Let's Party!

Earlier this month, I signed up to participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Party and Bead Swap! You can read more about how the party works and see a listing of all the participants on Lori's blog post here. All the party participants were assigned a party buddy, with whom we swapped our beads with. My party friend is Juli Cannon of Juls Beads! She makes the most beautiful glass beads and not only that, she creates stunning bead weaved jewelry! Talk about talented! It's been great to get to know Juli through this event. If it weren't for the party, I might not have ever met her. Juls really was the perfect match for me. We both lean toward more earthy styles and we share a love for the same color palettes, too! Take a look at the gorgeous beads Juls sent me:
I absolutely love them! Her handmade lamp work glass beads are amazing! I love the details, the patterns and the colors. The turquoise blues, reds and browns are one of my all-time favorite color combinations! I love all of Juls lamp work beads and the coordinating beads she pick out to go with them, the clasp is beautiful and the feather charm is one of my favorite parts, too. I definitely will incorporate it in my design. I just hope I can do Juli's lamp work glass justice. I'm excited to get working with her beautiful beads. I think her work will compliment my ceramic work as well. I may even be able to throw in a few of my porcelain beads in between her glass beads. We will see. Time to get started! Be sure to come back on FEBRUARY 10th for the Bead Soup Party reveal day! In the meantime, you have to check out Juls blog to see what I sent her! Click here to go to her post about it.

Also, if you are interested in some additional bead eye candy, you might want to take a look at the Bead Soup Party Flickr Gallery Page to see pics of the bead swaps by some of the other participants! See all you party people Feb. 10th!

Mom's OM Meditation Necklace

OM Meditation Necklace
A handmade porcelain OM pendant hangs from a beaded strand of gemstones, copper and iridescent glass. Tranquil hues of purple, lavender and blue promote peace and relaxation, while neutral tones add balance and unity.

OM - A syllable commonly used as a mantra during yoga or meditation. Thought to be the sound or vibration of the universe.

This necklace was a special request from my Mom. I worked on it over the weekend. The piece is a collaborative effort between the two of us. Actually, all I did was string the necklace for her. Well, other than make the pendant, that is. :) Most of the design ideas are my Mom's! She got all the supplies together and sent the package out to me. She carefully picked out all the beads, findings and materials she wanted and she even came up with the design and pattern! Didn't she do a fabulous job?! She doesn't make jewelry, but she certainly could! She's always been creative, but I'm really impressed with the thought she put into the whole design! I never would have thought to put these beads together myself, but I just love how this turned out and the overall feeling of the piece. It's refreshing to work with beads you wouldn't normally pick yourself and be open to different ideas. This necklace has opened my eyes to new beading possibilities and new ideas for my ceramic pieces, as well. I've been enlightened and I didn't even have to meditate! LOL! :) I'm glad I got to collaborate with her and make a specially significant piece for her to wear! The necklace will get mailed out to Mom tomorrow. May she wear it in good health and happiness always. Namaste.

White Winter World

Currently living in a very white world! This is what it looks like outside my front door. We've had a steady flow of winter weather the past few days. This snow is heavy and wet. It just stuck to everything, including all the tree branches, weighing them down. We had quite a few trees fall down, under the weight of the heavy snow. One even fell close to the house! :o Luckily, nothing was damaged and all is well! All though this winter wonderland is beautiful, the weather has set me back a bit on my clay time, though. Haven't gotten much done except for a lot of shoveling!

Publication News!

I have some recent publication news to share! Yay!

First, in the current Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Step By Step Beads, My Owl Medallion Pendant is the focal piece of a Lorelei Eurto necklace, called Whose Hoo?! I ran right out to get my copy of the the magazine as soon as I found out. I was so pleased to see L's necklace right near the front of the mag on page 8! It looks great and I love the photograph of it. It's such a wonderful feeling to stand there in the store, flip open the magazine and see something you made in print! I've even gotten a few requests for my Owl pendant from magazine readers already! People are crazy about Owls, they just love'em! I have a few Owls ready for the kiln now. I'm making them in porcelain this time around. They should be ready in a few weeks. Just let me know if you would like one as well and I'll add one more to the batch!


And the second news is.....MY FIRST EVER BOOK APPEARANCE!!! OH MY STARS, this is very exciting and unexpected! Earlier this week, I got an e-mail from Andrew Thornton, letting me know that my ceramic leaf pendant is the focal of his design, called Song of Summer in the new book, Four Seasons of Beading by Barb Switzer! I'm sooo excited, I can't wait to get my copies of this book, I ordered two!

THANK YOU LORELEI and ANDREW!

Beads On The Sea

Aqua Terra Beach Necklace
A stoneware sand dollar pendant, aqua terra jasper coins and copper pearls knotted on brown waxed linen cord.

I made the above necklace here in honor of the 2010 Bead Cruise! In just a few days, Heather Powers and friends will be leaving land and sailing the high seas. I'm honored to yet again be a bead sponsor for the cruise! See that badge on my side-bar to the right? That's the pretty Bead Cruise Program, Heather made for all the cruisers. And see that top picture there? That's my porcelain sand dollar pendant that Heather made into a fabulous necklace! In the picture below, is another project made with a piece by Melanie of Earthenwood Studios.

These necklaces will be projects included in the program book. I'm honored to have my work featured along side some very talented bead artists such as Melanie! To have my things along side someone of her caliber is nothing short of utterly amazing! Speaking of that, Melanie, herself, will also be on the cruise this year teaching some beading classes. ACK! I hope she doesn't look at my beads too closely. *blushes embarrassedly* Well, anyway, the absolute best part about the bead cruise program this year is that Heather had the excellent idea of making it available in a PDF form that can be purchased after the cruise! How awesome is that? Can't wait to download my copy! Happy cruising to Heather, Melanie and everyone sailing the high seas this year!

In other news, I've decided to submit the above necklace to a beading magazine for the summer issues, so we will see what happens. I'm putting it out there. I'm letting go of old fears. I'm thinking in a different way. I'm getting myself in gear. I'm taking opportunities as they come and actually going after some of them! Wish me luck!
I will also have a few of these sand dollar pendants available in my Etsy shop soon for those interested. So, keep an eye out for that in the next couple of days. I'm working on batches of pieces now and I will have my shop open again soon. Thank you for being so patient!

I Heart Cynthia's Enchanted World!

As many of you know, I received a copy of Cynthia Thornton's book Enchanted Adornments: Creating Mixed-Media Jewelry with Metal, Clay, Wire, Resin and More, over the Holidays. Well, I got a chance to read it. It's an amazing book! It's unlike any jewelry-making book I have ever seen or read and I have quite the collection. :) If you haven't picked it up yet, go and get it! I highly recommend it! It's beautifully illustrated and captivates you with it's enchanting story. The book also covers such a wide range of techniques and materials, it's a wonderful addition to any jewelry maker's collection! If you do have this book and you love it, please take the time to write a review of your experience on Amazon.com!

Below is the book review I wrote:

I Love Cynthia's Enchanted World!
So much more than a jewelry-making book! It's an inspiration must-have manual, an enchanted story book and a wonderful, informative jewelry technique book all in one! As soon as I opened this book and read the inspiration section, I was smitten! Cynthia whisked me away to a place full of possibilities and endless inspiration. I loved this section of the book so much and it resonated with me greatly! I can't wait to incorporate some of her techniques for capturing inspiration and ideas into my daily routine. Then Cynthia took me even deeper into her magical world, on an epic adventure with her charmed storytelling that accompanied each jewelry design. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the projects and magical storyline from start to finish. I couldn't put it down! This book is a favorite by my nightstand! I will come back to it again and again for inspiration, information and just to be transported into it's magical world!

The Tribe Princess and Happy New Year!

The Tribe Princess

Thought I'd share these fun earrings I made for a friend. I often use her as my muse for some of my more earthy designs! The earrings feature my handmade porcelain components. A beaded fringe of wood beads and Carnelian gems dangle below, knotted on waxed linen cord. Handmade sterling ear wires with wood bead accent.

Happy New Year! May we all find happiness and beady joy this year!