My Bead Soup 2012!

***Just added new pics of me wearing my necklace. 

Some of you commented that you'd like to see it on. Scroll to the end and the pics are there.***

Bead Soup is ON! What a great event this has been. Before I go any further I want to send out a BIG thanks to our Hostess, Lori Anderson of Pretty Things What a huge undertaking and she pulls it off every time. Thanks, Lori for putting this all together.

Next a big thanks to my Bead Soup partner, Sweet Freedom of Sweet Freedom Designs What riches she sent me. (And HOLY COW! I just had to add that I hopped over to her reveal and I am AMAZED at what she made. She is so creative and the pieces are marvelous.)

My work with this lovely palette was almost effortless since my partner has such a great eye. (Plus a lot of tallent look at that clasp and centerpiece that she made...awesome! AND she enameled those beads, too. Lucky ME!!)

So I just grabbed some Soft Flex beading wire, added some faceted crystal (for shine) and brown lava (for more texture) and dove in.

 I strung a 3-strand necklace and attached it with crimp tubes to three strands of chain on each side. Since my hair is short, I added the centerpiece to the back. Who says the focal has to go in the front?

 I had set two of the enameled pieces aside and used those for earrings. I just love the enameled pieces and wanted to show these two off.

I made headpins from 24-gauge copper wire and a set of earwires from 20-gauge sterling silver. I really like how they turned out.

Here it is one more time.

I love it and have plans to wear it this week as I have the perfect outfit to show it off.  Happy Beading to all...have a great weekend.

Added... Here is is on. I am on set filming a class for Craftsy.com. It is now in my permanent "teaching wardrobe" collection.

Here's the full list of participants. Enjoy your hopping!

Hostess, Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Agi Kiss, Moonsafari Beads 
Alice Peterson, Alice Dreaming 

Alison Sachs, Beads by Earthtones

Amanda Dittloff, Passion Smashin'

Andra Marasteanu, Bijoux de Monanage

Angie Szlovak, SweetBeads

Anitra Gordy, Leelu Creations

Ann Sherwood, Ann's Blog

Arlene Dean, A Glass Bash

 

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Barb Solem, Vivi Magoo Presents

Barbara Blaszczyk, laboratorim Flory

Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Beth Emery, Stories by Indigo Heart

Bianca Odenthal, Zydies Glasperlen

Birgit Klughardt, GitesBeads
Bobbie Rafferty, Beadsong Jewelry
Bonnie Coursolle,  Jasper Gems
Cece Cormier, The Beading Yogini
Charlene Jacka, Clay Space

Cherrie Fick, En La Lumie're
Cheryl Foiles, Get Your Bead On
Christie Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Christina Miles, Wings n Scales
Christina Stofmeel, Feng Beads
Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design
Cindy Cima Edwards, Live to Design
CJ Bauschka, 4 His Glory Creations
Claire Smith, Embergrass Jewelry
Cynthia Riggs, Cynth's Blog
Dana Fowler, Trunk Full of Treasure

Dawn Pierro, Turtle Moon Designs
Dee Elgie, Cherry Obsidia
Donetta Farrington, Simply Gorgeous
Dot Lewallwn, Speedie Beadie

Eileen Snyder, Dorset Hill Beads
Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads
Eva Kovacs, Ewa gyongyos vilaga!
Evelyn Duberry, Sheba Makeda
Fay Wolfenden, Torch Fairy
Fen Li, Bead Flora Jewels
Gail Zwang, Angel Moose Enterprises
Geneva Collins, Torque Story
Grace Dorsey, Fan of the Flame
Gretchen Nation,  Art Food Lodging
Hannah Annear, Squintessential

Hajer Waheed, My Beaded World
Heather Goldsmith, As I Bead It
Heather Otto, The Craft Hopper
Heidi Kingman, My Bead Therapy
Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope
Isolina Perez, Isolina Perez
Jacqueline Keller, CreARTelier
Jane Haag, Did You Make Something Today?
Janeen Sorensen, Wild Vanilla Designs
Jean Peter, Jean P. Designs
Jennifer Judd, Jen Judd Rocks
Jennifer L Justman, Soul's Fire Designs
Joanna Matuszczyk, Bizuteria z filcu
Joanne Brown, Jo's Jewels

Joanne Lockwood, Jo Bunkum
Joyce Becker, Joyce's Joyful Gems
Judy Riley, Three Red Beads
Karen Mitchell, Over the Moon Design
Karen Williams, Baublicious
Karin von Hoeren, Creative Ideen
Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams
Kashmira Patel, Sadafule .. always in bloom!
Kate Richbourg, We Can Make That at Home
Katrin Lembke, AllesPerle
Kathy Combs, Torched in Texas

Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design
Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz
Kelley Fogle, My Life, One Bead at at Time
Kelly Hosford Patterson, Traveling Side Show
Klaudette Koon, Only Road
Lara Lutrick, Lampwork Beads by Lara
Laura Guenther, Blue Antiquities
Laurie Lalonde, Simply Mod Jewelry
Lilik Kristiani, Soul of My Embodiment
Linda Younkman, Lindy's Designs
Lisa Chapman, Beach Cat Beads
Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures

Loretta Carstensen, Designs by Loretta
Lori Bergmann, Lori Bergmann Design
Lori Dorrington, Lori's Adventures in Etsy Land
Lupe Meter, Gem's PC Corner
Lynn Davis, LLYYNN
Malin de Koning, Beading by Malin
Mandi Effron, Craft-o-licious
Mandy Williamson, Mimi's Beading
Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter
Maria Rosa Sharrow, Willow Street Shops

Marianne Baxter, Simply Seablime Jewelry
Marina Dobrynina, Savon Feutre
Marjolein Trewavas, Room for Change
Marelene Cupo, Amazing Designs
Marsha Neal, Marsha Neal Studio
Marta Kaczerowska, uhuhu
Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs
Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes
Menka Gupta, Menka's Jewelry Blog
Michelle Burnett, Reverie and Revival
Michelle Escano-Caballero, The Cabby Crafter
Miko Wiropati, Uniquely Yunikua
Milla Hope,  LB Creative Arts and Crafts

Mimi Gardner, Other Curiosities
Miranda Ackerley, MirandackArts
Natalie McKenna, grubbi
Noemi Baena, fuego, metal, y color
Pam Ferrari, Ferrari Originals
Pam Sears, Crazy Creative Corner
Penny Neville, Copper Penny
Rachel Baron, R. Baron Designs
Rachel Myers, Rockabead Jewelry
Rana Wilson, Definitive Designs by R. Wilson
Rebecca Anderson, Song Beads
Rebecca Sirevaag, Becca's Place
Riki Schumacher, Riki Jewelry
Rose Binoya, Ahtee's Blog

Rossana De Gaspari, Rdegas Blog
Sandi James, Do Be Do Bead Do
Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe
Sandra Wollberg, City of Brass Stories
Sarah Goode, Pookledo
Sarah Small, blog by salla
Shai Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings
Shawn Mills, Shawn Marie Designs with Bent Wire
Sheila Davis, Stone Designs by Sheila
Sheryl Stephens, Babble Bead
Shiraz Biggie, Secret Song Designs
Solange Collin,  Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry
Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads
Stephanie Dixon, The Dixon Chick

Susan Kennedy, Sue Beads
Susan Sheehan, Strands of Thought
Suzann Sladcik Wilson, Beadphoria
Sweet Freedom, Sweet Freedom Designs
Tabatha Dinger, Modernly Created
Tania Hagen, Pelima Jewellery Design
Tanya Boden, Fusion Muse
Terri Gauthier, Blooming Ideas
Terry Carter, Tapping Flamingo
Tracy Stillman, Tracy Stillman Designs

Gotta Giveaway Coming Up...and NYC!

Hi Gang!
Back on the road. I have landed in NYC and already we are having the best time. I am here with my friend Jessica from Jess Imports and we are on a recon/research project that I'll talk more about later. Suffice it to say it involves jewelry and jewelry and jewelry.

In light of my travels, though I have decided to postpone this weeks giveaway to next Friday and make it a BIG BLOWOUT! Well, kinda a medium blowout...but it's going to be cool. It includes a lovely donation from Metal Me This.

Now off to jewel it up!

Classes on Sale at Beaducation!

Yep! Right now all Online Video Classes from Beaducation.com are 30% off. It only happens once a year and there are only two days left to stock up.

Don't miss this great savings opportunity to learn from some of the best instructors in the business. Want to take my soldering or riveting class (both on SALE for $17.47 each) or any of the others that I teach? You'll find a list of all of my Beaducation online classes here.

It's easy. Just jump on over to the class section on Beaducation.com, choose your class and click "Buy Class Now". In a moment the class will be in your account and ready to play. No lengthy downloads, no waiting. Just one click and you are ready to start learning and making your own jewelry. The class never expires and you can watch it anywhere that you have online computer access.

Still not sure if the online video format is for you? Well, try it before you buy it. There are a WHOLE BUNCH of FREE classes for you to check out. And if you like the FREE ones, the paid ones are even better. They go more in depth into the technique and they include a downloadable class handout.

Happy learning and see you on the computer screen!

A Winner!

A big congrats to Sharla! The random number generator chose her comment to win my upcoming book.

Thanks for all of the great comments and stay tuned for a great giveaway next Friday.

Sharla, email me your details and I will out you on the preview copy list!

Good Morning All!

Just a quick check in as I am headed out the door to film my second segment of JTV Jewel School this morning.

I am discussing sawing! If you want more info on the step-by-steps of sawing you can check out my FREE online class all about using the jeweler's saw at Beaducation.com.

Also, don't forget, you can shop all of the products that I put together for Jewel School right on their website.

And, I'll be back a little later to post the winner of my latest giveaway. Click on over to that post and enter to win my book while you still can!

See you on the air!

Welcome JTV viewers!

If you have found your way here after watching my JTV appearance this morning, let me extend a warm WELCOME!

I hoped you enjoyed all of the tools and tips that I shared with you and that you will tune in on Monday morning to see more great metalsmithing tools in action.

While you are here how about bookmarking or following my blog? I write about all kinds of jewelry making and crafty things. You'll also see where (and what) I am teaching as well as lots of tips, tricks and information about my upcoming book!

You can also stay in touch by signing up for my newsletter, follow my page on Facebook, read my Twitter feed, and see what I pin on Pinterest.

Thanks for watching, And while you are here, hop on over to his post, I have a giveaway going on until tomorrow morning...join in and you might win my book.

Anniversary Giveaway! Win a Copy of My Upcoming Book

Good morning from Tennessee! I am putting finishing touches on my samples for JTV this morning and wanted to take a moment to post my latest giveaway.

Leave a comment below and enter to win my upcoming book... 

The official release date is December 11, 2012, so you won't see it for a while, but as soon as I get my advance copies, I'll send one to you. (Late November, maybe?) It also includes an instructional DVD that is over 2 HOURS long. The DVD covers a lot of great tips and techniques and is a great companion to the book.

If you'd like to win, leave a comment below. I'll pick the winner at random on Monday morning. For extra chances to win share this contest on your social media outlets (Tweet, FB, blog) and come back here and leave a comment for each share with your link.

Good luck and stay tuned for another giveaway next Friday... I have a GREAT prize coming up!

Giveaway Reminder and the Bear is Fussed.

Just a quick note to let you know that I'll have another giveaway on the blog tomorrow and that I am at the airport waiting to board my plane to Knoxville and JTV.

Torrance is fussed.

 

It's going to be a looong flight.

JTV Here I Come!

Okay. So let me tell you a story.

Way back when, in like the very late '70's, my parents got cable TV. (Stick with me here, I am bringing this story back around. It's just gonna take me a while.)

It was really exciting. Cable was newfangled to me. See, at home with Gran and Grandpa we did NOT have cable. We barely had color TV. When I was little we had an antenna and rabbit ears for our 1950's B&W TV. It stood on a rickety stand and even had a remote that made a crazy ker-plunk noise when you changed the channel. We had three stations and all of them were snowy.

Our TV kinda looked like this.

Eventually we did get a massive, late '70's cabinet color TV. Still had the rabbit ears and the snowy picture was in color. But let me tell you, baseball games are best watched in B&W. The Wizard of Oz, however is not. Who knew that Oz was a different color than Kansas?

Anyway.

On the weekends my sibs and I would converge on my parents house. Modern. With an Atari. And a pool. And CABLE!!! Cable was so awesome back in the day. MTV. Early HBO when it came on at 4 PM and showed five movies for the month over-and-over-and-over. (Almost Summer, anyone? Anyone?)

Cable also had a newfangled phenom. Live on-TV shopping. Dial in now and buy all KINDS of stuff. Pots and pans and luggage and flocked hangers and dishes.

My mom and I loved it. My mom was an early adopter of home shopping. We watched it all. It was so entertaining.

The main thing we loved to watch were the jewelry segments. Diamonds and gold and designer collections. We loved it all.

Well, fast forward to current day. (Sunday, August 12 and Monday, August 13, to be exact starting at 10 AM EST 7 AM PST.) I am on Jewelry Television (JTV) presenting my favorite tools for the jewelry designer. I KNOW! Cool huh? Me on home shopping...on TV. (My mom is STOKED!)

If you check out the JTV site, you can check me out under the "Experts" page. If you do not get JTV on your cable/satellite system you can watch me LIVE streaming on your computer.

I leave tomorrow for their headquarters in Knoxville TN.  More to come on my adventures in the next few days in Tennessee. Set your DVRs, though. I'll be coming through live and in color. No rabbit ears needed.

We Have a Torch Winner!

Good morning all!

We have a winner for the torch giveaway. Congrats go to Rock Creek Creations.

She mentioned in her comment "That would look so much classier than my husband's mini green propane tank with the torch attached."

Indeed it will! 

I wanted to thank everyone so much for your kind comments. Those comments about how you like my classes and have learned so much over the years REALLY meant a lot to me.

Coming up on Friday...another giveaway on the blog. (Look for one every Friday this month!)

If you did not win the torch and want one of your own, you can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.

Now off to work like crazy...More details later about my upcoming TV appearance coming up this Sunday and Monday. So excited!

Win My Favorite Torch!

Comments are closed! Thanks for entering!

August marks my 20th Anniversary as a Jewelry Educator and in celebration I am hosting a giveaway every Friday this month.

It's just a little something to share the gratitude I feel for being able to do what I love. So stay tuned each Friday and enter to win one of my favorite jewelry-related items.

First up!

The Max Flame Butane MicroTorch

The best torch in the world. Well, at least in my book... literally. This is one of the torches that I use in my book and in my classes. You can read more about it in my article for Jewelry Making Daily, here. It has enough burn time and heat to produce great results for soldered jewelry projects. It is a real workhorse and will be a faithful companion in your jewelry making adventures.

If you would like to give this torch a new home,  leave a comment below. For extra chances to win, just post a separate comment for each social media share that you do... reTweet, reBlog, reFacebook... just make sure to provide a link to this post so everyone can join in. Each post equals one entry. The random number generator will pick the winner. I'd love it if you'd pass it along and get the excitement going about my month of giveaways.

The contest closes on Monday morning 8 AM PST. Good luck and have a great, great, great weekend!

And so August begins...and it's my 20th Anniversary

Here it is. My whirlwind month. I am pressing my dresses. Dusting off my travel wallet. Deciding on shoes. Hunting for my carelessly-chic, keep-me-warm-on-the-plane wrap. Downloading new books into by beloved Kindle.

Yep. August is here.

I have a lot of traveling to do this month. Let's start the rundown...

Some of the prototypes...

This week is prep for the San Francisco Gift Show with my dear friend Jessica Gaston of Jess Imports. We have a new line of amazing jewelry that is going to shyly peek out at customers at this show. It's called Bijoux Belle and it's lovely. I am so wildly excited. More to come soon.

Then I wing my way to Knoxville, Tennessee to appear on JTV (that's Jewelry Televison, for those of you not in the know). I'll be selling my favorite tools and bringing soldering goodness to the masses via on air shopping. I'll remind you again a little closer to the date, but mark your calendars for Sunday, August 12 and Monday, August 13 at 7AM PST. If you don't get JTV on your cable provider, you can watch it live online here.

Next, I'm off to NYC with Jess to do some R&D for the upcoming official jewelry line debut. It's coming out full force at the NYC accessories show in January, so we are doing some scouting. Oh, New York! How I love you!

I bought this map in excited anticipation. Image via the website www.herblester.com.
Lovely stuff over there!

Then at the end of the month I have a not-so-top-secret-but-can't-elaborate-quite-yet-project that takes me to Denver CO. It involves soldering and my skills as a one-take-wonder.

Whew!

Okay. I also mentioned that I have a 20th Anniversary this month. It's my longest lasting relationship to date. This month I celebrate 20 years as a Jewelry Educator.

Yep. It was 1992, and I taught my first-ever jewelry class at The Bead Shop in Palo Alto CA. I owe a big thanks to the owner, Janice Parsons. She allowed me to really fly and reach the stars with my creativity and share my love of jewelry-making with the masses as the Class Director for her company. I left The Bead Shop in 2002 to forge my own path, and The Bead Shop closed its brick and mortar store in 2008. Now they are found online with wonderful beads, findings, tools and tutorials. Find them here.

To celebrate, I am hosting a few giveaways this month. Swing back by on Friday morning to enter the first one. I guarantee you'll want to enter. (Especially if you want to play with FIRE!)

It may or may not be my favorite torch. You'll just have to wait and see.