Monday, December 9, 2013

Amuse Your Muse Mondays with Rebecca of Songbead

Brr! Is it getting really cold yet with you? I know some people will have seen snow and hail and the rest of it by now! I am currently in Edinburgh right now, where we have had wind, sleet and a very little snow, but all in all it's not been too bad - so far... I'm off to London for the Handmade Christmas show at the o2 this coming weekend, and I'm hoping that the weather will be kind to us for the long drive between the two capitals. Needless to say I have a ridiculous amount of work to do between now and then to get things prepared…..

Thanks so much to everyone who shared links last week! It's so fantastic to see what you guys are getting up to, and to see what wonderful art beads you have discovered. 

First up, Liona of Blue Merlin Creations shared this beautiful necklace she created, featuring one of Sally Sutherland's gorgeous fairy beads. Wow!



Tracee Dock of The Classic Bead shared this beautiful ceramic snowflake of hers - I love it's rusticity! {And pssst - she's also having a sale right now - 20% off purchases over $25 with 20OFF4ME!}



And this beautiful limited edition Winter Snowflake Bird from our very own Erin of Tesori Trovati. Isn't he gorgeous? I think he would make a rather fabulous statement necklace focal piece, or even a very *very* special holiday ornament. 


Remember to share your snow and ice art bead finds (and your jewellery featuring them!) in the comment below to have them featured next week :-)

And now for the BeadBlogger Links. Have a great week!















Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer, currently living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. You can read more about her and her work at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com. She also has a supplies shop at thecuriousbeadshop.etsy.com.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Inside the Studio with Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati

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.

Congratulations Erin Strother! You have won a dragonfly button from Tari Sasser. Please send Tari an e-mail with your information.
 
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Today we visit the studio of Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati.

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I started designing jewelry in 2005 as a creative release. 
And I quickly amassed quite a collection. 
What to do with all these baubles?
 
 Perhaps you can relate.
 
At the same time, I was also asked to donate to a lot of local organizations for their silent auctions and fundraising efforts. One day the light bulb went on and I realized that I had a treasure trove of items that would net them more profit for sale than if I were to give them a straight donation. That was when I decide that I needed business cards and a web presence (because no one would likely buy jewelry that was made by someone unknown named Erin Prais-Hintz ;-).
 
Ever since that time, I have informally pledged to donate items to various causes, mostly local, that were near and dear to my heart. I try to do this monthly.

Sometimes I have to approach the causes, and sometimes the cause present itself. Such is the case with the recent tragedy in the Philippines.

My friend Andrew Thornton has relatives who live there and were displaced by this monumental storm. That puts a whole new face on the tragedy when it affects someone that you know.  So he asked some of his artist friends to help raise money to get it to where it is needed most. I enthusiastically said yes.

One of my favorite necklaces I have created with the message
'we are but one tiny pebble, our circle widening' - brought in $65 for good!
You see, I have a lot of blessings in my life. Can you relate? I am sitting here in my house, cozy and warm, typing away on my laptop, enjoying a snack and watching one of my favorite movies - Groundhog Day - on television. My husband is sleeping peacefully next to me, and my kids are plotting what gadgets and gizmos they want for Christmas in their dreams. It is hard to fathom losing everything that you have worked for in one swift moment. It is hard to imagine sitting on a pile of rubble that was once a home trying to pick up the pieces - literally. It is hard to think of not having clean water, a weather-proof shelter, food to eat, a bathroom. I can't even begin to know how that must feel.
 
But someone is having to deal with that reality right this moment.

Almost a month has passed since the typhoon swept whole villages to the sea a half a world away. It is easy to forget that there are people suffering still, since it is not on the news the way it was when the sting was fresh. But these people on the other side of the world will be dealing with this for months, and years, to come.
 
In the face of such immense odds, it is easy to get overwhelmed and think that we couldn't possibly make a difference, that our meager contributions couldn't possibly help. 
 
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean.
But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
~ Mother Teresa

So, what can I do to help? How do you go about being the One Drop?

Along with a great many talented people, I joined Andrew in sharing items for an auction on my blog as well as a raffle that he is hosting. The bidding has ended and the current high bidders will be contacted by me so that I can send the packages on their way, gift wrapped and ready to wow.

This was the biggest draw in the auction, netting $105!
I offered four items for auction and I am pleased to say that $275 is what was pledged by the high bidders. I will be adding that to an additional donation from me as well as another donation from a limited edition sale of my new Pop-a-Dot Jewelry line for fundraising. (As an aside, I started a new fundraising arm of my company in May 2013 exclusively as a way to give back and I am proud to say that as of November I have donated over $2000 to local and national charities through the sale of the Pop-a-Dot Jewelry).
 
Knowing that just $13 can buy a basket of food for a survivor, I feel pretty blessed - and humbled - that my donation will be helping those most in need. Even if I can't help the millions who have a new reality from this typhoon, I am glad that this donation will make a difference that is tangible and real to someone I will never meet.
 
If you feel so inspired, please consider making a donation to CARE.org as a way to honor the true spirit of the holiday and Christmas season.

My question to you is this...

Do you share your talents and creations for charitable organizations?
Do you do this regularly or for specific charities?
 
 
Tell us what causes are near and dear to your heart and you could win
 a set of my recent November Simple Truths big hole beads with the message 




Thursday, December 5, 2013

December Monthly Challenge Color Palette


This month, we have the lovely Winter Landscape by Kandinsky as our monthly challenge inspiration. Winter Landscape is a fun painting to use, because it has colors in it that people wouldn't normally associate with December or winter. Instead of reds and greens, or only cool shades of blue, we have a mix of soft pastels and bold hues.

The two boldest hues are the bright yellow house and sky and the deep saturated blue of the mountains and trees. If you're looking for a focal color for your design this month, choose one or both these, and keep them nice and bright and saturated to follow the inspiration painting.

The soft pastels are a mix of springtime colors: light pinks, pale yellows, a peachy tan color, light green, and baby blues. They make for an interesting juxtaposition against the bold yellow and blue, and because they are lighter, less saturated colors, they'd work well as support colors. There's no harm in bringing as many of these in as you would like, since Winter Landscape uses them frequently, and all over the painting. Out of all of these softer colors, my eye keeps getting drawn to the pinks, as it creates a triad color scheme with the yellow and blue, but any combination you choose would work here.

There are also dashes of other colors, too. Purple, in both a lighter shade and a darker one, and a few touches of red. If you're looking to challenge yourself this month, work on bringing small touches of these in, too.

Your turn: what colors are you loving from this month's challenge painting?

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

December Monthly Challenge

Winter Landscape by Wassily Kandinsky, 1909
Oil on cardboard 75.5 cm × 97.5 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

About the Art
Colour played a major role in Kandinsky’s progress towards abstract art. It is said that he once saw one of his paintings standing upside down against a wall and thought it ‘indescribably and overwhelmingly beautiful’ … it represented no recognizable object, it was exclusively composed of luminous patches of colour …’. The extreme colour contrasts and vertical and horizontal lines in this painting emphasise the work’s two-dimensional character. The yellow house in the centre stands out sharply against its dark surroundings. The blue, yellow and green brushstrokes in the sky are echoed in the foreground.


About the Artist

Kandinsky was a Russian-born artist, one of the first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting and is regarded as one of the originators of abstract painting, or abstract expressionism. His forms evolved from fluid and organic to geometric and, finally, to pictographic. Kandinsky, an accomplished musician, once said `Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.

In 1909 (the year in which he was one of the founders of the Neue Künstlervereinigung) Kandinsky began a series of Improvisations, in 1910 of Compositions, and in 1911 of Impressions; in these he eliminated all representational content to arrive—in about 1910—at pure abstraction. The choice of names, deriving from musical terminology, was significant, for like the Symbolists he was interested in analogies between colours and sounds (a great lover of music, he played the cello and piano and was a friend of Arnold Schoenberg, whose revolutionary atonality he equated with his own experiments). Kandinsky himself described how he came to recognize that colour and line in themselves could be sufficient vehicles for the expression of emotions; he returned to his studio one evening and failed to recognize one of his own paintings that was lying on its side, seeing in it a picture ‘of extraordinary beauty glowing with an inner radiance…Now I knew for certain that the subject-matter was detrimental for my paintings.’

Our Sponsors
Our Sponsors this month are Jewelry By Jeannie and BeadSwede.
Please visit us tomorrow to see the prizes!

Monthly Challenge Recap
• Please post at least one single shot of your creation in the Flickr pool. This will be used to make a collage for the Monthly Challenge Gallery. Every creation will be added to the collage, regardless of a blog post. So everyone gets included!
 Be sure to share with us the name of the art bead artist in the description of your photo so that if you are selected for the weekly Perfect Pairings on Mondays, both you as the designer and the art bead artist can get the credit you both deserve!
 An InLinkz button will be added to the bottom of the Monthly Challenge Recap post. Here you will be able to link up your blog post if you have one. It is no longer necessary to add your blog post URL to the description unless you want to. Be sure to hop around and see all the great inspiration and leave some comment love!
 The Monthly Challenge Recap with Blog Tour will be posted on December 31st.

Monthly Challenge Winners
 One prize winner will be selected at random from all pictures posted on the Flickr pool.
 One prize winner will be selected at random from all blog posts added to the hop for the Monthly Challenge Recap post. So if you want to be in the pool for the second prize, be sure to use the InLinkz code at the bottom of the post to share your process and inspirations!
 Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on December 1st.

Perfect Pairings :: Designer + Art Bead Artist
 Formerly the Featured Designer of the Week, our new Perfect Pairings will now focus on both the jewelry designer and the art bead artist. Be sure to point out all the art bead artists in your work in the description of the photo in the Flickr pool. Links to their website or shop are appreciated. That way we can all find new art beads to love!
 From all the entries during the month, an editor will pick their favorite design to be featured every Monday here on ABS, 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. We post the art to be used as your inspiration to create. 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. 
An Art Bead must be used in your piece to qualify for the monthly challenge.
***Beads strung on a chain, by themselves and beads simply added to wire 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.
Please add the tag or title DEC ABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one.
Deadline is December 31stPhotos 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.
Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***

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

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

November Monthly Challenge Winners

Congratulations to this Month's winners! 
1 winner was chosen randomly from all the challenge entrants.
1 winner was chosen randomly from the InLinkz blog entries

Our first lucky winner is SJ Wentling/Sarajo Wentling.
She has won 2 Pendants and 2 Beads from Swoondimples.

Our second lucky winner is BeadLove/Ann Schroeder.
She has won $50 gift certificate from Captured Moments.

      Swoondimples                     Captured Moments    
                 
Thank you Swoondimples and Captured Moments for being our November Monthly Challenge sponsors!

Winners, please E-Mail Tari, tari@claybuttons.com with your information (Name and address) so your prizes may be sent to you.
A Big THANK YOU to everyone who entered this month using "Basket of Apples" by Paul Cezanneas your inspiration. 
We were so fortunate to have so many beautiful entries and experience such creativity from our wonderful readers.
Visit us tomorrow to see what December's challenge brings.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Amuse Your Muse Monday with Rebecca of Songbead

Pinch, punch, first second of the month….happy December everyone! I love this month, even with it's cold, wet weather and extreme busy-ness - there are twinkling lights, festivities, mulled wine and mince pies - what more could you want from this time of year? 

If your answer to that was 'beads please!' then never fear, I have rounded up some beautiful handmade snow and icy beads for your perusal :-) Leave your links in the comments below for any others you come across this week - I'd love to see your finds! And if you've already stocked up on icy beads, then do please share links to the jewellery you've created with them. We'd love to see!












And now for the BeadBlogger Links:













Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer, currently living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. You can read more about her and her work at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com. She also has a supplies shop at thecuriousbeadshop.etsy.com.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

20 Sales in 20 Days Challenge

Want a boost to your holiday sales?  I invite you take the Flourish & Thrive Academy's 20 Sales in 20 Days Challenge.  I did this in October and had great results.  You can rearrange the daily challenges to fit in with your schedule.  I plan to start again tomorrow.  For best results partner up with a friend or two to help you stay accountable.  If you're not ready to hustle, save this list for January - what a great way to start the New Year!

20 Sales in 20 Days Challenge Review
 
Challenge # 1:: Create a special of the day and send it out to your client list/newsletter list. If you feel comfortable with discounts, you can offer a special price for one day only. Making the offer time sensitive or limited quantity gives your consumers a sense of urgency to buy now. Post your special of the day everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, on your Blog, you name it. Ask your friends and family to share you special of the day, as well.
 
Challenge # 2:: Ask for a referral from one or more of your clients. Offer an incentive and give them a piece of jewelry for each sale or for every 5 sales they send your way.
 
Challenge # 3:: Wear your jewelry today and sell something off of your neck, hand or wrist (earrings might be a little gross). Don’t be shy and close the sale.
 
Challenge # 4:: Create a special offer for Facebook clients to purchase on your website with a “special” code.
 
Challenge # 5:: Hand out a business card every time someone compliments you on your jewelry today. Start a conversation about your jewelry. Get their email addresses and send a follow up email of what they loved from you. Send them a link inviting them to purchase.
 
Challenge # 6:: Hold a contest for the day or the week. Use this as a list builder.
 
Challenge # 7:: Offer a gift with purchase today only. 
 
Challenge # 8:: Contact 5 clients directly who you have worked with in the past and who haven’t ordered in sometime. Suggest some new items to them.
 
Challenge # 9:: Create a FRANK list of all of your friends, relatives, associates, neighbors & kids or kennel (yep, people you know because of our kids or your animals). Or you can make the K a C & C stands for church, charities or clubs. Ask them to spread the word to their friends and family about your beautiful work. Offer something special you have going on.
 
Challenge # 10:: Suggest an item to upsell with anything you sell today or this week. Example, a client is placing an order, make sure you add on a best selling necklace or pair of earrings (or add on 1 more of whatever they are ordering). Just think... by adding 1 piece of jewelry to every order you will be able to see a nice increase by the end of the month. Robin likes to call this adding the avocado because whenever you are at a restaurant and they ask you if you would like to add the avocado, they are upselling you. 
 
Challenge # 11:: Host/Plan an in person trunk show (sample sale) at your friend’s home so you can get rid of any extra inventory or samples.
 
Challenge # 12:: Post your pieces on Instagram or Pinterest with hashtags and links to purchase. Ask all of your friends to share it.
 
Challenge # 13:: Host a friends & family sale on your website or Etsy shop. Make the offer time sensitive and one day only. 
 
Challenge # 14:: Make phone calls to past clients today until you get a sale (yep don’t stop until you get that sale). Suggest new merchandise, gift ideas, etc. If you don’t happen to have phone numbers, you can email, but note if you use the phone and start a casual convo, you are more likely to land the sale.
 
Challenge # 15:: Create a special “set” for a promotional price and offer that today.Think a necklace with a pair of earrings or necklace and bracelet set or ring and earrings... you get the idea. Limit the number available, make it time sensitive and exclusive. 
 
Challenge # 16:: Loan out a piece of jewelry to your friends or sisters (something that they really love). Let them wear it and ask them to refer clients. Give them a stack of cards with your website address on it. Give each a unique discount code AND if they sell 5 pieces, they get to keep the piece.
 
Challenge # 17:: Have a one-day sale on your website or Etsy shop to get rid of old inventory...and generate cash flow.
 
Challenge # 18:: Host a Facebook auction for limited edition items today...make sure your fans know about it. Include links to purchase on your website. 
 
Challenge # 19:: Attend a networking event or some sort of social event. Go decked out wearing your jewelry and plan to talk about what you do. Bring special cards with special offers that they can purchase.
 
Challenge # 20:: Reach out to a Blogger and offer her a piece of jewelry in exchange for a review. You can give a special discount code for her readers only.
 
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