Here Comes the SUN

Click to view Here Comes The Sun on GLOSSI.COM

Ornamentea created this chic e-magazine with 10 golden, glowing DIY jewelry projects just for you! I love ALL the projects in here. I would make each and every one of them. In fact, I did create one. The piece on the cover. A glittering gold version of my Rhinestone Leather Wrap in vegan leather instead. I love it!

I'll be taking these sparkly pieces with me on the Bead Cruise 2014. I leave tomorrow! Follow me on Instagram for a peek inside my journey on the cruise this year. I'm very excited to finally feel some sun on my face soon. I'm traveling far to get my sun, but you don't have to. This e-mag can bring it to you.

I'll see you when I return. Until then, make some golden jewelry to warm you up. Ornamentea even made KITS for every project! So, there's no excuses. It's so easy.

Double Clover Necklace DIY TUTORIAL

Double Clover Necklace

Erin Siegel

Double the clovers, get twice the luck! Create your own wire-wrapped clover pendant. Then, add an accent with a ready-made four leaf clover charm.

Ingredients:

3 Olivine Czech glass teardrops

1 antique pewter four leaf clover charm

4 antique brass 3x4mm oval jump rings

1 antique brass 9mm spring ring clasp

16” of antique brass sparkle chain

2” of antique brass extender chain

20” of gold plated 24 gauge wire

Tools:

Chain nose pliers

Round nose pliers

Cutters

1: Use the wire to form a wrapped loop about 8” from one end of the wire. Make a fat wrap as shown.

 2: Use the long end of wire to string 1 teardrop bead. Use the short wire to wrap around the long wire after the bead as shown.

 3: Use the short wire to string 1 teardrop. Bend the wire over the bead and wrap the wire around itself a few times after the bead as shown.

  4: Repeat step 3 as shown. Trim the short wire and tuck the end in.

 5: Use the long wire to wrap around the base of all three beads as shown. Continue wrapping until the wire is used. Trim and tuck the end in.

  6: Use 1 jump ring to attach the pendant to the center of the chain as shown. Use another jump ring to attach the four leaf clover charm to the chain a few links over as shown.

 7: Use 1 jump ring to attach the spring clasp to one end of the chain. Use another jump ring to attach the extender chain to the free end of chain.

Wear and enjoy your lucky clover necklace!

Lucky 7 Charm Swap

Are you participating in Ornamentea.com's annual charm swap? There is still a little bit of time left to get in on the fun. Make 7 charms, mail them to the Ornamentea shop in Raleigh, NC and receive 7 charms back from others around the world this March. Charms are due by February 28th, 2014. Click this link or the banner above to find out all the details and join in.

Here's my lucky charm I sent in tied up on a card:

I just love making these cute wire-wrapped clover charms. They are so fun to create. I even made a sweet little necklace with it. A perfect lucky talisman to wear for the month of March and of course, St. Paddy's day. Since I'm an Irish lass myself, I would not hesitate to wear this necklace year round for a little extra luck!

My Double Clover Charm Necklace is an upcoming Ornamentea tutorial. I show you just how to make this adorable 3-leaf clover charm. You can make this exact necklace or you can add the charm to your own jewelry design. I think you'll agree these charms are fun to make. Look for the tutorial soon!

Jewelry Stringing Magazine Spring 2014

I'm extremely excited to share the cover of the Spring 2014 issue of Jewelry Stringing magazine with you! It's a proud, proud moment for me to see my necklace on the cover of my favorite beading magazine. I'm honored to have my piece featured in this way. So few are chosen for this coveted spot. I feel very fortunate. I can't quite describe how much this means to me. I have dreamed of this. I have visualized my jewelry on the cover many times and thought of what a wonderful feeling it would be. I feel so happy and over-joyed to reach this goal. It just goes to show what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it. Dreams really do come true!

However, I do not think about the cover of the magazine while I make my jewelry for submission. I create what inspires me at the moment. I always create pieces that reflect my own interests and style even when working within the parameters of a magazine's guidelines. Some of you might remember that I wrote an article last September, for the Art Bead Scene about submitting jewelry designs FOR THIS VERY ISSUE! I wrote the article while I was in the process of creating my jewelry pieces for the submission process. Read that post here, if you missed it or for a refresher.

My goal was to offer helpful information for aspiring designers to submit jewelry to the magazine and also encourage participation in contributing designs to publications in general. I took a BIG risk writing and publishing that post before submitting the finished jewelry and again, took another gamble that a piece would even be accepted and then published! I created and submitted 4 pieces for this publication. Two out of those four were accepted for further consideration. I sure am grateful that those two designs were indeed accepted and published in the magazine. I would have felt pretty silly and foolish writing an advice article about successfully creating jewelry for publication and then not getting any pieces accepted to the magazine myself. That would have been slightly embarrassing, but that is the chance I took! I felt inspired to be open and put myself out there. My intention was simply to share my creative process and maybe inspire someone else to give publishing a shot. I hoped I'd get at least one project published in the issue. I never in a million years expected one of my designs to make the cover!

Since I shared a sneak peek at the designs I was working on in my submissions post from last September, I thought it would be fun to reveal all 4 of the necklaces I created and submitted to the magazine for the Spring 2014 issue, even the pieces that were not accepted. So, here it goes.

Necklace submitted to the "Soft Jewelry" theme for Spring 2014:

"World Beat"

Necklace submitted to the "Spring Green" theme for Spring 2014:

"Hemlock Forest"

Necklace submitted to the "Monochromatic" theme for Spring 2014:

"Stormy Winds"

Necklace submitted to the "Bead Soup" theme for Spring 2014:

"Globe-Trotter"

Now, here are my two designs in Jewelry Stringing magazine as published!:

World Beat

Necklace and Bracelet in the "Strike a Cord" section

Jewelry Stringing Magazine Spring 2014

 Sankofa trade beads, Irish waxed linen and Greek leather all supplies from Ornamentea.com.

 

Globe-trotter

Necklace and Bracelet in the "Bead Soup" section

Jewelry Stringing Magazine Spring 2014

Seed beads from ShipWreckBeads.com and a handmade ceramic bead set by artist, Keith O'Connor.

Pick up your copy of this issue on newsstands now or download the digital version. Happy beading to all and if you are so inclined, happy submitting to magazines as well. 

 

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!!! I hope you are doing something you love today and spending time with whom you love as well. Much love to you all.

Lovely Little Knot Necklace DIY TUTORIAL

My latest jewelry tutorial for Ornamentea.com is perfect and just in time for Valentine's Day or any day for that matter. Works beautifully for a nautical knot look, too! One hot trend you will be seeing a lot of this year is knot jewelry. Knot necklaces, knot bracelets, knot earrings and knot rings. Knots, knots, knots everywhere! Of course, this trend is right up my street. This sweet little necklace made of soft, subtle deerskin leather lace, is an ideal project to try out the trend. It's so quick, easy and cute, it will have you tied up in 'love knots' in no time. I'm pretty darn sure you will want to make more than just one!

Lovely Little Knot Necklace

Erin Siegel

Ingredients:

2 antique brass fold overends

3 antique brass 3x4 oval jumprings

1 antique brass 5mm jump ring

1 antique brass 10mm lobsterclasp

14” of antique brass sparklechain

12” of deerskin 3/16” leatherlace

Tools

Chain nose pliers

Cutters

Scissors

Ruler

 1: Use the leather lace to make a loop passing the cord up and over the other end of the cord as shown. Make a second loop over the first, passing the cord underneath the tail end as shown. Create a third loop passing the cord over the second loop and under the first loop as shown in the last two photos.

2: Slowly tighten up the knot. Take care that the leather lace is laying flat with the right side facing up as shown. Adjust the loops evenly as you pull the ends tight.

3: Trim the leather lace ends ½” from the knot. Insert each end into a fold over end and close. Use 1 oval jump ring to attach 7” of chain to the loop of one fold over end. Repeat for the other side.

4: Use 1 oval jump ring to attach one end of chain to the lobster clasp. Attach the 5mm jump ring to the other free end of chain.

Show Some DIY LOVE

Valentine's Day is a great time to let your friends and family know how much you care. These DIY jewelry projects are perfect for saying "I love you" on V-day or any day! Click below to go to the tutorials:

Rhinestone Leather Wrap

LOVE Color Block Bracelet

Knotted Friendship Bracelets

Also, two jewelry kits I designed for Ornamentea.com are now on sale. 50% off! Now is a great time to get these before they are gone.

Leather Ruffle Hoop Earring Kit

Knotted Friendship Bracelets Kit

Expanding on 2013

2013 was a great year of fun firsts, exciting experiences, enlightening growth and expansion. It seems like everything I did this year involved something new and different. At times, that was a little scary and stressful, but overall the experience was fun and thrilling! This was the first year that I conscientiously committed to choosing a word. I was prompted to do so as part of a Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge posed by my friend Tracy Statler.  I love this idea, I love inspirational jewelry that holds meaningful messages and I love Tracy, so I just had to participate. :)

My word for 2013 was:

Expand

1.) to increase or grow

2.) to spread out; unfold; develop

3.) to express something more fully or in greater detail

  Looking back on the year now, I'm most pleased with my 'expanded' efforts! 2013 was full of travel, new experiences, meeting new friends, connecting with artists, seeking out opportunity, creating new ways to share my jewelry knowledge and design ideas and reaching out to grow an audience for my DIY jewelry projects and tutorials.

February 2nd marked the jewelry reveal for Tracy's Inspire Change: Wellness Words Jewelry challenge. I revealed my "Expand Your Horizons" Necklace with a handmade pendant by Erin Prais-Hintz along with this stack-able, 'expandable' set of leather bracelets above. Read the post here. 

In March, I embarked on a trip of a lifetime aboard the Bead Cruise 2013! It was my first cruise experience and my first visit to the Caribbean. I had a total blast. The adventure began in January, getting my passport for the very first time expanding my horizons for International travel. I taught a class on the ship and met so many great ladies and new beady friends. Read more about the Bead Cruise here and here.

In June, I opened up my whole world again with a trip to Cleveland, Ohio to film two segments for the Beads, Baubles and Jewels TV series. The experience was a profound one in more ways than one. It was a great time. I met host, Katie Hacker and many other great figures in the beading and jewelry-making community. Read more here.

In August, I presented my Fiber Findings and Finishing Techniques for Jewelry
webinar LIVE on the Internet! I spent months preparing for this exciting new endeavor. I'm just so thrilled that I have the opportunity to share my favorite jewelry-making techniques and information in this new way! Read more about my webinar here.

In September, I traveled to the Washington, D.C. area to attend ArtBLISS 2013. I took a Stacie Florer metalworking class (which was awesome!) and sold Ornamentea.com goodies at the event. Read more about artBLISS 2013 here and here.

In October, I participated in my first professional photo shoot as a jewelry designer. I traveled to the ruins of Madame Sherri's castle located in an enchanted forest bordering New Hampshire and Vermont. This site was the location of a passion project between two photographer friends called, Shades of the Past. I got to play stylist, pairing my jewelry with the models and costumes. See all the jewelry and photos here.

Click to view November 2013 BEAD Chat Magazine by Artisan Whimsy on GLOSSI.COM

In November, I was interviewed about publishing jewelry designs by Bead Chat online magazine. I'm honored the editors asked me to contribute content. I'm happy to share my experiences in hopes that it can inspire others to reach their goals of getting published in beading magazines. Click the magazine above and Read the article starting on page 31!

Other things of  note in 2013:

My jewelry was published in every issue of Stringing magazine this year!

I enjoyed my first full year designing and creating jewelry projects for Ornamentea.com 

(Best job ever!)

In attempts to grow my audience, I had some of my projects featured on DIY craft websites such as:  

WhimsyBox  

Craft Gawker

All Free Jewelry-Making 

and

Cut Out + Keep.

2013 was one heck of a good time and a great ride. 

I'm looking forward to more exciting change and good things to come in the new year.

Happy 2014!