Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, Grand Prize Silver Medal Winner

I've produced so few new pieces in the past couple years, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to be able to reveal, finally, one of my favorites - my bracelet entitled "Evolution". Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has just announced the winners of its 2011 Metal Clay, Metal Beads, Wirework or Chain Jewelry-Making Contest. I am so pleased to report that my bracelet has taken the Grand Prize Silver Medal in this contest.



My original concept was a substantial cuff - something that would take up a large portion of the lower arm - combined with one of my cabinet of curiosity pendants. It's a little difficult to tell in these photos but this bracelet is huge. (There is a photo of the piece being worn by a model on the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads website that gives a better idea of scale.)

As always, the chain and box were all handmade by me using silver metal clay. In this piece, I've included a beautiful fossilized urchin, polished half geode, fossilized polished trilobite, fossilized ammonite and a vintage glass taxidermist eye. The bracelet has been weighted so that the focal will sit properly on the wrist.

Thank you to Fire Mountain Gems and Beads for showcasing my work. Please visit the company's website to see the other award-winning designs from this contest (I am personally quite smitten with Rachel Justina Fleming's cufflet "Robotic Take-Over" which won the Silver Medal in the Bracelet category and Michela Verani's piece "The Dragon's Hoard" which took the Grand Prize Winner Employee's Choice Award.)

Still Alive, Still on Hiatus

My in-laws were visiting, and they took the SO (and me) to the Museum of Science and Industry. Ironically, he wanted to spend most of his time there in the 727 they have as a walk through exhibit on the top floor - this is the same child we can barely get to sit still for a two hour flight... Of course, he did have some fun with this exhibit - the outlines were all generated by his bouncing around in front of a projector.

Life is good, but I'm still not making any jewelry! Hope all is well with you.

Who Does Mattel Think It Is?

Okay, I admit it, I'm steaming mad. My son, about whom I often write, is 5 years old. He adores superheroes. Simply adores. For his age group, I am quite certain we have one of the biggest superhero toy collections on the planet. One of our favorites used to be Fisher-Price's Imaginext. The Short One, who plays with these toys every single day, always regretted the fact that they didn't make any girl superhero toys. So, he decided to write to the company to ask them to make some - so he could buy them, of course. Unfortunately, he wrote the letter in pencil, so it's a little hard to read (read: impossible), but I'll transcribe it below:




or, in other words:

Dear Imaginext,
I really like your toys. Please make a wonder woman figure because a different company makes
a different kind that I don't like. And can you please make an Artimus (sic) figure Green
Arrow's helper. And can you please make a Miss Martian Toy.

Sincerely,
The Short One (okay, he really wrote his name)
Age 5

This is the wonderful response that we just received, a week later:


Actually, here's the whole letter, if you have any interest in reading it.



Now, I am an intellectual property lawyer with a decade of experience, so I know exactly who wrote this letter - especially the paragraph I highlighted above - and why. What I would like to know is whose good judgment decided this rights letter would be a necessary thing to write to a child who is not yet in kindergarten (and, yes, the letter was addressed to him)? Intellectual property rights? Royalties? Licensing? He just wanted a new toy.

Dear Mattel:

We appreciate your timely response. Based on said response, it is clear that you need better legal counsel and more common sense.

The complimentary Mattel magnet with the slogan "Inspring Kids' Imaginations" enclosed in my son's original envelope that you returned to us was quite a surprise. You have certainly stimulated our creativity and imagination while we consider how best to use this gift.

Thank you so much for destroying my child's dreams. We can tell you must be the world's largest toy company simply by the level of sensitivity with which you handled this request.

Sincerely,
Melissa

Bead & Jewelry Linky Love

I've been reviewing old work recently. Here's one of the first necklaces I ever made, "Charmed Kiss", designed around one of Sarah Moran's wonderful buttons. (It ultimately appeared in the gallery section of Tammy Powley's Picture Yourself Creating Metal Clay Jewelry.)

I hope everyone had a happy holiday! Here are your links for the week:

Resin Crafts!
This week Carmi has a short tutorial on using resin as a glaze.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew takes a peek at Anne Choi's new BRONZE beads!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Rio Grande is encouraging a wonderful way of helping the people of Japan and it is SO EASY! Read about it on Jean's blog!

A Bead A Day
Do you like glitter AND jewelry making?! You are going to love this project that Lisa found over at FusionBeads.com!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
We all scream for Ice Cream! Melanie shows how she designed and made a new line of sweet pendants.

About.com Jewelry Making
What are your plans for your siver scraps now that silver is crazy expensive?

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Cindy's made some new blush pink drops, come see what she's done with them!

Art Bead Scene
Here's a fresh idea for spring - a garden gate clasp

Carmi's Art/Life World
This weeks blog features the poppies of Paris and the jewelery it inspires.

Barbe Saint John
Barbe's giving away the latest Industrial Chic booklet and some charms!

Beading Arts
As part of the Artbead challenge, "What's Old is New Again", Cyndi has constructed a flapper-style necklace from some very cool components!

The Bead Dreamer
A lovely tree branch, soft pink flowers and wisps of silk inspired two necklace designs.

Strands of Beads
Melissa is brooding about issues of originality this week.

Shameless Self-Promo

I just received my author copy of the magazine in the mail today - it was a fun trip down memory lane. The bulk of the projects I wrote for Creative Jewelry are reproduced here, as are many of my favorites by friends and colleagues (one of my absolute favorite designs by Lorelei Eurto, "The Kiss", is on page 61). It's on the stands now, so please check it out when you have the chance!

Roman Glass

My local bead store, Chelsea's Beads, has just brought in a really nice shipment of Roman glass beads. (I took a look, and some of them are available on-line. In fact - hey! - I didn't even see those cute fish shaped beads when I was in the store.) It's difficult to tell from the above photo, but these beads are actually pretty big - the focal pendant is about 2" in diameter. Look under the " Large Circle" section on-line for similar-sized strands. Ack - since I first drafted this, they've already sold out! On the plus side, the barrel shaped beads are now 50% off, so you may want to check them out (soon!).


This photo is pretty terrible, but I really loved these two strands - the blue is a beautiful cobalt blue and the smaller beads come from broken bangles and are very colorful. For those unfamiliar with this great, family-owned store, Chelsea's Beads does have wholesale accounts - please contact them for details. (By the way, I purchased all of these beads myself, and the store does not know that I am blogging about them.)

Trumped

Perfect Bronze Bead by Anne Choi.

Last year, I had this great idea to expand my "Love is a Puzzle" series of pendants - a big rebus with "Eye Love You". I have been cackling with glee over this one - I thought it was a really original, graphically appealing design. In fact, I was just getting ready to sketch it out and make it for a contest later this year, when I checked out Anne Choi's newsletter this morning and found the above bead - a design I am sure has been in her stable of beads for ages.

Damn it. I always hate it when a design I thought was very creative turns out to have already been better executed by a more talented artist. (Anne Choi is one of my heroes - who can resist her work? I mean, really?)

This is an object lesson to me to do my homework. I've had this happen once before. Several years ago, I was working on a metal clay window design. I was still in the sketching process when I came across Noel Yovovich's fabulous bracelet (you can see a photo of it on her blog, here). I got depressed and shelved the piece. Of course, many people have been playing with window design beads since then, and I have since come up with an original twist on it (knock on wood), so it is actually back on my list of things to do - but it's taken a few years in between to reconsider the design.

This one I think I'm going to have to scrap altogether, though. The originality is in the rebus itself, and I think Anne's bead is beautiful.

Has anyone else had this experience? Because, you know, misery loves company, and I am feeling seriously disappointed right now!

The Weather is Here

Here's the view from my window this morning. The Short One was mighty excited (you can see his tracks in the bottom left of the photo). Me, less so! I fear our prime bunny real estate is no longer so prime...

Bead and Jewelry Linky Love

"Celestial" - my fine silver Lunar Phases pendant
with gorgeous turquoise drums and onyx

Here are your intriguing links for the week:

About.com Jewelry Making
Pets and children are wonderful, but they can make jewelry making very challenging!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew debuts his new filigree bezels filled with vintage stamps coated in resin. Check them out!

Art Bead Scene
The Art Bead Scene shows off this month's challenge. Come take a look!

A Bead A Day
Are you a crafter AND a beader? Do you ever give in to mixing craft supplies into jewelry pieces? Stop by A Bead A Day to see Lisa's latest arts and crafts jewelry.

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Cindy shares one of her free projects.

Beading Arts
The final chapter of Cyndi's e-book is now available! "Fibers, Fabrics, and Beads" challenges you to integrate all the fiber arts that you already love with your bead embroidery!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie introduces a new egg themed design and wonders what the Earthenwood Design Team will hatch up in jewelry designs.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is still taking part in the April A to Z blogging challenge: "L" is for "L"isa Niven Kelly, and her "L"ovley book Jean loved and previously reviewed
http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-z-blogging-challenge-l-is-for-lisa.html

The Bead Dreamer
A vintage belt buckle takes center stage in a bold necklace designed by Charlene

Strands of Beads
Melissa is back and is wondering if anyone else has trouble using materials that are "too special" in their projects?

A Cunning Plan?

So, my husband showed up at the dinner table tonight with the above photo - have you ever seen cuter bunnies nestled up together? Neither have we (I particularly enjoy the little hind leg and bottom on the right hand side of the photo). There's really only one problem with this scene:



Yes, it seems the mommy bunny that lives in our back yard took the initiative this year and set up her nest actually inside our garden box (right where the tomato and green bean seedlings are slated to be planted in a few weeks).

Each year, I watch our local rabbit wander oh-so-nonchalantly up to our garden boxes. Honestly, I can almost hear her whistling while looking in the opposite direction and gradually sidling up to the box in the most innocent manner. So, I just have this picture in my mind of her thinking, "Yes, prime real estate at last - maybe he won't even notice we're here!"

Not being the serious gardener in the family, the Short One and I are quite excited by our new neighbors. The Gardener, however, is somewhat tearing his hair out. Based on our extremely careful (ahem) internet research, though, it seems the babies should be leaving the nest in the next couple weeks, so the G. has agreed to wait until then. At which time, I'm sure he'll be seen spraying the box with fox pee (or whatever he thinks will actually keep the local wildlife away this year) - but that, as they say, is another story.

A Good Problem to Have?

So, I've had this "problem" rattling around in the craft closet.

A while ago, when I was relatively new to metal clay and the Short One was more interested in reciting the alphabet than talking our ears off about Marvel superheroes, I toddled off with a 40% off coupon to purchase a packet of PMC3 from a local art supply store. When I went to check out, the nice young lady at the register asked me if I had seen the metal clay that they had marked for clearance. She took me over to the locked cabinet where they kept the clay and handed me the box, above: 10g of fine gold clay, marked down to 50% off. The price? $103.00.

Now, this seemed hideously expensive for a small lump of metal clay, but, even then, I knew it was a great price for gold, so I decided to splurge and picked it up. Because I felt like (and was) a neophyte with working with the clay, I set it aside until I felt more technically competent to deal with such a precious material.

I'm not even sure they sell this type any more - I haven't seen it around in catalogs for a while. This is the kind that actually fires to 24k. Despite the fact that it's several years old, the lump still seems perfectly malleable in its little sealed packet. I check this periodically while I debate what do to. (Of course, I could be wrong and the clay is completely unworkable now, which would make the whole issue moot. I try not to think about this possibility. A lot.)

Every few months after purchasing it, I would take the box out, think hard, and decide that my technical skills still weren't up to snuff for using it.

After I finally came off of my seven month hiatus in February and started working with the clay again, I was determined finally to get the gold clay out and use it (before it really gets too hard, and I have no choice but to turn it into paste). Then I checked the current price of precious metals and nearly fainted. 10g of PMC Gold, the 22k version currently on the market is now selling for over $600.00. Gack!

As stupid as it is, I may never get the nerve up to use this clay. Which I know would be a complete waste, but I find the whole situation paralyzing. Does anyone else have this problem, like buying particularly nice beads and then never finding a project "good enough" for them?

Eye Candy

I just finished my Bead Dreams entry yesterday, as usual, running right down to the wire - but I did make the deadline. Barely. Anyway, working on any contest piece means I've been getting out my high end strands for stringing inspiration. I didn't end up using the above in the Bead Dreams piece, but it's such a stunning strand that I thought I'd post a pic on the blog. Here's some malachite I picked up last year. Isn't it gorgeous?

The more I design, the more attracted I am to the less processed stone beads - raw tourmaline, rough-sliced garnet, and this gorgeous rough cut malachite. Mm-mmm.

Grubby Muses

Here's a little art project the Short One recently completed at school. I have to admit, I like it quite a bit. It reminds me of a similar project I made when I was his age (although, times being what they were, mine was an ashtray, not a coaster).

But I also really like the colors, the shapes, the spacing. In fact, I think this combination would work very well as a necklace. It's just another reminder to me that most of my inspiration comes from the grubby little muse in my house, the one who's glued too much to his Dad's iPod and enjoys conducting "experiments" (his latest involved sticking gum in his hair and, when it wouldn't come out, taking his safety scissors and cutting it all out - Sandra, the lady who cuts his hair, said that she's seen worse and that it ought to grow out after the next two cuts or so. But I digress...).

Seriously, all of my favorite designs were inspired in some way by time I spent with my son. The dragon in the keyhole pendant photographed in my header, above, came to me after we spent time reading books about dragons and dinosaurs. The maze pendant I designed for the 2010 Bead Dreams competition (there's a great photo of the piece on the Bead & Button website, here) was inspired by my son's love of puzzles.

When the SO was a baby, I used to dream of a time when we would be able to make collaborative artwork, but really, there are already little, metaphorical (sticky) fingerprints all over my pieces.

So, how about you? Who/what are your muses, grubby or otherwise?

Shameless You-Know-What

It took me ages to track them down in the U.S., but I did finally manage to get copies of Issues 27 and 28 of Bead Magazine - with full coverage of the 2010 British Bead Awards. With the winners split between the two issues, I had one piece in each magazine.

The photography of the winners is really spectacular, and I enjoyed seeing all of the pieces from the various categories. Vanessa Walilka's garment (which she calls a "first scale mail armor piece"), in particular, is incredible - kind of a female-warrior-industrial-age-of-dragons jacket. If you can't find a copy of the magazine, you can see the piece on her website, here - and I strongly encourage you to check it out.

Thank you, Bead Magazine, for making my work look so good - I loved the photo of "Geology"! (You can see my much less impressive entry photo here.)

One of My Favorite Things

Sarah Moran sent this photo to me ages ago, but, of course, since I haven't exactly been lively on the blog, it got buried. We traded beads a while back, and here's what she did with one of my skully pendants. I can't imagine any silver bead not looking spectacular when strung with Sarah's fantastic lampwork, but I particularly love the way they all look on this heavy sterling ring. Thanks, Sarah!

Still Alive

I just thought I'd drop in quickly to say that, yes, I am still here! I've received such wonderful, kind messages from friends and colleagues over the past months. Thank you all - I really appreciate it. All of my time in the real world has been spent taking care of the Short One over the past few months (who is doing very well, I hasten to say). However, as a result, I've just been too tired to keep up with the blog and really haven't created any new jewelry recently (although you should see how crammed with ideas my sketch book is these days).

Here's a piece that I created earlier in the year that I thought would be timely to share. Despite the stark color combinations, I think it has a bit of a holiday vibe going. What do you think? Pearls, rubies and lava rock, all tied neatly together with a beautiful pendant by Saki silver.

We're slowly getting ready for our annual celebration, here. This is the first year the SO has been really excited about Christmas. He insisted on handling most of the tree-trimming himself this past Sunday - which, of course, means that 80% of our ornaments are now hanging from the three bottom-most branches of our rather large evergreen.

I hope you are doing well, too. Thanks for stopping by!

Winner, British Bead Awards 2010

I am so very pleased to announce that my piece, "Geology", has won First Place in the "Other Finished Bead Jewellery" category of the 2010 British Bead Awards. This piece is a personal favorite of mine, so I couldn't be happier.

I'm also quite happy, as this is actually a piece that failed to place in a different contest earlier this year (followers of my blog may recognize it).

In the past couple years, there has been a lot of interesting writing in the blogosphere about jewelry design contests and what it means for artists to put themselves out there to enter contests - and how it feels if their pieces do not make the cut. Most of this dialogue has been in connection with the Bead Dreams competition (in fact, if you are not already familiar with it, I highly recommend you visit "Didn't Make it into Bead Dreams - But Still Winners!" on Facebook which contains photos from interested contributors of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous designs I have ever seen), but I think what these artists have to say ring true for any contest or submission process.

I don't think there could possibly be a person out there who doesn't feel at least a little depressed to receive a notice of rejection, whether it be for a magazine project, book proposal, contest or what have you. An artist always has an investment in what she creates and a sense of pride (or at least she should!) - it's hard not to take it personally when someone tells you that the piece doesn't fit or isn't exactly what they're looking for. I think it's so important in these instances to remember that judging any design is subjective and that not all judges will agree on what makes a piece outstanding or even use the same criteria for what makes a piece suitable for a particular category of design.

I've done pretty well by the contests I entered in 2010, but, believe me, I've had my fair share of rejections, too, including the one for which "Geology" was originally entered. However, as I said, I really like this piece - I had and continue to have a positive feeling about it. So, when I had the opportunity to enter it in the British Bead Awards, I moved forward. And I think the award is much more meaningful to me, as a result of this history.

As if that weren't enough, I have also earned Second Place in the "Metal Clay Jewellery" category of the 2010 British Bead Awards for "Words of Love". I created this piece specifically to enter the British Bead Awards. As I mentioned earlier, the design was pretty experimental for me - one of those concepts I wasn't sure anyone but me would actually like, so I'm quite excited to have placed with this design as well.

Thank you so much to Bead Magazine and to the judges of the British Bead Awards. I'm so grateful to have been a part of the Awards this year, and - my favorite part - I can't wait to see the other finalists' designs when they're published later this winter!

Finalist, British Bead Awards 2010

The winners will not be announced for a few more weeks, but I can now share the news that I am a finalist in the 2010 British Bead Awards. Here's one of my two pieces. As you can see, I've continued with my "Love is a Puzzle" series, here, this time with a word search design instead of a maze.

I called it "Words of Love", but that's actually a bit of a misnomer, as there's only really one loving word in this piece. Can you find it? I've designed mazes before (at least on paper - "The Way to My Heart" was my first attempt to translate one into silver), but this was my first attempt at putting together a word search. I wanted to ensure that there was only one solution to this puzzle, but I found it was irritatingly difficult to prevent myself from unintentionally spelling words when putting this together. I think I managed it, though. I think. (If you find any others, don't tell me - I don't want to know!)

As usual, this piece was inspired by my son's love of puzzles. As a preschooler, the Short One's spelling is still pretty shaky, but it doesn't prevent him from poring over word search puzzles and making up his own words. As for me, I just thought the display of letters had nice, graphic appeal and tried to translate that into a piece of jewelry. I made this piece specifically to enter this year's British Bead Awards. I wasn't really sure anyone else would agree with my point of view on this one, so I'm particularly pleased that "Words of Love" was juried into the finals. Winners will be announced at The Big Bead Show in England on October 30, 2010. Wish me luck!

Go here to find out more about the British Bead Awards and to see a photo of my prize-winning piece from 2009 ("Cabinet of Curiosity", pictured at the bottom of the page on the right hand side).

ps. For anyone interested, the beautiful, rough crystals I strung with the pendant are green garnet.

Psst, There's a Giveaway Going On!

Andrew Thornton is giving away a set of my more seasonal (my favorite season, really) work on his blog this week. Yep, all five charms will go to one lucky winner next week. Please go here to enter!

As for me, just hang that scarlet letter "A" on me right now, for "Absentee". Absentee Blogger, Absentee Beader, Absentee Beadmaker. I can hardly believe it, but I haven't touched a single bead in over a month, either to string or make. Somebody help me snap out of it. Please!

A Rare Opportunity

One of my favorite people in the whole world, Jean Yates, is holding a rare one-day sale. Would you like to own this beautiful bracelet (and who wouldn't)? Please visit Jean's blog for details. But hurry, as the sale ends tomorrow at midnight.

Psst - Sale Going On!

In case you don't already know - Andrew Thornton is currently holding a big studio sale. I didn't act fast enough and missed out on a beautiful Jeremy Sinkus jellyfish pendant, but as of the time I write this post, this beauty - from the early days of Green Girl Studios - is still available. Please someone save me from myself and buy this before I do! Go here to check out all of the goodies.

Colors

The Short One is truly on vacation this week, so we've been lounging around at home. We spent the morning dyeing paper. This project is one I remember doing when I was slightly older than the SO (although we used paper towels rather than coffee filters - I rather like the coffee filters). It was pretty satisfying (the SO loves messing with food coloring and mixing colors generally), but we did run out of space pretty quickly:



I'm sure this will be on our agenda again later this week.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend. Here are your links for the week:

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
For this week's Thursday Giveaway, TWO winners will walk away with beautiful bead sets created by Gaea Ceramic Beads.

About.com Jewelry Making
Have you ever thought about expanding your jewelry business but need a little mulla to do so? Then you may want to learn more about this jewelry grant.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie shows the results of her experiments with Ice Resin and LEDs... Light! Science!

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
This week Cindy's Mad for Monday is about the frit.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reviews Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry: not to be missed!

Carmi's Art/Life World
This week Carmi makes a floral tribute necklace with fabric flowers.

Beading Arts
Chapter three of Cyndi's e-book is available for download! "Dimensional Beading" looks at how to use textural stitches in your bead embroidery!

A Bead A Day
Do you have plenty of beads in all the right colors? Lisa is exploring the meaning of the color purple and discovers she might need to do some bead shopping!

Art Bead Scene
It's the Art Bead Scene Monthly Carnival Blog! Join us as we embark on an exploration.

Strands of Beads
Melissa unveils her new Saturn charm.

M-A's Hearts

My friend Mary-Ann wanted to make, or have her talented daughter Liz make, matching Dragon Heart earrings for the two of them. We discussed it and decided I would make a slightly larger version of the charm for necklaces to make the set complete. So the larger versions are about double the size of the original charm but still significantly smaller than my original Dragon Heart pendant. I think they're pretty cute as a set!

Thanks for the inspiration, M-A! (Tell Liz she has to send me pics once she finishes your jewelry!)

Have Spaceship, Will Travel

Here's another new entry in my book of charms. Images of Saturn are so beautiful and classic looking - I couldn't resist making it my third space-themed charm. (Erin Prais-Hintz has had this uncanny ability to read my mind when it comes to upcoming designs - she's done it at least three times in the past year. Each time I read one of her comments, my first response has been: "Shhhh! Don't tell anyone else - I'm not ready yet!" If you look at my earlier rocket ship charm post, you'll see she got me again. It did motivate me to finish up these charms, though. Thanks, Erin!)

Actually, this isn't the first Saturn bead I've made. This design - all of the space designs, really - date back to 2008, when I first had the idea to develop a line of space-themed beads. I did create this three dimensional Saturn back then, but, as usual, I got distracted and moved on to other projects.



I think these charms are a modest beginning in the right direction. Hopefully, I'll be continue down this road (including more of the larger, three dimensional Saturns) this year.

In the meantime, though, I'll enjoy these charms. I hope you do, too.

By the way, does anyone know the origin of the title of this post? It's a slight misquote of the title of one of my all-time favorite science fiction books from when I was a kid. I'm just wondering if there are any other fans out there!

Thanks for visiting.

Shipping Reduction

I have to admit, when I started making the charms a couple weeks ago, I had a bit of a dilemma - keep my standard Priority Mail shipping for the charms or more over to First Class Mail? I really prefer Priority Mail - it's convenient and it's somewhat trackable. However, I was preparing to mail my winner's charm to her last night, and it just seemed like overkill to insist on boxing it up and sending it Priority. So, I'm going to try something different. For the time being, only the charms will carded and bagged, rather than boxed, and shipped via First Class in a padded envelope. We'll see how that works out.

If you are a designer or beadmaker, and are willing to share your opinion, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on how you handle shipping.

Thanks for stopping by!