Look who's Strutting their Stuff!

Lots of beautiful components in the Flickr pool this week!



This beauty by Earthshine Lampwork reminds me of gazing into a kaleidocope!




I love how realistic this polymer clay skull is by our very own Staci!


I love all the variations in these skulls by Kalaya!

Are you ready to strut your stuff? Hop on over to our Flickr group to see how to enter!!! You could win some beautiful prizes from this month's sponsors!

Look Who's Strutting their Stuff!

I love this shuttle-tatted piece by Spritzyfitzy in our Flickr pool this week....Another beautiful way and skill to add fibers to your work.....A few years ago, I went to pioneer village where among the old fashioned arts they were demonstrating, some women were shuttle tatting lace....such an interesting and dying art!




Here's what she says about this design:Inspired by snowflakes and turn-of-the-century motifs, this bib necklace was shuttle-tatted with pearl accents. The 3 motifs placed together creates a dramatic necklace. Shuttle-tatted bib necklace, handmade with white thread (100% mercerized cotton) and finished with silver plated jump rings and chain. Small pearl beads are set within the pattern. All jewelry is treated to help protect the thread and add stiffness to the design.

Are you ready to Strut your Stuff?? Please head on over to our Flickr group and check out the specifics! You could win some awesome prizes from this month's sponsors!

Look who's strutting their Stuff......

Some lovely work from our Flickr pool this week!



Set in Stone by QuimeraDesigns


Tribal Sea Glass Pendants from our very own Staci Louise!

To read more about the inspiration behind these pieces, please go visit our Flickr pool! 

Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions.

 **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. .** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade".

Look who's Strutting Their Stuff!

Here's some lovely work that's in the pool this week:




By Earthshine Lampwork Bead and Jewellery Design. Copper Ammonite components from Kristi Bowman teamed together with my own lampwork beads in autumn shades. Brass earwires.



by My Bead Journey. Goddess of the Wake: Inspired by this pendant created by Jenny Davies-Reazor, a pattern by Jill Wisman, and a desire to capture the look of the wake behind our boat were the inspirations behind this necklace.

Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions.

 **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. .** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade". 

Also, don't forget to enter our giveaway for a beautiful ring from e5jewelry!
You don't want to miss out! It's a gorgeous piece!

Look who's Strutting Their Stuff!

Here's some lovely work that's in the pool this week:

From lynnethecraftyone:



From Kalaya Steede:



And our own Staci Louise!:

 

Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions.

 **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. .** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade".

Look Who's Strutting Their Stuff!!!

Tons of beautiful design in our Flickr Group this week! Make sure you go over and see all of the mind blowing pieces that are being made! Also, a side note to make sure you read the rules of the group, please make sure you familiarize yourself with our Flickr Group guidelines! We'd hate to not feature beautiful work!


By Quimera Designs
About this piece: I'm not quite sure where the inspiration for this piece came from. I think I had this shape at the back of my mind, probably from some building. I knew I wanted to use 3 layers, and I knew I wanted the stone to "rise" above the back layer. The rhodocrosite was a natural choice because browns and pinks are just such an elegantly beautiful combination. It's quite a large piece - 2,5 inches from top to bottom and also across at the widest point. But I love big and bold jewelry - although I'm quite short - can't imagine what I'd do it I were tall!

by Kirsi Luo
About this piece: queen flowers ...made of etched copper and enamel

By All Wired Up Jewelry Designs
About this piece: Anticlastic Sterling Cuff- Patterned, Oxidized Another attempt with the rolling mill and anticlastic forming- this time I didn't lose the pattern during forming and planishing!

Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions, and the EXCELLENT prizes for this month. **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. And a description is necessary to be in the prize running.** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade". 

Look who's Strutting their Stuff!

From our Strut Your Stuff Flickr pool this week:

Beautiful work by Libellula Jewlery:
About this piece: Handmade 18 g Cu chain & clasp, handmade 24 g Cu bead caps, electrolytically etched 18 g brass hop cone pendant Inspired by a love of excellent craft brews! and also this fun Dia de los Muertos inspired piece from Kalaya Steede:  
About this piece: Calavera At first this piece was going to be enameled and then riveted on to the back plate. Oh how quickly something starts off as one thing and turns out into another! This piece was inspired by a friend who absolutely loves Dia de Los Muertos just as much as I do. It measures 2.5" H and 2.75" W. 

Are you ready to strut your stuff??  
Check out the sidebar for directions, and the EXCELLENT prizes for this month. **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. And a description is necessary to be in the prize running.** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade". 

Look Who's Strutting Their Stuff!!!!

Welcome to our First Strut Your Stuff for June! Lots of beautiful work going on over in our Flickr pool this week, so be sure to stop over and have a look-see!

Here's just a few pieces that have caught my eye this week:



by Kristi Bowman. Sea Urchin glass beads by MruMru nestled between Kristi's handmade Copper Earring Bails.

And this beauty by Keirsten of Lune Designs:

Keirsten forges unique bails and connections to perfectly showcase beautiful stones like this impression jasper.

And these unusual charms by our own Mary Ann Carroll:

Mary Ann cut, domed, and textured these copper discs and then used her unique overfiring enameling technique to achieve the rustic look.

Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions, and the EXCELLENT prizes for this month. **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. And a description is necessary to be in the prize running.** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade".

Strut Your Stuff Winner for June!!!!!

Strut Your Stuff Winner for APRIL!!!! Share * please scroll down for the newest prizes and rules. The winner for May is: Kalaya Steede!

Kalaya submitted several stunning pieces for May:
 













I love the amount of carefully considered decisions and labor that went into both of these pieces! The detail of the tree on the reverse of her pendant allowing the wood to show through on both sides is a wonderful effect! Kalaya, please contact Barbara secondsurf[at]gmail[dot]com with your info!




And for those of you who may be new here, this is a re-cap of what Strut Your Stuff is all about, and how you can win: STRUT YOUR STUFF - Love My Art Jewelry A place for jewelry and bead artists to show off their jewelry creations using all handmade components. Monthly Challenge Rules 1. Take pictures of your current creation and upload it to our flickr pool. (up to 3 per submission). Look for your work to be added to the group when it meets the rules of the challenge. 2. Leave a description of your thought process while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking so please make sure that you share. 3. Since we are a group promoting "creating handmade with handmade," your jewelry should consist of at least 75% handmade. This doesn't mean that you have to create everything that goes into your piece. You could use beads/components created by other artists. Please give credit to that artist in your description. 4. If your submission will be loose beads/components, it may include any medium that you prefer to make those in. These submissions would also require a description of your creative thought process. 5. You may submit as many pieces as you like in a month, but please note that your name will be put in the hat once for the end of monthly giveaway. And in fairness, you can be chosen only once for designer of the week. 6. This challenge begins the first Monday of each month. Winners from the previous month will be announced the first Monday of the following month. For example May's challenge starts 5/7/12 and the winner announced the first Monday in June. Have fun, show off!! We have some WONDERFUL prizes for JUNE generously donated by:

 Sue Beads by Susan Kennedy

 Thea Too by Lesley Watt

Look who's strutting their stuff!

by our very own Staci Louise Smith! Staci says about this piece: Glass bead was a gift from Genea of Genea beads. I wanted to wear it right away- it was so sweet of her to think of me and choose this awesome bead for me. I thought the bronze donut complimented it nicely, adding more of that ancient feel to it. I pulled out the purples in the bead using sari silk and garnet. I love it and everytime I wear it I think of what a sweet gesture it was to recieve this bead and our friendship.

Our next piece comes from David Curoe and David says about this piece: This piece was made using a computer program that takes an image, applies relief based on contrast, then produces a set of instructions for a different program to use that controls a CNC milling machine to cut the shape out of wax. This wax is then cast with the lost wax method to produce a rough silver piece. This pendant took about 90 minutes for the machine to carve the wax form. The wax was cast to sterling silver and I cleaned and polished it up. My intention was to create a wood texture but I have been told that this piece looks like a scene from space (galaxies) or watermarks.
Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions, and the EXCELLENT prizes for this month. **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. And a description is necessary to be in the prize running.** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade".

Look who's Strutting Their Stuff!

Some very beautiful and unique work in our Flickr Pool this week! Here are just a few of the exceptional pieces that you've created!




by Amanda (torchandhammer) About this piece: This necklace represents the knowledge that your heart is YOURS, not a plaything for someone else. Sometimes we have to learn that the hard way. :-( I used copper metal clay to form the winged, padlocked heart, and attached it to a necklace made of copper, hand-spun yarn, labradorite, pearl, and Picasso-finish Czech glass.




by Kalaya Steede

About this piece: Riesgo This piece was inspired by the little acorn that hangs from the pendant. The etched brass is copper riveted to a piece of oak. It took several weeks before inspiration hit me.




also by Kalaya Steede

About this piece:
 Flores
The Flower. The inspiration came when a friend commissioned me to make a ring. In her words, "I want the most obnoxious ring ever!". So...I designed this ring using some of my newly handmade tools. If you look in close you will see where I textured the edges with my newly handmade tool. So fun! If you look in close you will see where I textured the edges with my newly handmade tool. So fun!

Are you ready to strut your stuff?? Check out the sidebar for directions, and the EXCELLENT prizes for this month. **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. And a description is necessary to be in the prize running.** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade".

Look who's strutting their stuff!

Ya'll were productive this week! This week, the Flickr group is simply brimming with beautiful pieces. Here are several that really caught my eye!
 
 by Susan from Libullela Jewelry says: Sterling Silver, Porcelain, and Czech Glass & Thai Silver Beads
 Porcelain cabochon made by Sarah Kandell-Gritzmaker of slatestudiossupply.etsy.com set in sterling silver bezel Handmade chain: Sterling silver, Czech Glass beads, & Thai Hill Tribe Fine Silver Beads I sweat soldered three layers of 24 gauge sterling silver sheet together to form the backplate. I wanted the concentric circles to echo the concentric circles in Sarah's cabochon. I made the chain by rosary wrapping together 6/0 Czech glass beads in the same teal as the darkest color in the cabochon and tiny Thai Hill Tribe fine silver beads. The chain was finished with a clasp that I made by torch balling, forming, soldering, and hammering sterling silver wire.

 
 by Carla from Chimera Designs says:
 The inspiration for this piece came from the stone itself. I emulated the shape in the two metal layers which I sawed - one in sterling silver with tabs as the top layer to create contrast with the stone and the bottom layer in patinated copper in a color that mimics the stone. I wanted to keep it fairly monochromatic to really show off the labradorite, my favorite stone, so I just used more labradorite to create a chain with larger than usual wrapped links, for balance and finished with tiny rondelles for extra sparkle.

 Are you ready to strut your stuff?? 

Check out the sidebar for directions, and the EXCELLENT prizes for this month.

 **Remember, to give a description of your thought process, while creating your jewelry or beads/components. We really want everyone to share their creative thinking. And a description is necessary to be in the prize running.** Thanks, as always, for creating and supporting "handmade".

Strut Your Stuff features...

weekly work done by artists who submit their unique designs to our flickr pool. On the first Monday of each new month a winner is chosen randomly from all of the submissions. Today we have these very cool skulls created by Kalaya Steede.  Here is what she had to say about them.....

Still enjoying the moments in making these little charms. 

 This time brass was used instead of my norm copper for etching.

And, also featured this week is a piece created by Mary Harding from Bead Soup Blog Party 5 made from the bead soup shereceived from Miss Ficklemedia.

And, we "At the Beach Party" by Amazing Designs 46. Here is what she had to say which I just loved.

"Painted" this day at the beach scene with polymer clay on a pendant after my 5 year old granddaughter came over raving about what fun she had the day before (the reason for the bucket). The tiny sea shells are real - some of the treasures she found.

We also have some ceramic art by MartiC51.  These little beauties look like they could be made into matching earrings and a necklace.

 

We had many awesome pieces to choose from.

Please keep them coming in and also, please remember to tell us a little bit about your design. Also, if you include links to shops in your description others might want to explore more.

and.....

Thank-you for supporting the artists who create handmade with handmade.

MaryAnn Carroll