Art Bead Scene Blog

We've Moved!

2017-08-14T20:45:00.003-04:00

After 10 years here on blogger the Art Bead Scene finally has a home of own.

Visit ArtBeadSceneStudio.com - bookmark our site, add us to your favorite blog reader and stop by often to see what's new in the world of artisan beads and jewelry.

Please update your links if you link to the ABS.

We are super excited about all the new challenges and look forward to welcoming you at our new digs!

Don't worry, all your favorite Art Bead Scene posts are now on on our new site.

Perfect Pairings :: Ann Schroeder + MayaHoney + Leah Kelly

2017-08-11T11:31:00.002-04:00

Everyone knows that if you are going to wear a ballgown that you will twirl and twirl in it all night long, reveling in the swishing and sashaying! That is what drew me to this beautiful necklace that Ann Schroeder made. Those sari silks in the artsy handmade tassel have the same effect as those swishy skirts! All the rich colors of their attire is represented in the drops of glass from MayaHoney and Leah Kelly, and the deep dark forest represented in the long strand of black glass beads. I also love the attention to detail in the little bit of rhinestone bling peeking out from the silks, as every princess needs her bling!

Featured Designer :: Ann Schroeder

Featured Bead Artists :: MayaHoney + Leah Kelly

Stay tuned for information coming soon on our revamped website!

Moon Magic With Terri DelSignore and Inviciti Beads

2017-08-08T04:00:00.000-04:00

I See The Moon And The Moon Sees Me...

Hello from the worktable of The Earring Whisperer...errr, Loralee!
It's late Summer and my mind is already drifting off to my favorite season of Autumn. I love the colors and the night magic of it all!

The two featured rustic moon charms are by Terri DelSignore of Artisticaos. I've fallen completely for her work, it's charming, warm and rustically elegant!

I wanted to keep the focus on the crescent shape of the moons, so decided to wire-wrap very pale yellow crystals around the frame. It makes an interesting pattern, yet doesn't overpower the focal. The wire loops were on the larger side with a nice area to work with, so I was able to add charms, too! For a little night magic, I used petite, decorative, eye charms by Inviciti.

I had purchased a second pair of crescent moons and at first I was going to build a frame loop but thought...nah, let's put them upright! I really wanted this pair to have a primitive vibe and keep them simple. I made some over sized ear-wires with larger loops not only for a more prominent appearance, but also so the moons would move freely. For the dangling charms I hammered the wire at the ends keeping it rustic. I stacked some bright gold plated hematite and also added these amazing polymer rounds by Marina Rios of Fancifuldevices. Those little polymer beads are wonders unto themselves and complimented the design amazingly.

One of my favorite things to do in jewelry design, is to bring unexpected shapes and patterns together. My worktable is purposely cluttered with just about every material and type of bead. Organized chaos. I must try out dozens upon dozens of shapes until that little voice in my head says "yessss".

I usually start with one piece that I'm particularly fond of. For the pair of earrings below, it was the vintage faceted crystals at the bottom. They are little stunners in person. I suppose I would need to shoot a video to capture the full prism of color they give off. I haven't run across this shape/size very often and frankly, I don't remember where or when I got them!

I used little moons, again, by Inviciti. They were the perfect proportion and size. The gold is warm and the scratched rustic texture is a nice contrast to the perfectly, perfect, crystals.

Lastly, and I can't explain it, but I love, loveee these little plastic hand-dyed puffs with the other two. I think it lends a softness and a bit of mystery. Each bead completely wonderful on their own, yet together, magic.

It is always an honor and a pleasure to share my work with you and I'm thrilled that you stopped by to have a peek! Until next time!

Very truly yours,

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton Jewerly

10 Ten Tips for Smarter Shopping at a Bead Show

2017-08-07T20:40:00.001-04:00

Are you heading to BeadFest in Philadelphia next weekend? I'm busy working on some last minute creations, can't wait to share them! You can find two of the Art Bead Scene contributors at the show this year. I'm so excited about returning to BeadFest. I'll be bringing tons of new work!

Humblebeads booth 565

Fellow ABS team member Ashley Bonney from Summer Wind Art will be debuting at BeadFest this year. I can't wait to meet Ashley and shop for her beads!

Summer Wind Art - Booth 450B

Be sure to stop and visit William and Andrew from Allegory Gallery. We love having them as an Art Bead Scene sponsor. You'll always find something for your next project at their booth!

Allegory Gallery - Booth 451A

Walking into a big bead show like BeadFest can be overwhelming for newbies and old pros alike. Here are my top 10 tips for getting the most out of a bead show.

1. Check out the list of vendors and mark your must see booths.

Head to the booths with limited selections and one-of-a-kind items first for the best selection.

Artisan's Alley at BeadFest would be my first stop.

2. Get social before the show!

Check out the Facebook or Instagram accounts of your favorite vendors to see what they are bringing to the show.

Follow BeadFest on FB & Instagram to discover new vendors.

3. Stop by Candie Cooper's Tailgate Party before the show opens for exclusive specials!

4. Save on non-bead expenses like the show entrance fee. Here is a coupon for you to print out.

5. Test drive specialty tools at the show to try them out!

Decide beforehand if you are going to budget for larger purchases like tools or if you'll go home and order them.

Take advantage of show specials to save on larger purchases.

6. Bring your sales tax license and take advantage of deeper discounts on beads you buy in larger quantities.

Before the show print out your business info and sales tax number on mailing labels to speed up the check out process at wholesale vendors.

Don't have a sales tax license? Pair up with the friend to shop at booths that offer discounts on larger quantities.

7. Take breaks during the show. You'll make better choices if you aren't worn out!

Mix up shopping with visiting with friends. Check out demos and make & takes at the show to pace yourself.

Here is a list of $5 projects you can sign up for at the Beadalon Inspiration Playground.

8. Shop for stones at the show. There is nothing like being able to pick out the perfect stands in person!

9. Before the show take a good look at your bead inventory.

Take photos of your current art bead collection to help you shop the show for coordinating beads.

Download a few color palettes or design challenges to use a shopping guide. Narrow down your choices while you shop for focal beads and coordinates so they are more likely to get used after you get home from the show!

10. Stock up on rare finds! If you find something you really love at the show, find out if you can purchase more online later. If not, stock up at the show. There is nothing worse than finding a great bead you love to use in your designs and not being able to get more after it's gone!

August Monthly Challenge Sponsors: Allegory Gallery + Summer Wind

2017-08-04T14:56:00.003-04:00

We have two very talented artists as our wonderful sponsor for the August Challenge. We will have 2 Lucky Winners this Month!

Allegory Gallery

Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery creates handmade jewelry, jewelry components and unique art at his studio in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

"We are a creative space that's one part bead store, one part jewelry boutique, one part fine art gallery, and one part gift shop. The aim of Allegory Gallery is to promote artisan craftspeople, inspire the community to explore their creativity, and act as a focal point for classes and artistic education in the area."

Andrew is donating in everything pictured above valued over $50 which is composed of Czech Glass, vintage plastic, blue tiger eye, chocolate jasper, Marsha Neal cabochon, vintage seed beads, and waxed linen.

Visit Andrew on Facebook, Etsy, Twitter, Instagram, Andrew's Blog and Allegory Blog.

: :

Summer Wind

Ashley Bonney creates handmade wood beads by woodburning the design and handpainting each one. Ashley is also a jewelry designer and accepts custom orders.
All of this fabulous creativity happens in her Lynchburg Virginia studio.

Ashley is donating beads and components valued over $50.

Visit Ashley at her Facebook and Etsy Shop.

Twelve Princesses on the way to the Dance by Kay Nieslen

New instructions on where to submit photos of your wonderful Jewelry and Bead creations will be coming soon!!

This Month's art has many different elements that can be used for inspiration: female form, couture, trees, night, peaches, pinks, and high contrast.

We can't wait to see where your creativity takes you with the art for this month's challenge!

**IMPORTANT** Please remember to put AUG ABS in the title or tag of your submission(s). Details for where to post your entries are coming soon.

Provide us with the artist of the Art Beads used and we always love to know all the materials you used.

***Art Beads MUST be used in your entry.***

August Monthly Challenge

2017-08-03T17:48:00.000-04:00

Twelve Princesses on the Way to the Dance

Kay Nieslen

Published in 1923

Watercolor and ink

This month we are delving into the realms of fairy tales and dreams with Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen. Influenced by the theater, the design of the Art Nouveau movement and woodcuts from China and Japan, his stylized illustrations were popular during the Golden Age of Illustration.

Which direction will your jewelry take this month? Will you pull from the opulent patterns of the dresses? Play with silk ribbon and floral beads inspired by the Princesses? Will you explore the repetitive elements of the tall trees using wire or gather beads mimicking the branches and leaves cascading down from the forest canopy? Will you mix the dark tones of black and grey with the pastel tones of peach, coral, lavender, greens and warm cream hues? So many directions to go, I can't wait to see what you create!

What is the Monthly Challenge?

Every month we challenge our readers to create jewelry inspired by the featured artwork. You have until the end of the month to share your work and then we pick two winners to receive beads and jewelry-making supplies from our sponsors. Our only rule? You must use at least one art bead in your piece!

About the Art & Artist:

Kay Nielsen was commissioned to illustrate Twelve Dancing Princesses and Other Fairy Tales, written by Author Quiller-Couch. It was one of these illustrations that is our featured artwork for this month.

His work was mainly watercolor and pen, focused on detailed and stylized design. His most celebrated illustrations where for the book East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

Nielsen's work has a theatrical quality. No doubt influenced by his parents, who were well-known Danish actors, and his work on designing sets for theater productions during WWI. In his later life he moved to Hollywood and worked for Walt Disney, most notably on Fantasia.

Born in 1886 in Copenhagen, he was tutored at home after the age of 12 and then taught art at a traditional academy. While living in London in 1912 his illustration career took off with a series of book commissions. He illustrated tales by Hans Andersen, the Brother's Grimm and Arabian Nights. After his work for Disney in 1941, he returned to Denmark. Unfortunately publication tastes had changed and Nielsen's work was no longer in fashion. He lived in poverty in his later years. His work is now celebrated as one of the pillars during the Golden Age of Illustration.

Summer Wind Art

Important Changes Happening this Month!

We are process of creating a new home for the Art Bead Scene and it will be finished next week! Don't worry, you'll be able to find us at ArtBeadSceneStudio.com now and always.

The best thing about our new website will be our reader gallery where you can directly upload your entry this month to our site! We'll post directions and details as soon as the new site is revealed.

We will no longer do the monthly recap since you'll share your photo and links directly here on our new gallery.

___________________________________________________________________

How to Enter the Monthly Jewelry Challenge:

Create something using an art bead that fits within our monthly theme. We post the art to be used as your inspiration to create. This challenge is open to jewelry-makers, fiber artists, collage artist, etc. The art bead can be created by you or someone else. The challenge is to inspire those who use art beads and to see all the different ways art beads can be incorporated into your handiwork.

An Art Bead must be used in your piece to qualify for the monthly challenge.

Upload your photo to our new photo gallery (details coming next week!) Please add the tag or title AUG ABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one.

Deadline is August 31st.
You may upload two entries per month.

***Beads strung on a chain, by themselves and beads simply added to wire or cord will not be accepted.***

Entries for Bead Artists

Art beads must be created by you and fit the Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge theme. They can be made for the challenge or ones you have made before. Two entries per month are allowed.

One entry will be picked by the editors each month for a free month of advertising on the Art Bead Scene. Bead entries have to be pinned by the 30th of the month.

Monthly Challenge Winners

• Two prize winner will be selected at random from all pictures posted in our new gallery!

• Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on September 1st.

Perfect Pairings: Designer + Art Bead Artist

• Perfect Pairings focus on both the jewelry designer and the art bead artist.

• Be sure to point out all the art bead artists in your work in the description of the photos when you upload to the new gallery. Links to their website or shop are appreciated. That way we can all find new art beads to love!

• From all the entries during the month, an editor will pick their favorite design to be featured on Friday here on the ABS, so get those entries in soon.

What is an Art Bead?

An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here.

***A bead that is handmade is not necessarily an art bead. Hill Tribe Silver, Kazuri ceramic beads or lampwork beads made in factories are examples of handmade beads that are not considered art beads.

Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***

Join us tomorrow to see our prizes and sponsors for August!

July Monthly Challenge Winners

2017-08-02T20:48:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to the July Monthly Challenge winners!

1 winner was chosen randomly from all the challenge entrants.
1 winner was chosen randomly from the Linked blog entries.
Winner of a month of advertising on ABS from the Monthly Challenge Bead category.

:::

Our First lucky winner is Alison Herrington/Alison Adorns.

She has won an assortment of beads and supplies valued over $50 from Allegory Gallery.

:::

Our Second lucky winner is Jenny Kyrlach/Anafiassa.

She has won beads and supplies valued over $50 from Junque Jules.

:::

Our Winner from the Bead Entries of the Monthly Challenge is Linda Landig/Linda Landig Jewelry.

She has won a Month of Advertising here on Art Bead Scene.

Please e-mail an image and link for your ad.

:::

A huge thank you to Allegory Gallery and Junque Jules our July Monthly Challenge sponsors!

Winners, please E-Mail Tari, tari@claybuttons.com or claybuttons@gmail.com

(claybuttons.com email address is acting wonky sometimes) with your information (Name and address) so your prizes may be sent to you.

A Big THANK YOU to everyone who entered this month! We were so fortunate to have so many beautiful entries and experience such creativity from our wonderful readers.

Visit us tomorrow to see what August's challenge brings.

Bead Table Wednesday - Silk & Wire Beads

2017-08-02T15:11:00.004-04:00

Today on Bead Table Wednesday I shared how to whip up silk and wire beads to use in your jewelry creation.

I also showed how to put together this pendant featuring a Firefly Studio charm and a Humblebeads lentil bead. A Vintaj hammered ring and jump rings pulls the look together. The last part of the video shows how to create adjustable knots on leather cord.

Resources for today's video:
Silk ribbon: Design Talented One
Hammered rings and jump rings: Vintaj
20 gauge natural brass colored Parawire from Vintaj
19 gauge dark annealed steel wire & Renaissance Wax (BrendaSchweder.etsy.com)
14 gauge copper wire for the bead mandrel
3mm deerskin leather: ClassicElements.etsy.com or Limabeads.com

Art Beads:
Polymer clay lentils: Humblebeads
Ceramic charms: Firefly Design Studio
Enamel charms: Gardanne Beads

I also have kits for today's project on my website, click here.

Join me every Wednesday on my Humblebeads Facebook biz page at 1 p.m EST for Bead Table Wednesday where I share free projects, tips and resources!

July Monthly Challenge

2017-07-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

This month's challenge art, Tiger in a Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau, reminds me of this most famous poem.

The Tyger

BY William Blake

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd heaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

The tiger in this poem, and in this painting, is a fearsome sight. It is fully of raw power and unbridled fury. I see the coiled tiger about to strike in the midst of this great stormy wind. Makes me wonder if I am the hunter or the prey. A powerful poem - and art - indeed.

Loads to work with! So many greens, the shapes of the leaves, the stripes of the tiger, the lightning bolt in the sky. What intrigued you about this painting? Let's see what you created...

If you put up a post (on your blog, your Facebook, your Instagram, etc) grab the URL and upload it below for a second chance to win fantastic prizes!

Bead Table Wednesday - Vintaj Patina Paints and Stencils

2017-07-26T18:11:00.003-04:00

Today on Bead Table Wednesday I shared how to create painterly pendants using stencils and Vintaj patinas on brass blanks.

You can watch the video here:

Resources mentioned in the video:

Adornments Retreat

Vintaj

Vintaj Salvage

Tim Holtz Mini Stencils Set 25*

Renaissance Wax*

Grobet Swiss Pattern File Half Round Cut 2*

(*Amazon affiliate links)

Vintaj Patinas: Rustic River Finds

Vintaj Patina colors used today: chalcedony, coral, green opal, white gold, rose gold

The Painter's Garden Pendant

Supplies:

34mm hand-painted brass pendant

Painted leaf pendant

13-15mm polymer clay disk

flower bead cap

4 Czech glass leaf and flower beads

English cut glass bead

Brass flower bead cap

2 4mm Czech glass rondells

2 6mm Czech glass melon beads

Arte Metal leaf charm

2 4mm spacers

2 11/0 nickel seed beads

15" 20 gauge brass wire

26" gunmetal chain

15mm brass etched jump ring

8mm gunmetal jump ring

5mm brass jump ring

2 2" copper ball headpins

Directions:

1. String the glass flower onto the headpin, create a messy wrapped loop. Repeat with the English cut glass bead and flower bead cap. String both dangles on a 5mm jump ring.

2. Attach an 8mm jump ring to the bottom of the hand-painted pendant, slide on the painted leaf pendant, small leaf charm and jump ring with the two dangles. Close the jump ring.

3. Cut a 5" length of wire, create a large loop. Open the loop and slide through the top of the pendant. Wrap the wire around the top of the loop, tightly two times and then two more times loosely. String on a disk bead and create a wrapped loop on top of the bead.

4. Attach the 15mm jump ring to the top of the wrapped loop.

5. Cut two 5" lengths of the wire. Create a wrapped loop, string on a rondell, spacer, glass leaf bead, nickel seed bead and glass melon bead. Create a loop on top of the last bead, open the loop and string on the chain, close loop and wrap the wire under the loop tightly two times and loosely two - three times to create a messy wrap.

I have a limited number of complete kits on my website for today's project. You can find them here.

Corfu Blue:Free Necklace Tutorial from MaryHardingJewelry

2017-07-25T14:14:00.000-04:00

Last month I promised a tutorial using the above components and that is what we will be doing today. Since then I have given the necklace a name. My inspiration came from watching The Durrels in Corfu (streaming on Netflix) and then reading Gerald Durrel's Corfu Trilogy. Upon arriving in Corfu for the first time, Gerald describes the sea surrounding Corfu as "butterfly blue." Feeling sure that these crackle glazed porcelain beads must be that color, I was inspired to name my necklace Corfu Blue.
I have made some changes in my original plan. What follows is a picture of it laid out before I actually put it together.

And then I made some more changes and here is how it looks now.

Photograph of the full necklace

close up of the Leaf Pendant and the Large bail

Supplies
8 feet of 20 gauge sterling silver wire (patina before using.)
5 Corfu blue porcelain beads --ranging in size from 8mm-14mm
1 porcelain Corfu blue bird bead
2 10mm golden bronze stoneware beads
1 small porcelain flower charm
8 10 mm dark brass or steel jump rings
2 dark brass or steel 11mm jump rings
3 7mm dark brass jump rings
11 6mm dark brass jump rings
1 dark brass eye pin
5-6 inches eclectic handmade chain
3 pieces of 6 inch chain (one teal and 2 gray)
1 Copper and Wire Toggle clasp
1 Zola Elements Patina Green Brass Scrolled Focal Link 64mm x 56mm
11 size 6 antique gold color seed beads
1 Queen Ann's Lace Ceramic Leaf Pendant

Directions
1. Using the 6 mm jump rings attach the #6 seed beads to the 8 loops on the Zola Elements Bail
2. Wire wrap both ends of the golden bronze 10mm beads each with a 6 inch piece of the sterling silver wire. Enough wire has been allowed to double wrap them if you wish.
3. Attach the golden bronze beads to each end of the bail with an 8 mm jump ring.
4. Attach an 11mm jump ring to each end of the group of three strands of 6 inch chain (one teal and 2 gray)
4. Make a wire wrapped chain with 2 Corfu blue beads and 1 bird bead. Position the bird bead between the two other beads.
5. Make another wire wrapped chain with the three more of the Corfu blue beads
6. Attach one chain of beads on each side of the necklace to the golden bronze beads with an 8mm jump ring.
7. Then attach the last wrapped loop of chain on the left to the eclectic handmade chain and on the right side to the three chain strands.
8. Use an 11mm jump ring to attach the eclectic chain to the copper toggle clasp
9. Chain together 3 of the 5mm jump rings and add them to the toggle bar
10. Attach the above chain to the group of 3 chains 10mm jump ring
11. Make a wrapped loop on the small flower with the eye pin making sure to attach it to a ring in the chain before you closed it.
12. Add the Ceramic Leaf Pendant to the loop at the center of your Zola Elements Bail with an 11 mm jump ring Attach 3 # 6 seed beads on the 6mm jump rings to the 11mm jump ring as seen in the picture above.

Your necklace is finished. Since this necklace is composed of many handmade elements, I encourage you to substitute beads and chain from your own stash or search on Etsy and other places for handmade components and art beads. General Sources for supplies follow.

Sources
Art beads, Ceramic Leaf Pendant, handmade chain, toggle clasp and are made by me. I have listed the leaf pendant and a set of the corfu blue beads and bird as Made To Order in my Etsy shop www.maryhardingjewelry.etsy.com I also encourage you to seek out substitutions or beads from your own stash to make this necklace. I have checked Lima beads and you should be able to get one of the Zola Elements Bails. Here is the link
Chain Michaels.com
Teal Patinated chain MissFickleMedia.etsy.com
Zola Elements Bail at this link:https://www.limabeads.com/Zola-Elements-Patina-Green-Brass-Scrolling-Focal-Link-64x56mm-P42144
Jump rings and eye pins Michaels.com
Golden Bronze ceramic beads Firefly Design Studio https://www.etsy.com/shop/fireflydesignstudio

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I enjoyed making this necklace and sharing its progress and development with you. Look forward to seeing you next month.
Mary
www.maryhardingjewelry.etsy.com
www.facebook.com/MaryHardingJewelry/

Inspirations from The Clay Hen

2017-07-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

My posts here are centred around inspiration and there are certain artist that stand out to me as artists that are directly inspired by the world around them. Melissa Gable is one of those artist that comes to mind. She once made the tiniest, cutest ceramic teapot beads that I adored!! I love her work and asked her if she would share with us, the things that inspire her most. So here is what Melissa had to say:

I have been making ceramic beads and components for nearly 3 years, I started with earthenware but I now mainly work in porcelain as I find it nice and strong once it has been fired. My beads and components are sold under my The Clay Hen name. I have also just started to make one off slab constructed leaf plates with underglaze and sgraffito design

In my past life I was a potter for ten years...I hope to get back to someday, once my studio is bigger! I used to make funky one off functional ware from teapots to bowls. I LOVE working in clay! I love all aspect of making, but I have to say my favourite part is opening the kiln, it is always such a surprise and there is a touch of alchemy about it. I live on the beautiful Far South Coast of NSW in Australia, surrounded by nature, which I absolutely love.

My first experience in clay was when I did a course in 1991 – 92 in ceramics. It was an excellent course that taught me all the fundamentals of ceramics, from throwing to glaze technology. From that point on I was hooked. I have been working in clay on and off for about 25 years, although I did have a break for a few years and worked as a web publisher in Government, prefer the clay work! ☺

My recent work has been inspired from trips to the beach, snorkelling:

Seeing how the seaweed sways in the ocean currents, spying octopus under rocks with their tentacles darting out to touch your foot and watching the silver fish glimmer as they swim about. Really amazing!! I think my experiences seep into my brain and then come out as I am working. I occasionally draw my ideas, especially if I don’t want to forget them. But, a lot of the time it is from experimenting with the clay in the studio…just playing around.

My last series was partly inspired by looking at Nasturtium petals and just how utterly beautiful they are! I did a series of pod and petal inspired beads.

I develop a new technique that gives me a water colour effect after the final firing.

The porcelain I am using is very fine and white so it is a perfect canvas for this particular technique. I especially love it when it is combined with oxides and a peak of white clay shows through.

I have also started to do a range of rustic caps made from the fine porcelain and raku clay which has a lot of grog in it, this gives it a rustic quality and some of the glazes just look fantastic on it.

Where you can find Melissa's work:

http://www.theclayhen.com.au/

https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/TheClayHen

https://www.facebook.com/groups/australian.art.beads/

Isn't Melissa's work amazing!! I Have some of her rustic pods on their way to me and I just cannot wait to get them and make earrings for myself!!

As you are reading this I am still a few days from being home from my trip. I am putting this post together before flying off to Italy. I look forward to next post - sharing lots of inspiration from my trip!! See you then! And until then....

Wishing you all "inspiration in everyday"!!

Terri Del Signore

artisticaos

Creating Eclectic

2017-07-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

When I started my lampwork journey I was very focused on making beads that matched, I worked hard to create sets that were evenly sized, its good practice to get into, it certainly helps to develop skill. The down side is it can become very restrictive, perfect for days when your mind doesn’t wander and the results are fabulous when you see a bunch of uniform beads that work perfectly together.

This post is about an unravelling of sorts, when you’ve been in that focussed place for a while it can be really hard to let go and just explore. To make the transition easier I decided to work within a colour palette, giving me structure, with these sets I have explored working with different sized mandrels (the steel rods lampwork beads are formed around) different patterns and textures, shapes and sizes, and I worked on something completely new for me, off mandrel hearts (these are formed directly on the end of a glass rod and the hole is pierced through with a hot tungsten tool)

This set is my favourite in terms of colours.

This set just screams summer beaches to me.

I love these warm heathers and soft teals.

I am really quite pleased with where these sets have taken me, they have given me the freedom to explore a new way to make bead sets, I think they could be great for the eclectic jewellery maker mixed with some polymer clay, wooden beads and cords.

I have been adding to my personal stash too, just because I love seeing them all together in my bead trays :)

You can follow me on Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/SoulSilverSally/

Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/soulsilverbeads/

And twitter here: https://twitter.com/soulsilversally

Goody Two-Shoes

2017-07-11T05:00:00.000-04:00

Goody Two-Shoes!

Using whimsical miniatures in your earring designs!

I've been collecting these sweet little ceramic earring pairs by Melissa Gabelle of The Clay Hen for a while. I have a soft spot for vintage items or ones with a vintage/antique feel like these! They really tug at my heartstrings! Turning unique shapes into earring designs can be a challenge, but I found once I jumped in, the ideas started flowing!

I put all the little shoe pairs in front of me on my work table and asked each one ~ Who are you?

The sweet little yellow boots looked like galoshes and thought might pair with some vintage 'rain' crystals and an umbrella! The crystals were salvaged from a 1930 necklace and I used oxidized over-sized bead caps to give the impression of an umbrella.

Here are some little men's shoes that felt as if they belonged to a gentleman of the 1700's. I wanted to keep it a bit masculine, so I added some antique mother of pearl shirt buttons, some oxidized metal beads and some subtle sparkle with rhinestone spacers.

These are quite possible my favorite! I get a French military feel with these....I could be all wrong but that's my artistic license, no? I added a little flare with the touch of red fabric and the brass wreaths.

It took quite a while to find just the right components. I wanted to enhance the little boots but not overpower them. I wanted to add to the sweetness.

I think I'm all set for Halloween! I went with the pattern of the socks and decided to go all stripes! Using Indonesian black and white stripe glass beads I continued to layer more stripes with some tin bead caps by Lorelei Hill Eurto. Then, softening the look with a bit of frayed silk.

I was careful to consider the weight of the earrings. I never make anything that I wouldn't wear myself and I'm all about comfort.

I was going to end my blog post here, but I still had one pair of boots and an orphan! Here we go....

I decided to create a lariat necklace! Whaaa... not earrings?!! :)

The vintage chain is from Allegory Gallery, more vintage crystals...and wait for it... the bead caps are hand finished bullet shells from Artwear Elements on Etsy!

Last, but not least, a hand wired pin! I love this this so much!

Resources

Boots and shoes: The Clay Hen

Wire, silk and hand finished bullet shells: Artwear Elements

Vintage supplies and beads: Allegory Gallery , Shipwreck Dandy Supplies, Lorelei Hill Eurto

Thank you for joining me for this month's post of The Earring Whisperer! Until next time!

Loralee :)

Loralee Kolton Jewelry

Art Bead Evolutions :: Tropicalico

2017-07-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

There are sooooo many possibilities with this month's inspiration art..... stormy sky.... blowing leaves... waving grasses.... tiger stripes..... and of course with so many choices it is really hard to choose! Also, since I am full-on in the midst of creating kits for the two classes that I am teaching at the upcoming Adornments Retreat (time is running out but there is still space in classes and we would LOVE to see you!), and Sunday night we celebrated my husband's 49th birthday with dinner out and a Phil Vassar concert (Ended up in the FRONT ROW, which was awesome, until mid way through the concert they didn't hold back the people who just bought general admission so then we couldn't see a thing for the drunk hoards that careened in front of us )...so, needless to say, I was very short on time.

We were so close to Phil that it was like we were practically best friends. Soooo good!
In addition to his own songs - and he has written so many great songs that other artists have made famous -
he did an amazing rendition of Come, Sail Away and Piano Man that had has all singing.
Hey! I just noticed how awesome his background looks and works so well with this month's palette!

I toyed around with the idea to make a sort of modified tiger stripe cane, but I also know how hard it is to create a beautiful cane (which is why I will gladly buy any beautiful caned work from my favorite polymer clay artists!), so I knew that was not going to make sense for me even if I had the time, because I clearly lack the patience. So I settled on focusing on the color palette and a very simple stylized leaf shape, since the jungle foliage dominates the entire scene.

I started by mixing all my own colors. That is something that I spent a lot of time on in the Julie Picarello class at the Bead & Button show. Sure, right out of the package there are a vast variety of greens along with gold and yellow and russet red and flame orange, but Julie really instilled in me that you need to take it just another step to make it great. These colors are all very earthy and while bright they are a bit more subdued in hue. I think they play well together.

Next I spent some time cutting out strips in varying widths and laid them on the diagonal on a backing sheet of black.

Finally, I cut them into an inverted teardrop shape for a mod leaf, slightly off center, adding texture to various parts.

And.....that is where I left off.

I am actually not sure what will happen next! Perhaps some more distressing.... definitely some patina.... not really sure where I am going with this. I am baking some up right now to experiment with some options. With any luck, I will have some to share at the Adornments Retreat! ;-)

July Monthly Challenge Sponsors: Allegory Gallery + JunQue Jules

2017-07-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

We have two very talented artists as our wonderful sponsor for the July Challenge. We will have 2 Lucky Winners this Month!

Allegory Gallery

Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery creates handmade jewelry, jewelry components and unique art at his studio in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

Andrew is donating in everything pictured above valued over $64 which is composed of vintage seed beads, vintage glass, serpentine, hand-dyed silk, Czech glass, red agate chip, deer skin lace, waxed linen, a polymer clay pendant by Andrew Thornton, and one of our Fiber Cards. The cards include a mixed assortment of four strands that are three meters long. They are perfect for kumihimo projects, adding fiber embellishments, or adding a little bohemian flair to your next jewelry project.

Visit Andrew on Facebook, Etsy, Twitter, Instagram, Andrew's Blog and Allegory Blog.

: :

JunQue Jules

Emily Hoffman-Sperry creates ceramic beads, buttons, pendants, and essential oil diffusers. Along with making her own components, Emily also makes wonderful jewelry. She creates one of a kind jewelry using everything from vintage celluloid gumball charms, sea glass, collectible vintage buttons, antique skeleton keys, and crystal, to precious stones. All of this fabulous creativity happens in her Norton Shores, Michigan studio.

Emily is donating beads and components valued at $50 for the Monthly Recap winner.

Visit Emily at her Etsy, and Facebook.

Tiger in Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau

Submit photos of your wonderful Jewelry creations using one or more Art Beads here. Submit photos of your wonderful Bead creations here.

This Month's art has many different elements that can be used for inspiration: tigers, cats, landscapes, trees, foliage, weather, rain, green, yellow, orange and red

We can't wait to see where your creativity takes you with the art for this month's challenge!

**IMPORTANT** Please remember to put JUL ABS in the title or tag of your submission(s). Pinterest doesn't keep Pins in the order they are posted.

Provide us with the artist of the Art Beads used and we always love to know all the materials you used.

***Art Beads MUST be used in your entry.***

Welcome Guest Artist: Nealay Patel

2017-07-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today we welcome innovative designer, prolific author and charming instructor Nealay Patel. Nealay is an artist who crafts in beads and fiber to produce jewelry designs that are striking, colorful and textured. He is a problem-solver who sees his designs as solving a puzzle. His intricate jewelry is always highly textural and full of life, using a mix of metal and fiber and beads and wire. He has authored three books: Jewelry for the New Romantic, Jewelry Designs with Knitted Wire, and his most recent, Jewelry Made with Wire & Fiber. Recently, Nealay has started doing monthly Live Facebook videos featuring a kit that he sells on his Etsy site. Nealay was kind enough to share a project featuring an art bead with us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The power of a single pendant

How rare is it to come across an amazing pendant that works with just about anything? I asked a bead artisan and glass expert friend of mine to assemble a special pendant for me with just one word in mind…dagger.

Open to interpretation and inspired by the challenge, Scott Griffin of Griffin Glass sent over this wonderful pendant and I have to say, he deserves a gold star!

It was my turn for the challenge next and I didn’t know exactly what to do with it at first, I have to admit. I knew I loved it simply by itself! So, why clutter up a fabulous pendant with beadwork, right?

I threw out a few chains and cords onto the table and the fiber cord spoke to me the most! The detailed, black and white cord worked perfect to set the backdrop for this star! I added some minor embellishments on either side, a technique that can be found in my latest book, Jewelry Made with Wire & Fiber.

I also had this fabulous wire collar, from Halstead Beads, that worked amazingly with the pendant! I love the bright silver, un-textured collar that contrasts with the very textured pendant.

A perfect combo for the fashion forward! Give it a try!

www.griffinglass.com • www.halsteadbead.com • www.nealaypatel.etsy.com

Be sure to stop by Nealay's Beads & Bubbles Facebook page and mark your calendars to watch his next video on Wednesday, July 26th for the In Bloom Bracelet shown above https://www.facebook.com/beadsandbubbles/

Beading Kits by Nealay Patel for this project and more are available in his
Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/nealaypatel

And check out his new book Jewelry Made with Wire & Fiber for some great ideas that you can incorporate into your own designs, intersperse with art beads and jazz up your style!

UPDATE! Nealay has agreed to give away a copy of the digital version of his new book (retail value $21.99) to one lucky random winner for answering the following question:

Tell me...

what type of project would you love to see on a future installment of Beads & Bubbles?

Winner will be chosen at random from all entries
(one per person please!) and announced on July 14th!

July Monthly Challenge

2017-07-06T14:46:00.000-04:00

Tiger in a Tropical Storm

Henri Rousseau

1891

Oil Painting

About the Art

Tiger in a Tropical Storm was the first painting that Rousseau painted in his signature jungle scene in a dream-like style. The painting was first rejected by the salon show but was exhibited at a non-juried show where it received mixed reviews. Henri was a self-taught painter and his naivete was not favored by critics, although he was admired by artists looking to break away from the traditional art establishment.

The painting was actually quite large at over 5" wide. Rousseau captures a surreal dream quality in his work from a wide range of resources that fueled his imagination, such as French gardens, museums and books. The painting is so detailed in it's lush, tropical foliage with a sophisticated use of color and brushwork that it transcends the 'childish' label from critics.

The subject of the tiger is ready to pounce on an unseen prey, leaving the story to the viewer and inviting us into Henri's daydream of a dangerous and wild jungle.

About the Artist

"As a self-taught painter, Henri Rousseau was completely untrained in any established art techniques. He is best known for his naïve, or primitive, childlike jungle scenes. He was good at painting and music as a child, but spent most of his life in the profession of a customs officer at the outskirts of town. He started painting seriously at the age of forty and by the time he was 49 he retired from his job in order to paint full time.

Although the painting establishment laughed and ridiculed his artistic style, he was highly regarded by artists who were outside the establishment, such as Picasso, Jean Hugo, Leger, Beckman, and later, painters of the Surrealist style.

Rousseau’s painting style was unlike that on any other primitive painter, and many of his paintings were jungle scenes. Although he had never been to a jungle (he actually never left France), many of his paintings depicted over-sized plants and wild animals lurking in the shadows. He made many trips to the botanical gardens, perused illustrated books, and observed closely studied taxidermied animals."(1)

His artistic contributions and place in art history were mostly noted after his death. From 1986 until 1908 Henri exhibited his work yearly with growing recognition but wasn't celebrated until Picasso discovered his work and held a banquet in his honor. During this time he exhibited with the Fauves (Wild Beasts) such as Henri Matisse, although Rousseau is more noted at an outsider artist due to his lack of training.

Our Sponsors

Please visit us Saturday to see the prizes!

How to Enter the Monthly Challenge:

1. You need to have a Pinterest account. Go get one ASAP if you don't have one already. It's easy, fun and inspiring.

2. Email us at absmonthlychallenge@gmail.com to get added to the monthly challenge board.

Subject: Monthly Challenge Board Request

You will be emailed an invite to the board within 48 hours. Accept the invite and you are ready to pin your entries.

3. Two ways to pin your entry to the board:

Pin your photo from the internet (on your blog, Etsy shop, etc.)

Add your photo directly from your computer

An Art Bead must be used in your piece to qualify for the monthly challenge.

***Beads strung on a chain, by themselves and beads simply added to wire or cord will not be accepted.***

Please add the tag or title JULY ABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one.

Deadline is July 31st.

You may upload two entries per month.

ENTRIES for ART BEAD ARTISTS!

• Beads Makers Pinterest Board - Art beads must be created by you and fit the Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge theme. They can be made for the challenge or ones you have made before. Two entries per month are allowed.

One entry will be picked by the editors each month for a free month of advertising on the Art Bead Scene. Bead entries have to be pinned by the 30th of the month.

Beads only - do not post jewelry on this board. If a post doesn't fit the challenge it will be deleted.

Monthly Challenge Recap

• Please post at least one single shot of your creation on the Pinterest Board. This will be used to make a collage for the Monthly Challenge Gallery. Every creation will be added to the collage, regardless of a blog post. So everyone gets included!

Your entry must be on Pinterest 2 days BEFORE the recap to be included.

• Be sure to share with us the name of the art bead artist in the description of your photo so that if you are selected for the weekly Perfect Pairings on Friday, both you as the designer and the art bead artist can get the credit you both deserve!

• An Link Up button will be added to the bottom of the Monthly Challenge Recap post. Here you will be able to link up your blog post if you have one. Be sure to hop around and see all the great inspiration and leave some comment love!

• The Monthly Challenge Recap with Blog Tour will be posted on July 31st.

Monthly Challenge Winners

• One prize winner will be selected at random from all pictures posted on the Pinterest board.

• One prize winner will be selected at random from all blog posts added to the hop for the Monthly Challenge Recap post. So if you want to be in the pool for the second prize, be sure to use the Link button at the bottom of the post to share your process and inspirations!

• Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on August 1st.

Perfect Pairings: Designer + Art Bead Artist

• Perfect Pairings focus on both the jewelry designer and the art bead artist.

• Be sure to point out all the art bead artists in your work in the description of the photo on the Pinterest Board. Links to their website or shop are appreciated. That way we can all find new art beads to love!

• From all the entries during the month, an editor will pick their favorite design to be featured every Friday here on the ABS, so get those entries in soon.

What is an Art Bead?

An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here.

***A bead that is handmade is not necessarily an art bead. Hill Tribe Silver, Kazuri ceramic beads or lampwork beads made in factories are examples of handmade beads that are not considered art beads.

Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***

Bead Table Wednesday - Wire Nest Connectors

2017-07-05T16:45:00.002-04:00

Today on Bead Table Wednesday I shared how to make these quick and easy wire nests to use in your jewelry designs.

Resources:
Birds - Humblebeads
Leaf Charms - Firefly Design Studio
Peanut seed beads - Whimbeads.com or Bellomodo.com

I used 20 gauge wire for the nest and 18 gauge wire for the bird.

You can use any kind of 20 gauge wire for your nests. Left to right: antiqued copper wire, dark annealed steel wire, brass colored wire with a bit of WoolyWire wrapped in - inspired by Sue Woods!

Want to whip up one for yourself? Check out the limited edition kits on my website.

June Monthly Challenge Winners

2017-07-04T16:13:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the June Monthly Challenge winners!

:::

Our First lucky winner is Karen Martinez/Fairies Market.

She has won an assortment of beads and supplies valued over $50 from Allegory Gallery.

:::

Our Second lucky winner is Melissa Trudinger/BeadRecipes.

She has won beads and supplies valued over $50 from .

:::

Our Winner from the Bead Entries of the Monthly Challenge is Rachael Grow/ EoSunWoMoon.

She has won a Month of Advertising here on Art Bead Scene.

Please e-mail an image and link for your ad.

:::

A huge thank you to Allegory Gallery and The Classic Bead our June Monthly Challenge sponsors!

Winners, please E-Mail Tari, tari@claybuttons.com or claybuttons@gmail.com

(claybuttons.com email address is acting wonky sometimes) with your information (Name and address) so your prizes may be sent to you.

A Big THANK YOU to everyone who entered this month! We were so fortunate to have so many beautiful entries and experience such creativity from our wonderful readers.

Visit us tomorrow to see what July's challenge brings.

June Monthly Challenge Tour

2017-06-30T10:40:00.004-04:00

Hello bead peeps!

I am running a bit behind and of course that is when everything runs amuck, right? So I finally managed to pull together the slideshow of the beautifully colorful entries for the June challenge. Without further ado, here are your gorgeous creations!

And if you posted your creations someplace this month, please enter your links below for a chance to win some great prizes! See you for the July inspiration! Gotta dash!

Designing with Beaded Chain

2017-06-28T22:10:00.000-04:00

I have found a new favorite beading supply and I wanted to share it with you. It's beaded chain and it comes in endless varieties. I have seen it made with crystals and gemstones as well as wire tones in silver, gold, bronze and gunmetal. You purchase it off of spools by the foot. I have been purchasing it in 2 feet increments for 12" on each side, along with the closure and pendant - it's a fast and pretty necklace design option.

For my project, I have 2 feet of matte striped agate gemstones wire wrapped in 24 g gunmetal wire. I also have a spool of matching wire, coordinating size 6 brown seed beads, a gunmetal lobster claw clasp and two 1 1/2" pieces of silk ribbon. For tools, I need wire cutters, flat and round nose pliers.

Start by finding the middle point of the chain and cut 2 gemstone links off being careful not to cut the wire loop on the end of the chain piece. Remove the wire from the 2 beads and set aside. Cut two 3"pieces of wire. Take the clasp and a bead - now make a matching size to the chain wire wrapped loop and attach the clasp before closing the loop. String the bead and make another wire wrapped loop and attach it to the 12" piece chain before closing the loop. Do the same thing again but make the loop a bit larger for the clasp to attach to. Now to attach the pendant.

Cut two 4" pieces of wire. Make a wire wrapped loop and attach the pendant before closing the loop. Make the top wire wrapped loop and attach it to the chain link before closing the loop. Do not cut the wire tail. Wrap the silk around the pendant loop up to the wire loop. Start to wrap the wire around the ribbon and add a seed bead 5 times around and position the bead in place so it looks balanced. Secure the end of the wire by pressing it with the flat nose pliers. Repeat on the other side. This hides the pendant loops and gives the necklace a nice finished look.

Now you have a lovely necklace to wear that takes less than 30 minutes to make. What's not to love about that? :)

I hope you will enjoy this technique as much as I do. Michelle from Firefly Design Studio

This and That with Art Beads

2017-06-27T09:13:00.000-04:00

Some of my handmade beads that I raku fired last week at the community Raku Firing at the Thousand Islands Art Center.

On Saturday July 1, I will be participating in the 10th Annual Mare's Wares Art Festival. I have known about this plan for several months, but now that it is beyond crunch time, I am feeling stressed and could not really settle on a topic for today's Blog Post. Instead, I am just touching on a scattering of topics, much like my brain is acting under pressure. It seems that pressure engenders some kind of resistance and procrastination in me and I go to my studio and instead of being task oriented, I begin to play and experiment. One of my best "discoveries" was this cool toggle clasp I made last week, when I thought I would be glazing pendants for the show.

Toggle Clasp made from brass and copper wire and lead free solder by Mary Harding

And the week before I was deep into making some funky earring bails inspired by the rustic jewelry bails I blogged about last month.

Funky Earring Bails by Mary Harding

One of the jewelry pieces I will have at the Mare's Wares festival on Saturday is a simple free form peyote stitch necklace. And the best part is that this morning as I was looking for beads to share in this post, I came across the perfect one to balance the necklace. I will show you the before and after in the pictures below.

Work in Progress Free Form Peyote Necklace by Mary Harding

As you can see the piece is unbalanced and I had tried a number of ways of improving it but none worked until this morning when I wasn't even trying!!! See the next picture.

I will be adding that big blue ceramic flower which seems to fill it out nicely.

Originally today I had planned to share a tutorial with you which I will now defer until next month. Here is a picture of some of the parts of the necklace. I hope you will stop by next month and see how it turns out.

Necklace project for my post in July

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Sharing these stress related projects with you has been fun and I am already feeling more focused.

Mary

www.maryhardingjewelry.etsy.com

www.facebook.com/MaryHardingJewelry

Don't Kill Your Inspiration!

2017-06-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

Some of you may know I have face book group "inspiration in everyday" where folks share their inspirations in relation to art beads. Most share jewelry, I share beads because that is what I make most. The concept is to share what you create, but just as important, share also what inspired you.

Here is what I shared this month, both photo and text:

So..... I got inspired by garlic!! I'm so strange! I know! I cut the bottom end of a bulb of garlic and when I looked at it - I was curious what it would look like pressed into porcelain. On the right is the result after pressing the garlic and adding a brown stain and some hand painted designs with black. So technically it is a garlic pendant I suppose! But no - I don't live in fear of vampires lol!! I just love pressing various textures into clay😀! Inspiration is all around!!

I get a lot of enjoyment from pressing random things into clay and learning the result, but I don't always put the results out there for the world to see. What stops me? If I'm honest, fear of rejection! It was not so hard to share the results in the small, humble face book group of encouraging people! But was I planning on offering this pendant for sale, where it could be rejected? No! I would self talk myself into thinking no one would want to buy my artistic, but still garlic inspired pendant, its much to odd!

But Something surprising happened and made me think about how often negative self talk must stop my artistic growth! What happened was someone private messaged me asking if they could buy the pendant. The very pendant I never would have listed for sale thinking no one would want it! So it's helped me to reflect, and hopefully grow a little more courage next time my inspiration takes me down an unusual path. There are others out there that appreciate unusual things as much as I do, and I should not let fear stop me from putting my unusual work out there! This incident has lead me to my post for today about the things that kill inspiration.

At times inspiration can start out small and often be quite fleeting. There are also times it can be very loud and in your face! Some artists have referenced having to wrestle with inspiration in order to get or keep grip of it, while some have painted a mental picture of gently catching inspiration like you would a butterfly, treating it ever so delicately. Others can even claim inspirations can fall right into their lap, completely unexpectedly!! I'm sure many artists and designers relate to one or all of the above, and have even more ways they come into inspiration!

So whether you go out and desperately search for, chase after, forcefully wrestle, cling to, catch, or just be ready when inspiration hits you - what you don't want to do is KILL it!!

So let's talk about what kills inspiration so we can learn ways to avoid killing it!

I like the mental picture of inspiration being a tiny sprouted plant under the care of the inspired artist/designer. This is also why you might see me use the word cultivate - a lot! The sew and reap concept is a very important one to me. Investment of time and resources is crucial in any area we want to see growth!!

Here are 3 Things that I have come up with that will kill inspiration, along with some thoughts on overcoming them:

1. Lies that bring forth self doubt! Lies such as, but certainly not limited to;

-" If you cannot win, you should not play" - Oh, how tragic! All the beauty and learning through the process you will miss if you believe this lie!!

-"I'm not good enough, smart enough, creative enough, skilled enough, and so on, and so on" The never ending I'm not ________ enough! This is negative self talk and it's best to just send it away as soon as it comes! It is never helpful! Something I heard once that has stuck with me is -" If you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them!"

The truth is where you are at on your journey is a great place as long as you are moving in the right direction. You will get better the more you practice, so don't waste time worrying about what you think are your shortcomings, or comparing yourself to others! Here is a quote I like - "Don't compare your beginnings to someone else's middle " Alexander K Trenfor

2. Fear of failure. Failure is painful, yes! The tragedy that happens with fear of failure, is not only does it halt growth, but it stops you from taking risks. Risk taking is a crucial to bringing forth creative ideas!

Cultivate a growth mindset, allow failure to be part of your process. Choose to learn from it rather than be stunted by it. I have failed so many, many, times, so you can take it from me - it gets easier the more you do it!

I will share a personal example of failure, I have lots to choose from! I make ceramic art beads. Living in a rural Canadian area, there is little market for ceramic art beads. Quite a while back I signed up to do a local craft fair. I thought maybe I could sell my art bead pendants by stringing them onto necklaces of silk cording (mostly because I like silk cording). I sold some items but I did not sell a single necklace at the craft show. Although the failure did not feel so nice, I chose to ask myself questions, rather than give up and decide to never do a show again. As an artist, I could have taken it as personal rejection . I could have thought my art beads were no good. Growth could have ended right then and there for me! But I did not let that happen! Through a process of questions I asked myself, I ended up learning that although I love hand dyed silk cord, others in my area prefer chain. I also learned better ways to display necklaces. When I fail there is a song that comes to mind about getting knocked down, and getting back up again!! If you get knocked down, get back up, and learn what to do differently next time! Grow, and consider yourself wiser! And find something else to do with all the silk cord you bought in bulk - oh wait - that last part might just be advice for me only!

3. Perfectionism, friend or foe? If perfectionism keeps you from perusing your inspiration, it will stunt your growth the same way fear of failure will. It will also keep you from taking important, necessary to risks. Sometimes perfectionism can be helpful. It can push you further and help you get to the next level. If that is the case, use it! If it is stopping you, or holding you back, let it go!!

Here is something to try, that might help you if perfectionism is what holds you back. Ask yourself, what will happen if I do go for it? Then ask yourself what will happen if I don't? Answering these two questions will help you come to the realization that perfectionism is only keeping you from moving forward! Even if things don't turn out perfect, the sun will continue to rise, and set. The birds will still chirp, and life will go on, and the best part is, you allowed for growth!!

So protect that tiny sprout of inspiration and give it the best possible chance to grow. Don't allow the dangers that be, destroy it! Nurture it as though your creative growth depends on it!

Next month I'm away all month so I won't be around to choose a random winner for the "Inspiration in everyday " monthly prize. So, what I am doing instead is offering 4 of these "inspire" bead combos so that in August 4 of you that share your inspirations over the next 2 months will win one of these sets:

So if you have not joined the group yet, you can here and share what inspires you! I would love to see the things that inspire you! Hey, I never mentioned yet where I am going next month! Well, I'm pretty excited that half of the time I'm away, will be spent in Italy!! It's an insanely exciting opportunity and I am looking forward to sharing some inspiring things from my time there!! I have been there once before and found it to be endlessly inspiring!

Take care and wishing you all - inspiration in everyday!!

Terri Del Signore

artisticaos

Perfect Pairings :: SJ Designs + Earth Expressions

2017-06-23T13:03:00.003-04:00

This month's inspiration is all about COLOR!

The colors are deep and saturated, yet soft around the edges with intriguing textures.

That is what I think these earrings by Sarajo Wentling capture completely.

I love these bright polymer clay charms and the way that Sarajo pulled beads that draw your eye up from them. This fun and flirty design is perfect for these hot summer nights!

Featured Designer :: SJ Designs

Featured Bead Artists :: Earth Expressions

We are now using Pinterest!

You can find more details in this post about the exciting new changes,

including a board devoted to art beads inspired by the monthly challenge!

(Ooh! Look! More pretty beads to lust after!)

Pretty please make sure that you post a link in your Pinterest description

so that I have someplace to attribute the picture!

And don't forget to tell us about those art beads - providing links to bead makers is appreciated!

Deadline June 28th to get your pictures posted to the Pinterest boards for the creation of the Monthly Challenge Recap post for June 30th.

TIP: If you upload your photo rather than pin it from your blog or shop, edit the pin (the little pencil button) and add your link as the source. Save your edits. This will allow us to click directly on your photo and go to your blog or shop to read more about your entry. If you don't, I might not be able to access the photo to share it.

Jewelry Monthly Challenge Entries

Beads Monthly Challenge Entries