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!

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!

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

www.beadandbuttonshow.com

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!

Jewelry Stringing Magazine

The Summer 2012 issue of Jewelry Stringing magazine is available in digital form!

The much-awaited Summer issue of Jewelry Stringing magazine is available as a download, now. I tell ya, this magazine just keeps getting better and better! This Summer issue is packed with inspiring jewelry designs that I would love to create for myself. Many of the creations are right up my ally with turquoise gemstones, fibers and other natural beads and materials. I'm excited to say I have two bracelets and a necklace project called "Mystic Magic" in this issue. In the necklace, I used ceramic beads by Duane Collins of Elements Pottery. Duane is one of my favorite ceramic bead artists. His work just speaks to my very soul! Check out his phenomenal beads and pendants in his Etsy shop.

 "Mystic Magic" necklace in Jewelry Stringing magazine Summer 2012.

In addition, I am deeply honored to be featured in an interview for the Sell and Tell section of the magazine! I was asked to answer questions about teaching jewelry-making classes and workshops. This subject is near and dear to my heart. Teaching is something I love to do and I hope to do more of in the future. In fact, I have every intention to make teaching my main focus of my jewelry-making career. I feel more than ever that this is the path for me.  I could not be more grateful to the editors of Jewelry Stringing for extending their invitation to contribute to the publication in this way! An opportunity I won't soon forget. Here is the feature article below:

Click here to download

or

Click here to pre-order a print copy.

On newsstands June 5.

Button Swap Blog Hop

Button Swap Bracelets

Hi and welcome to the Button Swap Blog Hop hosted by Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio! My swap partner was Sharon Borsavage of Livewire Jewelry. She sent me a generous collection of beautiful buttons and I love them all. To see the full stash, visit my previous post. Well, as you can see, I'm still on the bracelet bandwagon from a few weeks ago. What can I say, bracelets are the thing this year! I created 3 bracelets with individual buttons from my swap collection. I used two of my favorites from the vintage selection and one handmade ceramic button by Mary Harding. 

Aren't these vintage buttons amazing? Sharon sent me some extra special beauties. They are precious little gems. I wanted to create simple designs that would allow the fantastic buttons to really stand out and be the stars of the show. The bracelets are made with colorful Irish waxed linen cord and antiqued brass beads. I really like how these turned out. I thought of our button swap host while I was creating them. Hey Cindy Wimmer, these are for you! :) Both bracelets were made using different braiding techniques.

Americana Queen

This red one is a six-strand flat braid with small brass beads incorporated. The braid looks much more complicated than it is! I love this vintage pearl button with a rhinestone inset. Gives the bracelet a fancy, regal look fit for any antiquing queen out on the hunt. ;)

Shiran

This purple bracelet is a Kumihimo round braid. Kumihimo is a Japanese braiding technique. I've been admiring the technique for some time now. I finally got a chance to use my Kumihimo loom disc and I love it! I think I might be hooked. The name Shiran is a type of Japanese orchid. I really enjoyed making this. The button is just phenomenal! A vintage brass filigree button with a mirrored back. It's kinda tough to see in the picture, but it's got a shiny, reflective backing that can be seen through the openwork at the top of the button. Stunning.

May Flowers 
And last, but not least, I created this feminine, Springtime bracelet with soft colors pulled from the floral impression button. I made my signature multi-strand, button & loop bracelet with a handmade button by Mary Harding.  Mary creates beautiful ceramic jewelry components from various botanical impressions. Visit her website to see more of her incredible work.

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day! 

Relax, enjoy the day and have fun blog hopping...

Alice Peterson  and Kim Bender

Angie Blasingame and Billi R.S. Rothove

 Billi R.S. Rothove and Angie Blasingame

 Birgitta Lejonklou and Pam Farren

 Bonnie Coursolle and Tania Hagen

 Brenda Salzano and Hope Smitherman

 Cat Kerr and Heather Powers

 Cece Cornier and Jeannie Dukic

 Celeste Thurston and Christine Damm

 Christine Damm and Celeste Thurston

 Christine Stonefield and Dana James

 Cilla Watkins and Lori Bowring Michaud

 Cindy Wimmer and Mimi Gardner

 Cynthia Machata and Julia Johnson

 Cynthia Riggs and Lori Finney

 Dana James and Christine Stonefield

Diana Ptaszynski and Erin Prais-Hintz

 Emma Thomas and Rebecca Anderson

 Erin Prais-Hintz and Diana Ptaszynski

 Erin Siegel and Sharon Borsavage

 Heather Powers and Cat Kerr

 Holly Westfall and Sally Russick

 Hope Smitherman and Brenda Salzano

 Jayne Capps and Kim Dworak

 Jeannie Dukic and Cece Cornier

 Jenna Meyers and Kristi Harrison

 Jenna Tomalka and Karen McKillip

 Jenny Davies Reazor and Sandi Volpe

 Julia Johnson and Cynthia Machata

 Kalaya Steede and Kylie Dickman

 Karen McKillip and Jenna Tomalka

 Karen Mitchell and Renetha Stanziano

 Karla Morgen and Mary Govaars

Kay Thomerson and Shannon Chomanczuk

 Kim Ballor and Laurel Steven

 Kim Bender and Alice Peterson

 Kim Dworak and Jayne Capps

 Kim Roberts and Partner unable to participate at this time.

 Kristi Harrison and Jenna Meyers

 Kylie Dickman and Kalaya Steede

 Kym Hunter and Lynda Moseley

 Laurel Steven and Kim Ballor

 Linda Djokic and Patty Gasparino

 Line Labrecque and Teri Baskett

 Liz DeLuca and Lorelei Eurto

 Lorelei Eurto and Liz DeLuca

 Lori Anderson and Niky Sayers

 Lori Bowring Michaud and Cilla Watkins

 Lori Finney and Cynthia Riggs

 Lynda Moseley and Kym Hunter

 Marianna Boylan and Tracy Statler

 Mary Govaars and Karla Morgen

 Mary Harding and Stacie Florer 

 Maureen Baranov and Tracy Bell

 Melissa Martin and Theresa Fosdick

 Michelle Hardy and Peggy Johnson

 Mimi Gardner and Cindy Wimmer

 Nicole Valentine Rimmer and Niki Meiners

 Niki Meiners and Nicole Valentine Rimmer

 Niky Sayers and Lori Anderson

 Pam Farren and Birgitta Lejonklou

* Pam Ferarri and Stefanie Teufel (will share their reveal on a later date)

 Patty Gasparino and Linda Djokic

 Peggy Johnson and Michelle Hardy

 Rebecca Anderson and Emma Thomas

 Rebekah Payne and Sue Kennedy

 Renetha Stanziano and Karen Mitchell

 Rose Binoya and Shanti Johnson

 Sally Russick and Holly Westfall

 Sandi Volpe and Jenny Davies Reazor

 Shannon Chomanczuk and Kay Thomerson

 Shanti Johnson and Rose Binoya

 Sharon Borsavage and Erin Siegel

 Shirley Moore and Veralynne Malone

 Stacie Florer and Mary Harding

* Stefanie Teufel and Pam Ferarri (will share their reveal on a later date)

 Sue Hamel and Terry Carter

 Sue Kennedy and Rebekah Payne

 Tania Hagen and Bonnie Coursolle

 Tania Spivey and Teresa Gagne

 Teresa Gagne and Tania Spivey

 Teri Baskett and Line Labrecque

 Terry Carter and Sue Hamel

 Theresa Fosdick and Melissa Martin

 Tracy Bell and Maureen Baranov

 Tracy Statler and Marianna Boylan

 Veralynne Malone and Shirley Moore

Voting Is Open!

Bead Star is a jewelry design contest that consists of 7 main categories: Ceramics, Crystals, Plastics, Glass, Metals, Pearls and Stones. Members of the Beading Daily community can enter 1 jewelry design per category. 20 finalists are then selected from each category to be voted on by other Beading Daily members. Voting is open from now til May 28th. It's free to join and you can vote for all your favorite designs. Come on and vote!

 I'm lucky enough to have 5 jewelry pieces in the Bead Star 2012 contest! I'm very excited about that because this contest has eluded me for years. I'm thrilled to finally be apart of it for the first time this year. So, without further ado, here are my entries:

Ceramics Category

 Spice Of Life

Click here to VOTE!

Colorful ceramic beads by artist Kieth O'Connor are hand-knotted on Irish waxed linen cord. Hill Tribe silver spiral charms dance between the beads on this cheery bracelet! A knotted loop and silver Greek ceramic bead make the perfect closure.

Crystals Category

Onyx and Gold

Click here to VOTE!
These are sparkly! Golden crystals and faceted onyx rounds are hand-knotted on black silk cord in these party-worthy earrings!

Plastics Category

Bohemian Bracelet

Click here to VOTE!

Plastic never looked so good! A double row of faux "turquoise" beads have been hand-knotted on amethyst silk beading cord. An artisan-made copper washer by Miss Fickle Media is the focal piece.

Metals Category

The Glamorous Life

Click here to VOTE!

Chic earrings perfect for a night out on the town! Rows of copper, silver and gold faceted cubes are woven together with copper wire. Tassels of suede lace finish these stylish earrings.

Pearls Category

Fringy Pearls

Click here to VOTE!

These fun, fringe earrings use cord crimp ends in a unique way. Fresh-water pearls in silvery grey and copper dangle from loops of leather cord. Classy and hip!

Thank you for taking the time to vote.