Drum-roll Please......

Happy Holidays!!! I hope each and every one of you had a lovely weekend filled with family, friends and fellowship. I bring you Holiday greetings from Ninita, our deaf pygmy marmoset. As you can see, she got just what she wanted...candy.

Now, on to the giveaway! As promised, I put all the names of those who left Christmas memory comments on my last week's post in a random name generator program (thank you Google). I want to thank all that shared a memory here, I loved reading each post. The holidays are such an emotional time...we all become little kids again. Thank you for your comments. AND NOW....The winner of my Beautiful Beast copper bangle is.....

TERRY REMPLE MROZ

Congratulations, Terry! I'll be tracking you down as soon as possible. Hope you like the Beast!

Thanks to all of our followers and supporters. I wish us all a fabulous new year full of creativity! See you next year!!

Jingle Those Bells! By Karen McGovern

Hello all! Hope your hearths are draped in garland, your trees are covered in tinsel, your stockings stuffed to bursting, and your SANTAUR is shiny and bright!

Nice six-pack, Santa! Seriously....dude has been hitting the gym....

I know we are all scrambling to get ready for next weekend and I wish you all a peaceful and joyous holiday. Eat too much, hug everybody, and let's all hope for a better 2017.

I'm not going to bore you with a long post--Instead, LET'S GIVE SOMETHING AWAY! My gift to you--a new bangle bracelet design (for me) that is big, beautiful, bold, burnt, and BODACIOUS. Eight inches around, hammered copper sheet and wire splashed with silver solder, colored with flame. Two inches wide, fit for a Viking Princess! I call it the Beautiful Beast. 

Here's what you do...in the comments below share a favorite holiday memory. On Tuesday the 27th I will put all your names into a random name picker and announce the winner here and on our Facebook page. SIMPLE!!! 

Enjoy the season, one and all. Remember to hold friends and family close, and take care of each other and yourselves as well. The critters and I wish you well...May we all enter 2017 healthy and happy!!

Dia De Los Muertos - A Celebration of Life Challenge by Karen McGovern

Can you believe it is almost OCTOBER? I. Can. Not. I live in South Florida so the only way I know the seasons are changing anywhere else in the country is by noting the menu changes at Starbucks. Salted caramel pumpkin spice EVERYTHING is on the board, so it must be AUTUMN! When the menu changes to peppermit mocha I'll know I need to start Christmas shopping.

For those of you that do have the privilege of living where the weather patterns are more than "Hot" and "Freaking Hot", I hope you enjoy the change in temps and colors! I miss that--I'm from Michigan and I do miss the explosion of color October through November...send me some pics, okay??

October is a fun month for me. My birthday is in October. I am a HUGE fan of Halloween, and October leads right into another of my favorite holidays, Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. 

Dia de los Muertos (November 1 and 2nd) is an extremely beautiful and meaningful Mexican holiday whose most famous feature is the creation and display of elaborately colored and embellished skulls called "Sugar Skulls". Coming on the heels of our Halloween, many confuse Day of the Dead with Halloween, but the two are completely different. Day of the Dead is a celebration of life, actually. Family members and loved ones who have passed are remembered with offerings of art and food--all in honor of these people's lives and transition through death. It's a beautiful holiday!


So, here at LMAJ we would like to challenge you to create something inspired by Dia de los Muertos. I have posted pics here of some of my past designs inspired by the holiday, along with a fellow LMAJ artist Staci Louise Smith. Staci creates amazing sugar skull beads and pendants! Use the month of October to become inspired, and perhaps to learn more about this holiday, then create something AMAZING. We will "reveal" our designs on Tuesday, October 25th, and encourage you to post images of your designs on that day (on the blog in the comments section and on our Facebook page) as well using the hashtag #lmajdod.

Top left - Alcohol inks on aluminum sugar skull pendant by Karen McGovern
Top right - Bronze clay sugar skull necklace by Staci Louise Smith
Bottom - Dia de los Muertos pendant in tribute to Frida Kahlo by Karen McGovern

It's not all pumpkins and bats--Dia de los Muertos is a holiday rich in tradition and love with nothing to do with our Halloween. Let's celebrate!

Summer By the Shore...AND THE WINNER IS...

Wow, you guys posted some GREAT summer vacation memories. Thanks to all that did. I too am a beach gal, living in South Florida (or as we are calling it these days, THE SURFACE OF THE SUN). I find it very interesting how much water plays a role in our lives and how much we humans crave, desire and REQUIRE it. Nearly everyone posted about how much they love being near the shore, or near a large body of water. As a conservation biologist I also hope that each of us will do our best to ensure that our world's precious water sources remain protected, clean and HEALTHY. I encourage all of you to educate yourself about your cities water supply, and water management policies. Water will be the world's next fought over commodity and we must protect our oceans, rivers, lakes and streams. Remember, as Star Trek taught us, humans are "Ugly bags of mostly water" and water is what keeps us ALIVE.

There, PSA over!

Now, on to the good stuff....I put all your names in a random name generator and clicked the magic button. The winner of the alcohol ink on aluminum cuff bracelet is....

ERIN FISH!!!

Which is kind of interesting when you think about it. So many posts about loving water and spending time in and around water....then Erin FISH is the name the program chose. Huh. COOL!

So, congrats Erin, get in touch with me as soon as you can and I will get your cuff out to you. Thanks again to everyone who posted and took a trip down vacation memory lane. I really enjoyed reading each one!

I also just posted a video tutorial on working with alcohol inks on metals and stone--take a look if you are interested in giving this technique a try. 

Stay cool everybody, and enjoy the rest of your summer. May your pool noodles stay afloat and your drinks stay frosty.

Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING AMAZING!!