The To Do List and The House of Blue Bird and Blue Leaves

Thank you to those who have voted in the poll! I've put together a few sets of Glass Birdhouses, the first is The House of Blue Bird and Blue Leaves.

I was a maniac last night thinking I could do a day's worth of work in a few evening hours. I took pictures for an upcoming Double Dip Jewelry project in a summer/fall issue of Wire Jewelry Artist, cook dinner, take pictures of the new batch of Glass Birdhouses, upload all the pictures, edit them and mulch the flower beds in my yard! I got the flower beds done with alot of help, dinner cooked with no help, the Wire Jewelry pictures taken with The Teen's help and edited the glass birdhouse pictures.

I then realized I'd missed most of 30 Rock! But, thank goodness, I can watch it anytime on the NBC website!

Ok, y'all - I gotta run - I've got another to do list for today and it starts with work!

What do you think? Poll

I had a few orders recently where customers bought the glass birdhouse and bird beads. That gave me the idea of selling them as a set. I tend to sell everything separate because that's my preference - gives me maximum flexibility. Yet from paying attention to customers, it seems some might like a set.

Please vote in the poll to the right and tell me what you think!

It's been quiet.....

shhhh!!! I'm at work in the studio! Here's a peek into the kiln and a few of the beads ready to be taken off the mandrel and beadholes cleaned.

I'll clean them up and take pictures - keep your fingers crossed I can get them done by tomorrow and put them up!

On another note - I got this lovely blog award last week from A Touch of Glass Jewelry. I've been secretly wishing for it because I love the flower - it's just gorgeous!

But I've been so busy this week, I haven't been able to get around and award it to anyone yet. So if you've been secretly wishing for it, leave me a comment and I'll be sure to put you on the list of those to be awarded!

Sunday Photo

Funny Friday and Fabulous Links!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

About.com Jewelry Making
It is flower power time! Mix resin, real flowers, and beads for this necklace design.

Art Bead Scene
Art beads don't have to be round, they can be toggles too!

Barbe Saint John
Barbe will be at Unique LA promoting the Steampunk Style book

Beading Arts
Cyndi has a copy of "Totally Twisted" that she's giving away! Come enter the contest now!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Stranded by the volcano, Carmi has time for a little more window shopping.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
For Cindy, yellow is the color of anticipation.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie sets up a trunk show at her favorite local indie craft gallery. Check out her display!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Resin has become quite popular in jewelry design lately. It's a lot trickier than Lorelei had originally thought. She tries out the technique for the first time.

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Do not miss out on Andrew Thornton's amazing sale and giveaway! It is fantastic!!! Go now! Really fun!

Strands of Beads
Melissa creates a sweet Spring necklace from wasabi-colored pearls and a beautiful Lillypilly pendant courtesy of Artbeads.com

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Be entered to win a one year subscription to Beadwork magazine! Find out how!

Popular because I'm cheap or because I'm pretty?

Customers love the Through the Looking Glass Nuggets. I've routered so many of these little beauties that I've had to buy a new router bit!

I put them up on a whim one day. I was using them in Blackbird Reflections Necklace and made a few too many. I thought I'd put them up on my website to sell off the extras. I wasn't prepared for their popularity - yet another example of you never really know what's going to sell! So what started as a stash buster for me ended up becoming a series of charms. Go where the customers lead you :-) I wonder though, do my customers love the through the looking glass charms because she's pretty or because she's cheap? (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

What's on my coffee table....errrr workbench

Just thought I'd take a quick snapshot of what's on my workbench. Actually, this is the coffee table in our family room. I take out a few things to do while I drink my coffee in the morning or watch a re-run of "Bones." I'm working on some copper blanks and how to pair them with the double dips (which have a new price). I bought the wooden dapping block from Ornamentea and the copper blanks from Metalliferous. I just got some Klimt beads from myABS pal, Heather - they pair with the copper perfectly. After I got the beads from Heather, I realized why I loved the color combo - it's the same as my living room! The deep browns, turquoise - just love it! I love the Garnet Kiss bead too!

I'm off to the studio today to make some glass links to pair with the whole she-bang!

Something New....

...whimsical glass bird houses! I wanted to keep these fairly small for charm/small pendants so they're 24mm-39mm (that's 1 inch - 1.5 inches). A 12 mm jump ring will fit into the open roof area so you can add it to a necklace or bracelet or whatever you'd like.

What do you think, dear readers?

Sunday Photo

Funny Friday and Fabulous Links!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

A Bead A Day
Give (inexpensive) beads a chance! Oh, the variety you can find at the craft store!

About.com Jewelry Making
Where do you create your jewelry and other crafts? Show, tell, and look at some great craft spaced created by other designers.

Art Bead Scene
Art beads don't have to be round, they can be toggles too!

Barbe Saint John
Putting out the call for Steampunk art!

Beading Arts
Cyndi has just finished up a floral necklace that features fabric!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi is photographing the jeweled decolletage on paintings in Paris again!

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy's personal history finds its way into her work.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie mixes shell pearls from Rings and Things with metallic hardware motifs to create a softer industial look

Katie's Beading Blog
Share your ideas about beading trends and be entered to win a copy of Jean Campbell's new book, Steampunk Style Jewelry.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Dig out your button collection, because wonderful Keepsake jewelry can be made from it, and Lorelei shows some examples!

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Join the fun and become a fan of the lovely jewelry design magazine, Australian Beading Magazine!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew teams up with Cathy Collison of Glass Garden Beads for this week's Thursday Giveaway. You could win a set of three hip bottle-cap beads!

Butter, butterscotch, lemon....

I'm going to keep the yellow inspiration coming just because it's spring and I see yellow everywhere.

Here's some lovely butter colored filigree from Paloma Antiqua, whose shop is a lovely yellow color. I love how the brass shows through the yellow just slightly balancing out the color:

Shorn Sheep uses deeply hued yellow in her shop but it shows off these antique German tags to great effect:

Maybe you need the palest of raffia for your packaging?

You can spoon your sugar and pour your cream from these vintage Moderntone Glass sugar bowl and creamer:

Pour some coffee and see what you can come up with today that uses yellow.

Carnival Day at ABS! Inspiration in Anticipation

Today is Carnival Blogger Day over at ABS! This month's theme is Anticipation which for me is symbolized by the color yellow. So before you surf on over to ABS, here's a bit of yellow inspiration for you

Art Beads by Fey Glass on Etsy

and these lovely polymer clay pillow beads by Too Aquarius on Etsy:

Enjoy the Carnival Blog Day at ABS!

Yellow the color of Anticipation

Yellow is a color typically saved for accents except for the spring when it bursts forth from the drab winter landscape. Then and only then is it a welcomed color, in fact, we've waited for it, anticipated it. Yet the rest of the year, yellow is avoided. Calling a shade of yellow "school bus yellow" causes us all to wince, yet in spring, we see it all around and are glad for it.

That's why when I needed a new profile picture, I asked my photographer son to take a few pictures. He suggested outside because of the light and I suggested the profusion of forsythia in the back yard.

I love the yellow of the forsythia in the bright sunshine. It's anticipates the bright sun of the summer with all the smiles and laughter.

Yellow finds its way into my art beads too. I couldn't help but add it to the Surreal Rhythms series and entitle it "Flame."

Last spring, Jeannie Dukic designed a lovely primary colored necklace around one of my primary colored spiral focals.

I love the frosted yellow glass links which I anticipate would go perfectly with some Vintaj brass.

Yellow is the color of Anticipation, of Spring and smiles - we brighten up in the spring when we see a daffodil, if we incorporate a yellow art bead or two into our designs, then we symbolize a smile and spring.

Sunday Photo

Funny Friday and Fabulous Links!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures


A Bead A Day
Do you have a knack for using unusual odds and ends in your jewelry designs? Lisa is looking for ideas if you have a minute to stop by!

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy looks at easy metal jewelry making this week on her blog.

Art Bead Scene
ABS Editor, Cindy Gimbrone asks the readers to weigh in on where she should go next.

Beading Arts
Cyndi has found a *lot* of seed bead tutorials lurking in her blog's archives!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi makes a jacket pin in order to justify another crafty purchase.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy follows her heart and stripz and makes some new beads.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A mix of brassy metal components and chain from ArtBeads.com inspires Melanie to make a springtime woodland owl necklace.

Jean Campbell
Jean shares yet another travelogue. This time, it's Portland, one of her new favorite cities.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Designing jewelry that is unique can be hard. Lorelei got some cute Signature tags recently and shows them off in this post.

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Jean emphasizes the importance of checking out the auction of gorgeous treasures from tons of artists which is being held for Michele Goldstein, lampwork artist, organized in a stunning way on Ebay by Anne Mitchell and Gail Crosman Moore! It is not too late to bid on something amazing!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew hosts another Thursday Giveaway! This time, the prize comes courtesy of LillyPilly Designs!

History finding its way into my work...

Many years ago, I was at the Stormville Flea Market and I spied a very old dressmaker's form. I had to have it. I bought it for $20 and had to carry it from the very far end of the flea market to my car, where I wasn't sure if it would fit in the back seat. It did and I have held onto it fiercely since my husband has never much cared for it.

It's made of metal, I believe the very heavy stand is painted iron. A brown cloth covers the mannequin portion and the size can be changed by loosening and tightening the wing nuts inside the form. A painted label on the metal neck announces that it's a Hall Borchert Dressform Company made in Hoboken, New Jersey. The form is an Empress 1. There is a paper label with dates beginning in August 1903 and ending in 1915. Seems to fit. The style of the dress form looks very Gibson Girl.

As a sewer, I was very attracted to the dressmakers form. I learned to sew at age 4. Yes, no kidding, I really did. I used to carry a needle and thread and fabric scraps around in a fabric covered cigar box to sew clothes for my Barbie doll. I sewed my first Maxi Dress in 1968 while in the 4th grade. I sewed all my own clothes until it became cheaper to buy them myself sometime in the late 1980's.

But my sewing background popped up in 2005 when I used my wire and glass beadmaking skills to make these miniature dressmaker's forms....

My history had found a way into my beadmaking. I'd like to do more of these just for me - maybe try to personalize the dresses a bit more. I can vividly remember that first Maxi dress. Hmmmmm.....

Has something in your history found it's way into your work?

Sunday Photo

An original drawing by my son, Daniel.

Funny Friday and Fabulous Links!

About.com Jewelry Making
It's time for a fling, a spring fling that is, and why not start by making a pretty beaded flower?

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene Free Project: Bead Cap Tutorial.

Barbe Saint John - Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
I'm certified!

Beading Arts
Cyndi shares how she constructs her bead embroidered cuff bracelets for the Bead Journal Project.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy re-interprets a traditional Easter icon into Grunge Bunny!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie sees a new line of beads in the internet adventures of Molly the Owl

Jean Campbell
Jean tells all about her adventures in San Francisco during Beading by the Bay--a creative retreat.

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Although Andrew has posted about this,Jean wants to emphasize how beautiful the motivation and the necklace Andrew and Loreli made, for Relief for Haiti!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew collaborates with fellow designer, Lorelei Eurto, on a necklace to be auctioned off to raise money for the Red Cross's Haiti Relief Fund. Bid while you still can!

A Little Less....

....conversation today and alot more action in the studio.