Beadblogger Sunday

We went to a wedding last night that didn't include a dance, so we ended up rolling back the carpet, getting out the disco lights, and grooving to some righteous beats in our living room. It was truly one of the most entertaining nights ever. Grandma and Grandpa were the first ones out on the floor.

After that, everyone let their hair down and boogied all night.

The evening helped me remember that it doesn't take much to create joy. It can be as simple as taking a turn on the dance floor, even if the dance floor is your own living room. You just have to take that first step...

As you may know, it's Beadblogger Sunday. These talented folks create joy through their creativity every day!

A Bead A Day
Have you ever fallen in love with a piece of jewelry? Lisa fell head over heels for a bracelet on a fellow beader's blog and ended up trading for it!

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy got the 411 on some very cool new metal stamps. Though these can also be used with clay as well.

Art Bead Scene
The Art Bead Scene begins a new monthly feature - the ABS Carnival Blog! Let the Carnival begin!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Bopping Along the ICE Resin Blog hop - My resin version of Little Egypt.

Beading Arts
Do you want to try lampworking? Cyndi's been busy at the torch again.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi uses a candy mold to make a new resin pendant.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Cindy takes a bead shopping trip to the Great White North and almost passes out!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie unleashes her grumpy feelings with a little rant and a bead sale!

Jean Campbell
A mystery package is the catalyst for this creative challenge. Up for it? You could win a free book!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei had a chance, a while back (2008) to have a nice little interview with etsy seller, Patina Queen! This is Lorelei's wire supplier, and she ROCKS!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is breathless with delight when she receives a gift from her friend the artist Lisa Kan!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares his feelings about the awesome new Spring issue of "Stringing" magazine.

Mystery Bundt

This story has nothing to do with beads or art or anything, but I think it's worth telling because it's caused such excitement around the Campbell Enclave. It all started with a package. The mailman brought it up to the door, dodging the icicles dripping off the front of the house.

I took it from him and noticed it was for my husband. Joe doesn't get packages that often, so I checked out the return address. Hmm. I guess he sent it to himself? Or, whatever was in the box was so important that it just shouldn't be returned to sender...

The return address was stuck on top of a sticker that read, "Fr. Joseph Campbell OP, Momma's Bountiful Bakery." Who's this priest and where's that bakery? A quick online search came up dead... The plot thickened as I inspected the box...by the look of all the markings and postage stickers, this thing had definitely been around the block and back. What a mystery!

I left the box on the kitchen counter in a prominent place so Joe could open it when he got home. He did....and inside was a lot of bubble wrap...

And inside the bubble wrap was a CVS Pharmacy bag filled with...

Something covered with a layer of waxed paper...

A bundt cake!

No note. No card. No anything. Just a mysterious, heavy, hard bundt cake on a styrofoam plate.

So the questions, of course, ensued. Was this package addressed to the wrong Joe? Perhaps this was from one of his lovesick students? Or from a student who didn't receive a good grade and it was laced with poison? Someone had obviously spent a lot of time and money making and sending this thing, so what had occurred in the last 48 hours that brought on this delivery? Should we cut it open, or would that be dangerous? Should we dip it in resin and make a doorstop? Or should we find another Joe Campbell to send it to, furthering the mystery for someone else?

The bundt cake incident is too ripe not to pass up. It's the perfect impetus for some creative play. SO, I challenge you, dear readers, to write a story, fashion a poem, do a drawing, make a piece of jewelry--anything creative--surrounding the Mystery Bundt. The top two entries will receive one of these two SIGNED books, so generously sent to me by Ray Hemanchandra at Lark Books, just for an auspicious occasion like this:

Bugle Bead Bonanza by Jamie Cloud Eakin, a book filled with 30 innovative, creative, fashionable, and fun-to-make bugle-bead-based projects;

or Creative Native American Beading by Theresa Flores Geary, a beautifully-photographed book featuring 19 Native-American-inspired projects with a definite modern feel.

Who's up for the challenge? Post your entries in the comments section here, or email me at jean@jeancampbellink.com by March 31.

Foot in the Door at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

We busted out of the domicile bubble yesterday to head to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' "Foot in the Door 4" show.

This exhibit, put on every 10 years, is made up of entries of artwork from everyday (and not so everyday) Minnesotans. The only rule is that the piece fit into a 1'x1'x1' box. This year there were 5,000 pieces!

I'm usually not so patient at museums, but this show was completely riveting.

As you might suspect, the entries were all over the map. Kid art. High school art class art. Hobbyist art. And they were all hung or set right next to one another, with hardly a space between.

Every once in a while you'd run across a gem, like this alluring oil painting.

Or this beautiful print.

There was lots and lots of pet art. I liked this dog...

...and this sweet quilted birdy...

...and I've always been big for rabbits in unusual situations (like wearing ruffled collars and sitting in thrones).

 I also adored these extreme Victorians...

and busted a gut at this seed painting of Baron Von Raschke and his infamous CLAW!

There was actually a lot of bead art in the exhibit. Here is a beautiful beaded vessel by Dulcey Heller (yea, Dulcey!)...

...and this absolutely kick-butt necklace. Look at this clasp! The momma mantis is pulling off the dadda mantis's head...just like in real life! (Look at her string of heads!)

Strangely enough, I was completely drawn to this baby-rooster. It seems archetypal...basic. Like a totem of some sort?

I think the photograph below ended up being one of my favorite pieces. Please read the inscription for the true flavor. Perfection! The composition and the subject matter is divine, but how the artist has tied the words into the piece to make it even better is sheer genius.

I wish I could share the names of the artists, but they weren't readily available. Are you one of the artists I've shown here? Let us all know who you are! And if you're not one of these artists, are curious to know more, and happen to be in the Twin Cities, you must go see the show yourself. It's on until June 23.

Beadblogger Sunday

Don't you just love babies, especially when they're learning to crawl?

And don't you just love Beadblogger's Sunday?

A Bead A Day
Are there color combinations that are always in style? Black and white seems to fit that description.

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy reminds you about a thriving jewelry community and how to keep up with news on her site.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene teams up with Margie Deeb for a color challenge.

Beading Arts
Cyndi's new bead embroidered necklace has everything but a name!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi restrings a strand of cheap plastic beads with a wristlet. Repurposing is great!

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Inspired by the color of summer gardens in a seed catalog, Cindy creates a new bead.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Celebrate the many uses of Ice Resin with Melanie's blog latest blog series which highlights some of her newest works

Jean Campbell
Jean reviews Margie Deeb's (pretty fabulous) Spring/Summer 2010 Color Report.

Jewelry & Beading
Have you heard of Zulugrass? Find out about the wonderful industry that's helping to support the Maasai, and enter to win a piece!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei is still a little nervous to try her hand at using resin. But the pendant in this necklace turned out nice at any rate.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is embroiled in a conundrum--help a girl out!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Working with Jill MacKay's new line of decorative bezels, Andrew experiments with resin and takes advantage of the bezels' deep walls.

Margie Deeb's New Color Report!

My very talented friend Margie Deeb has just released her latest Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers:

It's always a thrill to see what Margie's done with the 10 hottest colors of the season. Her helpful combination and proportion charts are exactly what a color-challenged person like me needs! She takes one of the season's colors and pairs it with several other colors to make the color either hop or swoon. Since she uses Pantone swatches, you're never guessing about her color combinations...you know they're solid, whether you're looking at a computer screen, paging through print, or playing with your Pantone color fan.

The other amazing thing about Margie's report is that she peppers it with jewelry examples that show the fashion color combined with other colors. As a visual person, this is so important to me! Especially when sometimes I look at the "hot" color and think Yuck! until I see it incorporated into a piece.

The report culminates with a beautiful gallery of jewelry designs and an array of helpful graphic color palettes. I also like to see her artist credits...people like Frieda Bates, Sara Beth Cullinan, Marcia DeCoster, Jamie Cloud Eakin, Margo Field, and Jamie Hogsett have all contributed designs.

Overall, Margie's seasonal report is something that as a jewelry designer--or heck, a fashion ANYTHING-- you would be silly to miss. Kudos to you, Margie, for yet another sensational production!

Beadblogger Sunday

 

Happy Valentines Day! 

I usually consider this a Hallmark holiday, but this year Valentine's Day feels different. Love is truly the best reason of all to celebrate!

It's also Sunday, which means you get a list of the best bead-blogging posts of the week. Here you go!

A Bead A Day
Need a quick gift or new piece of jewelry for work tomorrow? You can't miss with black Econoflex Softflex wire!

About.com Jewelry Making
Ever thought of applying for a jewelry making grant? If so, here is news about how to do so as well as some important tips to follow.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene Unveils the February Monthly Challenge - Luna Park by Vestie Davis.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Avoiding work by showing off some new jewelry pieces and other eye candy

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi attempts to explain how one necklace turns into two.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
An addition to the Grunge Bead Series - Grunge Faux Bois!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie shows off the necklace she made for the Bead Soup Party: a delicious blend of stone, pearls, glass, ceramic, and brass ingredients.

Jean Campbell
Jean did a little product scouting in Tucson...check out her favorite finds!

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi has a great giveaway going on: TWO gift certificates for Murano glass jewelry!!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
The connection you can have with a customer, is a treasure. Collaborating on a necklace, Lorelei and JoAnn create a wonderful keepsake.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Book review by jean: feel like learning new techniques? Try this new text with fab photos!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Using components from Artbeads.com, Andrew creates a Valentine's Day worthy necklace named, "Not Without".

Tucson! (Part III)

My week in Tucson culminated with a nice day with Peg Cox up in Phoenix on Thursday morning...For those of you who know her, she's doing great...looks even better than when I stopped to visit her last year! She's looking like a fashion plate in this photo, isn't she?

Of course I got pulled over by a cop on my trip up to Phoenix... I wasn't going that much over the speed limit! I think he was just bored and looking to chat up girls because he made me get out of the car and walk back to his. Silly policeman...

Thursday night brought a really fun party at Kate McKinnon's house. Kate's house is just as I'd pictured it... a great  50s/60s vibe, and the backyard is filled with wonderment. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, skewering meat with Andrew Thornton and Jamie Hogsett...

 

And Marcia DeCoster was around, too...(hey! I straightened my hair--what do you think? I think it was a lot of work for the results...)

And here's Bob Burkett with Kate, who was all smiles all night.

I was up and at 'em on Friday for a great day of teaching for Create Your Style (Swarovski). First up was  Fiori--a very full class. We packed a 6-hour advanced class into a 4-hour class. It was pretty intense, but I think everyone learned a thing or two...

Right after, I taught Le Temps to a smaller group. Each one of the students finished their project. That's never happened to me before! I think I need to start teaching metalwork more often...I love the instant gratification.

That night brought the famous Swarovski party. This party is the one where everyone gets their bling on and lets their hair down. This year they did this beautiful set up with lights and cozy couch nooks and color everywhere. It was beautiful!

Here are the Bead Unique girls, Joanna and Pam:

And the Beaducation crew (see that mojito in Kate Richbourg's hand? they should have put a skull and crossbones on those glasses...they were so lethal!):

Said hello to the Creative Castle ladies...

And there's Haley Hertz and Kellie DeFries:

Sandra  Lupo, Brenda Schweder, and I stopped for a snap:

Here's proof that grand dame Judith Schwab showed up for the party:

Here I am with the ever sweet and talented Diane Whiting:

Here's Melinda Barta, Sara Hardin, and Jamie Hogsett:

There's Tatiana Van Iten with me and Lana May:

Hello, Marlene Blessing and Beki Haley!

Ran into Tina Lilja--it was fun to see her out of the snow:

Then I made the HUGE mistake of going to the after-party with the Swarovski crew...curse you, Anna Draeger! Here she is with "the Austrians":

If you've made it this far through this ridiculously long blog, thank you for traveling along with me on my little adventures in Tucson! Hope to see you there next year.