Cup of Bead Soup Results

I was invited by Lori Anderson to make lampwork beads for her Cup Of Bead Soup. I was to make a large focal for 4 participants who would then create something using the bead. I toyed with different ideas for the bead, knowing I wanted it to be something really special for the talented jewelry artists participating. I finally settled on a large encased lentil, approximately 1.25", made with a high silver content that creates all sorts of lovely reactions. I added a murrini on each side for added interest. Here's the bead to refresh your memory.

I've been waiting (somewhat) patiently since making the bead for the day of the big reveal to come and that day is here!!

My 1st visit was to Lori's blog.  Is there nothing that Lori can't do & do well?? She came up with this unique pendant using tiny gemstones that she wire wrapped. her generosity holds no bounds. She also posted a mini tute on her she went about wire wrapping them. I think I may have to give this a try myself one of these days.

My next stop was at Marlene Cupo's blog to see what she created. I was floored! Amazingly, she was able to interpret what I created out of glass into polymer clay beads that were almost identical to the focal bead. She had asked me for an explanation on how I made the 'flowers' for the bead. You can read her post to see what I said & see her unbelievably gorgeous necklace.

Next stop on the Cup of Bead Soup train was a visit to Sonya Ingersoll-Stille's blog.
Sonya started out with 1 idea and then scrapped it for a different seed bead creation using a stitch that she tried for the 1st time. Check out her blog to see them both. I personally loved the spiral too, but have to agree that the end result was perfect, down to the beaded toggle closure to match.

Last, but certainly not least, was Shaiha's creation, which was another unique idea. She created not one, but TWO bracelets that can be worn separately or together. What a brilliant idea! And I just love the clasp she used!

This has been such a fun and inspiring challenge! I bow down to these fabulous jewelry artisans and their amazing creations! I hope you'll stop by their blogs to read about the experience from their perspective.

Lori of Pretty Things

Marlene of Amazing Designs by Marlene

Sonya of Dreamin' of Beads/SAS Jewelry Designs

Shaiha of Shaiha's Ramblings

I love collaborating with jewelry artists so please check out my sites as well:

http://www.LAJewelryDesigns.Etsy.com

http://www.LAJewelryDesigns.Artfire.com

https://www.facebook.com/LAJewelryDesign

Finding Charm Featured Artisan

This week's Featured Artisan - Finding Charm! Beautiful Creations at Budget Friendly prices!

You can find Finding Charm on"

Etsy

Artfire

Facebook

Blog

Twitter



Click HERE to grab the code for your blog!

Featured Artisan: Allurynn - Creations by Moonlight

This week's Featured Artisan is Allurynn - Creations by Moonlight! Beautiful creations by a very 

talented artisan! You can find Creations by Moonlight on:

Website

Etsy

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Show Time!

It’s been quite some time since I had done a craft show so when a friend approached me about one at her local synagogue, I was hesitant at first. However there was no entrance fee. Only a percentage donation to the temple and a raffle prize so I basically had nothing to lose.

I started out making jewelry over 14 years ago & moved over into making lampwork beads several years ago, which is where my focus lies these days, but I thought I’d give it a try since there was really very little to lose and the funds were going to a good cause. I e-mailed the person running the event several times trying to get an idea of the number of jewelry vendors and whether they were all handcrafted items or were mass produced items allowed as well. She never responded to me. I suppose I should’ve had an inkling then that there might be a problem but I’m not one to back out once I commit to something.

Though there were not a disproportionate number of jewelry vendors I was the only one selling handmade jewelry. It’s impossible to compete with mass produced items. It also was a short show so not enough time to try and educate people about the differences. While the show was disappointing, I did manage to make some sales. I commend those artisans that sell at shows on a regular basis. I was wiped out afterwards!

Here’s photo of my table set up. And I thought I wasn’t going to have enough stock. lol!

Check out my new banners!!!

I am SO challenged when it comes to banners, but thanks to a good friend, Scott Bjorge, an amazing graphic designer and jewelry artist, I finally have banners for my Etsy shop, my ArtFire bead shop and my ArtFire Destash shop. I won't bore you with them all here, but feel free to click on my links to see his work.

Scott was amazing to work with. I gave him a general idea of what I wanted and he was able to hone in on the look that I was going for. Actually his banners give such a professional look to my shops that I'm not sure my beads will live to them. And did I mention that he also designed new business cards for me??

You can contact Scott on Facebook or message me here, on Facebook or any of my shops if you want more info.

Scott, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're an amazing artist and friend!

I Don't know How It Happened!!

I started out making jewelry innocently over 10 years ago. My love of all things sparkly soon took over and before long my "jewelry studio" looked like this.....

This USED to be my desk. 

The dresser is filled with more beads. The bottom drawer, that's now broken, is filled to the brim with pearls. The rest is miscellaneous. Gotta love miscellaneous. hehe!

 

These bins are filled with gemstones, sterling, gold-filled, etc. (LOTS of etc.!)

See, the thinking behind all this "stuff" is that you never know when you might need something. The trouble is that I stopped being able to find anything long ago and so just kept buying MORE! And, these days, though I still love making jewelry, my focus is on making beads. Where to put all the beads???

As much as I'd love nothing more than to open a bead shop, hubby doesn't care for the idea of getting further into debt, so sadly I must part with some of them. I've therefore opened up a 2nd ArtFire shop, LAJewelryDesingsDestash for destashing some of my beads and findings. I'm slowly stocking it so please bookmark it and keep checking back. I'll be uploading new listings to my facebook page so please friend me if you haven't already done so.