Dedicated...

by MaryAnn Carroll

to blogging.  As on many group blogs, each of the authors at LMAJ have certain days to post.  Today was Kelli's day.  Last night I got a phone call from Indianna at approx. 7:45.  Seeing that it was out of state, I answered the phone in the gruff voice that friends often give me a hard time about.  When I first looked at the caller ID, I saw that is was long distance and looked at the INDIA part of Indianna and think it triggered my recent issues with Dell technical support!  Okay, so that's a stretch, but my first reaction was annoyance.

So out came the "are you mad?" voice that, while at work, and walking across my classroom to answer the phone, I have to remember to change when I pick it up to say, "hello!"  Instead of my natural

"HELLO!,"

I work on the sweeter side of me that is more inviting to a friendly conversation, with a controlled, kind toned

"hello."

The crazy part of that too, is that I'm rarely mad and even when I am, I don't stay that way too long.  I think it is usually my hurried, distracted personality that comes through.  I guess you are never too old to work on change.  I'll continue my, so far, 10 year journey of trying to change that! ;o)

The kind voice on the other end said, "Mary Ann?"

To which, I, of course said, "yes!" 

And, to my surprise it was Kelli Pope calling......worried because her computer broke down and she wouldn't be able to post today.  She even went as far as calling her niece (I think she said) to tracking down my phone number since she didn't have a working computer to look it up on.

That is only the 2nd time that I've actually spoken with a friend that I've met through the internet in person (other than my husband who I met through match.com 6 years ago ;o).  I have to, once again, give technology some credit since the internet has made our world a much smaller place with opportunities that are endless. 

With all the said, and with all of Kelli's effort and dedication to the blog, I thought that I would do a little dedication back at her.....  I think everyone will enjoy seeing some of Kelli's most recent work and agree that she is a natural.

Enjoy...

Thanks Kelli!... and I'm saying that ever so sweetly ;o)

There's nothing like a good ol'

dose of FREE....after the holidays!!!  And to bring in the new year, Kelli Pope has donated these beautfiul earrings to do just that.  These earrings were handmade by Kelli and they can be yours by just answering the following question....

"What change might you be able to make to your jewelry in terms of handmade? Might you try creating your own clasp as shown in Kelli's post "Happy Endings" or how about creating your own unique beads using seed beads or polymer, or perhaps resin or enamel?"

"If you already create your handmade components, what might you add to what you already do that will make your work more unique?"

and.....

as always....

For a 2nd chance to win, blog about our giveaway (no blog? then facebook or twitter) and come back and leave another post telling us that you did....

~Thanks for creating handmade with handmade~

Love that Patina!

by Kelli Pope

Ever find yourself struggling to be creative? When life gets hectic, and I need to focus and get jewelry made, sometimes it's difficult. That's where I find myself tonight, with a big private jewelry party pending tomorrow night. What usually gets me started is reaching for my favorite colors and materials. As you know from previous blogs, I went STRAIGHT for the turquoise and copper!!! The more rustic and earthy the better. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE all things patinated by "MissFickleMedia", Shannon LeVart. Her aqua speaks loudest to me.

This piece was created using her patinated copper with my own hand hammered components.

So, now I should be inspired..... and the creative juices flowing, right? Well, maybe a little more turquoise will do it............

Shannon's GORGEOUS patinated and painted pendant shouted out to be used .........so of course, I had to oblige with more turquoise and copper.... :)

Ok.. maybe I'm warmed up now. I should be able to move forward, think outside of the "turquoise box", and forge ahead. I think Miss Shannon's red patinated components are calling to me now........ they're going to go beautifully with beads by Mary Ann Carroll and my hammered copper.......

.......................back to the studio........

.............the need to create is calling......................

Ode to the Artist's husband

by Kelli Pope

Every year, around late August, early September, my dear husband Steve has to hear those dreaded words...."art show season is about to begin". What this means is he won't see much of me until Christmas. It means other than working full time and sleeping, I make jewelry. If I'm not making jewelry at a show, I'm at home making jewelry. It means he cooks a lot more, and cleans a lot more. He gets to help load and unload my Explorer at least a dozen times with my tent, tables, displays, etc etc etc. And, he's even begun oxidizing components for me. (Oh, the smell of Liver of Sulphur in the Fall!!!) He becomes a massage therapist, working on achey shoulders, and the giver of pep talks. He must often listen to hammering late into the night. He becomes my number one fan and supporter. In short, I could not do what I do without him.

So, to reward both of us, and bring a little normalcy and calm into our lives, we grab our 2 furry kids and head for the Smokey Mountains between the October shows (which is where we are now). We try to plan the trip around peak leaf week, so we can hike among the majesty of the Fall colors, and enjoy the beautiful Fall sunshine, and cool breezes. Soaking in the hot tub doesn't hurt either!!! :)

The boys will hike with us, and play in the river. The joy of watching them play in the water is therapy in itself.

Sunsets from the hot tub are magical. And mountain views breathtaking.

All in all, we will come home rested, relaxed and ready for life to get crazy hectic all over again. Thanks honey for all you do for me.

What is YOUR signature color?

Can't you just hear Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias? "Pahnk is mah signatchuh culah!" :)

I remember hearing that line, thinking at the time, that's silly, who the heck has a signature color?? Well, apparently I do! As a jewelry artist or beadmaker, do you find yourself drawn to one certain color, or color scheme? If you've seen my work, you know I love earthy and rustic, but have you noticed all of the turquoise? (Lucky for me it's supposed to be one of THE colors this Fall. It just pulls me in like a magnet. All shades of blues and greens do, actually. My sister attributes it to being a water sign, Pisces. I think I just like the tranquility.

After so many recent shows, I've placed quite a few orders for beads and components the last couple weeks to restock. Tonight I had 2 especially wonderful packages to open. (Don't you just LOVE opening up new beads you've ordered!! ) One from our own LMAJ artist, Barbara Lewis the other from Gaea. I actually laughed out loud when I laid them out on the table. I just knew I'd found my Friday blog post.

Funny, huh? No, I didn't order them all to match. And yes, the first thing I thought of was "Spring", Easter eggs, baby chicks, bunnies..... But aren't they beautiful!!!

These are the other wonderful, enameled beads that arrived from Barbara, which are going to work wonderfully with beads I already have on hand from Mary Ann Carroll and Elaine Ray.

Are you still laughing about my Spring color palette of beads? Well, fear not. I will be able to pair them with some earthier, warmer colors that will work for Fall.

So, what is YOUR signature color?

Winner...of LMAJ Giveaway...

...of these lovely handmade earrings created by Kelli Pope is.....

Pam Ferrari

Please click HERE to send Kelli your address so that she can get these out to you!

Congratulations, Pam!!

The random # generator was used to select the winner. 

We will have another giveaway on Monday, Oct. 11th.

Thanks for following!

Art Show Season by Kelli...

Hi, I'm Kelli Pope. First of all, I'm thrilled to be part of http://lovemyartjewelry.com/.   It's allowed me to showcase the pieces I've created using my own handmade components, wirework, and other artists handmade beads and components. Mary Ann Carroll's beads first drew my attention on ETSY when I was looking for handmade beads for my creations. I wanted to make truly one-of-a-kind pieces.

While most of my fellow artists on this site have blogs, websites, published pieces in magazines (WOW!!), and their own successful ETSY shops, I'm still out there hitting the art show circuit. I live in Southern Indiana, but was born in Kentucky, and consider myself a Kentucky girl (sorry Hubby, I'm just NOT a Hoosier :) I live just a few short miles across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. All of my shows to date have been Kentucky shows. It's a lot of work getting ready, setting up, selling and tearing down, but I love every minute of it.

My wonderful sister Susan takes care of sales, and keeps me busy making custom orders and alterations. I love seeing my repeat customers. The best part of the shows though, is probably seeing someone's face light up, when they put on that piece that looks like it was made for them. While an ETSY sight may be in my future, right now, I'm loving my time with the public and my "followers". Kelli

Love My Art Jewelry...

Who are we now and what is our hope for the future?

I will start off by sharing our slogan:

CREATING HANDMADE WITH HANDMADE

Without going into too much and risk droning on and on, I think that our slogan speaks for itself. We are bead, component and jewelry artists with a goal of bringing recognition to the unique quality of creating handmade jewelry using all handmade components. Owning a piece of jewelry that has been created by an individual artist or a piece that has been created by the artist using components created by many artists creates a personal connection each and every time it is worn. It is also the kind of piece that makes someone stop and ask, "Where did you get that? I have never seen anything like it before..."

And why haven't they seen anything just like this before?

The following pics don't actually go together, but I just grabbed them for a visual....So...here goes...

You take some copper beads that look something like this...

Use some methods that you can learn from one of our members, Barbara Lewis, to turn them

 into something like this...

And in the end, you create a beautiful one of a kind piece that could look like this......

Now that's original!!!

Or....how about creating with a few different pieces of art (created by other handmade bead/component artists) and taking some beads that look something like this...

Use some of your own methods or a combination of other artist work (findings, metalsmithed components, etc.)  and create something like this one created by Kelli Pope...

Now that's what we call Creating Handmade with Handmade!

What is our hope for the future? 

 It is one of bringing recognition to the unique qualities of jewelry using all or mostly all handmade components in your creations... or...  If you are someone who loves jewelry, but doesn't particularly like to make your own, then our hope is that you will recognize the uniqueness of wearing something that has been created from all handmade.