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 I found some gorgeous olive bronze pearls at Artbeads.com. 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. 

Here’s a closeup of the beads themselves so you can see how pretty they are. Of course I had to make some earrings to go with the pendant. Along with these olive bronze pearls I used some 4mm round citrine beads, many of which look a bit like drops of amber themselves.

I had a hard time deciding which bead to enter, but ultimately I decided on this one, which I named “Cosmic Canyon” because it looks a little bit like a surrealist Southwest landscape:

I was surprised by a sudden flurry of sales at my Cafe Press shop recently, so I decided to go have a look to see who was buying these items and where the people were from. While I was there I was excited to see that there were some new products I could put my artwork on, so I spent a little time this morning and revamped some artwork to fit on the cute little Mino Flip camcorders. There’s a hummingbird, a fox, a raccoon, and an angel/fairy playing the flute. You can find these new Mino Flip camcorders in my New Items section. There are two types, the regular Flip Mino, and the Flip Mino HD.

If you like Christian fiction featuring Amish characters, you just might want to look for first-time author Amy Clipston’s book, A Gift of Grace. I’ve read a few stories featuring Amish characters, which I’ve enjoyed, but what intrigued me about the premise of this book was the idea of two teenage girls from the “English” world who, after the death of their parents, come to live with their aunt and uncle in the Amish community. Instead of a budding romance that grows, this book is about a marriage tested to its limits. The cultural conflicts are just as strong, but this time they are coupled with the story of a family coming to terms with the death of someone they love, while at the same time two motherless teenage girls also struggle to come of age in a community that is steeped in tradition and completely foreign to their experiences in the modern world. 

For the girls’ Amish aunt, Rebecca, who wanted more than anything to have children of her own, the struggle to be a good mother to her nieces while being a good wife to her husband makes her feel “as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God.”

Interview with Amy:

How did you get involved in writing?
Writing is like breathing for me.  I was writing silly stories and sharing them with friends in elementary school.  In junior and high school, I turned to writing fan fiction.  After college, my fan fiction transformed into sweet romance novels.  Later, I felt the calling to turn to inspirational, and that was when I found my niche.

Where did you get the idea for A Gift of Grace?
I’m half-German, and my father immigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings in 1929.  He once told me the Amish speak the same dialect as our relatives, so I feel a connection to them.  I’ve always had a great respect and fascination with their faith and simple lives.  I began reading other Amish authors, and I was moved to create my own series.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
Brainstorming and plotting are the most fun.  I love getting to know my characters and playing around with storylines.

What is the most difficult aspect of the writing process?
I would say rewrites are the most difficult.  While the end result is always much better than the first draft, reworking the story forces the writer to sometimes start over and also reach deeper into his/her soul to find the story.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I hope that readers will feel a sense of hope after reading the book.  Sometimes we may be convinced God has forgotten us or that what we’re experiencing isn’t part of His plan. However, things may not go the way we’d hoped, but God is always in control.

What do you say to someone who wants to become a published author?
Surround yourself with other writers.  Join a group, such as recommend American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America, attend local chapter meetings, and sign up for on-line discussion loops.  You’ll learn more than you can imagine from other writers, both published and unpublished.  Also, it may sound cliché, but don’t give up.  Rejection is heart breaking, but you’ll become a stronger writer every time you send out a query.

Amy’s Website
Amy’s Blog
Amy’s Facebook Page

Other Blog Tour Participants for A Gift of Grace

I thought about making a list of “You might be an eclectic artist if…” items, but a list like that really needs to be at least a little bit humorous, and unfortunately writing humor is not one of my eclectic talents.

I definitely qualify as eclectic, from my tastes in music to my tastes in home decor. There isn’t really one unified theme about me or anything in my life except that I tend to prefer order to chaos (You might not believe that if you looked at my house right now!), and flowing, curving lines to sharp angles.

As for my creative endeavors, I’ve tried a little bit of just about everything most people call creative: writing, calligraphy, doll making, sewing, crochet, drawing, painting, jewelry making, floral designing, and even helping my carpenter husband design attractive cabinets and furniture.

You’d think it would be great to enjoy so many different things and be relatively “good” at most of them. It is!

And it isn’t.

Sometimes people like me lack focus, and there is only so much one person can do with the 24 hours we each have every day. But there have been a few things that have really settled into my heart regarding my “creative calling.” While my writing is on the back burner, I am really trying to focus on my jewelry and my artwork.

Even in those two realms my taste is eclectic. I love fantasy art feauturing fairies, angels, dragons, and other mythical creatures. I love animal and nature art featuring birds, foxes, wolves, rabbits, cats and dogs. I love Celtic art, and I love the art you find in medieval illuminated manuscripts. What I’ve discovered is that my taste in art has deeply influenced my jewelry style: flowing lines reminiscent of nature, although a little more stylized; intricate knots like you’d see in Celtic art; stones with texture and color that look just a bit unkempt and “organic.” And lately, I’ve been finding new ways to incorporate my artwork into my jewelry by tranferring my art images to polymer clay focal pieces.

Though having a Kell’s Creations Etsy shop, a Cafe Press shop, and a Zazzle shop  (where I only have three items so far, but I’m working on it!) can all get overwhelming at times, I’m pursuing my passion. Each day I hope to improve my artistic abilities–along with my time management and organizational skills so I can stay on top of it better!

I definitely fit in with my fellow Etsy Eclectic Artisans team, EART.

Here’s what I created with my enameled copper Chinese Faith Pendant from Artbeads.com. When I received the pendant, I immediately fell in love with the deep blue color and the underlying texture. Each one is handmade–not mass produced! I had no idea enameled copper could be so pretty. When I requested the item, I had a picture in mind for the final creation, but of course my idea was waylaid when I realized how pretty the purple and green freshwater pearls I had just bought from Beads to Beauty in Ruidoso would be with this piece. So I decided on rich jewel tones, and I was very happy with the results. I listed this piece in my Etsy shop, so you can see more images of it by clicking on the picture or at the item listing link.

A couple of these beauties together would make great earrings. They’re not overly large–about 1-1/2 inches square (bead language measurements are 34.5 mm by 34.5 mm), and the color is wonderful. But if blue isn’t your color, Artbeads.com has a great selection of other handmade enameled copper pendants to choose from, along with other styles of pendants. Since I’m also a sometime calligrapher, I almost chose one of the bronze alphabet pendants because they remind me of embellished calligraphy letters in illuminated manuscripts.

So far, even before now, I’ve been very happy with everything I’ve ordered from Artbeads.com.