August Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Today is the day.... It comes so fast.  Design Team Reveal Day! 
This month, our guest designer is Amy Blevins.  Amy has had an Artisan Clay Trunk show at her Bead Store, Bead and Glass Boutique.  Make sure to check out her necklace and blog... I love what she has done.  Imagine the fun of having an entire bead shop to work from when designing your jewelry!

This month I did the bead selection a little differently.  Staci suggested that I send out some of the half and quarter round Art Deco beads this month.  I was really happy for the suggestion, since I have started to feel like most of my bead types have already been used.  
     I found just enough pieces for all the designers and packed them up in boxes.  I shuffled the boxes and packed them in envelopes blindly.  I have no idea what beads ended up where...  It turns out that I was left with the largest bead, a crescent in my minty green glaze and made with a clay body that shows a manganese fleck when fired. 

I started making this style of pendant a long time ago and have never finished a piece of jewelry with them until now.  I have imagined them used so many ways;
highly stylized and playing on the Art Deco theme,
strung in a tribal theme,
used in a Native American design....
I tried to mix a bit of a natural, southwestern and native look?  Ha! 
The stacking a knotting of the red beads on waxed linen gave me a feeling of the southwest.  I played around with the idea of adding beads in a bead loom, bead weaving style, but decided I really wanted to open up the body of the necklace into multiple strands as I often do.

What do you think?  I don't have any more of these Art deco beads left here in the studio, but I do have quite a few in the dried mud stage waiting to be wet sanded and fired... Depending on how they are glazed, they have such a different feel.

So... are you ready to see what the team has made?


Have you made something with an Artisan Clay bead?-- then add your link below!

July Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Check out the beads that the design team had to work with this month!

Recycled Glass fused Donuts-- The ones available made to order in standard sizing and colors to be exact.

Everyone picked one piece from this photo.

Except me that is.... for some reason I was dead set on green this month.

Could it get more simple?  Really? 
I had my mind set on furthering my ideas from last month and weaving another collar inspired by the ribbon of seaweed I saw on the beach in Oregon, but--- I couldn't do it.  It was just too much. Too much color, too much action, too hard to wear.   Life for me these days has been so complicated and difficult to figure out and I just long for simplicity.  If only life were more simple.... If only there was a clear yes or no....and people-- the wild card.   So~~ this is what you get, simpler than simple, easy to wear and no competition for the bead. 

When I decided on donuts, one of the design team members mentioned not using donuts in her work before.  They can be kind of tricky to work into a design, but some people seem to be able to find endless ways to do it.  I decided to go through my old photos and show examples of my use of donuts in the past.

I like to chain them up.

This one has a wire loop fired into the clay itself making it easy to string as you would a pendant.

This one also has a wire loop and I made it into a Christmas ornament.

Here I have used one of my cast donut bails in Bronze....

And this piece was chained up like the first few examples.

This last piece was made by Design team member, Carol Dean Sharpe, Sandfibers.  She is dealing with health issues this month and was unable to blog for this month's reveal. 

Carol made this piece for me to show at last year's Bead Fest Philly.  Carol has been so kind to make gorgeous display pieces for every one of my Bead show booths.  Carol has such skilled hands and a magic way with color and I am so lucky to have an Artisan Clay fan in her.  She is an awesome friend too!

So... are you ready to see what the team has made?

Have you made something with an Artisan Clay bead?-- then add your link below!

Week in pictures

July 4th firing, Design team beads

Don't you show everyone your messy desk on Wednesdays?  Today is Friday, that's not so bad....  All kinds of beads are piled up from making earrings for my friend Debra... Pictures follow. 

sunshine

The kids put on a play today at summer camp. 

She's acting

She's a great dog!  She's very good, she has a blast.

She's so fancy.  Had me curl her hair ;-) 

remember the throwing last post... all this still needs to be cleaned and painted

I inherited a new red plastic necklace last thursday....It broke while I was roller skating... I was pretty thankful that I took that picture.

I hope I eat my grapes this year.

Debra's earrings-- I had to wear them around for a day, and get my well wishes on them and make sure that they work, you know~~ test them out.  I'm a nice friend like that.

new to etsy shop soon

and this

and this

and this

I made these earrings too...

They might be for me.

I wear this necklace every week for years.  I love it. 

Design Team Reveal Blog Hop!

I am very excited to announce the second Artisan Clay Design Team Challenge Blog Hop!

This month I decided to send each member one of the styles that I have made quite frequently this past year. The photo above is what I sent. In making these pieces, it has been all about the color. I have been dying to see them in action.
 Now for the Reveal!

This is the necklace I made for this month's challenge.  I made it for my darling friend Debra's, Aunt Bonnie, who is letting me stay at her house during my trip to Oregon (today)

Bonnie likes blues and greens and I wanted to try to mix the smooth brightly colored glossy glass surface with the Matt wood and stone beads and natural fibers (waxed linen)

It was tricky for me.  I always want to pair the glass pieces in sleek contemporary designs apposed to my stoneware pieces which I use in rougher natural styles.

Here are a few more examples of how I have used this style of bead in the past...

It makes a really fun earring.

The pools of glass fracture light and can sometimes glow.

Clean and fresh

And feminine

So.... many of you know that I have been traveling.  I ended up being quite mixed up in my arrival.  I slept in Gate 78 at San Francisco Airport Wednesday night and arrived in Oregon 12 hours later than expected.  So.... I only just now was able to get this blog post up... A little late....

I am having such a wonderful time!  It turns out that a second friend of mine lives here too!   Our planned camping trip for the weekend is looking like it will be a big party.  I will post photos a little later.  There were actually photos taken of me yesterday that I will make disappear...

We'll talk about that later...

I am thinking of blogging my trip photos as a way of recording them for myself.  I hope you don't get too bored of it.

NOW----

Check out all the goodies that the design team has come up with.

New necklace.... just for me.

I love this.  It is so perfectly "me" 
I will now wear brown for 5 days straight so that I can wear this necklace every day.  I'm already 3 days in.

It uses one of my funky disc beads....
Like the one featured here...--->  http://beadcruise.blogspot.com/2011/05/featured-sponsor-artisan-clay.html

And like this one in my Etsy shop.....---->http://www.etsy.com/listing/74384069/spring-green-sprocket-bead-round

Um.... It looks like that is the only one left in the etsy shop... I just added it this week. 

Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal Day Has Arrived!

Welcome!

I am very excited to announce the very first Artisan Clay Design Team Challenge Blog Hop!

This month I decided to let each member of the design team choose a bead for themselves.  The photos above were what they had to choose from.  I really love this metallic bronze glaze and as soon as I made these funky link focals I have been dying to see them in action.

Now for the reveal!

I had his crazy idea rolling around in my head.  A few months ago I started to have all these ideas for a photo shoot with feathers.  I want feathers in my hair, feathers in my hat, feathers on my purse. I want to have a fun feathery time, put on some sunglasses and pretend it's not me and glam it up :-) 

Ask my friends, I went on for weeks about this and that.

It still would be fun to try. 

I didn't get that far--- but I did buy some feathers and I did work out the hows and whys of adding them to this necklace.   I found it both tricky and fun, because for me, tricky makes it fun.  I like to try to figure out new skills with out being told how to do it.  That might be the hard way, but my brain likes the adventure.

So, what do you think?  I wonder what they would think of it at the office. 

Want to see the what everyone else on the team came up with?  I sure do!

Follow the links below to all of our design team blogs. 

If you are checking in early, and there is not at least 7 blogs listed below, check back as everyone links up.

If you have blogged about your creation using an Artisan Clay Art bead, please add your link below and let us all see what you have made!

Button Swap Blog Hop!

She's Cute! 
Welcome to the my blog!
 My little starshine fell in love with the Super sparkly button that my partner Shannon For my Sweet Daughter sent me.  She begged me to make a necklace for her with it.....  She's the kind of girl who usually get's what she wants.



And it fits me to!  That's a bonus.

It's very simple-- but for a little girl, I didn't want to go too crazy.  Shannon said that her mother gave her this button and when I mentioned that my daughter was begging for a necklace, she said go for it!

And here is what I did with the other 3 buttons that Shannon sent me.  The ultra thin shell beads and the handmade ceramic dragon fly by beadfreaky on etsy seemed to fit perfectly with a little beady care package that my friend Staci- (Staci Louise Originals) dropped off for me a few months ago.  The style reminds me of Staci too.  Maybe because these are the style of stones that she likes to use in her work.

It just all jumped together in a few minutes.  It makes me feel like walking on the beach in a long cotton hippy skirt, yes it does :-)

I've been inspired to make quite a bit more buttons lately.  Here's all the buttons that I fired this Monday.  I like how they turned out and I will be making more!

Commenting on this blog post will get you a chance to win this lovely green and brown Button!

And there's more! Michelle Mach has a giveaway on her master blog hop blog.  Here's a few of her words on it--
You might also want to tell your readers about the giveaway--if readers comment on any (or all) blogs, they can win a set of buttons. The full rules will be on my blog, but basically, each comment on a different blog gets them one entry. So if they comment on all posts, that would be 25 entries! But if they comment 25 times on Lori's blog, that only counts as one entry! The giveaway is open to everyone.



Today I am actually spending in air travel to visit family for the Easter Holiday, so I will not be able to check out everyone's blogs or announce a winner until next week sometime.... you'll have to check back- I'm not going ot pin it down, since I have so many obligations next week... but be sure I'll announce it and contact the winner shortly.

***************************************

1. Cat - Boo Beads



2. Cindy - Sweet Bead Studio



3. Cory - Art with Moxie



4. Cyndi - Beading Arts



5. Dita - Alankarshilpa



6. Donna, Marti, and Michelle - Beads & Books



7. Erin - Treasures Found



8. Hope - Crafty Hope



9. Inca - Zerenity Design



10. Katrine - Army of Sock Monsters



11. Krista - French Elegant Jewelry



12. Kristie - Artisan Clay-- That's me!



13. Linda D. - Lutka and Co.



14. Linda L. - Linda's Bead Blog



15. Lody - Lody's Beadworks



16. Lori - Pretty Things



17. Loretta - Loretta's Boutique



18. Malin - Beading by Malin de Koning



19. Mary - MK's Creative Musings



20. Maryanne - Zingala's Workshop



21. Melinda - Melinda Orr Metal & Clay Jewelry Designs



22. Saskia - Perlendistel



23. Shannon - For My Sweet Daughter



24. Shirley - Beads and Bread



25. Stephanie - Confessions of a Bead Hoader
***************************************

Thanks for coming!