Showing posts with label heather millican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heather millican. Show all posts

Friday, January 22, 2016

Inside The Studio with Heather of Swoondimples

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 prize each week to encourage you to use that keyboard and tell us what you think. The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries. Here are the results from last week!


This week's winner is Gloria Allen. 
Congratulations Gloria! You have won a goody bag from the Curious Bead shop
Please contact Rebecca to claim your fab prize!

This week is my turn in the studio & I am stoked about it! I have been having a HOOT creating little wee polymer clay owls. A BIG thanks to Rebecca & Heather for encouraging everyone to create with the Pantone colors of the year, Serenity and Rose Quartz. Granted, I was a little disenchanted at first because these hues remind me of nursery decor and candy coated almonds. I do not like candy coated almonds, which speaks volumes because I will eat pretty much anything. I love food, especially sweets. However, once I read the reasoning behind why these colors were chosen, my heart was swayed. I can totally embrace Serenity & Rose Quartz. 



Plus, the colors remind me of the most brilliant bed linens my parents had when I was little. In the late 60's, cheerful florals were a huge trend and hues of Rose Quartz and Serenity blue were abundant! 


Now that I was in a nostaligic mindset, I began to reminisce of all the things I loved about growing up in the 70's. Pyrex dishes, macrame plant holders, and owl everything! I am pretty certain that my affinity for owls & birds is imprinted in my DNA via my mom. 

My inspiration for creating with the new Pantone colors was settled and I started experimenting with forming owl beads and pendants. My first batch was strictly Rose Quartz & Serenity and I was surprised at how complimentary the colors were together. They each exude unique & plumpy little personalities.



By the second batch, I was using an array of colors, combining minty hues with earth tones. (Funny, how truly naked they look before the patina transforms them)


Step 1 | Create & bake a large family of owls


Step 2 | Slather each owl with patina
I love this step as they remind me of petrified wood and I adore the deep earthy tones


Step 3 | Give owls a nice warm bath and gently exfoliate them
(It's spa day)

Step 4 | Massage each owl with shoe polish

Step 5 | Coffee time & glue Bails inside owls that will be used as pendants

Final Step | Tada! Give each little plump cutie a name


There you have it. Inside my studio this week - where owl production is in full effect! 
Hip Hip HooHoo Ray! Please swing by my shop and meet the whole family.

This week, I'm offering a $25 gift certificate to a lucky winner. 
Simply answer my question and comment below in order to be eligible to win.

"If you chose the Pantone color of the year, what would you choose and why?"

Good luck!


Heather Millican - Heather is an artist who strives to offer hope to those who may need encouragement. She is a lover of words and has a grand heart for the ones who feel too deeply, the brave, and those that find beauty in the mundane. Heather is a Savannah College of Art graduate and currently lives in Florida with her husband, 4 young boys, and boston terrier, Ollie.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Art of Awareness Blog Hop - with Rebecca of Songbead

Hello all! It's my turn here at Art Bead Scene today, and I wanted to share a blog hop that I'm taking part in today - and I'd guess a few of you may well be also! I'm posting this over at my own blog too but wanted to share this hop here today with you guys also. If you want to read a more personal side of this hop from me, check out my post here. And if you are taking part also, then I am really looking forward to seeing what you've created! 


Today is a special day - it's the Art of Awareness blog hop, organised by Lori Anderson and Heather Millican. I expect most of you are familiar with both of these wonderful ladies - Lori of the infamous Bead Soup Blog Parties and Heather is the bead artist behind Swoondimples, some of my absolute favourite art beads to work with. More importantly, they are two of the sweetest people that I have the good fortune to know, and I'm so glad that the art bead world has allowed me to get to know both of them and call them my friends! 


This hop was definitely a blog hop with a twist. Everyone who signed up got to choose and purchase a very special bean bead from Heather, in the colour and with wording of their choice. Because this is the Art of Awareness blog hop though, each colour had certain significance, and would have a special ribbon stamp on the back. 

I've never made any awareness jewellery before - I don't think it's quite such a trend over here in the UK, in fact the only awareness colour I knew off the top of my head was pink for breast cancer awareness. But what some of you may not know is that my wife has MS, having being diagnosed back in 2010. She's very well with it the majority of the time, and although she has certain ongoing symptoms from previous attacks, for the most part she's - we've - been very fortunate. Other than the old having MS in the first place. That's still quite a bummer, it must be said! 

The MS awareness colour is orange, and as you can see...


....orange is what I went for!

I've spoken more about MS and living with it in our lives, and why I chose the words I did over on my own blog, but I thought here that I'd talk more about actually designing the piece - something I found surprisingly hard!


I first of all got it into my head that I wanted to make a bracelet with my bean bead. And I tried and tried and tried.....but she just *did*not* want to become a bracelet. She dug her heels in good and proper!

I also found the orange quite a tricky colour to work with. Frequent visitors here and/or to my own blog will no doubt be puzzled by that, as orange is a colour I work with often - I love it, and the effect it has on other colours especially. But this orange was just slightly different to those with which I usually work - slightly softer, just the tiniest hint of peach to it, perhaps more of a tint (a colour mixed with white) than a fully saturated hue - the type of orange I would usually reach for. 


I also put extra pressure on myself for wanting to create something specifically for Helen herself. She is pretty fussy when it comes to jewellery, and I am still (after almost 9 years!) often surprised by the pieces of mine which she wants to wear, as opposed to just appreciate as a finished piece of jewellery.  And I wanted to tell the story of the words - the story behind the words - with my piece. No small order then!

Finally, yesterday afternoon I decided to have a hunt through a box of ceramic beads and see if I could find something to pair it with. And as sometimes happens (very happily, with a looming deadline!), my finished piece fell together. 

A simple combination of Kylie Parry ceramic bird and feather, Irish waxed linen cord and some new super-cute puffed daisies which arrived with me last week. The bird and the feather representing that strange juxtaposition of freedom and sense of home that seem to constantly pull against one another, and yet are both so important to both myself and Helen. And quite a different colour palette to that with which I would usually work - softer, more muted tones. Gentler, somehow. Accepting. Welcoming. (Plus, Helen wore it last night - win all round!)



Thanks Lori and Heather for organising this great event. Quite a personal one for me! Now take a minute if you can to check out what some of the others created:

Lori
Heather
Anderson
Millican
www.PrettyThingsBlog.com (hostess)
www.facebook.com/swoondimples (bead artist)
CandidaCastleberrywww.spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com
mischelleandradehttps://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
PaigeMaximhttp://delightfullittlegems.blogspot.com/
Laurie Vyselaar www.lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
MarybethRichhttp://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
AlicePetersonwww.alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
KimDworakhttp://www.cianciblue.blogspot.com/
AudreyBélangerhttp://esperianterra.blogspot.ca/
Karenmitchellwww.overthemoon-design.com
JoanWilliamswww.lilrubyjewelry.com
JeanWellsjeanawells.blogspot.com
AnnSchroederwww.beadlove.wordpress.com
GailAccinellifacebook.com/oregonmadejewelry
TaniaSpiveywww.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com
Mallory Hoffmanhttp://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/
Mary KMcGrawmkaymac.blogspot.com
ShaiWilliamswww.shaihasramblings.com/
BethEmerystoriesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
CatieDomanhttp://drcatie.blogspot.com
LoreleiEurtoHttp://lorelei1141.blogspot.com
LeeKoopmanwww.stregajewellry.wordpress.com
TammyAdamswww.paisleylizard.com/blog/
KatieNelsonhttps://www.facebook.com/katiebead
PattyMillerhttp://pattymillerbeads.blogspot.com
ChrisEisenbergwww.wanderware.blogspot.com
CassiPaslickhttp://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/
CharleeGriffithhttps://www.facebook.com/charlee.griffith
KelliNelsonwww.afamilyaffarekelli.blogspot.com
CatherineKinghttp://catherines-musings.blogspot.com
MelissaTrudingerbeadrecipes.wordpress.com
SusanBowiehttps://susanbowie.wordpress.com
JenniferJustmanwww.soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
CassiPaslickhttp://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/
KHutchinsonhttp://jumbledhutch.wordpress.com
VeralynneMalonewww.veradesigns.blogspot.com
Evie and BethMcCordhttp://ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com/
MihaelaGeorgescuhttp://michellemaya2005.wordpress.com
RebeccaAndersonWww.songbeads.blogspot.com
Charlene Jackawww.clay-space.com
KimStevenswww.pickingpoppies.blogspot.com
SusanMcClellandMistheword12.wordpress.com


GinaHockettwww.freestyleelements.blogspot.com
MonaArnottbijouxgemsjoy.blogspot.ca
SandiVolpewww.sandivolpe.com
AndreaGlickhttp://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
JanineLucashttp://www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
LoriBowring Michaudwww.artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
ChristieMurrowWww.charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com
B.R.Kuhlmanwww.mixedmayhemstudios.com
LupeMeterwww.gesmpccorner.blogspot.com
LucyBejaranowww.lucybejaranojewelry.blogspot.com/
StephaniePerrywww.mustardbeadbystephanieperry.blogspot.com
ElisabethAuldwww.beadsforbusygals.com
CarolynLawsonwww.carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
HeatherPowerswww.humblebeads.blogspot.com
KatieHackerwww.katiehacker.blogspot.com
KepiRasmussenwww.kepirasmussen.blogspot.ca 
Gail Vanderster-Zwangwww.angelmoose.blogspot.com
ElizabethHodgeshttp://thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com/