Fire Mountain Gems

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Day made!

New Fire Mountain Gems catalog came in the mail today, with not one but TWO of my pieces in it! Huzzah!

(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.

B.E.S.T. Treasury

WhimsyBeading created a treasury based on Bluegrass Etsy Street Team members and included my Green with Envy bracelet. The treasury, "It ain't easy being green (BEST)" is a plethora of shades of green.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=73626

I'm still waiting to hear about the FMG and Use the Muse results. I submitted some pieces to "Creative Jewelry" for publication but didn't get in. There's always next year, so I'll work on something for that. In the meantime, I'm working on a custom order for my mom with some shells that she picked up along the beach on the Outer Banks last year. I also need to order some Lapis for a custom necklace for a friend.

The last week hasn't been a fun one for me and I've made some decisions that I'm not quite ready to go public with yet. Let's just say one door closes and another opens.

Featured!

Many thanks to Kim Reis at Creative Eye Studio and the gang at the Bluegrass Etsy Street Team for featuring me and my appearance in the Fire Mountain Gems catalog in their blogs today! Please got check them out!

Oh what to write...

I've GOT to get better at blogging. My life has been a bit crazy lately, but I need to take some time to visit this place more often.

I got my beads in for the Use the Muse project. I've pulled some of my beads out to incorporate into the piece, but haven't really sat down & thought about where it'll go yet. Most of my pieces end up telling me where they want to go, anyway! I've drawn out a few pieces and they usually end up veering off from my original intent. They know where they want to go & they're not about to let me force them in any direction other than that one!

I started working on the July EBW challenge - Here Comes the Bride. I missed the June challenge of humor, but that's ok. I think I needed a month off! This piece is definitely leading me in a direction that I didn't think it was going to go!

I was in a treasury last week, but totally missed blogging about it. Boourns!

I got an email from Jessica King at Fire Mountain Gems last night with the copy for my Success Story. OMG! I'm so flattered. My jaw hit the floor and I grinned like an idiot after reading it. What a compliment! Once the story is up & posted, I'll link to it.

The earrings in the post are a pair that I did for my friend Jenn as a custom order. Very happy with the way they turned out!

Featuring... Me!

Just got word from the fab SpoolOfPlenty that she's included my "Tulle Anyone?" hat in her latest Bluegrass Etsy Street Team treasury, "Wedding Time in Kentucky."

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=58387

In other news, I had an email from Fire Mountain Gems in response to a submission I'd made about becoming one of their featured artists. Turns out, one of the ladies in marketing began following my blog and reading other features on me! They asked me to be one of their success stories on their Back Cover artists! I'm really honored to be asked to do that!

I've been really busy with web design lately and haven't been able to create a whole lot of jewelry. I've done some repair work on some older jewelry for some ladies in town, but haven't had time to play. That's ok, since I get paid for programming/design time! If you're interested in checking those sites out, I've been working on http://www.lebanonmarionchamber.com, http://www.visitlebanonky.com and http://www.teamtaylorcounty.com.

I've also started working 10 hours a week at the Marion County Public Library. Things have been so and I need the extra income, plus it's a great group to work with. I truly believe that we have the coolest librarians around, not to mention one of the greatest facilities, especially for a small town.

The waiting continues

I finished my application for the FMG contest today. I'm entering three pieces - one in the cabochon/turquoise category, one in the earrings/cabochon category and another in the seed & bugle beads category. I've had two finished for a while and am entering them on a whim, but designed the third just for the competition. More waiting.

In the meantime, I've put the flowers aside until I can get to Michaels in Elizabethrown this weekend to pick up some tulle and silk flowers. I'm considering doing some cloches as well as the typical sun/straw hat, if I can find something that fits with what I want to do. In the meantime, I'm going to bead a band of galloping horses for one of the hats. Have I mentioned that I love the Derby?

Oooooh, the suspense!

I spent the better part of my morning cropping photos and readying them for my Bead Dreams application. I'm entering two pieces this year, For the White Witch of Narnia and Blue for Cleo. For the White Witch of Narnia was created last year for one of the Etsy Beadweavers challenges, but I have since reworked the necklace more to my liking, making it fuller and giving it more drape. Blue for Cleo was completed after I finished my entry & finalist piece, The Harvest, for the Bead Dreams show last year. It's 16 different blue agate cabochons configured into a collar. I'm really proud of both pieces, but know after not making it into Bead Dreams before that it's a tough competition. My fingers are crossed.

I thought I was finished with my Fire Mountain application, but I decided to redo it. That one should be done and then it's all wait & see for all of my entries. Until I decide to enter something else!

In other news, I've been working on flowers for Kentucky Derby hats. Oooooooo....

Thanks for the Ego Boost

I just got my newsletter from Fire Mountain Gems with an update about the 2009 Design Competition. While I haven't gotten my entries in yet for this year (although the app is done), FMG has updated their website with the 2008 finalists. Over the last three years, I've had two pieces make finals each year, been included in their Comprehensive & Best Sellers catalogs & in an ad campaign (featured to the left). I needed this ego boost today as I've been thinking about reapplying for a guild here locally.

http://tinyurl.com/cbdzwc

New Listings

Now that I've finished my Rings & Things entry, I'm trying to play catch up on my Etsy shop, as well as getting my entries ready for the Fire Mountain Gems & Bead Dreams contests. Not sure that I'll get my entry for the March Etsy Beadweavers Challenge "Temptation," but who knows? I've got ideas, but I might have to take Dave's advice and spend a few days icing my wrists.

(I really don't want to... I'd rather bead!)

New Etsy Store listings!

Beadwoven Bracelets:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21575274
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21574977
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21574271

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21573868

Steampunk Earrings
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21573558
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21573283
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21572956

Glass Tile Pendants
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21572723
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21572596
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21572419

Found Myself!

Not in the philosophical way, but in a "holy crap, that's my necklace!" kind of way. I was looking through the latest Rings & Things catalog, finding the bits & pieces for my entry into their "Your Designs Rock!" competition. Lo and behold, on page 133 of the 2009-2010 catalog, there's my "Queen's Green Collar!"

Guess that's just a little more incentive to get my entry in!

I'm currently trying to figure out which pieces I'm entering in which competitions. I pulled my "For the White Witch of Narnia" piece from Etsy, redoing some of the stitching to make it a little fuller and to lay more like I wanted it to. I've also pulled a few more, knowing that I'm entering them in something, but not sure. I've also got a piece that I finally finished, thinking about entering it in Bead Dreams, but I think it's going to go toward the FMG competition this year. Once I've got it figured out, I'll post more!


Also, I just bought Jean Campbell's "The Art of Beaded Beads." I'm loving this book! I've been making the confetti beads featured on the cover, planning on something huge and colorful. I also really like the anemone beads, so I'll probably try those out next. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to bead!