Happy Holidays!

Best wishes to all!

I hope everyone is having a joyful time with family and friends! We are here enjoying Nora's first Christmas!

A Jewelry Accord

Please check out my technique tutorial post on the new blog,  A Jewelry Accord! Be sure to follow this blog and add it to your list. We will be doing a giveaway coming up this week! Thank you!

Michaels Challenge-Winter Edition

Well, Lorelei and Nancy were at it, again! They went to Micheal's and picked out these beads above for another beading challenge. It's reveal day for the Winter edition challenge! I picked up my challenge beads when I was out visiting Lorelei a few weeks ago. Here's my necklace I call Black Lotus.

Black Lotus by Erin Siegel

I used the freshwater pearls, mother-of-pearl ovals and the black quartz nuggets from the chosen challenge beads. I added in this open design flower pendant, a flower toggle clasp and paired it all with some wide black leather lace.

The best and coolest thing I added to this piece though, is the plum color silk! This was a wide silk satin cord that was stuffed with chiffon. I un-stuffed it and cut it up into sections and strung it on the beading wire in between the black quartz nugget beads.

Thanks for stopping in! 

Looking forward to seeing what the other jewelry designers have done for this round!

Mini Necklace Bust

 I ended up at TJ Maxx again the other night! I went looking for some Christmas gifts. Of course, I found more stuff for myself than anything else! That always happens at that damn store! Geesh! Anyway, you might remember that Lorelei and I went shopping there when I was visiting her in New York, last weekend. She blogged about these cool jewelry trays we found. I haven't gotten any of those trays for myself...YET, but I did pick up this cute mini necklace bust!

 I thought it would be great for display and possibly taking photographs of delicate necklaces. I think it's great, except it might be hard to tell the scale of a piece in a photo, since it's a mini bust. Hmmm...I don't know. What do you guys think?

At the very least, it looks cute holding a few necklaces on my beading table!!!

And The Contributors Are....

Please visit our new blog to find out who we have selected to contribute to our upcoming book!

A JEWELRY ACCORD 

Making Jewelry with Cording, Ribbon and Lace

Lorelei and I hope you will join us on the new blog!

Thank you!

Weekend with Lorelei

 I had a fun-packed weekend with my good friend and co-author Lorelei! She and Joe took good care of me with their wonderful hospitality! I flew into Syracuse, New York Friday night. Lorelei picked me up from the airport. I was so excited when I first saw her standing there waiting for me in the airport lobby! We arrived back at the house and Lori and Joe gave me a tour of the place. The house is so CUTE!!! I just love it! It's the cutest, prettiest Bungalow you've ever seen! They have put so much time, love and energy into fixing it up. It's beautiful. After the house tour, I was taken to one of their favorite spots for dinner. Mmmm...yummy Mexican food! I loved it. After dinner, Lori and I spent some time up in her bead studio! Yay! I was really looking forward to that! I even worked on an earring design for the book and Lori finished a few last minute earrings for her Jewelry Open House held on Saturday!

Here's a picture I snapped of Lori on Saturday right before guests started arriving!

On Saturday, Joe and Lori took me out to breakfast, my favorite thing to do! I love breakfast food to pieces! After breakfast, we headed back to the house to prepare all the food goodies for the party. Lorelei also made her Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread. Yum! I just loved it! I can't wait to make this for myself! The bread is so good, you have to make it. Thanks, L for telling me where you got the recipe from!

Here's some of Lorelei's cool jewels on display.

Lori had a nice turnout for her party. I was supposed to be helping with packaging up purchases, but instead I ended up just gabbing with the guests! Gah. Sorry, Lori! During the party, I was just hoping that a few of my favorite pieces would still be left at the end of the night. I was in luck! I grabbed a few pieces for Christmas gifts. I wish I could show you what I got, but they are for a special person who may be reading this!

After party time, Lori and I went out for a little shopping! We went to Micheal's Craft Store, one of my favorite shopping destinations and I picked up my beads for Lorelei's next beading challenge. Yay!, except I ended up forgetting them at Lori's house when I left! Gah, scatter brain! Anyway, after we were done at Micheal's, we went next door to TJ Maxx! My OTHER favorite shopping destination! We went in there with the intention of finding some necklace displays for Lorelei's jewelry. We didn't find any displays Lori was excited about, but we did end up finding some cute jewelry trays with compartments that you could use for storing beads or earrings!!! I don't have a picture of them, but I'm sure Lorelei will blog about the find soon! 

 

After we got back from our shopping trip, we logged onto Skype and talked to Nancy Schindler via video chat! That was fun! I was super excited to talk to Nancy. We all laughed and had a good time. I love Nancy and her fun and witty personality, but she's also a  down to earth kind of girl, too! I can see why Lori considers her such a good friend and why she adores her to pieces!

On Sunday, Nancy was in the middle of doing her last craft show for the year. The show happened to be in Syracuse. We had to be in Syracuse that day anyway to take me back to the airport, so we decided to head out early and stop by Nancy's show on the way! I was really looking forward to meeting her in person! I've admired Nancy and her work for some time. Even before I knew Lorelei, I had discovered Nancy way back when I started making my ceramic pieces. That was over 3 years ago now! To finally meet her in person was a real treat! I'm looking forward to seeing both Lori and Nancy on my next trip to New York!

Hmmm...let me see...what else...I'm forgetting something, right? What else did we do during my visit? Oh, yeah...we selected our contributing designers for our upcoming book! Yes, we did!!! We'll be announcing that very soon so stay tuned, everyone!!! Thank you!

Plans for the Weekend

I'm getting on a plane tomorrow. I'm leaving Nora with her daddy for a few days. I'm going to visit my friend Lorelei for the weekend. Yay, I'm excited! I'm so looking forward to seeing her! It'll be a busy time for us! We have so much to do, but it will be fun! I'll be assisting Lorelei with her Jewelry Open House she's having on Saturday....and I mean assisting as in helping her get rid of all the food by eating it all and drinking all the wine...lol. Hey, I was gestational while I was pregnant, after all. I didn't get to have a lot of goodies AND I haven't had a drink since before I was pregnant! So, I think that's reason enough for all that! Don't you think?

No, but seriously, we do have a LOT of celebrating to do this weekend. This will be the first time we've seen each other since BEFORE we got our book contract!!! Can you say PAR-TAY! hehe!The pic above is the last time we saw each other, which was over the Summer when the book concept was born!

Well, it won't be all fun and games. We do have some serious business to attend to. We will be choosing the contributing jewelry designers for our book! Now, that is going to be tough! So many of you submitted great designs. Thank you to everyone who submitted. I'm blown away by the interest and enthusiasm for this project. We appreciate it so much, Thank you! Stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our family to yours...Enjoy The Holiday!!!

Call For Contributors Reminder!

Don't forget! If you are interested in being a contributor for our upcoming book, A Jewelry Accord: 50+ Innovative Styles Using Leather, Lace, Ribbon and Cords, you must have samples of your work submitted to the Jewelry Accord Flickr Group by December 1st! Yikes! That's only one week away!!!

If you're just tuning in or you need a recap, please go to the original blog post and read carefully for all the details about the book and how to submit! We've seen some great designs so far submitted to the Flickr group! Check it out, if you haven't taken a peak. Some wonderful inspiration there! Lorelei and I are thrilled with the response to our call out, so THANK YOU to everyone who has responded and submitted jewelry! You are going to make this a really tough decision on us!

Also, if you haven't submitted up to 5 designs, we encourage you to do so, really show us what you can do with those cording materials!!! As for the rest of you, get busy beading over the holiday and upload your designs to the Flickr group! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Clay Bead Artist: Duane Collins

I don't have any new jewelry I can actually show you these days. I'm working on jewelry projects for the upcoming book while Nora takes her nap. I can't wait to share my jewelry ideas with you, but it will be a while before I can do that! I want to show you something though, so I thought I would share the AMAZING clay beads I've received from some very talented clay artisans!

The beads below are from clay artisan, Duane Collins of Elements Pottery. Enjoy!

Please visit Duane's Website and Shop for more! Thank you!

Life with Baby

My two loves while we were at the Grandparents house last weekend.

Well, we haven't been doing much around here except taking care of our bundle of joy! Nora is now 3 weeks old and doing great! I hope to get back to creating some jewelry soon!

Our Little Pumpkin

We brought our new baby girl home from the hospital Sunday night. We are happy to finally be home with her. We are all doing great. It's been a busy couple of days getting adjusted to taking care of our new addition, we still haven't figured it all out yet. We are a little tired but doing well! Thank you for all the well wishes, Everyone! I loved seeing all your comments! I appreciate all your support for the new baby and the upcoming book as well! :)

A Book and a Call for Contributors!!!

Dear Friends,

I will be writing my first jewelry-making instruction book with my good friend Lorelei Eurto! Yes, that’s right. Lorelei and lil’ ol’ ME! :) The two of us will be co-authors of an upcoming jewelry-making book for Interweave Press! I am just beside myself. This is literally a DREAM COME TRUE for me! I have always LOVED all types of jewelry-making books. I have tons of books in my beading library that I’ve been collecting for years. I’ve flipped through my books dreaming of my own book many, many times. I never thought it would happen this soon! I am so happy to be sharing this experience with a great jewelry designer and friend.

I don’t know if many of you know this, but Lorelei was the first jewelry designer to contact me when I entered the blog-o-sphere over two years ago as a new ceramic bead artist. She was the first to buy some of my ceramic pieces and the first to introduce me to the beading blog community. We have stayed in constant contact with each other since then and we have become close friends over the last two years. Lorelei has never let me down. She has always been there for me personally and supported me in all the different directions I’ve gone in with my bead-making and jewelry-making career. When I was a new ceramic bead artist, she supported me. When I changed my style and look of my ceramic pieces, she was right there cheering me on. When I found out I was pregnant, she was happy for me. When I announced I was leaving the ceramic world to pursued more of a jewelry-making career, she was again one of the first to support my decision and my change. I’ve always been able to count on her. She is a good friend. I am so happy and honored to have her working on this project with me and I can not think of a better person to be doing this with.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS:
We want this to be fun and exciting for you as well! We are sharing this opportunity with all of you here in this beading community. We are looking for jewelry designers to contribute projects to our book! Yes, that’s right, YOU could be apart of this with us and have YOUR work “out there” and published in a BOOK and get paid for it!!! What could be better than that! We have chosen one contributor already, but we’ve decided to open the field up and give some others a chance to be part of this project. We are looking for one other designer, possibly two. If you are chosen to contribute to the book, you will be paid on a per project basis. We would like up to 5 projects from each contributor. Your jewelry designs and complete instructions will be printed in the book along with your name and contact info. You will also receive a free copy of the book when it is published. We are excited to be able to take an opportunity like this and share it. We hope you will be really enthusiastic about this upcoming book project! So, now you want to know what the book is about, right? Well here it goes:

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: A Jewelry Accord: 50+ Innovative Styles Using Leather, Lace, Ribbon & Cords
A fundamental jewelry-making instruction book with a focus on the use of alternative materials in beaded jewelry such as, leather cord, suede lace, waxed linen cord, cotton cord, silk cord, ribbons and other cords. This book teaches how to incorporate these materials into jewelry designs using basic jewelry-making techniques such as stringing, wire-wrapping, knotting and braiding.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Do you enjoy using cords, ribbons or fibers in your jewelry? Would you be super excited and pumped to have your designs published in a book? If your answer is YES to these questions, then you could be who we are looking for!
There are some rules and requirements, so please read carefully.

• Please US residents only. We are very sorry, we wish we could invite absolutely everyone. :(

• We can not accept any projects that have been previously published.

• Your projects must represent original work by you.

• You must create your projects using basic jewelry-making techniques such as stringing, crimping, wire-wrapping, wrapped loops, knotting, simple braiding, etc. Think Stringing Magazine. Look through the techniques section to get an idea of what would be appropriate for this book. You may use more than one technique in a single piece.

• Necklaces and bracelets only please.

• Your jewelry projects must incorporate at least one type of cord or ribbon material in each design.

• We encourage you to use various cord and ribbon findings to finish off your pieces such as crimp-style or fold-over style cord ends, glue-in style cord ends, cone findings, clamshells, knot cups, ribbon ends or clamps, etc. Please look around and see what’s out there on the market today for options.

• We encourage you to use art beads and/or artisan made findings and jewelry components, if you want to, although this is not a requirement.

• We also encourage you to try incorporating more than one type of cording material in a single piece. Try mixing suede lace with silk ribbon or linen cord with leather cord or whatever combination you can come up with! Have fun with it! Use your imagination and don’t be afraid to experiment with the materials! 

• If you are chosen to contribute to the book, you will be responsible for supplying a complete materials list, list of tools used, complete instructions and a resource list for each of your jewelry projects.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:

1. If you think you might be seriously interested in this opportunity, please fill out this form and send it ASAP.

2. Please join the Jewelry Accord Flickr Group and start submitting your jewelry designs that fit the above mentioned criteria. To be considered for the book, you must submit at least 1 jewelry design. You may submit up to 5 designs. We ask that any and all interested individuals to please have your jewelry designs submitted to this flickr group by December 1st 2010. Thank you!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us. My email is in my profile. We are looking forward to hearing from you! Please feel free to spread the word on this CALL out! Happy Beading! :)

Gaea's Design Challenge

About a month ago, Gaea posted a design challenge/giveaway on her blog. She chose 6 designers at random to receive a set of 3 of her gorgeous 'Mermaid Beads'! The participants were chosen at random out of all who commented on her blog post. I was lucky enough that my number came up in the drawing! I was thrilled! I love Gaea's beads, especially her magical mermaid beads.  In return, She asked the designers to come up with their own jewelry design using the 3 mermaid beads and the above bracelet as inspiration.

Today is the reveal day for our creations!

Here's my design:

I had a lot of fun coming up with this fun bracelet! Thank you for the inspiration, Gaea!

Here are the links to the other participants in the challenge:

Life in the Bead Lane

For My Sweet Daughter

Lorelei

Sue Beads

Spirited Earth 

Also, please visit Gaea's blog for more!  Thanks for stopping by!

Michaels Challenge

Today is reveal day for the Micheal's Challenge! Back a few weeks ago, Lorelei posed a reader beading challenge on her blog. We were all to buy similar beads from Micheal's and make a necklace using as many elements from Lorelei's chosen bead stash (above) as we could. Here's the necklace I came up with. I made an earthy, chunky necklace.

I ended up buying only two of the beads from Lorelei's picks. The white carved cinnabar beads and the green freshwater pearls. I kept the same color palette of dark brown, white and green. I substituted in these large dark wooden rounds to represent the dark brown beads Lorelei had selected. I added in these silver nugget beads and silver seed beads as my added element to the piece.

I used 6 strands of waxed linen cord to make the necklace. I strung the green freshwater pearls together in clusters for fullness and dimension. The silver seed beads were strung onto the multiple strands of linen and wrapped around the large wooden rounds for a decorative effect. Even though I used only two of Lorelei's bead picks, all of the beads in my necklace I bought at Micheal's! Now, I just need a nice name for my creation, any suggestions? Please leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by! There are lots of others participating in this fun challenge! Below is the list. Click the links to go on to the next designers! or Go to Lorelei's blog to check out the list there!

Mary Harding
Hilary of Fryestyle
For My Sweet Daughter
My Life Under the Bus
Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns
Linda's Bead Blog & Meanderings
Copper Diem

Andrew Thornton
TyneBodenNecklaces
Erin of Treasuresfound
Molly of BeautifullyBrokenMe
Beading by Malin de Koning



AuntieAnnie
Gr8Findings
Deborah M Purdy
Spirited Earth

Erin Siegel Jewelry
beads by breul
Beads for Busy Gals
Cynths Blog
Nayas Organized Chaos
Crafty Hope

Rosebud For the Love of Beads
Jamberry Song
Peacock Fairy
Elysian Studio Art
Designs by Debi
sweet girl design

October Happenings

There are quite a few events and things coming up around the blog-o-sphere in the next week or so. Here's a list of some things coming up soon:

Sunday, October 17th - Lorelei's Micheals Beading Challenge

Please come back this Sunday to see what I came up with! Be sure to check out Lorelei's blog on Sunday to see what she did and also she will have a list of all participating blogs and jewelry pics from participating beaders. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone created!

Tuesday, October 19th - Gaea's 'copy me' Design Challenge

I will be revealing my design this coming Tuesday. I was lucky enough to be a chosen designer for this challenge, but Gaea has left this one open to anyone that wants to participate! Check out her blog.

Wednesday, October 20th - Super Duper Big Announcement!!!

My good friend Lorelei Eurto and I will be making a BIG special announcement! Please be sure to check both our blogs on Wednesday. We are so excited to share this news and we hope you will be just as excited! All you jewelry designers out there will not want to miss this!

Sunday, October 24th - The Beads-Of-Clay Fall Blog Event

Plan on attending this event! I hope to attend this as well. The ceramic bead artists over at the BOC blog will be having an open studio event with a blog hop, shop sales and tons of giveaways all day!

And last but not least, somewhere in between all this, I will hopefully be having a BABY! LOL! :) So, if I've gone missing, I'm probably in the delivery room! Wish me luck.

Turquoise Button Necklace

My second design for the Artbeads.com Fall design challenge. As I did for my first piece, I used the 'Fall 2010 Patone's Color Report' for my inspiration. Lagoon, Lipstick Red, and Oyster Grey. Turquoise is my absolute favorite color and my favorite gemstone! I'm thrilled that Turquoise is the 'Color of the Year', according to Patone and I'm taking full advantage of it! I love the organic shape of this natural Turquoise nugget bead strand. I hand-knotted the Turquoise gems onto some Red silk beading cord. The large antique silversmith button serves as the focal and the clasp! This decorative button can be worn at the side, in the front or at the back!

I made a simple loop for the button with a piece of 2mm dark brown leather and a large antique silver pewter crimp end. I hope you've enjoyed my Artbeads Fall design project! Thank you for stopping by! :) Happy Beading!

Disclaimer: Artbeads.com has sent me the above mentioned beads, pendants, materials and/or findings to create with as part of their design partner blog program. I have not been paid by Artbeads.com to participate. Thank you.

Interview!

Please head over to Marcie's blog, La Bella Joya! Marcie was kind enough to ask me to answer a few questions for her blog series called Artists Answers. I am honored that she asked me for my input! 

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the Q and A! :)

Baby Shower!

Here's me at my Baby Shower last week on Sept. 16th. Yay! I'm 35 weeks pregnant here in this pic. The shower was held at The Riverwalk Bead Shop and Gallery, where I sell my jewelry and teach beading and jewelry-making classes! My girlfriends at the shop threw the shower for me. They did everything, from inviting all the guests to providing the food and beverages! It was so nice! I didn't do anything really except enjoy the party! I had so much fun! We laughed and talked about everything baby! Everyone was so generous with the gifts, I was a little overwhelmed but, oh so appreciated everything! My little girl will be all set for clothes, baby blankets, toys and a car seat! I love this place and all  my friends here! Thank you so much Nancy and Birdie for throwing me an awesome shower! :)

Marigold Sky Bracelet

Marigold Sky

Leather and Silk Bracelet by Erin Siegel 

I made this little number last night. It's my first design in a series for the new ArtBeads.Com Fall Design Challenge! I love these design challenges from artbeads. I get to try some ideas or jewelry supplies that I might not think of otherwise. For this challenge, the designers were encouraged to use 'Colors of Fall' in our jewelry creations. I chose to be inspired by the 'Fall 2010 Pantone Color Report' for my designs. This bracelet features 'Patone Colors' Lagoon, Golden Glow, Chocolate Truffle, and Oyster Gray. Interesting combination, but I think it works! 

The items I used from art beads are:

2mm Chocolate Brown Leather

100% Silk Beading Cord in Amber

Antique Silver Square Filigree Button

Thanks for looking! Happy Fall Beading! :)


Disclaimer: Artbeads.com has sent me the above mentioned beads, pendants, materials and/or findings to create with as part of their design partner blog program. I have not been paid by Artbeads.com to participate. Thank you.

Linen Hoop Earrings

Linen and Lace Hoop Earrings

Here's the first piece of jewelry I made from the little bead stash I got from Diana. (See my previous post) These hoop earrings look kinda funky and punky, don't you think?  I made a circle frame for these earrings out of 18 gauge sterling wire, then wrapped the frames with black waxed linen and small faceted black onyx beads. I've had this linen wrapped hoop idea for a while. Diana's ceramic charms were the perfect motivation to actually execute the idea!  I knew her pieces would be the perfect focals to hang from the center! The charms here are porcelain with a lace impression.  I'd love to make some more of these in some different color combination! You can check out more of Diana's work in her Etsy shop. Thanks for looking! :)

Earring Swap with a Friend!

Diana of Suburban Girl Studio and I did an earring swap together! Diana is a jewelry designer, ceramic bead artist and a member of the Beads-Of-Clay group. We were chatting on face book one day and decided that doing a swap would be fun! I love doing swaps. It's a great way to get to know other artists and exchange some fun things! Here are the earrings she made me with her handmade ceramic charms. I love these swirly cranberry red charms! :) This pair will be great for Fall!

 Diana's Earrings

I made Diana a pair of my leather earrings. I wanted to make her a fashionable pair she could wear for Fall. Below is the pair I sent her. I made these with Greek leather, Carnelian gemstones and amber glass with antiqued copper chain and brass findings. Check out Diana's blog post about our earring swap here.

 My Earrings

In addition, Diana was super sweet and spoiled me with a goody bag of her handmade ceramic beads and charms! She sent me this little stash along with her earrings. I love these! She does beautiful work!

Suburban Girl Beads, Charms and Button

Diana's ceramic work is wonderful and I can't wait to add some of her handmade components to my jewelry designs! Check out her Suburban Girl Beads Etsy Shop for lovely ceramic jewelry components and go shopping! :)

September Earrings

Leather, wood beads and Prenite nuggets.

These earrings remind me of September days. That transition from Summer to Fall. Here, I used greens of the Summer season mixed with wood and earthy muted tones to suggest a change to Autumn weather and fashion! Happy September!

Baby Belly Update!

33 weeks pregnant today! We enjoyed a nice weekend in New Hampshire. The weather was beautiful all weekend. Josh took this pic while we were on a walk. Sure is a little tough getting around being this pregnant! Just walking or standing for a while wears me out, but I'm hanging in there! :)

Sunrise

My last minute entry into the Art Bead Scene (ABS) monthly challenge. The inspiration for the month of August is the painting "Sunrise" by John Savitsky.

The radiating sun in this painting really speaks to me. I love the sun motif and the colors in this artwork. These are some of my favorite colors to work with in my jewelry designs!

I used a carved coconut shell pendant for the focal and honey-colored Greek leather for the bail. The pendant is strung on a beaded strand of natural beads, gemstones and textured ceramic beads by Marti Conrad. More Greek leather in a dark chocolate up both sides and around the back. The necklace is finished off with a drilled beach stone by Pam McKay for a loop and bead closure.

There's still time to enter! You can check out all the entries so far this month at the ABS flickr gallery!

Whirlpool

I love designing simple, casual jewelry with earthy, rustic elements. Something you would wear with jeans and a t-shirt. Every day active jewelry. This ceramic pendant by Indian Creek Studios, reminds me of a vacation we took a few years ago at Niagara Falls. We hiked along the Niagara river where there is a huge raging whirlpool. It was beautiful and awe inspiring! This pendant reminds me of that whirlpool. It has a texture to it that looks like moving water! Visit Indian Creek Studios shop and blog to see more of Pam's ceramic beads and jewelry components! :)