LamplightCrafts

The Art Bead Scene challenge for the month of January was to make a piece of wearable art inspired by the painting, Black Peacocks with Japanese Persimmons. The artist, Jessie Arms Botke, specialized in painting birds against an imaginary landscape.  She often applied gold leaf  to the canvas or panel.  Visit the ABS blog for more details on the artist's work. I, of course, focused on the feathers, since they were so detailed and large.  So I took the literal approach to my jewelry design and used feathers to make a pair of earrings.  The most important task for this challenge is to incorporate art beads into a design.  I used two bicone disc lampwork beads made by Catherine Napier, Catherine Napier Designs .  Catherine is a member of the Miami Valley Lampwork Bead Artists .  I picked out a few of her beads at a trunk show at my favorite bead shop, STASH !  STASH will be featuring beads from several of the Miami Valley La...

Art Jewelry Elements is hosting a wonderful earring challenge.  The challenge is to make a pair of earrings a week.  This pair was made with gold plated findings and lampwork beads by Carolyn Harman of the  Miami Valley Lampwork Bead Artists .  I will probably be using a lot of her beads, especially since she started making tiny lampwork beads perfect for earrings.  I am fortunate that she is my friend, and she also attends open bead night at my favorite bead shop  STASH  and she brings her new stuff to sell at the shop.  I love showcasing local artists work I use in my jewelry.  If you are in the Ohio area and have beads or other handmade findings that you sell, leave a comment below.  I am not sure when the week begins or ends for each challenge, so I will try to post my earrings every Tuesday. Also, stop by the AJE Earring Challenge  Printrest board to see more earrings!

I think I will call this:  Onyx Dream I attempted to follow the tutorial by Anneta Valious of My Lovely Beads , but once I got started it was like working on free form peyote!  I found soutache to be very relaxing.  My first attempt was to be a pair of earrings, but I found working with two cord colors problematic.  But only because I hate changing threads every time the cord turned a different color on a turn (see pic below).  Overall, I enjoyed working with a single color and will definitely make other things with soutache. To the UFO drawer!

I am a week behind on this challenge, but plan to catch up today.  The theme for Week 3 is Music.  I love all kinds of music except that crap  rap music my older boys listen to.  However, my favorite music is jazz.  But I do enjoy the sounds of nature that surround my home, especially the sounds of birdsong as soon as daylight appears. Here is my bracelet:  Bird Song Made with silver findings, swarovski crystals, ceramic beads from Gaea , the little bird is from Tree Wings Studio , the lampwork is by Anne Miller .  Very spring inspired. Now on to Week 4, Not Found at the Mall!

I made the daily trek to the mail box this cold January afternoon.  Beautiful outside, with a light coating of snow.  Sorting through the mail, a small package caught my eye.  It was from the Netherlands!  Why would I get something from so far away?  First I thought it was something I had ordered and forgot about.  Here is the box that was in the package.  I love pretty packaging because it makes what's inside all the more special. It's the bracelet I won from Janine's giveaway for her fans.  Thank you Janine, the bracelet is beautiful.  I fell in love with the pearls on this bracelet the moment I saw it.  But you know with giveaways, the chances of winning are 50/50.  But I won it, and love it.  Oh, the bottom pic.  That's my 12 year old Leo.  He had a rough night last night, maybe his stomach or something else bothering him.  It started about 2am this morning with moans, squeals, screams when I did...

Lorelei's Blog: 7 Days of Giveaways: DAY THREE : Welcome back! It's day three!! I am excited to share these new giveaways with you today!! If you are new to the scene, I am giving away bea...

Lorelei's Blog: 7 Days of Giveaways: DAY ONE : Welcome to Lorelei's first ever week of giveaways! That's right, you read it right. Lorelei is giving away something here on her blog for 7 straight days... Visit Lorelei's blog for details!

7 Entries in total: 1.  re-maker 2.  Tiffany Smith 3.  Stepha 4.  Cheri 5.  Cheri 6.  Sherri 7.  Erin The random number picker says:  5.  Cheri, Creative Designs by Cheri , come on down!  You are the new winner of the Art Bead Love Chain! Thank you Love My Art Jewelry for starting the Art Bead Love Chain!

Although I am not happy with Week 3, I absolutely love Week 4.  I love dangles.  Week 3 was made with antique gold findings and lampwork beads by Carolyn Harman of the Miami Valley Lampwork Bead Artists .  Week 4 was made using gunmetal findings and more lampwork beads by Carolyn Harman.  I will probably be using a lot of her beads, especially since she started making tiny lampwork beads perfect for earrings.  I am fortunate that she s my friend, and she also attends open bead night at my favorite bead shop STASH and she brings her new stuff to sell at the shop.  I love showcasing local artists in my beadwork and jewelry making.  If you are in the Ohio area and have beads or other handmade findings that you sell, leave a comment below.  Now onto week 3 and 4 of the Year of Jewelry challenge. Don't forget to check out my post on the Art Bead Love Chain Giveaway !  Drawing is tomorrow!

I love challenges!   Art Jewelry Elements is hosting a earring challenge.  The challenge goals are to kick start your creativity, motivate you, and get your jewelry seen online.  The challenge will be a year-long Earring Challenge for 2013.  The challenge will be broken up into quarterly sections, so you can try it out for 13 weeks at a time.  Sounds easy right?  It is! Above are my first earrings for the challenge.  The first set are turquoise and frit lampwork beads made by Juli Cannon of Studiojuls .  The second set are etched purple and cream with a little gray made by Bobbie Wilhelm of Flaming Treasures, Ebay.  I can tell you one thing, using Wubbers makes my loops look so much better. I also joined the Facebook group, Year of Jewelry 2013, and will be posting pictures of my jewelry (and I will try not to use earrings all the time) weekly.  The 3rd week YoJ theme is music! Renetha

The Beaded Bead by Sharri Moroshok Sharri Moroshok just posted this on Facebook.  I love her beaded beads.  When I saw this one though, it made me smile.  I love the color combinations of purple and green and silver.  Just a few weeks ago I participated in The Gossiping Goddess's Free Beads Challenge  and the following is a better picture of what I made for that challenge. I may just have to buy her necklace and wear both of them.  I think they would go well together!

I joined the Year of Jewelry, 2013 Facebook group.  We supposed to create a piece of jewelry every week of the year.  Here is what I have done for the first 2 weeks. Week 2 Theme:  Grace.  For me grace is the time God gives me to get my act together.  Thankfully this is a lifelong endeavor. Week 1 Theme:  Renewal I have also joined the AJE Earring Challenge.  One pair of earrings each week for the year.  You sign up for 13 weeks.  The first reveal is 20 January, so stop by each week to see if I can keep up or not.   Take a look at my previous post about the Art Bead Love Chain Giveaway!  This could be your chance to swap art beads and host the next giveaway! Have I said that I love challenges?  Well I do!

The Art Bead Love chain has lampwork, ceramic, polymer clay, metal, resin, and wood beads and pendants...all handmade!  Now it is my turn to pass the chain along to the next winner!   (Please read the entire post before entering! ) This post is very long so here are my pictures of the Art Bead Love Chain: Here's the Scoop:   The Art Bead Love Tour is an ongoing project to spread the love of handmade to new and exciting places.   It's a way to reach people who may have never stumbled upon your blog on their own, and give them a chance to share the love of handmade.   A chain was chosen to link beads as a symbol of how this project links us all together ~ in our unity to stand behind handmade. The winner of the chain will be allowed to take up to 30 beads from this chain. They will then replace each bead they took with another handmade bead, charm or pendant of equal quality. (So remember-----You're not winning the ENTIRE CHAIN---jus...

After months of following the Art Bead Love chain from blog to blog, I just received word from the previous holder of the chain,  Lori Bowring Michaud  of Artfully Ornamental , that the Art Bead Love Tour chain is headed my way.  I am so excited and can't wait to see all of that beady goodness! The Art Bead Love Tour is an ongoing project to spread the love of handmade to new and exciting places.  It’s a way to reach people who may have never stumbled upon our blog on their own, and give them a chance to share the love of handmade.  We chose to use a chain to link beads as a symbol of  how this project links us all together~ in our unity to stand behind handmade. Bead artists have filled one and a half feet of chain with handmade beads, charms and pendants, donated by our own Love My Art Jewelry Group .  There are 60 beads on this chain, worth approximately $450.  It includes ceramic, glass, polymer, various metals and metal clay beads....

On the 12th day of Christmas Inge von Roos sent to me: Lovely Floral Lampwork Beads and Little Lampies! Group 1 Participants : #1    Lorelei Eurto http://Lorelei1141.blogspot.com #2    Marcy Lamberson http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com #3    Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/ #4    Pam Ferrari http://ferrarioriginalsyahoocom.blogspot.com/ #5    Kathleen Lange Klik http://www.ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com #6    Kristi Bowman http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/ #7    Carolyn Chenault http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com #8    Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com #9    Karen Totten http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com/ #10   Cheri Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/ #11   Francesca Watson http://www.franc...

On the second day of Christmas Francesca Watson sent to me: One Curvy, Enameled, Connector! Group 1 Participants : #1    Lorelei Eurto http://Lorelei1141.blogspot.com #2    Marcy Lamberson http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com #3    Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/ #4    Pam Ferrari http://ferrarioriginalsyahoocom.blogspot.com/ #5    Kathleen Lange Klik http://www.ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com #6    Kristi Bowman http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/ #7    Carolyn Chenault http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com #8    Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com #9    Karen Totten http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com/ #10   Cheri Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/ #11   Francesca Watson http://www.francescawa...

On the 10th day of Christmas Cheri Reed sent to me: A Wonderfully Rustic Handmade Clasp! Group 1 Participants : #1    Lorelei Eurto http://Lorelei1141.blogspot.com #2    Marcy Lamberson http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com #3    Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/ #4    Pam Ferrari http://ferrarioriginalsyahoocom.blogspot.com/ #5    Kathleen Lange Klik http://www.ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com #6    Kristi Bowman http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/ #7    Carolyn Chenault http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com #8    Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com #9    Karen Totten http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com/ #10   Cheri Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/ #11   Francesca Watson http://www.francescawatson.com...

I love opening gifts.  I especially enjoy opening each and every handmade gift received.  I tried my hand at making polymer clay beads.  I took a few pictures of my creations; and the more I made up, the more ideas I came up with.  I placed each set of beads in a gift box and randomly selected a box to go in each envelope for mailing.  Then, I would be just as surprised as they are with their gifts. I want to also take a moment to say thank you ladies for your wonderful handmade gifts.  These ladies are so talented and well known throughout the beading community.  I will treasure each and every gift. This is my youngest son Leo.  He is now 12 years old as of Dec 12th.  He and I often share his room because he has cerebral palsy and sometimes has to have someone keep and eye on him 24/7.  I often catch him looking at me while I sit at a desk in the corner beading, stuffing doll forms, and making all of those polymer clay bead...

On the 9th day of Christmas Karen Totten sent to me: Two Canoe Connector Beads, One Disc Connector Bead, and a Strand of Bead Soup!  And Two Strips of Batik Fabric! Group 1 Participants : #1    Lorelei Eurto http://Lorelei1141.blogspot.com #2    Marcy Lamberson http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com #3    Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/ #4    Pam Ferrari http://ferrarioriginalsyahoocom.blogspot.com/ #5    Kathleen Lange Klik http://www.ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com #6    Kristi Bowman http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/ #7    Carolyn Chenault http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com #8    Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com #9    Karen Totten http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com/ #10   Cheri Reed http://creativedesignsbyche...