Monday Challenges

This week can not end with out me doing something with one of these wooden curtain pulls. Now that I challenged myself here I have until Sunday to make good on this promise.

Time and The Hour

It is Sunday again. This past week was not my finest. Although I still managed to get some work done, the heat wave and our broken air conditioner got to me by Thursday. From that point on...I was too hot to create or think straight. Air conditioning is not a luxury for me. It is a necessity!

But today is a new day. The heat wave continues but our new air conditioner was installed yesterday afternoon. At some point last night the house returned to an optimal temperature. I feel like a million dollars today. Even though I feel like I lost a lot of time last week, I am celebrating the cool air by staying indoors today. No projects. Just fun.

I have pulled out this very old necklace I received from a family friend when I was a child. It came from India. I have not worn it in 30+ years. I think I will finally restring it and see if I can add a little extra too it.

Enjoy your Sunday where ever you are. I hope you are cool and comfortable!

A Bead A Day
Looking to make some super-sized jewelry just perfect for a princess? Lisa uses large blueberry briolettes and a swarovski mix to create just that!

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy ask in this quick poll about how you use social networking to promote you and/or your jewelry business.

Art Bead Scene
ABS is here to help you with your business. Check out Zazzle to customize your earring cards for your jewelry business.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Book Review: Wrap, Stitch, Fold and Rivet

Beading Arts
How many people out there are participating in the Bead Journal Project this year?

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi's button maker is the reason for this new vintage image necklace.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
This week's Wednesday Wire is a free tutorial, "Matchin' by Wrappin'."

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Learn about the Raku firing process and see the results of Melanie's new Raku adventures!

Humblebeads
Heather shares some time management tips for creatives.

Jean Campbell
Jean reviews Kate McKinnon's wonderful new addition, Sculptural Metal Clay.

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Jean is delighted to review Totally Twisted by Kerry Bogert! You will LOVE this book which focuses on wire and art beads!

Strands of Beads
Melissa discusses the process of reworking a weak necklace design - the revised version of which now appears on the cover of The Best of Step by Step Beads.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Like Czech glass? Andrew hosts a giveaway courtesy of Raven's Journey. Find out how you can win these luminous beads!

Me and Mr. Travelocity

There is a huge new gnome in the garden. Even though gnomes have been a popular garden ornament for decades, many of us think of them as the Travelocity mascot now.

He was at a garden statue centre where we were looking for a bigger piece for the front of our house. Nestled among these cement mushrooms I just knew "we had to have him." All winter long I enjoyed his commercials where he mumbled under his breath "got to get out of here."

Mr. Travelocity needed a tropical vacation. I did smile at all the snow he was griping about. I love winter, snow and cold cool air. Summer....not so much.

He was installed on Sunday, and coincidentally, our air conditioner died later that day. We are in the midst of an unusual extreme heat wave so going an entire week without air conditioning has been very hard. If you saw me this week you might have heard more than a few "got to get out of here" mumblings too. Alaska is looking like a sweet destination for me right now.

Here's hoping the new air conditioner gets installed today. Otherwise, I might think Mr. Travelocity is a jinx.

The Turtles and Susan Lenart Kazmer Bezel

A few weeks ago I did a post featuring a necklace I made with these vintage turtle beads from Paris. I have tried several different ways to show them off in a necklace. I had the light pink one's out on a table when this bezel came to my attention.

This is a hand made Susan Lenart Kazmer bezel. Many of you know that her new jewelery components line was released at Michaels last week. I bought this bezel after participating in a two day workshop with her. I also bought one of her necklaces which I am thrilled to own now that Susan is so busy and popular!

Some time ago I filled the bezel with this floral image and added it to my "too good to use" pile.
But yesterday I decided to introduce my turtles to the bezel. One evening of TV later I have yet another necklace to enjoy. The bezel may end up in another necklace at some point in the future. But at least it is out of the drawer and acting as the focal point it was meant to be. Does anyone else have one of her original bezels? Did you use it?

Vintage Image Button Necklace

There were four image buttons to choose from before I settled on this grouping of three.

I was editing some very old postcard files in photoshop this week to make some new buttons for my magnet wall at the Blue Banana store in Toronto. After making a few, I decided I just had to find a way to wear them. I love these 1920's woman. They are so glamorous. This kissing series is one of my favorites.

I knew when I bought my button making machines that I would do more than just make pins or magnets. Since I have so many jewelery components it is easy to see how quickly I joined these classic 1 1/2 inch buttons into this bigger pendant.

I am sure it will catch they eye when I wear it.
Perhaps I will put it on when I go downtown to rearrange my magnet wall.

Flash Cards And Paper Quilts

This is a fun project. Creating a set of your own flash cards.

I have had this huge tag die cut in my Accucut collection for well over two years now. I finally figured out a way to use it.

The 3 Bird card stock is a pastel set so I really loved working with a soothing colour wave.

The alphabet letters are card stock stickers from this new 3 Bird stack. I will have them on the show the next time I am on The Shopping Channel.

The card stock I am using is linen textured. It has great body and I decided to run it through the sewing machine. The texture gives the sewing machine foot something to grip. It really looked fantastic with the zig zag stitching.

I wanted to make a quilted paper back ground to show off these pictures of Magnus on his new quilt.

The beautiful edges are from another set I will show you tomorrow. I love this little layout!

So since the sewing machine was out.....I decided to make a number of 12 x 12 paper quilts.

I might use them as backgrounds for some beautiful postcards. I'll be experimenting with that idea today.

Shadow Box Cards with 3 Birds

Yesterday I finally got to spend some time making these fun shadowbox cards.

This Saturday (Correction: Friday, June 4rth) I am back on The Shopping Channel with three new products from 3 Birds for whom I am a guest host. I love going on TV with crafty products I use!

The new paper stack I am presenting contains the nicest range of pastels colours, so I was looking for a project that would show off the card stock and how sturdy it is.

As you can see, I glued, glittered and attached all sorts of embellishments to it.

These shadow box cards are cut from two sets of dies I bought for my Accucut machine. When I first saw them I said I might actually teach a class using them since I think they are so new and exciting!

The designer of these shadow box card dies is Vicki and I have her as a link on my blog roll. She creates so many amazing samples using a variety of products.

I'll have posts all week about my samples for the shows this Saturday!

Beaded, Collaged Memory Bag

These images represent the most thoughtful and kind gift I have ever received.
A box arrived in the mail for me and when I opened it I was thrown completely off balance.
I was not expecting such an amazing gift. I was certainly not expecting to see our two best friends remembered in such a beautiful way. This is the front of the bag.
The back is equally spectacular.
A few of you will know right away who's hand work this is because you have one of her bags too.
This was made for me by Sharon Ginsberg.

There is no part of this piece that isn't embellished with photos of the boys.
We lost Shadow in the summer of 2008 and Shamus followed him last summer.
Although they are gone, we still talk about them every day.

Sharon managed to use my favorite pictures of the boys. I have no idea how she accumulated them.

The hand embellishing is so thoughtful. Little charms and stitches are everywhere.

But Paul and I both agree that this spot might have to be out favorite. This is Shadow, our King. We must have called him that one million times.

Sharon added extra fiber here and you would swear it was Shadow's fur. The hand is surely representing the one million massages this dog demanded and received in his life. He was a cuddler. They both were, but Shadow just had his own way of getting twice the love.

All these details and embellishments are overwhelming. The bag will need to be displayed and protected. I am thinking about getting an acrylic box made. For now, it is the most tactile reminder I have to celebrate Shadow and Shamus. Thank you Sharon.
We love you.

Unusual Tree Textures From Paris

This sure looks like an interesting image of a horse.
I am in a horsey frame of mind today because I just posted something to my Napoleon blog about one of his horses. It reminded me of this photo I took last month on Rue Rivoli.

The horse image above isn't sketched or painted. It is a sample. A sample from a tree in Paris.
If you have traveled to the fair city you might have noticed that the trees near the main roads all have a very tough outer texture. I am certain this is due to pollution from all the cars.

If you walk by these trees like I do, you notice the most amazing crackling and peeling. Textures which would take me days to replicate with paint.

I started to see some images on the bark on this last trip, hence my beautiful textured tree horse.

A Glove That Makes You Want To Dust

This is one of my gifts to my Mom for Mother's Day.

I bought it in one of the many cute kitchen stores in Paris. I wish I had come up with the idea myself! I love the ring and the beaded bracelet. My Mom doesn't think she can use it to dust though...it will hang in the kitchen for now as a small piece of fun art. Have a happy Sunday friends. Here are my Sunday links.

A Bead A Day

What does swarovski sparkle mean to you? Lisa shares the happy feeling brought on by sparkly stars.

About.com Jewelry Making

Tammy has some fun in the sun summer time jewelry tutorials for you, including a cute turtle charm necklace.

Art Bead Scene

Free Project Alert! ABS has a new necklace project for free on their website!

Beading Arts

Cyndi has launched the first installment of her brand new e-book on bead embroidery...and it's free! Hurry over for your copy!

Carmi's Art/Life World

Carmi finds a way to incorporate vintage turtle beads into a necklace.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva

Cindy works through her to-do list and lists a new set of glass birdhouse beads.

Jean Campbell

Jean's been at the grindstone, but also at the gardens...check out these beautiful images from the MoBG!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio

Lorelei is back on track this week and is giving away coordinating beads with Sab's help, from BeadBead.biz!

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!

Jean brags! Yes, she really brags! It's worth a look because it's cool!

missficklemedia.com

Should I patina or leave the metal bare naked?