Praise for Designers

by D'Arsie Manzella


I thought I'd give a big "You're fantastic" to all the talented designers who create art jewelry! Besides constantly producing new and innovative arrangements, you are skilled in multiple techniques and are able to form a style all your own with your creations. I am in awe of your patience and devotion to making the world a more beautiful and meaningful place through personal adornment. When you use handmade beads and components - well that is just the cherry on top!

All this appreciation for jewelry designers has been brought about as I sit at my shipping table (notice I didn't say beading table) and struggle with color, wire, and placement to exercise my skill at jewelry design. My muscles are aching! I am a bead designer by trade but in joining this group I have been inspired~

Here are some of my resulting efforts...


Antique copper findings, beads and crazy cool dyed agate found at Michael's. I know there are no art beads here, but wait! There's more...



Here I start incorporating my art beads! A variation on the same theme featuring beautiful enameled rounds from GardanneBeads and rings filled with antique glass seed beads that I found long ago in an excellent thrift store score.

I'm so excited to be able to use some ceramic sparklers made by our very own MaryAnn Carroll!
I love the way they look like small pools of ocean with a drop of sunshine underneath. The white wire was an experiment, I'm totally in love with it! So fresh...


And something earthy made for myself. I cut out the leather, scratched the lines in with my triangular file and rubbed it all with olive oil which darkened all the exposed leather underneath.
I completely winged these, as I've not done a lot with leather before.
A trip to the local fabric shop had me digging in a giant bin like an overeager prairie dog to find all the pretty leather scraps. I was thinking of the Call to Create challenge for this month when I worked on these. The song inspiration is the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts".

Since it is such a thought provoking challenge, I think I will be making more than one piece within the theme.


Have a fantastic spring day!

celebrate... think spring...

by MaryAnn Carroll



happy thoughts.... good times... sunny days... warm winds...  stay current...  all DONE!

Those are just a few of the thoughts that passed through my brain while I was fighting against the elements to get the finishing touches on our website completed before today. 

I know...you're asking, "elements?" 

Why, I just have an answer to explain that....  or, perhaps, I will share some of those thoughts too....

blasted snow!  darn satellite internet connection!  ughhh!  I'll try again later!  ughhh!  who predicted a snowstorm? will it ever be warm again?  ughhh! 

You get the picture.  Although I do love living in Central, New York and could never really understand why others who were raised around this area would leave; I was ready to pack it up yesterday and head for some warmer winds, sunshine and any pretty much any place where the internet would stay connected!

Today, however, everything is calm, light falling snow, travel is back to normal, driveway needs to be plowed...  thank-you, Bill :O)

And....  our already new website has received a MAKEOVER!  That is one word, right?

To help us with our 5 month, 6 day, 2 hour anniversary....

You could WIN....  yes WIN.... these, might I say, very cool ceramic, spring themed, (they're actually all-season beads... but today, we are thinking Spring) by just heading on over to our website and signing the guestbook.  I'm even going to make this very easy for you.....

Click HERE.  Then, when you get there, please and I am saying, "please," sign our guestbook.  And this time, just let us know whatever comes to mind after cruising through and checking out the various artwork displayed. 

Also....

for those of you who love to conversate (that is a new word that I learned on Judge Judy yesterday),  feel free to throw your two cents in on the blog too!  We LOVE all you conversators!

But, I'm refusing ~ harsh, I know :O(

to bounce back and forth and figure out who has signed where.  The winner will be chosen from the guestbook on the website.

The winner (chosen at random next Sunday) will win these....

  So, if you like them....  and, please keep your conversating to yourself if you don't ;o)

head on over to the website and start yackin'!

Love,

MaryAnn

Mush...

Whaaaaaaat?  Well, just wanted to share a little something that I made as a custom request.  These little animal requests actually started with my Etsy friend Kristy from BeadyKeekJewelry about a year and a half ago.  She asked if I could make a round tubular pendant with ears giving the sense of a cat.  I did and I ended up giving them a little more shape.  Here is how they turned out.

This led to more requests....which then led to the reason this post is titled, "Mush!"

 My first contact with Bonnie was when she asked that I make something similiar to the cat pendants.  I'm always (almost) up to a challenge and created these 3 huskies which Bonnie had made into necklaces.  Sometimes it is very difficult to do a custom order due to the fact that what the buyer's vision may be stands the risk of being very different than what the artist envisions.  I try to make sure that we are at least in the same neighborhood and also make it clear that we are dealing with clay, glaze and firing to 2200 degrees.  Once these pieces enter the kiln, I have no more control.  With experience, the artist has a somewhat better idea of how everything will turn out, but that final say is not theirs.

Here's my friend Bonnie. 

Not so surprising that she might request these...

And then this year, a new challenge came along....  She wanted ornament sets to give to her friends for Christmas.  She sent me a picture of some polar bear ornaments that she had found online.  I found pictures of huskys online, printed them and from there Bill carved each of these sets.  I then took on the glazing and firing.  I had to hang them strategically from my bead trees so that the weight would not cause the bead wire to sag. Another common worry for ceramic bead artists is the glaze running and firing the bead/pendant right onto the wire.   In this case, I was careful not to apply the glaze too heavily over the holes and  I used one wire to hang each one and two more wires as support.  I was thrilled when I opened the kiln and saw all of these little Momma dogs with all of their matching puppies still hanging and ready to be lifted from the kiln.  They went out yesterday and if she can get them open with the pounds of bubble wrap that they lay snug in....they should make her friends very happy this Christmas. 

My favorites are the gray ones, Bonnie likes the black. 

Balance...

by MaryAnn Carroll

After reading Mary Jane's post yesterday, it made me think about balance in my own life.  Depending on what area of my life I'm thinking about, balance means many different things to me, but the most important need for balance in my life is with my family.  My usual routine is to go to work every day as a resource middle school teacher, come home, sometimes exercise and then either work on computer related bead business or make beads or jewelry related to that business.  I guess in some ways, I'm a workaholic.  I do, however, know that family is extremely important to me, so I also always try to find the time on weekends to be with family.  This little family member, my first born granddaughter Lacey brings me incredible joy!  Actually, just writing this makes me get a little emotional thinking about her.  It seems like not too long ago her Dad (my oldest) was this age.  For those of you who are young, with young children, remember that time goes by very fast so enjoy the time that you have with them.

Lacey is already over 3 years old and it seems just yesterday she was that 3 1/2 pound premie born 6 weeks early.  I can't remember how many weeks she spent in the the hospital before coming home with a monitor, but today, you wouldn't know it.  She is lively, bright and of course.....ADORABLE!!  I do my best to take the time out on weekends a couple of times a month to spend with her.   Here she is yesterday getting ready for the 3D version of Rapunzel (Tangled) which, by the way,
I would definitely recommend. 

And then it was off to the Build-a-Bear Workshop.  Here' Rudolph prior to being stuffed...

And right before being give his heart.... 

That's the heart that she is rubbing on her head before it goes into the reindeer :O)

And....ready to go home....his nose even lights up!!!  Next to her is her cousin Richie. 

 He often joins us on our outtings....  I love taking him along :O)

And some more Lacey news.....I make jewelry for everyone as Christmas gifts.  I try to make something that would work just right for them.  Erika, Lacey's Mom, loves pink.  Pink is just not one of my favorites so I always have a little more trouble coming up with something handmade and pink!  A few months ago Little Lacey glazed these wonderful beads.  Actually, the first group is her own design.  If you are interested, you can read a little more about that by clicking HERE.

And she also glazed this group that my son Ben made...

And for the Pink.....  This is week two of experimenting with enamel fired beads that I purchased from Barbara Lewis.....  I ordered PINK!!!  I still need practice, but I'm getting better at it :O)

And the necklace for Erika....I hope she likes it!  How could she not, it's pink and it has her daughter's own work on it :O)

Before closing, here are a couple of pics of my other two precious grandchildren. 

There still a little young to be heading out on our adventures.

Benny

Chloe

Awwwwwww!

Don't forget the drawing for tomorrow's giveaway. 

Click HERE to win these fabulous fired enameled earrings.

I learned something about me today....

by MaryAnn Carroll

- It's early Sunday morning and the first thing I learned upon waking up is that I'm alive another day and grateful for that...

- And yesterday, after I learned that I was happy to be alive... (since I think we should all be happy for that each and every day that we have)...

- and the day progressed...


- I learned ....
- that my fingers heal rather quickly when burned...
- that I am old enough to know better when it comes to getting my fingers burned...
- that, yes, I am probably the messy-est project making person that I know...
- that must be why it doesn't bother me when I am doing projects with my 12 year old students and they are almost as messy about it as me...
- that it is okay to be the way that I am and as long as I'm not hurting anyone..... :O)
- that everything requires practice...
- that Barbara Lewis has given me the opportunity to practice...
- that beginnings are always a little more challenging...
- that I get better at things if I stay at it...

- that it is okay to mess up as long as you learn from it...

- that if you burned your finger twice, you probably didn't learn anything from the first burn...

- that with everything I was able to purchase on Barbara's website, I could create something that I have never tried before...

-that the first bunch of times, it just wasn't looking quite right....

-that persistence pays off...

-that 1 successful bead is all it took to keep me wanting to go back for more...

-that I'm not Barbara Lewis, but I bet I'll get better at this if I keep on practicing...

-that I liked these little ones...  I saved those until the end of my enameling session...

-that I think that they look pretty cool with a couple of my ceramic disks...

So.....there you have it....I've tried something new, and I'm going to try it again...

What might you be trying that you haven't attempted yet when...

~creating handmade with handmade~

Following the Followers.....

by MaryAnn Carroll

One of the great things about being an author on this blog is the freedom to go with whatever I want to write about.  Of course, I need to stay focused and probably shouldn't write about things that are unrelated such as the fact that, at this moment, many birds are flying all around my window and keep coming back and forth to the bird feeder.....or....my blind dog who insists on sitting on my lap while I type on the computer.....Whoops!  ...   losing focus!!  These are my current distrators.....it doesn't take much ;o)

That tends to be a problem for me.  My brain is one of those that just jumps from idea to idea and it has a hard time staying in one place.  When I'm on a mission, however, no matter how big or small, I am able to keep focused for an extended period of time. Today's mission was to find 10 artists who follow Love My Art Jewelry and show off their artwork...

Whether it is finished jewelry or components that you might want to add to your own jewelry designs, check out what some of our followers have been doing in the world of~

~creating handmade with handmade~

Some very cool components by annaleesa...

a finished necklace using handmade ceramic components by designedbylu...

very cool pure silver earrings by dreamsome...

who wouldn't love this embroidered bracelet by hidingplacebeadery...

a lovely resin-filled handmade ring by lucidmoonstudio...

gorgeous raku focal by makustudio...

right in the Christmas spirit with these etched trees by mjalexander386...

fab necklace by scjjewelrydesign...

a very funky pendant by sculptedwindows...

and lastly, this awesome pendant created by urbandon...

How fun is that?  Not only did it keep me focused, but I had a blast shopping in these stores....

Don't forget ... tomorrow we will be drawing for the fabulous necklace made by Mary Jand Dodd.  Also, stay tuned for the winner of our Call-to-Create.  There is still one day left!!!

OUCH!!!! That's HOT!!!

by MaryAnn Carroll

And HOT it is...... I'm going to take you on a little tour of a wood-firing.  I'll let you know right up front, that I've forgotten to take a few pictures along the way.  This is where I use the..."I'm 50....it happens!!" excuse ;o)  Comes in handy when you are this age!!

First of all I would like to welcome you to my home up in the hills of Homer, NY.  It's where I reside with my husband Bill, our 2 large dogs and one little dog.  We have Buddy, our rescue Lab/Rot mix, Jake, who was my going through a divorce dog.  He is 9 and Mikito, who was my STILL going through a divorce dog (can never have enough dogs!) who is 8 1/2 and recently went blind.  There's more about him on my blog if you are interested.

Here's me inside my cozy home is where I create my beads.....sitting right here at the kitchen table.... I do plan on turning a room downstairs into a studio, but I know me and it will become a place to store my things, not a place where I will actually sit and work...

I don't always do this part (the bead forming) anymore.  My son Ben does.  He gets them to me ready to go.  I do the glazing and firing.....  I did make the woodfire beads, however.

Below you will see 2 different types of clay.  One is a stoneware mix (bottom) that is very reliable in the woodfire kiln.  The other is a mix of stoneware and red clay that surfaced after a local landslide that happened back in 1993.

After molding and sanding all of these, my fingers still were able to separate them by clay types and shapes.  I would typically use my tumbler for sanding, but I waited until the last minute to get these beads ready, so there wasn't time to tumble.  By the way, if you are a clay person reading this, the tumber is the best investment I've ever made!

Next, each of these were glazed, loaded onto bead trees and put into the kiln. 

Next, on the agenda, we have a shot of the entire inside of the kiln.  You can see that my beads are just a small part of this very big process.  Bill works for a long time getting all of that pottery ready for the firing.  This group will be heading out to an Art Show/Sale called Art Mart which is in downtown, Syracuse, NY.

Next, the kiln is sealed up and ready to go.

Below is a picture of Bill loading the wood one piece at a time which he will do for the next 13 plus hours.  I'll offer food and drinks throughout the process ;o)

Some sneak peeks inside the kiln.... Those pointed pieces are called cones.  They measure the temperature that is actually taking place inside the kiln.  The first one is a Cone 8 which measures temperatures a little over 2200 degrees farenheit and the last one is Cone 12 which measures the temperature at 2400 degrees farenheit.  Once he gets the temperature at Cone 12, he holds is there for a while before cooling down.

You can see the bead trees getting hit with flame.....VERY COOL!!!

And what started in the morning is now ending in the evening.

That concludes our tour for today ;o)

Stop back next week to see the kiln opening!