Earring Giveaway -- don't forget

Don't forget to leave a comment on the Happy Spring post to be entered into a drawing for my spring-inspired earrings!

Happy Spring

Today is the first day of Spring, and after a little snowfall yesterday, we have sunny skies and warm(er) temperatures. In honor of this delightful day, I bring you my latest Artbeads creation.

When I heard the theme was "The Beauty of Spring" I went immediately to the Czech Glass and selected large bell flowers in translucent white and pink crystal. I also chose small fuchsia crystal and a blue/purple/jonquil combination. I knew balled headpins would add the detail the flowers needed. Because I would be using plain loop connections, I only needed 1 1/4" long headpins. Here's my tray of goodies before I got started:





I was going for the look of a group of naturalized flowers that had just burst forth from the ground. While we do have a few shoots peeking out from the muddy ground, we're still about a month away from flowers, so I had to use my memory and imagination for inspiration. Fixing the looped flowers to chain would give the clustering look I wanted. I started with the largest beads, since I had fewer of those. I added a tiny daisy spacer to the headpin, and then the glass flower.




Are you wondering about that out-of-place coral round? Well, that's what I use to measure so I get uniform loops. It takes 1 cm of wire to turn a plain loop. My red bead is a 10mm. So, by placing it on my headpin, making a flush cut above it, and then removing the bead, all my loops will be even. I ended up making more than 60 for this necklace, so having a guide really helped.




Here's the cut wire just before I made the loop:



Enough of the tutorial! I know you really just want to see the end result! Here's the necklace:




And a closer view:




I made these silver connectors to help space out the crowded chains. I like a lush fullness but not a jumbled mess!




I liked the connectors so much, I thought they would make nice earrings:



And just for fun, I made a hula-hoop inspired pair:


How did you celebrate the first day of Spring? To win a pair of earrings, leave a comment and let me know! Become a follower or link to this post on your blog, and you'll get a second entry. I'll draw the winning names on March 31 -- one for the hoops and one for the dangles.

Disclaimer: I have received these beads (glass flowers and headpins) free of charge from Artbeads.com. My review is my own opinion and I have not been paid for this endorsement.

Like Christmas and my birthday

I really love my day job. Publishing a book is a long cycle (ask any author) but there are two days I love the most: The day a new manuscript arrives, and the day a finished book comes back from the printer. Last week, I got both! First, Perfectly Paired: Designing Jewelry with Polymer and Metal Clays arrived from the printer. Here's the cover:

This book is a perfect balance between metal clay and polymer clay. Both are fully featured in every project. The book is written in such a way that if you have experience in one but not the other, you'll be able to learn what you need to know without wading through a lot of information you may already know. It's an intermediate-level book, but an ambitious beginner will do just fine. I really enjoyed working with Patti Kimle on this book. We met two years ago at the Bead&Button show to talk about her proposal, we met last year to exchange the projects, and this year she'll be doing a book signing! Check out Patti's blog here, and her etsy shop here.

The other great thing that happened last week was a big box came from Kim St. Jean with projects from her book, Mixed Metal Mania, which is my next big project. Before we saw the projects, the art director, Lisa, and I were brainstorming cover ideas and thought maybe a single image would be good. Well, after we opened the box, Lisa walked away with about 10 cover candidates. Our cover meetings are next week, so I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I can't tell you much more about this book, but let me say that if you like Kim's style, you'll love this book. Kim has a way of making a copper cuff bracelet look like supple leather. Can't wait to dive in and learn how she does it!

In the meantime, there's a long stretch between the day a manuscript arrives and the day the book comes from the printer. That's when the editing takes place, and the design and layout, and the proofreading, and so much more. My current in-the-works project is Lacy Wire Jewelry by Melody MacDuffee. When I edit a book, I have the opportunity to sort of get inside the artist's mind, and understand where the creations come from. I am having a delightful time with Melody's book. If you like filigree (but don't like soldering) this book is for you. If you think filigree is a little frilly, don't worry. Melody does some great work with heavy copper wire and beautiful Krobo beads. See Melody here, and learn more about Soul of Somanya, too.

Do you have a book idea? As an author and an editor, I can tell you that it's a wonderful experience to bring your idea to life. I'd love to hear what you're thinking about!

Must-have tools

A measuring tape and a mirror can be your most valuable tools. Case in point ... this bracelet and earrings set. I was shopping at Michaels and I had to have these cool brass rings. I knew just what I would make -- a multistrand bracelet. When I got home I got to work on the bracelet and while I was at it I whipped up the earrings.

I loved my creations until I tried them on. The focal ring on the bracelet is out of proportion to my wrist, and I have a pretty big wrist. The earrings are attractive, but much too long. Time for a quick re-design.

The earrings have a similar look without the extra dangle:

and the bracelet became half of a necklace:

I like the end result much more than what I started with, and it fits better, too.

Easy Peasy Kid Pleaser

Do you have little ones at home? Next time you make cookies, try this idea:

Bake your cookies on a stick. It makes them so much more interesting and fun to eat, especially on a spring day (I'm assuming spring has arrived somewhere in the country!). That's three-year-old Karin between her two friends Scott and Laura back in 1966. Weren't our moms clever?

Ornaments

Back in December, I had this great idea to make ornaments and use them as present toppers. I had so much fun with my felted Snowpeople, that I wanted to keep going. Well ... the one thing I did not have in December was a lot of time to sit around and do lapwork! My felted balls were put aside for another time.

Now that the Olympics are on, it's the perfect job. It doesn't require a lot of light or concentration, and it keeps me busy during all those heats!

Start with some wool roving and a felted bead. You can make your own felted beads (there are directions in Altered You!) but I've been buying mine from Art Girlz. Use a needle felting needle to work the roving into the surface of the bead. There is no right or wrong way to do this, and you can make up your pattern as you go -- my kind of craft!


I used the felted beads to make these ornaments. I strung them on craft wire, made swirls and loops, and layered them with sequins and some gaudy Czech glass beads leftover from an assortment I bought:


Here's a close up of the bead:





So if you know me, don't be surprised if you see one of these next December (if I remember I made them, that is!).

Project Update

A few posts ago, I laid out all the projects I wanted to complete during my winter couch-potato TV watching time. I've made some progress. I started out during the superbowl with these darling boxes.


They were easy to cut and fold (especially because my basket of Christmas Cards was still on the coffee table!). It was fun to re-read all the Christmas messages in a less-hurried time, and then I had no regrets when I upcycled the beautiful cards. I only completed one into the box, and the rest will store flat until next year. I stashed them in my box of Christmas wrapping paper (along with the folding directions) so I won't forget about them. You can find directions to make your own, here. Come to think of it, I've got some Valentine's Day cards out now...


I showed you my foray into bead stitching, with Amy's darling ring. I'm working on some earrings now, but I need a little more concentration (and light) than I get in front of the TV. Hopefully I'll have something to show on Monday.


I've also started the jewelry reconstruction. Sometimes when I'm wearing a piece, I realize it's a little "off," so I've been tweaking here and there and feel like I've got some brand new pieces for very little effort.


So, what have you been making?

Super Easy Hostess Gift

We were invited to our friends' house for a casual and impromptu dinner last night, and we were just bringing wine. Being Valentine's Day and all, a bottle of wine didn't seem like enough, though, so I decided to dress it up a bit. My first try was wire -- nice, but not polished enough. And then I landed on this great wine-bottle lariat idea. Love it. How cute would it be to customize this idea for a shower, or for party favors?

Supplies:

5" chain

loop end of toggle clasp or large jump ring

3-4 charms

2 4-6 mm crystal beads

2 headpins

jump rings as needed

1. Attach the toggle loop or large jump ring to one end of the chain.

2. Attach a charm to the other end.

3. Attach the remaining charms on each side of the chain near the end with the charm.

4. String a crystal on a headpin and make the first half of a wrapped loop. Connect to the chain and finish the wraps. Repeat with the remaining crystal and headpin.

5. Wrap the chain around the neck of the wine bottle and drop the end through the loop.

The Book, bead spinning and bead soup

I got to review a galley copy of my book last week. The name has changed to The Absolute Beginners Guide to Stringing Beads, and the cover is a little different than the one you see on the right. Galley is kind of an old fashioned term, but what it means is the book is about 75% finished and this was my chance to "speak now or forever hold my peace." Can I say that I just love this book? I've had a nice vacation from the projects, and seeing everything laid out and beautifully photographed was a real treat. There were lots of little post-it-note questions from my editor, about bead counts, or materials, or specific directions. There was also a request for "just one more" piece of jewelry ... a seed bead project to demonstrate a beaded bail. I knew just what I wanted to make, but to save time, I bought a bead spinner.

Have you ever used one of these? I've seen them demonstrated many times. I made up my bead soup and started to spin, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. After I few tries, I dumped out the beads and strung them one by one. It felt a little more real, and here's the result (shh, don't tell my editor).

Hearts!

This month, the Artbeads blogging project was hearts. Imagine my delight! I had a really hard time selecting, because there were so many amazing choices. I finally honed in on these unusual copper heart pendants and beads. I also chose a few heart-themed charms. See more copper choices here. I had a great time working with the copper hearts. They are so warm and inviting.

Here are the hearts, charms, and clasp I started with:
I raided my stash of 3 mm and 4 mm gemstones and pearls for this necklace, and added a second strand of tiny size 15 copper charlottes:



This piece is what I had in mind when I placed my order. I dipped into my collection of Czech crystals, leftover copper beadcaps, and chain for this unusual assortment. I love how the entire piece came together:


Finally, the largest pendant needed just a simple backdrop. I had a too-short chain piece, but by combining it with the silk ribbon and just two bead links, the necklace is the perfect length. That's why you should save your scraps! You never know:


So what are your plans for Valentine's Day? You still have time to make yourself a special accessory. I'll be wearing these necklaces all month!



Disclaimer: I have received these beads free of charge from Artbeads. My review is my own opinion and I have not been paid for my endorsement.