Flower Power!

My asymmetrical flower necklaces are a hit! I never could have imagined how popular these necklaces would become when I bought that first yellow rose Swarovski component. I picked it up not knowing exactly what I wanted to make with it, and what I designed became one of those happy accidents! I'm not sure how long that first necklace sat on my bead board, but it was long enough. Half the problem was that I just wasn't sure if I wanted to go forward with the design. It was so different from anything I'd ever done. I'm an extremely symmetrical person, so asymmetry was a big risk for me. I was also mixing metals (rose gold and brass). This wasn't as foreign to me as asymmetry, but still a little challenging for my sensibilities. Little did I know that a bigger challenge was yet to come. I got great feedback after posting pictures of that first necklace on my facebook fan page. Most everyone loved it! I was so surprised when a girlfriend decided to buy it the day before I was to have a booth at our local annual Artist Walk. She wasn't able to pick it up right away, so I put it out on my table with a 'SOLD' tag on it. I can't tell you how many people were disappointed to find out it was sold. After about a month of 'Oh I wish you had more of those flower necklaces' I decided to go in search of more, and to my relief I did find more. I bought six and decided that once I made them into necklaces that was it. Two yellow roses, two black roses, one gold tone, and one silver tone are it. I've struggled for the last month not only to make those six necklaces, but also to make them all unique.
Here are the newest versions of my rose necklaces!

Pearls; A Girl's Best Friend

The Swarovski pearl and crystal necklace I made to wear on my wedding day & the triple-strand peacock pearl necklace that started my obsession with pearls.

As I was drafting today's post I received a Beading Daily newsletter in which Jean Campbell, beader extrodinaire, discussed pearls! She says many of the same things about pearls that I'm about to get to here... Needless to say I was sufficiently creeped out by all this. I think Jean was reading my mind (even though we've never met)! If you would like to read Jean's post you can find it here: http://www.beadingdaily.com/blogs/daily/archive/2010/04/28/Popular-Pearls_3A00_-8-Shapes-for-Modern-Style.aspx

Anyway, back to today's topic: Pearls!

It has become my firm belief that all women should have at least one strand of pearls in their jewelry wardrobe whether they're real or fake. I know that not everybody is a jewelry hoarder/ lover like me, but having a few simple pieces stashed away for special occasions is always a good idea. I think that there is a strand of pearls out there for every woman... You don't have to feel like grandma with that perfectly matched or graduated set of stark white pearls! There are so many shapes, colors, and sizes out there now that it's easy to find something to fit every personality and mood. The Japanese have revolutionized the freshwater pearl industry by developing quicker ways to grow pearls. The amount of variations they produce is mind blowing! Swarovski produces nice faux pearls in many colors and sizes that look fabulous when mixed with their crystals! There's no rule that says your pearls have to be the real thing... The pearl necklace I made for my Mom (pictured in last week's post) is Swarovski.

Three hand-knotted pearl necklaces...The red ones are mine all mine, but the other two I made to sell.

Three examples of fun strands of 'fake' pearls...Swarovski pearls and crystals all hand-knotted.

A nontraditional pearl necklace with matching earrings. Red freshwater pearls mixed with silver beads, tiny Swarovski crystals, and an over-sized natural stone pendant.

My favorite pearl necklace! I made this uber long one strand pearl necklace for my birthday last year. I swear the thing is longer than I am tall! I had to triple it to make it fit in the camera frame. I wear this necklace every which way from Sunday... Doubled, Tripled, with broaches, etc... The two vintage broaches I hook to the clasp of my necklace. A nice way to change the look.

Happy Beading & Go out and find or make YOUR strand of pearls! -Jessica

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

In many ways I owe my creative streak to my mother. We both love to create beautiful things. We both also love jewelry. The funny thing is we each have our favorite craft/art (Jewelry for me and cross-stitch for mom), but haven't mastered each others' chosen crafts. I can't cross-stitch to save my soul, and as much as mom would like to make jewelry she just can't get away from stitching long enough to learn. To be honest I'm not sure where her creativity came from because my grandmother's biggest hobby is gardening. Outside of darning socks or sewing on buttons, the woman can't stand to sew or craft in general! I guess there was the year grandma got into scratch art, but she only did that while she and my grandfather were wintering in Arizona.

Over the years I think my mom has tried almost every craft know to man or woman rather. She has an office full of sewing notions and machines, a storage room full of scrap booking and other random craft supplies, and her cross-stitching graces the living room walls and hides inside her storage foot rest. As the only girl in the family I often participated in her new craft endeavors. I can't tell you how many rubber stamp/card making parties I've attended! Hobby Lobby and Michael's are two places we get into trouble going to together. We enable each other something awful! Regardless of her many forays into the world of crafting, my mom's true crafting passion is cross-stitching. She has tried time and time again to teach me counted cross-stitching, but to no avail! What can I say? I was never good at math. I think I'll stick to jewelry, thank you very much!

I also owe my penchant for perfection and procrastination to my mom. What a horrible combination! I swear, two of the biggest procrastinators of all time begot me! My mother and I are the kind of people who started their term papers the night before they were due, and expected nothing less than an A+ for our 'efforts'. Of course I have no one to blame really except maybe my birth order (oldest/only girl) for the perfectionism. I've been told it's a first born thing, not to mention those two little brothers of mine...They make looking perfect easy! (Just kidding boys!) I better be nice because even though they're younger, they're bigger than me.

And now for your enjoyment, and my humiliation...A retrospective of the jewelry I've made for my mom over the years!

The first pair of earrings I ever made & a wire-work bracelet I made in high school jewelry class.

A poinsetta pin I made for Chirstmas, and Mom's favorite stone with a bee pendant.

A lapis necklace I made long ago, and a lamp-worked frog bead on a necklace.

Hand-knotted brown and green Swarovski pearls, and Mom's new favorite stone in a set.

A pair of earrings I made for myself but let little brother give to her, and the bracelet I made for Mom to wear at my wedding. Last but not least...This year's Mother's Day gift! A carnelian necklace.

Happy Beading & Happy Mother's Day! -Jessica

Lessons I learned from Tim Gunn

If I could only watch one TV show for the rest of my life it would have to be Project Runway. I'm totally and utterly addicted to it! The drama, the fashion, crazy Michael Kors, bitchy Nina Garcia, uber-fun Heidi Klum, and the wordy Tim Gunn. This man is like a walking thesaurus, and I love it! He sent poor Anthony Williams (my favorite designer from season 7) running for his dictionary when he told Anthony to use his viscera.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm occasionally a little slow on the uptake, but this is a whole new level of slow for me... It's taken me seven, yes seven, seasons of Project Runway to realize that designers of all kinds (jewelry included) can learn something from the loquacious Tim Gunn. The man knows his stuff! We should all be so lucky to have a mentor with nearly 30 years of experience in our fields to show us the ropes! The lessons in design that he doles out each week to the contestants are applicable to us all.

I have to say the single most important thing that I've learned from watching Tim Gunn on Project Runway is to use 'an editing eye'. The judges speak so many times of how they would change a garment, or that a design looks 'overworked'. I've discovered these issues don't just plague clothing designers, but all designers in general. It is easy and tempting to throw a piece of jewelry together just because you thought the colors looked nice or because you got those two strands of beads to use in the same piece. This doesn't always work in the world of design. There are of course those happy accidents while designing, but they seem to be few and far between. Tim says that if you get stuck on a design then it probably isn't a good one.

This poor necklace-to-be has been in it's beginning stages since Christmas! I threw a bunch of beads I thought would look nice together in a small bowl (typical design strategy for me). I liked what I saw so much so that I took a picture that now graces my business cards, facebook fan page, and Etsy shop banner! The only issue was how to assemble it all without looking 'overwrought' as Tim or Michael would say. I've spent hours staring at the design I have in place thus far, but to no avail! I think I'm going to have to take Tim's advice and scrap the whole thing. The most important thing to remember is that if you can't make a go of a design then it wasn't meant to be. I think I'm going to hide this project away for awhile, so that I can get a fresh perspective on it in a few months.

Happy Beading & 'Make It Work!' -Jessica

Creative ADD

What is 'Creative ADD' you ask? It's a horrible disease afflicting many crafters and artists everywhere. It causes us to flit from one project to another seemingly without reason. There is so much going on in our heads that if we don't get it out we'll go insane! Besides, there's a limit to the amount of post-it notes I will stick to my workspace. I'd like to be able to actually see out my windows, thank you! In a recent email exchange with a fellow jewelry maker she mentioned her husband's label for her tendency to go from project to project: Flaky. I responded by saying that I chose to consider it 'Creative ADD' versus flakyness. It all makes sense in our heads, but isn't always clear to everyone else. My seemingly cluttered workspace tells the tale of my affliction...

There are always at least 4 or 5 projects going at one time on my table. I am extremely blessed to have a room all to myself to let my 'Creative ADD'... I mean my creativity shine! So many other crafters and artists out there are forced to work in a cramped corner of their basement or on their dining room table, but not me. I've been able to paint my small but ample space my favorite color, red, and decorate it to satisfy my Francophile tendencies. (For those of you out there who aren't familiar with the term 'Francophile', it refers to an obsession with everything French.) Ah, the upside to being childless! Well, I've got the dogs, but they don't require their own bedroom. Someday giving up my workspace to a child is a thought I choose to ignore. Sorry honey, but it looks like the man cave is going to be the first sacrificial lamb when we have kids! This may seem heartless, but going from working where ever there was a flat surface to having my own 'studio' was such a triumph.

Mac; Mommy's little helper...She looks a little deranged in this picture. She's usually sleeping serenely on the floor while I work. Mac goes a little nutty when I bust out the camera.

Anyway...Back to my ADD (See how that works?!) The electronics in my office present their own ADD issues for me as well. It's almost a guarantee that I won't get a thing done in my office if I turn the TV on. At this point I might as well get rid of the thing all together! Interestingly enough it's the only room in the house (aside from the living room) with a cable hook-up. Gotta love those old houses! Ours happens to have been built in the 1920s. If I bring the laptop up to my workroom I'm more likely to spend my time surfing facebook or drafting a new blog post. Honestly, the only safe form of 'entertainment' is my radio/ipod dock! I can totally sing and bead at the same time! (Probably much to the dislike of my neighbors...I like to leave the windows open.) Not to mention the fact that hubby isn't really into the Native American flute music I like to play loudly (on occasion). What?!?! It's the kind of stuff they play for you at the spa when you get a massage...Very relaxing! He prefers his country to my extremely eclectic mix. What can I say?

All said and done, it's amazing I get anything accomplished! Between the dogs, the husband, the Creative ADD, and the TV/laptop/radio... Well, I'm off to attempt to get something done in my office. Good luck to me!

I was feeling kind of bad for leaving Rabb out of of the post so here's a gratuitous Rabb shot! He's my veeery big baby.

Happy (& Focused) Beading!