On Gratitude....

Here in the United States, November brings Thanksgiving, our holiday of giving thanks for our abundant blessings and sharing a hearty meal with our closest friends and family. There is no pressure of gift giving or holiday parties, save a last minute run to the crowded grocery store for some last minute forgotten ingredient for a much beloved recipe....and usually no one notices and the sheer joy of relaxing and chomping on all the glorious foods and desserts of the season usually makes up for any stress.

gratitude key by mettametalworks
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday....and not just for the tradition of the big fat meal....but simply for a day of complete relaxation and being mindful of whatever blessings that I have been afforded. Even at the very lowest times in my life, when there was no family close and I was in the midst of a very painful time in my life, I spent Thanksgiving going through a fast food drive-through and eating my Thanksgiving Dinner of french fries and grease-laden food on a beautiful beach and feeling the wind in my hair and the sand in my toes and watching the waves. There was no turkey or stuffing but there was joy and happiness and I was truly reminded of the moment, of how thankful I was, just then, to be there.

wrapped cross by forgivingworks
I am constantly reminded daily, of the many blessings in my life, despite any stressfulness or frustrations or sadness. There is just SO. MUCH. GOOD. all the time...and this time of year always reminds me of these things. No matter the circumstance, I can always think about something else when I'm feeling sour, or ornery and think, WOW, what about that!? How amazing is it that I have that in my life right now????
Back in this post in the comments, I mentioned I was reading this book. I've reached a critical chapter for me, one of those chapters (since I read for 15-20 minutes before I go to sleep) that I re-read again the next day and mull it over and perhaps re-read it a third time so it sinks in to my thick noggin.
This chapter has to do with helpful affirmations, creativity, and self-esteem. This is the very first affirmation:
1. I am an artist, and I have chosen a life that will give me pleasure in all of the things I make. I owe others and myself for my good fortune in coming to this life, and I will try to show thanks in my work. ~Peggy Hadden, The Artist's Quest for Inspiration.
How are you showing gratitude in your work?
This month's Art Spark is all about gratitude, have you entered yet?

this is a warning -

mary jane dodd

monday's designer is going to require a random draw because we have some terrific entries in our flickr group for this month's art spark! (and as a libra, i really struggle with having to make choices)


how about i show them to you?


swinging paddles from melinda orr:

fluttering leaves and beautiful colors from sandra:

a warm autumnal lariat necklace from supere67 (i am sorry i don't know your name):

swingy fall earrings from lorelei eurto:

yummy orange & copper from deborah lee taylor:

and a gorgeous rustic necklace from our own staci:

thank you ladies for your participation... 

enjoy your weekend!

i will be leaving the zen nest of my workbench and entering the belly of the beast - comic con nyc... wish us luck! (it's no big deal, not really - only about 10,000 people on the floor at a time... ommm...) just kidding - it's all good!

color and movement

october's art spark is underway - 

these great examples of color and movement come from our 'strut your stuff' flickr group... 

greer of vintajia adornments

rebecca of adobe sol

 sophia of kosmimata

bruno hempel

carol of terra rustica

looking forward to seeing what you are inspired to make!

october art spark

mary jane dodd

'every leaf speaks bliss to me,

fluttering from the autumn tree.'

~ emily bronte

trees bursting into flames of orange, red, yellow... leaves falling like rain... rustling against your shoes as you shuffle through them... finding yourself unable to resist their pull... 

your challenge for the month - 


color and movement...

there are many ways to create movement in a piece... using split rings and wrapped loops to dangle beads are some easy ones... 


but i really love wire paddles and trapeze components - i find them to be fun and versatile...

a trapeze can have a wire across the top to hold more beads (here i used lampwork glass by mika collins at pinocean) ...

this trapeze has an open top and uses a wire paddle to highlight a special bead (here a lampwork glass bead by our own patty lakinsmith)... 


if you would like to try these, you don't need much... 


12 or 14 gauge wire for the trapeze
18 gauge wire for wire across the trapeze
14 gauge wire for the paddles
(all wire purchased at the hardware store)
beads
mini washers, bead caps
a hammer
a bench block
round nose pliers
chain nose pliers
flush cutters
metal file
something round to wrap wire around - ring mandrel, prescription bottle, anything you can find in the house that does the job... 


for the paddles...

cut a 2" piece of 14 gauge copper wire... file one end... when you hammer metal, you move it... to create paddles begin in the middle of the wire and work your way down towards the end... the more times you hit, the flatter and wider it will become... so you want to hammer the most down at the end to create a wide paddle shape... if you have rough edges, use your file... remember, files work in the stroke moving away from you... use it only in the one direction, never using a sawing motion, as it will dull the tool... 

slide a bead down the wire to see where (and if) it stops... i use washers or bead caps to adjust the placement of my bead... personally, i like when the earrings aren't symmetrical... 

the beads on the earrings above have very small holes and didn't require any washer at all... 

the holes in these beads happen to be a bit larger... 

for the pendant i chose bead caps... 

using your round nose pliers you will create a loop at the top (trimming off excess first if you feel it is too long)... place loop over your ring or trapeze and tighten with chain nose pliers... 

the trapeze is simply constructed as well... 

(here i work off of the longer piece of heavier wire)

wrap wire around a ring mandrel, prescription bottle, wooden dowel, handle, hammer head, anything that does the job... 

cut opposite side... 

using your round nose pliers, create loops at either end... you have a choice of whether to orient them to the side or the back... 

i usually hammer at this step and use my fingers to work the shape the way i would like it... hammering work hardens the metal and allows it to keep its shape better... my aesthetic choice also happens to be a bit more rustic... if you have a tumbler, you can keep your piece round and shiny and harden the metal that way... 

in the finished pieces above you can see how the different loop orientations affect the design... in this one i ran ball chain through the loop... 

please do not feel limited by these ideas - they are just that... create movement and color in your own beautiful way... we are waiting to see your interpretation... 

now for the rules of the art spark: 

1. all work submitted must be 75% handmade - you can use components made by others - but we encourage you to experiment as well... 

2. please submit your images to our flickr group... unlimited submissions per artist, up to 3 views of the piece... however, you will be entered once for our monthly giveaway... and you will be in the running for designer of the week once as well (we need to spread the love, right?)...

3. along with the image, a glimpse into your process, some insight would be appreciated... also please give credit for any work that is not your own... 

4. your work does not have to be completed jewelry... if you wish to submit images of components you make, that is just fine... again, some insight into how it relates to the theme of the month would be great... 

here is what our sponsors have donated for the month:

dvd on cold connections

jardin de primavera cab from 

cabbing rough

gorgeous enamel work from

barbara lewis

how it works:

a weekly designer is chosen from the flickr group on mondays... 

a randomly chosen participant on october 31st will be the winner of items donated by our sponsors... please have your images uploaded by the 30th, i would hate for anyone to be overlooked because of this... 

*** this is the one year anniversary of our challenges - thank you to all those who have participated in the past and will participate in the future... we value the symbiotic relationship that has developed... we learn from you as (hopefully) much as you learn from us... the collaborative nature of this community is one we are proud to be involved in... 

Sentimental journey

by Kelli Pope

When I was a child, my family took yearly summer vacations. Mostly we went to Florida, as my mother loved the beach. However, my favorite vacation was to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. (I remember my grandparents and their chihuahua making that trip!) I fell in love with the woods, streams, trees and the incredibly, peaceful mountains. As an adult, I still love the mountains. When my husband and I had been married just a few years, he was running the family restaurant. It was open 6 days a week, and he spent his day off doing paperwork and placing orders..... so, there was no day off. I had a full time job, and worked there nights and weekends. It was stressful, to say the least. I decided we needed a vacation. We had never taken one together. He argued, and said his family just didn't do vacations. I finally convinced him, and reserved us a cabin in Gatlinburg. I was going back to one of my favorite places, the Smokey Mountains, and I couldn't wait to introduce him to absolute beauty and peace. Not until he slid into the hot tub on the deck the first night, beneath the stars and the colorful, falling leaves, did he realize just how badly he needed that vacation. (the mountain view didn't hurt either) Now we try to return every year. As I write, I look forward to our trip, just 4 weeks from now. The Fall leaves will be at peak color, and the temperature should be cool and crisp. For us and our dogs, the perfect weather! AND once again, it will bring back wonderful childhood memories.

antiqued hammered copper components, antiqued copper chain, patinated leaf and beads by Shannon LeVart, large wood kiln fired bead by Mary Ann Carroll

Where has the Art Spark "Sentimental" journey taken you?

September Art Spark

by Staci louise Smith

I was so happy to be able to do September’s art spark. There are many reasons I love September, it’s such a special month to me, near and dear to my heart.


First of all, fall is my favorite season. September’s cool nights and warm days always marked the start of my favorite time of year!

Secondly of all, I got married to my wonderful hubby 12 years ago on September 4th. It has been an amazing ride, and I love him more today than the day I married him.

Third and last of all- it’s the month that most of my kids were born in! No kidding! Only my daughter has another birthday- August, and that is because she was a few days early, or she would have been September too.

So as I was trying to come up with an Art Spark for September, it just seemed fitting to me, that it would be “SENTIMENT”. This month is so filled with special events, memories and occasions, that sentiment plays a huge part in it.
Sentiment is:

Personal experience, one’s own feeling, what one feels about something, tendency to be influenced by emotion rather than reason, sensitiveness to emotional feelings

(these are taken from a few different definition places which I forgot to note when I jotted them down…..sorry!!)

So an Art Spark is born! I want you to show us what you have made, with an item of sentiment, or with intentional sentiment……for example………..a stone from the first place you kissed the love of your life, used in a necklace, or a bracelet made for your best friend, in her favorite colors, and themes, to let her know she is like a sister to you. (I am doing the latter for this challenge, to be revealed later)

Here is the important thing……………….we want to hear the story behind it! Don’t be shy…………tell us why this has sentiment for you. Share with us why this design is so much more then meets the eye. Let us take part in your joy, your sadness, your friendship and love AND your creative process. Since this is such a broad and open Art Spark, this really is the most important part, so please share it with us!

To get us started, I went through my jewelry and found some pieces that have sentiment for me.

This here is one of the earliest pieces of jewelry I made.  Its a simple bead weaving technique that was explained to me by a friend.  The stone, a hematite, was given to me by my first love!  He said it was a stone of protection, to be given to someone you love...*swoon*  Anyway- to keep it special always, I made it into a necklace.  I guess some of my earliest work was pure sentiment!!!

This was a charm bracelet my mom bought for me as a young teen.  At the time, she bought me some charms for it, but they were just pretty, and didn't really mean anything....and, I never seemed to wear it.  So as a young adult, I re-made it.  The shell is is from my first trip to LBI with my (husband) boyfriend!  The earring I wore when he proposed.  The other earring was from my sister in law, whom I love like my own sis!  Turquoise, because I love it, it has history, and lore and is beautiful to boot!  The faux diamond pendant was the first piece of jewelry my father gave to my mother, then passed on to me.  A heart charm, for love, winnie the pooh, for the child in me, another heart for love, and the last charm is a purple czech bead with a moon and stars~ my best friends favorite color and theme!  It represented many important people in my life!

And this necklace was made from a sea shell that my oldest son gave to me, on our second family vacation to LBI!  It has a natural hole in it, and I wanted to do something special with it, because my special boy thought to give it to me.

So there are some examples.  Like I said, I plan to make a special piece for this challenge in honor of my best friend in the whole world.

And here is how you enter:

1. Take pictures of your creation (handmade with handmade jewelry or a handmade bead/pendant/component created by you)  and upload it to our Flickr account.  Please add creations that were made for this challenge only.

2. PLEASE tell us why this piece represents "sentiment" to you.

3. Since we promote "handmade", your piece must be at least 75% handmade. It may include handmade components by other artists, just please give credit to the artist in your description.

4. Only one submission per entrant, please. But you can and should include up to 3 images of that submission.  We do have another flickr site to share creations not related to ArtSpark called "Strut Your Stuff."  You can get to it by clicking the link on the left sidebar.

5. HAVE FUN with this!!!  Check in often to see the entries. The link to our Flickr site can be found on the blog sidebar.

Each Monday we pick a designer of the week from the entries.

Below is the grand prize~ (winner is selected Monday, September 26th)

The Prizes Below were all donated by members of the Beads of Clay Group!  (If you've never heard of them, I suggest you check it out.  There is a wonderful variety of ceramic bead artists, all making handmade beads!)

We have some great beads from NKP Designs, a stunning pendant from Marlas Mud, a recycled glass pendant from Artisan Clay, enameled charms and clay beads from MA Carroll, and a pendant and matching earring bead set from Yolandas Clay.

This would be a great addition to any bead collection.  So let us see your "sentiment", and get a chance to win!

In addition to all of the ceramic beads and pendants, you will also win this fabulous cabochon created by the folks at Cabbing Rough on Etsy.  Check out their shop....  You WILL be amazed!!

I'm not done yet.....

You will also win one year showing off your creation on our website.  Check out previous winners by going to "challenges" on our website.

I can't wait to see what you make!!!!

A Winner, A Lesson Learned and My Family....

by MaryAnn Carroll

Not exactly in that order........

Let's start with my lesson that I learned.   Like many, my beading began with buying LOTS of commercial beads.... some at a small local bead shop (which I still support by purchasing many supplies, etc.), online shopping, and some local chain stores.  Well.... I decided that I LOVED Izzy's idea about taking that jewelry that I won't be selling and donating it to Vera House which is a local domestic violence organization in my area.  They are going to use them for part of a "graduation" gift when women make it through certain programs by attending regularly,  contributing, etc.  Since some of that jewely goes back to 2007, I decided to give them a good bath.  I made up my water, vinegar and baking soda solution which cleaned up all, but one, beautifully.  At the time, I used to use all sterling silver and it definitely needed some shining up.

 It was no surprise another necklace surfaced once I had these all packed and ready to go.  I mixed up the same solution and put it in.  This one had coral, or so I thought, on it.  As a matter of fact, it was mainly "coral."  I know that because I had labeled it when I bought it and put a price per bead on the section of the container. What else could it be?  This necklace also contained "faux" coral which I KNOW was "faux" because it was also labeled in the same manner.  The coral was not cheap!!!

Since I know very little about actual gemstones, etc., like many others, I bought them for their beauty.

Hmmm.....  what might be another reason to buy handmade?  You know who made it.  You know what it was made with and you more than likely know that it is genuine.

Here's the results following the red "coral" cleaning....

 I should have taken the slogan, "buyer beware" a little more seriously.  Who, however, has the time to research all of this kind of stuff?  I took some more from my stash (the same beads from the original batch  that I still have) to do a little experiment.  The ones on the left are from the section labeled "coral" and the one on the right is also from a section labeled "coral".  I didn't take pictures of the one on the right when it was in the "experimental" solution, but by looking at the picture, the color didn't change.  Maybe it was just processed better.  I don't know.  The ones on the left were labeled for 20 cents each and the large one 1 dollar each.  Based on size, it made sense, right?

I did find a website that I "think" is the real deal.....  If you want to know a little more about coral, this might be some helpful reading.  As a matter of fact, you might want to read up on many commercial gemstones and such that you purchase prior to the purchase.  I remember learning why there was such a wide variety of prices when it came to turquoise too!  Click HERE for a link that might help you make some more informed dicisions before making a purchase.

And..... what makes me HAPPY?  My family makes me VERY happy.  I love them so much.  We've had our trials and tribulations and still do, but when I think of them, that makes me happy.  Check out our

Art Spark challenge

 for August and share with us what makes you HAPPY!!!  There is a link to how to go about that on the left side bar.

Finally, Mr. Tibbs and his dog Gadget would like to announce the winner of the wood-fired beads giveaway.....

Erin S...... 

You are the winner!! 

Please email me at artisanbeadsplus@gmail.com with your address and

I will get them right out to you :o)

Congrats!

Are there any lessons that you have learned that you would like to share?

Thanks for

~creating handmade with handmade~

MaryAnn

For those of you who are confused about my POST regarding dates.....  This should confirm that I'm still confused!

Inspired by Nature- My Backyard

by D'Arsie Manzella of Mamacita Beadworks

This month's Art Spark got me thinking about the beauty of my backyard. Living in the Grape Belt of Western New York is nothing short of magical. Each day I look out on the grapes that my husband and I were married in. In addition to the vineyard views, we are right next to Lake Erie and that gives us some of the most stunning sunsets you've ever seen.

Two nights ago as I was doing my After-Kids-in-Bed Web Work and I noticed an orange pink glow outside. I stopped what I was doing, ran downstairs and snagged my hardworking husband from his own computer screen.
I was surprised at how willing he was to drop everything and go walking in the grapes. That's how vivid the sunset was. It was a super natural event. Right there in our backyard.

As we held hands beaming at the color in front of us and the dusky moon rise behind us, I was overwhelmed with joy and hope for our future. When life is spinning me, I always find peace in Mother Nature.

Here is my contribution to this month's Art Spark. I have the moon, (my hand cast pewter Midnight bead caps). I have the grapevines and the deep orange and pink sunset colors (Batik cotton cord from OhSoFabu). Together they capture a moment I will not soon forget.

Thanks Izzy for this challenge!

My Art Spark: Shades of Green

by Patty Lakinsmith

Shades of Green necklace.
38" worn singly, and makes a delightful 19" double strand piece.

The unseasonably late rain has worked her magic with the earth, which has fed the bazillion shades of green wowing our temperate rainforest world right now. It's been a wacky weather year so far and it may as well be spring now.  I walk these forests daily, and the growth is still unbelievably lush.  It's nice now, but potentially dangerous in the fall when all will have died for lack of water, and the winter rains have not yet come.


Tendrils are twining...

Leaves are sprouting...

I think that nature is my art spark all the time, and I find endless possibilities for my own work reflected in hers.  Thank you for this challenge, Izzy!