Wheee! *flailing around* I am very nervously busy today, and will be for the next couple of days! I am getting my things together for my big TV debut! I am driving to Cleveland tomorrow, to tape for the PBS show Beads, Baubles, and Jewels on Thursday! Its very exciting, but I am also a little bit scared, as I have never done anything quite like this. But you don't grow unless you take risks and do things to push yourself, right?

My plan is to talk a little bit about steampunk, and its influence in fashion and in jewelry, and then demo a pendant made with Vintaj brass and a steampunk inspired ceramic stone, like the one above. I am feeling a bit unprepared, even though I have been thinking about it and have had it going through my head constantly for a couple of weeks now, since I met the producer at the Bead & Button Show. I think I am going to spend the rest of the day getting my notes and samples prepared, and getting myself ready as well... maybe a little spa treatment is a good idea?

I won't have much time once I get home to blog on Thursday, after the taping. I will probably run and do some shipping and errands, but then I am being whisked away early on Friday up to the North, for a wedding and a little weekend vacation. I will need it after the next few days. I will check in when I can, but until then, I hope you wish for me to break a leg (or whatever you tell someone who is going on tv...*giggle*) Whee!

Happy Fourth of July! I am heading out to a BBQ with my friends in a few minutes, but I have just enough time to post the Extra Extra links for this week. I have been balancing hard work with fun really well this week... having a couple of birthday celebrations for my brother's birthday while working on my big order and preparing for a very exciting opportunity coming up this coming week (OMG wait til I tell you all about THIS!) Today is more of the same... beadmaking and BBQ. Whee!

The other day, I posted about a bracelet I made with some Swarovski crystal beads that I got from from ArtBeads.com. This is a necklace I made on the same day, with the two leftover Swarovski Crystal Rings in Light Smoked Topaz. I really like the way the color of the crystals work with the Rusty Engine glaze on my Toolbox Treasures, combined with the natural brass. I am such a sucker for any shade of brown! I also love the deco/nouveau style of the Vintaj components and how they remind me of clock hands and parts for some reason. The long lariat design of the necklace seems to work well with the brass and crystal for an art nouveau sort of style. This was a very simple project to make: just a few jump rings and head pin twists. I'm thinking I will submit this one as a project to a magazine somewhere, I have just been really lacking the time to send in submissions. Ah well, time to get ready for a sushi party tonight! Happy Birthday to my brother, Jeremy!

Tick Tock, Tick Tock! That old saying about having too much time on your hands... well, that does not apply to me, lately. I have a big old pile of tasks to do and beads to make, and somehow that pile seems to be growing! Time is slipping away from me and I am scrambling, but I feel great. Just trying to keep up...

For example, I started this bracelet in my booth at the Bead & Button Show. I had received a delicious shipment of 6 Swarovski Crystal Rings from ArtBeads in May to blog about, and wasn't able to make anything in the days leading up to the show. But I found some time at the show, and started the bracelet. And I just finished it this week and just took the photos yesterday.

Anyway, this crystal ring bead is a style of the many kinds of Swarovski crystal beads that I have not used before. When I ordered them, I had just started making the Toolbox Treasure links, so I had a piece like this in mind, and I chose earthy colors in Olivine and Crystal Copper. I love the way they look with my Desert Pine and Rusty Engine glazes. The faceted rings are neat, because they have a small hole running through, in addition to the large central hole, so there are a variety of different ways to use them. I chose to use a headpin on each side, strung through the bead from the center, so I could wire wrap them, leaving the center hole open. I think it would be fun to trap a little bead inside the ring, too.

I am really pleased with this bracelet design. I like the colors and the little clock charm, and how it works with the subtle gear and industrial markings on the Toolbox links. The faceted rings add a bit of elegance and sparkle to the bracelet too.

I mentioned that I ordered 6 rings, and only 4 are shown here. Tomorrow, I will show you what I did with the other two.

I mentioned that I have big news! The news is that I will be teaching on a Bead Cruise this January! Heather Powers, who is a great friend and fellow bead maker, has invited me to teach at this amazing venue! I am offering three classes: The Filigree Heartfire Workshop is an all day class using brass filigree and porcelain heart pendants to make a variety of pendants. The Fanciful Faces Workshop focuses on filigree with faces shaped porcelain stones to create pendants. Finally the Natural Ornaments Workshop uses filigree wraps and beads to create natural, earthy pendants.

I am so very excited for this opportunity! I have never been on a cruise before! And I am also excited to begin teaching again. I have missed it. So this is a very exciting thing for me to look forward to this winter. I hope you will consider joining us. Here is a little more info, and please stop by the Bead Cruise website for even more details.
 

I had a fun day yesterday in Cleveland at an engagement party BBQ... it was a gorgeous day for it, and I had great company there and on the drive to and from Cleveland. Good times! Today, I made up for my day off with a mostly work filled day. I am getting my beads made and crossed off my list, slowly but surely. I have some big news to share tomorrow! whee! Heading out for dinner in a minute, but I wanted to share the Extra links for the week now.

The other day, I snapped a picture of this box full of Steam Stones I needed to sand for one of my orders. I am happy to report that I finished it yesterday, although I still have almost 200 more to make. I bisque fired them last night and spent some time this morning with my coffee, sitting outside sorting them. I was confused and disappointed to find that my numbers were off. I am terrible with numbers, but something really wasn't adding up. I came inside and looked around and found another box of them (already sanded, yay!) hiding under my couch! Seriously, I can't even keep track at this point! lol. Beads everywhere!

So while I spend the rest of the morning looking for more beads under the furniture, I thought I would leave you with news about Rings and Things new contest. They are giving away $50 gift certificates to the winners of their Product Review contest. Seriously! The chance for free bead money just for reviewing some of their products, how awesome is that? Hop on over to the Rings and Things blog for details.

Ok, I am off to work some more. I hope to spend today making beads with friends around. I had enough of yesterday's storm and staying locked up and gloomy with all the sad news, like MJ's death. He was one of my first crushes, and some of the first music that I loved and called "my own". It's been great to hear all the old tunes over the last day... some great music from that man over the years.

So, it's summer now, eh? whew! It's been very hot and humid lately. I am very grateful for central air. I can also tell it's summer from all of the creepy crawly guys hanging around the house lately. Especially with all the moving we have been doing, with the doors open, and old furniture and stuff being moved around in the basement. We were visited by a giant house centipede last night. Zoey the Dog tried, but was not able to protect us from it. My brother's shoe had to do the job. *smack*squish*splat* ewww. *shudder* I hate those centipedes!

Not much else to report, just makin' beads and gettin' stuff done. I don't think I shared this necklace I made for a friend before, with the Clockwork Scarab pendant. I have been thinking of her and her hubby lately, as he is in the hospital getting better from an operation. I found the picture in my file, and just listed some new Scarabs in the Etsy shop.

The power just went out a couple of times, so I turned everything off for a while, and am listening and waiting for the storm seems to be moving in. There is sort of a weird and quiet calm right now, and I am enjoying experiencing it. I guess my plans of kiln firing can be put on hold for a day, as I would hate to run it and have it interrupted by a power failure. Guess I will just enjoy the silence and get back to making beads and snuggling with the puppy.

Despite yesterday's trip out of the house to Ikea, I have still been feeling a bit stir crazy, with all the work being done at the house. So I took another afternoon out of the house! I went to Lansing with my brother, to work on clearing out some more of his studio. Well, he did all the work, I just came along for the ride. But I did work during the three hour ride there... I made "loopy things", What are those? They are the little tiny loops of high temperature wire that are inserted into the clay to make them into charms and pendants. Loopy things are fired right into the clay, so they are a permanent part of the charm. But the loops start out as just a roll of thin wire, and I need to make them into the right shape and size that I need. It's sort of a mindless task that needs to be constantly done, as I make lots and lots of charms. So its my standard take-along task to do... I just need my two pairs of pliers, a few spools of wire, and my little magnetic topped box to keep them in! Hours worth of fun for me! Anyway, I made about three hours worth of loopy things today, and I thought I would take a picture of what that actually looks like above. Whee!

Me and my roomie have been working SO hard lately, getting so much done to make the house and studio better! Its really amazing how much can be done with some motivation and hard work. I can't believe it's only been a week, and so much has changed around here! We got rid of a bunch of old junk over the weekend, and today, took a trip out to Ikea for a shopping spree and got some new stuff to take its place. Mostly kitchen stuff, as the work in there will continue and hopefully be finished soon. Whee!

Otherwise, I have been grinding away at the big orders I am working on. I sanded 360 Steam Stones tonight! woo hoo! I love seeing these big piles of beads. But I have a lot more to work on, so I better get back to it...

I listed four new Openwork Esutcheons in the Earthenwood Etsy shop. These have the Toolbox Treasure textures on them, and they were really fun to make. They were very popular at the Bead & Button show, and I only have a few left right now, all up on Etsy

Whew! Getting a lot of stuff done around the home and studio lately. It's awesome but very tiring! I have a big order to work some more this weekend, but I took some time out today to photograph and list the rest of the large Toolbox Treasure pendants in the Earthenwood Etsy shop. They seem to be very popular and I thank you all for your positive comments about them, and for your purchases. Gotta run now and get myself settled in for some bead making tonight. Have a great weekend, all!

Last month, I received a small piece of large linked hammered oval cable chain from Rings and Things, in my Blog Partners program. This is a great chain, and I love all the gunmetal finished findings that R&T carries. The finish goes perfectly with the gunmetal pewter glaze that I am using in my new ceramic pendants lately, particularly the Toolbox Treasures. In fact, I use the super heavy gunmetal jump rings from R&T to finish off each pendant. Anyway, I decided to make a necklace using the oval chain, mixed with some fun mesh style chain link components which have a great industrial feel and are really fun in the way that they add slinky movement to a piece of jewelry. For a little bit of contrast, I brought all this gunmetal together with some raw brass jump rings and a clasp from Vintaj. I think this simple mix of interesting metals and findings pairs really well with the Toolbox pendant, highlighting it without overpowering it.

To go along with this post, I loaded several of these large Toolbox Treasure pendants in the Etsy shop, which I have finally re-opened! Each one is handmade and one of a kind! Go check them out!

I received a sampler of Lariat Findings from Rings and Things last month to play with, and after thinking about it for a little bit, I decided that sometimes a simple solution is often best. These Lariat Findings came in a variety of great rainbow colors, and I matched them up with some of my glazes to make these quick and simple zipper pulls. I am not sure how others use these findings, but I think that people usually add beads to the ring and use the cord part to attach to a cell phone or zipper. I thought I would instead use the colored cords to hold the beads; to accent my disk shaped donut style beads, leaving the ring open to attach to a zipper, or for some other use. It was a very easy way to use a donut style bead, which can often be a bit of a challenge for beaders to use. I love these little guys, and am going to attach one to the zipper on my hoodie, one on my keychain, and one to my phone!

Well, last month was SO busy getting ready for the Bead & Button Show, I never got to blog about the new product samples I got from Rings and Things for March. I just never got a chance to get to my bead studio to work, as I was busy in production with clay and glaze. So I am a month late. heh. I was able to play with last month's items during the show and make things, but I need to put the finishing touches on them and photograph them.

This month, I got the opportunity to choose some new things to play with from the Rings & Things site! ooh it was hard to decide what to get, let me tell you! But I decided I wanted to challenge myself, and do something totally new, and totally experimental. It's not often that I can play and just have fun with a new material, working with it without fear. I love to be able to do this, really... playing and pushing the limits of the material to really try to understand it.

So I chose Copper as the material to work with. R&T has all of these neat copper blanks in basic shapes, and I chose circles and dogtags to work with. I plan to play with them by hammering, stamping, setting them on FIRE!, melting enamel, and applying patina. Among other things, I am sure... hopefully my first ideas will lead to other ideas to try! I am sure I will end up with some fugly, wonky, charred pieces of copper at the end. *laugh* That's a great way to learn, though, and I am giving myself permission to be creative through potential destruction! *evil plotting grin*

I also received a new tool to help me out: a metal punch, shown below with Russ the Troll bead, the mascot bead of Rings & Things! He will be following me around the studio and getting into beady adventures with me, so keep an eye out for him again in the future!
In other news, on the agenda this weekend is the Royal Oak Clay, Glass, and Metal Art Fair, which I will be attending tomorrow morning. I have been asked to do the onsite jurying this year again. Time to get out the sunscreen and see some great art! On Sunday, there will be big changes over here at the home and studio... my brother Jeremy, who is also a ceramic artist, will be moving in with me! It is very exciting, but a ton of work moving, and a big change! whew! Lots to do.. I will blog again soon, when things settle down a little bit...

I didn't get much opportunity to get out on the show floor and go shopping at the Bead & Button show, but I did manage to find a few of my favorite bead makers and I came home with a tiny stash of treasures. Above, a set of polymer clay beads by Heather of Humblebeads and a variety of handcrafted silver, bronze, and shibiuchi pendants by my friends at Zoa Art.

ooh look! more goodies! Above, a silver sugar skull charm (on ribbon) by Anne Choi. I bought two of these little guys, and gave one to some one special. *squish*. The rest of the loot is pewter and shibiuchi charms and a clasp from Green Girl Studios. Aren't they all delightful? I am looking forward to playing with them!
 

I have been home from Bead & Button for three days now, and am still very exhausted. I got most of my stuff put away, and have been working on cleaning the house and studio up. I still don't have a lot of energy to write or take pictures of new stuff, so I am just going to steal blog material tonight. *wink* First, a picture from the Saturday morning Blogger Breakfast! These are some of the fine designers and bead makers that I write about each Sunday in my Extra Extra posts! Starting from the left: Andrew Thornton, Heather Powers of Humble Beads, Diane Hawkey, Me, Katie Hacker, and Linda Augsburg. Thanks to Andrew for the picture and the links (stole it from his blog) Also in the last couple of days, Andrew wrote a touching post about the highs and lows about doing these big conventions. I can really relate... they can be wonderful and creatively fulfilling and full of great energy, but there is sometimes a big crash when coming home, even if the show was great. I am probably experiencing a little of that, mixed with fatigue, and sore muscles from all the heavy work lately. It's a strange feeling, as I am very creatively stimulated and have a ton of ideas, but have a hard time getting motivated to work on them, because the body and mind so tired. Ah well, the ideas will not go away, they are just churning around, and this sleepy state is temporary. Stuff to do... must carry on... that's it for tonight.

I had a successful trip to Bead & Button and it was a generally good show. A few ups and downs and bumps along the way, but overall, it was a great trip. I am still absolutely exhausted from the long hours and the drive, along with feeling a bit unwell, but I am getting things put away and getting ready to move on to the next big things! That's about all the energy I have for tonight, but I will share this delightful picture that Jean Campbell took of me in my booth. I look smiley, don't I? hee! Will be back blogging soon, I have many new things to show!

wow, only two days left to work! I am leaving for Bead & Button on Wednesday sometime. So much left to do still. I wanted to post today with my booth number (1227! Come say HI!) and to say goodbye because I might not get a chance to do so again.

I was getting a bit anxious because I made all of these great new Toolbox Treasures and I was saving them for last in the glazing process. My thought process was to save them until the end, because they are fun and exciting (its like dessert!) and I would get all the stuff I needed to get done first. Well, that may have been a poor choice, as I am now running out of time and kiln space. It was making me restless. Anyway, no worries... I woke up early, unloaded the little kiln and filled it again with ALL of the Toolbox Treasures. I feel better now that they are firing, but also *gulp* I sorta put all my eggs in one basket with that. Tomorrow, I plan to do the same thing, firing ALL of the Openwork Escutcheons in the kiln. *laugh* I hope the kiln gods are smiling down on me for the next two days... *doing a happy fire dance*

I have actually been learning a lot in firing these newest works. Different sized items, different hole configurations, different kiln furniture setups. I never stop learning and evolving with the clay... there is always something new to learn.

So, glazing and firing are almost done and I am spending the bulk of the next two days getting my displays all worked out. Here is a shot of a new display setup. I am using some old displays with some new cards and new clippy things. The office supply store is my friend lately. Anyway, thats what is up here. Better get back to it! See you next week after the show!