Category — Art

It seems as though this winter has been longer than usual, so when Artbeads.com offered me the chance to blog about “The Beauty of Spring,” and to choose my own items related to the topic from their vast array of jewelry making supplies, the first thing I thought of was “butterflies.” I love butterflies, so that’s what I went in search of at the Artbeads.com site.

I found some beautiful porcelain butterfly wing beads in a variety of shapes and sizes in the “All Creatures Great and Small” section of the website. The beads are pretty online, but even prettier in person. I ordered the 36 mm Porcelain Disk Butterfly #3, which is royal blue and peridot green outlined in black, with just a hint of salmon and red. The glossy glaze on the porcelain butterfly bead I received has a beautiful luminescence that really enhances the vivid colors.

My only concern was that these large 36 mm porcelain beads seem a bit pricey, but these are handmade art beads, and the quality is fantastic.  As it turns out, there’s not only a President’s Sale going on until February 18, 2010 at Artbeads.com, there’s also a sale on many of these porcelain beads themselves, so be sure to visit the site and look for the codes!

To go with my porcelain butterfly bead, I chose some Swarovski Crystal Beads in sapphire and peridot, and I also chose to use some cashmere crystal yarn in the beautiful salmon-pink “padparadscha” color, which I found in the Swarovski Crystal Yarn section.

To finish the design, I used some blue silk fairy ribbon which I had bought at Artbeads.com several months ago but couldn’t find a way to use because it hadn’t really matched anything I made. But when I put it next to the porcelain butterfly wing bead, I knew what it had been waiting for. I was so happy with the bold blend of colors; they certainly awaken the hibernating visual senses!

Now, bring on the butterflies! I can’t wait until spring officially arrives. I’ll be ready.

Disclosure Notice: The porcelain butterfly wing focal bead, the padparadscha Swarovski crystal yarn, the sapphaire Swarovski crystal beads, and the peridot Swarovski crystal beads used in this piece were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for my participation in the Artbeads.com blogging program. I have not received any payment from Artbeads.com, and this post represents only my personal opinion.

I’m honored to be included in two of Marjorie Oxman’s beautiful 2010 calendars featuring polymer clay work, wire art jewelry, glass beads, and metal clay. Lulu.com is having a sale on all calendars now thru Oct. 11th. Use coupon code FALLFOTO to get 25% off ! Here are the two calendars that include my work. “Cosmic Canyon,” one of my polymer clay beads, is featured in the month of May in Marjorie’s 2010 polymer clay calendar, and “Amber Mystique,” a Baltic amber cabochon wrapped in 12K gold-filled wire with bronze freshwater pearls, is featured in the month of November in Marjorie’s 2010 wire art jewelry calendar.

“Amber Mystique” is available at The Wooden Cow Gallery in Albuquerque. “Cosmic Canyon” is now the focal piece of a wire-wrapped pendant, and that piece is now available at Beads to Beauty in Ruidoso.

After weeks of waiting, the “Big Reveal” in the Use the Muse II contest has finally happened! There were some truly breathtaking pieces in this contest, and while my entry didn’t place, I honestly don’t know how Scarlett chose the winners, because there were some amazing entries. I was inspired by so many, and I would have been hard pressed to choose a favorite. Be sure to check out all the details on the muse, the winners, and the gallery of entrants in the Use the Muse II contest at Scarlett Lanson’s blog. My entry, “Dragonfly Moon,” is in the N-Z gallery.

The ethereal blend of colors in this kit played into my daydreams, and the Lillypilly muse served as the perfect full moon. For the background I created a watercolor painting reminiscent of batik fabric. I transferred the painting to polymer clay, mounted the muse, then embellished it with a polymer dragonfly, a faceted amethyst, and a bouquet of beads and sterling silver ivy leaves. The curving framework is sterling silver wire woven with beads from the kit, along with kyanite ovals to bring the silk ribbon and the focal piece together.

Some members of my Etsy team decided to get together and have weekly themes for our blog posts and create a little loop with them. This week the theme is organization! I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly fighting with the mountains of stuff that seems to pile up.

There are special organizers made specifically for beads, but I discovered that buying one of those tower organizers with clear plastic drawers from Lowe’s or Home Depot was much more practical and inexpensive–at least for me. This way I can label the drawers with what’s in the drawer, but I can also see what’s in the drawers. And if I want to work away from my work table, I can grab my little lap desk and take a drawer or two with me to the living room and work on my wire and bead jewelry while watching a movie.

Another organizational tool I love for my jewelry making is a fishing tackle box with plastic bins and drawers. I’ve found that fishing tackle boxes are great for organizing beads, chain, wire, tools, etc., and from what I’ve found, they’re less expensive than the portable storage units made especially for crafters and jewelry makers.

When it comes to storing my paper art supplies, this oak flat file is my pride and joy. For years I stashed my large art papers sandwiched between cardboard and shoved behind the filing cabinets, or behind the desk, or behind . . . something. The paper didn’t get bent out of shape that way, but the problem was it was so complicated to get out and cut to size that I ended up avoiding my drawing and painting all together! I wanted a flat file, but there was no way I could afford one. So finally my husband built me one. Not only that, but he customized it with some file drawers for me! Now this is a splurge for any artist, so I feel very fortunate to have it. I feel even more fortunate to have such a talented husband!

I was reading a book by a fantasy artist I admire, John Howe, who uses lots of pictures from magazines and other places as inspiration for ideas, and he had a labeled bin system to organize his ideas. I thought that was a fantastic idea, but it wasn’t practical for my workspace, so I adapted an idea filing system. Now, when I see a picture in a magazine or on the internet that inspires me in some way, I can rip it out or print it and file it under the proper category, like this:

A lot of people I know like to use notebooks or three-ring binders for organizing things like this, but I’ve found that this loose filing system works better for me. I can take the papers out when I need them and easily drop them back in their files when I’m finished. No more procrastinating with the hole punch or hunting through notebooks to try to put papers back where they belong. It works for me!

Of course I’m still looking for common-sense ideas and learning what other people do that I can adapt to my working style, so I know I will enjoy looking at what my fellow EART team members blog about on this subject. If you’d like to know too, the next stop on this little loopy journey is the A.W.E. Shop! Have fun!