Thursday, August 22, 2013

What's In A Name, Revisited







































For several years now, I have named all of my jewelry designs. I wrote about it in a previous blog post. While I began the process with enthusiasm, now it has become somewhat of a burden. 

Many of you have told me how much you enjoy seeing the names that I give to designs. Despite that encouragement, I have decided to end the tradition. Shakespeare might have been been onto something!

I think you will like what happens when I can give up this process which actually has been stifling and not promoting my creativity. I gave myself the freedom to try it this week, and lo and behold, I cranked out 20 pieces of jewelry! I found that because I didn't have to interrupt my creative flow with the process of name brainstorming, I could keep creating and designing. 


I will leave you with a cute story about the "Olive Branch" earrings pictured at the beginning of the 3rd row on the left. One of my customers, Cheryl, wrote this note to me. 

It all started when my mom started texting and she tried to sign off "I love you" but it auto-corrected it to say "Olives". So now every time we sign off from each other we say Olives instead of I love you. So I thought getting her this piece of jewelry would be very special! 


I will miss hearing neat stories like that, but methinks this change will be a good thing! 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Blog Hop Challenge Reveal!

What a delightful surprise it was to find out that I was one of the winners of a blog hop challenge giveaway! And the host of this blog hop is the talented Rebekah of Tree Wings Studio. She creates with polymer clay and makes the most adorable little forest creatures like the ones below. 

credit: Rebekah


The beads that Rebekah created for the giveaway are pictured below. They are just stunning, full of color and texture.

credit: Rebekah



















I considered all the possibilities and had settled on designing a necklace. I had it all laid out and was ready to start wire-wrapping. But then for some reason, I changed my mind and made a bracelet. I am mostly pleased with the results. I think it still needs a little tweaking, but not quite sure yet how that will look. For now, this is the finished piece...

"Rebekah's Meadow"


I wanted to highlight the purples and yellows in the beads. I decided to go with some Czech glass beads that were simple so as not to detract from the beauty of the polymer clay focal beads. There were some copper colored undertones in the beads, so I knew that the metal had to be antiqued copper.



Rebekah, thank you so much for your generosity! I am honored to be part of your blog hop. 

If you would like to see what the other winners created, they are linked below.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Front Cover....Sort Of

I have had several designs published in the past, but this one...well, this one is the most exciting! 



If you look really closely, you can see that this bracelet is on the COVER of BeadStyle magazine! No, it's not the main cover design, but it is featured nonetheless!



























This colorful bracelet has an entire page dedicated to it in this July 2013 issue!







































Thank you, BeadStyle editors, for selecting my submission! 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Good Things Come In 3's

A friend of mine from high school days asked me if I would make a necklace for her using the same concept as the "Spirit" earrings pictured below.



She has 3 children, and said that she is always drawn to things in 3's for that reason. So I developed this design for her necklace. I'm really glad that she asked me to do this and like how it turned out.







Friday, March 15, 2013

Anna's Big Day

I have 2 sons. Fortunately, God knew that I needed some girls in my life too, so he blessed me with 2 lovely nieces! 

Liz, whom I featured here last fall, is currently studying abroad in the Middle East. I miss her so very much. :-(


Liz (photo by Daniel Martin)


My other niece, Anna, just recently had an exciting milestone which I was invited to witness. She got her ears pierced! It was so thoughtful of her mom to ask me to come along. 


My boys and I went with Anna, her brothers and her mom to the mall to the exact same place where I got my ears pierced about 25 years ago. 

Everyone was giving their opinion on which earrings to choose!



Here she is, looking brave and excited before the anticipated moment...




No turning back now!



Just as quickly as it started, it was over. 
Anna was all smiles...
Her mom and I were all tears! We looked at each other and both of us had no idea why we were crying! 
All of a sudden, I remembered waiting at the airport to meet the energetic little girl and her twin brother who flew across the world to join our extended family. My mind tucked today's memory into the picture. Then I started imagining prom pictures...graduation...wedding gowns...

Anna is growing up. 
And it's happening quickly. 
And it makes me sad and happy at the same time.



I'm so glad that God chose me to be your aunt!
I love you, Anna-banana!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Grow Old Along With Me

Photo credit: RubySky Photography

Happy Valentine's Day to my husband...
my lover, my partner, my best friend.

Today is also a milestone birthday for me. While I'm not thrilled about this particular birthday, my husband has lifted my spirits by planning a very special (surprise!) trip for us. 
I'm blessed to be able to grow old with him. 
The best is yet to come!
 


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Another Published Piece!

Nearly a year ago, I submitted a design to BeadStyle Magazine for publication. Excitedly, I opened the email which informed me that my design had been selected to appear in a magazine...but I would have to wait a whole year to see it published! The year has passed, and this week I finally got to see this magazine. It is a special edition published by BeadStyle, and has great earring ideas.





My earrings are on page 11 in the "Turquoise" section. 


"Arizona"

Stay tuned for another publication announcement in a couple months! :-)


Friday, January 4, 2013

Red Poppy

In 2012, I set a goal for myself to submit some designs for the chance at publication in jewelry design magazines. I'm happy to say that I submitted...goal accomplished! And even happier to say that I had 4 designs accepted in 2012! 

Pictured below is my bracelet design accepted and published by Jewelry Stringing in the Winter Issue. 

"Red Poppy" bracelet
(pictured on far right side of page)

I can't even describe how exciting it is to open up the magazine, knowing what's coming, and take in the sight of my creation on the page! I didn't squeal this time, but I'm pretty sure that my heart skipped a beat. :-)