Moving Sale!

 

Okay, it's not what you think, I'm not actually going anywhere

(Trust me, with baby on board, it's an impossibility)

but, my tutorials and patterns are!

I've moved all my tutorials to my supply shop:

La Bella Joya Supply

 

It was really more their idea than mine, they weren't getting along so well with the finished pieces in my jewelry shop.

 

One was always trying to outdo the other, so I just ended up separating the whole lot.

I kinda like it this way anyway, I have such great fun putting together things for my supply shop.

 

I'm definitely one of those idea jotters and supply hoarders.

Here's how this pendant started, life as a bunch of swirlies on a piece of paper.



The little drawing in the top on the right-hand page became my Gift of the Magi bracelet.



 

It translated just beautifully once I got the colors all put together.

 

 

 I don't often do just classic peyote, but occasionally, I'll find a really great pattern that I have to repeat, like the one seen at the bottom of this page:

 

After a few tweaks and a work up in that rare...ahem...orange color that I use so infrequently, this is still one of my favorite peyote pieces.

 

 

I think I'm trying to get to this point...for me, working with the supplies and patterns and tools is where I really find my creativity and I love to see other people find inspiration in creating their own color combos when they use my tutorials or taking bits and pieces that were once lovingly in my stash but need a new home.

 

I still have two Creative Bead Collection Kits in the supply shop and both have been reduced in price.

 

Oh, another great feature about the tutorials in my supply shop? 

INSTANT DOWNLOAD!

Yep, that's right, no more waiting on me to e-mail you, AND I've enabled direct checkout!

 

So, to celebrate all this madness while I'm in the process of updating and upgrading both shops so they look super awesome, I'm having a sale in my supply shop!

 

Use this code: GRANDOPENING

and you'll get 15% off any tutorial or bundle or Bead Collection Kit in my supply shop. This offer isn't going to last forever, so jump on it while you can!

 

The only tutorials that aren't instant download are the bundles for the simple fact that you get to choose exactly what you want and I'll send it directly to your inbox.

 

I hope you're having a great day and feel free to spread the word about the sale, oh and also, make sure to head to the supply shop and add it to your favorites list that way you'll get new destash items and tutorials in your Etsy feed.

 

Have a great weekend all!  

Braxton-Hicks and Tribal Inspiration

 

It may seem odd for a woman who is 11 days away from her due date to still be searching the internet in her free time for summer inspiration, but ya' can't control creativity.

 

When I showed you this a few days ago, I was very complimented by your kind words about the craftsmanship, both on it and the suspension pendants, which I loved creating by the way.

 

I'd like to get back to each and every one of you, but I've been busy lately.

We've been gussying up the nursery so that it's all ready for baby girl to arrive, the bassinet is ready to go, the stroller is assembled, and I found a great deal on a swing so little girl shall have no shortage of places to lay her head.

 

 

 

Anyway, I wanted to drop by today and talk tribal.

It's my latest obsession.

I really can't get enough of the beadwork, the bright colors, the repeating patterns.

And of course, after getting sucked into Pinterest, I started an entire board dedicated to my new-found inspiration.

 

Here's a few of my favs:

This purse.

I started wearing a hot pink sweater that I bought at Target when I got pregnant and while my husband laughs (it's not one of my go-to colors), I'm finding that I kinda like the eye-searing hue.

Did I already say something about hot pink?

(Oh, and while this bag definitely fits the bill, I don't think it has the durability of a diaper bag, so I'll be passing it over this season.)

The collar on this shirt is just amazing. I like the idea of working black and white into the tribal patterns and colors. Most of the time I get caught up in the idea that tribal has to mean color, color, color, and while most of the time it does, black and white really make the colors pop.

 

I know, I know, boot season is over...but don't you know that's the best time to buy boots? (Assuming they still have your size in stock..)

 

Okay, last one, this chair wouldn't match anything in my house and I don't really have anywhere to put it, nor can I justify the purchase (um, at what age do babies start sitting up?) but it's like a piece of artwork and a piece of furniture all rolled into one, and you know I'm a fan of multi-functional things.

 

If you want to follow my tribal path, you can catch me over at Pinterest.

I find myself over there a lot lately (especially when the pregnancy cramps and back pain have me relegated to the couch).

 

I hope your week is off to a good start and take some time this week to find what's inspiring you. I for one, am sketching little ideas for tribal stacking rings and multi-colored suspension pendants in my notebook while simultaneously counting days until baby gets here. 

 

Adios, Amigos!   

Suspension

Confession: I don't buy enough art beads.

Reason: I live in a dream world where I can do everything...resin, polymer, ceramic, glass, yadda, yadda....

 

I'm slowly waking up to the fact that the only person I'm kidding is myself and without a kiln I'm pretty much going nowhere.

(Oh, and then the baby girl with her feet in my ribs says, yeah right, mom, nice try.)

 

So, when these popped up in my Etsy feed approximately two days before my birthday, I decided that...Happy Birthday to Me....I was gettin' 'em.

 

I also knew exactly what I was going to do with them when I put them in my virtual shopping cart.  

 

I'm calling them Suspension Pendants. I like the idea of the bead suspended between the hammered copper. The only thing maintaining the delicate balance, a slim copper wire which has also been heated and hammered and patinated and rubbed and generally put through the ringer so the metal itself reflects the rustic finish of the bead.

 

 

I like the idea of the beads also, faceted and rubbed with each facet sporting a different color. I think it's a beautiful metaphor for the way we live.

With every ding and scratch and hit we take something else rises up out of us, sometimes good, sometimes bad and the color that jumps out defines us. 

They're small, tiny reminders that the abuse of the heat of the torch, the head of the hammer, the scrape of the file, and the rough rub of sandpaper can create something beautiful, and a life that appears to be hanging in the balance may actually be suspended on something sturdier than you thought.

 

HERE and HERE



 

I haven't stopped there with the riveting or the suspending.

This one was a bit more complicated. Two sheets of metal, copper and brass are riveted together with space between.

I've sawed out a tribal-like motif from the top sheet so the beads peek out between the sheets.

It's also been patinated and rubbed and each bead strung for a punch of color inspired by Southwest Indian afghans and woven rugs from Guatemalan handweavers. 

 

None of my clasps were good enough, so I made my own with the same pride and craftsmanship that created the pendant.

 

 Copper is not silver, it doesn't look like it, it doesn't feel like it, and it doesn't behave the same way. They're like distant cousins that get along well, but truly have nothing in common.

The one to me seems almost holy and when I work with silver I feel focused, intent, and try to pour perfection from my fingers.

 

Copper is different, it's warmer somehow and I don't mean just in color, but it feels more forgiving and kinder and I'm not as scared to let the hammer fall where it may or take an extra pass or two with the file.

 

They're like the two sides of my creative personality and both deserve to be explored.

 

This piece with all its tribal personality can be found HERE.

Customs

 

Remember when I made this ring?

I loved it (still do). I feel like it really has a message like it's more than just a ring, but a reminder of strength, courage, tenacity, and all the things that keep us going when the going gets rough.

 

So, about a week or two after I listed it, I was contacted by a customer who wanted a similar ring for himself. Yep...himself. I've never made jewelry for a man before.

Oh, and it was my first ever custom order in sterling.

 

I was really nervous to create this very special piece but honored that he had shown so much faith in my work. I enjoyed every minute of this ring's creation.

 

Each tiny mountain represents a hurdle jumped and the eagle soars so graciously over the valley.  

 

 

 

There's a special inscription inside per the new owner's request and outside is patinated and hand-finished. I don't use machines to polish my jewelry.

I'm very tactile, and I like to feel the metal under my fingers as I work.

 

It's definitely a man's ring, in a man's size and almost twice as large as the original.

 

 

Packaged and shipped this afternoon, I hope the new owner enjoys the wearing as much as I enjoyed the making!

 

 

While you were Downton Abbeying....

 

Allow me to start off by saying I truly enjoyed Downton Abbey. I watched the first season and found myself enamored with the lives of both the upstairs and downstairs dwellers.

I kept up with the series through season 2 and appreciated the historical detail that went into everything from the dinnerware and draperies to the tragedies and triumphs of WWI.

 

That said, somewhere along the way, Downtown Abbey lost me.

I can't exactly say why or when or at what episode, but I stopped obsessively setting my DVR and my Sunday nights became a bit freer.

It's a pity too, because as a jewelry designer, I particularly enjoyed the costuming and walked away with a renewed appreciation for England circa the 1910's.

 

However, all is not lost, and where Downtown Abbey left a gaping historical-fiction-television drama size hole, Ripper Street walked right in to fill it.

 

Have you seen the new BBC series?

It is superb.

And I haven't thrown that word around since Jeremy Brett's masterful portrayal of literature's greatest detective. (Yes, I watched it on reruns as it did air the year after I was born.)

 

Ripper Street follows the story of Edmund Reid, the Whitechapel detective responsible for investigating Jack the Ripper.

Here he is in the middle flanked by his Sergeant Drake (left) and his American surgeon-turned-coroner Jackson (right).

(If he looks familiar to you, there's probably a reason.)

 

I won't go on and on about the series, you must absolutely watch it for yourself.

The characters are engrossing and each one has a deep, dark secret that has yet to completely reveal itself.

An American madam running a British brothel...

 

 

The detective's wife, a soul in perpetual mourning...

 

 

The plots are thick, the dialogue is transporting (I almost feel as though I'm watching events unfold from a wooden bench in H Division circa 1890's), the set design and costuming are award-worthy and I honestly can't express enough the brilliance with which each and every actor on the cast plays their part.

 

 

Oh, and the best part?

If you're still nose deep in Downton drama, Ripper Street airs on Saturday nights, which works out perfect for this Ripper convert!