Bead Soup Blog Part - Reveal 2

My Bead Soup from Ann Rishell of My Critical Eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earrings, I LOVE these shell beads she sent. I strung them on an extra large copper jump ring and then connected them together to make reeeeaaaaallly long statement earrings! I think they are about 6" long!

 

And  a necklace. I utilized more of the shell and copper pieces as well as this beautiful ceramic focal and yellow stone bead.

Dreams

  I had the weirdest dream last night... well maybe it wasn't weird but it was so real I woke up in and cried.  I got to hug my Grandfathers neck... He gave me a rosary that was made out of coral or glass mosaic, I don't remember. It was beautiful, and it was also a beautiful moment. 

But then I woke up...

 This is a picture of my Mom's parents. It is really old but I just found it and thought it would be fun to tell a story about them. My Grandmother made jewelry for their gift shop (which was under their restaurant, DeVito's, in Harrison, Arkansas). She is one of my inspirations in my jewelry making.

 Anyway, to the story... I started working for my family the day I turned 14 and continued up until a few years ago. One busy Saturday evening, I go to greet a table... a middle aged couple that were regulars and that also happened to be friends with my father. I go to turn over the mans coffee cup (which was odd that he already had one, it is supposed to be "upscale dining" and there were no coffee cups on the tables) and 3 bags of beads fall out of his cup! He and his wife started laughing and I looked around confused and saw my Papa grinning from ear to ear in the distance. He had gone on a buying trip and brought the beads back for me and had planted them there. They were cloisonne, and honestly being the bratty little kid that I could be, disregarded them. I only have 3 left. I don't remember if I made something with them or if I gave some of them away. Either way, I'll treasure the last three forever. Thanks for letting me get personal :)

Vintage and Vintage Inspired Baubles

 I just finished reading an article in Matchbook magazine about the founder of Lulu Frost, a beautiful jewelry design company out of New York.

I have seen this amazing jewelry before but I haven't checked out their site in quite some time. It is absolutely stunning!

I was delightfully surprised to find this necklace...

Lulu Frost design...

 Great minds think alike! See my design from April 2011. I knew I should have kept one of these vintage clip on earrings for myself but unfortunately I didn't.

The Lulu design says it is made with "hand painted resin" so I am guessing they  took inspiration from a vintage glass piece and are reproducing it in a lighter material. Go check out their site! It will WOW you.

Bella Vita design from April 2011

A Weekend With PMC

 Hello Blog readers! I've been busy busy busy making and that has left me with no time to write lately.

Last weekend I completed the Level 1 Certification for PMC. It was a two day course with Janet Alexander at her studio in Flower Mound, Texas.

 The course requires you to complete four projects with different criteria. You can see my projects in the above image... From top left clockwise:

1. Pendant with a handmade bail and decoration applied with syringe clay.

2. Ring with texture, syringe clay decoration, stone setting.

3. Hollow pendant with syringe clay applied and carving or removing clay.

4. PMC paper!! I added the syringe clay as decoration.

 Lots of work, lots of fun, and definitely lots of learning. Janet is a wonderful instructor and a very talented artist! I am so glad I took this course. I am so much more comfortable with my kiln and working on my projects in my studio. There is a lot to learn and a lot precautions you have to take when working with PMC. It's a lot like working with regular clay except it is a precious metal and not cheap to work with.
 I have started a couple of projects in my studio and hope to fire them in my kiln this week!