I'm Published!!

I'm so excited that I just had to tell someone.....anyone....that I received the May 2010 issue of Bead Trends yesterday, and I'm in it!! WOOT!! WOOT!! :))

Nope, that's not my necklace on the cover.....I could only wish! It's a very fun & colorful piece! I'm on page 106, and my bracelet, "Gwyneth," is the introduction to the "Fashion Favorites" section. So exciting!!!

I love the way they photographed my bracelet. They really brought out the warm and rich colors of the design, and the way it fades into the background is classic. Now....if only they could photograph ALL my jewelry pieces! LOL! I want to give a shout out to my friend, Deronda. She made the beautiful & stunning focal lampwork bead! Check out her amazing work on Etsy and on Artfire.

This photo is directly across the page from my bracelet. As you can see, it's the closure with a lil signature dangle.

When you are published in Bead Trends, you ship your jewelry piece to them, along with instructions on how to design it. Then, about a week before the book hits the shelves, they return your jewelry piece and 2 copies of the book, plus a lil something extra. The first time I was published, (January 2009), I had no idea I would be getting 2 free issues, so I gave one of them to my Mother-in-law...well more like my Mom. Her name was Flo, and I called her Mom. Anyway, I decided to surprise her, so I added the book in a Christmas gift that had 2 pairs of earrings in it. The look on her face when she saw my necklace in the book was priceless! She was so proud and excited! We both got really giddy and a lil teary eyed too. Now that Mom is in heaven and with God, I don't know what to do with the 2nd copy. But I do know that Mom is smiling at me with a giddy grin, and that she is just as proud of me as she was the first time. 

It's such a rewarding feeling to have my jewelry acknowledged this way, and I feel extremely blessed for the opportunity. Oh, just to let you know, "Gwyneth" will be listed in my etsy shop very soon. And look for my 3rd publication ( a gorgeous pink crystal necklace) coming up in June's issue.

"Thanks for sharing my WOOT moment & reading my mini novel! Happy creating!"

New Summer Beads from Artbeads

Hi everyone and Happy Earth Day! It's a beautiful sunny day on the Eastern side of Washington State, and I'm so giddy because I received my order from Artbeads today! The following components will be created into a Summer themed necklace that will be featured in the Summertime Facebook Gallery from Artbeads this coming June. I'm so excited!! I'm also excited about Artbead's Earth Day Campaign! Check this out, you can be part of helping to save the tropical forest! How cool is that?!

Okay, onto the new beads! Lately, I've been trying my hand at creating with different materials, so I decided to try ribbon instead of chain. Artbeads has a great selection of stringing materials, and I fell in love with their silk ribbon, so I chose a gorgeous multi-blues silk ribbon. It's so soft, but very sturdy, and it matches the focal perfectly, which by the way is a very pretty Porcelain Starfish pendant.

 

For accents, I pulled colors from the pendant and chose Porcelain Cube beads in different colors. I chose cubes because the pendant is rectangle, and I want to somewhat keep the same shape throughout the design. But to break it up just a bit and help show off the cube beads, I picked Sterling Silver roundels. They are very bright and they match the shiny glaze of the Porcelain.

Artbeads has a HUGE selection of charms, but when I saw the Seahorse charm, I just had to have it! It is SO cute, and the details are amazing! It's Antique Silver and will add a classic touch to the necklace. If you notice, you don't see a clasp. That's because I'm going to do something different for the closure. It's completely knew to me, but then again....that's what I'm striving for. :) So, please bookmark my blog or if you aren't already, follow me, and stay tuned for the unveiling of my Summer themed necklace coming very soon. Also, I'll be blogging the rest of my order next week. I'll show you a completely different set of beads and components for an upcoming bracelet design.

"Thanks for reading! Happy Earth Day & happy creating!"

practice makes perfect....

and boy do I have a long way to go! I tried my hand at making a couple of resin pendants last week.

As you can see.... LOTS of bubbles. :/

I used mod podge of the front & back of each paper bird design, let them dry overnight, then attempted the pendants the next day. I used a mold that actually has 15 assorted shapes. I'm thinking I don't like the mold. For me, I think it will be easier to use the collage pendants from now on.

These are the backs. Again.....SO many bubbles!! ACK!

Clearly, (pun intended..hehe...) I'm going to have to practice on the stirring part of the resin process a little more. Because I refuse to let the bubbles get in my way. I WILL win this battle! Artbeads.com is having a storewide "Tax Relief Sale" and mixed media items are included! It ends April 22nd. hmmm...I see some collage pendants in my very near future! ;)