Live a Slow Life: Meandering

I love the Ivory Bling Links so I made the Silver Ivory Double Dips to coordinate with them. You can mix and match as you please!

To show them off, though, I made a set of earrings with just the Silver Ivory Double Dips. Another in my Live a Slow Life Series, this one is called, "Meandering." Remininscent of a seed pod you'd find while on a slow hike through the woods, I've named it "Meandering" to remind me to hike slowly so I can see everything around me and enjoy the journey.


Have you done any "meandering" lately?

Wonderful Designers: Nancy and Sara

When you make beads, you set them free to designers. Sometimes they land in someone's stash, or collection or worked into jewelry. I rarely see the jewelry my beads end up in but sometimes I do. Here are a couple of

What does a Round Rabbit do with a Bling Link? She creates an amazing bracelet!



I love this bracelet! I think I licked the screen the first time I saw it! (ooopss TMI!) I love Nancy's contemporary design and bow tie connectors - I think this looks like a stylized XOXOXO - modern and not overdone. Very cool and wearable. (Thank you, Nancy for giving me permission to show your picture here and on Flickr!)

Last week, I was talking to associate editor of Step by Step Wire Jewelry, Sara Graham and she asked if I'd seen my one of a kind beads in her bracelet design, Creamsicle on page 133 in Creative Jewelry. Oh my! No I hadn't! Sara was kind enough to send me a copy of the magazine.



Sara's design is simple and elegant and uses the one of a kind beads I made just perfectly. The annual is full of great designs and how-to's so you can create each of them for yourself.

It's such a thrill to see my beads in such lovely designs. Have you had a thrill lately?

Lava and Ivory Bling Link Earrings

Hand formed French earwires coupled with my torchwork Ivory Bling Links and Rings & Things Lava round beads make an organic set of earrings. The ivory, brown and silver will go with any outfit - and in fact, that's what I've been wearing these with - any outfit!

So now, you've seen two sets of lovely earrings done with the ivory bling links, Lava and Ivory Bling Links and Loopy Tuesday...hmmm maybe I have something with the alliteration of "L" in earring design? Or maybe I should keep going and see just how many different designs for them I can come up with. What do you think?

Ivory Bling Links featured in Book!

Earrings, Earrings, Earrings, filled with earring projects for every mood and occasion, will be available for purchase in the spring. This picture comes courtesy of Annie's Attic.

Look closely at the earrings above the last, large print "ng" of the work earrings. Yep, that's right! My Ivory Bling Links are making their book debut!

Seen it on TV? Interpret it! Rachel's Necklace

Last week, I was watching an episode of Rachel Ray's Talk Show and noticed her necklace. It looked like one of my Bling Links so I couldn't resist whipping up this interpretation of Rachel's Necklace using one of my Bling Links and rollo chain.



I used one of the Bling Links embedded with two crystals - just for extra sparkle. In honor RR, I'm calling it Rachel's Necklace.


What's great about this necklace (other than the fabulous handmade glass by me!) is the finding the Bling Link is suspended from - it opens! You know for me, who likes to have interchangeable - it's fabulous, I can change this out for another Bling Link in Blue.

Whip up one for yourself, the Bling Links are still on sale so you can grab one of these beauties for yourself. It's classic and stylish and goes with anything.

Sweet!

Bling Link: Dragonfly Pond

Green transparent glass is sooooooooo yummy to work with - it melts in the flame perfectly and never ever gives you a hard time like that stinky boro is doing to me right now!

I embedded two crystals and a copper dragonfly into an emerald "pond" of glass on the oval link. It'll make a nice focal in a beautiful necklace.

A Golden Opportunity: Collaboration with Heather and Katie

Last week I blogged about the collaboration with Heather Powers and Katie Hacker. What a golden opportunity it was! Working with two creative people - Heather, a fabulous beadmaker/designer and Katie Hacker, awesome designer of Ask Katie and author of Hip to Bead, was a golden opportunity! I'm so happy they've joined in on today's collaboration.

It begins with three creatives, two beadmakers (myself and Heather) and a designer (Katie). The beadmakers make and send a set of beads to each person. Then we set about creating! We don't share until the day we blog. (Don't forget to check out their blogs to see what they've made with the same set of beads.)

So dear friends, I haven't seen what Heather and Katie have made until today.

Wheeee!!!



Nor have they seen what I have created. I selected the Dandelion Bead in gold, green and white to use with my Ivory Bling Links. Lately,I'm into creating long chains that can be doubled up to wear as a shorter necklace for a dressy look or a long chain to wear with jeans.


In honor of the golden opportunity to work with two talented creatives, I've entitled this piece, "Golden Opportunity." A 38 inch gold plated chain was used to reflect the Dandelion Bead while complementing the ivory and earth tones made by the fine silver melted in the glass links.



For a variation on color, I added anodized aluminum jump rings, rolled glass pony beads and brass yo yo's. I love the jump rings to use as color while reinforcing the necklace in places where I've joined the chain. I don't like things to be too matchy-matchy so I used a brushed metal lobster clasp to complement the shininess of the gold plate and the jumprings.


I'm wearing my Golden Opportunity today around my neck. It will sing against the black sweater I'm wearing today.

Thanks, Katie and Heather for an amazing golden opportunity!

Bling Links: Share Your Heart

You might look at the Bling Links in Midnight and say,"gee those are pretty but what do I do with them?"


Thought I'd give you an idea based on the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge theme, Something to Say. The Share Your Heart Necklace...


What would YOU do with the Bling Links?

Whazzup with WireHead

WireHead is working today on necklaces but will be back next week with some more insideWire info for you! Meanwhile, I'm over at Studio Saturday wondering who among us is Organic or Organized. Stop over, you could win a free Bling Link!

Love Links and the other life....

Seeing how far I can stretch the Glass Links. Three links are melted together link by link to create a short 3 link class chain. I'm calling them Love Links because they'll always be together. Wink! Crystal Love Links with cubic zirconia embedded in two of the three links. Purplicious Love Links are partially iridescent reflecting blues and gold along with the purple. I'll put these up on my website tonight or tomorrow.

I'm off to live my other life today - I'll spend a full 8 hour shift working as a video interpreter, signing telephone calls between Deaf and hearing people all day. I'm like an operator except with a videophone. Hard to get going after a nice couple of days at the torch.

Go create something beautiful today - Enjoy!
(Photo Credit)

Favorites: The Trendy Bead

I'm loving The Trendy Bead feature over at Art Bead Scene. ABS Editor, Heather Powers, tracks the trends in the fashion accessories world and suggests ways to incorporate them into your beads and jewelry. Here's this week's trend using my Bling Links in Ivory.

Plug Ur Bud: ABS The Trendy Bead

Plugging my buds at ABS today. ABS Founder, Heather Powers has a new feature called The Trendy Bead which made its debut last week. Check out this one using one of my bling links!

Bouncy!

Lots of bead blog buzz lately about social networking. On a social networking blog you can put what kind of mood you're in. Blogger has thankfully left that cutesy feature out but I need it just for today so I'm adding it.

This morning I feel bouncy (insert emoticon of happy face annoyingly bouncing up and down here).

Why?

Tomorrow I'll introduce a new variation on the Glass Links - whoo hoo! I can hardly wait!

"Well," you think,"that's silly, just put the #$%@!! things up today!"

"Yes, I could," I say, " but I wanted to update the website with the first variation, the Bling Links before I introduced another variation. AND I wanted to announce it on the blog first."

So, I'm bouncy in anticipation but I'm also bouncy because I updated my site. It's like re-stocking the shelves in a store. Oh and I wrote up and scheduled my May newsletter to go out.

I didn't do the laundry or clean the house - but who cares about that?!

Bling Links Review

Working in the studio today so it's a quick post - for fun, thought I'd show the week's worth of Bling Links. A new brown and silver Bling Link as a treat at the beginning! Enjoy!