Art Bead Scene Challenge - Rolling 'Round

I met at least one deadline this month...the August Art Bead Scene challenge!  

I've been shopping with Heather at HMB Studios forever, it seems, and I'm never disappointed by her beads.  My favorite are the "chunky" disk designs that she comes up with...the color combinations just sing!  When I studied the artwork inspiration provided by the ABS editors, I loved on the fall colors of rust and yellow and dark green.  When looking around my table for good art beads to feature, the HMB disks were there and considering the "cycle" inspiration the round shapes were perfect!

I found a thin copper bangle bracelet amidst my supplies--it came from a clearance Chico's purchase a while back--that makes for a perfect frame to create my little bead and wire sculpt.  Plus, there was a mixed metal feel to the inspiration with the bicycle so I felt comfortable using silvery steel along with the copper to create an arrangement of the disks that make their color and shape stand out.

I'm still not back in Hampton, yet, so I don't know how my neighborhood fared in Irene, but we're going to drive back tonight.  Work is a "go" tomorrow, so I'm guessing there'll be some cleaning up around the building.  In the meantime, I'm going to spend some time checking out the rest of the ABS challenge entries for this month.

I've Been Seen at Art Bead Scene

Many thanks to Lori, my Pretty Things friend and a contributor at the Art Bead Scene! 

 She picked my design from this month's ABS challenge, Ophelia, to feature this week!

I have to share the love on this because it's all about the Art Beads!!

- My friend, Sandra, bought the set last week from my Etsy shop!

- Juls' ribbed turquoise glass rounds are amazing

- I just bought a couple more sets of disks kinda like 

that yellow one from HMB Studios.

- I'm going to another Barbara Lewis class in July to learn how to 

make more beads like that blue enameled one in the middle.

- The blue and green disks came from Donna Millard with some amazing little vintage

metal bead caps and now I want to try to make some myself.  I only

cut myself once on the first try.

I need to try to sell some more stuff so I can justify the $ I spent on more artisan goodness this week.  I'll share some bead porn later this week after all the fun little yellow envelopes make it to my little mailbox.

Art Bead Scene Challenge for June

My offering for this month's Art Bead Scene challenge is this set--a necklace, bracelet and earrings--that features some lampwork bead goodness.  I used leather, brass, copper, and chain as my "neutrals" to highlight the vibrant colors of these artisan's beads.  

This whole set is listed in my Etsy shop for sale.  :)

About the beads:

~The Tribal Turquoise set of ribbed rounds came from Juls Cannon at Julsbeads.

~The big disks in blue and green are from a set that Donna Millard created and which I coveted for a while before finally deciding to go for ownership.  The set came with a bunch of her hand-cut tin bead caps which I'm saving for later.

~The little yellow highlight disk is from HMB Studios.  It's not a wacky chunky piece--those are my favorites by Heather--but I tend to have a lot of her disks around because they're just so yummy.  (I just clicked over to her shop to check my links and there are some awesome wacky chunkies that I now want but I'm still in the midst of my two week off-the-craft-supply challenge!  Dang!!)

~The big enamel blue bead is one that I made during a Painting with Fire workshop with Barbara Lewis.

On the challenge inspiration:

Ophelia by Odilon Redon
c. 1900-05; Pastel on paper mounted on board, 19 7/8 x 26 1/2 in; The Woodner Collection
"The depiction of Ophelia seems not at all tragic, but rather an idyllic scene of a naked bather in a limpid pool of flowers. The design and colour scheme is masterly and original, being merely suggestive of the tragedy of death after rejection and madness." - Tony Thomas

There are lots of other challenge pieces out in this Flickr group.  :)

Dandelions and Wacky Chunkies

It's always so funny to submit things to magazines because you have to do it so early that the seasons seem to be offset.  Back in November I had to get in the groove of April and May to meet the design deadlines.  Apparently it worked out because now that it's May, Bead Trends is out and there's a pretty little set all ready for the flowers and sunshine and rain showers (and pollen and stuffy nose....haaaaaaaa) that I'm proud to say I created!





I know we're more in dandelion's yellow flowering time right now, but eventually those little fluff balls will be out.  This polymer clay bead captures the fluff beautifully...it's from Heather at Humblebeads.  I found a few available in her etsy shop if you're coveting.





Those awesome lampworked glass disks are some of my faves from Heather (a different Heather) at HMB Studios.  She calls them "wacky chunky" and since I think of myself as kind of wacky chunky I have a huge collection of them as a sort of self tribute. haaaaaaaa 


She actually just posted this week that there are a bunch of new wacky chunky sets in her Etsy shop.





In addition to the awesome art beads, the other thing I think is cool about this set is the fact that those little bone flower circles actually came from Michael's...and I'm sure I used a coupon so they were a super deal.  It's a good balance of more expensive handmade beads with some bargains.  I'm trying to get over being too much of a bead snob.  :)  

Thanks to Emma, Laura & Fredbean

How lucky can a girl get?!  I haven't spent a lot of time blogging recently, but I did stop by Ms. Emma's Fredbean's Nook blog and entered her giveaway.  She had some extra stash hanging around and decided to share.  Well, I wasn't paying enough attention because this was a HUGE stash...I am overwhelmed and excited because her lovely daughter, Laura, drew my name from the bunch!

We're talking copper wire GALORE!  I have had it spread all over my living room and kitchen since it arrived.  I happened to also just get the new Wire Style 2 book that features the work of a few good friends and am totally motivated to coil and wrap and then coil some more.  

There were also a ton of wonderful greens...tubes and tubes of seedbeads and a bunch of lovely Czech glass.  Oh, and some olive leather that I unraveled right away.

As soon as I opened this big box of goodness I ran back to the bead room and strung up a memory wire bracelet with a soup of those wonderful green seed beads.

The little focal group includes some enameled metal that Emma sent plus lampworked glass from HMB Studios--my favorite disk source--and a really cool boro bead from Brendan Blake.

Thanks, again, Emma & Laura!  I will definitely be paying this forward.  :)

Art Bead Scene Challenge - Some Tahiti for Your Wrist

I made some time this month to focus on a project for the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge.  The inspiration piece is this painting called Nave Nave Moe (Sacred Spring, Sweet Dreams) by Paul Gauguin, 1894.  According to the ABS's notes, Gauguin moved to Tahiti in the late 1800's looking for inspiration from the local culture.  This painting is an example of his work from that period.

The ABS editors pulled a palette out of the lusciously vibrant yet at the same time soft colors.  To get my own inspiration, I took a few minutes and just focused on the painting and tried to capture how it made me feel and what drew my attention the most.  I was really drawn to the red.  The spirited brightness is where I'm drawn to first, but then I noticed that I was really drawn to the red and pink together. The pink is smooth and soothing and just earthy-pretty.  The internal question for me at this point was, "uh, what about the whole cool beautiful blue and green of the fields?"  I'm realizing that since I haven't been beading all that much lately, I'm not really focusing on a favorite color or palette...think orange...but am open to different hues and combinations.  It's a little color breakthrough!  haaaaaaaaaaaa  


On that note, I went for the vibrancy of the pink and brought in the green--it's just a great complementary combination.  

As for my art beads...there are lots combined in here for a little mini wrist-gallery:


- The lampworked glass bicone focal of the group is by Catherine Steele at Art With Heart.  I found these during my Bead Soup shopping spree and I looooove them.  These are the kind of hoard-worthy beads that you put under your pillow and keep forever.
- The enameled greeny round is by Barbara Lewis of Painting With Fire.  In just two weeks I get to meet Barbara and take her enameling class up at Bead Fest Wire in Philly.  I've always been a fan of her work and got super-lucky a few months ago when I won a giveaway at Love My Art Jewelry and got the whole batch of beads that were featured on the cover of Handcrafted Jewelry in the fall.
- The enameled speckled oval is by Anne Lichtenstein of Gardanne Beads.  They're so springy!
- The lampworked glass disks are by Heather Boardman from HMB Studios.  I have tons of these in tons of colors.  They're so pretty in little piles that I like having lots of them in my stash.

All of these little works of art are combined on memory wire with rubber tubing...apparently my new favorite design...for this bangle.  There are a few Swarvoski crystals, some pink dyed wood, and some greenish seedbeads and random stones to finish balancing the color.

I've gotten lots of questions about where I get the rubber tubing.  I get it at my local bead shop, Bead Haven.  It's Beadsmith Rubber Tubing--I'm going to tell Joanne to put some out on the Bead Haven shopping site.

The rest of the monthly challenge entries are out in the ABS Flickr Group.  It's always cool to see how different people take the inspiration and run with it!  

Art Beads, Memory Wire & Rubber

I have been on an art bead high lately...that's what it's like when you go on an Etsy spree and start buying beads you don't need and then you get tons of little packages in the mail.  It's such a rush!

To help me deal with that addiction and actually give me some justification to do more "support of other artists" I finally sat down to make something.  Memory wire and rubber tubing are two of my favorite things right now.  I just love how easy it is to create something fun and dramatic so quickly.  I have two designs to share...

First, this is a springy piece in honor of the coming season.  I actually have a lot of purple and yellow beads and didn't really think about it until I started looking.  The lead bead in this batch is the etched rondelle from Cherie R. and then the others fell in line:  a disc from HMB Studios, a big rondelle from Libelula, and two shades of purple from SueBeads.  I threw in some bright yellow Swarovski crystal and some purple coils to keep things interesting.  The brown rubber tubing makes it look like leather, but then you get faked out because it just wraps around your wrist without a clasp and stays there!  

The second one has a different, more serious, vibe.  The chartreuse-based lampwork from Julsbeads gets mixed with a speckled enameled oval from GardanneBeads for the focal grouping on this one.  I used some cool heishi pearls from a recent trunk show over at Bead Haven along with black rubber tubing to fill in the blanks.  It's just the right balance of beads for a bangle.

I put these both for sale out on my Etsy site.  :)

Pantone's Fall & Artbeads...in Living Coral

As a parter in Artbeads.com's blogging program, I was lucky enough to help celebrate the season with the latest hot colors according to the Pantone's Color Report for Fall 2010 in the Colors of Fall challenge.


I love they way Pantone describes the colors...you can taste, touch, and smell them...not just see them. 


Let me start with orange...okay, it's not really orange, it's Living Coral which is a "softer, more inviting orange with a hint of pink undertone."  How about an "accent in Tangerine?"  It's a "spirited color with an energizing effect."  Love it!!!  I started with a little pile of coral Swarovski pearls.  I wasn't really sure about the sheen and finish on them when I first opened my package, but the matte shine and richness grew on me...uh, I guess I felt the spirit and the energizing effect.

I dug out some memory wire and went for overload!  I often feel like I need Tim Gunn looking over my shoulder encouraging editing...but, this is one case where I threw him out the window and put on whatever I wanted.  There are some green Swarovski pearls that add another texture and then some olivine Swarovski crystals.  Oh, I threw in some purple, too, just 'cause I like it.

From there it was all art beads...all the time...coral-based lampwork rounds from Libelula Designs and perfectly colored lampwork disks from HMB Studios.

Since I started this time with the bracelet--usually the necklace comes first in my brain's processing--I kept my art bead groove on for the necklace.

In addition to the lampwork disks and rounds, I pulled out a little ceramic goodness that I picked up a few weeks ago at Art on the Avenue in the Del Ray section of Alexandria, Virginia.  Curt, my sweetie husband, was the perfect art festival companion...he let me shop and browse and shop some more as long as he got yummy festival snacks!  haaaaaaaaa  This gorgeous pendant is from Ceramic Sistah...it's signed on the back by Olivia with an '03 date.  She said it was one of her first pendant pieces, so I felt like I found a little treasure in her bowl of pendants and shards.

Disclosure...As a parter in the Artbeads.com Designers program, I received the coral Swarovski pearls free of charge. I've been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion of the products...positive or negative. I am not being compensated by Artbeads.com for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Cider Spirited Bracelets

Last week during an Etsy shopping spree, I found some lovely big ceramic beads by Natalie Pappas of NKPBeads...she called them "apple crunching raku" which is just down the autumn-y leaf-strewn street in my mind.  Rolling them around in my hands, I perused my random stash and found some cool pieces with big enough holes to fit on some bigger wire...the faceted golden glass is new from Kansas City and the little brass starburst thingies are sooooo cool!  I've been waiting for the perfect reason to use them.

So, here are my two bits of bling that are channeling the spirit of apples and cider and all the cinnamon goodness wandering through my mind!

Aren't those big green raku beads amazing!

And, here's a few more of them combined with some brighter red wooden beads and some HMBStudios glass disks...in "green apple" of course!  haaaaaaaaaa

I'm all prepped now for my trip to Pennsylvania.  But, in the meantime,...these bracelets are both available in ye olde Etsy shop! 

ABS Challenge - Persia in September

The work of art that the Art Bead Scene folks picked out this month for inspiration in their challenge is a work called "Persia" by George Barbier.  I focused on the orange of the lovely robe for my art beads this month and came up with this set...

There are a few different artists represented in these pieces:

A set of Brendan Blake lampwork beads called "Orange Violet Pebbles,"

some lampwork discs from HMB Studios, and

enameled beads and bead caps from SueBeads.

For some reason, I just can't get enough of this antiqued brass looking metal.  So, I splurged on some Vintaj leafy branches to round out this look--love them on the earrings.  Plus, I'm not a big user of beadcaps, but I love the effect of these little brass floral ends.

I used spiny oyster, vintage brass, and random orange stone rondelles and rounds to finish the long necklace.  Then more of the same on memory wire (my personal addiction), with some tourmaline nuggets--it took a while to separate out the purples from the rest, but it was worth it.

Feel free to shop...this one just got listed in my Etsy:  jenjuddrocks

Luscious Lori Lochner...

It's amazing how excited I get over little pieces of glass.  But, they're more than that...they're sweet little hand-made wonders!  I got a couple of new beads in the mail today from two artists I haven't seen before, but I'll share more on them later.  For now, I want to go back a ways to an Etsy purchase I made ages ago from lampwork artist Lori Lochner.  It's just a gorgeous, big, bold bead that made it's way onto my worktable. 

The vein of blue through the soft floral patterns called for this great shape of blue apatite.  Then, a bunch of pretty oranges--ceramics and stones rounded out the color picture.  I've been trying new methods for creating bails and I just love the way this leather piece turned out.  The continuation of the leather around back finishes up the design.

Of course, I had to move onto bracelet land with my memory wire at hand...lots more apatite, this time little faceted beads, along with ceramics, stones, and a few HMB Studios glass discs to complement the big glass focal.

I just listed the whole set in my Etsy shop...even threw in a little pair of coordinating earrings.  :)

A Greenie Bead Giveaway!

Big kitty boy, Brando, my one-eyed honey, and I were sitting around this afternoon thinking about  new projects.  I told him that I really wanted to blog this afternoon.  He says, "Why don't you celebrate your big magazine achievements with a giveaway?"  Great idea, buddy!

I decided to dig through my stash and go with a green theme because the pieces in Stringing have green influences.  I started the bunch below with simple cut aquamarine nuggets, turquoise-colored resin disks, and recycled glass that's featured in those necklaces.

Then, I just started addingfrom the green drawer.  Let's see...on the stone side, there's prehnite, turtle turquoise, dyed bright green magnesite, ocean jasper, crazy lace agate, and green garnet and probably some other bits.  I threw in some felted beads, recycled glass, vintage glass and Czech glass.  On the handmade side, there's a pretty Artisan Clay ceramic link, a recycled bottle ring from Art by the Case, a sparkly glass green bead from Linden Avenue Designs, and a funky recycled glass bead by HMB Studios.  Oh, and there are polymer clay pendants that I made, too.  :)

I broke everything into two little boxes as the pile got high, so I'll pick two winners.

Help me celebrate having seven pieces published this summer and win some greenie bead nerd goodness!!

 All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what your favorite color is to work with.  I always tend towards orange, or I thought so, until I realized how much green I have!

I'll randomly select two names from my commentators, so if you don't have a blog, please leave your address so I can track you down to send you the goods. Plus, if you blog about the giveaway, leave me a comment and I'll give you another shot in the drawing!

I'll draw winners on Sunday, 18 July at noon, so I look forward to hearing from you!

Whoo hoo!!!

When Does Collecting Turn Into Hoarding?

Someone in my house has been hoarding handmade lampwork art beads.  Can you even imagine?  haaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I guess my collecting all started when I was in middle school and had to have all the latest cool stickers.  Remember Lisa Frank?  How about Mrs. Grossman's? I still have that sticker book...yes, it has moved with me eight times!  haaaaaaaaaaaa  But, of course I have actually expanded the sticker collection into a whole nightmare (okay, it's actually a daydream) of crafty paper, adornments, glue, more paper and, yes, even more stickers.  I can't even tell you how many plastic containers (with lovely printed labels) I have filled with my artsy-crafty life supplies.

When I fell in love with making jewelry a few years back, my joy of hoarding spread to beautiful beads.  I should probably feel guilty that these pretties are only my treats to look at, sorted out in color-specific drawers with lovely printed labels.  Since I don't feel guilty at all about my collection I figure it's a safe time for me to start actually using them.  If you're a bead afficionado, then you know that handmade beads aren't inexpensive, so these bracelets aren't either. But, since they're a little gallery all on their own, I think it's totally worth using them all up!!

That Bracelet is Singing the Blues Like an Art Bead Dream

Lampwork glass discs from HMB Studios

Lampwork rondelles from Lisa New

Plus...beans from South America, a bit of Javanese
glass (which is so appropriate because we studied

Indonesia today in class), and a few ceramic pieces.

Fresh Mowed Grass and Sunshine Art Bead Bangle

Lampwork disks from HMB Studios

Lampwork rondelles from Lisa New

A lampwork rondelle from Cindy Craig

Plus...beans from South America, some Javanese

 glass, and a few ceramic pieces.

So what sort of collection do you have?  Are you keeping it just for yourself?  What are you saving all those beads for?  haaaaaaaaaa

A Sunny Sunday...

Some of my most awesomest fave lampwork disks by HMB Studios and Linden Avenue Designs are the sunshine behind this sweet bangle.  Celebrate some sunny art beads with some shopping at JenJuddRocks on Etsy.

p.s. don't you love my photo trick of putting the focus on the back instead of the front?  haaaaaaaaaaaaaa  I will have to learn how to take pictures someday.  :)

It Started With The Little Spotted Beads

I went through a phase probably about a year ago that I felt like I just had to have all these spotted "peacock beads."  There's just something about the color and fun and dottiness of them that makes me happy.  But, alas, they were sitting undiscovered in one of my various workshop drawers.  So, they're out and about, now, and playing well with others....

Yellow peacock beads from Artbeads.com

Light blue lampwork glass from SueBeads

Mykonos Greek ceramic square disks from LindenAvenueDesigns

Little yellow beans from my friend's trip to Brazil :)

Red peacock glass beads from Artbeads.com

Red & turquoise ruffled lampwork glass disks from HMB Studios

Blue textured lampwork glass from Blue Seraphim

Little red beans from my friend's trip to Brazil

Feel free to get your shopping on...these pairs are listed in my Etsy shop.  :)

Anticipation - Focus on the Positive

The way I see it, when you're waiting for something, in anticipation, you're in one of two mindsets...
 ...you're excited because something positive or good or fun or wonderful is most likely to happen
or
 ...you're worried or afraid that something bad or negative or scary or yucky will probably happen.


For the April Art Bead Scene Carnival post, it's my task to write on "anticipation."  Well, I want to delve into how important it is to look forward to something...and creating something for yourself to look forward to in a positive and exciting way, in particular.   I think we all tend towards viewing life in one way or the other...an intrinsic or extrinsic motivation.  What the h*ll am I talking about?  Well, I think you can either feel like you have some control over your own destiny, and see things as positive opportunities; or you can attribute things that happen to you to someone else--"they" or "them"--and see the negative consequences.  What I'm trying to say is that you can create opportunities for yourself to look forward to--that pleasurable feeling of anticipation--in small and big ways through art and creating and even growing a business.  (I'd say that family and career and relationship are all in here, too, but I've got to have some focus, right?  haaaaaaaaaa)


Now, I am not Miss Positive Energy all the time, believe me.  But, when it comes to my craftiness, that's where I really like to focus on the positive...here are few examples...


First, trying new things.  I wanted to try making glass beads.  What's the worst that could happen?  I could burn Juli's workshop down?  haaaaaaaa  A week or so ago, I shared a post about meeting Julianna Cannon and getting my first try at the torch.  I was sooo freaking excited to try it that I really didn't even think about the whole "what if I can't do this?" or "what if I hurt myself?" because even if I can't do it the first time, I know I can try again and even if I hurt myself it will be a funny story!  Not only did I have the anticipation and excitement about working with fire, but then, once I was done, I had to wait to see how my beads came out!  Juli annealed them and cleaned them for me, I had no idea how any of my random color efforts would come out.  Well, TA DA!!  They are some jacked up wonky beads but I love them!!!!!

Second, ordering new things.  Another one of the best parts about creating is buying tools, supplies, or other people's art on-line!  If you haven't experienced the sweet anticipation of packages on the way from your fave Etsy shops or on-line bead suppliers or tool shops, then you don't know what you're missing!  You can wear pajamas, drink coffee, talk to the cats and have snacks all at the same time (if you're a weird cat person who likes to wear pajamas a lot like me).  So, in the spirit of giving yourself something to look forward to, I picked a couple of Etsy shops out of my list of favorites to share...

Purple Tie-Dye Polymer Beads by ArtyBecca

Art Museum Letters for Mixed Media Applications from KathyOrf

Blood Orange Ceramic Beads from MAKU Studio

Third, meeting new people.  I enjoy being a part of this blogging community and getting to know the work of so many wonderful folks.  Looking at the latest posts, seeing the latest magazine issues, and sharing in the experiences of so many people who have the same passion that I have is something I look forward every day!  That's the definition of anticipation right there!  And, even more exciting to me is April's BeadFest Wire in Philly.  I get to meet other creative people and vendors from all over the place--some of you are going to be there, right?  One of the things I'm most looking forward to is taking a class from Kerry Bogert in person!  Her latest book has really lit a fire on my coiling so I can't wait!  Here's a peek at some of the "Totally Twisted" inspiration that has me going lately...

These are my version of bangles with TONS of great glass artbeads...SueBeads, HMB Studios, Lisa New, and even some by Kerry!

So, I hope that was enough positive energy sharing so you can go anticipate something great for yourself.  I actually get to go think about my car being in the shop with some sort of crack in the engine (I don't think that's good); on of my kitty boys, Brando, who had to stay overnight at the vet because he got a cut in his eye and they have to take it out tomorrow (yes, the whole eyeball); and the ever-inspiring physical fitness test that I have to take in the morning.  Awesome...I think I'll go make something!  haaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

Bangles! Mini Art Bead Collections!

My latest projects...

Inspiration?  Can you see the Totally Twisted in these?  haaaaaaa  My take on Kerry's projects from the book...It’s not just a bangle, it’s a mini art bead collection!

I used tons of great art beads from lots of different sources (all listed below with their Etsy seller IDs)...

For this one...

- Big enameled metal by Barbara Lewis at PaintingwithFire

- Lampwork glass by Cherie Ranfranz at Happyskull

- Polymer by Heather Powers at Humblebeads

- Lampwork glass by Karen Richards at LibelulaDesigns

- Lampwork disk by Heather Boardman at HMBStudios

For this bracelet, I used:

- Polymer clay from Doreen at Doreensbackyardbeads

- Lampwork disks from Heather at HMBstudios

And, then I couldn't resist mixing up the metals along with some more of those great round beads and some faceted lemony quartz.

And, some of my Air Force Blue beads from HMB studios for this pretty blue and silver number.

All of these are available for your shopping pleasure in my Etsy shop!