by Cindy on August 8, 2008
Happy 8-08-08!
There is this super neat lady in my neighborhood who hosts a party – and she always invites everyone in the neighborhood – on these “special” number days. Last year she had a lawn party on July 7th of ’07. Isn’t that a novel idea? She’s just one of those people that comes up with the unique and unusual. She even has a train track going around her dining room, painted wood staircases with stenciled phrases on them, and a porch swing hanging from her kitchen ceiling. I could go on about just how memorable she is…. these are the kind of people you don’t forget.
I just finished up a new necklace…hope you don’t mind but it’s my favorite ocean-blue theme. I was in the mood to create something with that darkened, oxidized finish. I dug up some boro beads I’ve had from jenagirlbeads…..the encased swirls of blue really are gorgeous in person. The focal matches perfectly, but I have since forgotten the name of the glass artist. She was from Puerto Rico.
Blue Dream
Time to run…..the boys are ready to be picked up from their last day of Nature Sleuth camp!
by Cindy on August 6, 2008
My little beady dreams have come true. 🙂 I am so excited to announce that you can find my original wire jewelry tutorials in the current issues of two jewelry magazines!!!
The Summer ’08 issue of Step by Step Wire recently hit the news stands and includes my wire and lampwork necklace “Heartstrings”. You may remember this organic-style wire necklace featuring glass beads by Kim Typanski of Nightingale Gallery.
The Annealer is a specialty magazine created for lampwork artists and designers who incorporate hand made glass beads in their jewelry. I was psyched to see my bangle right there on the corner of the front cover! “Front and Center” is a wire bangle design that features a front clasp and a beautiful glass bead from Kerry Bogert of KAB’S Creative Concepts. I’ve added one of the pictured bangles in the sweet bead studio shop. You’ll see how different the bangles look depending on whether they are left shiny silver or if they’re oxidized.
Thank you to all who gave me encouragement and support (help with shooting the photos, editing the tutorials…..), you were a huge part of making this happen! And I’m especially thankful to the magazine editors for making my publication debut possible! 🙂
~ Cindy
by Cindy on August 1, 2008
It’s the weekend! 🙂 And as promised I have a few photos to share of the new pieces I’ve added to the sweet bead studio shop. As you’ll see I’ve been inspired by the beauty of the Ocean. After all, summer time is my favorite season by far! I wasn’t too thrilled that today is already August 1st (did you say Jack Rabbit??), the time is flying by too fast. You may want to grab one of these for your hand made jewelery collection as a special Summer keepsake.
“Easy Breezy” features a little wire work and mother of pearl shells.
“Evening Tide” is a set using lampwork by Marilyn Jones in gorgeous shades of blue. The deep blue has a mysterious quality about it…and I love the “bubbles” created by drops of clear glass.
Here are a pair of beach-themed earrings…they’ll go great with your favorite summer outfit. The starfish earrings are a new style for me. I saw the latest tutorial by a fabulous wire jewelry designer, Denise Perry, and decided to try a simplified version. The wire “doodles” were fun to make.
“Ocean Treasures” is a piece that really brought me back to creating with lots of wirework – which I love. This was a time-consuming piece with wire wrapping the beads, cutting my own jump rings and hammering the little wire dangles. But….wire, lampwork, and throwing in some Hill Tribe silver makes me happy.
Here I am modeling the Ocean Treasures necklace….just had to show you how this over-the-top piece would look when worn. It has a string of aquamarine nuggets around the back, and a whole lot to show off up front! The boro glass is by Glitzy Glass Studios. It’s really like a charm bracelet necklace and will be sure to draw attention…..afterall, did you notice there’s even a tiny dolphin tucked in there!
That’s all for now! Enjoy your weekend!
~ Cindy
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