Art Bead Earring Swap Reveal Day!!!

I was SO excited to join Suburban Girl Studio's Art Bead Earring Swap this time around!  I missed the entry date last year!  I had 2 wonderful partners Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem - Etsy shop:  Lakeside Creations, and Lesley Watt of The Gossiping Goddess - Etsy shop:  THEAtoo.

I squealed when I opened each box!  Literally.

Jan's pair arrived first...

Are these not gorgeous?!?  I love the sea urchin spines, and Jan's lampwork beads are beyond yummy!  I can't wait to wear these this summer!!!

Lesley's arrived shortly afterwards!

These are SO me!!!  I love Lesley's bronze connectors and bead caps!   The green lampwork are by a UK artist Rob Johnson from Pebble Dreams and the tiny ochre lampwork are by Pinocean.  The colors are perfect...and I even ordered a new top to wear with them!  

Unfortunately, Lesley's earrings haven't quite made it to the other side of the pond...I'm so disappointed!!  Hopefully they'll arrive safely to her soon!!  In the meantime, I sent Lesley a few pictures I took before mailing them, so she at least has something...damn mailing system!!! :)

My polymer clay florals with shell rounds and clear glass rondelle clusters.  Copper headpins and sterling ear wires.

PARTICIPANTS

Diana Ptaszynski     http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Jan Onipenco    http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Patti Vanderbloemen        http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/

Mary Harding   http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Diane Hawkey    http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com/

Lesley Watt        http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies Reazor      http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Melinda Orr      http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com

Cilla Watkins      http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com

Stephanie Haussler       http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com

Sally Russick     http://www.thestudiosublime.com

Susan Kennedy       http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Amy Freeland  http://www.copperdiem.blogspot.com/

Marla James     http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Tania Spivey http://www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Lange Klik http://www.modernnaturestudio.blogspot.com/

Lori Bowring Michaud  http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/

Erin Prais-Hintz  http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.com/

Gail Barnett http://www.atlastanewyearsresolution.blogspot.com/

Linda Landig  http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

Sharleen Newland http://www.shaterraclaystudio.blogspot.com/

Dee Elgie  http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/

Mary Shannon Hicks  http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Lisa Johnson  http://whimsyswonders.blogspot.com/

Shelby Foxwell  http://sundownbeaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Keri Lee Sereika  http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com/

Cheryl Brown    www.dragonflybeads.ca

Linda Younkman http://www.lindysdesigns.blogspot.com/

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com/

Fay Wolfenden http://www.torchfairy.blogspot.com/

Thank you Diana for organizing this!!!

Mother's Day

No, I haven't completely lost it...I know Mother's Day isn't until Sunday, but Mother's Day without your Momma just doesn't hold the same meaning.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE spending the day with my foursome...I just miss being "a daughter" on Mother's Day.  Like many, I have SO many "shouldas, couldas, wouldas"...but I never dreamed those sands of time would run out so soon....

This year, I decided to make myself a little something.  My mother was cremated, and although I respected her decision, I don't think she could have ever realized how hard that was for those left behind.  Almost 8 years later, and I still haven't found a place that's worthy for her ashes...

PMC sterling pendant with angelite (how appropriate) & Czech flower beads.

The back...a pinch of my Momma's ashes are encased between the front and back,

then stamped with a butterfly (symbolizes change)

According to my children "it's a little creepy", and my dear sweet Mr. looked at me like I had 3 heads when I told him what was inside!  It probably isn't exactly conventional (of course there's the argument that I've never been conventional), and I'm ok with that...but it's comforting to finally have something tangible (my own little secret), and because carrying around an urn would have gotten me a one way ticket to the mad house!

I'll still miss her like crazy on Sunday, and my way to deal with the situation is to simply "not deal with it"...hence my post 2 days early...

If Roses grow in Heaven
Lord, please pick a bunch for me.
Place them in my Mother's arms
and tell her they're from me.

Tell her that I love her and miss her,
and when she turns to smile,
place a kiss upon her cheek
and hold her for awhile.

Because remembering her is easy,
I do it every day,
but there's an ache within my heart
that will never go away.

God saw you getting tired

and a cure was not to be

so he put his arms around you

and whispered,

"Come to Me"

With tearful eyes we watched you

and saw you pass away

and although we love you dearly

we could not make you stay.

A Golden heart stopped beating

hard working hands at rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us

He only takes the best

You can only have one mother
Patient kind and true;
No other friend in all the world,
Will be the same to you.

When other friends forsake you,
To mother you will return,
For all her loving kindness,
She asks nothing in return.

As I look upon her picture,
Sweet memories I recall,
Of a face so full of sunshine,
And a smile for one and all.

Sweet Jesus, take this message,
To my dear mother up above;
Tell her how I miss her,
And give her all my love.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMA!!

Evolution

I'm always in the mind set of evolving, with art.  At times, it gets the best of me.  Painting was a complete disaster...think along the lines of obscure stick people!  Drawing?  Well that's just as sad, believe me!  And forget about me sculpting anything...there are better results from preschoolers!  I've tried my hand at MANY other expressions of art, and it seems that I always come back to polymer clay.

Unfortunately, polymer clay gets a "bad rap" among the general population.  In my experience most (non artisans) equate it to "cheap plastic" that's molded, mass produced, or a child's art medium comparable to Play Doh.  During art/craft shows, I only have a few moments to explain the logistics of what polymer is and what it isn't....extremely hard to do to someone who has no experience with it...believe me!  Hence, the reason, that I always have just as many pieces for sale that DON'T contain any polymer clay in their creation.

The Mr. and I always like to play a discreet game of "What will they pick up first"...are they "clay people" or "non clay people".  Most of the time, I can spot them...they "get" it.  Don't judge us :) ...shows take so much prep, planning and overall stress that we need little diversions or we'd kill each other!  What you see in our booth is months of planning, mock set ups, building of displays, sewing table coverings, and spending MANY hours in our tiny studio together creating.

Our 2011 Booths:

Now, as much as I'd love to try my hand at lampwork, or even pottery, the start up costs intimidate the hell out of me!  Anyone that has teenage children (x4 here) knows that extra funds for such "hobbies" just don't exist.  I have racked my brain on how to mesh my love for polymer clay with another medium.

PMC, or precious metal clay seemed like the best option.  Not only is the consistency somewhat similar, but I have most of the needed/desired tools already on hand here in the studio.  My dear sweet husband bought a torch the other day (talk about a romantic Valentine's gift), so that I could get the feel of working with it without the expense of purchasing a kiln off the bat!  I've ordered a sampling of clay, and I can't wait to dig in when it arrives!!

Just a few excellent examples of PMC art:

Wax seal PMC pendant from New Hope Beading

Bronze Copper Silver PMC ring from Deb Munroe Studio

Silk Ribbon Wrap Bracelet from KLM Designs

And of course I have to include my BSBP partner's creation:

Love Glass Necklace by Jennifer Cameron available at Glass Addictions/Jen Cameron Designs

So, come back in a week or two...maybe I'll have a few pieces completed, and I'm sure many stories to share!

Window Shopping

I love to spend hours of my life perusing Etsy, sometimes with a specific genre in mind, other times I just wander.  It's window shopping at my fingertips!  And when you live in a town where the only shopping experience is Dollar General...well...you get my point!   Here's where my wandering lead me today (while I should of been in the studio):


Love, love, love this leather cuff!! 

From:  CJohannesen

I'm all about some ballet flats, and these look SO comfortable...and vegan to boot!

From:  TheGeneration

Painters fascinate me...which could probably have a lot to do with the fact, that painting (even walls) is definitely not my niche!)  I want this hanging in my house!!!!

From:  MamaPainter

Lampwork beads.  Enough said!

From:  ModernTrails

This would look great in my teal, orange & gray schemed bedroom, that I've yet to get accomplished!

From:  TheHomeCentric

And I'd have to have an orange one to go with the teal, right?  This fits the bill.  I love to mix dainty, frilly, girlie things with more organic/rustic items...

From:  LivyCreation



That concludes today's window shopping excursion....