As Promised, The Contest Necklace

At last, (drum roll, please) here is Tequila Sunrise!

I took these pictures after a day at The Day Job so they’re obviously not the photos I’ll send for the contest. But they show the color pretty well.

The category I’m entering is Glass and I’d say this is 99% glass. I think a couple of plastic beads snuck in in my passion for orange. But the majority has to be glass, so I think I’m safe.

It's pretty amazing how heavy this piece is. And I love the sound it makes, like little windchimes.

I originally wanted a toggle in the shape of a sun but when I couldn’t find that, I went to a local bead shop and lucked into a brick red enameled toggle, that matched my color scheme. I was very happy to find it. C Koop is the designer.

Hopefully I’ll have the time this weekend to take some really good photos and get the entry in. I’m getting ready to meet my mom in Vegas for a week, so there’s a lot going on right now.

I also want to make an entry for the Heart category and after that, there’s a necklace I’m designing for the Orange County Fair…

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You Are My Rock by Cidtalk

I wanted to show you all the print I bought from this talented and friendly Etsy artist, Cidtalk. She posted the original black and white drawing on a weekly challenge blog called Thursday Sweet Treat. Being the cat lover I am, I really connected with it and immediately sent her an Etsy convo, asking if she was planning to create prints of her design. She let me know that she probably would and thanked me for the compliment. So every once in a while, I'd check back to see if "my" print was there. Sure enough, one day there were actually two versions~the original black and white, but also a version she had colored. Because the one in color had caught my eye as soon as I logged onto her shop (I'm Fearlessly Colorful, remember!), that was the one I decided on.

She also had a stylized lily of the valley. Turns out both of our grandmother's loved lily of the valley. We convo'd about trying to grow them (I have failed miserably~can't find a good balance of sun and shade in my yard~she's just starting her adventure) and shared how much we love their scent.

So, now I need to frame these wonderful prints and put them in a place I can see them daily. Thanks, Cindy, for adding some beauty to my home and heart!

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Please respect Cidtalk's copyright on this artwork :-)

RIP Natasha Richardson

The Husband and I went to San Diego today to see the Body World exhibit at the Natural History Museum (see more on that here: http://maresjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/field-trip-body-world-in-san-diego.html). One of the most vivid lessons I took from the show is that life is so fragile. Yes, we always say that so lightly. But this exhibit leaves no doubt about the tenuous hold we have on our physical bodies.

That point was driven home when I logged on tonight to learn that Natasha Richardson had passed away from a seemingly harmless fall on a beginners ski run.

She was not a particular favorite of mine but that's not to say I didn't like her. She was on my radar as a good actress from an English acting dynasty and the wife of Liam Neeson. I think I'm affected by her passing because she's younger than me and because her accident was so random. It makes me want to focus more on what I really want to be doing, quit wasting time and live more simply and productively.

My heart goes out to her family. Her passing will surely leave a gap in their lives that will never be filled again.

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Work in Progress-Beadstar Contest Necklace

For those who follow me on Twitter, I’ve been mentioning working on “the contest necklace”. Well, here’s what I’ve been talking about.

Raw materials~~I knew I wanted a very specific color scheme, so I gathered all the reds, oranges and yellows I had and put them all in a big container, so they’d be wicked easy to work with.

I’ll be filling in all the chain up to the two red/orange beads at each end, an 8 to 9 hour process, doing each bead or bead set with a wrapped loop. I love the toggle. It’s an enameled metal I found at Brea Bead Works. I wanted a gold sun toggle but I don’t think they exist, so I was happy with this one since the color totally works with my design.

I may take off the faceted round red beads that frame the focal. They hide the pendant piece too much and for this necklace, I really do want to make sure that the focal has presence.

This entry will be in the glass category but I may also do one in the hearts category, since that’s one of my favorite shapes and I have billions of heart charms. Ok, 100’s…

Not that I want competition ;-), but here’s the link to the Beadstar contest http://www.beadingdaily.com/beadstar/Bead-Star-Rules.asp

Once I get this finished, I’ll post more pix. Wish me luck!

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Attention OC Jewelry and Craft Artists!

If you don't belong to the Bead Society of Orange County (CA), here's an opportunity to check us out AND learn something about retailing jewelry to help you in your own business. Three of our members, Ilene Sirota, Randy Au & Shirley Price, will be conducting a seminar on "The Secrets of the Craft Business". Between them, they have 100 years of jewelry design and business experience, so these folks know what they're talking about! Topics will include wholesaling, art fairs and selling to boutiques and museums. Even if you're not a jewelry designer, this may give you some insight on general selling to the public and retailers and promoting your products.

The Bell Tower at the Bowers entrance

There will also be a workshop after the general meeting. Non members are invited only if there is available space. Here’s the workshop description:

‘Secrets of the Craft Business’ with Ilene Sirota, Randy Au & Shirley Price. In a follow-up to Ilene’s hugely successful workshop in 2007 for craft business owners, Ilene, Randy & Shirley will provide practical guidance on products, wholesale and retail marketing, and community relations. If you want to improve your craft business, or you are considering starting a craft-based business, this workshop will provide invaluable insights. Bring your products, materials, photos, etc for critiques and hands-on help from a team of highly successful artists.

If you have questions about the workshop, here’s the link: http://www.beadsocietyoc.org/workshops/workshops.html

This is where the Bead Society meets~pretty snazzy, huh?

The general meeting will be held at the Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St, Santa Ana at 10AM on March 28. I believe the cost for non-members is $5. Refreshments are served while we mingle and the program begins at 10:30. We'd love to have you!

http://www.beadsocietyoc.org/index.html

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Dogs for the Deaf

Time for a Public Service Announcement. Dogs for the Deaf is my favorite animal organization. They rescue dogs from the pound and train them to become companion dogs for the deaf and hard of hearing. It's a total win-win situation.

Located in Oregon, they've been doing this great work since 1977. Recently, they've also been training their dogs for other missions, including companion dogs called Miracle Mutts, who help to alleviate depression and loneliness and their newest venture, dogs for Autistic children. They provide loving guidance for all the dogs they bring to the facility and find the best match with a person in need of their unique talents. All dogs are free to recipients. And rest assured, if a dog turns out to be not trainable as a companion helper, they are found a good, loving home.

Their biggest fundraiser is called the Dog Walk, held near their Central Point headquarters every year. You can see some pictures on their website (http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org) but he’s one adorable doggie now:

When you make a donation, they’ll put you on their snail mail newsletter list or you can sign up for the E-version. This multi-page newsletter is a tear jerker! I love all the wonderful success stories and updates on new developments in training and facilities. They always include a line of Dogs for the Deaf products (also available on their website) for both us and our animals and I don't mind buying from them for gifts and things for myself because I know the majority of the money goes "to the dogs"!

I wish I could do more than send the occasional check, so here's what I can do~~let you all know about this great organization and hope you, too, can send an occasional check to help these folks continue to do their awesome work for dogs and people!

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Artist’s in Action

My title is more about my awkward cell phone photos than our little workshop, but that’s ok.

I took a workshop yesterday with my friend and fellow Bead Society member, Barbara Bastrup. She’s a terrific artist and journal maker and offered us a few hours of learning new techniques in a class called the Beaded Page. We had a blast painting, gluing and playing with beads and glass.

Here we are “in action”.

Here’s my project, called Laugh. You can’t read the silver heart but I took the opportunity to practice with my new metal stamping kit and had a field day, using all the new graphic stamps (a cat face, a curly heart and a star) and the letters L A U G H. I wanted to have a reminder for The Husband and I that, through all the goofy things happening to us lately, we just have to LAUGH!


Hope you get to take a class like this, where you can just bust loose and try new things. I used some new glues I hadn’t seen before and got to use some glass tiles and shiny pieces of broken glass to add some sparkle to my canvas. I used too much glue for the HA in the upper right corner but, as my counterpart in Blogland says,

C’est la vie!

It’s all good!

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