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Showing posts from November, 2009

The Lady of Shalott - finished!

The Lady of Shalott Here are all the construction steps: Part one Part two Part three Part four All of the materials and tools are listed in Part one FREE e-BOOK CHAPTER Copyright 2009 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact. Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading
Jewelry Vendor, Durbar Sq... Ethel Davies 12x16 Phot... Buy From Art.com

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

Strands of Beads Melissa is thankful for generous friends - who share their beading supplies! A Bead A Day Stop by A Bead A Day for a wonderful week of cubic zirconia sparkle sponsored by Artbeads.com. Ideas are always welcome! About.com Jewelry Making It's is so easy to get into the holiday spirit when you have the perfect lampwork beads to get you there. Just think of all the jewelry possibilities. Art Bead Scene Are you a Twilight Fan? If yes, then check out the Twilight inspired jewelry on the Art Bead Scene! Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi uses embossing powder to make a bird pendant...a fun idea! Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva It's Double Dippin' Week - a week full of ideas for the Double Dips. Try a necklace and become "Entwined." Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie gives her review of Enchanted Adornments, and gives a reminder to enter the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge for your chance to win a copy of it and some other great beads,

Make It Merry!

Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Welcome to another edition of Make it Merry, where talented crafters share their holiday how-to's. Snowman Ornament Sherri Osborn will show you how to create a cute snowman face using a clear, glass ornament. It's a great project for the whole family. Recycled Pine Cone Gnome Get a glimpse of this pine cone gnome at the Recycled Crafts blog. It's a cute reason to collect a few pine cones around the yard. CopprClay Pendants Try your hand with pendant making this year with a little help from some winter foliage. The Beading Arts blog will show you how. How to Make Paper Handmade paper not only makes a great gift for the avid scrapbooker in your life, but you can also create tags and cards for every present on your list. Marion Boddy-Evans shows us how. Little Town of Bethlehem Cross Stitch Get down to the true meaning of Christmas with this simple cross stitch pattern from Connie G. Barwick. Mitten Earrings Tammy Powley shows us how to make these cu

Artist profile - part eight

Metal clay by Lorena Angulo Five more brilliant glass, bead, and jewelry artists for your viewing pleasure. If you'd like to be featured on, please leave me a comment here with your email address or email me directly at cyndi @ mazeltovjewelry.com (remove the spaces). I'd love to talk with you :-) Jamee Jones Lorena Angulo Beverly Ash Gilbert Lea Avroch Liliana Cirstea Glenn Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Recent publications: November 2009

Beyond Beading Basics by Carole Rodgers Creative Native American Beading: Contemporary Interpretations of Traditional Motifs by Theresa Flores Geary A Year in Earrings: 365 Designs and Variations by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine Enchanted Adornments: Creating Mixed-Media Jewelry with Metal, Clay, Wire, Resin & More by Cynthia Thornton The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C. to the Present, Revised and Expanded Edition by Lois Sherr Dubin Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Work in progress: The Lady of Shalott - part three

OK, we're getting there! Here are all the construction steps: Part one Part two Part three Part four All the materials and tools are listed in Part one Copyright 2009 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact. Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Some simple CopprClay pendants

Here are a couple of really easy pendants you can make that would be good Christmas or holiday gifts this year. I used CopprClay , but you could use any other metal clay you wanted, or even polymer clay. Since these end up looking somewhat like fossils, it would be interesting to experiment with some of the "granite " colored polymer clays, or to mix your own faux stone. The first pendant is made by simply rolling a leaf or anything else with texture right into the clay. You can either peel the leaf (I used a fern) back up, or leave it in place as it will burn out during firing. Polymer clay mold The second pendant takes an extra step. You first will need to create a mold of your leaf or texture, using polymer clay or any other mold-making material. Then the clay is pressed into the mold and removed before firing. The first technique gives you a pendant with the shape pressed into the metal, and this second technique gives you a raised shape on the surface of the metal.
Detail of Beads for Jewelry Making, M... Alison Jones 16x12 Photograph... Buy From Art.com

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Artbeads teamed up with Nintendo DS to create a fantastic virtual learning game for jewelry lovers! Style Lab! Jean shows it off in a youtube clip! FUN for the HOLIDAYS! :) Strands of Beads Melissa discusses the virtue of buttons in jewelry-making. About.com Jewelry Making What do you do with a weird piece of chain made from wood? How about making a fabulous necklace out of it. Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene gives you the scoop on findings worth finding - check it out! Barbe Saint John I've been a bad blogger! Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi makes a brooch with a cameo and other odds and ends. Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Cindy has a new shop on Etsy - the bleeding heart. Check it out! Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie shows the piece she made for the new book Chain Style, and talks about her struggles with letting go of her published jewelry pieces. Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei'

Artist profile: Jean Hutter

Artist: Jean Hutter Business name: Totally Twisted Location: Lakewood, NJ and Lake Ariel, PA Websites & Blogs: Jean Hutter Beads blog Totally Twisted etsy shop Totally Twisted 1000 markets shop Jean, how do you describe your work? My work is constantly evolving and changing. I would describe it as eclectic – a little of this and a little of that. I enjoy beadweaving, bead embroidery, stringing and wire work. I started with wire hence the name Totally Twisted. I don’t work with wire as much any more but I think the name still fits me. I see my work evolving to include more natural and found objects – I would also like to start using fabric in my jewelry. What is your creative process like? Well I usually work on one thing at a time and I like to know what I may be working on next. I have a list of things I would like to try or make and I sometimes pick from the list, other times I just jump in and see what develops from random beading – kind of like doodling wi

Special offer from Artbeads!

The good folks at Artbeads are one of the suppliers who occasionally send me different beads, pendants, and other products to allow me to create projects to share with all of you. Now they're offering a wonderful special that you can take advantage of directly! From now until December 31, 2009, Artbeads is offering 10% off any order if you will use the special coupon code that I've got posted below. Since shipping is always free in the U.S. and is only $1 to Canada, this special offer is really worthwhile. Artbeads has a wide selection of beads, findings, and other jewelry making supplies available on their website. No minimum purchase is required to use this offer! 10% off coupon code: SCF10P-ARTBEADS-0424 expires 12/31/09 Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Work in progress: The Lady of Shalott - part two

I've made some progress with my new bead embroidered necklace. The Tennyson poem that tells the story of the cursed Lady of Shalott says that she was doomed to look at the world only in the reflections of her looking glass, and then to weave what she saw into tapestries. I've included some small mirrors (shisha) to represent her looking glass which have been embroidered into place. I'm attempting to hint at her tapestries through the sinuous lines that are echoed over and over in related colors. I'm planning for most of the piece to be done in deep teal. Here are all the construction steps: Part one Part two Part three Part four All the materials and tools are listed in Part one Copyright 2009 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.
Color Bead Strands, Katmandu, Nepal Art Wolfe 12x9 Photographi... Buy From Art.com

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Setting up a table at a craft can be daunting, but Lorelei put together a perfectly Vintage Chic display that will hopefully lure people in. Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! In the spirit of the season, whereby "you can get nything you want" as in the famous Alice's Restaurant song by Arlo, you can get some fascinating things at Andrew Thornton's store. Great for holidays to come! The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Using a hand-painted Russian pendant from Artbeads.com, Andrew creates an enchanting response to Art Bead Scene's November prompt: Dadd's The Fairy Fellers' Master-Stroke. About.com Jewelry Making Tammy has another installment of Make It Merry this week. Art Bead Scene November is full of fairies at the Art Bead Scene. Come check out the inspiration painting for the monthly challenge! Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi has a give-away offer on "the ugly necklace."

New beads from Earthenwood Studio

I received these new beads and pendants from Earthenwood Studio ! Perhaps you've noticed the sponsor's ad in the sidebar...well these are a few of the new styles that my friend Melanie Brooks is making. I haven't decided on a project for them yet...any suggestions? Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Magazine review and giveaway: Totally Creative online

Totally Creative magazine is a relative newcomer on the scene, but I think it already shows a lot of promise. The sample issue that I saw contained articles by several artists whose work I know and love, including the fabulous Barbara Matthiessen , who wrote an extensive tutorial on creating multi-layered surface design effects on fabric. I also found an article by my friend Beth Wheeler , who shared a felting project. So what you'll find are professional designers, whose names you'll know from other magazines and books, who've created projects in all different media and for all different skill levels. Sound interesting? There were no wearables in this sample issue, but there may be some in other issues. Covering a wide variety of craft media, the issue that I saw was organized around the season and its holidays. There are projects to do with the kids, lots of home decor and gift ideas, a book and a product review, and a directory of online resources to help you actua

Making a floral necklace - Ruthann's Garden

Using the cute little beaded flowers that I showed you a couple weeks ago, plus a few more styles, I fashioned a floral necklace that I named for my mother: RuthAnn's Garden . RuthAnn has an absolutely magic touch with flowers of all types, and her garden is always a riot of colors from the earliest spring to the lastest fall. The focal flower on the top of the piece is styled after a hibiscus, modified slightly (but only slightly!) from the excellent instructions given by Kerrie Slade in the April 2009 issue of Bead&Button Magazine . For my general instructions on bead embroidery, please check Bead Embroidery Techniques . 1. Cut a piece of ultrasuede a bit bigger than you want your finished piece to be. Stitch free-form right angle weave for the background, stitching each loop to the background in several spots as you go. 2. Using a paper tracing of the foundation, arrange your beaded flowers and snap a picture of them. 3. Stitch down the flowers, using t
Kenya, Samburu Woman Wear... Thomasin Magor 12x16 Phot... Buy From Art.com

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

Jean Campbell Jean describes what it's like to edit someone's book and shares her thoughts on Marcia DeCoster's latest, Beaded Opulence. Jewelry & Beading I am giving away a copy of Ronna Sarvas Weltman’s unique polymer clay book called "Ancient Modern". Come and get in on this contest! Snap out of it Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is amazed by the treasures you find in Cynthia Thornton's spectacular wonder of a book, Enchanted Adornments! Strands of Beads Melissa trys out Friendly Plastic (and likes the results). A Bead A Day It's Arts & Crafts Week on Lisa's A-Bead-A-Day Blog! A different craft product is featured each day with ideas for incorporating them into jewelry pieces. Stop by and share your ideas! About.com Jewelry Making Make it merry with holiday jewelry and crafting ideas. Art Bead Scene An Art Bead Scene first - the December sponsors collaborate on a special set of art beads for the December monthly cha