4th Day of Christmas :: The Hoots Family Reunion

I went a little nutty making owl pendants last weekend. Every so often I revive the owls and try to add something new. This time I added a whole family of owls to the collection!

I call this the Hoots Family Reunion.

I decided to give them all names, because every time I make one, no two are alike, and the each have distinct personalities that I have no idea who they will be until I put my hands to their little bodies. The only thing I wanted to be sure is that they each got some winterwear, scarves and hats.

I had been playing around with a Stroppel cane this fall that uses up scrap cane clay. I really enjoy making that. So much so that I find myself purposely creating 'scrap' clay to do it! It looked a lot like knitwear, so that is what inspired me.

Then I decided that different branches of the Hoots family would be swooping in for the festivities. First came the Jingle Bunch: Merry, Joy and Pax. They came all the way from the frozen tundra. They have a slightly different look (as they are distant cousins) and are snowy owls, of course, all bundled up in their brightly colored hats and scarves.

And finally came the Northwoods brothers: Fraser, Balsam and Noble. These great grey owls are burly and large with booming hoots that announce their presence. They hail from the northern Rockies and live in tallest fir trees. Their lumberjack buffalo check hats and scarves keep them toasty and they each have a different personality.

Wouldn't these look cute all nestled in the branches of a tree? I thought that with the addition of some wire and some leftover beads they would make a great tree ornament. And of course, once the holiday is over, they can easily be strung on a necklace for a gift that keeps on giving.

Do you have a bin of old jewelry that never sold, or didn't work? If so, you have a great start to ornaments! Earrings and pendants easily translate into adornments for your holiday tree. Last year I made some necklaces with my favorite little Humblebeads houses. These remaining necklaces that didn't sell were languishing in a box... until I removed the pendants and turned them into ornaments. I am sure that you have a box like that in your craft room that has a lot of potential for ornaments. These deserved to be loved and I hope they find a new home on someone's tree this Christmas.

If you are interested in welcoming your own Hoots Family Reunion, the pendants are available in my shop. I have various ones available for immediate shipping (PM me), or I will custom make them for you! They would love to fly in to keep you company over this long cold season. But they are limited edition for the winter and will fly away come spring!

P.S. The free shipping is still on in my shop! (Don't let the 12/4 deadline fool you!) Get your bundles while you can!

Inside the Studio :: Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati

Welcome to Inside the Studio! 

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.
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  This weeks winner is  Carol of Dillman's Dallies. Congratulations!
You have won a Jack-O-Lantern pendant from Gaea Cannaday of Gaea Handmade.

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This week we visit the studio of Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati Jewelry.

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 I have small but mighty group of talented designers who have signed onto my
Simple Truths Sampler Club.  

Each month, I promise to send them a goodie in the form of one of my Simple Truths polymer clay designs. These will be limited edition and available first to the Club members but then possibly released to the public at the full retail value through my Etsy site.
They don't get to choose, but they tell me that is part of the fun!

This year, I decided that instead of making what the spirit moved me to do, I would challenge myself to make something inspired by the artwork chosen for the monthly Art Bead Scene challenges. Sometimes that is a daunting thing to do because I am so very inspired, and just like you, sometimes I am not inspired at all! But it is an extra challenge to me to come up with something new and exciting every month, it helps me push my creative boundaries and try new techniques, plus the Challenge Art is just so darned impressive, that it is a joy to create! 

I hope that my Club members enjoy what they get (I have several members who keep coming back year after year, so they must love it) and I love to see what they do (I have a Pinterest Board devoted to their clever and inspiring designs). 

Want to see what you may have missed out on? Here is a look at the limited edition offerings that my Simple Truths Sampler Club has received in 2013:

It's really gratifying to see all the progress that I made this year! I have tried new techniques, like carving my own molds in January, using an open backed bezel in March, making my own scenic canes for the first time in June and a Stroppel cane in August and even hand sculpting a design in September.

So, you might be asking,  what is next for the Simple Truths Sampler?
I am not really sure, but I already have designs in the works (read: in my overworked brain ;-) for November and December (I picked the art for December and I am so excited to share it with you!).  I guess you will have to stay tuned to find out! And I can't wait to see what happens next year! I intend to keep this plan in place for the 2014 Club as well. And while there are only a maximum of 20 spaces available any month (there are spaces open now, you know, in case you are interested), I would love to have you. You can choose from 3-, 6-, 9- or 12- months subscription that suits your budget and needs. 

Wouldn't that make a great gift for a jewelry designer you love? (Or you! Especially you! ;-)

Since this month the theme of the painting features an owl, and I recently released two new owls to join my parliament of Woodsy and Motley owls - Snowy and Great Grey - I gave a choice to the Club members of one of the four types of owls. And of course, I have a few left from this batch that haven't made it into jewelry for my holiday shows or the new boutique that is carrying my owl jewelry. 

I will select one of the remaining owls (surprise!) to fly to the home of a random winner drawn on October 25th if you answer one of these questions: 

If you regularly participate in the ABS monthly challenges, why do you do it? 

 or

If you do not regularly participate in the ABS monthly challenges, what would encourage you to participate more? 

We have over 3,000 members who follow us regularly from around the world. And there are likely many, many more that also follow us. We would love to see more entries in our Monthly Challenge Recap/Blog Hop and have been making changes around here to spruce things up and bring you even more inspiration. We would love to have your feedback! We can't thank you enough for being a part of our Art Bead world and look forward to the future!

A Parliament of Owls

An image very commonly seen recreated in art bead form is that of the humble owl. Renowned as a symbol of wisdom, owls seem to hold within them that winning combination of reverence and whimsy; sophistication and humour. I love that the collective noun is a parliament - it goes so well with the idea of their quiet wisdom, but with the twinkle you just know that the art beads at any rate, have in their wee eyes. I can't get enough of them, and I thought I'd share some of my as yet unused parliament with you.

Outside circle from bottom centre going clockwise - Green Girl Studios, Glass Daft, Daisy Chain Extra, Soul Silver, Humblebeads, Round Rabbit, Summers Studio, Floridity, Soul Silver, Glass Daft, Humblebeads.

Centre circle going clockwise - Tesori Trovati, SummerStudio, Tree Wings Studio, Soul Silver.

I love that each of these is so recognisably an owl, but they are all so different - especially the five polymer clay owls! Two beads, two pendants and one polymer charm. Each has it's own character and mood - you can just read it in their faces and their wide eyes! 

Here are just a few of my favourite favourites:

Soul Silver

Sally is an glass artist based in my homeland of Scotland. Her glassy creations are truly astonishing and she is quickly becoming one of my very favourite bead artists to work with. Along with owls, her signature dolls are popular in her easy shop, but watch out too for her wee elephant beads that pop up from time to time! I have a selection of Sally's owls and one of my favourite things about her winged creatures is that she doesn't feel restrained by the colours that nature prescribed. This beautiful pink and blue owl is the perfect example of that, and quite possible my favourite Soul Silver owl so far. I love the eyebrow decoration - there's something a little bollywood about this one!

Daisy Chain Extra

He's come out a little fuzzy in the photographic wash, but trust me, Jo's limited edition antique copper owl clasp is a beauty. I believe she originally designed him for one of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Parties (check out her blog for details of the next event which is just around the corner!) and then decided to make a few more for her component shop. I was lucky enough to snag one, I hope he'll be happy with his owly friends for a little longer as I'm just not ready to use him yet! Special pieces which I know I may not be able to work with again usually hang around in my bead stash for a good while...

Round Rabbit

And speaking of special pieces which I know I may not be able to get my hands on again due to their limited nature......this unglazed owl is a couple of years old now, but still absolutely one of my favourite Round Rabbit pieces from my ever-growing collection. However, can you see my problem? He's been kept alongside some other art beads and goodness, he needs a good wash now! Anyone have any tips on cleaning unglazed porcelain? If not, he might just have to stay with me forever - a little dusty but well-loved nonetheless.

Do you have a favourite image that you can't help but covet when in art bead form? Do owls capture your imagination like they do mine?

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer and singer, currently living in Manchester, England. You can read more about beads and singing at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com.

Friday Picks - Into the Woods

In celebration of autumn here are a few woodland inspired art beads and pendants.

(Left to right)

1. Gaea  2. Spirited Earth  3. Kylie Parry

4. Creative Impressions in Clay  5. Out West   6. Iced Moments

7. Chinook Jewelry   8. Humblebeads

9. Cindy Gimbrone  10. Lynn Davis