Jeannie's Jewelry Box, Polymer Hearts, fabulous

how pretty and charming are these wrapped hearts by Jeannie? They will be on the cover of the January/February Issue of Polymer Cafe magazine! That is a wonderful honor! Jeannie's website is called Jewelry by Jeannie.

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Hi! I haven't been able to work on my contest piece for Jeannie, but I have my components as of Fri. evening at 8:30!

Here is the story:

I am in a fun competition this week, with a week of voting for YOU ALL to decide which jewelry piece you like best. Today was BIG day I was supposed to encourage you to go to my pal Jeannie's blog, Jeannie's Jewelry Box (I like the positive sound of that site name !) which is here: http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog and vote for the piece which "called to you the most", out of six necklaces, created by six designers (one of whom would be me!), each using a focal piece: one of Jeannie's polymer clay hearts. Jeannie makes really lovely focal pendants among other things. Her slightly larger hearts, such as the ones above -- are such fantastic showpieces! --You can view them and admire them on her site. They are very well known! Jean Campbell just used one--a steampunk variation of one.

The ones we are working with are very much like like these. See the picture here I took ("lifted") from Jeannie's site? They are like these, only a bit smaller.

I completely gasped with delight when I saw mine ( I was not allowed to choose anything about my art piece from Jeannie, except I knew it would be a heart made of polymer clay. The color, the mood, everything!!! was a big surprise! Really!

I like it SO much, I am happily drawn to designing with it!


Yes. I am very motivated to create a nice necklace with mine. The lovely prize which the winner who gets the highest amount of votes is great, too! Just take a look at it on Jeannie's site! Wow! The voting all takes place anonymously. None of us are allowed to tell our friends or relatives which necklace is ours in advance.
That seems fair.

What you, as a reader of this blog, should do...and I encourage you to do it daily until the end of the business day of Nov. 29th, is to go to Jeannie's site, and leave a vote for the photo of the necklace you like best, where she has her comments. The heart necklaces will all be numbered by Jeannie.

I am not going to say anything more about how I am going to design mine because I don't want to give anything away!

Just enjoy looking at them and enjoy voting for one of the six entries. Try to go every day, please, We designers will all be happy and really proud to hear from you!

Thank you so much for supporting the arts. See you there tomorrow! I will try and remind you every day! Thank you!

The Alchemist's Star Pendant

http://www.etsy.com/shop/byTheAlchemistsStar

The Alchemist's Star is an Etsy store with kits elegantly hand designed and produced by a young woman named Virginia. She uses metal jump rings, like, for example, copper (a good, inexpensive way to start, and attractive, as well), 925 sterling, and eventually she will also offer argentium. We all love argentium, an relatively new development in the silver family, as it tarnishes less than sterling but still has the fire of sterling silver when you first see it. Additionally, it keeps its glint and its shiny look far longer without polishing.

This is the "Sharone's Flowers" design, a pendant completely made from the kit. After you have purchased a kit, you may buy refills without instructions and it will cost you less, because you won't need the instructions (unless you are like me and lose them under the bed).

I love chain maille and think this would make a lovely gift for the holidays for a friend, either made by you or in kit form. What do you think?

Hurry to get one now--last time I went there were four--and now there are two for sale!

jean

Beadbloggers' Sunday

Jean's "Hall and Oates Victorian Bottle cap earrings" in a private collection

BEADBLOGGERS' SUNDAY

A Bead A DayA surprise package of beads arrives and provides a week of fun on a bead a day!





About.com JewelrymakingTammy has another installment of Make It Merry this week.





Art Bead Scene November is full of fairies at the Art Bead Scene. Come check out the inspiration painting for the monthly challenge!





Carmi's Art/Life WorldCarmi has a give-away offer on "the ugly necklace."





Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork DivaCindy reflects on how to live life at a slower pace. Her reflections inspire a pair of earrings.





Earthenwood Studio ChroniclesMelanie starts a new project, an upcycled film themed jewelry line called Now Showing! Read the story behind this fun new idea.





Jean CampbellJean finds her first piece of beadwork in a junk drawer and discusses how important it is to reinforce your work





Jewelry & BeadingGorgeous jewelry designs by artist Paula Huckabay!





Katie's Beading BlogKatie's combining resin, chain, and tubular peyote stitch in a project for Beadwork magazine - download the pdf for free!





Lorelei's Blog: Inside the StudioSetting up a table at a craft can be daunting, but Lorelei put together a perfectly Vintage Chic display that will hopefully lure people in.





Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!In the spirit of the season, whereby "you can get anything you want" as in the famous Alice's Restaurant song by Arlo, you can get some fascinating things at Andrew Thornton's store. Great for holidays to come!





Strands of BeadsMelissa shows off a necklace she made...for herself!





The Writing and Art of Andrew ThorntonUsing a hand-painted Russian pendant from Artbeads.com, Andrew creates an enchanting response to Art Bead Scene's November prompt: Dadd's The Fairy Fellers' Master-Stroke.

Artbeads virtual jewelry design game teamed up with Nintendo

Artbeads.com is happy to introduce Style Lab: Jewelry Design, a brand new Nintendo DS game from Ubisoft®. This entertaining game lets you design beautiful virtual jewelry using over 400 beads, pendants and charms based on products actually sold at Artbeads.com. When you’ve finished your designs, you can choose to make them public for friends and family to see, and you can purchase them. That’s where we come in! The talented jewelry designers at Artbeads.com will bring your creations to life using components similar to those you chose within the game. A perfect gift idea this holiday season, Style Lab: Jewelry Design will help spread the joy of jewelry making to young and old alike!

Here is a good link to this entertaining game:

http://www.artbeads.com/jewelry-design-dsi.html

Andrew Thornton's store

its a dream

an artist's postcard by Andrew; a gift with my purchase. I put the border around it--sorry Andrew! It looked 3D without it! It is amazing. And ancient writing on the back.

It is wonderful to get magic in your mailbox.

I also received my order, lampwork beads I plan to use to make doll earrings for my beading magazine--she uses a Blythe in every issue.
I am spoiled! When i make them, I shall show you all!
I also received Herkimer diamonds--I have never had any! How I love them! And...a heart.

You all know how I feel about hearts!

Andrew is great. I love him!

here is his store:

http://andrewthornton.bigcartel.com/

when you go there, be prepared to immerse yourself in a different world. The storefront appears to be an abandoned, fogged in, dark gate. Could it be alive? Pass through it and see where it leads you. Beauty impossible and different. Little odds and ends, and then larger items as well. Most by artists Andrew likes. Some of Andrew's own things were there, the last time I looked. I would gather all those up if I could--they will be collector's items. The best part of all is -- they are also just pieces which show the viewer what the meaning of loveliness is.

PS: don't forget to check out the Charm Club!

the ever interesting ocean blue

Scientists hail queen conch's cultured pearls <--hit this to get more info!

Scientists from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute have announced the development of the first-ever technique to produce beaded (nucleated) and non-beaded cultured pearls from the queen conch.

Beadbloggers' Sunday

Beadbloggers' Sunday!

Art Bead Scene An Art Bead Scene first - the December sponsors collaborate on a special set of art beads for the December monthly challenge prize!

Carmi's Art/Life WorldCarmi uses a leather button to make a wearable collage.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork DivaCindy has developed a new line of jewelry to remind us all to live life slowly and enjoy what we have. First in the series is "Grounded."

Jean CampbellJean describes what it's like to edit someone's book and shares her thoughts on Marcia DeCoster's latest, Beaded Opulence.

Jewelry & BeadingCyndi is giving away a copy of Ronna Sarvas Weltman’s unique polymer clay book called "Ancient Modern". Come and get in on this contest!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!jean is amazed by the treasures you find in Cynthia Thornton's spectacular wonder of a book, Enchanted Adornments!

Strands of BeadsMelissa trys out Friendly Plastic (and likes the results).