Where is Everyone? The Desperate ABS Neighborhood

While retrieving her newspaper from the front porch, The Desperate Editor notices a unusual quiet in the neighborhood. Seems that either they're all sleeping in or have gone on a vacation before Labor Day. Guess she has to go out into the Bead Blogging World for her fill of today's gossip....

Art Bead Scene
Thinking about selling your jewelry and craft items? Get the scoop on opening an Etsy Shop.

Bead Style Magazine Goes Back to School
Check out BeadStyle's new Beading Parties, free projects, and links to friends

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi uses ribbon to really embellish resin pendants.

Jewelry & Beading
A spiraling peyote stitch tube using beads of different sizes creates a beautiful centerpiece.

Katie's Beading Blog
Take a peek at the latest additions to Katie's bead stash, including: "vegetable ivory," Venetian glass, raku pottery and more!

Naughty Secretary Club
You could win one of the amazing door prizes being given away at Jen’s book release party without even walking through any doors!

Strands of Beads
Melissa finds Very Useful Items at American Science & Surplus

Have you heard any good dirt in the beading world? We'd love for you to share!

Gossiped...errr...reported by Cindy Gimbrone, Desperate Neighborhood snoop and glass beadmaker.

Studio Saturday-Sunny Side Up!

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.This week's winner is suzann wilson ! Please send your postal address to the ABS Suggestion Box to receive your Pinwheel Flower Pendant from Jennifer at Jangles.

My last Studio Saturday was at the end of May. I was preparing and showing at 2 major events. I have also been recovering from surgery. I am doing great and nearly back to normal. What ever normal is!


Above is the Needle Minder that had shown in my last Studio Saturday post in the greenware stage.
They are now glazed and the colors turned out great. Brighter than my photo shows (I'm battling with my digital camera). The needle minder is two sided with earth magnets embedded in each clay side. They are used by stitchers on either side of the canvas, quilt, etc. These keep track of your pins and needles so they don't end up on the floor or on your chair.
Depending on your mood you can have have the three dimensional sun looking up at you or the sun/moon glowingly staring at you. Of course these can be make as buttons with a shank back or loop(s) on top for a pendant. These are not listed on my website yet but email me if you would like to order.

"Blue Moon", "Moondance", "Don't let the Sun Go Down on Me"...

My question for today's Studio Saturday is:

What Sun or Moon Song is your favorite or inspires you?

There is always a song playing in my head when I'm working. Sometimes it helps me get through the day while I'm working.

One random commenter will win the Three Dimensional Sun shown above on the left as shank back button. It would look great on your handmade bag or new winter coat!

The Bead Scoop: Blue Buddha Boutique

Jump rings are elevated to a new level at the Blue Buddha Boutique. Blue Buddha's jump rings come in a variety of metals, colors, diameters and wire gauges. You can go classic metal in sterling, copper, brass and steel or punch it up a bit with color mixes such as the Persian Rug and Earth Mixes.


Now maybe you're inspired to design with jump rings. Try chain maille. Blue Buddha Boutique offers well-written, easy to learn free tutorials that enticed me to try my hand at mail.

Written by Cindy Gimbrone, new chain maille addict and glass beadmaker.

Ornament Thursday - Academia

Words of Wisdom for jewelry designers:

1. Don't worry about making mistakes, creativity is really just taking risks.

2. Push past your color safety-net and look for new inspiration. Borrow color palettes from nature, art history or fashion.

3. Overwhelmed with where to start on a new design? Pull out only a few items and challenge yourself to use only what you've selected.

4. Find inspiration from unlikely sources. Love architecture? Have a favorite city? Love to study biology? Use your obscure passions as a source for your next jewelry design.

5. Throw in the kitchen sink! It doesn't have to come from a bead store to be used in your jewelry. Look for components from hardware stores, scrapbooking sections, altered art supplies, fabric or yarn stores, toy stores, antique shops, etc.

Golden Rule Charm Bracelet

I created the dangles for this charm bracelet using a few items to remind me of life lessons I need to remember. This is my project for this month's Ornament Thursday theme, Academia.

1. The ruler charm to remember the golden rule, "Do onto others as you'd like to have done unto you."

2. The acorn turned upside down and filled with beads to remind myself that my cup is overflowing.

3. The owl as a reminder to seek wisdom and understanding.

4. The stained glass charm to remind myself to keep the faith.

5. The colors - green was used to symbolize growth and moving forward. Blue to symbolize that my spirit needs to be refreshed and not to spend too much time working.

Visit the links below to see how the rest of the Ornament Thursday designers interpreted this month's theme.

Back to School-Make your own Pencils

BeadStyle goes back to school

Beading Help Web Wires Up Academia

Check out the "homework" project from Joolz by Lisa

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva

Michelle's Edumacation

Swelldesigner goes crazy over school supplies!

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Blogged by Heather Powers of Humblebeads.

Designer Interview - The Jewelry of Jennifer Morris

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Red Alert

Not the color purple but the color red. Red is associated with holidays such as Valentines Day and Christmas. Here is some fun info I found about Red:

Red Conveys: Strength, power, confidence, passion. Red is a versatile color that can symbolize everything from passionate love to violent warfare.
Intense and aggressive, its influence isn’t only psychological – it’s physical, too.
Studies have shown that seeing the color red not only speeds up your heart rate, it makes you breathe faster, too.
Use red to suggest speed combined with confidence and perhaps even a dash of danger. A little bit of red goes a long way. Small doses can often be more effective than large amounts of this strong color. Multiple shades of red and even pink or orange can combine for a cheerful palette.

Here are some fun and creative things I found in red!
From Ornamentea "Word Beads"

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Celtic Design-Fused Glass Pendant, lawathasglass.com

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Red Morrocan Amphora by Kerri Fuhr kerrifuhr.com

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Hand Crafted Cherry & Redwood Burl Wood Jewelry Box by Christopher Robins of Wooden Acres woodenacresboxes.com

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While shopping for all things red, you'll need to stay warm. Even if it's in the air conditioning! Who wouldn't want one of these coats. I heart Lee Anderson!

Lee Anderson :: Clothes that make your Heart Smile. http://leeanderson.com/

"Use the color red to grab attention and to get people to take action."

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These Boots were made for walking!

These boots are just fun! With just enough red to turn heads. http://caboots.zoovy.com/product/1XEXPYTHPT/HANDPAINTED_PYTHON_BOOTS.html

"Use red when you don't want to sink into the background."

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Using Red with Other Colors: Although not normally considered an ideal coupling, in combination with green, red is a Christmas color — a joyful season.

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Red Letter Days
January 31 :: Inspire your Heart with Art Day
February 14 :: Valentine's Day
March :: Red Cross Month
April 23 :: Lover's Day
May 20 :: Pick Strawberries Day
June 12 :: Red Rose Day
July 19 :: National Raspberry Cake Day
August 7 :: Chinese Valentine Day
September 24 :: National Cherries Jubilee Day
October 13 :: Sweetest Day
You're nearing the end. November 20 :: Absurdity Day
December 25 :: Christmas
Seeing red?

What does all of this have to do with red? Ask a stupid Question Day

The Mantra -- August ABS

The Mantra -- August ABS
Originally uploaded by Erthe Fae

Each Monday we feature the Designer of the Week. One of our editors pick their favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries.

This week I picked Erthe Fae's Mantra necklace. I love the use of the seed bead rope lariat with Earthenwood Studios' word charms. And what a great mantra, "Seek Wisdom, Discover Peace." I love the color scheme too, I guess I'm ready looking forward to fall!

This month's theme is "Something to Say!" and AJ's necklace has a wonderful message for each of us today!

You can see more of Erthe Fae's work in her etsy shop.

Want to be next week's featured designer? Then send in your submission for the August Challenge.

Ornament Thursday Hides Project in the Desperate Neighborhood

August is drawing to an end the Desperate Editor is desperate for a scoop! As she creeps around the neighborhood, she finds the Ornament Thursday Girls up to their monthly round robin of projects. Desperate Editor is trying to peer in between the crowd to see what they're working on.....



...she can't quite make it out. Hmmmm what is it? As she tries to figure out what the OT Girls are up to, take a look at what else is going on in the Bead Blogging World...

About.com Jewelry Making
Art shows and sites like Ebay and Etsy are packed full of jewelry makers. When is enough enough or too much? Are there too many of us?

Art Bead Scene
The Art Bead Scene editors are a busy bunch! Read what they've been up to.

Art Jewelry Magazine
Robert Dancik's work is featured in the September 2008 issue of Art Jewelry magazine. Check out his project in the magazine, then watch the video on the Art Jewelry web site.

Barbe Saint John
Barbe talks about the new Naughty Secretary Club book.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi turns an embroidered hankerchief into a bracelet.

Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry
Carter shares some of the inspiration behind her creativity, and invites you to do the same.

Jennifer Jangles Blog
Jennifer's been felting for fun, see what she came up with

Jewelry & Beading
Whip up a simple square stitch bail for that stone donut you want to wear. In fact, whip up a whole batch of them!

Naughty Secretary Club
Take a tour of the Naughty Secretary Club studios to see where the magic happens.

Strands of Beads
Melissa reviews Tammy Powley's new book, Picture Yourself Creating Metal Clay Jewelry

Have you heard any good dirt in the beading world? We'd love for you to share!

Gossiped errr reported by Cindy Gimbrone, Desperate Neighborhood snoop and glass beadmaker.

Studio Saturday, New Work from Jangles

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.This week's winner is angelinabeadalina ! Please send your postal address to the ABS Suggestion Box to receive your Bling Link from Cindy Gimbrone.
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Hey everyone! As a new contributor to Art Bead Scene, this is my first Studio Saturday post. I am pretty excited about this and since it is my first I wanted to make it extra special. It also happens that I am getting ready to debut a bunch of new designs and colors so the timing couldn't be better.

Usually, I am working on bright and funky beads like these pictured above. I really love color and a looser feel to beads. I collect folk art and wish I could be a folk artist. I consider myself one even though most folk artists are self taught. Darn college degree in ceramics!

As for the new work, when I was writing my book Ceramic Bead Jewelry, I got to play a lot with new techniques, colors, surfaces, etc. It was a ton of fun and it really got my creative juices flowing. It got me thinking that I would really like to make some beads for fall, you know more muted colors, but still fun of course. I set out on my adventure in bead making and came up with what I think is great stuff.

It has taken me almost a year to come up with the finished product. Here they are.

These colors are from glazes, I usually use underglazes when I paint my beads. Underglazes stay where you want them. Glazes move and flow some in the kiln. I really like that on these beads because each on is a little different.

These are long charms, I can see them used as components in earring or as pendants.
Squares, Circles, and flowers(not pictured) make up this collection of what I call stackers. These are great for just that, stacking up and getting lots of good color in your creations.
When I design jewelry I like unique elements and findings. I also like beads and components that serve a purpose. These are some fun links.

These flower pendants can be strung through the hole or you can use the wire loops for linking together.

So my question of the week would be; which style of new bead is your favorite? If you leave an answer you could win one of my new flower pinwheel pendants.

Have a super Saturday!
Jennifer Jangles

The Trendy Bead - Painted Brass

An early frost? Not hardly! But check out the frosty goodness of these brass findings from the Patina Queen.

I love these diamond bars, the white finish gives them a funky retro feel.

Even the old brass favorites get a fresh feel with the white-washed treatment.

Feeling a little DIY? You can hand-paint your own brass findings to match your mood. Ornamentea provides a step-by-step tutorial for painting brass, here is the PDF.

Bead Scoop - Hint

New to the online bead world, Beth Hemmila of Hint is offering a line of fine silver charms that express her quiet spirit and love for all creatures great and small.

Be sure to check out Beth's blog, I've been enjoying her thoughts on the creative process. In particular this post on fingerprints on handmade items.

Designer & Bead Artist Interview -Beadworx

What is your personal name, business name, website and location?

My name is Bettina Welker and I create my jewelry under the name "beadworx". You can find my work here: http://www.beadworx.de/

I live in the southwest of Germany in a little village called Heusweiler near the french border. Next big city is Saarbruecken, Frankfurt is 1.5 hours drive from here (in case anyone knows a bit of Germany).

What kind of beads do you make? What kinds of processes do you use? What is your favorite beadmaking technique?

Well, that depends on my ideas for a project. I don't do specific beads. I do canework, I extrude, I do texturing and transfers. Everything that comes handy to a new project.

I can't focus on one technique the whole time, this would be too boring for me after a while. And for that reason, there is no favorite technique - my fave is always the technique that I'm currently working with.

How did you get into beadmaking? What are some of the important things you do for your business?

I always wanted to be a gold/silversmith when I was young. But there were not many training positions then and I decided to go to the university and study graphic design to live out my creativity. So no beadmaking or jewelry for at least two decades. In late 2003 I accidentally discovered millefiori and caning when browsing the web for something completely different. I knew Fimo from the time when I was a kid and I instantly was hooked on the idea to make jewelry and beads from polymer clay.

I only do OOAK work - you wont find any duplication in my work, maybe there's a same-style-piece (in a series), but never one that is similar to another. I still hope that will work out for me someday and I don't need to do wholesale production for one particular piece.

What is your workspace like and how do you work in your studio? What is a typical day like?

I just set up my studio in the basement of our house. It's a 4 x 5 m room with plenty of working space - finally. I just had a studio feature at Libby Mills' blog (go see: http://libzoid.net/blog/2008/03/24/studio-snapshot-bettina-welker/)

My typical day starts with my day job as a graphic designer (well I have to eat - right?...*g*) after my 8 year old has left the house. If there are no jobs to do in the graphics department I head to the studio to play and create.

How do you stay inspired and motivated?

Going through the world with eyes wide open. I can get inspiration out of so many different things I see every day.

What beady plans do you have for the future? Do you have new designs or ideas you will be exploring soon?

I am currently playing a lot with the polymer clay extruder and tube beads and there are still some ideas to be worked out.

If you have a discount code you would like to give our readers, please list it here, including the expiration date:

I'm busy setting up my new shop on my website (www.beadworx.de/shop/ ) and there are still some categories to be filled. Just mention the word "artbeadscene" for a 10% discount through September 15, 2008

The Bead Biz, Etsy 101

If you are a jewelry designer just getting started selling, you are most likely looking at different avenues to sell your work. If one of the options you're looking at is a website, maybe you should consider Etsy. If you don't know what Etsy is, it's a website where individual crafters can have a store to sell their work. It's a great way to test out your customers, to see if they are going to buy from you online before you invest a lot in a website. Plus as a bonus, there are dedicated craft loving shoppers looking online all of the time.

Necklace by Lorelei Eurto

The basics:

To get started you would pick a name for your store. With some images you can make a header. You fill out a few more blank fields with information, and voila you have a store. When you add a product, it's a nice little form to fill out with the name, description, tags, and price. Next you upload a photo from your computer and you're ready to sell.

Obviously, that's the basic explanation of how Etsy works Thankfully, Etsy has a great tutorial section on getting started. They also have message boards for help. I asked a question on the boards and got 4 answers within 30 seconds, now that's fast.

Earrings by GemHeaven

The Cost:

This is the best part you pay 20 cents for a product and then it's a 3.5% commission when you sell. As you can see, this might be a good option for testing the waters instead of putting out the money for web design and monthly hosting fee. Etsy uses PayPal; they invoice the customer once they have placed an order. It is deposited in your account and you are ready to ship your order. They also have an option to print a shipping label through the site.

Beyond Set Up:

Once you get up and running with a few pieces, make sure you let everyone know you're here. It takes time to build customers. There are lots of options for driving business to you shop. The best way to get a feel for the store is to check out some Etsy stores and search the site. There are promotion options online through Etsy also.

Etsy Site

Here are a few of the Art Bead Scene Contributors Etsy shops

Humblebeads

Expedition D

Jangles

Cindy Gimbrone

Featured Designer of the Week - Maria Grimes

Monkey see, Monkey do AUGABS
Originally uploaded by Maria Grimes

Each Monday we feature the Designer of the Week. One of our editors pick their favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries.

This week Cindy Gimbrone picked Maria Grimes' Monkey See, Monkey Do necklace. Cindy noted "I like the playfulness of the necklace. The banana bead is well crafted and adorable!"

This month's theme is "Something to Say!" and Maria has played a little word game with her beads, very clever!

You can see more of Maria's work on her website.

Want to be next week's featured designer? Then send in your submission for the August Challenge.

Lucky Charms in the Desperate Neighborhood

The Desperate Editor has a bone to pick with the Desperate Neighbors after last week. So she's gone to the back window of Jennifer Jangles where she knows she'll find empty Margarita glasses. Seems Jennifer is burning the midnight oil this time to create her annual Ten Weeks of Holiday Projects. To persuade her customers to ignore her tippling, she's offering new newsletter sign ups a chance to win her Lucky Charms bracelet.

Not satisfied that she's dug up enough dirt and gossip in the Desperate Neighborhood, The Desperate Editor turns her attention to the rest of the Bead Blogging World to see what's going on out there.....



About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy gives you some tips and jewelry project ideas for designing and making jewelry you can wear to work, even if your job's atmosphere is super up-tight.

Art Bead Scene Let your jewelry do the talking! Enter the Art Bead Scene's creative challenge!

BeadStyle Magazine
The staff shows off some of their favorite jewelry from the pages of BeadStyle magazine.

Carter Seibels for Divali Glass Jewelry
Carter ponders the organization of beads in the Bead Trust booth, and shares some new projects!

Jennifer Jangles Blog
Make Jennifer's Long, Dangle-y, and Jangle-y Earring Project

Jewelry & Beading Make a cigar box handbag...featuring beads, of course!

Katie's Beading Blog
Download one of Katie's projects over at Beading Daily. It's an icy confection of dichroic glass and matte seed beads.

Naughty Secretary Club The Naughty Secretary Club book is finally here. If you love your jewelry kitschy proceed immediately to Jen's blog.

Salt Shaker Bead
Carmi turns an odd collectible into something wearable.

Strands of Beads
Melissa finds that it's still easy to be green in August.

Have you heard any good dirt in the beading world? We'd love for you to share!

Studio Saturday: Organized or Organic?

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.This week's winner is Rosebud101! Please send your postal address to the ABS Suggestion Box to receive your zephyr style bead from Lynn!

Today, Cindy Gimbrone opens the door to her studio....



Good morning, Studio Saturday Readers! Today finds my studio and jewelry designing area in a hug mess! Ok, so it's no secret in my house that I'm not as neat as my husband, the fastidious bean counter(love you honey :-). Even when I'm neat, I don't live up to his level of neatness. I tell him,

"I'm creative, I need things out to inspire me. I need things right at my fingertips. I create organically, each mess is a work in progress."

Usually this works for me. I have a limited number of choices and I create the piece and clean up, but....(Come closer so The Bean Counter can't read this)...I've laid out too many choice lately and my "mess" is overwhelming me.

Here's a good example, I'm working with new beads for the Heartz n Skullz series creating a Punk-Halloween necklace and I just have too many things out! Do I want to use ball chain? (I've got cool black ball chain and oooo I have red ball chain too!) I've got really cool ribbon in black with white stitching on it, how punk is that? Or what about the blood red coral I have? That would look good with the white, red and black!



I design by setting out all of the elements and re-arranging and adding until it feels right. Too many choices leaves my gut muddled. I can't decide.

I need to get organized.

In my house I know who to call. Time to hang my head and ask The Bean Counter to help me re-organize. Organization wins today over Overwhelmed Organic.

Before I leave, here's my question: How do you design in your craft - are you organized or organic?

Leave a comment and you'll win One (1) Blink Link in Blue.

I look forward to reading and seeing who is organized and who is organic!

The Trendy Bead - Goes for the Gold

Nothing says trendy like current cultural events. Whip up something this weekend to celebrate the Olympic games and the peace and unity that they represent.

Life-long dreams are achieved at the Olympics, wear this pendant to remind yourself to chase after your dreams. Dream Pendant from ExpeditionD.

Despite political differences, the world unites to celebrate the Olympians and the hope of peace. Everything you need to make a great pendant necklace is included in this Tibetan Prayer Mix from Cindy Gimbrone.

Go for the gold with these yellow hoops from Jangles. I could see you sporting earrings made with these fun gold hoops while you cheer on the record breakers!

All the world watches and supports their teams. Coin Buttons from around the world would make a great charm bracelet. Coins from Creative Impressions in Clay.

Create a lariat using Cherry Blossom beads to honor the beauty of China and the hope we have for the future. Cherry Blossom Beads from Humblebeads.

Join Cindy Gimbrone tomorrow to see what's new in her studio. There is still time to enter last week's Studio Saturday for the chance to win one of Lynn's beads.

The Trendy Bead is written by bead artist and designer, Heather Powers.