Beadblogger Sunday

I found myself home alone this weekend, so after teaching two really fun classes for the UMBS on Saturday, I took advantage of my solace and went into full-on deep-clean mode.

You know, I've moved around a lot in my lifetime, but have been planted in this house for about 9 years now. When we moved in we didn't have enough junk to put into all closets. Now it's like a Fred Flintstone-style nightmare every time I open a closet door, complete with boulder bowling ball hitting the head and pterodactyls flying around the growing bump.

My biggest hoarding item, I've found, is printed matter. If I like anything printed, I seem to keep it. For years. For example, check out these paper doll clothes I guess I've hung onto since 1969. I found them in a sealed brown envelope. There was no doll left--just these sassy outfits, but who cares? These clothes are straight out of an Austin Powers movie and I love them. (I must love them...I've moved to St. Louis, 3 homes in Minnesota, 3 homes in Los Angeles, and 2 homes in Colorado...sheesh!)

You know what else I seem to keep? Letters. Dozens and dozens of them. And not just love letters from old boyfriends (you CAN'T throw those away, right? ). I seem to have kept every letter from my mom as well as from my first grade teacher. Hmmm. Seriously starting to wonder if I have an issue? Could quite well be.

The happy thing is that I completely cleared out 5 closets and a store room in the last 24 hours. Both the recycling bin and the garbage can are full. So, if I have a hoarding issue, I've just wiped the slate clean. And you can call me by my superhero name: The White Tornado...

(Thank you, f5hunter.com for letting me swipe this photo you took of a nice funnel in Sleepy Eye, MN.)

Want to know what my beading buddies have been up to this week? Read on, dear reader, read on...

A Bead A Day
Looking to make some super-sized jewelry just perfect for a princess? Lisa uses large blueberry briolettes and a swarovski mix to create just that!

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy ask in this quick poll about how you use social networking to promote you and/or your jewelry business.

Art Bead Scene
ABS is here to help you with your business. Check out Zazzle to customize your earring cards for your jewelry business.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Book Review: Wrap, Stitch, Fold and Rivet

Beading Arts
How many people out there are participating in the Bead Journal Project this year?

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi's button maker is the reason for this new vintage image necklace.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
This week's Wednesday Wire is a free tutorial, "Matchin' by Wrappin'."

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Learn about the Raku firing process and see the results of Melanie's new Raku adventures!

Humblebeads
Heather shares some time management tips for creatives.

Jean Campbell
Jean reviews Kate McKinnon's wonderful new addition, Sculptural Metal Clay.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Bead storage has been a question amongst my fellow beady peers, and so I thought I would share a link to how I utilize my bead storage.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is delighted to review Totally Twisted by Kerry Bogert! You will LOVE this book which focuses on wire and art beads!

Strands of Beads
Melissa discusses the process of reworking a weak necklace design - the revised version of which now appears on the cover of The Best of Step by Step Beads.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Like Czech glass? Andrew hosts a giveaway courtesy of Raven's Journey. Find out how you can win these luminous beads!

Visit with Annie

I took off a couple hours yesterday to go visit my friend, Annie Singer.

Annie is one of those consummate artists. Whatever she envisions, she figures out how to make it and then goes for it. She's an accomplished illustrator, jeweler, and now is making some pretty killer assemblage pieces. Annie's recently brought part of her studio up into the garage so she can spread out, hammer, drill, and generally make a mess. I had so much fun poking around in her boxes of stuff.

I was amazed at her level of organization..I mean, I have stuff like this all over the house, but it's not together in their own boxes, you know?

It was really an inspiration, not only to get back into doing this type of work (which is kind of where I started?), but also to organize all my junk.

Sculptural Metal Clay

Have you seen Kate McKinnon's latest book, Sculptural Metal Clay?

You know...whether you're a metal clay aficionado or not, this one's worth picking up, if only for Kate's extraordinarily inspirational pieces. I was lucky enough to edit this book, so was able to fondle the real pieces as I was editing. I'm not usually one to gush, but trust me...these are fantastic pieces. Kate is, quite possibly, the best jewelry engineer I have ever met. Her work is not only structurally sound--built to last and comfortable--but it has just that right edgy *snap!* to make it truly artful.

Take, for example, my favorite piece from the book, the Skyscraper Ring.

This image, which I pulled from the gallery on Kate's site, contains rings that are similar, but not exactly the same as the ring I'm talking about...when you pick up the book you'll see the real deal.

This seemingly unwearable ring is actually quite comfortable to wear. The way Kate worked as an architect to not only construct the lovely building, but also to integrate the building's base into the body of the ring so that the shape prevents the building from teetering back and forth is sheer genius. Bravo, Ms. Kate!

The beauty of this book is that Kate shares, in great detail, how she constructs all these pieces by starting with several pat "Elements" (a whole section in the book) that she's developed, many combining metal clay with fine silver wire. Her knack for creating simple findings like rings, simple clasps, ring bands, head pins, chain, and more, brings both metal clay and metalsmithing to a new level. Kate considers herself primarily a maker of elements, so this is truly where her creative light shines.

Another fantastic part of this book is Kate's very clear and concise discussion of metal clay and fine silver basics. Not only how to work with them, but also safety concerns, which Kate is quite versed on.

The book wraps up with several very lovely projects that combine the Elements Kate discusses throughout the rest of the book. Again, these are beautifully designed, all very clear, and each is worthy of any fine arts/crafts gallery. There's another bonus in this book, too--a DVD where Kate discusses the finer points of some of the techniques listed within the pages.

So yes, add this one to your collection! And congratulations, Kate, for another great addition to the metal clay/metalsmithing canon.

Beads Gone Wild!

Spoke to Glenda at Beads Gone Wild in West Palm Beach, Florida this week and we nailed down the classes I'll be teaching November 12 to 14:

Friday it's (what's turned out to be the quite popular) Lilium:

Saturday it's good old Star of India:

And Sunday it's a brand-new design, Marlene:

I'm really excited about teaching at Glenda's shop--she's got a great following and I'll be in the company of an incredible alumni. (And getting out of the Minnesota cold and heading to Florida mid-November won't be such a bad gig, either!)

Beadbloggers Sunday

I met Annie Singer and her neighbor over at the 331 Club today for the monthly Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School figure drawing extravaganza, and I'll tell you, I haven't had that much fun in months!

Here's the down-low: Dr. Sketchy's started in New York and has branched out throughout the U.S...Basically, this once-a-month or so event combines burlesque, a bar, and sketch pads for a fun day of figure drawing.

Today's event featured Tomahawk Tassels, a beautiful woman in tongue-in-cheek Native American garb. (She did a whole schpiel before she modeled about her choice of costume...she's actually quite savvy and smart--pointed out the irony of it all, etc.)

It was all very kitschy and 40s and whatnot, but the reality is, she was a great model. For me, it was rejuvenating....I haven't done any figure drawing in about 18 years (drawing was my major in art school). Getting out of the suburban bubble and exercising the power of my pencil made me feel great!

I was also pleasantly surprised to find the Northeast Arts District in Minneapolis looking so good. Made me want to pick up and settle in there.

What a fantastic way to exercise my creativity today. My goal now is to find a figure drawing class every week. What is your goal? How do you flex your creative muscle?

Beadblogger Sunday

Want to see how my beading buddies flexed their creative muscles this week? Check it out:

A Bead A Day
Lisa explains her thoughts behind part 1 of a new bracelet project.

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy recently took a trip to the Bahamas and discovered some souvenir pennies in her purse. They were so bright and shiny they had to be turned into jewelry.

Art Bead Scene
It's the fifth month anniversary of the ABS Carnival Blog! Come see how we've grown!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Take a jewelry class with me at CREATE!

Beading Arts
The new Rubber Glass silicone has inspired Cyndi to create some beginner projects!

Carmi's Art/Life World
In an effort to use all that she buys, Carmi repairs and recycles vintage metal from Paris.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Cindy's starting a new feature on her blog - The Wednesday Wire! Come take a look!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A gift from a local potter starts Melanie on a new clay adventure: Raku!

Humblebeads
Heather explores 23 days of inspiration as she gets ready for the Bead & Button Show. See how Van Gogh has inspired her through the years.

Jean Campbell
Jean's just full of travelogues, isn't she? This time she went to a Kansas bead retreat.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Voting has now opened in the Bead Star competition, come check out my 5 entries!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
The best wedding I never went to! My editor's incredibly romantic wedding -- Australian Beading Magazine

Strands of Beads
Like several of her esteemed colleagues, Melissa has a few pieces in the Bead Star competition to show off this week!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew has six finalists pieces in the Bead Star competition. Please take a moment to vote!

missficklemedia.com
Vote for your Bead Star Favorites!

Kansas!

Drove to Kansas...

...to spend the weekend at the Bead Society of Greater Kansas City's retreat. Man, do these ladies ROCK! They arrived Friday afternoon and I swear they didn't leave the beading tables much other than to catch a few winks. Intense.

On Friday we did one of my new projects, Zsa Zsa Chain, which I think I need to finesse a little. It's a pretty little chain, but I could see the gray hairs sprouting throughout the room with frustration. Not an easy one! At Susie's suggestion, I'll redo the instructions by numbering all the beads so it'll be easy to see what goes where and when. I usually refrain from this kind of over-explaining, but sometimes I think drastic measures are required.

On Saturday we did both Star of India...

AND Pacifica...

I really don't know how these ladies kept it together. Each of these projects are pretty dang tough. As I often tell people, beadwork is like Sudoku for creative people!

I think there was a lot of caffeine involved, actually...

Thankfully we were in a beautiful setting, out in the country, at a bed and breakfast called The Barn. It was lightly raining all weekend, so we didn't feel the need to be outside.

The food was good and the company was lovely. What a fun bunch of women!

There really isn't anything better than settling down to a table with a bunch of like-minded people for the weekend, no matter what you're doing, don't you agree?

Beadblogger Sunday (+ 1 day!)

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I spent just about the whole day hanging out with my kids, talking with friends, and just relaxing...away from the office, away from the phone, away from the computer. What a treat!

I hope that all you mothers, no matter who or what you mother, had as wonderful a day...

The downside is that I completely forgot about Beadblogger Sunday! So, for those of you who read my tomes regularly and were having a bit of a letdown because I was a no-show and you need your feeds, here are the top posts from my beady friends in the blogsphere this week. Enjoy!

A Bead A Day

What does swarovski sparkle mean to you? Lisa shares the happy feeling brought on by sparkly stars.

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy has some fun in the sun summer time jewelry tutorials for you, including a cute turtle charm necklace.

Art Bead Scene
Free Project Alert! ABS has a new necklace project for free on their website!

Beading Arts
Cyndi has launched the first installment of her brand new e-book on bead embroidery...and it's free! Hurry over for your copy!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi finds a way to incorporate vintage turtle beads into a necklace.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Cindy works through her to-do list and lists a new set of glass birdhouse beads.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A song about hammers, nails, labor, and social involvement inspire Melanie to create some new woodlike components

Jean Campbell
Jean's been at the grindstone, but also at the gardens...check out these beautiful images from the MoBG!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei is back on track this week and is giving away coordinating beads with Sab's help, from BeadBead.biz!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean brags! Yes, she really brags! It's worth a look because it's cool!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a new version of her Cabinet of Curiosity pendant.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew starts the month of May off with another giveaway by Lillypilly Designs! Find out how you can win a set of tribal-inspired wooden beads!

missficklemedia.com
Should I patina or leave the metal bare naked?