(Kind of) a Celebrity

The title of this blog post was provided by my dad in response to an email I sent some friends & family about my news.

I was contacted by Fire Mountain Gems several months ago about being one of the featured artist "success stories" on their website. Jessica King with the company was a pleasure to work with. She was always upbeat, prompt and fun. She sent me some questions based on my work, blog and other info and we went from there. Thank you so much to Jessica and FMG for this opportunity. I'm flattered beyond belief!

A direct link to the article is here. You can also get there by following the right navigation bar on any page of the Fire Mountain Gems site to the Jewelry Artists link. They even took the time to cross-feature me in the Featured Artists and Beading Contests sections. They linked to all of my Gallery pieces, including the Bead-It-Forward beaded squares that I did with the fabulous Etsy Beadweavers.

Many thanks to the awesomeness of Libby with the Bluegrass Etsy Street Team, as well, for plugging this on our team blog so quickly after I tweeted this earlier in the week.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Bead&Button about the project that I submitted. I had an email from Lora stating that they had a meeting on the 21st, but I don't know when I'll hear back regarding that. Eep.

Mom's Outer Banks Necklace

My mom came back from the Outer Banks, North Carolina last year with a hand full of shells and one request - for me to make a necklace for her. I really agonized over it for a while: Do I try to drill through the shells? Do I back & embroider them? Do I use bails and make some funky charm necklace type piece? In the end, I decided to make right angle weave bezels for them... all 18 of them. There are 16 shells on the necklace and two that I used for a pair of earrings.

The center shell posed a different problem with its shape. Mom had originally requested that I try to drill it, but I was terrified that I'd break the shell. Instead, I used a minimal amount of silver wire to wrap it.

The shells are an off-white and lilac to medium purple mix and I used gray Czech seed beads for the bezels. The shells are interspersed with stick mother of pearl beads. I'm really happy with the results, as is she!

In other news, I submitted my project to Bead & Button. I should know by September if they've accepted the project. First time for submitting a project!

I'm still waiting on news from the Use the Muse project and the FMG results.

Treasury

Creativesque created a treasury based on FAM Team members and included my Redbud Earrings. The treasury is a beautiful riot of color.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=71562

I finished my Use the Muse entry and my friend Stephen helped me photograph it. I can't reveal it yet (per the rules) but I'm pretty happy with it.

I also made a piece on Friday that I'm really happy with. I'm going to plot this one out & submit it to B&B, I think. I can't remember seeing anything like it. I made it up as I went along, but it's not freeform, and it's not so elaborate that I wouldn't mind recreating it in order to write the instructions.

New Treasury!

The lovely & talented Smadar of SmadarsTreasure has featured my Black, White & Red All Over bracelet in her treasury, Red, White & Black. If you read Bead&Button, check out her work in the current issue!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=45425

Weekend Wrap-Up

The weekend at St. James was wonderful. We had perfect weather for the art fair, even if we are suffering from a horrible economy. Sales were good, I met a lot of nice people, handed out almost every one of my postcards and even had The Harvest recognized by several readers of Bead&Button. The best part of my weekend came in the form of a lovely fellow beader on Friday. She recognized The Harvest and kept trying on another piece of mine that I called "Garden Necklace." (I wish I had a photo!) After several tries, she decided to purchase the piece. I knew it was going home with someone who would appreciate it, which made me really happy.

Sunday, she returned to tell me that she'd worn the piece to work the day before and had been chased around by her co-workers, wanting to know where she'd purchased it! That was a wonderful feeling.

Since coming back, I've restocked the gallery and realized that I'm quite behind on prepping for the Marion County Arts & Humanities Council's art auction. Oops! But, I've snagged the help of three lovely ladies to help contact artists & businesses. They'll be my saving grace!

Today has been repair day on several customers' vintage jewelry. I don't mind the repair work and I try to keep it fairly inexpensive!

Next projects are a quilt patch Christmas ornament that will hang in Frankfort, KY in the Thomas Clark museum and some netted, Victorian glass ornaments, once I get the bulbs from my sister.

sniffle sniffle

I've been absent with a stuffy head and playing catch up at the gallery after missing work for 2 days, but I'm back! I'm also a member of Etsy-Beadweavers now, meaning that I'll be participating in their monthly challenges, which is a great kick in the pants. I need a little extra boost to get my brain moving in new directions. It also means that I have to post the piece on Etsy, which means more listings and more work for sale. Huzzah! The challenge for September is "Complimentary Contradictions" and is due by the 5th, so I must get cracking.

Yesterday, I received my advance copy of Bead&Button's October 2008 mag. In the center of this edition are the 2008 Bead Dreams finalists featuring moi! I am so incredibly thrilled to have my piece pictured alongside Sherry Serafini's work and in the same category as Heidi Kummli. These women are two of my design heroines. Do yourself a favor and get their book, "The Art of Bead Embroidery." It's eye-candy and inspiration.

I also stuck my neck out and contacted the Objects of Desire Gallery in Louisville. Everything they carry is wearable art and I need to get my stuff into galleries in larger towns. I love Lebanon, but many of my pieces don't exactly speak to my clientèle here. Besides, I'm supposed to be working on promoting myself, right?