Sunday with Cindy: Cindy and Heather in Beadwork

One of my customers sent a note after she'd purchased a set of the Ivory Bling Links. She'd seen them in the June/July 2009 issue of Beadwork magazine and "had to have them!" I appreciate comments from my customers and like to know where they've seen my beads. I didn't have a copy of Beadwork at home so I hurried over to the bookstore to see if I could find a copy. Before I bought it, I flipped through the pages and was very happy to find them in Katie's Corner.

I said in my review of Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed that Katie Hacker is magic with earrings. In Katie's corner, she's made another beautiful set of earrings and this time uses my Ivory Bling links along with fellow editor, Heather Powers gorgeous beads. Lucky us! Make sure you check that out while you're drinking your morning coffee over at the bookstore this morning.

Jean is reading and reviewing books this week. It looks like BeadStyle Magazine has another winner on their hands!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Easy Beading volume number 5 is out this month and is as great as always--check it out on Jean's blog!

Carmi's has a new focal project on her blog this week.....
Carmi's Art/Life
Carmi's newest pendant is inspired by the forest floor.

....while Tammy's watching a jewelrymaking how-to video.
About.com Jewelry Making
Silver Threads Web Videos - Watch Jeanne Rhodes-Moen make some gorgeous filigree jewelry.

Cyndi Lavin and the Art Bead Scene have tips for your jewelry business this week.

Jewelry & Beading
More spring cleaning tips to get your jewelry business in tip-top shape this season!

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene's The Bead Biz offers up a "less is more" philosophy to selling your work.

Now that we've finished the Bead Blogging news and our coffee, leave a comment and let me know what you liked about this week's news. Did you make Carmi's project? Did you buy a copy of Beadwork? Did the Beady News inspire you to make something of your own?

(written by News and Coffee junkie, Cindy Gimbrone.)

Studio Saturday - From Inspiration to Creation

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.

Last weeks winner is Christie of BeadLuvah Congratulations! You have won a few buttons from Creative Impressions in Clay. Send us an e-mail with your address in the suggestion box and we will get it right out to you.

I've been one busy beadmaker getting beads together for Bead & Button. Pam at Bello Modo will be selling Humblebeads at booth #957, so be sure to stop by and say hello.

Like many of you, jewelry making is my stress-reliever and something I do when my brain needs a break from creating the same bead for the 500th time! I thought it would be fun to share my process from inspiration to creation on one of my latest pieces of jewelry.

It started with the sketch above, which was a color study using my urchins with raspberry keishe pearls. You can read the original post and see the other variations here.

I had large chunky raspberry pearls and decided to string up the design just as I had sketched. Looked great, until I tried it on. It was very Flinestone-y and little too over the top for me. You just never know until the creation is in your hand and around your neck how it will play out in real life. So, out came the wire cutters and the beads fell back on to the table. Time for round two.

One of the problems with the first design was that the urchin just stuck out like a sore thumb. The little bits of amazonite and crystals weren't large enough to balance out the over-powering raspberry pearls. So I pulled out some lentils in glass that mimicked the shape of the urchin, grabbed some wood, a few turquoise daggers to play off the shape of pearls and put together the asymmetrical design like a puzzle, letting the shapes and colors speak to each. I decided to finish the design with chain and a button clasp. The chain and clasp also mirror the shape of the lentil. This is a much more wearable piece to me and still holds the same spirit of the tropical inspiration. If I had small keishe pearls on hand the design would have worked as sketched, sometimes you have to adapt according to what you have on hand!

And speaking of hands, with the left over beads I whipped up a matching bracelet. I mixed in a few of my disk beads.

My question for you this week is what part of jewelry making do you find the most relaxing? Maybe it's pulling out the beads, hammering away at metal or the meditative quality of sewing bead after bead. I will send out an urchin bead to one lucky winner.

Oh, and now that I mentioned winners, don't forgot to go vote for your favorite creations in the Bead Star contest, voting ends May 30th.

Wrap Away

Just a quick wire-wrapping tip for today: if you need uniform sizes for large hoops, clasps or links look around your studio for common objects to use as a guide. I used a bottle of craft paint to create these hoops. Other items I've been known to grab for that perfect shape include sharpie markers, a tube of beads and spool of thread.

Seaworthy Beads!

I don't know about you, but with June just a few days away I'm ready to pack my beads and head to the beach. Unfortunately I will have to wait a bit longer before I'm walking on any sandy shores, in the meantime here are some of my favorite sea-inspired picks from Etsy.

Come on in, the water's fine! Let's jump in with SeaUrchin's Deep Ocean Pool pendant. I have a few of her beads and they are divine!

Tap into that inner mermaid with MamacitaBeadworks' Seaweed Pendant.

Feeling barnacle-y? I love SummerStudio's Sea Things Pendant.

This stoneware pendant from ArtisanClay reminds me dried sea salts, argh matey!

Ocean blue lampwork glass beads from HMB Studios looks like they were plucked straight from the deep blue sea.

Add in a few faux sea glass beads from KelleysBeads.

Who doesn't love a mythic sea creature? This metal Horse Play charm is from Hint.

And finally, my knobby urchin because every time I make one I feel like I'm at the ocean!

Color Trend Insight from Margie Deeb

Seen the color trend reports and not quite sure how to translate those blocks of color into your jewelry? Author and designer Margie Deeb is here to help. Her latest edition of the Color Report for Bead Artists is a helpful and inspiring tool.

"This 23-page PDF gives you over 40 palettes, descriptions, photos, gemstone and Delica bead suggestions, illustrations of 10 of the suggested palettes, and jewelry ideas based on Pantone's fashion color report of the season. New to this report: an expanded gallery of beadwork inspired by the colors themselves."

Fit to Print Book Review - Mixed Metals

Mixed Metals: Creating Contemporary Jewelry with Silver, Gold, Copper, Brass, and More, written by Melinda Barta & Danielle Fox. Melinda and Danielle are kind of like a super-hero team of jewelry design. Melinda is the editor of Beadwork magazine and the author of Custom Cool Jewelry. Danielle is the author of Simply Modern Jewelry and the editor of Stringing magazine. With such a dynamic duo what could we expect but pure jewelry making genius? Brilliant designs, inspiring photography, easy-to-follow directions, this book is a must-have for your library.

It offers 21 jewelry designs ranging from vintage to modern styles with a focus on gold, silver, base metals, faux & other metals and my favorite, mixed metals. The projects fall under the category of stringing and if you like Stringing magazine, well this is the book for you. What I love about the book is the lagniappe. Lagnaippe is a New Orleans term for a little something extra added with your order. What is the extra in this book? There are bonus earring and bracelet designs that coordinate with the main projects sprinkled throughout the book. I love it. So, amazing color combinations, some new tricks to add to your jewelry making repertoire and a list of resources that will make your wallet whimper - I can't recommend this book enough!

Featured Designer of the Week - Fab Fibers

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

This week Tari from Creative Impressions in Clay picked Fab Fibers' Monet Necklace. Tari noted, "I liked all three of Rosanne's necklaces for this month's challenge. With this necklace I really liked the gradated colors in the silk cord along with the seed beads in the same color. They reflect the colors in the painting." To see more of Rosanne's work visit her blog.

Want to see your work featured on the Art Bead Scene? Our theme for the month of May is Monet's Water Lilies. The deadline to enter for the monthly prize is May 31st! Create something that combines the theme with art beads and then send in your submission for the May Challenge.

Sunday with Cindy

About.com Jewelry Making
Want to try bead weaving but not sure where to start? Consider one of these amazing kits for 1 Bead Weaver.

Art Bead Scene
Beads made from nuts are all the rage. Go nuts and add some to your bead stash!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie chooses a new name for her new work: Toolbox Treasures!

Jewelry & Beading
Repurpose old beads and charms into a wicked fun treasure necklace!

Katie's Beading Blog
Exposed Gets Exposure! Learn more about Katie's latest beading book, Bead & Wire Jewelry Exposed.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reveals the cover of an upcoming wonderful new jewelry design book by Jean Campbell all about the fabulous Victorian-fantasy style of jewelry, Steampunk!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a new necklace design inspired by a beautiful, Russian hand-painted focal pendant.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares the NEW cover of his sister's new book, Enchanted Adornments: Creating Mixed Media Jewelry with Metal, Clay, Wire, Resin & More! Pre-order it today!

Studio Saturday

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. Last weeks winner is RupaP Congratulations! You have won a new bead from Jennifer at Jangles. Send us an e-mail with your address in the suggestion box and we will get it right out to you.

I found this cool website where you make a talking character (free!) for your website or blog. So I just had to make one! I tried to make it look like myself and this was as close as I could get. My buttons are the background. I used Quicktime to record my voice. It is now on the homepage of my website. I put the little character on the left just in case you don't have Flash Player to make it to work.

I am making this brief so everyone can get out and have a fantastic Memorial Day!
Enjoy your family and friends or the outdoors (I'm pulling weeds)!

My question for today's Studio Saturday is:

Do you find these talking characters helpful or annoying? Would you be willing to try one for your website? Or just leave a comment. We love to hear from you!

This weeks prize is a suprize! (a couple buttons or beads, I'm undecided)

Tari of Creative Impressions In Clay

The Scoop on Cynthia Thornton's Book!

Pre-order: Enchanted Adornments: Creating Mixed-Media Jewelry with Metal, Clay, Wire, Resin & More

I can't wait for Cynthia Thronton's book to be published! It looks completely magically and well let's face it, what else would we expect from the designer of Green Girl Studios' enchanting pewter beads. Cynthia has set up a Facebook fan page for her book.

Here is the book description: Presented in the style of an artist’s journal, this handbook uses an informal, conversational approach to teach a wide variety of innovative mixed-media jewelry techniques. Accompanied by fairytale introductions and augmented by illustrations.

On the fan page you can see sneak peeks, there is a bead giveaway and you can find out about show dates to meet the author. (You're not on Facebook? It's time to join the party!) Or you can look for updates and news on Cynthia's blog.

Throw a Bead Soup Party!

Okay, I'm a little more than envious of those who are planning to go to Bead & Button this year for the shopping, classes and did I mention the bead shopping? But I'm not planning on sitting around wishing I was there, nope. I'm gathering together a few beading buddies for a Bead Soup party. You might want to throw a little beady soiree of your own. Here are the basics:

How to Throw a Bead Soup Party

1. Invite a few of your Beady Friends.

2. Each person needs to bring a strand of beads to share. (You can suggest a color scheme.)

All guest will also need to bring:
focal bead
spacer beads
clasp
beading wire
crimp beads
crimping pliers and wire cutters

3. When everyone arrives, dump the strands of beads into a large bowl. Divide the beads up randomly among your group.

4. String a memory necklace or bracelet using your bead soup.

*provide chocolate for best results!

Pictured above is a work in progress that I started at our last Bead Soup party. We went with a silver/grey/purple color scheme. You can use evite.com for simple online invitations. Don't have any beady friends? Invite a few gals over and teach them how to string!

Have any ideas for a bead party that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them.

The Bead Biz - Less is More

Did you know sometimes less is more? I just reread the book, The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz. I have said it before, I am a sucker for a good business book. This book, while having some great business info is more scientific and just darn interesting. The author talks about how in today's life we have so many choices that is overwhelming and not really that good of a thing.

Here's a good example he gives in the book and I will relate it to our business....

At a grocery store they set up jam tasting stations, one had 12 different types of jam. They had lots of tasters that day trying all twelve and they loved it, but it they didn't sell a lot of jam. Now the same station was set up with 4 kinds to tastes. They didn't have as many tasters but they had many more people buy the jam. Less choices....hmmm

The reason I bought this book a few years ago was for the reason that I want to make everything. It's really hard for me to focus on one type of work and look. I was hoping this book would give me proof that staying focused and not having millions of beads to choose from was a good thing. I was right, it helped. I still today struggle with wanting to add more beads to my website, more necklaces to my catalog, etc.

If your looking for a good pep talk for keeping it simple, read this book.

Post was written by Jennifer Heynen of Jangles.

Luna Flor Bracelet Project

Last month as a Rings & Things blog partner I received a fun collection of brown lava beads that I have been mixing with a variety of materials. I wanted to explore the play of textures of the course and porous lava beads with the high shine of pearlized glass nuggets and silver. I think it lends itself to an other-world effect.

Luna Flor Bracelet (Moon Flower)

Supplies

Orchid Oval from Humblebeads

3 brown lava beads

1 blue lace agate 8mm round

1 dark indigo 6mm crystal bicone

2 pearlized glass nuggets

1 flower clasp

16 nickel seed beads

8 gunmetal eyepins

2 gunmetal 4mm jumpring

(Gunmetal, crystal, lava & stone from Rings & Things, glass nugget from a local bead shop)

1. Create looped links using the eyepin for each bead with the seed beads on both sides.

2. Attach each link together. Attach the clasp with the jumprings.

A necklace variation using my First Frost Dandelion bead and gunmetal chain.

Featured Designer of the Week - Live Wire Jewelry

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

This week Jennifer Heynen from Jangles picked Sharon's Monet inspired bracelet. Jennifer notes, "I like all the different components that come together to make this bracelet. The handmade clasp with the ring is really great. The bead with the dark blue in the center looks like water and is fabulous. I bet it's a fun bracelet to wear." To see more of Sharon's work visit here etsy shop.

Want to see your work featured on the Art Bead Scene? Our theme for the month of May is Monet's Water Lilies. The deadline to enter for the monthly prize is May 31st! Create something that combines the theme with art beads and then send in your submission for the May Challenge.

Sundays with Cindy

Graduation season is upon us! I haven't got time today to read the newspaper - got to hop in the car very early and make my way to a niece's graduation. Enjoy your day!


About.com Jewelry Making
Jewelry and taxes, ick! But maybe these tips will help you navigate through this beader's nightmare.

Art Bead Scene
We all need a little bit more organization. Here's a nifty organizer for your tools.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe talks about her love of Egyptian Jewelry.

Bead & Button Magazine
Lesley shares tips on getting organized from her and the staff.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi prints her favorite images onto cotton to create a new fiber necklace.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie ponders the beauty and symbolism of butterflies and lets herself fly free with a new pendant.

Jennifer Jangles Blog
Katie Hacker designed a fabulous necklace using some of Jennifer's pinwheel beads.

Jewelry & Beading
We've been concentrating on organic materials for jewelry making this month, and Cyndi has rounded up a few of her projects that fall into that category!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Come read Jean's review of this super new book by Kim Gover: Designing Jewelry with semiprecious beads!

Strands of Beads
Melissa discusses shopping opportunities for unusual stone-wrapped chain.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Finding inspiration in an unlikely place, Andrew creates a necklace based on a Jell-o dessert.

Studio Saturday with 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.

Last weeks winner is Jewelry by Jeannie! Congratulations! You have won a Red, Yellow, and Green spiral bead from Cindy Gimbrone Send us an e-mail with your address and we will get it right out to you.

Hey Hey, it's another Studio Saturday with Jangles. This week, i am busy busy busy getting ready for the Bead and Button Show. It's only two weeks away! Yikes, it's coming up fast. So this year, just like the previous years before I am crazy trying to get it all done. There are lots of lists all over the house. There are beads and boxes everywhere too. My husband asked me last night, " Is this the point when Bead and Button starts to take over our house?" It happens every year.

So this is what it is looking like...

I am teaching five classes at the show so I have been preparing class kits. These have glaze, clay, and tools to make ceramic beads. I have to pack my little kiln because I am teaching a kiln firing class too.

Then there are the beads...



They are everywhere. There are beads that need to be glazed in my kiln.


There beads that need clear glaze.

The pairs have to be tied together, the sets need to be strung on wire, and toggles need to be placed on cards.

Once I get everything made, it onto the display. I always redo my display. I like to keep things fresh. I set up a mock layout on the floor so I can see if I have everything I need. This year I am changing all of my display from black to white, plus I have a new table cloth and maybe a new sign if time permits.

As you can see the Jangles Studio, uh lets say Jangles house if very busy right now.....
If your an Art Bead Scene reader and coming to the show please stop by my booth and say hi, I would love to meet some of you in person. I will be in booth 1113.

My question for the week is about displays for shows....do you find yourself always changing things around or do you keep the same look year after year? Answer in the comments and I will send you one of my new beads that I have made for the show.

Jennifer Heynen
Jangles

The Trendy Bead - Brides & Beyond

The creative bride can let her personality shine with non-traditional jewelry. Elements such as pearls and crystals can be combined with art beads for unique jewelry that can be worn long after the big day. Here are a few design ideas to help those rowdy art beads turn into wedding crashers!


I can still remember the little flower basket pendant on a gold chain that I wore as a flower girl in my Aunt's wedding. Chinook Jewelry creates these amazing sculpted flower beads that would be a treasure for the littlest member of the bridal party. I'd pair one up with a gold bar and link chain and either crystals or pearls in pale blue. (Chain from knotartoverstok.)


Well, you may not love the dress you have to wear as a bride's maid, but there is no reason you can't love your accessories. Mary Harding offers leafy toggle clasps that would rock a strand of stick pearls in white, cream and soft yellow-green. I'd use tiny 2mm beads in silver or gold to accent the pearls. (Stick pearls from Igotladyfingers.)

Maybe bare feet and sand are more your idea of a picture perfect wedding. Whether you are the bride or there to celebrate you can create jewelry that borrows from the surroundings. I'd use one of my urchin beads in antique gold with gold colored keishi pearls. The clasp? A Green Girl Studios' starfish toggle! (Keishi pearls from Luxbeads.)

Pair up a set of Chinook Roman Circle charms with wire-wrapped briolettes for the proud mom. Dangle a small section of chain from the earwire to attach the briolettes. (Peridot briolettes from NirvanaBeads.)

And hey, why not sneak art beads into the reception? I've always thought my Illuminated Manuscript beads would make a beautiful set of glass charms, a nice touch when sipping champagne. You could do the monogram of the couples' last name or a letter for each of them.

Nuts for Natural Beads

Coconut bead mix from CorneliaCreations
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what one bead/supply would you have to bring? For me, I'd just scout around the island for natural materials to create beads, much like the ones found here today. I'd go all Swiss Family Robinson making beads from coconuts.

Okay, back to civilization, along with your favorite nature inspired art beads you could mix these nuts with turquoise, brown lava beads, waxed linen and some rustic copper or steel findings. I've been using quite a few of these natural beads in my new summer/island inspired jewelry.

Lovely orangey salwag nuggets from Terristrial

Kukui nuts from XelaMaya

I so love the kukui! I have a stash of very dark ones that I have mixed with wood and my branch beads. They are also the perfect size and shape to match my owl beads. I have been having fun with these big ol' chunks that are surprising hollow and lightweight.

Plum color acai beads from NatureBeads

Findings Worth Finding: Oval Memory Wire

I just found that Beadalon is now making Oval Memory Wire. I love to use memory wire in my designs. I like the look of a really long memory bracelet wrapped around and around your wrist. It's also great if your selling your jewelry. Memory wire is one size fits all. That's a great feature for gift giving and when selling to stores. The oval shape just gives you another look that might just be different enough from everyone else is using to set your designs apart. You can read more about it here at the Beadalon website.

Happy Beading!

This post was written by Jennifer Heynen of Jangles

Vintaj Sale - Last Day!

Hurry on over to Bello Modo, today is the last day to save 25% off on all Vintaj findings!

The photo above is an altered art project from Vintaj's website, I could see this combination of flower components and bead caps being worked into a jewelry design or maybe a custom pendant using this technique with resin. Below is Vintaj's Maiden Hair pendant, I think it fits in perfectly for this month's Monet theme!

Featured Designer fo the Week - Maire Dodd

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 Maire Dodd's Blooming Spirituality Bracelet. I'm completely won over by the color palette of Maire's bracelet, it so Monet! There is also something calming about the symmetrical design that seems to come from the inspiration of the painting too. To see more of Maire's work visit here etsy shop.

Want to see your work featured on the Art Bead Scene? Our theme for the month of May is Monet's Water Lilies. The deadline to enter for the monthly prize is May 31st! Create something that combines the theme with art beads and then send in your submission for the May Challenge.

Sundays with Cindy: Free Project for Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Ok, what am I doing posting this morning? I should be taking the day off but before I do, I want to share a quick and easy earring project that's on CindyGimbroneBeads.com, Modern Glass earrings. You can substitute the black links with the Ivory Bling links and use some colorful jump rings from Blue Buddha Boutique and you've got a completely different look.



While you're at it, see what magnificent Barbe Saint John made with the Skele'Bowz and Cavalerez beads.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts

Cindy's Beads & Barbe's Creativity add up to some great necklaces!



About.com Jewelry Making
Hook up with a cute little fiber flower charm and necklace project! Combine your crochet and jewelry making skills.

Art Bead Scene
Hello Spring! Goodbye self-control!

Art jewelry magazine
It's video madness at Art Jewelry and Addie gives you a peek behind-the-scenes.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi sews crocheted flowered into a soft new collar.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A special event inspired a special neclace, which now appears in a special issue of a bead magazine!

Jewelry & Beading
Combine wirework with seed beads for a one-of-a-kind necklace!

Katie's Beading Blog
Try your hand at tubular peyote stitch with Katie's free beading pattern, Delicious Donut Lariat.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Like Art Nouveau? See this lovely book by Judith Durant and Jean Campbell who explore great works from that period in jewelry projects!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a few beautiful fossilized coral beads.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares the new additions to his bead stash.



Don't forget to read yesterday's Studio Saturday. Leave a comment and be entered to win the Red, Yellow and Green Spiral from Cindy Gimbrone Beads!

Studio Saturday: Beadmakers Unite to Save Our History

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.

Last weeks winner is Kwiken! Congratulations! You have won a heart charm from Lynn Davis of Expedition D! Send us an e-mail with your address and we will get it right out to you.

Welcome to the studio of Cindy Gimbrone and Studio Saturday! Today I'm in the studio working on a reproduction of an ancient bead. It leads me to think outside of myself and about the beadmakers throughout history who have created these small works of art.

Art Bead Scene is a collective of beadmakers of all media, clay, glass, polymer, etc. Like you, dear reader, I'm a bead lover of all types, modern, vintage, Czech, artist made, ancient. I have a small collection of ancient beads and have blogged about "what came before." In the beadmaking community, it's important to acknowledge and preserve the work of the beadmakers who came before us. As a collective community, we are in danger of losing the one museum dedicated to the bead - The Bead Museum. (Photo below courtesy of The Bead Museum website.)



The Bead Museum in located in Glendale, Arizona and since the closing of the Bead Museum in Washington, DC is the only existing museum dedicated to the bead.

As beadmakers, we need to save our history and honor those who came before.

How can you help?

The Bead Museum shares 20 ways to love the Bead Museum.

On the homepage is a PayPal button so you can donate to their fund.

If you don't have the extra cash to donate, you can think about putting up an auction or an etsy item for sale and all proceeds are donated to the Bead Museum.

What about you? Do you believe it's important to honor those who came before? Do you have other ideas on what we can do to support The Bead Museum?



Tell me your thoughts in a comment and you'll be entered to win my Red, Yellow and Green Spiral. I look forward to reading your ideas and thoughts!

Art Bead Clasp

With an art bead and some wire you can create a custom clasp that is adjustable.

Supplies:
6" of wire - 18 gauge
2 metal spacers
1 art bead

Instructions:
1. Cut two 3” lengths of wire.

2. On the first wire, form a large wrapped loop. Cut off extra wire with wire cutters. Use the flat nose pliers to flatten the end closer under the loop.

3. String on a spacer, disk bead and spacer. Form another large wrapped loop, as in step two.

4. Take the other piece of wire, make a tiny loop at one end with the round nose pliers and flatten it with the flat nose pliers. Grasp the middle of the wire with the round nose pliers and pull it to form a hook curve. Create a looped wrap at the desired length of your clasp.

Designer Tips:

Experiment with different art beads for unique clasps for your necklaces or bracelets. You could use a very large focal bead for a clasp that demands more attention. A larger bead wouldn't work as a dangle, but would be a great way to showcase a favorite bead.

Try copper wire if you are new to wire-wrapping, it's soft and more affordable than sterling silver. I purchase my copper wire at the local hardware store.

Findings Worth Finding: Metal Lilies

Here are a few findings that I found on Etsy that fit this month's theme.

Lotus Pendant by Green Girl Studios, featured in Cathy Dailey's esty shop.

Brass Filigree from BeadSupplies

Krya Lotus from Hint
Vintaj Brass Waterlily Ring from Bluemarblebeads

Leaping frog Toggle Clasp from Lea Anne Hartman, featured in pixieindustries' etsy shop.

Bonus Sponsor!

Surprise! We have one more sponsor for this month's challenge and two more reasons to work on your entry today. Mary Harding Jewelry has donated two beautiful garden inspired ceramic pendants. One lucky winner will have quite a stash of beads! Can't wait to see what you create for the challenge.

May Challenge Prizes

I think today will be more show than tell. Here are the prizes for this month's challenge! Enter more than once if you feel inspired! Our theme is Monet's Water Lilies.

Our first sponsor is Chinook Jewelry who makes amazing ceramic pendants, charms and components. Chinook is giving 3 pendants: there’s a key connector, an organic circle pendant, and a cut out circle that can be used as a pendant or a closure.

And I (Humblebeads) am also sponsoring this month, since I love Monet's lilies! I've had a chance to see a few of them in my lifetime and the large, room-size paintings are amazing. I'm giving away a Monet 6-hole spacer bead, 2 Monet's Water Lily long beads and a set of Monet disk beads.

Pull out those art beads and join in the fun this month!

Monthly Challenge - Monet's Water Lilies

Water Lilies, 1916 by Claude Monet

The inspiration for this month's challenge is a lovely impressionist painting from Monet. Water Lilies were a series of approximately 250 paintings that Monet created over the last thirty years of his life. We can see his failing eyesight which translates into abstract colors and shapes over time. An impression of nature rather than a duplicate was the thrust of the work of the French Impressionists, of which Monet was one of the founders.

Have fun with this calm color palette of blues, purples and greens. Pull out the floral art beads, grab a few lotus/water lily inspired charms and let's see what you can come up with for this challenge!

Your entry this month can be influenced by the colors, pattern or whatever you choose to focus on for your creation. Just remember to include at least one art bead in your design.

The Prizes:
A winner will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on May 1st.
Our sponsors this month our Chinook Jewelry and Humblebeads, please visit us tomorrow to see the prizes!

Featured Designer of the Week!
From all the entries during the month, an editor is going to pick their favorite design to be featured every Monday here on the ABS. We want to give our participants more time in the spotlight! Our Featured Designer will be this Monday, so get those entries in soon.

How to enter the Monthly Challenge:
1. Create something using an art bead that fits within our monthly theme. This challenge is open to jewelry-makers, fiber artists, collage artist, etc. The art bead can be created by you or someone else. The challenge is to inspire those who use art beads and to see all the different ways art beads can be incorporated into your handiwork.

***Beads by themselves and beads simply strung on a chain or cord will not be accepted.***

2. Upload your photo to our flickr group. Detailed instructions can be found here and click here for a tutorial for sending your picture to the group. If you can't upload to Flickr, send your entry and information to Heather.

Please add the tag or title MAYABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one.

Deadline is May 31st. Photos are approved by our moderators, if a photo hasn't followed the guidelines it will not be approved. You may upload 2 photos a day.

What is an Art Bead?
An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here.

*** A bead that is handmade is not necessarily an art bead. Hill Tribe Silver, Kazuri ceramic beads or lampwork beads made in factories are examples of handmade beads that are not considered art beads.

p.s. If you have a blog, post your entry and a link to the ABS challenge to spread the beady goodness.

Sunday with Cindy: Color Inspiration Yellow

Spring is in the air! I love this time of year, the spring daffodils pop out of the ground and scream, "Spring!" I'm a yellow lover - all kinds of yellow so today, before we peruse the paper, I'd like to share a little color inspiration with you. I went to Flickr and typed in the word "yellow" and got a mountain of lovely photos - here are just two of them:


Yellow Flame Tree taken by Natasha on Flickr



Yellow Rose taken by comin or goin on Flickr



A pale yellow in this forsythia in my backyard, taken last week!

Ahhhhh...now that we've warmed up our eyes with color inspiration, let's see what's going on with the beady news....

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy has some knotting jewelry tutorials for you, as in making jewelry with fiber. It's an often inexpensive media that can add a unique twist to your jewelry designs.

Art Bead Scene
Wings are the backdrop for a visual treatise on creativity.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi turns a dried crab apple into something wearable.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie shares her thoughts on ethics in art and an example on how she used inspiration from another artist's work in her own work, finding her own expression with the idea without copying.

Jewelry & Beading
Use antique optical lenses to make wonderful mixed media jewelry!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Kim Miles is on the road and she is giving away beads as she blogs! Check it out!

Studio Saturday - Gifts of Collaboration

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.

Last weeks winner is Leslie. Congratulations! You have won one of Heather Powers' Dandelion Beads, you lucky duck! Send us an e-mail with your address in the suggestion box and we will get it right out to you.

Welcome to the ExpeditionD studio for a busy Saturday of creativity! As some of you who read my blog, I attended Artfest 2009 about a month ago now, it was a lot of learning and fun! I thought I'd share some thoughts about the conference and the influence on some of my own creativity since I've been back in the studio. And for more in-depth information about my Artfest experience I created a special blog, you can see lots of photographs and more information about the events!


When you arrive at Artfest there is a lot of trading that goes on the first few days, you get packages with beads and paper ephemera in it. I had created the 'ART' medal medallion piece before I left, but I wanted to finish it off with things that people gave to me at the event, to make it a collaboration of unusual items.



I noticed that some of the items combined with each other, and started to tell a story of their own. The cupid charm, the red heart medallion and the conch shell, all came to me from different directions, but they started to tell a story about art. In some cultures the conch shell stands in for currency, for money and barter exchanges. The cupid has a meaning of love, based on the ancient image of the roman god, the son of Venus, with his quiver full of arrows of love.



Being among so many creative people who work in different media, in an atmosphere of enthusiastic support, leads to an overflow of new ideas and sharing. I am betting that the Bead Cruise that Heather Powers organizes has this same energy, it's very different from being alone in your studio, creating!

If you get a chance to attend a conference or collaboration, or host a play date at your studio with a few friends, I think you'll agree that it opens up your possibilities for creativity and can open new directions for exploration!

So here's my question for today's Studio Saturday, I'd love to hear your thoughts about how to share a creative experience with friends or family, or an event you've wanted to attend:

Have you attended a creative conference to learn (or teach) a new technique or method of creativity, and how did it affect your work afterward? If you haven't done it yet, have you considered being the one who creates the opening, by inviting others to participate in shared creativity? What ideas and plans could you come up with to make fun collaborative creating an event you can share?

Leave a comment on this post and share your ideas or experiences to win one of my heart charms for your next project. Especially the results, love hearing how you changed and the fun you've had or plan to have soon!

Posted by Lynn Davis, who is finally done unpacking the supply bag that went to Artfest so the experience is officially over now, at least until next year.

Monthly Challenge Winner

Congratulations to Janet McDonald! You are the winner for this month's challenge. This entry was randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries this month. Janet has won a set of silver charms from Hint and buttons from Creative Impressions in Clay.

Join us on Monday for our next monthly challenge with new sponsors and prizes!