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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Raw Materials or Bear Chick’s Excellent Adventure

Yesterday I set out to do some errands and visit a friend’s studio sale. I had coupons for one hobby store in my hot little hands and was delighted to find a 20% off Moving Sale at a bead shop I decided to check out. I buy most of my beads and findings wholesale but I LOVE looking in bead shops and I’ll pick up unique things I can’t get from my wholesalers. I can wander around a bead shop for hours, imagining what I’d create with this or that and if I use this for that, I’ll need these, too… It can be SOOOO dangerous! Here’s what I found:

This is just a small portion of what I bought. I also got a lot of toggles and other charms and things I couldn’t do without…

I just HAD to have these Christmas trees! And the beads will be part of a Charm N Bead Dragon necklace.

Had to have these hearts! And aren't those aqua beads cool? They look knotted.

I'd never seen these beach chairs or movie camera's before, so I had to have them. I loved the color of these rectangular beads and the netted round beads are awesome. I always end up wishing I'd bought more!

After visiting a farmers market to check out the craft area and walking around at South Coast Plaza with a stop for lunch at In and Out, I finally made it to my friend, Maria’s, studio sale. She does beautiful etchings and jewelry. But what I really envy is her studio and house with 2 bedroom studios. Her garage has a small addition that she had dry walled and windows installed last year. That’s her “dirty” studio, where she can paint and be messy. The two studios in her house are “clean”, for jewelry and non-painted art. *Sigh* Someday I will have dedicated work space!

Look for these raw materials in my work soon, especially those darling Christmas trees! I wish I’d bought more…

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Early New Year's Resolutions for Bear Chick

It's not even Thanksgiving and I'm already thinking about next year. Here are some goals and things I want to put in place for my business.

Redesign my craft fair set up, complete with Bear Chick banner



New car magnets--the old ones don't mention Etsy



Apply to juried, handmade only shows. No more competing with Cookie Lee and crap made in China



Maintain a marketing calendar, for social networking and other promotional activities



Join a real, live networking group, preferably a chamber of commerce or a women's group, with ties to the community



Learn more about chain making



Get into metal stamping so I can make my own custom charms



Take command of my toaster oven so I can make polymer clay creations that aren't undercooked (floppy) or overcooked (blackened)

Just 'cause I like a blog with at least one picture, here's a sweet little vintage gold tone and garnet pin, currently for sale on Etsy.

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What Bear Chick's Been Up To Lately

I didn't want to post this until my best friend got the card I made for her birthday. But she's got it now and says she's putting it in the box where she saves things... Believe me, she's not a clutter bug, so when she saves something, it's a compliment!

Similar to my Party Dress ATC, I outlined a dress and "colored" it in with molding paste I'd mixed with red acrylic paint. Then added micro beads that I gently squished into the wet paste. I used Pearlescent and iridescent Gold Golden paint splashed on for confetti in the background.

For the wording, I created a swirly font I had fun lettering with a Crayola retractable pencil, which was really soft and easy to use.

My plan is to make more of the dress ATC's and maybe even some cards. Right now I'm doing a couple of cute Halloween ATC's and I'm also working on new necklaces with chain, charms and lots of dangly color. Here's the first one I made of those, which is actually kind of subtle since I've made another that's absolutely loaded...

This necklace was heart-centric, with it's red theme.

But other necklaces will be more freeform and chunky, like this cat themed one (which is MINE, by the way).

I'm on a jewelry jag right now, thinking of and trying new things. You know me, I don't want to do the same things for too long or I'll get bored! Wire seems to be a recent fave material.

Finding the time to be creative and manifest all the ideas in my head (and on dozens of sticky notes and scraps of paper in my purse and around the house), along with doing things around the homefront and working full time is certainly a challenge! Plus, I decided to separate my jewelry from my art on Etsy, so when folks visit my shops, they'll make more sense and look more organized. BearChickART.etsy.com is open softly (meaning it's not looking great yet but there are some things for sale) but will have a Grand Opening at the end of the month.

But the Big News this week is that Bear Chick has finally come into the 21st century with High Speed internet! Etsy's now working wicked fast and uploading pictures like a champ, so expect a lot of new items in the next few weeks. I'm planning to take lots of photos tomorrow in preparation to add to both shops in Etsy over the coming weeks. Think Holiday Shopping!

www.bearchick.etsy.com

www.bearchickart.etsy.com

Autumn Encouragement Necklace

Happy First Day of Autumn!

I finally sat down to create a necklace I’ve been thinking about for a while. We’ve been having some sad and unpleasurable times. Sad--The Husband’s dad passed away. Unpleasurable--toilet/plumbing issues, that some quality cussing time eventually took care of.

So here’s my new Autumn Encouragement Necklace. Along the way, I’ve managed to collect quite a few charms that I haven’t actually made much use of. So, here I combined them with Red Jasper for a necklace that’s warm and a constant reminder to Believe in ourselves.

Hope you like it!

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