Guest post - Kristi Bowman

I am thrilled to be sharing on this wonderful blog.

 Rather than talking about myself today 

I'm going to show you some fun things I've been working on.

I dug out some amazing carved wood blocks I've been hoarding for awhile 

and did a bunch of new copper pieces with them.

Once I got started I could kick myself for letting them sit on the shelf!

This is a vintage block and I made several pieces from it.

 

I don't believe this one is vintage 

but it's absolutely stunning and no surprise I got a stunning piece from it.

Cut out a few bits added a few bits 

and it turned in to one beautiful and versatile component.

 

I had a bracelet focal in mind when I made it 

but I can see it could make a stunning necklace focal as well.

It has the center flower cut out, 

holes on either side and copper bits added along the side.

 

 

Above are all made from the same block.

It's the one in the first photo on the bottom right.

I've used it before and can do a lot with it!

Thanks for joining me on my first Guest Post on this blog.

If you'd like to check out my BLOG, ETSY shop, or ARTFIRE

I'd love to share the rest of my work with you.

Kristi

SYS Monday Showcase

This is the last Monday Showcase of our 

January Strut Your Stuff

and tomorrow is the last day to enter the 

January challenge.

As we've seen, this has been one great month 

for creativity and imagination!

Thanks to all who entered.

In case you've forgotten, 

here's what the randomly chosen winner will receive,

just for Strutting Their Stuff.

Prizes for January's challenge are...

All this eye candy courtesy of 

MAKU Studio

And all these beauties from

our own wonderful Mary Ann.

Without further ado let's get to the showcase.

(I have to mention that this week was one of my favorites.)

These beauties contain two of my most favorite colors.

Vintajia Adornments

This gem makes me dream of blue skies.

CiaoLucia

Everything by this dear friend makes me smile.

Our own Staci.

Just in time for Valentines Day.

Kristi

And to close... some very sweet romance.

AdobeSol

I will put all participants in a hat,

have either my cat, dog or husband

(who ever is most available)

to draw a name.

Winners to be announced on 

February 6,2012

along with the new challenge.

Good luck everyone

and happy Monday!

Guest Post - Wendy Wetherbee

I was flattered to be invited to write a guest post. I love to write but honestly, I’ve been sort of blocked about where to go with this. I didn't want to write a lot of empty biographic crud that waxes poetic about me.  I thought about lots of subjects but couldn't really narrow anything down. I decided that whatever I wrote I wanted it to mean something to someone else. I wanted to write something that would resonate with someone, or inspire them in some way. Lofty goals for a first time guest blogger, especially when everyone is inspired by different things. But after giving it some thought I realized that sometimes my favorite blog posts are about what gets another artist going, feeds their fires and propels them to "make art".

So I decided to share a bit about what makes me tick, I hope that my words will draw a picture for you about what inspires me most.

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Maybe its because I grew up in New Hampshire, but I love walking in the woods. Since I can remember the forests have been around me and I have been around them.

The landscape of the "Granite State" is in my blood, I breathe it in and keep it in my heart. I love the trees that grow here. I love the musky perfume of the balsams and evergreens that fill our forests. I love the damp smell of the earth and decaying leaf litter. I love the way a well worn path gives slightly to cushion my steps.  I love the earthy red-brown softness of a pine needle carpet and the way the twisted root cobbles rise on the path every spring with the freeze and thaw of the earth.

On a cloudy day the woods are soft and dark and quiet and meditative. On a sunny day the dappled sunshine streams in through the tree limbs and turns the scene into a natural cathedral. Bird songs pepper the air, woodpecker knocks echo cavernously, great horned owls hoot to tell me I might be getting too close.

For me this piney environment is a calming place to be. I can go there, camera or sketchbook in hand and l can leave behind the morning rush of backpacks and lunch money, my looming deadlines and upcoming expenses. Everything fades away into the mossy green darkness. When I am particularly lucky I can travel even further north, to places where moose out number people. Where loons cry their mournful call and mist rises like spirits over lakes and ponds.

It is in those places where I am completely at home. There is a feeling of timelessness that I can't explain. Senses that I didn't even know that I had are opened. I am most inspired and awed when I can feel the pulse of the woods and know that I am not the most powerful thing there. I want to know that other eyes are watching, twitching ears are listening, and flaring nostrils have scented me a mile before I stepped foot on the trail.

On my luckiest days, I am graced with the presence of another creature. Among the many I’ve crossed paths with are deer, moose, bear, ravens, crows, the occasional porcupine, coyotes and like winning the lottery - even a bobcat. If  I’m quiet and still enough, they will stay and eye me with the same curiosity that I eye them. For as long as they allow me to, I study their fur or feathers, I notice how the sun glints in their eyes, or shines off their coat. I amaze at the way an ink black feather can with a glint of the sun become a rainbow of prismatic colors. How in an instant a bull moose, larger than my truck can disappear like a ghost into invisibility. And how a flutter of wings can sound so loud when a bird flies so close you can feel it like a whisper against your cheek.

For as long as I remain there, breathing it all in, I belong to no one but the woods. It envelops me in its comforting familiarity of sight, sound, and smell, and long for it again as soon as I leave.

Whether I am sitting at my easel or at my jewelry bench, those are the kinds of experiences that I hope to share with others through my work. Nature is a powerful, transformative thing, and I hope to do her justice in everything I do.


Wendy Wetherbee
Pure Dichotomy

Wendy's amazing jewelry, photography and art can be found here. Please go take a look at her shop, all her items are incredible.

"Charming Getaway" recap

by Kelli Pope

I've been telling you about the "Charming'" getaway for a couple weeks, so now it's time to tell you what an ABSOLUTE blast it truly was. First and foremost, I must thank Mary Noelker for this brilliant idea, and for providing her family's incredible cabin for our escape. She was the epitome of a charming hostess!

Initially, "cabin at the lake" can conjure all sorts of images; primitive fishing shack, minimal camp lodging, empty log cabin for roughing it, nice chalet...... We were all incredibly thrilled at the accommodations! WOW! What a beautiful place!!

It was cozy, and Mary made us feel right at home immediately. The property was completely surrounded by row upon row of evergreens.......... GORGEOUS!

The plan was to pull out the charms on Saturday, exchange and make our bracelets. Yeah, right!!! We could hardly wait until everyone arrived Friday night!! We did manage to wait until after dinner. The excitement was high!! We each took turns unveiling and describing our charms, then passed them around so everyone could choose one.. or 2 depending on how many the artist had made. There was wine, and laughter, and more laughter, but when we got all the charms out, and the chain distributed, you could have heard a pin drop. We all were SO intent on making the bracelets!!!

Here is a finished piece!!! VOILA!! We have glass, aluminum, found objects, ceramic, hammered metal, stitched beads, sterling silver and even antique, resin-filled class ring forms! So, with our project finished, what do we do on Saturday? More talking, laughing and swapping funny stories. And oh yeah...we're at the lake!!! Even though it was really, really, really cold, we went down for a walk around the lake to collect fossils.

Back to the cabin to get warm, open the wine, and have dinner. And what better pass time after dark, than roasting a few marshmallows for s'mores over the fire pit! YUM!!!!!!! Even though Mary (left) claims she won the largest, puffiest, most toasty-brown marshmallow roast off of 2012, I'm MORE than positive Leslie (center) won with the most puffage of all!! Thanks ladies for all the fun and laughs. It was great meeting new friends and connecting with old ones and getting to know you better!!! Can't wait until the Summer gathering! hmmmm.... what shall we make for that retreat?
Michelle Weston, Leslie Baete Fawcett, Mary Noelker, Marianne Brown, yours truly
and Robbie Moriarty in front (unfortunately, Theresa Kibby had to leave us before we got this pic)

Lovely Hearts

by Staci L. Smith

With Valentine’s Day in little under a month, hearts are on my brain. 

I was never really fond of hearts, though I had many requests for them in my jewelry through the years.  So, about two years ago, I thought I'd try to make some hearts, but I'd try to do it in my own style.  The more I thought of them, and the more I saw that they all didn’t have to be so “typical” or “standard” the more I began to like them. They can be tattered and worn, like our hearts may be.  They can be bright and full of hope, and mostly they can have wings (my favorite)   I mean, after all, they represent love.  Love in all its glory…………….. All its pain…………….. All its strengths………….all its frailty.  So I guess you can say I had a change of heart about them awhile back.

So enjoy these lovely heart beads below.  And while we are on the topic of love, spread a little today.  The world needs more of it.  Say it proud…………….I LOVE YOU, and know you made a difference.  Treasure it, never take it for granted, and may it always surround you.

LOVE.

“All You Need Is Love”
-The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney

(click on the photos to go to the shop)

Glass heart by Genea

Lovely pewter heart by Mamacita

by felted hearts Dreamtrappings

ceramic beads and heart by  Ktotten

by Joan Miller Porcelain

 Polymer Heart by Menagerie Studio

Raku Heart by Maku Studio

Bronze Winged Heart Cuff Component by me

So- are you preparing for valentines day in your shop this year?
 
I am, but I didn't get pics done yet of my progress

What kind of hearts are you drawn to in your designs?

I tend to go for earthy or winged hearts my self.

guest post - kerry bogert

Hey LMAJ Readers!

I couldn't be more excited to be invited to share a post with you here today. What better way to start a dreary, rainy, Tuesday than with a bit of art jewelry love? I don't know about where you live, but in my western New York neck of the woods, the weather has been rather unwinter like. It seems like every Tuesday we are seeing a rising of the thermometer and down pouring of rain. Sure, my hubby likes that he isn't having to shovel the driveway every morning before work, but the constant state of muck brown we find ourselves it leaves a lot to be desired (or should I say inspired). 

One day last week, for my blog, I set out on a little adventure to find a color-of-the-day, all day long. Wouldn't you know it, the Pantone color of the day was... brown. It was a great exercise in opening my eyes to the possibility and beauty in brown. If you are familiar with my current body of work, you'll know that brown is a color that rarely makes an appearance. I am so much more of a BRIGHT color kinda gal. And now, between that photographic lesson and the doldrums outside my window, I am so completely over brown. 

So, I decided to go on another adventure, around my house, to document a spectrum of colors with some texture thrown in for good measure. 

You might be asking yourself what apples and old records have to do with creating art jewelry.  For me, finding ways to be creative everyday and seeing color whereever I can is just one of the ways I stay motivated/inspired/refreshed when it comes down to sitting at my beading table to work. It keeps the idea juices flowing and my brain from turning to as mushy a brown as my backyard. For example, after taking these photos, that orange Royal Kerry tea tin has me thinking beads made with a light orange, dark grey, and ivory would make for an interesting combination. 

I invite you to join me today on a color adventure of your own! Challenge yourself to take your camera in hand, around your home, and find bits of color in your own environment. Come back here to the comments and share a link to a color photos on your blog! Share too what this little color adventure inspired in your work.


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