Hi, Little One...in a new eBook!

Okay, there's not really a little one here with me, other than the three cats who are wandering around.  The Little One I'm speaking of here is a sweet, tiny pewter fairy pendant from Green Girl Studios.  She's featured in a leather bracelet that I designed and which was released in a brand new eBook this week!!

See...she's right there on the cover...lower left-hand side.  :)

This is a new eBook available from Interweave press:

10 Handmade Leather Bracelet Projects 

Click the link to order yourself a copy!

I perused my copy of it and there are a ton of great ideas jammed in here!  

I love the way leather can go casual or fancy or funky or fun.  

I've been having a less-than-fulfilling experience at my regular day job, so it's really nice to see some of my creative energy rewarded in print.  :)  Yeah!  

Thanks for letting me share!

Rockstars in the Garden

The Spring issue of Stringing came out and I was thrilled to see a few things in there that I forgot about!  Along with a ton of wonderful designs and an overall new magazine layout--which I'm still getting used to--there are a couple of pieces in there from my very own work table!


I want to share these little earrings because they feature beaded beads from my sweet friend, Marcie, at La Bella Joya.  She spends most of her time working amazing seed bead work but went through a little stint of beaded beads that I couldn't pass up.  I posted on them originally last summer.

I have lots more to say about this issue, but I have to go to work and do some analysis of how we can RIF (reduction in force) a lot of people.  It's not all that pleasant work.

Fall Stringing Carnival...My Urban Escape

Welcome to this stop on your Carnival ride!  I'm happy to share a little bit about my piece from this Fall's Stringing Magazine...then you can hop on to the other 23 blog entries from other contributors.  The list of links is down below in this post.  Plus, Michelle Mach, the carnival master, has the rules for the giveaway--you can win stuff just by commenting--on her blog.

A little about my piece...Urban Escape...what does that mean?  ahhhhh...I see a big city all around me but I have a gorgeous, grounded piece of artwork around me neck that allows me to escape when I touch the silky knots or rub the smooth onion skin pendant.  Just makes me happy!  Moreso, I think of the afternoon when my bud, Stella, came over and I waved this necklace in front of her and asked her to name it...off the top of her head.  Copper, silk, clay...so much texture... the result was "Urban Escape."  In the middle of Alabama, we were looking for an escape, that's for sure!  haaaaaaaaaaa

Let me share some of the goods on the components for this piece:

First, there's the silk ribbon.  This is not just any old ribbon, it's a gorgeous hand-dyed and finished piece from Jamn Glass.  A while back, during the first Bead Soup Blog Party, I was lucky enough to be paired up with amazing glass artist Julie Nordine of Credit River Art Glass.  Well, as part of my "soup" she included a pretty ribbon and I immediately went to the JamnGlass Etsy shop and got a bunch for myself. it's the hoarder in me!  haaaaaaaaa Meeting Julie (virtually) and that whole Soup party was so much fun that I have great memories every time I see those ribbons.

Jamn Rustling Leaves Silk Ribbons
available at the JamnGlass Etsy shop

Next is the fired clay rectangle from Artisan Clay.  Kristie Roeder, the artisan of Artisan Clay, has become another "virtual" friend.  I found her work through the Beads of Clay blog while working through a set of creative challenges last fall and now I follow her blog, too.  Some of her signature pieces feature vibrantly colored recycled glass "pooled" in a disk, but this focal has a wonderful smoky finish.  I have a bunch of Artisan Clay in my collection right near the silk ribbons!  haaaaaaaaaaa  Oh, I should mention that Kristie's going to be exhibiting at BeadFest in Philly this weekend...so if you're gonna be there, go say hi!

Smoke Fired Large Square available at the Artisan Clay Etsy Shop

And finally, that red onion pendant came from a little bead shop with big personality in Occoquan, Virginia:  Off the Beading Path.  If you're ever up near DC, in Northern Virginia, stop by and say hi to Denise.  If you need an excuse to figure out where, exactly, Occoquan is, there's a great show there in the fall:  The Occoquan Craft Show is slated for September 25-26, 2010

So, enough about my little creation...this Carnival is full of goodness for fall...go see for yourself!
Click on the links below to go explore the other artists, designers, and contributors to this issue.  Comments are always appreciated and may be rewarded with prizes!!

- Autumn After Dark by Michelle Mach

- Autumn Jewels & The Love Letter by Lorelei Eurto 

           - She also authored a great "Sell & Tell" article!

- Afternoon Social & Cornucopia by Stephanie LaRosa

- The Who & Enchanted Forest by Heather Trudeau - The Peacock Fairy

- Give a Hoot  by Denise Yezbak Moore

- Hoot if you Love Fall  by Lisa Petrillo - Lucid Moon Studio

- Woodsy Owl & California Bungalow by Anne Perry

- Hint of Spice by Jen Zeiger - ZBeadz

- Urban Escape by Jennifer Judd Velasquez (Yeah, you're already here!)

- Clockwork Scarab by Melanie Brooks - Earthenwood Studio - Also in the Bead Beat!

- Kate by Tari Kahrs - Pearl and Pebble

- Mixed Metaphor & Smoke and Cognac by Erin Strother

- Wisdom & Memories of Tucson by Kelly Angeley - Beadologie

- Fertile Ground by Ruby Bayan - Ruby Beads

- Green with Love by Gaea Cannaday

- Incredible Things by Sharon Palac - Sharon's Jewelry Garden

- The Blackbird Sat by Erin Prais-Hintz - Treasures Found

- Fleur-De-Lis by Kristy Abner

- The Bamboo Cutter’s Wife & Dandelion Harvest by Molly Schaller

- This and That by Amy Haftkowycz - Artful Beads Studio

- Bronze Lotus by Kelly Morgan - Silver Parrot Designs

- Queen of the Nile by Marianne Baxter - Simply Seablime Jewelry

- Sunburst Necklace by Carrie Beckwith

- Beth Hemmila of Hint

Many thanks to Michelle for putting this even together and to all my beady friends, enjoy the Carnival!!

Fall Stringing Carnival...Tomorrow!

The Fall issue of Stringing Magazine is out and it's fab...and I'm not just saying that because I have a design in there!  Autumn colors are my fave, so this is my season.  Seriously...does it get any better than crunchy yellow, orange, red and brown leaves all over the sidewalk??

On Tuesday, August 17th, there'll be a little bloggity celebration of this issue with a big "Carnival" post featuring 24 of this issue's contributors!  Michelle Mach, who's one of the featured designers as well as a big-time bead and craft writer, gathered us all together for this event, so tomorrow her blog will be hosting the party.

My post will center on the "Urban Escape" from page 27 where there's a feature on using ribbon in designs.  You'll hear about my special sources...okay, they're really just special to me and I want to share the love.  Plus, I'm honored to share a two-page spread with some fantastic designers...which you can hear about tomorrow!

Here's a little peek at my pretty (because I loooooove me some Picnik!)

Oh, but more importantly, there are giveaways.  :)  Michelle will have more details in tomorrow morning's post, but the basics:  hop around to the various Carnival posts, leave your comments, and you could win!

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!!!

It's a Beautful Day in my New Neighborhood

I'm settling into my new neighborhood which happens to have a bead shop in walking distance...it's right near the bar, so I had a perfect evening last night with martinis and then some bead chat with Joanne, the owner of Bead Haven.  She just moved the shop into this growing area called the Peninsula Town Center, so how lucky am I?!  haaaaaaa

Even luckier, she had the new Summer issue of Stringing so we oooohed and aaaahed over the great projects, including three of my necklaces!!!  I feel like I've made the Bead Celebrity D-List.  haaaaaaaaaaa  Amidst all the drama of moving and unpacking and starting a new job, it's so nice to be able to chat with someone as excited as I am about crafting and art and creating new pretties.

So here's a little preview of the pieces in this issue...

Once I get back from some leave visiting family, I think there might be a giveaway in order!!!  I can share some extras of the beads I used in these pieces...aquamarine nuggets & cool turquoise bits.  :)

Issues in the Summer...

No, not personal issues...Stringing issues!!!

The new Summer issue of Stringing is coming out June 22nd and on Beading Daily today, there was the first "sneak peek" into the content.  My name's on there!!!  I think that's so cool!!!

What's even cooler to me is that in this little clip from the newsletter there are projects from three of us who are in the creative arts & jewelry-making blogging community!

- Heather Trudeau is the mastermind behind the work of The Peacock Fairy...notice the gorgeous peacock in her piece?

- I'm in there in the middle (whoo hoo) with a little number featuring pretty aquamarine nuggets.

- Kelly Morgan can be found expressing herself with the works of Silver Parrot...she's been doing a ton with resin lately and her adventures are a great read.

There are going to be a ton of great projects in there...you can tell by the pretty cover!  I can't wait to see lots of other familiar names...that's one of my favorite parts of getting any one of the many beading and art magazines I have.  I feel like I know celebrities when I see my blog friends' names!  Whoo hoo!!!

The BFW Bazaar Rocked...

Get it?  Rocked?  haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 

Bead Fest Wire wasn't only about wire and metal, although that's the most fun part.  There's the shopping involved in this sort of weekend that adds that extra je ne sais quoi to the adventure.  :)  Okay, je sais...it's the overwhelming joy of picking up cool beads and then sharing them with friends and taking them home to touch and ogle.  I had to get some more storage thingies yesterday to put them all away.  My sweetie's gone so I have to get thrills somewhere!  haaaaaaaa

I have some fascination with garnet lately.  These are like faceted shiny raisins.  Oh, and you can never have too many "simple cut" faceted bits.  If all goes as planned, you'll see a piece called "Simple Cut Elegance" in the summer issue of Stringing that features this cut of stone.

And here are some more Facety McFacetsons.  I had to get the yellow and black ones even though they're a little strange to me because I was in Pennsylvania.  Get it?  Steelers?  haaaaaaaaa  The browny-orangy ones are still a mystery to me, but they're pretty.

And back in the land of more natural colors...this Red Creek Jasper is just gorgeous!  Plus, I love pyrite to mix with lapis (which makes me think of my deployed sweetie).  There's some bronzite, too, which I had to have because it looked sparkly.  Hey, I'm easy.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day cracking myself up...and making some stuff.  :)

haaaaaaaaaaa

Spring Diggity!

This necklace and bracelet are Spring Diggity!  And they're available in my Etsy shop.  :) The bracelet is actually in the Spring issue of Stringing...that's the issue with the gorgeous cover and tons of my beading friends in it!

In addition to my sweet little bracelet on page 59 some of my fave things in this issue are:

~ Michelle Mach's feature called "Take Two" about reworking designs that weren't all the great starting out...it's nice to know that every designer comes up with some bum projects sometimes.

~ Tracee Dock's necklace called "Circle Around" that features some rings that she makes that are available at The Classic Bead.  I have one of her pendants that I'm hoarding for the perfect project.  :)

~ "May Day" by editor Danielle Fox rounds out my faves.  I love the big enameled floral pieces (from a newly discovered shop:  Sleeping Dog Studio) combined with some always-awesome Humblebeads.  :)

Big Seven! (or Getting Published is Cool!!!)

The first time I saw one of my pieces in print, it was so exciting that I ran around my office (that's right, in the halls of the Pentagon) dancing overjoyed about it. I got back to my spreadsheets quickly, but that day was so wonderful!!

Well, this week I had a huge surprise and danced even more overjoyed around my Air Force classroom, much to the amusement of my class (who are all manly servicemen) because...I've had seven pieces picked up for publication this summer!!! Seriously! Seven!!!! In three different magazines!!

I was worried about blogging about the lovely moment when the contract emails came in because I didn't want to brag. But, I shared the news with a new and wonderful bead-minded friend and she said: Share! Share!

You might see these from Lisa New, for instance!!!

I want to share more than just my joy, I want to share a few how-to's about submissions that I've learned along the way from other blogs and magazines along the way. Whooo hoo!!! I'm by no means the expert, but still, there are a few things that I think are important:

1. Read the submission guidelines. There are due dates, which are the main thing, that are a lot earlier than you might think. So, you have to plan ahead. Right now, for instance, the deadline for Autumn/Fall designs is coming up for Interweave's Stringing magazine. (The link will take you to the contributors page where the guidelines are available to download.) There are also some styling hints that lead to what the editors are trying to convey through that issue. They can be a great inspiration when you start thinking about a design that might work.

2. Take good pictures. For me, this is the hardest part. Some magazines have options for emailing submissions and some even accept pieces that way, so you have to really let the piece tell its three dimensional story in just two dimensions. I wish there was some magic I could send your way if you need help, but in lieu of that I'm going to give you this link to Julie Nordine's Credit River Art Glass blog article on her photography "secrets."

3. Get in the habit of writing directions. It's all about breaking the process down into steps. Think of the steps you're taking along the way. Read the projects already in magazines to figure out the writing "formula" for a particular publication. Part of that formula is using the correct terms for types of beads, components or tools. I used to refer to most beads as just glass or stones or pretty thingies...now, I'm much more descriptive with the size, shape, cut, color, type, etc. Plus, keep good notes on your sources. This habit fell in line for me with keeping better records for taxes, so now I can tell you where (almost) everything in my stash is from or who made it.

4. Do a little research. Do you know the color of the year? Do you know what's in style for the coming seasons? Okay, turquoise is the color, but I'll be the first to admit I'm not all that stylish. I wear a uniform to work, for crying out loud! haaaaaaaaa But, I'm much more aware of the Pantone color palette thanks to my friends at the Art Bead Scene. Also, what are the latest books coming out? For instance, Interweave's Chain Style just came out (and it's awesome, by the way). I looked there for some inspiration and tried some new designs using chain as a main component. Or, another trend: thrifty girls!! I tried making some less expensive designs using base metal components and I really love the results! Great for a reader, but also great for a customer!

5. Stick to your design esthetic. What makes your designs yours? I had some trouble with this one early on. I was so focused on making something that other people/editors would like that I didn't really love the end results! And, I want to love a piece if I'm going to see it in print! My designs often feature a variety of beads and asymmetry; but, that makes a design hard to write about...so many sources, so many steps in creating the "mixed up" look in the end. With a little practice, though, now I can write those difficult projects on designs that are truly mine. As an example, A Walk in the Forest is a necklace that's truly mine but wasn't all that easy to write about.

6. Don't get discouraged. Sometimes you get picked and sometimes you don't. There are generally more of the latter for me, but the feeling of being part of the team just once makes it worth it!! haaaaaaaaaaa And, you just might end up with a hot streak in a chilly week in February like me!!!!