Feelin' the Love Friday

You can imagine how pleased I was when I found out I was in two treasuries this week. And they're both still live - so check them out! The first is called "Beautiful Things" and was created by Ligiarocha.I'm a big fan of Ligiarocha's and would love to share one of my favorite beautiful things from her shop. It's her "Gillette Brooch".

To see more of her exquisite work, check out her Flickr pages.

The other treasury was created by Riskodesign. It's called "Yulunga".

I'd love to share one of my favorite pieces of Risko's. Actually, Ligia is the metalsmith behind Riskodesign. She is also Risko's aunt. Ligia takes Risko's very cool drawings and then fabricates them in sterling silver. She makes these well crafted, highly polished playful character pins. Right now, my favorite is the fox pin.

And look at this wonderful "one of a kind" drawings of Risko's that grace their gift boxes. How cool is that? What a great team!

Marvelous Monday

I thought I would return to the Nikon Microscopy site for a little color inspiration this week. I fell in love with this first picture for the bright and pale yellow against the blues. It's really drawing me in. I think I'm going have to use this palette sometime this week! Hope you have a marvelous Monday!

Feelin' the Love Friday

This past week, I'm thankful for my friend Smadar from the Bead Art Originals team. She made this treasury and she did such a great job that it made the front page.And my faux stone disk bead set was featured . . . and sold!

I'm sending the love back to Smadar by featuring a necklace that would have also looked fabulous in this treasury. . . it's her Bridal Necklace with Swarovski Crystal Vintage Heart Pendant. Don't you agree?

And, as if that wasn't enough, she went ahead and created another treasury titled "Colorzzzzzz" which featured my moss cuff links.

This time, I'm featuring another one of Smadar's spectacular necklaces. I especially love the asymetrical design of this piece. And aren't those daggers at the bottom sweet? Thanks Smadar!

Marvelous Mondays

For inspiration this week, I thought I'd feature the work of Davide Bigazzi. His blend of old world craftmanship and contemporary flair has landed him a 2009 Niche Finalist Award for his "Vinci Cuff". He was also a finalist in 2007 and 2006. His work contains mostly sterling silver and 18 karat gold and is screaming "touch me".

His journey into this craft began at the young age of 14. He became an apprentice to the renowned sculptor and jeweler Bino Bini. He did this for 5 years as he perfected his craft. He began his own career as a bench jeweler, then a designer, model maker and production supervisor for commercial manufacturers. He became a sought after freelancer and commissioned jewelry prototypes for Italian fashion houses. Besides selling in galleries throughout the U.S., Italy and Japen, he also teaches chasing and repousse at various places in California, New York and Italy. If you'd like to see what's involved with the process of chasing and respousse, he has a video on YouTube.

BAO Item of the Week

The BAO item of the week has changed from running Monday - Sunday. The schedule is now running Friday - Thursday. So you have until midnight on Thursday evening to get the special deals being offered. This week we have 17 participants to choose from! My special this week is my purple and pink earrings. I'm offering free shipping if purchased by August 20th.



To find out what all the other specials are, you can go to the BAO blog.

And finally, for those of you living in the Massachusetts area, I'll be down in Falmouth this weekend at Cape Cod's 13th Annual Bead Show. It's held in the Gus Canty Recreation Center in Falmouth. The show runs from 10 - 5 on Saturday and 10 - 4 on Sunday. It's run by JoAnn Allard of The Bead Tree and is one of my favorite shows. I'll be introducing something new and wonderful. Hope to see some of you there!

Marvelous Monday

I'm back from my trip to Lake Sunapee. Had tons of fun - jet skiing, mah jong and margherita marathons and lots of laughs. This week's post will be about the 76th League of New Hampshire Craftsmen's Fair that I went to on Wednesday. It was my first time and was pretty excited. There were over 200 vendors, demos, tours, workshops and lectures going on. I purchased a beautiful tall sunflower lawn ornament out of torch cut steel from Junker Studio. I also bought a beautiful pair of earrings from Kathleen Curtin (who does not have a website).

They gave out numerous awards, two of which were Best in Mixed Media - Jewelry (won by Kathleen Dustin for her "Summer Neckpiece") and Best in Jewelry with Stone (won by Sandra McCaw for her Falling Leaves Earrings)

The artist I thought I'd share today is Peter Bloch who makes these beautiful translucent wood lampshades. His work was everywhere I turned it seemed. I know what you're thinking. Wood - translucent? He began experimenting with translucent wooden lampshades back in 1987 when he noticed that some of his thin wood burl turnings were translucent when exposed to an intense light source. But after experimenting with different woods, he was discouraged how the wood was opaque. It wasn't until he discovered accidentally in 1992 the translucent qualities of the Quaking Aspen tree. Finally he had a type of wood that glowed warmly and brightly when lilt from the inside. The final thickness of the wood is 3/32"! If you want to know more about his process, he has a blog. Hope you enjoy and have a marvelous Monday!

Marvelous Monday

Floating . . . spinning . . . drifting. I've often thought of making a mobile for my home. It's one of those things that I'll get to one day. I have the perfect spot for it and it's beckoning me. So everytime I come across an artist who makes mobiles, I dream. What will it look like, how large will it be? I can see it moving gracefully, dancing through space. I've never seen any done in silk - how beautiful these must be in person. Take a look at Jan Carson's delicate "Moon Lily Silk Mobiles". If you like spending time with plants, you'll feel right at home.

Tomorrow, I'm heading up to a friend's place on Lake Sunapee where I'll be for the week. It just so happens that the League of New Hampshire's Craftsmen's 76th Annual Fair will be going on. I'm really looking forward to it as this will be my first time ever! It's going on from August 1 - 9th. It's a rather large show and you can read about it here. So I'll be having a little fun in the sun with some friends. Enjoy your week - and have a marvelous Monday!