Inspriation Move Me Brightly

by Staci Louise Smith

I am pretty sure I have used that title before, but I love that line.  It's from a Grateful Dead Song called Terrapin Station.

TERRAPIN STATION
Inspiration, move me brightly
light the song with sense and color,
hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
faced with mysteries dark and vast
statements just seem vain at last
some rise, some fall, some climb
to get to Terrapin
Counting stars by candlelight
all are dim but one is bright:
the spiral light of Venus
rising first and shining best,
From the northwest corner
of a brand-new crescent moon 
crickets and cicadas sing
a rare and different tune
Terrapin Station
in the shadow of the moon
Terrapin Station
and I know we'll be there soon

Terrapin - I can't figure out
Terrapin - if it's an end or the beginning
Terrapin - but the train's got its brakes on
and the whistle is screaming: TERRAPIN

Anyhow, my mind goes there when something inspires me.  It goes to show just how much music plays a part in my life.  I have a constant soundtrack in my head at all times.  

Recently, The Grateful Dead got together one last time for a farewell set of shows.  I blogged a bit about it here, on a more personal note, complete with pictures from my hippie days (I am still a hippie girl at heart- just all grown up)

http://www.stacilouise.blogspot.com/2015/07/oh-memories-of-times-gone-by.html

Music truly inspires me.  Lyrics inspire me, especially poetic ones.  Plus, music also brings memories to life once again.  I did a blog hop once, based on music, it was amazing.  It was by Erin over at Treasures Found (the link I have doesn't seem to be the one I participated in, but you can get the idea).

(This was Erin's piece inspired by Cirque Du Soleil)

http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-challenge-of-music-reveal.html

It was beautiful to see again and again how everyone was inspired by the music and how that was then interpreted into jewelry.  Each so very different, yet all inspired by the same thing: music.  

The Grateful Dead is one of those timeless groups for me.  I have so many fond memories of the shows.  I love poetic, sometimes silly and often wonderful tidbits of wisdom that are found in the lyrics.  I could listen to their music a bit everyday and never tire of it.

I had planned to spend the weekend watching the shows on demand or online with friends and family, and really wanted to make something we would be able to keep.  (I must say, I was VERY dissapointed we could not go to the shows, but in the end, watching in my jammies with the kids, and getting together and camping with friends while watching- even better.  No lines for the bathroom and you can pause the show too!!)

anyhow.............

So I ended up making a limited run of my own version of their infamous Steal Your Face design- which is of course a skull, which I of course, love.

So I ended up making these.

Through making these and putting them online (they are in the shop now http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/store) and selling some at my last art show.....it was really amazing to see who else shares my love of The Dead.  I think music and art are so closely bonded, whether you paint, or you make with your hands or your dance, music runs through it all.  It connects people, it reminds us, it invokes emotions in us that need to be felt.  Mostly, it brings people together.  Dead Heads can get a bit of a stigma attached to them, but they are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.  It warms my heart each time I meet another person who just "gets it".  When we share something as intimate as music, its like we must get each other on some level.

Not only did I meet some customers who are Dead Heads, but I met a fellow artist and her work is amazing!  I mean, her work just plain old makes me happy!  

Not all of her stuff is Dead Wear, but it is all amazing!

She has a Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/maedaymetals?fref=ts

and a shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/maedaymetals

I really enjoy how music and art connect people.  

Do you have any fun stories about how music or art has connected you to someone you may not have met otherwise?

Studio Layout & Winner Announcement

Carol Dekle-Foss

First of all, thank you so much to all who participated in my giveaway. Your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated! The winner announcement is at the bottom of this post. 

First, I thought I would share with you my studio layout.

I dream one day of having a cottage style studio with little flower pots flanking double french doors, skylights for ample lighting and built-in cabinets galore. To be honest though, I am very grateful for the studio I have now. I never thought I would be able to pull off working from home and living an artistic life. I feel very blessed when I have the opportunity to spend time creating here.

My studio is set up in sections or stations used for different activities. 

I spend most of my time in front of this hand-built workbench, which is the heart of the studio. I did a post here about building it with my husband. Also, here are the instructions if you would like to build one yourself. I am currently in a creative dry spell, so the top of my workbench is clean and patiently waiting my return.

The top center drawer is my favorite because the tools I use most are right at my fingertips.

The three center drawers house things like chain, wire and metal scraps

These drawers are usually left open while I'm working. Each drawer holds 96 favor tins from Michaels. It took me quite awhile to amass them all. I would use their 40% off coupon each time I bought a can of tins. It amazes me how one can have so many beads but never find the right one needed for a project. It might be time for a destash soon!

Right behind the workbench is my pathetic solder station, cleaning area and a belt sander. No sink here. That will be a must for my dream studio. 

Another workbench is used for my rolling mill, metal sheer and 2 flex shafts. I have my foot pedals elevated because, well, I am short and it's more comfortable that way. I know, it's weird.

A massage chair is an absolute must in a studio! My stump doubles as an ottoman.

The other side of the studio has storage, clay work area and sandblasting equipment. On the corner of the workbench, barely visible, you can see my metal saw area. It's the perfect height for sawing. One day I wold love to have a metalsmith workbench. I girl's gotta dream right?

So how do you organize your work area? Do you have different section or stations? How do you store your tools and beads? What has most benefited you in the studio as far as organization and placement?

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

Aaand the winner is....Strega Jewellry! Congratulations! I will send you a message on Facebook for your mailing information.

 Thank you to all of those who left valuable feedback. I have yet to discover a buyable pin and decided against using promoted pins, for now anyways.

Short cuts? or just a more efficient way of doing it?

by MaryAnn Carroll

I am off for my summer break and am trying to stick to my schedule of making more ceramic beads, possibly listing them and, of course making lots of jewelry. So far..... hmmmmm.... well.... I am getting there.

I would like to share a tip that another potter (Nancy Adams) passed on to me a few years ago when making ceramic beads. I don't know about you, but my hands do not always like to cooperate when it comes to creating the world of the smalls. Being 55, some of my fingers have taken on a life of their own and it totally sucks when you are trying to make beads and the left pinky is cramping and the forefinger needs to avoid use because of tendon issues. Yup! 

One of my pet peeves with ceramic beads is when the holes are  not cleaned properly. If there is a piece of clay on the edge of the hole when the entire process is complete, it most likely will chip, which can then either be tossed, or covered up by adding more wire or something. I tend to toss!!

The problem is that cleaning those little holes is an incredibly cumbersome and repetitive and with the finger issue I told you about, I try to especially avoid repetitive! 

So.... if this is you or you know that this might be you one day (so you would like to avoid it if possible), you might like this tip. 

Most people use a tumbler for metal. You buy shot and use it to harden your metal, clean your metal, etc. I do that too, but the tumbler also comes in handy for cleaning your bisqued ceramic beads. When using a tumbler for ceramic beads, you do not use shot. If you are unfamiliar with shot, here is a picture of what it looks like. This is used to tumble metals and maybe some other things like rocks, etc.

You do NOT use it for cleaning bisqued beads.

These are small which makes it even more difficult to manipulate. I just formed these yesterday when I had a couple of hours. They are not cleaned nor are they bisqued yet. You can see that many of the holes are still very rough.

For the purpose of this little tutorial, I am going to use some beads from this group that have already been bisque fired to 1860 degrees F. Firing to this temperature makes them perfect for glazing. They are still porous and will take glaze well.

I would like to note that one thing that you do not want to do is use your beads that have texture on them. This process might tumble the texture right off.

Here is a texture free group that I am going to use. These are ready to be glazed and were tumbled awhile back.

This is the tumbler that I have had for a few years. It comes in so handy and is worth every penny. I don't even remember how many pennies I used to buy this, but it wasn't too terrible.

Load you beads right into the rubber container. Typically, you should try to get this about 2/3 full. I didn't do that here, but when I am actually cleaning beads that I just made, I will add extras that I have sitting around just to fill the tumbler.

Now add water. You don't want to add too much. It should be about level with the beads or a little less.

Use Dawn dish detergent. I would recommend this as some others might have lotions, etc. which is not a good idea for beads. I use Dawn for everything. I left out pictures of putting the tumbler top back on, but I think that would be obvious.

Plug your tumbler in and tumble for 2-3 hours. You can check every hour to check on the progress. You can see in this video that the tumbler is going very quickly. If this were weighted down with more beads, it would be much slower. I am not positive, but I would think that having it spin too fast might not be a great thing. 

Dump your beads into a strainer and rinse them well.

Once strained, lay them out on a paper towel and let dry completely before glazing. 

And, that's it!!! See how smooth those holes are! No chipping there! If you do make ceramic beads and didn't know this trick, I hope you find it useful.

Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment.

Messy Studio and Etsy Thoughts

Somehow it is July. And almost mid-July at that.

Seems like I just got back from Bead & Button and right around the corner is Bead Fest Philadelphia. 

Things go non-stop at times, and right now I have family visiting until next week.

So my studio will remain a mess...

 And I am going to have to get a good purging in the next couple of weeks. 

In the meantime, my brain gets a bit stressed with making sure I can keep family entertained and have some income trickling in (the bills sure don't stop).

And as far as that goes, I am constantly thinking about how to market my items, and with changes in social media, technology, and how people shop, it gets a bit overwhelming to try to keep up with.

I don't even want to get started with my frustration with Etsy and what is being sold there, and how they have dropped the artisan base. Personally, I still think that if they created "Etsy Handmade" the way they have created "Etsy Wholesale" and take it back to their origins, they could be salvaged.

And now Amazon is getting into the program with "Amazon Handmade" so I am very curious to see how that platform runs and effects Etsy.

Yesterday I got an email from Etsy saying that they have been putting a bit more effort into their Etsy Teams platform through the Sell on Etsy App.

As a captain of two teams, and members of many, this was a surprise and a bit exciting.
Although there is much room for improvement, I am pretty impressed they are doing anything for the teams.

If you have a smart phone (iPhone or Android) you can get the Sell on Etsy App.
You may need to refresh your app if you already have it on your phone to get the teams section to show up.

And as a team captain, I also received an email that gives details that one of the long requested things: for the captain to be able to address the whole team via email is now available. People can opt out of receiving the emails - especially if the captain steps over limits with this and sends out way too many emails.
Having the capability of shooting out an email to the whole team to remind them of an upcoming event, or even a monthly reminder to check the Etsy threads will hopefully allow for more activity and interaction to the Etsy Team Platform.

All of this is pretty exciting to me from the marketing end, because being able to stand together and help promote each others work is a huge part of having a successful Etsy shop.
And honestly, the only reason why I am still maintaining my shop on Etsy.com and I really hope that they will be seriously considering Etsy Handmade to leave the current Etsy as it stands in the dust.

If you have an Etsy shop where you sell your handmade, vintage or supplies to make handmade, you should consider joining the AWETeam (Art Walk Etsy Team).
We host a virtual First Friday every month, and all you have to do is add up to 4 of your shop listings and help promote the event through social media, and other creative ways.

I am curious to see if these tools will help to market artists shops more through the Etsy Teams platform.
Efforts must be made by all involved though, and on a regular basis.
If not, it all just stalls - and that is quite disappointing.

So I'm off to go update my Etsy shop with some new listings, and tags, then add some new items to my teams and then promote.

Spiral Lentil Bead Sets Marsha Neal Studio

It's the new kind of "marketing work" that I am hoping works for todays technology.

Testing the "Totally Tubular" Tut

Written by Patti Vanderbloemen for Love My Art Jewelry

Happy Monday!

A couple of weeks ago, Karen shared her tutorial on using copper tubing with cross-pinned accents here.  Well, I was stoked!  I have used copper tubing before....

The beads below were made with 1" slices of copper tubing, to which I soldered tiny discs to the ends, with a hole in the middle to create a bead.  I baked on slices of textured precious metal clay.

It made such a pretty bracelet - and it also took a long time to create.  It was one of kind for sure!

The next bracelet features copper tubing hammered flat, to which I riveted a strip of twisted Argentium silver for the focal.

Again - flattened copper tubing and some rivets created a nice little focal piece for this bracelet.

The earrings below feature thin slices of copper tubes which I did not darken with liver of sulfur - going for a contrast mixed metal vibe.

Feeling brave after reading Karen's tutorial, I ran to Home Depot to get some more tubing! I wanted to see if I could make that bangle!

I was not so sure I could solder the ends, but solder paste certainly helped! If you look closely in the bottom right corner of the bangle, the seam is barely visible.

Time to cross - pin!  Karen was right - the hardest part is determining the length of the "pin".  My first piece was not perfect - or even close!  But, I kept at it....

Not so very easy for me to take a picture of this necklace - the focal does not bend - lol! This necklace represents my use of beading wire and crimp beads...I swear, I have not used crimp beads in AGES.

Last up are these earrings - I soldered some jump rings to the edges of the tubing, and added a few extra silver beads, as well.

I have so enjoyed using this copper tubing!!! Many, many thanks to Karen for re-inspiring to try something new!

Anyone else tried Karen's techniques???  

Written by Patti Vanderbloemen for Love My Art Jewelry

Happy Independence Day!

by Sherri Stokey

Looking around for some Independence Day inspiration, I ran across this vintage add for Hand Made "torpedoes".  I'm a big fan of hand made.  Quilts made by hand are family heirlooms and hand made furniture can be around for generations. Handmade ice cream beats the store-bought stuff every time.  But hand made fireworks just sounds like a bad plan.  Luckily, I also found some handmade inspiration that won't give me nightmares, like this patriotic wire wrapped pendant:

Rachael's Wire Garden

Isn't that fun?  I love how she incorporated the Tree of Life symbolism within the flag and gives the impression of stripes with just a few "branches".  These lamp work glass pieces also caught my eye with great use of color and movement:

Cat's Meow Art

Karla Eames Classy Sassy Glass

I found eagles done in several different mediums, including hand painted  porcelain, glass and deer antler:

Top: Loco Lobo Designs, Bottom left:  Joy Munshower, Bottom right:  Spirit Wind Studios

These metal end caps, charms and large hole beads all feature a rustic star motif:

Cathy Dailey

Inviciti

The Happy Jewel

I am so impressed with what some folks can do with a coin:

Left:  Saw Artist, Right: Hamilton Custom Cast

There were some great pieces of patriotic handcrafted jewelry, too.  The stars and stripes design really stands out in the Western Cedar laser cut cuff, and the use of color blocking in the beaded wrap bracelet really struck a cord with me. 

John Leslie Studios

Boulder Beads

DGierat Leather

I love the worn look of the wide leather cuff and the vintage picture in the pendant below.

My Sweet September

This etched bullet pendant has a secret:  there's a casing fitted up inside it that you can remove and add your own little treasure:

Dazzlez

The riveted on star is what caught my eye in this next pendant.  It's a nice little touch that really makes this one stand out:

Little Bits o' Faith

And last, but not least, this charming wax seal charm:

Gilded Lily Charms

All in all, I think I'll stick with jewelry components for my handmade fix.  Nobody wants to look like this on July 5th:

Many thanks to all of the lovely artists who agreed to let me use their photos here.  I hope you'll spend a minute or two and visit some of their shops.  Have a Happy 4th!