Feeling the Love Fridays

I was feeling the Etsy love again this week with several treasuries! The first was made by Mireloom and it was called Stripes and Colors.


I'm sending the love back to Mireloom who is a weaver. At the moment, my favorite item from her shop is her candy bag. I love the orange and the beautiful weave!

This next treasury was called "Rusted" and was created by another talented Etsian who goes by chrdesigns.

I'm sending the love back to chrdesigns who makes beautiful beaded jewelry. My favorite at the moment is a pair of simple blue chalcedony drop earrings . . . exquisite.

Thank you both for those yellow stars!

Out of the Studio Wednesday

With a show in Connecticut this weekend (Innovative Beads Expo) I've been busy working on my display along with making a few last minute beads. Here's a couple pictures of some new patterns - they really are a conglomeration of a number of techniques. I have listed one of the beads in my shop. Sometime Friday, I'll be deactivating the shop until I return home.

Marvelous Monday

Shayna Lieb is a glass and metal artist whose work ranges from sculptural to jewelry. It's all quite beautiful but it was her sculptural work that really grabbed my eye. She's done an extraordinary series of sculptural work on wind and water.

Here's what she had to say about this series . . . "Two of the most powerful elements on our planet are nearly indiscernible to the human eye, yet we are innately aware of their presence, their capacity to soothe and destroy, and their ability to weave patterns where they touch.
Wind and water possess no intrinsic color, are clear to the point of invisibility, and yet move through space. We see not their form itself, but can detect their patterns and shapes only vicariously though the objects they affect. The trace of water's touch over moss and sea life, the wind's passage over marshlands, through wheat fields and the fur of a long-haired animal- these two forces make their presence known. Their character is contradictory and fickle, encompassing fragility and violence, placidity and turbulence.
They leave their mark upon ourselves and our external world. We have discovered some of their patterns and named them, giving them character and life: Kuroshio, Leeuwin, Sirocco, Charybdis, Boreas, Agulhas, the Nor'easters.

She has a website with so much more. You'll be in for a treat. And while you're there - have a marvelous Monday!

Feeling the Love Friday

What a great week for treasuries! This first treasury was made named "My Way" and it was made by riskodesign. It includes my blue business card holder. I'm sending the love back to Riskodesigns, who makes these fun, playful figures out of sterling silver. Here's one of my favorites - it's her "Trigonos" pin

The next treasury was made by sudiosu and it was called "dot . . . dot . . . dot". It features a pair of my midnight blue cuff links.

I'm sending the love back to Sudiosu, who uses her painting and printmaking talents to create these cool collages. My favorite collage at the moment is titled "One Thought".

The next treasury was called "Polymer Clay Treasures" and it was made by theGardenBath. My "Balancing" bead was included in this treasury.

I'm sending the love back to theGardenBath, who has a whole slew of bath products. My favorite, at the moment, is her "Raspberry Seeds - Cleansing Sugar Rub".

The next four treasuries are still "live" and you can go check them out. Please, click away! Below we have "Just Fresh" which was made by cooljewelrydesign. A pair of my moss green cuff links were included here.

I'm sending the love back to cooljewelrydesign, who has just that! Her "Floral Piece" is one of my favorites at the moment.

And below is a treasury called "Midnight" and was curated by nansglam. Another business card holder was featured here.

I'm sending the love back to nansglam, who has 9 pages of beautiful beaded jewelry. Here's just one of my favorites. It's called "Bright Blooms".

The next treasury was curated by KathyS711 and it's called "Purple makes me want to puke" (but in a good way, right?). In it was featured one of my beads.

I'm sending the love back to KathyS711, who just happens to be another polymer clay artist. Her "Victorian Heart Pendant" happens to be my favorite at the moment!

And just when I thought there could be no more possible treasuries, SandFibers managed to sneak in and create this one. It's called "Need Coffee" . My "bamboo" bead was featured here.

I'm sending the love back to SandFibers, who creates many amazing items with her beadwork. My favorite at the moment is her "Wake Up" bracelet. So, I guess if the coffee doesn't do the trick, wear one of these and have a high energy day!

So now, I'm hitting the studio. Did you notice this week there was no "Out of the Studio Wednesday"? Yeah, well the keyword was definitely out. But I'll have some pictures for you next week, for sure!

What's Today?

My daughter's birthday . . . HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY JULIENNE!!!

Etsy FRONT PAGE!!!

I was thrilled to hear this treasury I made hit Etsy's front page last night - always exciting! Maybe it had something to do with St. Patrick's Day?

BAO Item of the Week

This week, from 3/16/09 - 3/22/09, 12 members of the Bead Art Original team have listed their weekly specials. Click on the photo below for details!

Marvelous Monday

The sun is out and spring is just around the corner. And thinking about colors for the spring, I headed over to Pantone to see the color report for spring 2009. Here are the top 10:


And they also announced their spring color of the year -mimosa.

On that sunny note - have a marvelous Monday

Feeling the Love Friday

This week, I've had the good fortune of being in a few treasuries as well as being featured in a blog. First, there was KimCavender's treasury named "They've Got their Hooks In". Numerous IPCA's work is featured here - sure wish the treasury was still live so you could click!

And to send the love back (my favorite part) take a look at one of Kim's "Funky Face Focals" from her Etsy shop. But I can't stop there - have you seen this arrangement on her flickr page? How fun!

Next is the treasury by SandFibers called "Soothe the Savage Soul . . ." One of my business card holders was featured here.

And to send the love back, take a look at her "Truncated Eyelet - Taming the Fire" bracelet.

This last treasury was made by thebeadedlily. It's called "Titania Drinks Midori in Atlantis". My Atlantis bead was featured in it.And to send the love back, take a look at her "Jacaranda of Bhutan" necklace.

And finally, Liz from "the Wickedly Chic Daily Ditties" blogged about a pair of my earrings.

And to send the love back to Liz, head on over to her site where you can see all of the indie shops she has featured.

Out of the Studio Wednesday & Dustin with Brushes

I've been working on a new project. The colors have been kind of brewing for a while so I went ahead and started working on some hollow form beads - no lentils, ok, just one. So, while working on the shapes, I started experimenting a little with the mica shift technique. I think I see this as a whole conglomeration of different techniques. We'll see how it develops. Anyhow, this is a sneak preview of one of the beads.

Oh, and if you haven't seen Kathleen Dustin's new work, you might just want to check out her website. She's done it again!

BAO IOTW

This week's BAO Item of the Week features one of me reversible beads called "Balancing". I'm offering free shipping if this bead is purchased 3/9/09 - 3/15/09.

And eleven other BAO members are having specials as well. Click on the photo below for details.

Marvelous Monday

Suzan Rezac is a jewelry artist who works in many different metals. She uses an inlay technique where different colored metals are assembled together in a puzzle-like method. For anyone who has ever tried marriage of metals, realizes it can be quite a daunting task. The pieces (both positive and negative) have to be cut precisely or the join will not work. And yet, some of Suzan's more elaborate pieces have over 500 soldered joints and take weeks to construct! She works so much with Japanese alloys such as shakudo (a mostly low gold content metal - usually consisting of 2 - 7% with the remainder being copper) and shibuichi (whose name means one-fourth referring to 1 part silver 3 parts copper), she felt compelled to make a piece about Japanese culture. This piece was inspired by her love of gardening. "Ikebana" means flower arranging in Japanese and she thought it would be a good idea to have the wearer make her own arrangement by flipping those beads over and creating new combinations.

She patinas the metal to achieve the colors she needs. Shibuichi, when patinated, can create a wide range of grays, olive greens, and blues.

This piece is titled "Opus Tessaltatum" and it won the 2001 Founders Prize. This biennial award is given in conjunction with a catalogue and juried exhibition at the Society for Contemporary Craft.

Suzan has a website where you can see more of her work. Enjoy - and have a marvelous Monday!

Feeling the Love Friday

This week, I had the good fortune of being in three treasuries. The first treasury was made by chrdesigns called Evening Elegance. It features my Redwoods bead.

And now I'm sending the love back to chrdesigns. My favorite item at the moment from her shop is the Blue Sky and Sunshine Pendant.



The next treasury I was in was called "I Crave Sunshine" made by HeidiLee11. My lemon lace bead was featured here.

I'd love to send the love back to HeidiLee11 but I see she has no shop. I guess as long as you're registered on Etsy, you can make a treasury. Who knew?

The last treasury I was in is called "If on a Winter's Night" by CamillaSkye. My new cuff links are featured here.

Now I'm sending the love back to CamillaSkye. My favorite item in her shop at the moment is called "Wisteria, Like Rain".