Confession of a Late Adapter

I'm sure you're going to laugh at me. I just discovered something fantastic - I really love tie-back closures. I know - silly, right?

I've always loved their simplicity and the way this type of closure looks, but, deep in my heart of hearts, I always felt they must not be terribly secure. Last week, I was shopping at our local paper store and one of the clerks was wearing a humongous double-strand necklace with over-sized stone drops - 40mm or over - closed at the back with a simple bow-tie. So, naturally, I accosted her with my questions: "Is it comfortable? Is it secure?" "Sure it is!" she replied.

So, after my year's worth of skepticism, I tried it myself with some heavy ceramic beads - and I love it. Comfy! Secure!

It takes me a while, but I get there in the end.

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

Here's a little summer color to inspire you - beans from our (H's) garden. These were actually picked yesterday, but they are still darn fresh compared to what I find at our local grocers. Meanwhile the tassels on our corn have opened - we did not have time to go out and pollinate by hand, so we are just hoping that we will get a few ears out of it - this is our first attempt to grow corn in the garden.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I'm finishing up a project for a book today and reviewing a few contracts - trying to take care of business. Here are your bead and jewelry links for the week. Thanks for visiting!

About.com Jewelry Making
Rock clubs rock, literally, when you are looking for inexpensive, local jwelry making classes.

Art Bead Scene
Tired of your liver of sulfur going bad? Check out this - Patina Gel!

Beading Arts
The second part of Cyndi's tutorial on using CopprClay to create a necklace.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
After cleaning the studio, Andrew finds (and finishes) a long-lost PMC Floral Link Bracelet.

A Bead A Day
The new Swarovski Air Blue crystals are perfect for summertime jewelry making. Lisa has used them to represent a "happy day" in this ring and necklace set.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi introduces a vintage walnut to rhinestsones.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Cindy takes on heavy metal in the studio. No, you won't need to cover your ears - just your hands!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie takes some time to show off a few new resin and brass collage pendants!

Jean Campbell
Jean visited Chicago and discovered a new beading technique using pleather and Conso

Katie's Beading Blog
Take a sneak peek at Katie's newest beading book!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei makes a fun Owl swap with a blog friend.

Snap out of it , Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is wowed by Denise Peck's recent earring book, 101 Step by Step Wire Earrings! Get it and make some for YOURSELF!

Strands of Beads
Melissa curls up with a few good books from Rings & Things

Framed Heart

Here's one of my necklaces appearing in the current issue of Creative Jewelry. I designed the necklace around the clean, geometric piece of turquoise I found at Ayla's Originals, one of my local bead stores. It was pretty much the perfect size to frame my fine silver dragon-heart pendant.

If you're interested - this is actually my submissions photo to the magazine. The magazine photo is much more beautiful, of course, but I think seeing other people's submission photos is sort of interesting, don't you?

Thanks for stopping by.

I, Robot

I'm not sure if I ever posted this on my blog before or not, but it's one of my favorites. I don't actually follow Beck, but the dancing QRIO robots are simply not to be missed.

Metal Clay Safety

Kate McKinnon has posted an update (I find I cannot link directly to the post for some reason - it's one of the July 22, 2009 entries) concerning her metal clay safety project, and I thought I would let you know that it's there (if you are not already following her blog, of course) and briefly weigh in on the issue.

Kate's position on safety - which requires no kiln-firing in classrooms, less (no) sanding, no burnout of styrofoam cores, among other things - has generated certain controversy from the outset. Now, I have never taken a class on metal clay - I have no practical idea how the classes are generally run or what the physical conditions are actually like from best to worst. Also, because I started working with the material at a time when I was otherwise pretty busy raising my infant son, I worked and continue to work in isolation from the metal clay community near where I live - which I think is both a blessing and a curse (but is a topic for another day). However, the bottom line for me is that Kate's information made a practical difference to someone like me, who is completely self-taught from books, at a time when I really needed the information.

As far as I know, I started working with metal clay a few months before Kate first widely starting posting about safety issues, around mid-2007. At the time, I had not yet bought my kiln, was still learning how to control the clay (whom am I kidding - I am still working on this) and was, as a result, sanding excessively and working without any sort of respirator. I didn't have any severe symptoms, but I was experiencing some respiratory irritation (which I did not immediately connect to the clay). After reading Kate's informational posts and the ensuing dialogue with other metal clay artists, I adopted certain changes in the way I work. I bought my kiln, which I store in our detached garage and fire outside, I work with sponges to "finish" bone-dry clay as much as possible and when I do sand (which I still do more than I would like), I work in a well-ventilated area away from the house, wear a mask rated for metalwork and make every attempt to "contain" the resulting dust. The respiratory irritation disappeared, and I feel more confident that my work is not having an adverse impact on my or my family's health (I always worry about the Short One, in this regard).

Now, I have to confess - I have not adopted all of Kate's recommendations wholesale. I definitely still do a few things (like the sanding I do - some of which I'm sure could be eliminated if I could just put my brain to it) of which I'm sure Kate wouldn't approve. Also, from a practical perspective, there's pretty much no way I would have spent the money for a kiln from the outset without experimenting for a while with the significantly less expensive torch (she does not recommend torch-firing). However, I don't believe it's possible to have too much information when it comes to this topic. The important thing for me is that Kate's forthright stance on this issue and insistence on holding a dialogue on the topic with artists who disagree with her findings helped me make a more informed decision on how to continue working with this wonderful material.

Frankly, whether you agree with Kate's findings or not - the fact that she continues to raise the issue is extremely important, especially for people like me who are relatively new to the field and who would otherwise not be focusing on this type of information or not know where to find it. So, if you are also relatively new to metal clay or thinking of working with it or are just looking for more information on the topic, I highly recommend checking out Kate's website or reading the safety section in her excellent book, Structural Metal Clay. What you decide to do, of course, is ultimately up to you, but educating yourself on potential safety issues is well-worth your time. As for me, Kate's recommendations had a very practical effect on the way I work, and I'm definitely happier for the changes I adopted as a result.

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

Oh, how we suffer for our art around here. If you can call it suffering - I think the Short One was rather delighted to discover he'd managed to turn his posterior nice shades of orange and pink.

We've been playing with chalk this weekend - how about you?

I also finished up my Use the Muse II piece - I'll post photos and commentary after the "Big Reveal". I should have some new jewelry designs to show off this week, touch wood. In the meantime, here are your intriguing links for the week:

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean discusses finishing up the challenge "Use the Muse II" which was thought up by Scarlett Lanson, Rainbows of Light.com and Artbeads.com. She enjoyed it very much, particularly because it made her think!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Lights, Camera, Action! Melanie tells a tale of her Beads, Baubles, and Jewels televison taping experience.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei is giving away a necklace and a copy of Creative Jewelry!

About.com Jewelry Making
How has your web store experience been? Are there too many 3rd partry sites to sell or buy jewelry these days? Take the poll as a sell or buyer.

Barbe Saint John
Barbe reviews Simply Gemstones book

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Gets Loopy
Check out Cindy's new project in the summer edition of Step by Step Wire!

A Bead A Day
Can a piece of jewelry create a feeling of calm and happiness? Check out Lisa's starry bracelet made with "new jade" stones.

Art Bead Scene
ABS Editor Heather is on the road. Check out her quick project!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Rub-ons and leather - a cool combination for this cuff sample.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Busier than a bee, Andrew shares fifteen new jewelry designs.

Beading Arts
Cyndi shows you the steps to making a simple but sparkling necklace from CopprClay!

Drawing Dilemma
Jean asks her friends about what drawing programs they use for beading illustrations

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a new variation of her lunar phases toggle

Thanks for visiting.

Curling up with Good Books

The last time I played tag, one of the questions I had to answer was what I would do with $100.00 if I could spend it on anything. I replied, "Books". Well, I put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. As a member of the Rings & Things blogging partnership, I was given a $50.00 gift certificate with the opportunity to buy anything from their wide range of lovely products. While I was completely tempted by their Sleeping Beauty and Kingman turquoise, I decided to check out the book section (which I had not previously visited, despite having been a Rings & Things customer for some time) before I made a final decision.

I was completely blown away by the interesting variety of books that the company stocks. Now, I'm not the type of person who snoops through medicine cabinets when I visit other people's houses (honest!), but I always snoop through bookshelves. I am a total bibliophile and love to see and hear about what others are reading. The selection of books that Rings & Things offers is extremely engaging - from recent releases to classic texts, some of which are relatively hard to find elsewhere, covering all aspects of beadmaking and jewelry design. Browsing through the company's book catalog really is just like browsing through the extensive personal library of a bead enthusiast.

I was quite interested to learn how Rings & Things puts together its catalog in this regard, and I recently had the good fortune to correspond with Noryan Baker, Rings & Things' astute buyer for "all things book related". Noryan uses a variety of criteria in choosing new titles to add to the product list, including whether "[t]hey have good example jewelry, they have easy to follow instruction, they use items that are readily available or that we stock, or is possibly a current trend that we think is a good idea. Good pictures/pictures of instructions are always a plus."

Currently, a team of five people of varying jewelry-making backgrounds will select titles, so that "there is little to no bias, [as] every individual has different experience with jewelry making in different areas and work in different parts of our warehouse, and they can offer their opinions based on such. " The result is a nice mix of titles covering everything from basic stringing to beadmaking, from craft business guides to the cultural histories of beads and beyond.

And what did I buy with my $50.00? Well, it was a difficult choice, but in the end I picked up Oscar T. Branson's Indian Jewelry Making, Lois Sherr Dubin's The History of Beads from 30,000B.C. to the Present and Elizabeth Harris's A Bead Primer. I'd heard good things about Indian Jewelry Making (and I happen to be an avid collector of such jewelry, primarily Navajo and some Zuni) but had never come across a copy, so I'm quite excited to add that metalworking book to my library. Likewise, I had been wanting a good book on, well, the history of beads for a while now, but, in my experience, a new copy of Dubin's book can be hard to come by these days. Sure enough - it's quite a fascinating read. I was not previously familiar with A Bead Primer, but it turned out to be a nice, concise pamphlet on various bead types, such as wound, drawn and molded ones.

According to Noryan, the bottom line for Rings & Things is to "try to offer books that have useful and interesting information, that can better an individual's experience or knowledge on the world of beading/jewelry." I think they've succeeded quite magnificently. If you have not already taken a peek at their interesting selection, I highly recommend a visit now by clicking here.

The African Market

Yes, it is I, the continuing absentee author of this blog. I had the best intentions in the world of composing scintillating beady prose this week and now it's Wednesday and, well, zippo. Sigh.

I do have this lovely strand to show you today. This appeared in my Christmas stocking last year. The mother of a very close friend of mine (both of whom have truly exquisite taste, in my opinion) purchased these at the African Market in Manhattan a while back with the good intention of stringing them - and then never pursued the project. I, lucky person that I am, inherited the strand from her. To be brutally honest (just between you and me), I do not know much about trade beads, but, as the saying goes, I know what I like. I find the combination of colors, textures and patterns here to be very salubrious.

Naturally, it has me chomping at the bit to visit the African Market (which had not yet opened at the time I lived in New York City). Is anyone familiar with the place? I had it on my list of places to visit the last time we were in the city, but we just never made it.

If the stars align and (more to the point), I get my act together, I should have some truly cool books that I obtained from Rings & Things to show you tomorrow. Hope to see you then. Take care.

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

I fell of the face of the earth this week, and I'm not quite sure why. After several days of playdates, errand-running, and, well, making puppets and holding puppet shows with the Short One (the one on the left is the SO's), I gave up worrying about jewelry design (and my lack of progress thereof), and here we are. The most exciting thing I have to relate is the partially-obscured sign in my dentist's office that I read today during an emergency visit (I have a root canal in my immediate future, alas): Blessed are those who hold lively discussions with the helplessly mute.

I do have PMC components for my Use the Muse II contest piece firing in my kiln right now, though. I'm a little worried that I may have miscalculated the shrinkage rate on these pieces, but in an hour or so I should be put out of my misery one way or the other.

Call me optimistic, but I expect to be back to the usual beady posts this week. In the meantime, here are your intriguing links for the week:

Humblebeads
Check out the 2009 Bead Cruise design contest winners!

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge painting for July is the Lascaux Cave Paintings. Get your stash of beads out in ivory, red and brown to match the color palette of these ancient drawings.

Beading Arts
Wonderful wonderful wonderful new CopprClay! Cyndi is so excited about this new material that she can't stop playing with it!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi attempts to create a necklace after a resin pouring disaster.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Cindy shows off some new chain and realizes one should never shop for jeans on her lunch hour.

A Bead A Day
Lisa’s “Swarovski Summer Picnic” project is progressing. The only thing missing are the crystally butterflies!!

Jean Campbell
Jean Campbell finished off her new LeTemps Necklace design which marries bling to grunge. Hurray!

About.com Jewelry Making
School's out for summer, but is it really? Nope, not when you can take one of these free jewelry making e-courses.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei has busted out of the studio and into the Museum of Art for a trunk show.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reviews a different, colorful, and inspiring book called Glass, by Marlene Blessing and Jamie Hogsett

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Challenging himself with a smaller scale, Andrew tackles doll jewelry. Check out five new designs with dolls in mind!

Strands of Beads
Melissa talks about where to find reliable information on copyrights - the U.S. Copyright Office, of course!

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

Hi there. I hope everyone had a great July 4th. It was a little drizzly where we were, but the Short One still managed to take a fun July 4th train ride at our local festival (barely: like idiots, H. and I took the SO but forgot to take any cash - after spending a half hour to find parking, we discovered we had about $3.00 between us). The SO saw a few fireworks from our house but wasn't terribly interested in them and decided he'd rather go to bed. Next year, maybe.

Above is a necklace I made last year using one of Sarah Moran's beads and one of my fine silver buttons for a clasp. As you may guess, it's called "Firecracker."

Here are you intriguing links for the week:

About.com Jewelry Making
Heard about copper clay or coppr clay? Find out more about this great new metal clay product and check out some new metal clay projects too.

Beading Arts
Cyndi reports on her experiences with firing and finishing CopprClay pieces. This stuff rocks!

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy learns to make murrini and deals with mud.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi tries Ice Resin and upcycles a greeting card into a necklace.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene gets creative with the "Best of ABS."

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Instead of continuing on with the tried and true techniques of jewelry design, Lorelei is finally ready to take the leap and try something new.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Sometimes you need to have a jewelry makeover

Humblebeads
Bead & Button stash and Heather's inspired creations

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean gets her cool stash from Use the Muse II, and muses about it

Jean Campbell
Jean gives a sneak peek of her next Beadwork magazine piece

Katie's Beading Blog
Check out Katie's wire-wrapped dragonfly!

A Bead A Day
Do you love Swarovski Crystals? Inspired by talented jewelry designer, Lillian Chen, Lisa creates a Swarovski "sculpture" ring.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Even without a lot of time on her hands, Melanie finishes a clockwork themed bracelet using Swarovski faceted rings from ArtBeads.com

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Stop by and say hello to Andrew in Charlotte, NC this weekend. Check out his new designs and some delicious new metal clay coins!

Strands of Beads
Melissa wants to know what outrageous materials are in your beading stash?

Well, the cauliflower was quite tasty

H (coming in from the garden with a nice head of cauliflower and a couple..weeds?): Here.
Me (squinting): What is this?
H (offended): They're carrots!
Me: ...Uh...Dear...

(For the record, I did wash them and put them in the crisper. A small issue to maintain marital harmony, right?)

Have a great weekend.

Shameless Self-Promotion: Creative Jewelry

I just received my advance copies of Creative Jewelry, Interweave's big annual publication, in the mail today. I have two necklace and two bracelet projects in this issue. The magazine looks great! I'm particularly pleased with the photos of a bracelet I made with Sarah Moran's lampworked beads. My other projects include, well, my own Dragon Heart pendant and Stop Traffic charms, a mermaid button from Green Girl Studios and a porcelain shell bead by Joan Miller. On newsstands now!

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

- William Butler Yeats

(I've been reading a lot of poetry lately - can you tell? I have this feeling I've posted this poem to the blog before, but I've been thinking about it again, so... The photo is another wedding trip one, also from our first morning in Hawaii.)

C is for Copyright Office

Okay, I pretty much never put my lawyer's hat on when I'm writing in this blog for a variety of truly tedious reasons, and I don't really intend to start here. However, there has been an artists' movement in the beadosphere lately to discuss copyright issues, and I thought I would tack on an addendum to this discussion to share some very simple information with you.

I am not currently practicing, as I am staying home with the Short One right now, but I am an intellectual property lawyer by training. In the years B.S.O. ("Before Short One"), I used to field calls periodically for people looking for information on copyright registrations. I realize that not everyone knows where to find this basic data, so I'm going to offer it to you here. Naturally, the following applies specifically to U.S. copyright law.

As you may already know, you do not need a registration to claim copyright in your original work. However, there are certain benefits to registration, and if, after reading other posts about copyright issues, you are interested in finding out more about the process and legal rights you may be entitled to claim in your work, there is a very easy place for you to go to learn more - the U.S. Copyright Office itself.

In addition to resources for lawyers, the website provides educational materials for laypeople, such as a downloadable article entitled "Copyright Basics" (which I used to hand out to my clients for reference), a concise but quite useful FAQ section and a somewhat interactive section called "Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright" (okay, this seems to have been designed for students - I found the first section, starring Detective Cop. E. Wright a little hard to sit through, but it does contain pertinent information...). (By the way, if you are wondering why some of these links take you to a www.loc.gov website, it is due to the fact that the U.S. Copyright Office is a part of the Library of Congress.)

There is also a searchable database of registrations and other documents recorded with the office since 1978 (although I make no guarantees as to how easy you find the search engine to use - there is a tutorial for it), if you would like to investigate what registrations are already current and subsisting on the U.S. register.

Finally, there are instructions on how to file for copyright registration, if you decide to do so. Unlike some other forms of intellectual property, it is not necessary to have a lawyer file on your behalf. Although, inevitably, there are some cases in which it would be a good idea - in my opinion at least - to consult a lawyer before filing, the Copyright Office itself does not require it. Basic fees for filing remain relatively inexpensive at $35-45.00, depending on how you file. Bear in mind, however, that registration is not automatic and that any application filed with the Office will be examined to determine its fitness, so to speak, for registration. There is more information on this point on the website.

So, in case you weren't already aware: if you are interested in U.S. copyright law or in the U.S. copyright registration process, you can go right to the source for reliable, up-to-date information. The literature available through the U.S. Copyright Office may not answer all of your intellectual property questions, but it's definitely one of the best places to start.

Be not afeard.

The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

- The Tempest, 3.2.148-156

(ps. The photo dates back from our wedding trip. Despite never having visited Hawaii, we found it perfectly plausible to drag ourselves and our immediate family over there to get married. It was wonderful. I believe I took this shot the first morning after we arrived.)

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

Here's cauliflower from our garden, almost ready to be harvested. I come from a family with almost no talent for gardening (although I understand my maternal grandmother was quite an avid gardener, my mother and I did not inherit her green thumb). It has been a revelation to me since I met my husband just what a difference really fresh produce makes. The cauliflower H. grows is the most tender and flavorful I've ever tasted. We have a great recipe that calls for preparing it with tahini and lemon juice, among other unlikely ingredients - it's fantastic. Who knew fresh veg could be so romantic? I'll take the ones from H's garden over a box of chocolates any day.

Here are your intriguing links for the week:

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew introduces eight new fine pewter pieces from his family's company, Green Girl Studios.

Jean Campbell Ink: Eureka!
Beading in the fresh air clears the mind, bringing fresh creativity

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Searching for some new inspiration? Lorelei's got just the place for you to find it!

A Bead A Day
Lisa shares her selection of summery pink beads and crystals. The "Watermelon Crawl" bead mix is sure to conjure up visions of a family picnic on a warm summer day!

Barbe Saint John
Read Barbe's interview on the Objects and Elements blog

Beading Arts
Cyndi's initial thoughts on working with the new CopprClay. There'll be lots of projects coming this summer!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie mixes up gunmetal chains and components with brass to make a necklace with one of her Toolbox Treasure pendants

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reviews Wirework, a new book by the famous Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

Art Bead Scene
The Trendy Bead shows off wood filigree pendants.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi hand felts a pretty bead from wool roving.

Humblebeads
Heather sketches out some new designs using this summer's hottest color.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
A trip to glass city doesn't go as well as planned. Yet Cindy finds inspiration and few new tools!

About.com Jewelry Making
Take these quick polls about wearing and making jewelry. Which are your favorite pieces?

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off her new lunar phases and compass rose designs

Detour Ahead

I ended up getting distracted from the eye-in-the-keyhole necklace and made this pendant instead, with eight full lunar phases, instead of the four I used for the toggle ring. Typical, reallly. The number of UFO's (UnFinished Objects, for the uninitiated - I don't know if beaders really use this phrase or not?) I have lying around the house is kind of embarrassing. Still, I'm determined to get back to the keyhole necklace now. No, really.

Anyway, as far as the lunar ring pendant goes, I'll probably tweak the design just a touch next time, but I think, overall, it works for me.

Thanks for visiting!

Pssst - there's a contest going on at Rings & Things

I received this message from the good folks at Rings & Things today and thought I would pass along the word:

Your valuable feedback on Rings & Things products could win you one of five $50 gift certificates!

The rules:

• Submit your review(s) of any product(s) in Rings & Things’ online store between June 1 and July 31, 2009.
• Tell us once you’ve left your first review. Do this by commenting at this blog post.
  (Otherwise we won’t be able to contact you when you win!)
• We’ll randomly select the winners on August 3, 2009.
  Winners will be notified via email.

The lucky 'Wynn' rune charm

How to submit a product review:

1. In our online store, pick a Rings & Things product you’ve bought from us before.
2. Click on the ‘Write your own review’ link.
3. Rate the product, between 1 and 5 stars, and write an honest review.*

* Negative reviews are accepted, as long as they’re honest. Rings & Things retains the right to remove fake or nonsensical reviews from the contest.

Dr. Teeth

So, here's the question of the day: how far do you go in the name of unusual jewelry design? Here's a vintage set of genuine ceramic false teeth that I picked up recently. They are already drilled through the side and are therefore, in my opinion anyway, beading-ready. My mother, who is visiting, took one look at them and pronounced them "disgusting".

I must confess, though, I rather like them. I think they will add a little je ne sais quoi to the right design. What do you think? Over-the-top? What's the most outrageous beading material in your stash? Inquiring minds want to know.

Lunacy

Here's the new toggle ring to go along with my keyhole pendant. After some thought, I decided that a little moon madness (or lunacy, which originates from the Latin "luna" for the "moon") would be appropriate for the clasp. So here's an abbreviated version of the phases of the moon, in a fine silver donut.

I decided to make the ring reversible, and after some thought, came up with a simple 16 point compass rose design:



This isn't a great photo, but you get the picture. I love early modern maps and the elaborate compass roses you can often find in a corner of the document. I couldn't fit a full 32 point "rose" here, but, for a simple design, I think it turned out tolerably well. This side represents the wind's four quarters.

I've actually had the compass rose bead idea in my sketch book since late 2007. My ideas to cut out or illustrate the rose never seemed quite right, so it had just been sitting around for the past two years. I had a brain-wave last week to try turning the rose into negative space, and I think that turned out to be pretty workable, especially after patinating the piece, to emphasize the recessed design. Really, the whole piece was an exercise in the use of negative space, as it took me some time to decide how to illustrate the new moon phase on the flip side - I finally settled on a blank, indented circle.

I like both designs and think both could look quite nice as larger, more elaborate focal pieces - perhaps with that 32 point embellished rose and eight full lunar phases. I imagine you'll be seeing those from me fairly soon. In the meantime, I'll continue working on my new necklace.

Thanks for visiting!

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

Here's the new jewelry in our house for today. The Short One has finally discovered that all of those little machines at the local hamburger joint dispense desirable toys and prizes (he hasn't figured out yet that the others dispense candy and gumballs, though). Now I'm wondering if I can convince him that only the machines at this particular restaurant have toys? Hmmm.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Here are your intriguing links for the week:

Snap out of it,Jean! There's beading to be done!
Pink, gold,and cream! Jean creates a lovely necklace and earring set featuring a beautiful Russian hand painted focal from Artbeads.com

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares a new necklace design. Check it out!

Art Bead Scene
Kandinsky inspires this month's challenge. The ABS editors suggest a selection of their handmade art beads for a Kandinsky inspired jewelry piece.

Carmi's Art/Life World
A vintage comic book becomes the inspiration for a necklace.

Jewelry & Beading
Auntie's Beads provided wonderful copper beads and findings so Cyndi could create this necklace!

Barbe Saint John
Barbe reviews Ancient Modern Polymer Clay book

Katie's Beading Blog
In need of a speedy bead? Check out this quick and easy jewelry idea!

About.com Jewelry Making
Summer time is affecting Tammy's jewelry designs. How about yours? Check out her summer jewelry plans so far.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A new shipment of copper blanks has Melanie plotting for some metal playtime!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off her work in progress - an eerie lock and key design

Thanks for visiting!

The Key to Imagination

Well, ultimately, this will be part of a big concept piece (I hope), but I thought I'd show a "process" shot: here's what I'm working on at the moment. I'm a big fan of the lock and key motif that's so popular in jewelry design these days. Last year, I started pondering what I could do with the idea that would be a little different. At that point, I had a mold/stamp start to break on me. It was the one for this pendant:




It was sort of a fortuitous coincidence. I knew I wanted to re-make a dragon's eye pendant in some form, but I didn't want to just re-make the same mold (although, really, I probably will re-make a version of this at some point, as I still like it). So, I thought perhaps I would combine the two ideas and create a little eerie eye through a keyhole. About 5-6 months ago I made a first version (yes, I really am that slow to design right now, sigh), similar to this dragon's eye pendant:



As with the original, I had intended for a pearl or amethyst cab to sit in the center with tinted resin. However, this draft has just sort of been hanging around unfinished for the past several months. Although I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with it, it just didn't have the right eerie quality to it - it was just a touch too flat.

So, I thought I would go ahead and construct a three-dimensional keyhole shadow box, instead. I made it particularly deep, to enhance the shadows around the glass eye. It works quite well in person, but - I have to admit - it made it difficult to photograph clearly today. Here's a nice shadowy shot of the pendant, though (H. said it was tough to tell in this particular photo that the object inside was an eye - what do you think?):



The key also ended up being a little tricky. My first version was a very organic "skeleton" key using my bone beads. I thought it would go perfectly with the pendant, but it ended up being far too heavy-looking for this design - I've set it aside for a different piece. Instead, I went back and designed a simple, classic antique key instead. It's not in my usual style, but I think it works pretty well here.

I also stamped one of my guerdon's on the back - "a fellow of infinite jest", a reference to, alas, poor Yorick from "Hamlet".



I'm still working on the clasp and gathering materials for stringing, so this project won't be a complete for a little while. However, I think I've made a good start.

I have to admit, I set out to make this piece purely for my own enjoyment, which I have not done for a while. It has turned out to be a very good reminder to me of something I think I've lost sight of a bit in the past year, namely, why I started making beads in the first place: because I love making them. Words to live by, right?

A Rose for Emily

So, I found black versions of those great pink lucite rose beads I used last year for my "Gothic Pink" bracelet. Aren't they great? So, what does this piece have to do with the Faulkner short story of the same name? Uh, I don't know - ambiance, maybe? Still, I was vaguely inspired by the story in creating this piece. Plus, I finally found a good use for my fine silver cobweb button!

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for visiting.

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

Here's the Short One's loot from our recent trip to New York City. As you can see, even Vikings like ice cream in our world. And, hey, isn't that Russ Nobbs of Rings & Things eating a sundae over there? Nah, couldn't be... (With apologies to Rings & Things, the little Russ Troll is now in the hands of the SO - I'm not entirely sure when I'll be getting him back.)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. We went to see "Up!" on Saturday - it was the SO's very first movie experience. I never realized what a penetrating voice he had until he announced at a pivotal point in the film that he had to go potty. Clear as a bell, that voice.

On the beading front, I've been working on sketches for a major new piece. I may even break out the silver clay for the first time in weeks (sigh). Either way, I'll have some new jewelry designs later this week. In the meantime, here are your intriguing bead & jewelry links:

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi has decided that this summer is "The Season of Metal Clay"! Check out these inspiring metal clay sites.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew announces a NEW design competition to celebrate Cynthia's new book, Enchanted Adornments.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean has a sparkly Swarovski bracelet in July's BeadStyle magazine! Check it oooout!

Art Bead Scene
In this economy, everyone is asking the advice of economists - ABS has brought in The Bead Economist with advice on how to get art beads on the cheap.

Carmi's Art/Life World
A little wood, paint and stickers helps Carmi to recreate a native art inspired pendant.

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy's got the scoop and a link to a free issue of The Crafts Report. They've gone digital! What do you think? Is this a good thing or a bad thing when craft magazines go totally electronic?

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off new jewelry designs using Soft Flex Trios wire

Books - Tim McCreight

Sorry, too busy reading PMC Technic: A Collection of Techniques for Precious Metal Clay and Working with Precious Metal Clay (Jewelry Crafts) (Jewelry Crafts)
to blog right now! I can't believe it took me so long to purchase these books - they are excellent. I had a least one "D'oh!" moment, when I opened them last night - a much easier method for something I learned how to do the hard way. In 2007, when I was preparing to use metal clay for the first time, I purchased one of Tim McCreight's introductory DVD's (which, unfortunately, I believe is currently out of print) which was excellent, but I never followed up and looked for any of his PMC instruction books. What was I thinking? (Clearly, I was not.) Anyway, have a great day - it's back to reading for me...