Pic Me Up: Shutter Up? Never!!

I had a little more fun with Picnik after a recent Yorktown trip.  Looooove these pretty blue shutters in just a plain old picture, but with the funky photo tools, I love them even more and just want to share!

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.  :)

Sharing a Treasury: Dreaming of Persia

It's the beginning of September, so time for a new Art Bead Scene Challenge.  I haven't been working on entries the last few months with the job taking up so much time, but I'm really excited about this inspiration piece...it's gorgeous!

Persia by George Barbier

Before I sit down to actually work on my own project, I got my Etsy on and came up with this Treasury to share:

Dreaming of Persia Treasury

Time for digging in my own bead stash!!!  Whooo hoooo!!!

Lovin' on Donna Millard Beads

I'm enjoying a "family day" (meaning a no-work day) with my beads!!  I'm so excited!

I decided to start with a gorgeous art glass focal and this spectacular bit from Donna Millard, one of my faves, screamed out, "MEEEEeeee," and I obliged.

This is the original picture from Donna's Etsy listing for "Wild & Crazy"

As I happen to have a few orange beads in my collection...oh, and a few purple...I went to town and here's the end result for the necklace:

This baby has satin pearls, some vintage glass (that I picked up in Hawaii in 2008 and makes me think fondly of my friends Lauren & Marc...many hugs to you guys!), some vintage and Czech glass and then a sterling silver chain bail to put all the attention where it needs to be on that gorgeous artisan bead.  I decided to go with an adjustable clasp so that the focal could be adjusted to work with lots of necklines.

I couldn't stop with that and broke out the memory wire to finish up a coordinating bracelet with more of Donna's beads.

And then some earrings...why not?

Feel free to shop your heart out on my Etsy site...just added this set.  Or, if you live nearby here in Hampton, call me and you can see it in person!  :)

Beading Contest: Happy Mango's Trash to Treasure!

 "Green Mango Tree" Image from Happy Mango Beads

I got this contest email yesterday from one of my favorite on-line sources:  Happy Mango Beads.  They've put out the challenge to Go Green with

This immediately made me think of my bud, Susi D., and her Artsy Fartsy jewelry...I haven't seen her in ages so I hope we'll reconnect with this inspiration!!  We met at a
We met at a Del Ray Artisans show as I was ogling her fun, funky, amazing beads!

She makes them out of plastic from her recycling bin!!!  LOVE IT!!

Anyway, I digress...it is early this morning and I'm only a half a cup of coffee into my morning process.

Back to business:  Happy Mango Beads is having "Trash to Treasure" beading contest.

"Recycle, Repurpose, Rebead"

Click on the link to get the full set of rules, but the deadline is 15 September.

Here are the entry categories...

Trash to Cash - paper, plastic, bottle caps, etc.

Compost Happens! – natural, organic, sustainable
Is that my old windshield? – recycled glass
Heavy Metal – metals, old keys, interesting parts
No Earlybirds! – yard sale/second-hand finds revamped
I'm not a dang hippie, I just want to enter this contest! – trashy elegance


Sounds like a fun challenge to me...gonna break out some of those funky recycled glass art beads I have!

Civilians!

My work/craft balance is shifting, so I'm sad to post less frequently but I'm working on some Air Force challenges that I've never seen before.  It's fun and stressful and difficult to learn something new, but I'm on it!  I'm a full-up military girl, so I haven't worked very frequently with the civilian side of the personnel world.  It's a whole new ballgame...different rules, different methods, different problems.  Mind you, this isn't even "civilian" civilian, it's my fellow Air Force civilians...I can't even imagine what it's like in the "outside" world!  haaaaaaaaaa

Anyway, in line with the new business I'm learning, I'm also experimenting in my craftiness with something new (to me):  memory wire.  I never really thought much of it, but my local bead bud, Joanne, showed me some cool rubber tubing she has in her shop and a sample one of her folks made with it.  I immediately bought some and went to town.

Here's my first piece...a fun little "soup" of vintage, paper, stone & wire highlighted with the black tubing.  I love it...

Then, I decided to keep on with the beads in a monochromatic piece:

It's a whole different feeling in a bunch of pinks...

And, in a wonderful twist, one of the ladies from my office, Ms. Susie, who is our in-house Civilian Personnel expert, bought this little pinkie piece and was wearing in this week while we waded through various HR issues and drama!  How cool is that?!

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!!