Sundays with Cindy

Good morning, Beady Readers! Wondering what's going on in the bead and jewelry world? Take a peek at our links and see.....

A Bead A Day
Is it too early to "think spring" or will that make it get here faster? Lisa used her Soft Flex Trios in an attempt to hurry spring along.

About.com Jewelry Making
Are you ready to load up on some Valentine's jewelry tutorials? Are you even making jewelry for this holiday?

Art Bead Scene
Meet the pretty girl with lots of brains plus a whole lotta soul!

Carmi's Art/Life World
After a week at CHA Carmi chooses the sweater surgery necklace as her favorite event.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Instead of biting her fingernails down to the nub, Cindy makes Grunge Beads!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie looks to the skies for the inspiration for some new cloud carvings

Jean Campbell
Jean met up with two very cool artists this week: Gorgeous wool designs (including wool beads!); wonderful women.

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi is so happy that the third year of the Bead Journal Project has started. This year, she's making a bead embroidered bracelet for each month of the project.

Snap Out of It Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
book review by jean: here's a cool title, harking back to the 60s...Crunchy Granola Charm eBook by Yvette Doss !

Strands of Beads
Melissa creates a new necklace design using cute heart beads from Rings & Things

Studio Saturday with Lorelei Eurto

This week we visit the studio of jewelry designer, Lorelei Eurto.

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 weeks winner is
Mary Jane Dodd! Congratulations!
You have won one a pair of Bead Buttons, from the studio of Tari Sasser.
Send Tari an e-mail with your address and she will get it right out to you.



Welcome to my very first Studio Saturday! I'm glad you stopped in! Lately, I've been wondering why I ever called my personal blog, Inside the Studio, because I rarely talk about what's going on in the studio, so this is a great opportunity for me to actually discuss where the inspiration is coming from, and what exactly it is that I'm working on.

This past week, I was able to work on several new designs that feature clasps at the forefront. After browsing through some of my sold jewelry, I realized that I really implement this design in my work a lot, but never seem to talk about why it is or how I come to this design when I'm in the midst of beading.

There are many reasons why a designer places the clasp at the front. In this case of this first simple charm necklace, I placed the Vintaj Brass swirly hook clasp at the front because it works well with the large 15mm jump ring that that charms dangle on. It also creates a nice flow up and around the back of the necklace, creating a comfortable piece.

Sometimes it's because the clasp is interesting or a work of art in and of itself! Here, I used a beautiful Shibuichi bronze Bird toggle from Green Girl Studios. This piece has to be in the front of the necklace, because it's an eye catcher, and you wouldn't want to hide in the back of the necklace! Although, with this piece, any part of the necklace could be the front, so in reality if the wearer, had her hair up, an eye-catching clasp could be interesting at the back of the neck.





Placing this handmade toggle at the front of this necklace created a more cohesive piece and helped provide a nice flow around the back. The design with these seed beaded links, doesn't need to be interrupted with a clasp at the back. Using a toggle makes it easy to hang the main pendant or focal from the toggle ring. Here, I've used a jump ring and attached it to the hole in the hammered ring. See the detail.





Here, I created a necklace similar to the first charm necklace where the focal dangles from a large 15mm jump ring. Instead of the swirly hook, I used a handmade S clasp that hooks into an additional smaller jump ring that is attached the larger ring. One thing to keep in mind when creating your own clasps and using the clasps at the front, you don't want to take attention away from the focal, so keep the clasp smaller, will help blend it into the design. I usually gauge it on how wide the necklace is where the clasp is attached and keep the clasp at that same width.

The question this week is,

What is your favorite way to incorporate a clasp as the focal in your designs?



Leave a comment on this post, and you'll
be entered to win this cool handmade
ceramic clasp from Gaea!

The winner will be chosen randomly.

The Pliers Hierarchy

While raiding your husband's tool box for those first pair of pliers may have worked when your jewelry-making fever first struck, it's always recommended to buy the best tools you can afford.  So what exactly does a good set of pliers run and which ones are the best?  Well, it just so happens that Tracy Stanley gave us the 411 on the Bead Cruise so I thought I'd pass the scoop along to you.

We've featured Lindstrom pliers before and it took me a good 15 years of jewelry making before I finally invested in them.  Ah, what was I waiting for?  These are heaven, your hand never gets tired forming those wrapped loops.  If you have a wish list, put these on it!  Lindstrom pliers are around $50 a pair. They are of the highest quality and will last a lifetime.

A good middle of the road pair are German made pliers.  I actually bought this pair as my first pliers. They are rosary pliers and have a cutter on one side, very handy.  They lasted for many a year until I lost them in a move.  There are other pliers out there of similar quality and price.  Sharilynn Miller wrote a great review on Baby Wubbers.  These pliers range from $20-30 a pair.

And then there are the ones that you use in a pinch or picked up because they were a good deal.  What can I say, we do what we can do, right?  You'll find pliers made in China and Pakistan for $3-10.  The problem with inexpensive pliers is you get what you pay for. Round nose ones may not be round!  There may be mars or imperfections that ruin your wire.  They are not as durable or as comfortable as the higher quality.  So if you are finding results in your wire work that are less than satisfactory, it may not be you, it may be those pliers!

Do you have a favorite brand of pliers to recommend?  We'd love to hear about it.

All photos from Rings & Things.

Faux Etched Metal

Love the look of etched metal, but not crazy about the chemicals? 

On the Bead Cruise, instructor Tracy Stanley showed us how to use texturing plates to achieve an etched metal look without the chemicals! She simply taped the metal blank and texture plate down to her bench block and hammered away to impress the texture onto the metal. Pure genius! For mine, I used Vintaj altered blanks and sanded the surface to bring out the texture. Tracy showed examples using copper and then antiqued them in liver of sulfur. At first I thought her examples were etched metal, they were fantastic!

Brass texture plates are generally used for PMC and can be found at places like PMC123.

Tracy is a fun and fearless teacher that encourages experimentation and creativity in her classes.  If you have the chance I highly recommended signing up for one of her upcoming classes at Bead & Button!

Small Tokens of Kindness

"Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together."

-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

 

Raku Pendant with Peace Sign by Jubiliee

Kind Words Conquer by SwoonDimples/Heather Wynn

Silver Dove of Peace Charm by Hint

 

Disaster Relief for Haiti:

American Red Cross

Salvation Army

UNICEF

Just Another Travelin' Song

The Bead Cruise flew by way too quickly this year. It was the best ever. I'm just not ready to admit my vacation is over! So in honor of my wayward and traveling heart, here are some fab map pendants from Chella's Collection by Julie Coash. 

Cool Tool-Hand Jive

This is a cool little tool I found at Lee Valley. It is a Jewellers Hand Vise that allows your wire to go up through the handle. This way it doesn't add any unwanted kinks.

How cool is that!

Featured Designer of the Week-Rosebud101

This weeks featured designer Mary Rose 21/Rosebud101
"The Color of Snow"

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

This week Tari of Creative Impressions In Clay chose Rosebud 101

Here's what she had to say about her entry.

"I love the variation of shapes and sizes of the glass. The color of the lampwork beads reflect the color of shadows. The woven chain remind me of the branches crisscrossing."

See more of Mary Rose's creations on her blog and etsy shop.

The Magpie by Claude Monet

copyright Musee d'Orsay

Sundays with Cindy

Good morning, Beady Readers! Wondering what's going on in the bead and jewelry world? Take a peek at our links and see.....


About.com Jewelry Making
Catch up on the latest jewelry related podcasts. Tammy found some excellent ones for you to listen to.

Art Bead Scene
Do You Rock? Here's your chance to show others that you do!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has an easy idea to thank a sponsor.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
An Emily Dickinson poem describes Cindy's newest piece of jewelry.

Jewelry & Beading
How do you feel about using inexpensive materials in your designs? Chime in and let your voice be heard!

Snap Out of It Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Want to know what rubber duckies and Autism Awareness jewelry have to do with each other? Check Jean's site out!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a new earring design made from beautiful cubic zirconia from Artbeads.com

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares the new additions to his bead stash - goodies from Cindy Gimbrone, Diane Hawkey, and Nancy Schindler.

Studio Saturday with Creative Impressions In Clay

This week we visit the studio of Tari Sasser at Creative Impressions In Clay.

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 weeks winner is Sharon Driscoll of Right Turn ArtWerks. Congratulations! 

You have won one of Jangles Heart Pendants from the studio of Jennifer Heynen. 

Send Jennifer an e-mail with your address and she will get it right out to you.

I can't believe it's almost the end of January! There are so many things I have wanted to do to start the beginning of the year. Mainly get organized and clean my studio. Instead I have been stuck working other things like taxes. Such an arduous task and one I dislike tremendously but the government wants their cut.
My goal since last year has been to start painting again. I miss taking the time and doing something I don't have to do, but want to do. Somehow doing the dishes, picking up the house, cleaning my studio and in general taking care of a family, doesn't quite fill that void. We artists are funny that way. I need to stretch myself creatively. 
One of the good things about being a part of Art Bead Scene and Studio Saturday's is that I make myself do things I generally don't make time for in my schedule. I have had blank bags in my studio for quite a while. It was time to paint. Last night I painted this little bag. OK, scheduling is not my forte. Showing something new was important to me so I stayed up to work on the bag. I found myself remembering painting class in school. The technique I wanted to achieve was always something loose. Of course painting loose eluded me. Leslie, my prof, told me "it's harder to paint loose than tight." For me that was correct. My training was graphic arts the first time around art school.  Painting realism was what was asked of us. 
The bag is my beginning of the new year. I'm not quite happy with the results so far but it's a start.

I am going to paint this year. It could me furniture, bags maybe even a canvas but I'm going to paint.

I found myself last night as I was drifting off to sleep seeing paint strokes...nice.


My question this week is:

Where do you get your ideas or like to create/design?

I see ideas in my head as I am trying to sleep or sometimes in my dreams.

Life is short Create!

Leave me a comment and you could win a set of Bead Buttons shown above.
Winner will be chosen randomly.

Call for Entries: Bead Dreams 2010

Bead and Button's
2010 Bead Dreams Contest

Joan Miller's “Mermaid and Sea Creatures” 

(made from porcelain&porcelain slip)

FIRST PLACE, handmade beads and buttons, Bead Dreams 2007

Categories this year

I, as are many other ceramic clay artists, am happy to see the first category return. Tonya Davidson of Whole Lotta Whimsy (fellow clay artist) is the sponsor of this category.

1. Handmade Buttons or Beads - NEW for 2010 - A unified collection of 4 or more buttons or beads in any media including but not limited to ceramic, raku, resin, bone, etc. (This excludes lampworked, glass, polymer clay, metal clay, and beaded beads.) 2. Wirework - NEW for 2010 - This category will include jewelry, accessories, handmade beads, jewelry-related objects and sculptural objects that are made predominately with wire or in which the primary techniques used are wirework techniques. 3. Lampwork / Glass This category will include beads, buttons, components, jewelry, or jewelry-related objects that are 85% or more glass made by the applicant. Entries that use someone else's glass beads or components should be entered in the Finished Jewelry category. 4. Polymer Clay: This category will include beads, buttons, components, jewelry, or jewelry-related objects that are 85% or more polymer clay. 5. Beaded Objects or Accessories: This category will include a non-jewelry item or accessory, including, but not limited to, purses, shoes, sculptures, or wall hangings. 6. Seed Bead Jewelry: This category will include beaded beads, a piece, or an ensemble of jewelry, that is predominantly seed beads or bugle beads, including, but not limited to, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. 7. Crystal Jewelry: This category will include a piece, or an ensemble of jewelry, that is predominantly machine-cut crystals, including, but not limited to, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. Jewelry made using fire-polished beads, or cathedral beads, should be entered in the Finished Jewelry category. 8. Finished Jewelry: This category will include a piece, or an ensemble of jewelry, that is made from materials such as, but not limited to, glass beads, crystals, semi-precious stones, wire, metal clay, seed beads (piece must be less than 50 percent seed beads), found objects, etc. 9. Metal Clay: This category will include beads, buttons, components, jewelry, or jewelry-related objects that are 85% or more metal clay.

Deadline for entry is April 5, 2010
Entries are only taken online.
Click here for the application.

Get your Buttons & Beads On and enter!

Bead and Button Show
Marketplace June 11-13 
Classes begin on June 6.

Fit to Print Book Review: Enchanted Adornments

Cynthia Thornton’s book, Enchanted Adornments has rave reviews. It’s beautifully illustrated and pulls the reader in like a novel with the stories of each piece of jewelry. It’s lovely, it’s magical, it’s beautiful.

It’s also something you might not have noticed – a very practical guide to creating with polymer clay, resin, precious metal clay and mold making.

Last summer, I blogged about my first mold ever. Andrew Thorton (Cynthia's brother) left a comment on the post about how I should ask Cynthia about mold making since she was a master mold maker. How her book had an entire chapter dedicated to moldmaking.

Andrew knew what we all can miss - inside Enchanted Adornments is a very practical guide with an extensive section on moldmaking and tips on creating good molds. Then there are the tips through out the book, e.g., saving scraps of wire to make button shanks (what a great tip!).

All that practicality is wrapped up in such a lovely book, you can overlook it. Enchanted Adornments is like the pretty girl with brains- you think she's just pretty but it's delightful packaging for considerable expertise and knowledge. For example, page 12 is entitled, "Deconstruction." It's only one page but is a comprehensive discussion on how you can take an abstract source of inspiration and break it down into components you can use to create a piece of art (jewelry.)

Cynthia Thornton knows her media inside and out. I was impressed with her discussion on how to work polymer clay and I am in love with the Owl Ojime Necklace on page 66. I absolutely love the Window of the Heart Bezel Pendant and take out the book to stare at it regularly. I've never seen anyone do shrink plastic as well. Shrink plastic is fun but can look cheap. Cynthia is a maestro and uses shrink plastic in just the right piece with her Petal Cascade Hairpin and earrings project on page 62. Showing off her talents in resin and wire, the delicate Woodland Wings on page 80 will make you run down to the craft store to stock up on resin just so you can create these lovely translucent beauties.

Enchanted Adornments is beautiful, magical AND practical. Cynthia Thornton weaves her considerable knowledge and practical advice into beautifully illustrated enthralling storytelling.

Eclectic Bracelet Project

Hi there! I thought I would pass along some instructions for a fun bracelet. I am in love with combining found objects with my Jangles ceramic beads.
Enjoy!
Jennifer Heynen

Eclectic Bracelet
Supplies Needed:

• Jangles ceramic toggle
• 2 original Jangles ceramic beads
• 6 found objects for charms, (keys, dice, game pieces, bottle caps, etc)
• Approximately 24 inches of seed beads mix
• 30 inches of beading wire
• 8 headpins for making charms
• 4 1mm crimp beads

Instructions:

1. Make eight charms with headpins and the beads and objects you have for the bracelet.
2. Cut the beading wire into three equal strands. Crimp the three strands to the loop of the toggle.
3. Lay out the eight charms evenly spaced on your work table.
4. Start stringing some of the seed beads on each strand of beading wire.
5. As your stringing, add the charms to the bead wires so they are spaced evenly along the bracelet. I have 2-3 charms on each strand that way the bead strands hang evenly on your wrist.
6. Once you have the three strands strung to the correct length for your bracelet, string all three strands though three seed beads.
7. String one crimp on to all three strands and crimp to the toggle bar.
8. Trim any excess wire.

Pantone Color Report Spring 2010: Splashes of Sunshine

This is the Pantone Color Report for Spring 2010. As you can see, the colors are bright and fun, Summery and remind me of a nice Caribbean vacation but with a few muted and earthy tones mixed in. These are perfect colors to work with and as it turns out, I had just about every color in my bead stash.
I had fun putting them all together into a bead organizer. See below!

Then I went back through my stash and pulled out some art beads that would go with the color choices here. I labeled them for your convenience.

Just writing up this post was inspiring and I really wish I could stay home and bead.
But I'm keeping these out so that when my muse hits, they'll be at an easy reach.
I hope that you feel inspired to put together some fun and bright designs using
these color ideas. I think they'd even go well all together in once piece.
Okay don't get crazy, Lorelei.
:)

Designer of the Week Azure Islands

Each Monday we feature the Designer of the Week. One of our editors pick their favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's featured designer is Heather Cote of Azure Islands Designs with her entry, "Monet Winter"


ABS editor Jennifer Heynen says this about her work...
I like everything about Heathers Necklace. The simple all white palette is striking and I love the multiple strands of beads and chain for added flair.

Sundays with Cindy

Good morning, Beady Readers! Wondering what's going on in the bead and jewelry world? Take a peek at our links and see.....

About.com Jewelry MakingTammy has developed a quick link list to help you find the jewelry info you need.

Art Bead Scene
January's Art Bead Scene Challenge is a snowy landscape with a solitary magpie painted by Monet.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has a special Paris post on photographing jewelry.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Rewind: Cindy's Art Noveau inspired Stile Floreal bronze clay pendants.

Jean Campbell
Oh, geez. Jean's tooting her horn again about her new book, Steampunk Style Jewelry...

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi wants to know, wanna be facebook friends?

Katie's Beading Blog
See pix of Katie's workshop offerings for the Bead & Button Show in June. Registration opened this week and classes are already filling up!

Strands of Beads
Melissa has a fun time exchanging bead stashes with a friend to create a new bracelet.

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 Gail W.. Congratulations you've one of Cindy's Double Dips in Ivory. Send Cindy an e-mail and she will get it right out to you.



Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 2010? I always like January for lots of reasons, first of all it's my slow time of the year for business. This means I actually have time to experiment and try all those projects I have been wanting to get to all year. Second, It's time to clean out and third, we get to plan out a new year.

In January, I tweak my jewelry line. I like to take my best sellers, get rid of my least popular items, and then design some new work. The Buyers Market of American Craft is next month. I will be there wholesaling my jewelry. I have already shipped my booth display off to the Market and now it's time to get all the jewelry finished up.

Another thing I do in January is have a big studio clean out. Things can pile up in here over the year and especially the holidays. I am ordering supplies for my jewelry and my bead mixes. When I clean up I can easily figure out what I need to order. As a result of my big cleaning spree I have a annual sale. It's call the Jangles Studio Clean Out Sale and it's going now.

Lastly, I am working on new beads for Valentines day. You guys here at the Art Bead Scene are getting a sneak peek. I am going to put them up in the Etsy shop and blog about them next week, none of the Jangles Blog readers have seen these yet.

My question for the week is this, What is something new you would like to try in 2010?

Leave me a comment here and a commenter will be randomly chosen to win one of my heart pendants.

Happy Saturday!

Jennifer Heynen
Jangles

Join Us at the ABS Carnival

It's a new year and the Art Bead Scene has a new idea. There's alot of talent among our readers which comes through loud and clear in your insightful and thoughtful comments and beautiful jewelry you submit to the ABS Flickr group. So, the ABS wants to kick it up a notch and invite you to join us for a monthly ABS blog carnival!

What is a Blog Carnival? A Blog Carnival is a collection of blog posts on a given theme. If you'd like to take a look at one, I hosted a Lampwork Carnival whose theme was,"Sculpture on a Mandrel" back in 2006.

Look like fun? Want to know more?

The Art Bead Scene will host a blog carnival on the second Wednesday of each month beginning in February.



You're thinking, "Great! What do I need to do as a writer for the ABS Blog Carnival?"

Sign up!

Write a blog post on a secret theme. (Themes will be announced to those who sign up.)

Submit your article in advance to me (ABS editor Cindy Gimbrone.)

Publish your article on your own blog on the 2nd Wednesday of the month.

That's it!

Blog Carnivals are a great way for our readers to write for ABS and show off their own blogs! Sound like fun? If you'd like to join the ABS Blog Carnival, then send an email to Cindy at cindygimbrone@yahoo.com and let me know you'd like a ticket to ride!


(Thanks to Copyright-free-pictures.org.uk for the fair photos.)

Do you rock?

You guys should totally enter, Art Bead Scene readers do rock!

News from Rings & Things:

Boost your inspiration! Start designing now for Rings & Things' 2010 "Your Designs Rock" Contest! It's not just a jewelry contest — your entry can be anything, as long as it includes components sold by Rings & Things.

Entries are accepted January 1 through February 28, 2010, but don't wait to start designing. Enter by February 5 and we'll include you in our Early-Bird Raffle for the chance to win a goodie bag! Enter for the first time and we'll include you in our New-Entrant Raffle for another chance to win a goodie bag!
The 2010 design contest categories are Glass/Crystal, Gemstones/Pearls, Mostly Metal, Metal Clay and Found Objects/Miscellaneous. Winners will be announced in June.

The 2010 Grand Prize is a $750 Rings & Things credit. First-Place Winners (one for each category) will win $250 R&T credits. Honorable Mention Winners will receive $75 R&T credits.

For full details, visit www.rings-things.com/contest.

Winter Inspiration

Here are a few choices from our sponsor's shops that fit this month's challenge. 

Ceramic beads from Macarroll

Humblebeads can currently be found at Bellomodo.com

Lampwork beads from SueBeads

Monet's Magpie painting is this month's challenge theme and the entries so far are awesome!

Yolk

I stumbled across a new Etsy shop recently by the name of Yolk. Yolk is a perfectly fitting name for this shop as the artist, J. Brooke Patterson, creates little masterpieces using quail eggs! Small eggs are filled with original paintings/drawings and filled with clear resin. Adorable! It says in her profile that she's even done this with large eggs, as large as ostrich eggs. That'd make a tough pendant but the quail eggs are the perfect size to turn your necklaces into Art Bead masterpieces!
I am totally smitten with these little pendants. Read more about J. Brook Patterson:

"J. Brooke Patterson is an artist currently working in Oakland, CA. In 1993, she earned her BA degree in Art from UC Berkeley, where she focused on drawing and printmaking. While attending university, she started the J. Brooke Wallpaper Studio, a business specializing in handpainted wallcoverings. For some years she had made these egg ornaments for friends and family, simply using chicken eggs. In 1996, she began selling them through an Open Studios holiday event in Berkeley, CA, where they quickly sold out. Since then, she spent more and more time working with a variety of eggshells, from as small as finch to as large as ostrich. In 2000, it became a full-time artistic pursuit, and she now exhibits in many shows and stores throughout the country."

Check out her shop! And tell her I sent you, if you end up buying one! While your surfing, check out more of her work with other eggs at http://www.blogger.com/www.jbrooke.com

Written by: Lorelei Eurto
http://www.lorelei1141.etsy.com/
blog: http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/

Designer of the Week: mairedodd

Each Monday we feature the Designer of the Week. One of our editors pick their favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's featured designer is mairedodd! with her entry, "winterberries and la pie."



ABS Editor Cindy Gimbrone says mairedodd described the necklace so perfectly, she'll will let her speak for herself:

"cindy gimbrone's glass instantly reminded me of snow and ice, frost in the woods...its free form is so organic... i created an icicle-y, berry cluster... a winding winterberry branch with glass headpins and fibers... opaque and translucent... faceted and smooth... light and shadow... a small sterling disc is stamped with a shivering bird perched in the falling snow..."

See more at of mairedodd's wonderfully eclectic jewelry ather Etsy and Art Fire shops. Read how she creates and lives life on her blog.

Sundays with Cindy

Good morning, Beady Readers! Wondering what's going on in the bead and jewelry world? Take a peek at our links and see.....

A Bead A Day
If you are looking for some unique findings to use in your valentine jewelry (or Twilight jewelry), Lisa uses some interesting domed filligree pieces to house a bright red mysterious bead.

About.com Jewelry Making
Artfire, Zibbet, Etsy, which of these is the right selling venue for your jewelry?

Art Bead Scene
ABS Rewind: Art Bead Scene isn't just about art beads, it's about artist made buttons too!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Demon Monkeys appear in Carmi's projects this week.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy's made a New Year's resolution to clean out the studio with a January clearance sale!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie starts the new year with a new source of inspiration... a project she calls Song Lore.

Jean Campbell
Jean is sharing stories and images this week about her stops in CA. Monterey brought the most creative inspiration of all.

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi has started a new series, called "What would you do" to discuss some of the sticky dilemmas we face in jewelry making.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Looking for just the right clasp? Lorelei reviews a few from Artbeads.com.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean meets a cool new friend who offers us a great jewelry teaching site!

Strands of Beads
Melissa is the author of Softflex Company's Spotlight On...Article for January 2010

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
A luminous Golden Cloud Series Basha Bead inspires Andrew to create a bracelet ready to take flight!