by Cindy on January 13, 2008
Caught your attention with that exotic title, eh? With this chilly weather, maybe I’m just dreaming of a nice vacation. Somewhere with a beach strewn with shells. I may not be heading anywhere warm in the near future, but my latest piece of jewelry has been given this enticing name. Here is a peek at a necklace that started with a beautiful lampwork focal, then was created with everything from wire links to a carved stone bead. I hope it takes you somewhere far away as well, if only for a moment.
by Cindy on January 9, 2008
Happy mid-week to you! How is 2008 treating you so far? We’ve been enjoying incredible weather here in VA from the high 60’s to low 70’s. Unreals. I had lunch outside today with the littlest and the dogs, just as if it were a fine summer day.
Today I’m featuring an amazing artist from Austin. Moon Stumpp is a jewelry designer, metal smith, potter, mixed media artist and lampworker (and more) who has an incredible sense of humor and great outlook on life. Moon has been creating lampwork beads since 2003 and recently opened a successful shop on Etsy. Here are some gorgeous beads that I added to my collection recently ~ just look at the cool combination of terra cotta, cream and green.
Here is the inspiration for this bead set.
This is an intro into one of my latest pieces of jewelry. I know I haven’t shown much on the jewelry front lately but I have been busy working on a few new pieces. One of the bracelets I made this week is definitely a new personal favorite. Here are some of the steps I took to incorporate some of Moon’s beads in her “Crazy Silvered” series. I just love the bright primary colors on black and the silver used throughout the beads. Look at all of the detail from layered dots to the use of multiple “twisties”.
These are the pieces for the bracelet. I created a new style of wire links using heavy gauge wire and coils. I was initially going for a “bow tie” look and this is how it ultimately turned out. I used simple loops for the bead links but later changed this (as much as I dreaded cutting the wire…but they will go in to my massive scraps bowl to be recycled). I switched the links to wrapped loops and linked them together. The bracelet was then oxidized to a darkened patina and tumble polished.
Now for my other new favorite. This is a project that I’m currently working on…here is a sneak peak. This gorgeous bead was created by another talented wonder who always blows me away with her talent….how is that for a run on sentence? I couldn’t resist. Maybe you recognize this artist’s work. This bead is from a set in my extra-special collection. There are hundreds of lampwork artists out there, but I only rant and rave about a few.
….until next time!
~ Cindy
by Cindy on December 31, 2007
Happy New Year! Jack Rabbit! Carpe Diem! Welcome 2008!!! I hope you are off to a great start on the road to a wonderful year ahead.
This may be old news now (literally last years), but this past weekend we decided to get out of town and squeeze in one last family adventure for 2007. We traveled to a not too distant city (this town used to mean Army-Navy games to us). Can you guess where we went? Take a look at the picture of this historical landmark –
If you didn’t recognize Independence Hall (or if you’re not quite sure where that is), then maybe these pop culture icons will give it away…
So maybe that last picture was a little too large. The highlight of our trip for me was visiting this incredible landmark. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I know this next picture will ring a bell. 🙂
It was so interesting to read the stories about who created the Liberty Bell, how it cracked, and to see memorabilia from its travels across the country. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, we visited Philadelphia! During our brief visit, we visited what may be the largest Macy’s ever and happened upon an amazing Dicken’s Village where we could walk through the pages of “A Christmas Carol”…what a classic! There was also a light show in the cavernous, 12 story department store. We were there just in time to catch it. In the next photo you will see the world’s largest still-operating pipe organ with shoppers below. My husband was so impressed that he said he’d love to make a visit to Philadelphia an annual tradition around Christmas time.
Other highlights included authentic gelato, made by a wonderful man who came to the United States from Naples when he was 15 years old. We also experienced Belgian sugar waffles from a neat coffee shop called Bonte. Now it wasn’t all about eating…we also strolled Antiques Row (in the rain) where we saw everything from the oldest American hospital (still in use) to interesting shop windows such as this toy shop:
What a memorable way to end the year. Overall 2007 was quite a memorable year! sweet bead studio was born and went live! I want to close this post by saying thank you to all of you who helped make this beading chapter of my life a reality. Thank you to my terrific friends, family, and customers. And a very special thank you to a few exceptional people in my world of jewelry: Chrissie, Kim and Kerry.
Wishing you all the best in 2008!
~ Cindy
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