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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Mark Your Calendars!

I will be at Ornamentea in Raleigh, N.C. on July 27th & 28th! The shop is hosting a book signing and Make n' Take on Friday, July 27th from 6-8pm. Then, on Saturday, July 28th from 10:30am-1:30pm, I'll be teaching my Bohemian Knotted Earrings workshop. I'm so excited for these upcoming events!
Friday, July 27th
What: Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry 
book signing and Make n' Take project
 Where: Ornamentea
509 N. West St.
Raleigh, NC 27603
When: Friday night, July 27th 
6-8pm
Click Here for more info. 
Leather Ruffle Hoops 
 Join me Friday night and make one of my earring projects from Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry called, Leather Ruffle Hoops. Chat with me about incorporating fibers and cords into your jewelry. I will have several original jewelry designs from the book that you can see in person. Feel free to ask me questions about beading and the process of writing the book with my co-author, Lorelei Eurto. Purchase a copy of the book that evening or bring your own copy and I'll be happy to sign it for you!

Saturday, July 28th

 
Bohemian Knotted Earrings
What: Bohemian Knotted Earrings Workshop
 Where: Ornamentea
509 N. West St.
Raleigh, NC 27603
When: Saturday, July 28th 10:30am-1:30pm
Price: $65
Click Here to registrar. 
Class description:
Learn simple knotting techniques to make a trio of bohemian chic earrings! Using waxed linen cord, you will learn 3 different ways to attach colorful beads to a ring component.

Students will learn basic knotting techniques to make three pairs of stylish earrings. Techniques covered in class will included: lark's head knot, half-hitch knot, overhand knot and how to use knotting tweezers for precise knotting. Using waxed linen cord, students will learn 3 ways to use knots to attach beads to a ring component. Students will have the following color choices for each pair of earrings: red, orange, green, turquoise and blue.Variations on the three designs made in class will also be discussed, so student will be able to expand on the techniques they have learned. 

I'd love to see you in class! Hope to see at Ornamentea!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Giveaway Winner and After Party!

The winner of the signed by both of us copy of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry, PLUS+ 2 of my EARRING KITS to make the earring projects from the pages inside is...
Theresa Fosdick of Thoughtful Notions
Congratulations!
Theresa, I will be contacting you soon to get your mailing address.

Thank you to all who stopped by the blog hop party this passed weekend. I hope you enjoyed all the looks inside the book, the fabulous giveaways, and the thoughtful book reviews by our participants. And speaking of them, I am just floored by their incredible jewelry inspired by the book. I saw some spectacular designs, the creativity in this community is amazing! If you missed any of it this weekend, just go to the Beading Daily blog to see the blog tour list and check out the posts by our party participants. You won't be disappointed.

And, don't forget about the Polyvore Style Challenge! There's still plenty of time to enter. The contest ends on July 13th. Remember, you have a chance to win one of our original necklace designs from the book. PLUS, if you did not win a copy of the book during the weekend, you still have TWO more chances to win with the Polyvore Challenge. The style boards with the most 'likes' and re-pins will win complimentary copies of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry, so get designing! I want to see more style boards. They are SO fun to create. Here are the two I created one more time, because I love looking at them... 
Bohemian Summer



Garden Party


NOW, how would you style these necklaces? 
Show me what you can do!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry Blog Party & Giveaway!

Hi and welcome to the Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry book weekend celebration! I'm Erin Siegel, co-author of the book. Thank you so much for stopping by today. Lorelei and I are extremely excited to share our book with you. We are truly passionate about what we created. We live, breathe and eat the jewelry that's in this book, so I hope you will find it to be inspiring, as well as a helpful resource for creating your own unique jewelry.

We have thirty talented jewelry designers, bead artists and crafters of all kinds helping us celebrate our book's launch. Please join in on the fun! There will be something special for you at every blog. You will see some incredible projects, read their thoughts on our book and get plenty of chances to win a free copy of the book and/or a goodie bag of supplies. Our publisher, Interweave Press is hosting our party and it all begins at the Beading Daily Blog. Please stop by over there to visit our party participants if you haven't already and don't forget to enter the cool Polyvore Style Challenge going while you are there, too. Posts will be appearing from our friends throughout the weekend, so make yourselves comfortable and join us all weekend long!

The book is on sale now at Interweave.com
This is a special price for the blog party, it's basically at wholesale price.
I'm not kidding, this is almost what Lorelei and I paid for our own books!
I seriously doubt you will see it at a better price.
Also, the E-BOOK is now on sale for $10.77.

Okay, now it's onto the GIVEAWAY!
I'm giving away a signed by both of us copy of the book, PLUS+ 2 of my EARRING KITS to make projects from the pages inside! The kits include all beads, findings and materials to make some of my favorite earrings. All you will need to do is follow the instructions inside the book to make the earrings.

Triple Loop Earrings (from the cover)
 Triple Loop Earring Kit
Kit includes all beads, findings and materials to make 1 pair of Triple Loop earrings.
Greek crimson leather, amethyst glass rounds, and all findings and components are Vintaj Natural Brass.
Copper Antiquity Earrings

 Copper Antiquity Earring Kit
 Kit includes all beads, findings and materials to make 1 pair of Copper Antiquity earrings.
Turquoise rounds, Chocolate brown Irish waxed linen cord and artisan copper components handmade by Miss Fickle Media.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post by Monday, June 25th.
 I will randomly draw one lucky winner on Tuesday, June 26th.

Thank you for stopping by and GOOD LUCK!

If you'd like to purchase one of my earring kits, they are now available in my

Now, go to Beading Daily to enjoy the rest of the blog tour!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Polyvore Style Challenge and Book Blog Tour!

Love fashion? Love jewelry? Then, you will be head-over-heels for the Beading Daily.com Polyvore Style Challenge featuring jewelry designs from our book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry! How cool is that?! I'm super excited about this challenge. You are going to have sooo much fun with this. All you have to do is make a fashion style board using one of our necklaces for your inspiration. I created a couple different looks featuring the two necklaces in the challenge just to give you an idea:

'Bohemian Summer' 
Design board featuring Lorelei's Pompidou necklace from the cover. 
I couldn't decide between jeans or khaki shorts...
Bohemian Summer

'Garden Party'
Design board featuring my In the Garden necklace.

Oh. My. Gosh. Are you going crazy for this, yet? Well, hold on because Lorelei is giving away her Pompiduo necklace and I'm giving away my In the Garden necklace to two lucky winners of the Polyvore style challenge. Yep, that's right, you get a chance to win one of the ORIGINAL necklaces from the book. I can not wait to see your fashion boards. So, get styling! Visit the Beading Daily.com blog to find out how to enter.

But wait! Before you go, I have another exciting announcement...We're having a book blog party celebration and you're invited. Please join us this weekend, June 23rd-24th for a blog hop celebrating the release of  
 The party will kick-off tomorrow at Beadingdaily.com. You won't want to miss it. There will be lots of giveaways and goodies to grab. Plus, you'll get to hear what everyone thinks about our book. And speaking of that, if you happen to have a copy or you downloaded the e-book and like it, please feel free to leave us a review on Amazon.com. I know a few of you have already and we appreciate your comments so much. I've read each review more times that I want to admit to! It really lifts me up and makes me feel so good. Thank you, all!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Bead and Button Show Recap...Finally

I had a wonderful time at the Bead and Button Show! This was my first time at the show, so for me it was all about meeting people. I was a very bad photographer during the show and hardly took any pictures. Most of these photos I stole from others, please forgive me! Anyway, I'll start right from the top. On Friday, I met up with Lorelei at the Milwaukee airport and we took a shuttle over to our hotel. The two of us stayed at the Hyatt with the lovely mother and daughter duo, Pam Wynn and Heather Wynn Millican. These two artists are sweeter in person than I imagined and I didn't think that was even possible. Once we checked into the hotel, we dropped off our things and made a bee line for the show. As we were wondering around the front registration area, we ran into Rosanne Garvison, Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio and Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem.
 Here we are with Diana Ptaszynski. She looked very pretty in this Peach top and her handmade ceramic jewelry. Lorelei is wearing one of her own necklace designs from our book, called 'Autumnal Arrangement'. Doesn't it look great on her? I'm toting a box of stuff for our space at Melanie's booth!
Melanie Brooks at her Earthenwood Studios booth. This was our home base at the show!

When we made it onto the show floor, we headed straight over to our host, Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio. Melanie had set aside a whole table for us at her booth, which I thought was very generous! On the table, we set out a few copies of our book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry, some of Lorelei's jewelry pieces from the pages inside and my earring kits. We also said our hellos to Diane Hawkey, who was straight across from Melanie's booth. For the rest of the day, we took a spin around the showroom floor to check everything out and to meet some folks. I met many artisan beadmakers and jewelry designers I've admired online for years including, Vlad and Kremena of Golem Studios, Jennifer Heynen, Stephanie Sersich, Marla James, Sara of C-Koop Beads, Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios and of course, her brother, Andrew Thornton. It's always a pleasure to see Andrew and it was refreshing to see a friendly familiar face among so many new ones!
Vlad and Kremena of Golem Studio.

While Lorelei and I were making our way around the show, getting thoroughly distracted, I suddenly remembered that Friday was Tracy's last day at the show. "Oh, we need to meet Tracy Statler. I gotta call her right now!", I said. Luckily, Tracy answered her cell phone right away and came around to meet us.
 Me, Tracy Statler and Lorelei. Tracy is one of our contributing designers from our book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry.

Later, we swung back down to the 'Artists Row' aisle and I met Heather Powers at her Humble Beads booth. What a pleasure it was to finally meet Heather. She is really a kind and gentle soul with so many creative and inspiring ideas. I'm looking forward to seeing her at a few other future bead events, like Bead Fest and her Bead Cruise 2013. While at the Humble Beads booth, there was another Heather there. Heather Trudeau a.k.a. The Peacock Fairy! That evening, we had dinner with her at this amazing Spanish tapas place in downtown Milwaukee. The food and drinks were so good and Lorelei and I had a fun time chatting with Heather.

On Saturday, Lorelei and I had a yummy breakfast at our hotel with Pam and Heather Wynn and Henry, too! Then, it was back to the show floor for day 2, where I met even more friends...
 I popped back over to the Humble Beads booth where I met Erin Prais-Hintz of Tresori Trovati.

Erin and I have conversed quite a bit through our blogs, so it was such a treat to meet her in person. I had a fabulous time chatting with her and Heather Powers for a few minutes behind the Humble Beads booth. Before I left, Erin gifted me with one of her 'Simple Truths' pendants. She let me pick one out from her stash.
I choose this copper heart pendant. It reads 'Listen to your heart' on the back.

Later on, I heard an announcement that Sara Oehler and Jamie Hogsett were signing copies of their new book, Show Your Colors, so I went over to meet them. I bought the book and they each signed it for me. While I was chatting with the two authors, Denise Peck showed up! I have 3 out of her 4 books. Denise is also the editor of Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine. I know Denise is a big Lorelei fan and she seemed very interested to meet her co-author, counterpart whom she knew nothing about previously!

By now, it was almost time for our book signing at the Earthenwood Studio booth. I headed back over there to meet up with Lorelei. We had lunch and then it was show time for us. I'm thrilled to say many lovely people came by to meet us and have a book signed! We met jewelry designers, Lori Anderson of Pretty Things, Suzann Sladcik Wilson of Beadphoria, Ellen Wagner, Beverly Herman, our editor, Michelle Mach and Katie Wall from Fusion Beads, just to name a few!

On Sunday morning, Lorelei and I went to the Bead Bloggers Breakfast hosted by Heather Powers and Erin Prais-Hintz. We sat at a table with our book editor, Michelle Mach and author/designer, Jamie Hogsett. We worked closely with Michelle on our book over the phone and over email. She was a tremendous asset to have throughout the book process. It was so great to finally chat with Michelle face to face and spend some time together. Also, it was a treat to talk to Jamie and get to know her a bit better, too. After we were done eating, Heather got us all together to chat and do a little networking. There, I met Kerri Fuhr, Kristen Fagan and Carmi Cimicata. There were a few others there that I had not met previously, but I didn't get a chance to talk with them.

After that, we all headed back to the show for the last few hours. While walking through, I ran into Jill Wiseman. She is so friendly and nice. I talked to her for a little while about my new found love, Kumihimo. She just so happens to know a bit about the subject. Among other beading techniques, she teaches many Kumihimo classes at national bead show, like Bead and Button.

I didn't do much shopping during the show, but I did walk away with this stash of art beads!
Earthenwood Studio, C-Koop Beads, Suburban Girl Studio and Golem Studio.

I'm already looking forward to next year!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

In A Tree Necklace Project

In A Tree Necklace

Here's an easy way to incorporate bits of silk ribbon into a necklace design. The texture of the fibers add interest to this simple piece. Check out my tutorial for this necklace on the Art Bead Scene Blog, today!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Father's Day

Every time I hear someone say, "She's Daddy's Girl." It makes me smile and beam with pride. He's the best father a little girl could have and I'm proud to call him my husband.

Happy Father's Day!

Monday, June 4, 2012

The Bead and Button Show

Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry: 50 Designs Using Leather, Ribbon and Cords
 
This Friday, I will be getting on an airplane and heading to Milwaukee for my first Bead and Button Show. I'm thrilled to be able to go this year. What's even better, Lorelei will be there too and we will have our book on display and for sale at the show! This will be our biggest bead event with our book. I'm excited and nervous and a little overwhelmed, but most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing my favorite bead people and meeting some of them for the first time in person.

Meet me and Lorelei and get your copy of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry SIGNED by both of us!

The Bead & Button Show
June 9th-10th 
Frontier Airlines Center
400 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Earthenwood Studio Booth, #1227
Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio graciously offered to accommodate us and our book at her booth. We will be selling and signing copies of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry. *This will be a rare opportunity to get a copy signed by BOTH of us in person!* I hope you will want to take advantage. 
 
To go along with the book, I will also be selling 2 Earring KITS to make projects from the pages inside! Yep, that's right, I'll be debuting kits including all the beads, findings and materials to make my favorite earrings from the book. All you need is your tools and the instructions from the book to make the earrings!
Triple Loop Earrings
(from the cover!)
 Triple Loop Earring Kit.
Kit includes all beads, findings and materials to make 1 pair of "Triple Loop" earrings.
 (Greek leather, amethyst glass rounds and all findings are Vintaj Natural Brass.)
$20

Copper Antiquity Earrings
 Copper Antiquity Earring Kit.
Kit includes all beads, findings and materials to make 1 pair of "Copper Antiquity" earrings.
(Turquoise rounds, Irish waxed linen cord and artisan copper components handmade by Miss Fickle Media.)
$20
 
Pick up a copy of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry and a few kits and you could make two pairs of chic earrings to wear or give as gifts before you leave the show!
  
If you can't make it to the show, and you are interested in a kit, just let me know. I'll hold one for you!

If you are going to the show,
please stop by booth #1227. We would love to meet you.
See you there!