Creative Jewelry is Right!

Creative Jewelry 2009 featured alot of great designs by alot of wonderful designers! It was alot of fun to play the "I know who made that bead" without peeking at the answers game while looking through the pages.. Do you do that too?

I had recieved a few emails regarding a stoneware piece I created that Jane Dickerson purchased from me a year ago. It was the only one I had ever made of this particular piece (gee, how unlike me) and I was really excited to see how it came out.. I had to rush out an get a copy of the mag and am really pleased with the results! The Stoneware Crescent shape was hard to make, Jane did a fantastic job on Rich Earth, I really love this and the piece that was shown on the opposite page entitled Sleepy Trees was really cool too!

For the customers who did request via email the Crescent Shape Pendant, thank you so much and I should have a handful of them created by this October (cross fingers please!). To my blog followers if you would like a piece like the crescent shown in the magazine please let me know in advance or I will show my progress on Flickr.com & the regular venues!

I am back from the Lake Ontario, picking vegetables from the garden and making lots of soup! When the laundry is done and the Lake Gear all put away I'm getting that clay bag out! I found lots of good textures waiting for me at some garage sales over the weekend and they are just itching to be pushed into some new buttons & beads!


Til Next time!

Good Way to Start off the New Year!

Congratulations Lisa! The email from Allene, from Allene's Beads began, "It was so nice to see your beads in Stringing Magazine" Hmm, that's a pretty curious statement, what does she mean? I am not in Stringing Magazine, Am I? I thought it was a mistake, I know I have some stuff coming up in Feb., but not Dec? So, she checked it out again, "Page 57, The December Issue, a linked piece by Marlene Blessing", she wrote... So I picked up a copy last night & she was right.. I know Marlene did tell me she was working on this, but I must have confused some dates..but I am happy to see it! Thanks Marlene for taking a chance on those freaky little connector stoneware beads!

This morning, again I was very happy to see an email from Mary Lou from Time2Cre8 who apparently is looking for an excuse to buy more beads :) ! She is digging thru her stash and I am super happy to see it I think she did a fabulous job converting a Raku Shank Button into a piece for a very versatile Ndebele Rope Necklace. I think its a gorgeous piece that will be super fabulous for Valentines Day! For more information about this listing check out Mary Lou's Etsy Shop.

So This New Year has started out pretty good so far! On New Years Day, even though we were pretty exhausted, tradition is that we take grandma to AC for a little "light" gambling :) Though we were dragging, we smiled big and made our way around the casino. We lost everything, but just for fun, we took our last $5 and played Sic Bo, a game where any kind of thinking is unecessary. Usually I ask Hank what number he would like me to play, he tells me and then I pick another..but this time I listened. I am happy to say, at 60 to 1 odds, he was right and we left with exactly what we brought with us to gamble. I told him it was all because of his telepathic skill that we won, but secretly I knew it was because Grandma was wearing "The One Armed Bandit" Cuff by Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers!

Have a great day everyone!

HOME SWEET HOME - At least for this week.

Home Sweet Home. I am finally back for more than one day. I arrived home late last night to find some really large beefsteak tomatoes in the garden and 2 of the largest squash I have ever seen waiting for me, which is a good thing because I believe I ate more than I ever have whilst enjoying the last of the summer on the lake. It is so sad saying good-bye to Pt. Penninsula, NY even though I dont go that often (thank you gas prices) it is sad to drive away and see the place all quiet and ready for winter..and what a winter it is there..I have been once and never again. NO THANK YOU! I also arrived home to find out my debit card had been compromised and the little thieves cleaned out my checking account. Sigh :( Its all fun and games until the money is gone! LOL. Hopefully the matter will clear up ASAP... until then can you tell the nice people at American Express the check is NOT in the mail? and the electric co, gas co, water co, phone co, etc., etc., etc.... hey, I didn't have any money to pay them anyway..who am I kidding?

I did arrive home to some really nice messages & photographs from my customers of work they have created with my pieces - I hope in the next few days I can blog about each person and show you their work.

One in particular I would like to showcase today is MaryLou Holvenstot from time2cre8.com. MaryLou creates intricately detailed and whimsical pen and ink drawings. She also designs and creates beadwoven jewelry and art pieces, some of which have been featured in Step by Step Beads. One of her newest creations includes a RAKU Shank Button she purchased from me recently. I love the way the ndebele rope was created. I think the twists and turns really add depth to the piece and I believe Mary Lou Matched the color of the RAKU (Not an easy task) really beautifully and brightened it up using the lighter shades of beads. You can view/purchase this piece by visiting Mary Lou's Etsy Shop . Thank you Mary Lou for turning my shank button into such a wonderful pendant! It is a great example of how versatile a button can be..turn it into a cab! It is so wonderful when I see my pieces in action., I truly admire all the bead artists, especially those members of Bead Art Originals who create such wonderful pieces. Where would we (artisan bead makers) be without you? (Photo: Turquoise with a Twist c. Mary Lou Holvenstot)

Til Next Time,
I will be doing vacation laundry...