'll quit.
Glance at the clock - 9:45... well, just a few more. I'll quit at 10:00 for sure!
Glance at the clock - 10:30... glance at the beads. Well, I'm 1/2 way done, might as well wire up all the beads!
I'll say this, I did manage to get the beads done and everything put away by 11:00, but still.... Oh, well.  Here's the chain as is right now.  I'm going to make a few changes; for one, I'm going to alternate daisy beads every other one and, for two, I'm going to make a pendent so that I can take the part that holds the chain to the glasses off and wear it as a necklace if I choose!  But, here's a few pics of what it is for the moment:

So... what would you make a glasses chain/necklace from?  Tell me your design?  Oh, and, don't forget to go here and read (and comment) about my Personal Challenge.  You really, really want to do that.  So far, there are two ladies who've earned their part and only three more will get to.  Will you be one of them? (but, follow the rules!

WEDNESDAY CHALLENGES

Mellisaover at Chinook Jewelry is doing a Wednesday challenge each week.  She's putting up a pic of one of the focal beads she's made and asked us to show her the beads, chain, cord, etc., that we'd use with it.  It's hard for me, not because I can't find anything, but because I want to go in SO many directions at once.  Having to narrow it down so the bead pics don't look like a TOTAL mess is hard.  But, okay.  Here are my choices.  It was harder to decide what to use for the focal to hang from, I had three items I was looking at (all will be pictured) but I think I'd end up going with the chain. 
This is Mellisa's pendent:

Cute, huh?

My choice of beads are:


These aren't as yellow as the beads on the right imply, they
are a lighter color that go well with the creamy yellow in
the pendant and would bring that color out, I think.

 

I decided these glass teal beads would be a good accent so
the creamy yellow wouldn't be overwhelming.



These are creamier in color than the monitor
shows (it's also possible the background
washed out some of it and made them whiter
than they are)  I like them for added interest
and to off-set the yellow glass beads juuuust a bit.

  

I liked the richness of this color ribbon for the
pendent to depend from, but....



....I also like this velvet cord (it's much
richer than the monitor shows)
 Again, buuuut......

 

...I finally settled on this as what I would
use to hang the pendant. Love the brushed
look and the way the chain echoes the shape
of the pendent. 

So, these are the beads and findings I envision to go with Mellisa's pendent bead. I went for simplicity because I want the beauty of the pendent to shine through.  I also think I'd make it a long necklace... maybe 12" to 14" in total.
So, what's your vision?

PERSONAL CHALLENGE

I saw something on a friend's Facebook page last night that inspired me to do this personal challenge.  I'm going to send a handmade gift to the first five (5) people who make a comment on this post.  The challenge to myself is that each item will be made as the comments are made. No sending off something I've made already. The gifts will be either a pair of earrings or a bracelet.

Here are the rules:
1) You can comment about anything in my Etsy store, on my Facebook page or any other post in my blog but it MUST be made to this post. If not, it won't count.
2) This will only run until January 31st.  (and, remember, it's only the 1st five who comment, I can't afford to do this for everyone) 
3) You may tell me what colors you like and I will try to incorporate them into the design.
4) You may tell me if you prefer elegant, playful, casual or funky and I will try to create in that element.

5) You won't know which piece of jewelry you're getting, you get to be surprised.

So, comment away, folks.  Let me hear what you have to say and I'll contact you for your mailing address for your gift.

Happy New Year!

Table-Top Studio Update!

We took my table-top studio set back to the camera store my Mom bought it from and found out it was just a little short in the back of the lamp itself (not the cord). The guy helping us said he had a technician that worked in the store who could very likely fix it if we wanted to try that route first. Well, I'm all for the simple solution. He promised to call us when it was done (this was about 10:30 yesterday morning).

No calls.
All afternoon.
SO bummed. :(

Then, today, I get a message from Mom that the camera store had called her.  MY STUDIO LAMP IS FIXED! YAY!!  They'll get it for me this afternoon and I can set up some shots again tonight.  Woo HOO! Yes!  We'll see how things go, now.  Hopefully I'll have some creative pics to share soon.

MERRY KISS-A-MOOSE! (er, I mean, Merry Christmas! ~heee~)

MERRY KISS-A-MOOSE!

(ain't he a cutie!? I'd kiss his li'l nose!)

CONFESSIONS OF A BEAD-AHOLIC

Yes, I am coming out. It's time to let others know that it's okay to confess to this particular addiction.  I'm afraid there's no real cure for it, though. It's the kind of addiction you simply need to continue feeding because, unless you really OD on it, it's never going to go away.

Bead-aholicism.

Yes! I've done it! I've confessed! I am a bead-aholic!!

(whew, what a relief!)

As I said, this isn't anything that can be (or needs to be) "cured."  The problem with bead-aholicism is the bead-aholics' inability to pay attention to anything else while beading.  This can include (but not be limited to); passage of time, phones ringing, children, spouses, visiting family and/or friends, anything outside of a three foot radius.  Sometimes anything within the three foot radius if it's not a bead.  Many's the night when I've been beading away and looked up to realize the only light in the house was coming from my lamps on my work table.  I hadn't heard the t.v. stop blaring it's show.  I hadn't heard anyone heading down the hall to bed.  I hadn't even noticed the lights go off.  I was in my own little world (but, that's okay, they know me well there!).  The other problem is the bead-aholics need for pretty, shiny, all-shapes-and-sizes of beads. If you take a bead-aholic into Michael's or Hobby Lobby be prepared to, a) mop up the drool that will roll down the chin and, b) see them spend an outrageous amount of money on strings of beads and packets of findings that will go perfectly with what they already have.

A  bead-aholics sense of humor can even revolve around all things bead.  I have a co-worker who uses old pill and medicine bottles to store her beads, findings, etc. and, in spite of her telling him he didn't need to, her husband keeps saving them for her.  We joked about maybe they needed to be filled.  After all, we wouldn't want these poor bottles to become depressed because the lack of beads and findings made them feel unneeded.  At this time of year they could end up in a severe down-ward spiral of depression that could only be reversed by the application of rich-toned seed beads or luscious glass and gemstone beads.

Why am I confessing to bead-aholicism?  Because, I have a regular, 8 to 5 job that takes up the greatest part of my time.  I have a 30 minute commute to work and home again (another hour out of my day!)  It's 5:30 by the time I get home; that is, if I don't have to stop for fuel or some other errand... or my family doesn't decide we need to eat out instead of cooking.  If that happens I don't get home until well after 7pm.  And, knowing how I am about beading (disappearing into the art of creating something pretty) I don't like to bead too late in the evening during the week because I won't go to bed early enough to get enough sleep for the next day.  I know, I know, there are weekends to work at my craft.  Except that's when all the chores and things you weren't able to get done during the week are done.  Now what? Huh? Huh? Now?  Now you whine and pout and give everyone the "Bambi Eyes" in hopes you'll get (at least) a few hours to sit at your table.

The state of which is another indication of your bead-aholicism.  At MY table, I pull out several things at once when I start creating; mixing and matching colors, accents, wire or chain, findings, headpins.  And they rarely go back to the boxes and containers they came from so there's a serious mix-mash of all these items strewn about at any given time.  I recently read an article over on Art Bead Scene by Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found about making bracelets (or earrings) out of the "left-overs" on your table!  How fun! (not to mention a great way to clean up your mes... ahh... table!)

Another indication of bead-aholicism is how many times a day you either blog about, or read other blogs about, your passion.  It's hard to sit at my desk and not bring up my blog to see what all the blogs I've got on my "I stalk these people" list have been doing. What can they say or show me to inspire my creativity? The next clue is whether you email yourself the link to the picture they've posted so you can be inspired again later (tutorials only, folks! NO stealing someone's hard-earned designs!!!) or if you just print a copy of the picture then and there to add to your growing collection of "I have to try this!" pages that are shoved messily onto a shelf near your table or pinned to a board above it. 

Yes, bead-aholics are an interesting, if misunderstood breed.  We're (mostly) harmless (unless there's a major sale at Michael's or Hobby Lobby then, LOOK OUT!), and we really don't mean to ignore you.  Just understand we're on an entirely different planet than you when creating.  But, that's okay.  In fact, we won't mind at all if you want to come visit us there!

EARRING MADNESS!

Well, I went back to Pier 1 Imports last night and bought out all the daisy wine glass tags I could find. THEN, sadly, I found some cute little butterfly tags.  I say "sadly" because there were only two sets so, six pairs of butterfly earrings.  I also found some great lampwork flowers that I'm turning into earrings, too, and I have plans to go back and buy up the glass bead tags as well.  On the negative side, it cost me a little over $80 to buy all those (about 14 boxes of tags).  On the plus side, almost all of them were on sale so it only cost me a little over $80 to buy all of them.  On the plus-plus side, half of the ones on sale were on a better sale than the red tag led me to believe!  I just LOVE saving money! (if I only don't go broke saving it ~HA!~)
Anyway, here are three more pairs I made from last nights' haul, but they're not daisies this time.
Enjoy! (and, as always, feel free to share this link with anyone! *wink*)

Blue Swirl

Flowering Hope
~for my Spina Bifida line~

Hope Floats
~also for my SB line~

To paraphrase my Etsy description, those with SB aren't really that different from the rest of us.  They're no less fun-loving or any more serious than we are.  I want some of my SB line to reflect more than "serious" jewelry, I want fun and funky as well.  Hope Floats and Flowering Hope start that portion of my line.  Enjoy them, too. There will be more!

FREE SHIPPING

Yup! You read that right!  From now until January 2, 2012 anything you buy from my Etsy store has free shipping!
At least, it should all have free shipping!
Feel free to let me know if something doesn't add up! (haaaahahahahahaa! sniffsnort! I crack me up!)
ANYway!  Pop on over to the store and check out the product.  And BUY!  Or send the link to someone you know who's looking for good-quality, handmade gifts (for themselves OR someone else!)

Quit drooling!  Go BUY!!