Posts from — June 2009

I just got word today that my polymer clay bead, which I’m calling “Cosmic Canyon,” was chosen as the second place winner in the Ancient Modern Polymer Clay Design Challenge sponsored by Beading Daily, a challenge used to promote Ancient Modern, a book by author/designer Ronna Sarvas Weltman. She and Jewelry Artist editor-in-chief Merle White chose the two winning pieces. “The two winners will be featured on Beading Daily (circulation: 90,000) in late June and each will receive a handcrafted set of polymer clay beads made by Ronna Sarvas Weltman herself.”

Here’s “Cosmic Canyon,” the bead I entered:

And here’s more info about the contest itself. Woohoo! I’m thrilled.

And now I’m preparing for another contest called “Use the Muse II. “ Just received my kit of goodies, plus a mystery item, the muse, which I can’t reveal. I think I have a really good idea. Time to break out the sketchbook! More teasers to come in future blog posts.

I found this Baltic amber cabochon at a show I attended recently, and even though I’m not a huge fan of amber, I know lots of people are. Fan or not, I thought this cab was beautiful, and I had to have it! Of course after I bought it I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to make it up into a design until Artbeads.com, a company I had already been buying some of my supplies from, allowed me to choose some gorgeous olive bronze pearls free of charge in exchange for blogging about them. These freshwater pearls are about 9-10 mm, so they’re pretty large. They have a wonderful irregular shape–elegant without being predictable–and the sheen is fantastic, with a bronzy green iridescence that is just amazing. The nacre on all the pearls I received was smooth and flawless, and the color goes surprisingly well with the Baltic amber. I used 12K gold-filled wire to sculpt the wirewrapped frame, and then I used 26 gauge gold-filled wire to “sew” the pearls and citrine beads onto the frame to accentuate the amber cab. To finish the pendant I created the woven bail that I seem to love so much (I do quite a few woven bails on my jewelry). The gold-filled chain is adjustible from about 16 inches to about 18 inches, and I embellished the extender chain with a pearl and citrine dangle.

The EART Team (Eclectic Artistans Team) on Etsy is having a giveaway! I think there are fourteen prizes you could try to win. Here’s what I’m giving away as a prize. It’s called Romance in Red. You can find out how to be entered to win Romance in Red by answering a simple question . . .  Visit the EART team blog to find out how.