The Beaches of Orange County is Done!

Well, kitschy as it is, The Beaches of Orange County necklace for the OC Fair is done!

I just never know how these Charm N Bead pieces are gonna come out when I start them. I’d decided on the orange (obvious) and the blue and clear (for ocean colors) but in my minds eye, I’d seen the colors a little darker. I’m glad I went with the lighter blue, though, because it really is a cool color combination now that it’s all together.


I had fun hunting for the right charms for this one. I love the old fashioned bikini and the beach chairs, complete with umbrella and drink on the table. Dolphins and detailed fish for the ocean and orange slices for our county’s namesake completed the theme.

I was lucky enough to find the big ceramic “sugared” oranges at this years Bead Bazaar. I think they’re kinda over the top but in a good way, I hope.

Going through the OC Fair process and having my little jewelry piece in a case that so many people will see as they stroll through the Home Arts Building is one of my goals for this year that seems to be coming to fruition. Can’t wait to take a picture of me in front of my entry! My dreams are small but doable!

See ya at the Fair!

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The Beaches of Orange County Preview

I finally started the necklace I want to create for the Orange County Fair this week and submitted my entry form today. So, I have till June 20 to finish. Totally doable with no stress!

Here’s the full necklace with all charms attached. Aren’t they cute? Swimsuit, fish, beach chairs with umbrella, dolphins and orange slices.

The ceramic oranges I got at the Bead Bazaar at the Bowers a few weeks ago and the pewter orange slices I sussed out on Etsy. They’re perfect!

Close up of the beading I’ve done so far. The theme lent itself to oranges, blues and clears. In this picture, the beads look red (the day is somewhat cloudy here in sunny SoCal) but they really are orange.

So for the next week or so, this is what I’ll be working on. It’s hard to tell with only a few beads whether it’s colorful enough. With these necklaces, you can’t really get a feel for the look of it till it’s half done, so wish me luck! It’s always an adventure with the Charm N Bead!

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Productive Morning Saling

The Husband had the luxury this AM of going into work late (of course, that means he has to work late…), so we had the chance to do some yard saling. See why I love to sale on my other blog, maresjourney.blogspot.com.

Anyway, here’s the haul (ok, it‘s a rather small haul since we got up late and our time was limited. Let‘s call it a haulette, then). The shirt I bought as inspiration for The Battle of the Bulge I’m currently waging. And who could resist such blingy shoes for a buck!

Here are some excellent charms I can use on my Charm N Bead pieces.

I got these earrings not only because they’re hearts, but because there are spaces I can use to attach chain or jump rings to make them very big charms.

The heart and fleur de lies can be used as charms and the black and silver earrings will make some very classy ATC very happy.

Here’s a close up of the detail on the little shoes. I have a pink and sparkly shirt these will go excellently with. A girl’s gotta have some fun and bling!

So, all this cool stuff added up to less than $5. Awesome, huh!?

Here’s my #1 Yard Saling Tip:

Every night, throw your change in a special purse or tin. Then when you go yard saling, you’ve got plenty of change to whip out and spend easily and the people doing the yard sales love you for not expecting change for a $20!

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Vegas or Bust, Baby!

The Husband & I are meeting my mother in Vegas next weekend, to spend the week in Death Valley (The Mom is a national parks fan) and Vegas. I’m sure we’re going to have a great time, seeing shows, walking the Strip and ogling the world’s largest rhinestone at, where else, The Liberace Museum.

But there probably won’t be a lot of computer time while we’re on the go so I had to decide what to do about my online shops. Keep them open with announcements that all items bought within these dates would be shipped on this date, or just close the shops by putting them on vacation mode?

I decided on vacation mode, for two reasons. One, I was afraid that customers wouldn’t read the announcement, then get upset that their orders were being “ignored”. That could only lead to unhappy customers. And two, I think I will be a much better traveling companion if I’m not worrying about my customers being “ignored”. At the best of times, I’m an email junkie, but away from home and computer, I’d be a basket case if I thought I’d be missing purchase emails and letting down customers. So, the shops will be closed from Friday night, April 17 to sometime on Sunday, April 26th.

We’ll be home on Friday, the 24th, but I have the Bead Bazaar at the Bowers Museum (see more info to the left of this post) on Saturday, then a wedding on Saturday evening. I’m gonna be bushed on Sunday but will have the shops up and running by end of day.

I’ll also be raising a few prices, mostly on the Charm N Bead pieces, at that time, so if you’ve been wanting something, now is the time to get it :-)

Hope to see you OC folks at the Bead Bazaar!

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Let's Talk Color

The folks who forecast color trends have pronounced Rich Colors will take the lead for spring. I've always loved purple and so I use it a lot in my jewelry. I also love the primary colors in general. Let's see what Bear Chick can offer for Rich Color Trends:

Mardi Gras Necklace

Comforts of Home

Splendid Color Necklace

Peace and Love Necklace

A big Howdy! to all my fellow Blogfire Guild members!

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Bio of a Jewelry Fanatic

I'm Bear Chick and I'm a jewelry addict. I love to buy it and I love to create it. Be kind to me!

As if you didn't already know that, if you've been reading my blog for more than an entry or two. But I joined Blogfire, a guild for blogging ArtFire members, and I need to write a little introduction and bio for the latest Blog Carnival. It occurred to me that I probably haven't actually done anything like that on my blog, so here goes.

As long as I can remember, my mother and grandmother were jewelry fanatics. My grandmother's last gift to me was a shirt box full of her old jewerly. So, the adornment obsession comes naturally.

I came to jewelry making late in life, not believing I could craft anything people would like. But I took one adult ed jewelry class and I was hooked. I've always loved pattern-I can pick out a pattern in the most mundane things-a tile roof, shadows, polka dots. When I first started beading, making patterns of colors and shapes and materials fascinated me. I'd stay up late into the night, stringing, stringing, stringing. Now I've branched out into other things, like chain making, which is Pattern Nirvana! But I've also been doing a Charm N Bead series of necklaces and bracelets that are as random as I'll ever get-I admit, I place the charms in somewhat of a design, but the beads are totally random!

I sell my creations on ArtFire (chains and a Charm N Bead or two) and Etsy (beaded jewelry and artwork). This spring I'm planning on upgrading my show booth to go out into the world and do some shows again in the summer/fall. I love to do custom work because it's like a puzzle, especially when someone comes to me with the materials to make something--that's my kind of challenge.

In my life outside of jewelry, I work full time for a Shoppers Guide publisher, where I just celebrated my 20th anniversary. I've been in payroll most of that time, first doing actual payroll checks and now more into the auditing side of the department. 20 years is a long time and I'm happy to say the people I work with have made that time fly by.

I've been married for 28 1/2 years to the nicest guy on the planet. The Husband works at a SoCal amusement park, playing banjo and robbing trains and he's my biggest supporter. We have two crazy cats, who enjoy keeping us up at night. We love to travel and can occasionally agree on what to watch on TV.

Reading is one of my biggest pleasures. Books, magazines, blogs. If it's got words, I'll read 'em, even backwards and upside down!

So, that's my story. I'm looking forward to reading all my fellow BlogFire members' bio's now!

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How Did All This Work Get Done?

Even though I was fighting a cold this week and working my butt off at The Day Job, I managed to make a few things and list them on ArtFire and Etsy. I kinda took a miss on Valentines Day. I intended to do a bunch of new ATC’s but that never happened… Since I had a couple of strings of these cute green shamrock beads, I worked with them to get a jump on St. Patrick’s Day. So, here’s an Irish themed bracelet on ArtFire:

And a cute pair of earrings on Etsy:

And I also experimented with gold and silver and made this flower design chain with a gold heart toggle, also on ArtFire:

And I FINALLY finished the travel themed Charm N Bead necklace I’ve been working on for weeks. It was one of those times, I guess, when I’d come up with ideas and just work on them, "you know, really quick… I’ll get back to the CNB tomorrow… " So here’s a sneak peak at the Travel necklace. It’ll be going on ArtFire soon.

The weather here is ridiculous! It was over 80 degrees today. We were driving around in shirt sleeves with the windows rolled down. My Massachusetts friends curse me, since they’re having a really cold winter. The subject line of my BFF’s last email was, “My face is freezing off.”

Well, back to work tomorrow for a week of craziness. They’re merging two companies into the payroll system, so there’s going to be a lot of checking and double checking of all the info that we’re importing for all these new people. I’ll be cross eyed by the end of the week.

Have a good one. Stay warm or cool, whichever applies!

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Post Holiday World

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We spent both in our jammies!

Last weekend, I posted some new Etsy jewelry. Here’s what’s there now:

Getting ready for Valentine’s Day? I spotted this bracelet at down and almost out Mervyn’s (a retail store in CA that’s closing it’s doors after many years--a sad story we’ll hear repeated, I’m sure, before things in this country start on the upswing again) and just knew it had potential. So I took it home and added lots more hearts and bling.


Lampwork beads from Wales provide most of the outrageous color in this necklace. I just love it and will be hard put to see it go!


I wish I was a better photographer. It’s one of my business goals for this year, to take better pictures. But I hope you can see how awesome this necklace is, if I do say so myself. It’s the latest Charm N Bead, in foggy, icy colors. As always, these necklaces make the coolest sounds when you move a lot (like running across a street or jumping up and down in glee), like a wind chime. I used wrapped loops on all of the beads, which takes a little more time but they’re so much more secure than plain loops.

This week I’ve been making anklets (inspired by my best friend, who requested one for her Christmas present) and intermittently working on a new Charm N Bead necklace with a travel theme (they take me between 6 and 8 hours to create). And today, while watching the Rose Parade, I made a couple of pieces with heishe beads made out of old red record albums! I’m planning to photograph all these pieces this weekend and get them on Etsy.

Have a great New Year’s Day!

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My Name in Cloth Paper Scissors!

Ok, none of my design work got published but my name is mentioned in the Popping the Question section of the new November/December issue. The question was “What’s Your Favorite Art-Related Book”. So I quickly e-mailed my answer a few months ago and there it is on the glossy page! We have to get our thrills where we can, right? For those of you unfamiliar with Cloth Paper Scissors, it’s a cool magazine devoted to collage and mixed media art. And in case you don’t get to see it, my fave art book is “Artist Trading Card Workshop”. I guess that’s not too much of a stretch for me, huh?

In other Bear Chick news, I’ve got most of the art moved over to Bearchickart.etsy.com. I’ve been working on more of what I’m calling the Charm N Bead series of jewelry. Now I need to do some photographs when I get back from grocery shopping and get those on Etsy, along with a piece of vintage jewelry found while saling (yard saling, that is). I have a few pieces to post, by and by. Here’s a pretty Trifari brooch in fairly good condition:

Otherwise, the day job has been busy and the kitties have been mushy, wanting lots of attention, which I try to give since, well, why have pets if you’re gonna ignore ‘em! The Husband has been working both weekend days through October but that ends this weekend, so we’ll have some daylight together again.

Trying to come up with the best deals I can offer on Etsy… Freebies or free shipping domestically… I’m aiming for the Grand Opening next Saturday of Bearchickart.etsy.com to decide what the holiday deal will be.

Laters!

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