Extra Links and Sampler Necklace

Just a quick post today, as I am getting ready to list a few special requests on Etsy before heading to the glaze room to work.  Above, is a picture of a necklace I made on the cruise, in which I used some of the leftover sampler parts from my class demo. I wore it one night, and the little side components were too sharp and itchy, so I have to redo it, but I figured I could show it here before I change it.  This one might end up as a project submission for a magazine.  I did enjoy making the little sampler pieces in my classes on the cruise, and I think that if I came up with a bunch of little sampler bits that students could join together, it would make for a fun class.

Not much else to say... I have been cleaning my glaze room and getting caught up on stuff... nothing very exciting lately!  I have lots of ideas, so I am excited to get started when I can steal some time.  I better get moving, so I will leave you today with some Extra links:

 

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 The 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

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be purchased at her Etsy shop and her jewelry and gifts can be purchased in her Etsy Galleria.

If you would like to leave a comment on this post, please go to the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog. Thanks for reading!

Song Lore Saturday

 Today's Song Lore inspiration is the song "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" by Squeeze.  I have known this song for a long time, and Squeeze is one of my favorite bands.  I have never really had quite had an experience to match with the scene set in the song, though, until my Cruise.  I found myself humming it while at the pools and on the beach, seeing some of the sights mentioned in the song. I am glad that I finally have some imagery of my own to go with the song, as it seemed to be missing from my experience of listening to it over the years.

 

This is a collection of small shells I gathered from our trip to the beach on St. Maartin.  The beach was full of shells, very sharp and hard to walk on.  I enjoyed sifting through, but only brought back a handful of them.

 I decided today to make some bezel frames that will house them, probably with some bits of map and other found objects, set in clear resin.  I made the frames this morning:

 

I chose the circle form because I was inspired my many circles on the Cruise. I was thinking of portal windows and life preservers and buoys for the forms, and I am excited to try some new color and surface combinations, inspired by some of the colors and ship symbols I saw on my trip. I know the unfired clay isn't much to look at now, but I think they will end up looking pretty cool soon. I dried them this afternoon and am firing them now... eager to glaze and fire them again tomorrow or the next day!

I wil leave you tonight with a video of "Pulling Mussels", set to some beautiful tropical island photographs.  I am very happy to be able to say that I have seen some of this kind of beauty with my own eyes now!

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be purchased at her Etsy shop and her jewelry and gifts can be purchased in her Etsy Galleria.

If you would like to leave a comment on this post, please go to the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog. Thanks for reading!

Hearts, Texture, and Inspiration

Arteria Arcanum necklace that I made during one of my classes on the Cruise, heading to the Etsy Galleria sometime soon!

I am going to write this quick blog post while I am waiting for the potatoes to cook and for Alex to come over.  I had a great morning... coffee with Diane Hawkey which is always fun!  We plotted and decided to split a booth at Bead Fest in Philly in August.  We have traveled together for many shows before, but always by car... this will be the first we will fly to.  I am very excited!

She also showed me some of her new pieces that are AMAZING, and I am looking forward to when she gets the glazes and surfaces figured out to her liking and ready to sell.  I was very inspired by some of the surfaces she had on the pieces, and it is a direction that I was moving in myself... rusty, aged, crusty surfaces.  She gave me some leads on some new glazes to try and I ordered a few of them.  The nice thing about having an artist friend like Diane is that we are both comfortable enough in our styles to share specifics, and we know that we will each do something very different, so we are not overly protective of sharing our new works and ideas.  Anyway, I can't wait to run some new glaze tests with the new textured glazes and some old ones that I haven't tried in a while.  I also need to start running tests on some bright colored glazes to contrast these textured and dark surfaces.  I have more underglazes than you could shake a stick at, so I shouldn't have to buy anymore.  (hehe, famous last words... I am sure I will not be able to find just the right shocking yellow)  

I started a photo set called Danger, Doors, and Details over on Flickr.  It will contain a series of pics I took on the Cruise that are not as classically "pretty" as the gorgeous landscapes and ship pictures that I shared over on Facebook.  But these are the things that caught my eye as an artist, and I am itching to incorporate these inspirations into new work.  I was looking at danger signs, safety items, doors, symbols, archtecture, and ship equipment.

Picture of some rusty metal from a shipyard on St. Maartin

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be purchased at her Etsy shop and her jewelry and gifts can be purchased in her Etsy Galleria.

If you would like to leave a comment on this post, please go to the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog. Thanks for reading!

Bead Soup from Pearl & Pebble

 While I was away, I received a beautiful package of beads from Tari at Pearl & Pebble for the Bead Soup Party challenge. It features a gorgeous ceramic heart from Summers Studio and a variety of coordinating stone and glass beads.  The clasp is a brass toggle that is already set with dusty pink seed beads.  I really love the colors that Tari chose for me.  I don't venture into the pink tones too often, but the way she blended them with the brown, amber, and mustard tones makes it really appealing to me!  I will likely make some accent beads to use with it, so that will take a few days, but I am really excited to work on a necklace design and participate in the unveiling on February 10th!

The colors remind me a little of the sunset we saw on one of our last nights of the Cruise.  Pretty, isn't it?  If you want to see more of my landscape and island pictures from the Cruise, check out my album on Faceboook!

And somehow I got caught up trying to figure out technorati today (because of Melissa's post from Strands of Beads, actually) and I found that I was not listed.  So I signed up and claimed my blog.  I don't know what that will do, if anything, but whatever.  Here is the claim code they need: Y25U2BJCKHA6

 Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be purchased at her Etsy shop and her jewelry and gifts can be purchased in her Etsy Galleria.

If you would like to leave a comment on this post, please go to the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog. Thanks for reading!

Motor City Journey

I am home and have been trying to catch up on work and sleep and chores around the house and studio.  I was doing well for the first two days, getting a bunch of stuff done, but whew, today really kicked my butt!  Maybe I did too much in those two days back. Like yesterday, I went along to a meeting with I3Detroit which was great... we brainstormed some more ideas for panels and activities for the DIY programming track at Penguicon. I think its going to be great to have all this new tech craft stuff in the programming, and even though I don't understand a lot of it, I get really excited when I start to learn about the things that are happening.  Now I am going to have to step it up and get some more of the more traditional crafty programming organized.  I hope to get in touch with Handmade Detroit for some help!

So anyway, its good to be back home in Detroit.  While it was fun to be away in exotic lands, it is true that there is no place like home.  During the cruise, at one of the open beading nights, I made the necklace above, using one of my new Travel Talismans.  It has a frame pendant with a bit of vintage Detroit map, a mini compass, and some gears set in clear resin.  I also made two side accent components with ephemera and resin: the two brick red clay rectangles that are filled with vintage horse race tickets from my city from the 1960's.  Also in the necklace are some Michigan stones, like the single rectangular Petoskey stone, which is our state stone.  I bought the key at the cruise from Bello Modo, which was perfect, since it had my inpirational word of the year "journey".  Assorted industrial beads like gears and bolts and various metals seem to fit the Motor City feeling, as do the metallic and mottled stones and glass beads that make up the rest of the necklace.  I wore this many times during the cruise and I really enjoyed it!  It gave me a little bit of home while I was so far away.

Hopefully I will have more energy to get more new pictures and do more blogging soon, but at least I have been working in clay a little bit in between my errands and napping.  If I owe you an email or blog post or anything, I am sorry... I will get to it as soon as I can!

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be purchased at her Etsy shop and her jewelry and gifts can be purchased in her Etsy Galleria.

If you would like to leave a comment on this post, please go to the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog. Thanks for reading!

Just testing something here...

Testing out to see if this posts to my Live Journal automatically. That would be great!

Brr, its cold here back home! I miss the warm and humid evenings and the beautiful skies and water as far as the eye can see. I am happy to be home to see my Alex and doggie and friends and stuff though.
Ok gonna press the publish button, see if it works, and then it's bedtime. Night!

Back from Cruising!

I have returned from the Cruise! I came back to a pile of snail mail and email... which I couldn't access because the Internet was broken at home again. It's fixed now, but I am still working to catch up and I even got out my clay to get working on the orders I got while I was away. I have been going through my photos (I took over 400 and Jeremy took a couple hundred too!) and I am posting them on Facebook if you want to see. I have posted pictures of the ship so far, and will share pictures of the islands and landscapes later. I will share more soon!

Song Lore Saturday: Snowed Under

"There's a cold voice on the air
You've been looking everywhere
For someone to understand your hopes and fears

Well I've thought about that for many long years"

Today's Song Lore inspiration is one of my favorite songs, "Snowed Under" by one of my favorite bands: Keane. It has resonated with me for *many long years* in some way or another. While it is in some ways quite sad and somber, it has a very uplifting message too... a reminder to be true to yourself instead of getting *hung up* over someone else's criticism or harsh words. I listen to it when I am feeling down, and I need to remember to open my eyes to the lovely day around me.

"You know sometimes I feel like I'm
Getting snowed under with the things you say
When I open my eyes and it's a lovely day"

......
This is a fun fanmade video for the song! Apparently there was a contest floating around for this song, and lots of people made their own videos for it. I watched a few, and I liked this one the best, mostly because in the maker's description, they say "Average sewing skills + video camera = fun!" hehe. The stuffed bunny is really cute, and I love that the bunny ends up looking at art history and surrealism books and surrounding itself with the images instead of old pictures that made it sad. Cute.

I made the pendant above with this song in mind. While out with Alex one day, we stumbled upon a hobby store that had a junk pile of old model train parts that we picked through. I found a bunch of great little windows and train tracks and all sorts of new stuff that I can use for resin pendant collages. I used one of the windows to make a snowy pendant, with a little swirl of a vine and some crackly paper, set under clear Ice resin in a terra cotta frame pendant that I made a few years ago.

I am writing this from Florida, where it is very balmy and warm. This morning, I was in Detroit, where it was very cold and snowy. So this song has been on my mind, thinking of the change in weather. I hope all of you back home are staying warm!

Clockwork and Coiling

Hey, it's me, posting from last Saturday again! Thursday's plan is to spend the day at St. Maartin, followed by dinner and casino night back on the cruise ship. In the evening, I will be presenting a half hour demo, the Clockwork Coil Carapace necklace shown above. It is an extended version of the Triple Gear pendant that I demonstrated for Beads, Baubles, and Jewels. The pendant is the same design with a different stone, and its a really fun and dramatic pendant for people to watch me make, since it starts out as a round bead which gets opened up and flattened and made into a prong setting for a stone. In addition to the pendant, I will be showing how to make coils with a Coiling Gizmo, which is fun to watch too. I used the coils to make beads for the necklace, and they are the perfect steampunky component! Speaking of steampunk, I will probably use the demo to chat about the subject and show off my pieces in Jean Campbell's Steampunk Style book, which I enjoyed reading cover to cover while on the flight over. I think it will be a really fun demo!

Heartfire Filigree

I am posting this from the hotel in Orlando from last Saturday. If I may be so bold as to look into the future, the plan for today (Tuesday) is my long day on the Cruise. I have my 6 hour class to teach: the Heartfire Filigree workshop. I have 5 of my brass wrapped hearts to demonstrate, and students will have their choices of which ones they want to make. I also have a sampler bracelet that they will make and as a secret extra project, I designed the necklace above, which can be made to be worn with any of the heart pendants they make in class! I really like it just on its own, but I think it will be extra fancy with one of the hearts below hanging from it! I made the kits available in candy red, metallic pewter, and jet black. I am excited to see how my students enjoy working with the brass and how their pieces turn out!

Tuesday evening is also the Bead Bazaar on the Cruise, which I am excited about... as a vendor and as a beader! I think it will be a busy and fun day... and what a way to teach a class: on a luxury cruise ship on the seas!

Travel Talisman

I have a little time to kill at the hotel tonight (writing this on Saturday night from Florida) and I have some extra pictures to share, so I figured I would auto-post some pics and posts for the week that I am gone. I know, workaholic, right? But I love it and it makes me happy, so how can you argue with me?

These pictures show all five of the Travel Talismans I made with the new bezel frames that I made. Each has a tiny compass and a bit of vintage Michigan map. One of them is a gift for Heather... shh don't tell her yet! And I am keeping at least two of them. hmm, maybe three! I am very attached to them right now but I will probably let go once I make new ones. That's the problem with me straying from production work, I guess... I have a hard time letting go of one-of-a-kinds! How do you do it, those of you who do individual little pieces of rt?

LOL, I am debating with Jeremy whether the plural of Talisman is Talismans or Talismen. It just feels so weird to have a word that has -mans at the end!

There'd be no distance that can hold us back

Here are the first of the pendants I made for the Song Lore series I did for the song New Year by Deathcab for Cutie. If you recall, I was inspired by these lyrics in particular:

"i wish the world was flat like the old days
then i could travel just by folding a map
no more airplanes, or speedtrains, or freeways
there'd be no distance that can hold us back."

These three pieces are going into my personal collection, as I made them to be talismans for my safe journeys. The center pendant is a frame/bezel pendant made from porcelain and glazed with my favorite Desert Pine and Metallic Pewter glazes. There is a tiny working compass embedded in the bottom of the pendant. Inside the frame is a map of the metro Detroit Michigan area where the city I live in is located. I found the map at an antique store and we figured it was printed before I was born, maybe in the 60's sometime. I added some copper and gears too, which also make me think of the Motor City. The entire frame is filled with crystal clear Ice Resin. The two side accent links are pieces that I made many years ago, and just now filled and finished. They contain bits from two old horse racing tickets, one that says Detroit and one that says Hazel, probably referring to the Hazel Park horse race tracks near me. I found those tickets, stamped 1960, at the same antique store. I filled them with resin too. I plan to string these into a necklace with some other special items, perhaps some Petoskey stone and some Fordite if I can find it.

I have a few more of these pendants, some that I will even list for sale, and more maps I can use to make many more! In addition to the Michigan map I bought a vintage world map, so the possibilities are pretty endless, and I could even do some custom talismans, which would be fun.

I hope you liked seeing the pendant I made for myself! I am dedicating this post to Michael, my dear friend and Number One supporter! Thanks for your many important and relevant comments! (*giggle*hug*)

Song Lore Saturday: Bouncing off Clouds

Today's Song Lore inspiration is a song that I wrote about once before, and that was also on a day that I was flying. This song, "Bouncing Off Clouds" by Tori Amos, makes me feel like I am soaring through the air, and gives me a little courage to not take everything so seriously.

......In particular, I love this part:

"Make it easy
Make this easy
It's not as heavy as it seems
Wrapped in metal
Wrapped in ivy
Paint it in mint ice cream"

Those words are just so comforting and beautiful for me. Tori really has a wonderful way of creating strange and beautiful (and sometimes scary and shocking) imagery in her lyrics and melodies.

So I was inspired enough to make a few pieces before I even posted the song this time. They are works in progress and dry clay is always so hard for me to photograph, but here they are. The top three pictures were quick "sketches" of clouds. They will make fine cabochon stones for something, but it wasn't really what I had in mind. I slept on it, and woke up with the song in my head with an image of clouds from Tibetan Art. A little research later, and about an hour with my carving tools, and I came up with the cloud shaped carving. It still needs to be sharpened up, but this is one that I will fire and mold, so I can make many more! I have a strong vision of the rest of the necklace, with silver incorporated (from the lyric "I'll put on my silver") and some leafy ivy and metal wrapped filigree, and probably some mint color through the whole piece.

The last time I posted this song was when I was going to FaerieCon in Philly to see my brother. It was a very stressful time for me, and I needed songs like this as a constant mantra. I felt the heaviness of my marital problems on me pretty strongly then, and the normal pressures and anxieties of things like a plane trip were so much heavier on me then, with my partner's anxieties weighing me down even more. I have learned to surround myself with people who try to help me unburden myself of these weights, and who help me to help myself when I am feeling so heavy headed. I think I was waiting on something to change things for so many years, but I have realized that I have to change myself.

"You say you're waiting on fate
But I think fate is now
I think fate is now
Waiting on us"

Taking Leave

Well, most of my clothes are packed and I am down to my final preparations for the Bead Cruise! I have even packed away some beads to play with when I am on the cruise. I think it will be fun to play with the others in the open beading sessions, when I am not busy on the beach or swimming or napping. My resin pendants from yesterday's post turned out great, and I want to string some of them into necklaces on my trip.

Speaking of stringing beads, I made the above necklace as one of the kits for my workshops. I designed it so that the leaves and face can be switched out with a different color, so its a very versatile kit. Maybe I will submit it as a project somewhere, sometime. I really hope that my students like the kits I have made and the teaching I will be doing. It has been a long time since I have taught a formal class, so I am a wee bit nervous, but it seems to come naturally when I am there and in the moment. I have lots of fun little surprises for them, and I think we will have a great time!

I am going to write up tomorrow's Song Lore post and finish up a little bit of clay work that I have done that was inspired by it. Then I will finish up my running around so I can have a relaxing evening. It's Alex's birthday today, so I am looking forward to spending time with him before I fly away into the clouds tomorrow!

Playing with Resin

After many days and weeks of preparing for the Bead Cruise and getting my orders and obligations filled before I leave, I found myself caught up today! I still have to get my personal effects together and pack for the cruise, but I have some time left for that, so I thought I would make some time for a little playful project that I have been wanting to do. A couple of weeks ago, I made the above frame/bezel pendants to try with resin, and today I spent the afternoon filling them with bits of old maps, watch parts, and tiny compasses. The Ice Resin takes a few days to set up (assuming I mixed it properly) so I hope to be able to take pictures of them soon. And I would love to be able to take some of them on the Cruise too!

There are quite a few more process pictures that I can share (new camera!) so after I post this, I am going to upload them to my underused Flickr album.

Slowing Down

One of the bracelet projects I wrote yesterday. Love those Tim Holtz gears!

I made some huge headway in my article writing yesterday. I wrote up the two bracelets and the easiest of the necklaces. That one only took me a few minutes. I think I was in a groove! I worked on my demo pieces for the cruise too, and I really like them. I will be doing a bit of photography today so I can show you some of these things before I leave on Saturday.

I am feeling pretty calm now that I have crossed a bunch of things off of my list and started organizing and packing. I think that the reality of this trip is only now setting in, and I am starting to get excited! Other than the classes I am teaching and the obligations to the Bead Cruise, I am not bringing any work. I'll have my laptop, but don't know when and if I will have access to internet. I am thinking about getting lots of rest, being lazy, squishing my toes in warm sand, and having a relaxing time.

But today is not a vacation day. I have two necklace articles to write, shipping to do, and I will be spending some time on me at the gym and getting a haircut. My bangs have been tickling the tip of my nose, so its past due time!

Use Your Words

One of the projects I will be writing up today, called Gear Barrel Bracelet

Sometimes, when I am struggling to say something, my brother will interrupt me and tell me "use your words". hehe, it always makes me laugh. Anyway, I have a lot of words to use today, as I have 5 articles to write. I also have beady stuff I want to play with, so I am hoping to set up my laptop in my beading room, and alternate between writing and beading. And I already got distracted this morning, filling in some of my professional profile on Linked In... more words! So I don't have much to say on the blog today. I figured I would share the words I wrote for Linked In though. Its just a little bit of professional history and goals mixed together. I suppose I should have written it in third person, so it was more of a bio, but that is always so awkward. Anyway, here it is:

The Earthenwood Studio experience started somewhere during the end of my college career, when I decided to combine my love of ceramics and jewerly making and become a porcelain bead maker. While I have dabbled in other materials and other forms of ceramic work over the years, porcelain beads as an artform has remained the consistent focus of my artworks and career.

Over the years, I have designed and sold my handcrafted ceramic jewelry, beading components,and ceramic gift tiles at art fairs, galleries, bead stores, and bead trade shows all over the country. I designed and run my website www.earthenwoodstudio.com, and sell my ceramics from two different Etsy sites.

I have blogged regularly for many years, often offering an interesting glimpse into my creative process and studio life. I have designed jewelry for project articles for magazines and books, working frequently with Interweave Press (Stringing, Beadwork, Step by Step, and Creative Jewelry magazines). I have also designed projects for Simply Beads and Bead Unique magazines. My designs have also been featured in several books, including Steampunk Style by Jean Campbell, Chain Style by Jane Dickerson, and Four Seasons of Beading by Barb Switzer. I hope to write more articles in the future, and someday perhaps even write my own book.

In early 2008, I wrote a series of blog posts called Steam Week, which chronicled my studies into the genre of Steampunk and detailed a series of charm designs that I created during the blog series. Steam Week led to me writing an article for Beadwork Magazine and more steampunk related articles.

I have taught many classes over the years, and while in college, I organized and taught a series of beading classes for a local bead store. In winter of 2010, I will be teaching three workshops on brass filigree wrapped ceramic pendants on a Bead Cruise. I am open to the idea of future teaching opportunities, particularly in the areas of basic beading and wireworking.

Hiding away

I am blogging from bed this morning. I woke up and made an attempt to get up, but I saw the big pile of fresh snow that was dumped on us last night and decided I needed more bedtime. The Zoey dog agreed... she didn't even bother to get out of bed, since she saw I was not getting cookies for her or food for me. So we are here, snuggled together in the warm dark room, until we find a reason to make another attempt.

The picture above was taken with my new camera! I have wanted an inexpensive and lightweight camera for a while now. The one I use for my bead photos works well for me, but it is a huge clunker, very outdated (it takes a 3" floppy disc!) and has no battery life anymore, so it needs to be tethered to an outlet. That works well for bead pics, because I can just keep it set up and plugged in, but I can't very easily do anything else with it. I have wanted to be able to take pictures of what is going on in the studio and my other various adventures for the blog, and now I can! And since I plan to take many journeys this year, it seemed like a good time to invest in this tool.

So the picture is my kitchen table, the way I left it before bed last night. I am cutting out the cards that go into my kits. I think they look pretty! I have a dozen or so different styles to bring on the cruise, and I will probably offer them for sale at shows and on Etsy when I write up some instructions for them. So anyway, that is an image of the work that awaits me when I get out of bed. It is not a small amount of work, so I really should get up and get it done. My plan is to ship some of my extra kits and beads and tools to the hotel we are staying at before the cruise, so I don't have quite as heavy as a load to carry at the airport. Urgh, the logistics of packing is not something I am looking forward to either, lol! I guess I need to stop dreading it and just get out of bed to do it! just five more minutes...

Here's a pic of the Zo taken with the new camera too. she has the crazy glowing wolf eyes in this one. I have lots to learn about the settings and features of my camera. I had to promise her a snack to stay still for this one.

Giveaway Winners, Bead Soup, and Extra Links

I am awake now and feeling much more refreshed! Now I can pick the giveaway winners! Thank you all for participating! And here are the winners:

Boot~C is the winner of the Rings and Things heart and coral giveaway!

Alli is the winner of the Art Beads Gift Certificate giveaway!

Winners, please email me at earthenwood at gmail.com by the end of this week with your mailing address. Boot~C, I will mail your beads to you. Alli, I will forward your info to Art Beads, who will send you the gift certificate. Thanks so much!

Something that I found from some of my online beady friends is a fun challenge that Lori Anderson is organizing. It's a Bead Soup Party! I added myself to the list and am very excited to participate. I am not sure what kind of package of goodies I will gather up to send out, and who knows what kind of bead soup I will get, but it should be fun and something to look forward to for when I return from the Cruise. Today's the last day to enter, so click on over there if you want to join up.

I have a busy day ahead. I have kits to finish and beads to glaze. I plan to spend time with Alex and go shopping for an inexpensive camera to take on my trip. Much to do!

Here are this week's Extra Links.

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!

Too sleepy to finish the Open Studio

I know it's only a short time until midnight, but I had a long day and spent the last part of the night watching Amelie. Its such a strange and beautiful and kind of sad but very inspiring love story. Anyway, I am very tired, and I will choose today's two giveaway winners tomorrow morning. There are still comments coming in, and I want you all to have a chance. This gives you more time to enter! Sleep well, and sweet dreams to all.

Closing the Studio Door, but first a Rings and Things giveaway!

Whew! Today's Open Studio has been fun! I really enjoyed the challenge of designing and posting something new, and showing you the whole thought and design process. I hope you enjoyed it too. I need a nap now! hehe!

But before I go, I am going to leave you with one more giveaway. This one is a set of adorable glass heart beads and a strand of white bamboo coral from Rings and Things. I will pick one random winner from the comments on this post tonight at midnight, EST. Leave me a comment wishing me a safe journey next week, and you could win these beads!

Enjoy the rest of your day, and thanks for stopping by!

"Rio" Vacation Bracelets

As promised, I have finished a bracelet using the Duran Duran song "Rio" as inspiration. In the bracelet above, I used some of my watery glazed accent beads mixed with the colorful Cubic Zirconia beads from Art Beads and some pewter accents. I finished it all off with a shell design clasp by Green Girl Studios. I am very happy with it! It gives me the feeling of the beach and the tropics, and reminds me of the Rio video. I will be taking this one on the cruise for the bracelet swap.

I had some Cubic Zirconia beads left over, so I made another bracelet! I used all the rest of the CZ beads, a cool sterling clasp, pewter spacers, and one of my small dragonfly links. I even used the tiny little pink teardrops, which I didn't think I would be able to use, at first. But unlike some semi precious stone top-drilled teardrop beads, these CZ beads have really clean and even holes, so I was able to easily add them to tiny sterling jumprings to make charms. I am very impressed with these CZ beads, and I am glad I had the opportunity to play with them! Thanks, Art Beads!

The Cubic Zirconia beads used in the previous post, specifically referenced as from Art Beads, were provided as promotional gifts by for review or design partnership purposes.

Progress and a surprise behind the studio door!

I am doing well with my "Rio" inspired piece. Actually, I finished one bracelet and am finishing up the other one right now. Once I get all the crimps crimped, I will take them to the photography area and snap some pics.

I have been cleaning up the room where I keep my beads over the last couple of weeks, and I currently have a clean desk! So I have been working in this room today, with my laptop at my side. This spare room is very cold, though, because the heat doesn't reach here well, and the windows are very drafty. So I have a little heater and I have been warming the room up so I can work here today. When I closed the door to keep the warmth in, I found a bag of Escutcheons hanging on the corkboard behind the door! Bonus! I just sold the last one from the shop today, so I am going to go and photograph and list those today too!

Back to crimping!

Dance in the Sand with Art Beads!

If you like the Art Beads Cubic Zirconia beads I showed in today's Song Lore post, then enter here to win a $25 gift certificate to Art Beads! Of course, you wouldn't have to use it on CZs... they have a huge assortment of all kinds of beads, findings, and tools for beaders! Leave a comment on this post to enter to win. I will choose one random winner tonight at midnight EST.

In the comments, let me know what far away vacation land you would like to be in today...

Song Lore Saturday: "Her name is Rio..."

"...and she dances on the sand"

Today's Song Lore pick is "Rio" from Duran Duran. The album of the same name was one of the first pieces of music that I bought (on vinyl... still have it!) and it was probably the first time I considered the music to be "mine" (as opposed to my parents' or just the randomness of the radio). I loved the music, and OMG the Duran boys... *swoon*... my first crushes, too! I was dreamy about Simon, and Nick, and John... hehe, pretty much the whole band. Such eye candy! But more than that, the music was mysterious and exotic and complex and sexy. It was very intriguing for the curious teenager that I was. Duran Duran was at the forefront of the new music video craze, and they did it amazingly well. They really knew how to integrate the visual aspect of their marketing with good music to create a whole experience. I remember watching the video for Rio and wanting to be on a warm tropical beach somewhere. And the videos from the album, mixed with the music, and the iconic album cover by Patrick Nagel... every song from that album just takes me to this place of paradise and fantasy in my mind. It is probably why I have been thinking of it lately, because in a week, I will be heading out to a tropical place and experiencing the beaches and palm trees and bright colors on the Cruise. I think I have been so busy getting ready for it, that it is only now just sinking in that it will be reality, and I will be dancing in the sand myself soon.

Open Studio Today

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today I am having a virtual open studio! I will be working and blogging all morning and afternoon. I hope you will stop by and leave a comment for me!

Later today, from 1-4pm EST, I will be blogging an Art Beads giveaway and will be posting a new Song Lore post which will include some Art Beads products. I intend to show you the musical inspiration for a new bracelet, design and create the bracelet, and be able to show you the finished design at the end of the Open Studio. This *start to finish* crafting will be a fun challenge for me for a live event! I will also be showing my love with a sweet heart giveaway, with beads from Rings and Things. It's a full day, whew!

Today's Open Studio idea was the brainchild of my friend and fellow beadmaker Cindy Gimbrone. She wanted to have a big Seconds Sale and gathered some of her friends to join her. So to join in with the studio cleaning spirit... in my etsy shop, you will find some of my popular Studio Sale Collections plus some new Steampunk Samplers too.

Here are some beads from Cindy's Seconds sale, shown above. I love these beads and am very tempted by this collection! She calls them Glyphs and they are over in her clearance section! She has a bunch of really great colorful lampworked beads of her own creation. Cindy is always working on something new, which I love, because it makes me wonder what she will be up to next!

Also joining us today is Andrew Thornton. He has a bunch of delicious sale beads listed in his sale section. I have been stalking his website a lot lately, both for the beads and because I am thinking about using the website builder that he uses for my new website design. I love that he has a Skull Shop on his site! That's where I found the sweet little skull charm above, which I really love.

All righty, thats enough blogging for now. See you again soon!

Time's Toolbox and Rings and Things

Hey, check out the cover of the new Stringing Magazine! Look what's on the cover! Its my "Time's Toolbox" necklace. Yippee! I have been talking about it on the blog, but I realized I never showed a picture of it. I am very pleased with it. I am off to a great start this year, starting with the articles in this issue. I have several more projects that were accepted yesterday for another Interweave magazine, so I will be busy next week writing those before I head off on my work vacation.

I learned that Rings and Things, the awesome bead supplier that carries the gunmetal chain and links that I used in Time's Toolbox, have a handy guide on their website that links to products from their catalog that you can use to make a piece like it. I'll share their text right here with you:

"In the necklace design on p 66 of Stringing's Winter 2009 issue, Melanie Brooks complements an Earthenwood Studio ceramic focal with gunmetal mesh-style chain links and gunmetal hammered oval chain. She keeps everything together and ticking with extra-heavy gunmetal 13mm jump rings, brass jump rings and an antiqued brass clasp. For a clasp more similar in style to the one Melanie uses, you can expand the mixed-metals look and try a sterling puzzle clasp."

Tomorrow, I will be doing a live blog event here from 1-4pm EST(with a giveaway and some other special events!) and then I will be closing up for a couple of weeks for the cruise. I hope to see you here at the blog tomorrow!

Amusing Grace

As I predicted yesterday, today is another busy day. The first thing on my agenda was to finish writing two article submissions for Stringing Magazine. I was able to finish that up and will be shipping them, along with two bracelets off today. Hopefully next time I see them, in late summer or fall, one or more of them will have been published. It feels good to be writing articles again and getting into the publishing groove. Last year, I submitted just a few, but ended up mostly doing work for books. I just never was able to keep up with the periodical schedule. Now that I am in the routine, it should be easier. It can be so hard to fit article writing into my day to day work. It requires me to plan so far into the future and keep ahead of the calendar. It's so different from doing more immediate things, like photographing beads, listing them on Etsy, and making a sale... that is so direct! But the articles are a huge part of how I bring people to my sites and blog in the first place, so I really need to step it up this year and I am proud of myself that I have started the year off well with writing. After I finished this morning, I submitted ten more ideas to another magazine that i would love to work with, so we'll see how that turns out. I am also sending a pile of beads out to Interweave to consider for Beads 2010. I *heart* Interweave!

So, speaking of Stringing Magazine, here is one of the necklace designs I wrote as a project article for the current winter issue. I love this piece, and can't wait to get it back so I can wear it again! It has glass pearls, a cute key with a heart cut out, a carnival coin that says "for amusement only" on it, gunmetal chain and brass bits, a porcelain gear and an Escutcheon pendant. It's called Amusing Grace (hehe, see what I did there? ... the inspiration for the name was the carnival coin). I have some sets of the escutcheon and gear in the Etsy shop, as well as some collections like the one above, with the hard to find key and coin included.

Sorting Things Out

New Steampunk Sampler Set on Etsy...more to come in the next few days!

So it has been a stressful few days, but things seem to be sorting out now. Adding to the stress and list of things breaking down... my baby kiln misfired this morning. But it appears to have underfired (which is better than overfiring), and the contents were fine. It probably just needs another new element (which I have in stock!), and Jeremy offered to fix it. The cable guy came and fixed the internet this afternoon, without too much hassle, which is a huge relief! Also, the hot tub at my gym, which was broken, was running today, so I enjoyed a relaxing soak after my workout. I am glad things are getting done and fixed, but I need to remember that sometimes there is chaos in my life, but I always get through it, and I really do need to learn to breathe and calm myself down better. Things get a bit too intense sometimes, and I need to teach myself how to deal with it in a more constructive way.

In my time without reliable internet, I got a lot of things done that I have needed to do. Being very productive, especially with things that I really dislike doing and have been putting off, helps me feel so much better. I sent out a bunch of show applications and my sales tax forms for two states. I started the process to cancel my old merchant account, since I got my new one with Propay (which I have really liked so far). I made some phone calls, which I generally really dislike doing, and had some great calls with both my customers and with customer service reps. I photographed some new things, like the Steampunk Sampler Sets like the one shown above, along with some pieces that are out in the new Stringing Magazine. I also got some writing done on articles that I need to finish and ship tomorrow, and I did some clay and glaze work for the Bead Cruise. That's pretty productive! I am feeling pretty good about the work I have done and need to finish before the Cruise, including the sale I am having this weekend. Whew, typing all that makes me realize how tired I am! Time for bed. I hope to continue my postive productive streak tomorrow too, so I need my rest.

Time's Toolbox, bird chaos, no internets, and thoughts about Home

Life has been a wee bit chaotic lately. There was a bird in the chimney/fireplace that I had to rescue yesterday. I had heard it fluttering about the other night and he finally made it through the fireplace. Unfortunately, it got into the house and there was a bit of madness as I tried to control the dog and get the bird out without him doing a lot of damage. This all happened at about 9am yesterday before my coffee. I was able to get him out of the house eventually, but it was very stressful and exhausting, and it made me have a little meltdown. I think I got through the holidays with surprisingly little stress, but the unexpected bird craziness, in addition to my internet breaking, and the anxiety I have about getting ready for the cruise... It all just crashed down on me at once. I had a bit of a cry, and Jeremy and Alex helped me calm down and get things back in order yesterday, and I feel better now. With the bird gone, we made a fire in the fireplace... the first one in years... and I spent the evening putting the Christmas stuff away and getting organized (and getting snuggles) and I am much better now. I have spent the morning at Panera, having a yummy breakfast and getting a lot of work done.

While I have been generally really happy lately about my life and my career, I tend to have a TON of stuff on my plate. I usually function pretty well like this, but when unexpected stuff happens when I am at my busiest, I sometimes break down. Especially when it has to do with my personal life and home life. While I mostly enjoy owning a home, sometimes I get overwhelmed with having to deal with the expense and responsibility on my own. And while I love my career, it is very demanding and needs my constant attention. Sometimes I wish I could take a break. OH WAIT! I am going on a Cruise in a couple of weeks! *giggle* I think it has not really sunk into my brain that I get a work vacation... on the beach with sun and fun! I need to appreciate this opportunity more and really enjoy it.

The Time's Toolbox pendant is available in the Earthenwood Etsy shop

Upcoming Studio Sale and Extra Links

I am sitting in a sunny window at Panera this Sunday morning, working on my laptop because my home internet was unreliable yesterday. I wanted to make sure to post this week's Extra links and to start to set up my Etsy shop for the Studio Sale I am having this weekend. Cindy Gimbrone and Andrew Thornton and I are all having sales in our shops next weekend, and I wanted to get prepared. I have relisted my Studio Sale beads and have been marking down some items today. By the weekend, I will have a bunch of new Steampunk Sale Sets in the store, so I hope you will check back at the blog this week for some previews. In the meantime, feel free to go and shop the Studio Sale early.

Here are this week's Extra Links for you.

About.com Jewelry Making
Take a moment to look back at 2009 and forward to 2010.

Art Bead Scene
Deep hues and bright pops of color highlight a trip to ABS Editor Cindy Gimbrone's studio for a look at a special set of beads for this month's ABS challenge.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi makes up her first batch of polymer clay bezels for pendants.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Rewind: Cindy ventures into moldmaking with a vintage French button.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie reflects on the past year and sets her goals for the new year

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is proud and happy about her contribution to Jean Campbell's gorgeous Steampunk Style Jewelry book! Take a look!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off the elegant necklace of a guest designer - her mother-in-law.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Dark reds and lush blacks mingle together in Andrew's latest necklace design, "The Shadow King." Andrew also announces the launch of his new Skull Shop!