The Art Bead Love Tour is on its way.............

Before I announce the winner, I would like to thank you all for helping us to spread the word, and for your desire to participate.

Don't worry, you will have many more chances to be a part of this, perhaps endless chances.  You can always come back to our site at any time, and click the Follow the Love Chain button on the left hand side.  That will always take you to the blog of the person who currently has the chain.  (The Art Bead Love Tour button will always take you to the orignal post, so you can copy and paste instructions for the next giveaway.)   I am really excited to see where this goes, and takes us, and who we may meet along the way.

So, without further ado, the winner, and person who will kick off the Art Bead Love Tour is..............................................

(picked by random.org)

 #11

Lorelei Eurto!  Congratulations Lorelei!  I know this chain will find many new art beads in your hands. 

Please contact me at staci.louise@hotmail.com with your address. 

A big huge thank you to all of you, and a Bon Voyage to our lovely chain.

Guest post - Jeannette Brossart

Inspiration Unexpected

by Jeannette Brossart

I just returned from a 10 day trip to Italy. I had saved and planned for sometime, mainly going for a mosaic course, but also a couple days in Venice. I am a mosaic artist. I do many types of mosaic work from jewelry to large scale architectural and sculptural work. It’s really the MAKING that I love so much, assembling the pieces in infinite combinations. Each experience and outcome is unique.

I did see a wealth of beautiful mosaics on my journey. There are amazing Byzantine mosaics from the 5^th century in Ravenna (where the course was), and also an incredible International exhibit of contemporary mosaic works . Of course there were some breathtaking mosaics at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. These works are masterful and iconic, a perfect meld of art and craftsmanship, durable and beautiful with their 24K gold highlights.

You would think that I would come home with my camera’s memory card full of mosaic photos…

What I came home with was photo after photo of windows, doors, porticos, roof lines, cobblestone patterns, architectural details galore. The color and texture combinations were eye catching at every corner. Peeling paint, damp with Venetian fog and sea, juxtaposed with crumbling brick and green algae, wrought iron hardware and hard lines blending with curved glassy panes… this is what drew my attention. Reflections of bubbles, iridescent against the brackish water of the canal, shiny black lacquered gondolas enveloped in the mist. A store selling bath soaps that looked like pastry with crumbly edges and whipped toppings. These are the images that stay with me from my trip. These are the images that are already swirling and working their way into mosaics in my head.

Maybe it was the richness of contrasts that made such an impact on me. Maybe I was taking comfort in the mundane in a place so potentially overwhelming with beauty and art. Whatever it is, I will embrace it, and will challenge myself with the residue of this unexpected inspiration in my work for the new year.

Visit Jeannette at

www.mothernaturemosaics.com

Facebook at Mother Nature Mosaics by Jeannette Brossart

www.jeannettebrossartflow.blogspot.com

November Art Spark Winner

The winner of the November Art Spark is Deborah Lee Taylor of e5jewelry! The theme this month was gratitude and Deborah created this beautiful silver pendant called Cornucopia of Hope in memory of an act of kindness when she most needed it. This is what Deborah had to say about her creation:

I was sitting in the home depot parking lot about to go in the store, and the way the cold morning air felt , and the sun shining through the autumn leaves brought a memory back so clear to my mind, I was instantly inspired to make this piece for the challenge. Have you ever met someone who's act of kindness and trust leave an imprint on your heart forever? I did, many moons ago...at a time when I had lost all hope. I will forever be grateful for having met this person at that time in my life. We were complete strangers to one another, and through her selfless acts of kindness and trust, she brought hope back to my heart. I will never know her name, but she is in my prayers always. I am grateful for hope in my heart and hope in the world. If we did not have hope, we wouldn't have much of anything.. We hope for health, happiness and love for others and ourselves. We hope the best for our children. We hope to see the sun after the rain, the flowers in spring.. for our families to be together.. We all hope for peace in this world... Hope is the spark in all things to be grateful for.

Many thanks, Deborah for sharing your very touching story.

Cyber Sales That You Don't Want to Miss

by MaryAnn Carroll

Some of our Love My Art Jewelry Members will be having some great sales, tomorrow, November 28th.  Some members have already started their sales early. To get some great discounts in what has now become known as Cyber Sale Monday.....

......simply click on the picture to be taken the shops.

Beads-of-Clay is also offering a group sale tomorrow.  The last link will take you to the Beads-of-Clay blog so you can check out their members sales (including me ;o)

 Artisan Beads Plus

20% off

coupon code: BOCCYBER

Staci Louise

25% Off

coupon code: stacilouise25

 

Under A Copper Sky

30% off

coupon code: ILOVEUACS

 

Beads-of-Clay Members will be offering various sales.

SL Artisan Accents
10% off
coupon code: STACILOUISE10

 2nd Surf
30% off
coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY2011

Floridity
30% off
coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY2011

Thank-you for supporting those who create handmade with handmade.

MaryAnn

lori anderson's first annual virtual craft show - day 1

lori anderson is hosting a virtual craft show... 

7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things.

no one hosts big like lori - queen of the bead soup parties... 

check out her blog here...  

Thankful for Makaroni

by Kelli Pope

Thankful for WHAT, you ask?

The true meaning of grace, is an undeserved or unearned blessing. My life is FULL of grace. One blessing I've been graced with is a granddaughter.

My husband Steve and I have no children. So, after 2-3 years of marriage I was QUITE surprised when he announced that his "daughter" Michelle was coming over to visit. He explained that he had dated her mother when she was just an infant, and they became quite close. She called him "Daddy Steve". Although the relationship had not lasted, he continued to stay close to Michelle as she grew up, but hadn't seen her for a few years. She was in town and wanted to see him. She was 12. She came to visit quite often after that, and over the last 18 years we became closer and closer. She stayed with us the night before her wedding, and Steve had the privilege of walking her down the aisle. 2 years and 6 days ago, she and her husband Phillip graced us with Makenna, our granddaughter. While Michelle is studying at the seminary nearby, we are the closest grandparents by about an hour, and have loved each and every moment. They have given us a gift that is incredibly precious, and I will forever be grateful. So you see, I truly am thankful for my little "Makaroni".. AND her momma!!

hammered antiqued brass and sterling silver featuring ceramic beads by Jubilee (notice the macaroni shaped beads :o)

Have you submitted your "Gratitude" piece for the November ArtSpark?

Thankfulness and Shopping...........

by Staci L. Smith

They go hand in hand, right?  Well, at this time of year they do.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving.  I really have a lot to be thankful for this year.  I have a lot to be thankful for everyday, but I feel especially blessed this year. 

Todays thankful list................

I am not making the turkey
I am sleeping in
my youngest is a turkey (though he mostly acts like a ham)
my family blesses me always
our friends care for us
health
warmth
no snow for thanksgiving
tires that would be good in the snow if we had it
coffee in the morning

So have a really blessed day!  I hope you spend it with at least one person (but hopefully many) you love dearly and who love you too.

Now, if you are like many folks out there, Thanksgiving is the day to prepare for the big event, to stock up on carbs so you can shop.......................Black Friday.

This year, people are being encouraged to shop small businesses this Saturday, for Small Business Saturday.  And then of course, there is Cyber Monday.

Well, I am all for supporting small businesses.  So I scoured etsy for some gift ideas.  NOT JEWELRY gift ideas (which come too easy to me).  I was thinking of those harder to buy for folks.....like married couples with no kids, or TWEENS.  What do you buy that's handmade for tweens and still cool?  Well, I think I found a few things.  So enjoy!  Click the photo's to be taken to the etsy shop.

If your tween has a sense of humor, and a chapstick addiction (like the one I know) this would be great.

And for a boy or girl tween.............tie dyed sheets.  Can't go wrong there.

All the rage this season, and I must say, I myself would totally wear these.  Love them.

Here is another seller modeling them.  Very cool.  All tweens want these, I just know it!

How cool is that hat?  It's Hollywood style. 

These cuffs are wonderful.  Leather cuffs are very in right now, and what every tween wants is to be in.  I love that these are adjustable and come in different colors.

Here is a leather cuff made from recycled materials, for the environmentally friendly tween.

OK- now here a few things for the wee ones that I couldn't pass up.

Oh- I loved putting pretty little shoes on my baby girl.  I wish I would have had these.

Teething rings, how cool are they?  No harmful plastics, handmade.  Good all around.  Adorable to boot!

Now, something for Dads, husbands, brothers.............my husband loves his.  (Ours is from a local gal who makes them, but I am sure these are good too:)

Handmade shave soap, handmade mug.......no irritants in the soap, no chemical on a freshly shaven, sometimes cut face.  All natural.

How about the young couple, who likes to entertain?

REcycled beer bottles become one of a kind glasses. 

How about Saki or shot glasses?

 Upcycled Wine bottle topper.....nice to give with a bottle of wine.

How about these great gifts?  I love when I find really creative ways things have been recycled.  I know my sister in law would love the Abbey Road sketch book.  She's a huge Beatles Fan.

Next- kids, 7 years old to tween.  I found these kits, and just adore them.  I think my kids would love to make these.  I contacted the seller and they said they are perfect for ages 7-12.  I have never felted, but boy, it looks like fun.....and like it would keep them busy for awhile.

This one is sweet.

And if you are truly in doubt, there is always chocolate!  Man, woman, child.....even tweens, can't go wrong here.

And for your favorite beading friends, you can't go wrong with these....................

Cause I would love this, and I am sure I am not alone on that. 

Or how about this?

For you jewelry makers out there..................anyone else tired of checking your coffee for wire snips?  How about this super cool lidded mug for the studio???? 

So, I hope I gave you some idea's.  Please try to support handmade.  The gifts are so much more meaningful.  Etsy even has a new feature that can help you shop.  If you go to their homepage, and click on "gift ideas", it will hook into your facebook page and pick gifts for everyone.  Some are pretty funny, like, for one person it gave gift suggestions of tin, because the person liked Rin Tin Tin.  But still, it had some good stuff too.

There are lots of online sales going on, lots of artist open houses this time of year, and just many many ways to support handmade.  So lets support each other!

Have fun, and be safe.

It's a wrap

by LeAnn, Summers Studio

In my mind, pillow boxes are just about perfect for packaging up jewelry. Did you know they are one of the simplest boxes you can make? I made these two from card stock purchased from the scrap booking section of my local craft store. The bands that wrap them are scrap book paper in a holiday print. All bought on sale, so these were very inexpensive to make.

Ah, you are probably asking yourself why would you go to the trouble to make these, LeAnn? You can buy them at Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Heck, you can probably buy them at that big box store that you don't talk about. Well, it goes like this. I do give my handmade jewelry for gifts at the holidays. I have used commercial boxes and wrapping paper. But this year, I said to myself if I am going to give handmade jewelry, just maybe it is time to step up and put it into handmade packaging. You know, give it just that little bit extra special touch.

You are probably also saying to yourself that this seems like a lot of work, seems time consuming, it's a stressful busy time of year........ But these actually take about five minutes to make.  Seriously, they are very simple. I can make them any size I like.  You get to use a glue stick. I love using a glue stick.

You can find a very nice tutorial and template for them here.  The size is great for jewelry. Make a larger pillow box just by increasing the length. Here's another web site that has all sorts of interesting templates from envelopes to boxes and everything in between.

And if you have holiday cards from years past, you can use those to make pillow boxes. Just how often do you get to be green and handmade special?

Are you doing anything special this year to package up your holiday gifts?

Gratitude

by Patty Lakinsmith

Be Thankful For...
by Author Unknown

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary
Because it means you've made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

*  *  *

I found this poem on gratitude and it rang true with me this year, a difficult year.  If it weren't for the negative, the positive wouldn't shine so brightly.  The food always tastes better when you're hungry, doesn't it?

This day my family comes from far and wide

and I am ready.

Ready for the hugs, the food prepared with loving care

and mostly, the time to be together.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

 It was a long road but our furry friend is nearly recovered from his knee surgery.  I am grateful to have met a wonderful pet therapist who cares about him.

While her son (my dad) has been gone for many years, I am so thankful to still have my grandma, and my very lively family of relatives in Michigan.  Yes, Facebook has its negative side, but it has brought us closer together.

Gratitude.

Art Spark Designer of the Week and a Winner

This months Art Spark theme is gratitude and the designer of the week is Stacie Louise of One of Kind Jewelry. This is what Stacie had to say about her bracelet:

Gratitude comes from a place inside us. As we learn to be thankful for what we have, and teach ourselves to see the gifts we have all around us, it will become a bigger and bigger part of our lives....bringing joy where there was once discontent. 
Copper bracelet is etched with the following things I am thankful for..........faith, family, friendship, music, love, childs laughter, God, leaves, ocean breezes, snowflakes, sun, moon, stars....................................to name a few. 

You can read more about her thoughts in making this bracelet on her blog. There is so much detail in this bracelet that I find myself coming back to it over and again. Powerful work, Stacie!

There is still time to enter your own creation for this months Art Spark. Just click the Art Spark link at the top right for more details.

Congratulations! The randomly chosen winner of the Simple Truths Pendant by Erin Praiz-Hintz and the Wire Wrapped Pendant by Jean A Wells is Christine. Please contact LeAnn with your mailing address so that we can get your pendants out to you.

Thank you all for participating in the giveaway! And many thanks to our sponsors of this giveaway.

Simple Truths Pendant by  Erin Praiz-Hintz

:

Wire wrapped lampwork glass and stone pendant by  Jean A Well

How to Follow a Blog 101...

by MaryAnn Carroll

The tutorial "pages" were created by obtaining information, icons, etc. from Friend Connect on Google. The pictures were re-created by me to take you through the process of how to follow a blog that has an address that ends with "blogspot.com."  Since I re-created the "page appearances" in a word document, there will be some small variations from the actual google documents, but they are pretty close.  

For those of you who have your own blogs using blogger, feel free to link this post on your own blogs, to encourage those who might otherwise be turned away by the process, so potential followers can easily join your blogs .

I know when I first started taking an interest in following and commenting on blogs, I really had NO clue what to do.  I'm pretty sure it took hours to figure out something that I might have been able to do in 15 minutes or less.  That was mainly because I really did not know what all of the blog jargon meant and I was totally confused about the difference between blogger and blogspot.  It made absolutely no sense to me.

The first thing I learned was that “blogger” is the address where your “dashboard” will be.  I will explain the dashboard a bit more at the end of this tutorial.   The word “blogspot” is part of the address used for blogs created with blogger.  This becomes their blog address on the internet.  For example, our group blog address is http://lovemyartjewerly.blogspot.com.  This is a blog address with our blog name created using "blogger."

One very important thing to remember is that you do not need to have a blog to follow a blog.  I am going to try to keep this as simple as possible, and hopefully stay clear with my directions.   If there are parts along the way that don’t seem clear to you, I would love feedback since I can go in and make adjustments.  Feel free to leave feedback by either leaving a comment on this post or contacting us at lovemyartjewelry@gmail.com.  I would like this to be as simple as possible, so I welcome any feedback.

1. Blogs with "blogspot" addresses often invite followers in different ways. Some might offer to follow by email or connecting through a facebook network, etc.  Many blogs, using blogger, however, will have an icon that looks like the one below.  So, step #1 is to click on the icon.   This icon used to have the word "follow" and may have something different in the future, as sites on the internet change their “look” from time to time.

2. It is on page below that you will either sign in with a previously created google account or you can choose Create a new Google Account.  If you are new to this, then you would want to create a new account.

3.   Once you have clicked "Create a new Google Account," you should come to a page that looks like the one below.   Fill in the information.  You can use any existing email account that you have.  It does not require that it is specifially gmail, yahoo, etc. I could use my work email if I wanted to....  which is not an email address typical of what most emails look like.  Once you have filled in the necessary information, you would then click that you agree to the google terms by "accepting."  You are now almost done creating the account that you will use to follow any public blogs created by blogger that you wish.

4.   The next screen will look like this. You will need to pick a username that you want to be identified by. Mine is artisanbeadsplus which is the name I use for my ceramic beads and jewelry. It does not have to be your actual name, although it can be if you wish it to be. You can also add a photo of yourself or of anything else that you feel represents you. The photo is optional. Choose whether to follow publicly or privately and then click "Follow this blog."

 5.   Once you have clicked "follow this blog" you will be taken to a page that looks like the one below.  For the last part of this, you simply click "done" and that is it!  Once clicking this to complete the process, it may take you to a page that looks like you might need to create a blog.  There is no need to do that unless you want to.  I think the best thing to do at this point would be to log out of the Google account that you just created and log back in by going to http://blogger.com.  Once logged on, you will be on page also serves as your "dashboard."  By scrolling down that page you will see previews of the blogs that you are following. At this point you should see the one blog that you chose to follow prior to completing this process.  An option to read in "Google Reader" is also located on this page.  Similar to reading a newspaper, Google Reader is another way to go through and read all of the blogs that you follow.  Following blogs is a great way to get to know people who share similar interests with you.  Explore and have fun!

 There you have it!  I hope this helps encourage those of your who were turned away by the "following procedure" to now follow all the blogs that you find interesting.  

Lastly, while searching for possible "how to follow a blog" posts to try and make my job a little easier (I couldn't find any), I came across Lori Anderson's very interesting post from February titled, "Why do You Follow a Blog?"  I found the 82 responses quite interesting and it gave me something to think about.  In all honesty, I am not the best blog follower around since I work full-time outside of the house as a resource teacher and I try to juggle that, my jewelry, beads, etc. with the most important part of my life.... my family.  I hope that one day.... I will be able to find the time to be more active on my own blog too..... and maybe Facebook, Twitter, etc. since I seem to get those all started, but don't have enough hours in a day to keep up.  Maybe, someday I will be able to be a little more committed to reading more than I am able to now.  In terms of keeping up with this blog, we have a great group of women working together for our LMAJ goal to spread the love of creating handmade with handmade, so our posting is shared and runs smoothly because of the commitment.

Thanks for supporting those who create handmade with handmade.

MaryAnn

PS  Please read the comments left by others for more information regarding following, reading blogs, leaving comments, etc.