Wire Girl At Work

bead fest teaching 8, originally uploaded by kabs_concepts.

In my class with Kerry Bogert over the weekend, she was taking some pics. Here's one of the lovely mess I had going on...which turned into a "Delightful" necklace. It's one of the projects out of her book, Totally Twisted.

Plus, I was wearing a necklace with Kerry's beads that I made last year. I was worried I'd seem like some crazy bead stalker chick, but it was okay. haaaaaaaaaaaaa

p.s. the creative energy appears to have started at the roots of my hair! haaaaaaa

Bead Fest Wire - New Friends and Old

I'm recovering from my weekend in King of Prussia at Bead Fest Wire.  It was a fantastic weekend...well worth the flight up there even though airports aren't my favorite places.  This post is all about the people...there'll be another one for beads later.  :)

First, I spent Saturday in class with Kerry Bogert and fellow fan Bev.  We worked out a bunch of different chains focusing on Kerry's glass beads.  I felt like a random stalker chick when I showed up with my book in hand knowing all the details of her life from her blog.  But, luckily, I'm not her only fan...Bev and I were lucky enough to have Kerry all to ourselves for a great class.  Kerry's really down-to-earth, so we ended up gabbing like old beading buds all day long.  The class--and the project--exceeded my expectations.  :)  Here's a pic of us from midway through the day...

One of the best parts of any Bead Fest is the shopping.  :)  Curt called in the middle of my browsing and we got to have a nice long chat.  I actually happened to be right next to the table of goods from Afghanistan.  He was a little stressed out about his job, so I offered to distract him by telling him how much I was spending and what I was getting.  He declined with a laugh because he'd rather leave those numbers a mystery...what a great husband!  haaaaaaaaaa

Because this post isn't really about the beads, but about the people, I'm just showing this little bit of goodness from Na Bo Row...

I had the most fun shopping experience at their booth...must've been there for an hour!  And, when I needed help, Ms. Lynne was there for my...we laughed and laughed because I made fun of her hand-written nametag.  I promised her that she'd get a great mention because that was one of the highlights of my weekend.  She even wrote me a note on my reciept to "make it good."  haaaaaaaaaaaaa  So, for Lynne I'm sending out a huge laugh, a hug and a recommendation for amazing clasps and silver at Na Bo Row.

Last but not least, it was a great meetup weekend.  My old Air Force bud, Elisabeth, came up from DC to share some beady goodness.  She just opened up her own Etsy shop.  :)  Plus, we had dinner with Jeanette Ryan and Cindy Wimmer...lots of great bead and family chatting as I look forward to moving back to Virginia in a couple of months.  Whoo hoo!!!

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

 

Some Lucky SueBeads

Gotta give a shout out to my bead swap bud, Sue Kennedy, with these earrings!

Sue sent me a great selection of beads, but the bestest ones are the ones she made.  For these two pairs of earrings, I picked some pairs :  one set of lampwork glass and one set of her new enameled beads.

First, the vibrant red enameled bits are combined with some bronze-colored copper coils that I twisted for a nice dramatic dangle.  Then, for the second pair, the olivine green lampwork rounds are set up with some striped agate and purple, yes, bright purple, coils.

I think it's so cool that a session at the work table can come up with such different pieces...but with just the perfect things in common:  awesome handmade beads. 

Feel like getting your shopping on? 
First stop at my etsy shop to see all the latest goods--I just added a few earrings and some necklaces. 
Then, go see the latest SueBead offerings. 

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!

Matchbox Action...

It was a great mail week at my house...tons of new cutie beads added to my collection!  One of the best packages was from Sue Kennedy of SueBeads.  She was my "matchbox" swap partner and hooked me up with lots of cool bits!!

Stones, wood, furnace glass, pressed glass, and most importantly, her lampworked glass.  :)

I sat down this morning to have a little fun with my little baggies of beady goodness and chose some Venetian-style glass to make some earrings...

And since I'm all up on the coiling gizmo thanks to the twisted influence of Kerry B. I added some colorful coiled wire, too!

They've already been added to my Etsy shop, so feel free to browse.  :)

Wrappin' Rings...

Ever since the craftmageddon at my house during the snowstorm (yes, there was one day's worth of snow in central Alabama), I've had tons of different supply "genres" out around the house.  The dining room is the card-making and paper-crafting area.  Well, deep in those supplies, I found a bunch of really cool fibers that I remember, vaguely, buying on ebay years and years ago.  How does this translate to jewelry?  Well, during the Bead Soup Party I remember being excited about a fiber-wrapped wire piece that was such a cool look...and, thanks to my commenting friends, I figured out is Maire Dodd ...and, of course, I can't remember for the life of me who's it was, just that it was such a cool look.  So, in looking for a "core" for my fibers, I noticed a bunch of plain wooden rings.  The rest, is history!  Okay, well the rest is a bunch of trying to figure out the best way to wrap the fiber around the ring (hint...knitting needle) and then how to seal all the ends (hint...lots of colored 26g wire). 

You may recognize some inspiration from fellow bloggers...

 - The ABS reported on Pantone's report:  Turquoise is the color of the year...so now I have it stuck in my mind most of the time...and spread out on my worktable all of the time.  :)

- And, I got some of Totally Twisted on with my new coiling gizmo (which totally rocks) and some great tips and ideas from Kerry B.

These babies are in my Etsy shop!!  Check them out!

p.s.  I learned how to make a bloggy "signature block" using some tips from this link!