Well today was a busy day of working. Whew! Running Earthenwood and starting up Now Showing Studio is quite exhilarating! I think that starting something new is just the thing I needed to give me some new energy for my regular work. One thing that has been a huge help and change for me is having people do some of the tasks for me. Having a shipping assistant come and pack up my orders saves me so much time (plus we have a blast working together). And having a packaging and assembly helper is awesome! All the little things that you don't really think about that need to get done in a business... well, I have her help with those, and we work, and watch movies, and *poof* they are done! These are things that I was doing all myself, when i could have been spending time on the creative parts of the business, or the things that I can't really have someone else do. I hope, in the end, that hiring this help makes it worthwhile for all of us. I am enjoying the experiment, and I do think it will be good for business.
Autumn is my favorite time of year! While I love the fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving, and my November 8th birthday, there is more to my love of autumn that just these things. While the leaves are changing and the weather is getting cooler, I know things are dying. But I always feel like autumn is the time of new life. This year I am lucky to have a Fall filled with new ideas, new love, new friends, and new work. I am very happy and grateful for this!
Hello! This is a quick post this morning... I wanted to share this week's Extra links with you first thing today. Later this afternoon, starting at 1pm, I will be participating in the Beads of Clay Open Studio Event. I will have a giveaway and a sale to announce, and I will show you some brand new items and some things I am working on in the studio lately. So please enjoy these links now, and stop back later for the Open Studio!
I am taking a break from a great autumn weekend to tell you about an event I am planning for next week. I am participating in the Beads of Clay Open Studio Event. It will be a day of several ceramic bead artists blogging live, sharing their studio spaces and stories, and having special deals. I am not sure exactly what I will be doing, but I am brewing up some fun things. I know I will be showing my new work for the first time, and will have a couple of giveaways and specials. So stop by the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog next Sunday, October 25th, from 1-4pm. This is the first time I have done something like this, and I am really looking forward to it.
I recently received some exciting beads from the fine folks at Rings and Things. As a Blog Partner, I was given the opportunity to choose something fun to use in my designs. With autumn here and my love of earth colors in high form, I decided to try some wooden beads. I have many, many earth toned beads in my collection, but they are mostly ceramic, glass, and stone. I really don't have many beads in wood or other natural materials. First on my want list were the Wooden Charm Connectors shown above. I love the detail in these laser cut discs! And the designs I chose are very contemporary and natural, which I think will look great with some of my own pendants (especially my newest line that is coming out this fall) After I ordered, Rings and Things announced some new Wooden Donuts, which I also would like to try next time I order. I already made one piece, the Woodland Mermaid, using the connectors, and am looking forward to making more.
Finally, due to a new FTC ruling, I need to specifically mention some info about the items I have blogged about here. I will be adding this little statement to some of my future blog posts, since I sometimes use items that are given to me from some of the companies that I associate with, and I need to mention when I am given free products for the purpose of blogging and review.
One of the things I have come to love about my job is how flexible I can be with my time, and how portable my work can be. On more than one occasion, like today, I have been able to take part of the day off or travel with my work in order to help a friend. I can bring my sketchbook or a spool of wire and pliers, and spend time sitting in a waiting room. Its actually something I enjoy. Um, not my friends getting sick and hurt... but being forced to sit and sketch. My sketchbook and pencils are tools that I don't use enough, but I have been carrying them around with me much more lately. I have even been carving from the drawings! So forcing myself to sit still and just doodle is great. Plus it is good to be able to be there for friends.
Finally, I am at the end of my Crystal Week with one final necklace to show. I used a Sprig Coral Pendant from Art Beads as the seed of inspiration. It is a lovely transparent tan color called Crystal Golden Shadow. Of course, I love brown, so it was pretty easy for me to start working with. I like the twig-like shape of it, so I paired it with some great laser cut wooden discs from Rings and Things with branch designs cut into them. But I wanted to make sure to use more pastel spring colors with the browns. I chose to use one of my mermaid beads and a seafoam bubble bead, both with seafoam coloration, and I used pale aqua crystal beads in transparent and opaque to accent them. Then I contrasted with a bit of lime crystal, for a little something different. The asymmetrical design seemed to come naturally as I designed it. Perhaps breaking from symmetry comes easier with practice!
"The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
