New Leaf Pendant

It's been a very topsy turvy sort of month, full of ups and downs and I haven't managed to finish a blog post in almost two weeks, nor had much energy to visit my favorite blogs.  I've missed you all!

The month began with a wonderful visit with family (I promise I will post some pictures from the trip). Unfortunately, Joe and I woke the morning after our return to discover new colds had waited for us quite impatiently.  They've been the sort of guests who greatly overstay their welcome.  I'm hoping to find a shiny new immune system under the Christmas tree. Or better yet, a matched his and hers set.  That would be splendid!

But in this post I wanted to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas filled with good company and good cheer.  We're having a quiet one this year, but expect it to be quite lovely.  A couple of our friends will join us this afternoon for games and dinner and to share a fairly simple (but yummy) Christmas dinner.

I also wanted to share my New Leaf pendant, my entry for this month's Echo Creative Club. Jeannie's polymer clay leaf made me think of the New Year and new beginnings. And New Year's celebrations.

I thought I'd create a brooch with lots of festive corkscrews to remind me of streamers. Somewhere along the way it became a pendant. It's a much simpler design than my usual, but I like it.

Now I need to go see everyone else's designs.

Cindy Cima Edwards http://www.cindycima.com/
Donna Martin Bradley http://strandedbeads.blogspot.com/
Jeannie K Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog
Jessica Klaaren http://www.cellardoorjewelry.blogspot.com/
Karen Williams http://baublicious.blogspot.com/
Kashmira Patel http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/
Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/
Lisa Lodge http://gratefulartist.blogspot.com/
Lola Surwillo http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com/
Shannon Chomanczuk http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/

Jeannie's currently accepting applications for next years Echo Creative Club. 

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Spring Classes at Fusion Beads

Fusion Beads has published their complete schedule of Spring classes.  (download a full-color newsletter). They offer one of the best selections I've ever seen - with over fourteen pages of classes this time around, including classes in wire working and metal smithing, resin, fusing, jewelry clay, macrame & cord, PMC, chainmaille and of course, Beadweaving! 

Even if you don't live in Seattle, if you're thinking of planning a trip to the area you might give their schedule a peak - they offer classes almost every single day

Taking a peek at the schedule myself, I just discovered that my Corset & Stays Beaded Bead class is one of those featured on the front cover! In case you're wondering, I'll be teaching on February on February 3rd. 

Registration begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, December 13.

Oh, and now through Dec. 16, 2012, FusionBeads.com will donate $1 to Treehouse, an organization that supports foster children with the purchase of any TierraCast plated pewter holiday charm! 

I think this is pretty cool as most of the charms seem to run about $1.50.   I haven't seen them in person, but several of these charms look way cute from their pictures. 

Celebrating 200(+) Fans on my Facebook Page

 

 

I'm hosting a giveaway over on my Facebook page to celebrate hitting the 200 Followers milestone! And I didn't want any of my blog friends to miss out.

What am I giving away? A Snowflake(star) Pendant, made by me, like the one shown here. LAnd if I get enough entries, I'll make more than one.

How do you enter? Comment on my Facebook post. You can also get extra entries by posting on your Facebook page or blog and letting me know. I'm accepting entries through noon PST on December 15th.

Everyone's eligible to enter, but international posters be warned: if you win yours would likely arrive after the new year.

 

And thank you all for your awesome support!!!!!

 

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Inspiration Central - the Seedbeaders' Holiday party

For the first time since summer, I managed to sneak away for the day on Sunday for the monthly NW Seed Beaders meeting.  They are such an incredible group and I was reminded of just how much I had missed them this past fall! 

The December meeting is always jam packed with activity and happenings with a gift exchange, a bead swap game and program planning for the next year or so.  Shelly, our fearless leader, had asked me to take photographs of the Show and Share, Challenge and Future program entries.  I'm going to hold off on sharing the Future program entries because they're still working on the schedule, but I will happily share photos of some of the rest.

Challenge Necklace by Shelly Gillmann

As we set up, Shelly asked if I could photograph her challenge necklace, which had taken third at the NW Bead Society's fall retreat.  She'd made the necklace for a family member, but wanted documentation before she sent it on it's way as it was the most complex piece she'd created to date.  I love all the little details and tried to get a number of closeups.  Hope she likes the pictures!

'Five Years of Challenges' freeform beaded necklace by Patricia Hardway

Patricia Hardway's gorgeous holiday necklace is the culmination of five separate years worth of challenges.  I love that she included a printed list of all the years' challenges and all the stitches she'd incorporated into the piece.  It looks like a party to me, with the little splashes of color reminding me of confetti. 

Jellyfish pendant by Jennifer Porter

I fell in love with Jennifer Porter's jellyfish pendant as soon as she walked in the door and I saw her wearing it.   Photographing it posed several challenges - I had to borrow a display rod from one of the other ladies who'd brought items for sale so that I could hang the pendant in my photo boot as it simply didn't look right laying flat against a surface.  And once I had the pendant in my hands, I really, really didn't want to give it back.  The fact that I did made me feel very, very virtuous. 

I photographed this one while it was on the Show and Share table, but it may also be a program topic in 2013.  I'll let you know if it is! 

Ann Wilkinson's Zulu Square Stitch Collar

I love the subtle richness of Ann's collar.  The interplay of warm and cool tones of the rich chestnuts with the cooler olivey-brown tones pairs beautifully with the slow spiral design.  This piece looks and feels substantial.  I'm also always fascinated by how other's end their spirals, so I tried to get closeups of her closure.  She used metal caps shaped like flowers and stitched her beadwork into them; the pictures of that didn't come out quite as clear as I'd hoped.

To cap off this post, here's Georgia McMillan's entry into this year's challenge.  All entrants were given a baggie of common household items and were told to recycle or upcycle them into something:

Georgia McMillan's Recycled Christmas collection

 

And once I have the 2013 Schedule, I'll post it along with whatever photos I have of the actual projects/techniques. 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Okay, maybe not literally; it's still a bit too warm here in Seattle for actual snow. But I was treated to a flurry of snowflakes yesterday and how pretty they were! Yesterday nine students joined me for my second annual Snowflakes and Stars class at Fusion Beads. Such a fun, festive time we had!

Snowflakes clockwise from top left by L. Kay Rokusek, Cathy Warms, Nancy Lundeen, Debby Smick

Karen Lusby's snowflake with her bead selections

I truly enjoy teaching at Fusion Beads.  They have two great classroom spaces and they really go out of their way to take care of their instructors and their students.  And this is one of my favorite classes to teach because a) I get to share one of my favorite, quick and extremely versatile patterns and b) I receive all sorts of inspiration from my students' creations. 

Isn't Kay's garnet, white and silver snowflake at the top left above stunning?  It's so rich and regal.  Nancy named her snowflake at the bottom right 'Siena' because it reminded her of the floor tile mosaics there.  Every student tried something different, and every snowflake was truly unique.  Thank you to everyone who let me photograph their work to share here.  

Karen Lusby even suggested I include her bead selections in my photos of her lovely pastel rainbow creation.  I took one photo just of the snowflake, and then another with the bead packets - transparent light azure AB, transparent light lilac lined AB and sterling plated iris over clear. 

Now, it's time to draw for the winner of my Snowflakes and Stars Kit and tutorial.  Between the two blog posts where people entered, there were a total of sixteen entries.  I printed out the comments and started to assign numbers so I could use Random.org, my usual method for determining a winner.

Looking at the neatly arranged comments, I decided to do something different this time, so I chopped the pages up into strips, folded the strips and put them all into my hat.  Then I woke my sleeping husband and demanded he draw a name from the hat.  After a little wait during which time I thought he'd simply fallen back asleep, a hand snaked out and plucked a piece of paper, which he then tucked under his pillow.  Luckily, only a peck on the cheek was required to achieve it's release. 

When I finally opened the paper, I found Christine Altmiller's name winking up at me from the page.  So Christine - you are the winner of my bead kit!  Congratulations and I hope you enjoy!  Let me know whether you'd like Cobalt, Silver and Gold or Snow White and Silvery Blues for your kit.  I'd love to get this out to you tomorrow.

Thank you all for participating!  And check back - this isn't the last give away I'm planning for the holiday season.  At least one more is still to come. 

Moonlight and Shadows (and Snowflakes)

Took me a few more days to get a good finished photograph than expected because I decided to do a little more work on it first.  But at last, here's my finished necklace featuring Jeannie's black and silver gin blossom.  It's now titled Moonlight and Shadows.

Several people I've spoken with lately have mentioned that my Lacework bracelets remind them of spider webs, so I thought I'd play with that here. 


I worked with three different types of silvered beads:  one's opaque metallic reminding me of hematite, another transparent silver lined with sky blue and larger beads that have the sheen of hematite, but are semi-transparent.  Also worked with shiny opaque black Czech seed beads, opaque matte black Japanese seed beads and an assortment of Chinese crystals in blacks and silvers.  Very international! 

The blue lined silver beads reminded me of strands of moonlight, and well you can see where the name came from, from there. 

It's designed as a short, collar-length necklace.  Wish I had a model with a beautiful neck to photograph it being worn.   But here's a clear picture of the full length:

It's a combination of freeform peyote and random right angle weave.  And finished, I think it's sort of a cross between Steampunk and Victorian with a touch of Goth.  Hadn't been going for the last, but the color scheme almost insured it would seem that way a bit.  I imagine it worn with a sleek black dress framed by a low neckline. 

What do you think?

Snowflake and Stars Kit Giveaway

And just a quick reminder - if you're interested in entering my give-away for a Beaded Snowflakes and Stars Kit and Tutorial leave a comment here.  I'll be drawing the winner on Saturday. 

The Holiday Collection and Cyber Monday at Skunk Hill Studio

This is my first year with an active Etsy Store leading into the holiday season.  Last year, my store featured exactly one item - my Snowflakes pattern.

This year, I've added an assortment of my favorite kits and patterns, many just listed in the past week. 

I've even created my first ever 'Holiday Collection', featuring items I thought particularly suited for the holidays.

Among the listings I've added are a freeform peyote beading kit to make a piece similar to my Peacock Spring freeform peyote cuff:

Like all my kits, this one includes all the beads and findings you'll need, along with thread and beading needles.  The eight-page tutorial includes detailed, full-color illustrations to get you started and design notes about my process with full-color photographs.

On the upscale side, I'm offering a custom, made-by-me-for-you Lacework Bracelet in your choice of colors, sizes and closures.  I've only listed one of these.  I decided to offer this for the holidays and won't be offering it again any time in the near future. 

Beady-related postcards

After spending some time looking through a slew of other Etsy stores, I added gift certificates in two denominations.  While I worked with gift certificates years ago as co-owner of a gallery, this is a new exploration for me as a solo artist and designer.  Guess I'll see if there's any interest.

I'm currently running a Black Friday - Cyber Monday Promotion: for all orders over $25, I will include a free set of seven bead-related postcards. Six feature some of my original beadwoven designs and the seventh is a fun collage of my concrete cabochons. This offer is only good through November 26th 2012. and only on sales which include shipping.  But if you enter the code BAUBLE into the comments section during checkout, I'll extend this offer now through the end of the year for my blog readers. 

Extra sets of postcards are also available for purchase.

I've even updated some of my older listings, such as my Snowflakes and Stars.  How do you like its new look? 

Oh, and now I have snowflake kits too.  They were one of my post popular items at Bead Fest Texas.  If you already have my instructions and just want the kit fillers, contact me and I can put together a 'refill' listing for you.

 

 

 

 

 

Etsy Rain

This weekend was the EtsyRain holiday show.  They took over McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center for two days.  I didn't have a booth, but I was there on Friday, helping to set up.  Which meant I got to be one of the first people to see all the booths once they were set up.  Fun!  I thought I'd include a sneak peak of a few of my favorites here: 

Just a few of the wonderful vendors from the show

gift tags from Tuttaloupress

I purchased to jars of Sweet Caroline's jams. They were supposed to be Christmas presents, but we've already broken into them over the Thanksgiving weekend because they were too yummy to leave alone.  So it looks like I'll need to buy more.

The award for funniest item has to go to the knitted beards from FoamyWader.  Especially the Peanut Butter and Jelly paired beards.  Don't know what you'd do with them.  But they definitely deserve a chuckle.

Somehow, Tuttalou Press didn't make it into my treasury, but she definitely deserves a call out.  Her work is simply gorgeous.  Her "It's Coal" gift tags are her best sellers, but there's plenty else wonderful here. And check out her About page!  She has some great pictures of her using her vintage press.

Winter Give-Away Celebration

To help celebrate a stellar year and my first every Holiday Collection, I've decided to host a series of give-aways here on my blog.   The first is for one of my Snowflakes and Stars Kits.  This is a $27.50 value plus shipping.  I'd like to leave this open to everyone, but international shipping quickly adds up, so if the winner is from outside of the US, I will happily cover up to $3 worth of shipping and send you a paypal invoice for the difference.   

In order to enter, leave a comment below between now and December 1st, when I'll be teaching my Snowflakes and Stars class at Fusion Beads.  I will draw for a winner that evening after my class.

For additional entries you can also post this giveaway to your blog or Facebook page or favorite items in my Etsy store and let me know you've done so by posting here.  And, if you make a purchase in my Etsy store, that will give you two additional entries.