Project 52: A Dragon in the Garage

I haven't been taking enough pictures lately.  But, that being said, I saw this on the ground in my parking garage and couldn't wait to get some shots of it.  Do you see the dragon?

Yes, I know it's "just a spill" of something sticky and crazy on the floor, but it has this perfectly long neck and the fierce spiked head.  The neck and tail actually went all the way down the steps but I couldn't get a good shot of the whole thing. 

I played around in PS Elements again and went to my new favorite tool, the gradient map, and applied some yellow, orange and purple.  I love the way it came out because it reminds me of all the cool paper I made last weekend at Art & Soul.  I have lots of things to share from that wildly creative weekend, but was sooooo tired after three full days of getting my hand-crafted groove on.  I barely made it through the week...there were naps every single day!  haaaaaaaaaa  But, the energy is coming back and I'll be sharing more.  

Cheers to artful crap spilled on the ground!!!

Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal: Earrings!

It's the last Friday of February.

It's the day for the Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal.

We've been doing this goodness for a whole year now.

This is the finale!

I made some earrings.

They highlight Kristie's beautiful ceramic and recycled glass charms.

Memory wire can be your friend.

I get a peacock feather vibe from them even though I didn't plan it.

They're asymmetrical solo but symmetrical as a pair.

It was fun to "shop" my own stash and find greens and blues.

I haven't made jewelry in a long time.

It feels good!

Thank you, Kristie!!

There's more to be seen on this reveal day from my fellow team designers...

Virginia Beach Birdie

How has it been a week since I posted?  I'll have to chalk it up to work and play, I guess!  I've been doing a lot of knitting, lately, so that keeps my hands and brain busy in the evenings which I love.  I taught myself back before Christmas so I could make a few gifts and now I have more yarn then I'll use in years because I just can't stop buying pretty colors and textures!  I found a great group of gals through meetup.com and have been getting together most Wednesday nights to stitch and bitch.  They're wonderfully generous with their skill and advice so I've actually started on my first knitted baby blanket and I think I can actually do it!


Curt and I spent the weekend down in Virginia Beach for a little off-season weekend getaway.  It was a great little bed and breakfast just three blocks from the sand that I'd highly recommend...The Beach Spa Bed and Breakfast.  We got a chance to walk on the beach a bit, so here's my pic of the week for Project 52:

I used an original Kim Klassen texture called "shine" when I processed it in Photoshop Elements.  The eye's a little creepy but I love the webbed feet.

Happy Thursday!

Jen

A simple breakfast can be lovely

From my Project 52 set...the week 6 shot of breakfast from Sunday morning.

I'd love to say I eat this beautifully every morning, but I used up all the milk on Sunday and haven't gotten any more yet.  Now I'm stuck with diet bread with diet peanut butter and diet jelly.  Delicious.  haaaaaaaaaa


I love that the little blueberry star is the highlight of the pic (and it only took me six shots to get it like this!! haaaaaaaaaaa)  Luckily, it's some sort of super-healthy cereal that doesn't get soggy fast.


Happy middle-of-February!

Winner - The Next Stop on the Art Bead Love Tour is...

SilverRose Designs

The ever-helpful Random number generator aided in the selection of Ms. Holly Westfall, the genius behind SilverRose.

This massive chain full of art beads celebrates handmade.  

Thanks to the editors of the Love My Art Jewelry Blog!

Look for the tour stop with Holly soon!

Art Bead Love Tour Stop #4...will you be #5?

Welcome to stop #4 on the Art Bead Love Tour!!

The editors over at the Love My Art Jewelry blog came up with this idea a few months ago as a way to spread the art bead love...the more people are aware of handmade components, the more people will appreciate handmade components.  This is a traveling chain of beautiful beads, pendants, and charms...there are rules associated with the traveling (see the bottom of the post) but the basic idea is that one person wins the giveaway on the blog of another.  They receive the chain full of goodies then take some and add some.  After taking a few for myself, I added a bunch more and here's what the chain looks like now:

I'm not a bead maker, but my handmade art bead kind collection is pretty extensive.  So, I went shopping for things to share and came up with what I think is a nice selection of different media--ceramic, glass, enamel, & polymer clay.  Here is a shot of each addition with links to the creators' blogs or shops:

1. lampworked glass rounds by Julianna at StudioJuls (formerly Julsbeads).  She let me make beads in her little shack one time when I lived in Alabama.  It was such a perfect day!!  Now she's following her heart to Oregon.  Good stuff.

2.  Little nuggets of ceramic love from Elaine Ray.  A few years back, I won a lovely giveaway and got a nice handful of Elaine's beads and now I'm ready to share a couple.

3.  A crazy shape of glass that I couldn't resist when I saw them on Etsy from Sari Glassman

4.  Some luscious enamel work from Gardanne 

5.  Ahhhh, my first bead love affair started with Lisa New when I found her beads on eBay.  This is one of my originals from back in 2007.  I hoard them like nobody's business.

6.  My sweet friend, Sue, aka Suebeads, from Pittsburgh sent me these little green sugar beads along with a big order.  I love the texture on these.  The color is so minty!

7.  I went through a green/purple combination phase and found this fun and funky set of lampworked glass from Mibellino during some Etsy wandering.

8.  These cute little ceramic houses from Jubilee are so fun!

9.  Oh, my Donna Millard beads...it's hard to part with any, but I am going to share these two rounds with lovely pink florals on a dramatic black background.  It's hard for me to believe that glass can be manipulated this way.

10.  More glass...these disks are from my fave disk maker:  Heather at HMB Studios.  These are some leftover blues from a custom job she did for me a couple of years ago so I could make a special piece for an Air Force charity.

11.  This is a Gaea pendant that I got during a swap...love the femininity!

12.  Some pretty little lampworked disks from Kerry Bogert at Kab's Creative Concepts.  I had these worked up as pendants so they are a great addition to the love chain.

13.  A little ceramic house link from one of my Bead Soup Party partners, Diane Hawkey

14.  Polymer clay sings in the hands of Rebecca, aka Artybecca.  She's another Pittsburgh kinda girl!

15.  More polymer clay, this time from Malodora--this bead is shaped and carved after it's cooked.  Very, very cool.

16.  A ceramic call to the sea from Lisa Stevens

17.  Last but not least, a ceramic and recycled glass pendant from Kristie at Artisan Clay.

And, here is the pile of happiness that I took from the chain!

Now that I've shared all that goodness, it's time to provide some help for those of you interested in entering to be selected as stop #5 on the tour.  

Please read through the post below carefully.

The Art Bead Love Tour is an ongoing project to spread the love of handmade to new and exciting places. It’s a way to reach people who may have never stumbled upon the Love My Art Jewelry blog on their own, and give them a chance to share the love of handmade. We chose to use a chain to link beads as a symbol of how this project links us all together~ in our unity to stand behind handmade.
This tour is basically an art bead swap, which will go on and on and on. Here is how it works.

PLEASE....... ....please read the entire post before entering.

The Details:

1. The winner of the chain will be allowed to take up to 30 beads from this chain. They will then replace each bead they took, with another handmade bead, charm or pendant of equal quality. It is so important that the quality of the beads be maintained, so that we can keep the Art Bead Love Tour alive. We want to share consistent quality with the next winner. If you make your own handmade beads or components, it’s a great way to get your beads into the world for people to try them out, or, if you hoard collect art beads, it’s a great way to share your collection and get some new additions as well. (Art Beads should be handmade by an artist, and not mass produced, such as Hill Tribes Silver beads or others like them). Remember the focus is on creating handmade with handmade and beads/components taken should be replaced with beads/components that are made by an individual not an organization.

2. The winner must have a blog, and will post pictures of what was taken and what was added, in order to keep an account of the chains progress and to keep our followers drooling. Please be sure to give credit to the bead artists as well.

3. The winner will then have a giveaway, just like this one, to keep passing the chain on and on. Rules can be copied and pasted from here.

4. When you repost your giveaway (remember you can copy and paste from here)-a list should be added to show where the chain has gone, with links to each previous blog. Ultimately, this will end up being a very long list!

Look where the chain has been……

Love My Art Jewelry

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio

Shaiha's Ramblings

Jen Judd Rocks!

5. Chain must be shipped to its new home via Priority Small Flat Rate box with delivery confirmation. Please package it carefully.

6. There will be a button on the Love My Art Jewelry Website that links to the current blog and giveaway- so if you have the chain, it will link to your blog, that way our followers can have another chance to win it.

7. You MUST exchange your beads and have your giveaway completed within two weeks of receiving the chain. (Please please please, if you can not adhere to the above rules, do not enter the giveaway at this time. It will go on and on and you can always enter at a later date.) There will be a button on the side bar of our blog so that you can track where the chain currently is.

How to Enter:

1. You must have a blog to enter.

2. Leave a comment below (make sure your email is linked to your blog or leave it in the comment. Entries without emails will not qualify)

3. Share on Facebook, Twitter or your blog for extra chances to win. Leave a comment for each way you share, with a link if possible.

4. Winner will pay shipping and will be billed through paypal-small priority flat rate box with delivery confirmation $6.00.

5. Open only to our readers in the United States- due to problems with tracking and shipping overseas (sorry). Please note- I am having a small giveaway on my blog for our international friends only!!! So hop over to enter.

6. Check back here on February 14th to see if you’ve won.

7. Good luck and share the love of handmade! Please, if you have any questions, you can email Staci directly at staci.lousie@hotmail.com

My Ravioli Valentine

This just makes me happy so I have to share!

I was looking for a "holiday window display" for my photo scavenger hunt and loved these little pasta bites that were made especially for the holidays and were on display at Eastern Market this weekend.