Friday, May 30, 2008

I'm on a roll!

I believe this will be the last update this evening! :) The thunder clouds are rolling in and we are expecting a wash out for the entire day tomorrow so I made a frantic run outside with my camera to photograph these two pieces that I have been working on today.
The first is a set of cream colored glass beads, that feel to me to be etched. They are really smooth! They have goldeny swirls of painted desings and black dots. Nothing raised, these are soft THICK lentil beads. I used Crystal Golden Shadow and Jet Swarovski Crystals and stacked twist spacers with charms near the lobster claw clasp.

The second piece is a gorgeous glass curved bead made by Melissa Rediger, (*sigh*) I love these necklaces. It is a deep, DEEP dark brown color with swirls of metallic blues mixed in. I have accented it with Indian Sapphire, Aquamarine and Dark Sapphire Swarovski Crystals, Pewter Scroll Circle beads and stacked heishi spacers. It is anchored in the center of the 19" Sterling Wire, and features matching crystals up the sides giving it that "floating necklace" appearance.

My Sterling wire necklaces are very popular, and I do a ton of them with Melissa's Curved beads. They are such a heavy and unique piece of glass and each one is worth the cost! They are definately a treasured work of art in themselves!
I'll be beading all day tomorrow, as long as the kids will allow me to have some time alone! So check back for more tomorrow!

As promised!

I never break a promise! Here is the result of my mad beading session last night, and I am SO pleased with the pieces!
I love love love bangle bracelets, so the first is a beautiful glass focal bead with tan, brown, green and cream colored swirls of color, accented by gorgeous hammered silver bangle tubes (from Thailand) and Swarovski crystals to match. I have wrapped a bunch of charms to dangle near the heavy weight Bali Silver Toggle clasp. This bracelet is one of my husbands favorite style that I make and he was commenting on how much he liked the colors in this piece specifically. (They are so me!)

Next, we have a beautiful Square glass focal bead made by Iris (Iris Glass Art), which has awesome depth in the blue/green swirls of color! I have tried to stay true to the shape and accented this piece with Square spacers and star burst pewter beads, and of course a charm or two near the clasp. You gotta love the charms! It helps to weight the pieces plus it gives it that little something extra!

Finally, I have a blue set of beads similar to these pink ones in a previous post which I made into necklaces, but these I did a triple strand bracelet with! I, again, found these at the local bead store, along with the "vintage" pink elongated beads which I think just add a little character to the piece. You can wear this in straight strands or twist them up before clasping it to give it a different look.

Back to the drawing board today, I have SO many more ideas in my head that I am trying to get out but each piece is lovingly created so there is no rush! I can't believe everything I got done yesterday, and I still have a week left! Yahoo! As always, if there is anything anyone wants listed before it goes off to the show just give me a shout and I'll put it on Etsy for you!

Enjoy the great weather today! I already had the boys out in the sandbox, but I caught Jack feeding Matt sand with a shovel so he just came out of time out and is taking a little "break". ha ha Kids!! Don't they say you eat a pound of sand before you die?? Well poor Matt has a good head start on that just from today and it's not even 11am yet!

Hopefully more to come later on! :)

Great Suggestion!

Ok Carey, that was a great suggestion that you had and it didn't even dawn on me to do it until you asked for prices. I have now labelled the pictures with the prices of the pieces so that people are aware of the cost ahead of me listing them in my Etsy store. I know I have been slacking on listing things as of late, but the show is next weekend and I want to wait until it is done to put things up in the store. Anyway, I made 4 more pieces last night, and will be taking pictures once I get Meg to school, so check back in a bit for more goodies!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

One more update today...

I did it!! I sat with my music crankin' and the boys dancing next to me and I made more pendants and a really pretty bracelet! I'm on a roll with my pendants, as I had this pretty stained glass jewelry stand handmade for me to feature them. So I think I have enough to hang on it now. These specifically have glass beads from Michele of Moonfairy Glass, Melissa of Sea of Glass and Carey of Sassy Stoppers! All have been accented with Bali silver and Swarovski Crystals in their respective colors and can be hung on a silver chain.

The bracelet is made with beads from Kimbeads and they have a lovely deep purple swirl in them and they also go great with the Crystals in Purple Velvet and Crystal Golden Shadow. I have stacked spacers, like I love to do and finished it with a couple of matching drop charms near the toggle clasp.

I was thinking that I put wire wrapped charms into mostly everything I do, and I was trying to think of a new little "tagline" ... what do you think of "Every piece has a little bit of Charm!" or "I put a little Charm into everything I do"... any comments?

The Countdown begins...

Jewelry Spectacular!
Only a little over a week to go until the Jewelry Spectacular!! I hope that anyone who is in CT and available on June 7th will drop everything they are doing to visit us down at the Holiday Inn in North Haven from 10am - 4pm! Free jewelry to the first 200 people in the doors! Take a few moments to view the slide show that has been prepared with samples from all the designers by clicking here and be sure to check out the About the Artists section to read more about ME!

I'm hoping to get a chance to make some more things today, I'm still on track with my one piece a day but it's crunch time! Wish me luck!! Have a good one!

Dance of the Sugar Plum...BEADIES!

Forgot to update the price on these on the picture but I'll try to do that from now on! These are $40
Another beautiful set of beads made by none other than the lovely Carey of Sassy Stoppers! These are a gorgeous set of glass cones featuring blue and purple swirls of color, accented by raised purple bumps. I have wire wrapped in Swarovski Crystals in Amethyst and Indian Sapphire, added beautiful bali bead caps and a drop leaf charm.

Aren't they pretty?? I just love everything I make, I guess that's a good thing, right? ha ha I hope you all like them too! Otherwise, I'll have a very FULL jewelry armoire! :)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sassy Rings!

Oh my! I got these beautiful rings from Carey of Sassy Stoppers with the intention of wearing them as is... RINGS! Then I had a thought about making them into a cool necklace, maybe using them as sliders. But then, this morning, I was sitting listening to the Price is Right, and just letting my mind wander trying to think of something different. All of a sudden, I had a very bright light bulb go off in my head! I gave the boys some graham crackers, turned on the Backyardigans and ran up to my office to rummage through my bead stash. And VIOLA! Here is my new bracelet made with these gorgeous rings!! I know that this is going to be a big hit, so Carey, if you are reading... I'm going to need some more rings! ha ha

Monday, May 26, 2008

New Photo!

Ok, so the reason that I am a photographer is because I absolutely cannot stand to have my picture taken. When I hold the camera, I can hide behind it! That being said, my 9 year old daughter Meghan is wanting to follow in her mothers footsteps and become a photographer and a jewelry designer, and she took the picture of me that now appears in my "About Me" section. I think she did a great job! Thank you Meghan!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, I'll be back tomorrow with new stuff!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Floral fringe!

Normally I only work with Swarovski Crystal and artisan created glass beads, however, I could not resist these beautiful Czech Glass flowers and leaves! I wire wrapped them all in, including silver spacers, seamless round silver balls and Swarovski crystals in Light Olivine, Copper and Silk. I finished it with a beautiful boro glass bead made by Melissa Rediger, and a Bali Toggle clasp! I love the fringy look, I hope you do too! This will be one of the featured items at the Jewelry Spectacular, that is of course unless someone wants to purchase it before hand! More to come tomorrow! I have to watch the season finale of Grey's tonight... Idol is over and pretty soon I'll have NO TV to watch! :)
Have a great night!

Summertime FIESTA!

I could not resist these beads, and originally I was going to make earrings with the two similar sized ones but Ann said NO WAY! You need to keep them together and do something with the three of them stacked. So this is what I came up with! You like? It's a gorgeous pendant, made with the three glass beads (by Melissa Rediger) and Swarovski Crystals in Fire Opal, Fuscia, and Light Colorado Topaz. There are silver tone bead caps and a swirly bead at the very bottom, and made to be worn on a silver chain. The colors are SO fun in this piece! Definitely a one-of-a-kind!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Good news!

1 minor adjustment and those earrings have been sent off to CA! I hope she enjoys them! I have some great earrings I am planning to make tonight. I am trying to do 1 piece a day from now until the Jewelry Spectacular on June 7th. So far I have kept up the pace with no problems. I hope I can keep the momentum going... it looks like thundershowers, so that's ALWAYS a good time to sit in my office and bead! Talk to you all tomorrow, and hopefully I'll have some pictures to share!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Caribbean Blue...?

I received a phone call yesterday from my mom, who is out in sunny California visiting my Aunt Karen... HI Mom and Aunt Karen! Well anyways, they asked me for a custom order for a friend who likes long funky earrings, but no brown or tan. ha ha I think these fit the bill, no? We'll see! They consist of fun colors, the glass is an opaque blue, which perfectly matches the Pacific blue opal Swarovski crystals and I added some Peridot crystals to pick up the green. There's hand wrapped coils with two different colors of artistic wire, to follow the pattern on the beads below them and they measure 3 3/4 " below the lever backs. These are long and funky, as requested! I wouldn't wear these with a business suit, but with a pair of jeans or shorts and a t shirt... Fabulous!
Let me know what you think of them!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

New Etsy Shop Grand Opening!

Today I took the plunge and decided to open up a second Etsy shop for the sale of some of my digital prints from my other part time business, Kristen Lynn Photography. You can check it out here! It is called klphotography.etsy.com.
Right now I have listed several of my Sanibel Beach pictures, but I'll be digging out some of my disks of my nature pictures as well and adding them as soon as I get them printed and matted. You can see a couple of samples of what I put in the store tonight above! Love the beach pictures, I hope you do too! Enjoy!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

We have a winner!

It was a close race, but Carey won the earrings! YAY! ha ha Too funny, considering you were the only one playing my game! ha ha I'll send your earrings out on Monday! Congratulations! Make sure you try them on the man, and send me pictures!

Today's the day to shine!

And who wouldn't shine with all these sparkles! Check out the new pieces I made last night! As I said, I'm holding off on adding to the store - trying to save up for the craft fair, unless you are interested in something. If so, just give me a holler!

A little background... Call of the Wild, is a funky charm bracelet made with all kinds of glass beads with various animal prints in them. (Sorry for the crooked pictures, the sun was overexposing it, so I had to tilt a little). I added Bali Silver and a Silver toggle clasp to make it really shine! I love this bracelet! Love, love, love!

The green earrings are mine, as there are small stress cracks in the glass, but I could not resist making myself a pair of earrings (thank you again, Carey!) with them. I would hate to have them break on anyone else, but Carey has LOTS of pretty beads that I can make this style of earring with so let me know if you would like a pair.

The flower glass focal is one of my favorites, it's SO elegant and has a little Cubic Zirconia chip in the center of the flower. This has all of my favorite colors in it and I added a bunch of charms near the Bali Toggle clasp.
Enjoy your day, I hope the sun us shining where you are!

My Sparkteam!

HI all!
I am not sure how many of you out there are familiar with Spark People, however, it is a great website for support when you are trying to lose weight, live healthier lives, and learn better eating habbits. With the help of teams, you support each other by posting comments, similar to my blog here and you are just there for each other if you need to talk or just to mention that you are having a good/bad day. Well, anyways... my sparkteam is called the Biggest Loser Dropouts, and we consist of a great bunch of ladies who I have offered to make inspirational bracelets for just as a token of my appreciation for always being there for me. My hope is that these bracelets will remind us that we are not alone in our journey and that "we" as a team are always there to support each other. I have written a few words about the charms that I have added to our bracelets:

First, above all, we need to BELIEVE in ourselves! It’s one thing to have our friends and family offer words of encouragement and for them to express their knowledge of the fact that we can succeed. It is completely another for us to know that we can succeed, with a little pep talk everyday and a pat on the back when you follow the rules and a quick pick me up when the rules are broken. Do whatever it takes to get through the day, and push on towards your ultimate goal. Know that when you BELIEVE in yourself you can achieve greatness, and you WILL succeed!

Second, we need to have the COURAGE to face each day with a great attitude and a sense of accomplishment for all that we have achieved thus far. We will all have bad days and setbacks, however, we need to have the COURAGE to face our obstacles and get through them…together! It takes a lot to be able to talk about our lives, especially with strangers but I feel that we have such a close group that we can overcome anything if we can just have the COURAGE to share our thoughts and together we can help each other through it.

And lastly, we need to LIVE our lives! I have had so many things happen to me in my life, and I’m sure that each of us can make a list of things that we have had to overcome. Whether it be our health, our careers, our families, or our weight, we all have endured hardships in our lives. But we must remember that life does go on and the best thing that we can do is LIVE! We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to wake up each morning, kiss our kids, go to work and make money to support our families and spend time with friends all the while trying to make enough time for ourselves. Enjoy each moment that we have on this earth, LIVE your life! Cherish your friends, and always stay positive. After all, there are people in this world who are fighting extreme battles, and digging out from natural disasters. We have been given a wonderful blessing, and that is life… so ladies, please LIVE it well!

I hope you all enjoy them, and thanks again for everything! I'll be getting your bracelets out to you sometime this week so check your mail!

If I have inspired anyone to see exactly what Spark People can do for you, just visit the website at http://www.sparkpeople.com/

Have a great day!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

I'm thinking of a number...

So who is in the mood for a contest? I have been visiting Melissa's site on a daily basis since she started it and she had this cool idea and has been holding contests on her blog and I want to try it too! I'm going to start right now!

I'm thinking of a number between 1-20 and it's written on this piece of paper. To place your guess, just leave me a comment on this entry, that way everyone can see what you are guessing and we don't duplicate numbers. Let's see who's out there reading!! You are allowed a maximum of 3 guesses per person/per day and the contest will end when we have a winner!

What's the prize, you ask? The correct guesser will win this really pretty pair of Kazuri/Swarovski Earrings!

Good luck, let the guessing begin!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Future Big Band Musician

I could not resist sharing these pictures of Meghan that I took tonight before she left for her Spring Concert at school. I stayed home with Matthew, partly because I know he would not sit for that long, and partly because I have a killer headache tonight, and the thought of the fourth grade band concert was making it pound even harder! But my mom went and Clay and Jack so she had her support group there! I'm sure she did great!

Crystal Blue Waters

This piece reminds me of the beach with the beautiful crystal blue water (not here in the Northeast!) and the various colors of the sand, just so serene! I put these beads together at the local bead store and I am so pleased with the finished piece. Included are various clay and glass beads in shades of blues and browns plus a beautiful blue Kazuri bead focal, accented by Light Sapphire and Light Colorado Topaz Swarovski Crystals and pewter spacers. It is finished with silver cones and extends up to 18.5 inches. The earrings are made to match and make the set complete! As I said, I am starting to hoard my pieces for the craft fair, but please let me know if this is something that you might be interested in and I can list it for you. I have another piece that I'd like to get made today, but between my daughters gymnastics class and her Spring concert tonight (She plays the trombone!) I don't know how much I'll be able to do. Be sure to check back and enjoy your day!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Utopia!

Here is another piece that I made last night. It features a focal bead called "Utopia" made by Michele, of Moonfairy Glass. I also had some Sassy Stoppers glass disk spacers that matched perfectly (thank you Carey!) and I wrapped them all up into this masterpiece! I hand made the coils with wrapped silver wire and pulled out the most prominent of the colors in the focal bead which are Amethyst and Light Colorado Topaz. I have put in some free floating Bali Rings for movement and a handmade, hammered clasp to pull it all together! I'll be putting this up on Etsy soon. I am in the process of getting ready for a craft fair in early June, so I'm going to start hoarding my finished pieces so I have something to show for all my hard work! I promise what doesnt sell will go up in the store when I return. But I'll keep you all posted here with sneak peeks, so if there is something you want just let me know! Hope you have a great Saturday!

Out on a limb...

Ok, so I'm going out on a limb and taking a chance that my mom is not looking today! She says that she reads my blog, but I know for a fact that she just looks at the pictures! ha ha Anyway, I have been hard at work making my mother's gift from my sis and I and this is what I did... isn't it the best? Oh, she's going to love it! They are clay wafer beads made by Heather Powers of Humble Beads and I accented them with Bronze and Copper Swarovski Pearls and Light Colorado Topaz and Smoked Topaz Swarovski Crystals. I threw in some Bali Silver and a hammered oval link and strung it on cream colored Satin Rattail Cord and bronze leather! So mom, if you are reading today.. NO PEEKING! ha ha Happy Mother's Day!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Morning Dew Drops

Ok, here they are! The sun is not out but it is not raining so I snuck out and took a picture of my earrings! I am SO happy with how they came out and I'll be going over in a few minutes to put them up on Etsy! They are made with beautiful cone shaped glass beads which I have nestled into what I think are the prettiest Hill Tribe Silver cones. I have accented the glass with genuine Tourmaline briolettes, Hill Tribe Silver leaf beads, and Swarovski Crystals in Erinite and Indian Sapphire which picks up some of the dichronic blues within the glass cones. From the bottom I have dangled a couple more accenting crystals and a Tourmaline donut shaped bead in addition to another Tourmaline Briolette. They hang approximately 2 1/2" from the bottom of the Silver ear wires. Man, I have outdone myself this time! These are definitely a limited edition, as I only have the one pair of Hill Tribe Silver and Glass cones, so if you like them, grab them quick! Stay tuned for more updates later on today!

Feeling inspired!

I made an AWESOME pair of earrings with the cone beads that Carey of Sassy Stoppers liked so much from my stash. Even my hubby said I outdid myself! Unfortunately, it's raining right now and I'm not able to get outside to take a photo. I would take a crappy one inside, but that would spoil all the fun of you seeing them for the first time in all their glory! So, stay tuned later this afternoon and I'll hopefully see a break in the clouds to I can take a good pic. I'm working on a few other things as well so please be sure to check back!

Oh, and Carey liked these cones so much she made some of her own, which of course I purchased! You can check them out here. Great job my friend, your Sassy versions are so pretty and will make some awesome pieces!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Lookie, Lookie what I got!!

There is something to be said for instant gratification! Can you already see the swirling idea cloud above my head? Ann and I truly enjoyed the bead fiesta, and we met some really talented and very friendly glass artists. I was so excited to be able to look at, touch and take home the glass and silver goodies that I wanted. I did not have to wait for them to arrive in the mail, which is always a nail biter for me. The USPS has lost several packages on me and considering that I am purchasing one of a kind glass beads that cannot be replaced, you can surely understand my frustration. But not yesterday, I got to put the beads in my purse and take them with me, safe and sound! I'm looking forward to the next Bead Fiesta in August in Danbury!
In the meantime, keep your eyes open for pieces using these beautiful glass beads (made by MacArts, Torchsongs Glassworks, PJ's Beads, and Blue Santa Beads) and Bali and Hill Tribe Silver pieces. I PROMISE, I will share (I am limiting myself to 1 item for my secret stash, and everything else will be made for the rest of the world!). :)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

I'm back!

Well, the rain did NOT hold off and needless to say we all got a bit wet (yes, the vendors were outside under tents which don't really help when the misty rain is in the air.) I did not even put out my display's as some of them are velvet and I did not want them to get wrecked. I even have to change all my earring cards now because they are a little soggy! However, a special thank you to my dad for inviting and helping me today, Ann Marie - my loyal and faithful best friend and assistant, well really my left arm, whom I could not function without; and to everyone who braved the horrible weather and came out to the event, made the best of it and enjoyed themselves, and especially those who bought jewelry! I was pleased with the turnout and have made some new friends and customers. I don't usually post pictures of myself, however, Ann took this nice photo of me at my table with my cell phone, so I thought I would share.

I'm off to the Bead Fiesta in North Haven tomorrow so I hope to come back with some new goodies! Stay tuned!

Hope you are all staying dry, I'm going to thaw out now!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Brass City Harvest

If you are wondering where I'll be tomorrow, you can come visit me at the Brass City Harvest at the House on the Hill - 92 Woodlawn Terrace in Waterbury. This is an informational day of seminars on various topics, and I believe that you have to have pre-registered to attend the classes. However, all of the vendors will be on the sidewalk so feel free to come on down and say hi! There will be lots of things available from flowers to bread, wine tasting and of course...ME!

Keep your fingers crossed that the rain holds off until Sunday!

Hope you are having a great Friday!