Inspired By Fibers And Cords!

This weekend, Beading Daily is hosting a blog hop for the Book "Bohemian Inspired Jewelry"  written by the ultra talented Lorelei Eurto and Erin Siegel. It is filled with gorgeous projects that introduce you to the wide assortment of fibers and the many beautiful ways they can be incorporated into jewelry designs.

Bohemian Inspired Jewelry

Taking inspiration from the necklace titled Autumnal Arrangement on page 38, I used silk cord to link ceramic discs and a toggle that I purchased from Captured Moments. To balance the boldness of the discs, I added in a really fun and unique crocheted yarn that is three inches wide when stretched. The graduated colors of taupe to gray complimented the discs and toggle.

The second piece that I created involved simple overhand knotting in between ceramic beads created by Elaine Ray, with a rhodium plated rectangle bead as the focal. I finished the necklace combining polyester chain and silk ribbon to glass rings, giving the overall design an organic feel. Some examples of overhand knotting can be found on pages 59, 63 and 78 in the book.

This next design was inspired by the resin beads that I purchased from Rings and Things a few days ago, taking inspiration from the Fleur De Lis bracelet on page 89.

One of my favorite new art books, Bohemian Inspired Jewelry is a beautiful resource for adding texture and color to designs. The Interweave Store as well as Lorelei and Amazon all have copies of the book for sale.

Bohemian Inspired Jewelry

In celebration of this event, I will be giving away an assortment of fibers to help inspire some Bohemian Inspired Jewelry! I will select a winner randomly from the comments left on this post.
Winner will be chosen Monday June25th!


Please visit the other participants!

Amanda Davie - Articulations of Amanda Davie

Amy Freeland - CopperDiem

Andrew Thornton - The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton

Barbara Bechtel - Second Surf   

Beth Hemmila - Hint Jewelry      

Erin Prais-Hintz - Tesori Trovati 

Gaea Cannaday - Gaea Handmade          

Heather Powers - Art Bead Scene            

Heather Trudeau - The Peacock Fairy     

Kathleen Lange Klik - Modern Nature Studio

Keirsten Giles - Cerebral Dilettante         

Kristie Roeder - Artisan Clay       

Lori Anderson - Pretty Things    

Margot Potter - Margot Potter: live handmade 

Melanie Brooks - Earthenwood Studio  

Michelle Mach - Beads & Books

Pearl Blay - The Beading Gem's Journal 

Rebecca Anderson  - Song Beads             

Rebekah Payne - TreeWingsStudio          

Sally Russick - The Studio Sublime            

Shannon Chomanczuk- For My Sweet Daughter               

Shannon LeVart - Miss Fickle Media 

Staci Smith - Staci Smith Jewelry               

Stacie Florer - Love My Art Jewelry         

Susan Kennedy - Sue Beads        

Metal Goodness And A Bit Of Sparkle

Yesterday I went to the Rings & Things bead show in McLean, Virginia. This was my first time attending this show as well as buying from them in general. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a very friendly R&T associate who gave me the lowdown of the show. He handed me a tray and off I went...

I was planning to buy only gemstones. Instead I ended up finding some really great metal beads and spacers, some of which I had been searching for!

handmade beads made from recycled metal - had been searching for these and found them!

brass and silver plated copper heishi discs 

cool silver plated copper spiral discs

resin tubes

solid copper flower beads - awesome find!

sterling silver french hook ear wires

chalcedony in shades ranging from pale pinks to lavender

This is the gorgeous chalcedony that I purchased. I don't use a lot of sparkle in my designs but I couldn't resist this gorgeous strand. It reminded me of summer flowers!

I left with a bag full of goodies, two Rings & Things catalogs (which I am enjoying perusing) and stayed within budget!

Art Bead Earring Swap

The wonderfully talented Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio hosted an Art Bead Earring Swap. What that involves is, after signing up Diana pairs people in sets of three. You then make a pair of earrings, using at least one art bead per earring, for each partner and then mail it to them. I was paired up with Melinda Orr of Melinda Orr Designs and Keri Lee Sereika of Pink Lemonade. What an awesome and fun idea! I now have two new pairs of fantastic earrings created by two fantastic artists!

 Here is what I received:

 Melinda Orr created these gorgeous, contemporary patterned copper and 

antiqued sterling silver earrings, with jade.

And from Keri Lee Sereika; beautiful, vintage style earrings with polymer clay beads that
she hand made, using a technique called Mokume Gane to represent jasper,
antiqued brass and oxidized sterling ear wires.

This is what I created for Melinda and Keri:

 For Melinda: I used a Greek ceramic bead, a washer that I
textured and a ceramic disc by Elaine Ray. I made the ear wires from
silver filled wire, oxidized with liver of sulpher.

For Keri: lampworked discs by River Oak Acres and the rest I created with silver filled wire.

Please visit the other participants to see what they created and received!

Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Patti Vanderbloemen http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com

Mary Harding http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Diane Hawkey http://www.dianehawkey.blogspot.com/

Lesley Watt http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Melinda Orr http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com

Cilla Watkins http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com

Stephanie Haussler http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com

Sally Russick http://www.thestudiosublime.com

Susan Kennedy http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Amy Freeland http://www.copperdiem.blogspot.com/

Marla James http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Tania Spivey http://www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Lange Klik http://www.modernnaturestudio.blogspot.com/

Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/

Erin Prais-Hintz http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.com/

Gail Barnett http://www.atlastanewyearsresolution.blogspot.com/

Linda Landig http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

Sharleen Newland http://www.shaterraclaystudio.blogspot.com/

Dee Elgie http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/

Mary Shannon Hicks http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Lisa Johnson http://whimsyswonders.blogspot.com/

Shelby Foxwell http://sundownbeaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Keri Lee Sereika http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com/

Cheryl Brown www.dragonflybeads.ca

Linda Younkman http://www.lindysdesigns.blogspot.com/

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com/

Fay Wolfenden http://www.torchfairy.blogspot.com/

Summer Inspiration

As the summer season approaches thoughts of surf, sunshine, gardens and vacations influence my jewelry designs. Shades of turquoise, aqua, pale greens and yellow are some of my favorite summertime colors. These are a few of the gorgeous artisan beads that have inspired me...

Top to bottom, left to right.

Diane Hawkey

Shaterra

Artisan Clay

Plus Size Bangles

Marsha Neal Studio

Elaine Ray

Humblebeads

Flame Crazy

Captured Moments

What are some of your favorite summertime colors and themes?

Who are your go to artisans for summer themed beads?

Earrings Inspired By Summer And The Sea

I have been working to create inventory for my next craft show in June. The one thing my customers love, especially in the summer, are earrings! So with that in mind, I created several pair all inspired by the colors and textures of summer; aqua, turquoise, sunset hued copper, ocean waves, sand, pebbles.

Marsha Neal Studio small ceramic pendants

bamboo 

brass

ceramic

copper

turquoise magnesite

copper

copper

Greek ceramic spikes

Greek ceramic discs

dyed rhodonite

brass

Next on my list are bangles and dangle style bracelets. What are you currently working on and how is summer influencing your designs? 

Aquatic Inspiration

Several weeks ago, I spent the day with my best friend and her family at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was quite a treat as I had never been there before. As always I brought my camera along! I finally got a chance recently to edit the photos (oh how I wish I had an assistant).

My friend's daughter Evelynne in awe of the neon fish swimming in one of the many aquarium tanks.

Some very unusual sea creatures...

 Evelynne was mesmerized by the jellyfish. I love the contrast of the aqua and orange.

Great summer color combination!

   These jellyfish looked as though they were floating in space!

Our aquarium adventure has brought inspiration of the sea, filled with color and texture!

Bead Star 2012 - Vote For Your favorites!

My necklace titled Woodland Path has made it into the top 20 for the Metals category of the Bead Star 2012 competition! I am so excited, this my first year entering the contest and I am honored to be part of some very talented company!

Materials:  brass leaves, antiqued brass leaf, organic shaped silver spacers, carved wood beads, 8mm agate beads, faceted tiger eye pattern Czech crystals, silver plated copper wire, aluminum wire.

 There are seven different categories that you can vote in:

Ceramics - Crystals - Glass - Metals - Pearls - Plastics - Stones

You can vote for your favorite at Bead Star.com between May 11th and May 28th. You will need to sign in/create an account with Beading Daily to vote. Beading Daily is a wonderful resource for jewelry artists and enthusiasts! Have fun!

First Craft Show Of The Season: Reston Craft Market

I participated in my first craft show of the season, the Reston Craft Market at Lake Anne Plaza. There are over 60 talented artists signed up for the market this year! I was thrilled to be included with these wonderful artisans. Within minutes of the market opening, people started coming into my booth. From that point on, I had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day! I met some really wonderful people and sold over half of my inventory, doubling the goal I had hoped to reach!

My awesome husband once again helped me throughout the entire day! I hope he realizes how much I appreciate and value his help-I couldn't have done it without him! His birthday is this weekend, I'll have to make sure it is extra special!

I didn't get a chance to take many photos, but these will give you an idea of my booth. I like to create a welcoming space for my customers. A few of them commented that it has a very zen like feel to it!

So I will be spending all of my free time creating inventory for my next show in June. Can't think of a better way to spend my time!

Oh, Hello Friend Reader Appreciation Week!

One of the blogs I follow, oh, hello friend is having a reader appreciation week filled with giveaways and awesome deals! If you aren't familiar with the blog, I highly recommend it. Danni covers a variety of topics including packaging, fashion, favorite finds and business cards (these are just some of my favorites). Enjoy!

Bead Fest Wrap Up: Part 2...Lots Of Beads!

Aside from taking classes, shopping for beads was (and always is) on my agenda at Bead Fest. My first treasure was a heart shaped ceramic pendant from Suburban Girl Studios. They were being given out along with her business card to students as we checked in Thursday evening. What an awesome way to start the weekend-thank you Diana!

I made a plan to first visit the artisan booths! I purchased from two of my favorite vendors; Jennifer Fahnestock and Green Girl Studios. After salivating over the gorgeous beads at each table, this is what I left with...

Gorgeous lampwork glass and an enameled copper headpin.

Awesome pewter!

These are the some of the other treasures from my Bead Fest weekend...

 I am so in love with these wood beads!

 Tagua nut. 

 Ceramic and gemstone beads.

 Striped agate, dyed blue jade, dyed white turquoise.

Gorgeous citrine!

 Matte agate and cowrie shell.

 Glass; perfect summer colors!

 Sparkling geometric crystal.

 Silver plated brass.

 Red bronze pendants, really love these!

 So thrilled to score more of Marsha Neal's de-stash pendants; woo hoo!

 Butterfly pocket watch and gorgeous chain.

 Fell in love with this electroplated copper leaf!

 Ceramic and some really cool chain.

 Stunning capiz shell mixed with resin and trimmed with fine silver.

Decoupage wood.

Drilled stones and copper toggles.

labradorite

natural turquoise

red jasper

flower jasper 

obsidian

So many new pretties, I honestly think that I have more beads and ideas than I do time to create!