Earrings Everyday

Art Bead Scene's founder, Heather Powers, is starting a new blog just for earrings, called "Earrings Everyday."  There will be 7 additional, regular contributors, including Lorelei Hill Eurto, Marie Noel Voyer-Cramp, Kristi Bowman-Gruel, Erin Prais-Hintz, Kristy Carroll Abner, and--SERIOUSLY? FOR REALS? WELL I'M SURE THERE'S BEEN SOME MISTAKE AND I'LL BE NOTIFIED SHORTLY -- Me!

I was cruising blogs recently and stopped by ABS on just the right day, and read the post about the new earring blog. I thought it was a great idea--I'm always scouting for earring inspiration. I read the invitation to submit yourself as a contributor and I thought what the heck, I'll throw my hat in the ring, and when it invariably comes to naught I can pat myself on the back for putting myself out there and continue enjoying my current level of obscurity.

But then--GET OUT--I got a convo from Heather letting me know I had been chosen as one of the new contributors. STFU!! I said to myself. (Someone else also said this to me when I told her about it. And I said USTFU! And she said LOL.) HOLY CRAP!! I said to Heather. She didn't seem to take offense. She's chill like that. (I tend to use all caps when I'm excited or incredulous.) So now I will be submitting posts twice a month with earring designs from my shop. And I have a sketchbook full of designs I've never implemented so now I'll see if they are feasible. Nothing like a deadline to help you get focused.

But now I obviously need to get a hyphen, or at least one more appellation. I'm feeling unsophisticated. Or at least some quotation marks. Keirsten "Pattycake" Giles. Keirsten "Cougar-licious" Giles. Keirsten Lee-Giles (that's my middle name, makes me feel like I'm in trouble). Or I could take a cue from the former United Nations Secretary General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and call myself Keirsten Keirsten-Giles. Feedback?

Custom Creation--Featuring Tesori Trovati "Simple Truths" Pendant

A regular customer recently asked me to create a pendant (or bracelet) around a lovely focal she had just purchased from Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati, from her new "Simple Truths" line. It seemed to work best as a pendant:

I wanted to draw the eye toward the focal, and create more of a "V" shape for the entire necklace, so I strung a short length of copper chain across the back of the focal, and hung a copper butterfly pendant and carved leaf from it. There are some really lovely, soft colors in the clay I wanted to echo in the rest of the necklace--olive green, sea green, grass green, mauve, and of course, copper--so I chose some smooth serpentine ovals in cool leafy green, fancy jasper roundels in sea green and mauve, a big moss agate carved leaf, and pearls in antique copper and muted lime. The copper wire is lightly antiqued to match the bezel on the focal. I decided to make it asymmetrical, because I wanted some of the teal and mauve accents in front, where they would show more. This would be one to wear with your hair up, so people could see the back too!

The necklace fastens with a toggle in the front.

The focal has such a nice weight to it--heavy and smooth. Superior quality! The clay artwork is set seamlessly in the bezel.

(Here's how I attached the drop portions of the pendant to the back of the focal):

The chain is just a fine rollo chain; I attached the drop portion via a heavy but smallish jump ring (I didn't want anything too bulky on the back), and then attached two more jump rings (small ones) on either side of it, through the chain links, to keep it in the center. Sort of was thinking of how you hang a picture, with the wire across the back--I hoped it would work! Seems to work fine.

I'm looking forward to working with Erin's components again!

Summer Solstice, Miami-Style

Psychedelic Sunset Bangle

I keep all my lampwork beads in a box together, and sometimes they call just call to each other! I've featured beads from three different designers in this bracelet, and I'm amazed how nicely they work together! The big bold roundel in tangerine is by Bebesglassbeads and was part of a larger set that actually included lots of ocean blues; the two smaller roundels flanking that one are by BeingBeads (I've hit her up for a couple dozen of these multi-sherbet-colored beads!); and lastly the two little spacer lampwork on the ends in the saturated grape and pumpkin are by StudioRent, from a large multi-colored set. Brass beadcaps, toggle bar, base pieces and the decorative and connector rings are by me, lightly antiqued to a rich gold and tumble polished. Four gold-plated brass daisy spacers add a little elegance, and a short length of solid copper rollo chain makes the toggle bar easy to fasten.

I needed some new earrings in the shop too, so I decided to use some of the charm pairs I've been hoarding (these are from FusionBeads, in pewter). These little three-petaled flowers remind me of dogwood blossoms, although I think those have four petals.

Independence Day Mutant Dogwood Earrings

I've combined them with sponge coral discs in a tomato red, little striped glass beads from Indonesia in cornflower blue, red and mustard, matte glass "fiber optic" (they have a subtle cat's eye glass shimmer in them) discs also in cornflower blue, and 6mm pewter daisy spacers, all from Happy Mango Beads. They ended up with a subtle Independence Day feel to them, which seems timely! But also a little gipsy. And Gipsy Season is all year round.

And that's what I squeezed out last week of the exceedingly slim artistic pipeline that is my life. I need some kind of Creative Roto-Rooter. Or some Discipline and Focus. And Organizational Skills. And a vacation. And a nap. But not necessarily in that order. First the nap. Then the vacation. Then the other stuff. Which would probably require a brain transplant and I don't think those have been very successful. And then what if the new brain didn't know how to make jewelry? Or it came out of a man? That would really complicate my life. It's beginning to look like I should just let go of the organizational skills-discipline dream because let's face it, that's not going to happen. What I need is a winning damn LOTTERY ticket. Then it won't matter if I'm productive or not. I can just make jewelry whenever I get tired of playing with my money. Winning the lottery seems a lot more likely than finding any focus or organizational skills.

Lynda's "Vintage Ephemera" Bead All Grown Up

Well, I was pretty eager to get cracking on creating a necklace for the fabulous "vintage ephemera" bead Lynda Moseley of Diva Designs sent me. (Please see my previous post for more details on her stunning polymer clay beads and focals). I had the design in my head already, mostly, and it was just a matter of playing with it a little. I knew I wanted to use a bunch of the wonderful antique-silver-plated chain I just got from Lima Beads the other day, and red agate and labradorite, and probably some pearls. This is how that all eventually shook out:

I decided to add a couple of my nickel beadcaps to the focal, as the holes were fairly large and I wanted the bail to be really sturdy on it. I balled one end of a long piece of 20 gauge sterling silver wire in my torch, hammered it a bit, and strung a bunch of 3mm beads on it inside the focal, to tighten up the fit inside because I didn't want it wobbling. Then I had to stick down the beadcaps with some Hypocement, to keep them from moving around. Then I just started wrapping all my stones. The Dremel came in handy when it was time to polish!

I made it fairly long--the longer strand is 26"--because I felt the focal needed a dramatic sweep of stones and chain. You can see the length better here:

The chains featured here from Lima are the double cable chain (silver plated steel), flat oval chain (also silver plated steel), and a delicate ladder chain (silver plated brass). The have a great feel to them. The ladder chain is actually the same chain I make myself, just with a much rounder, hammered loop, and much finer. I'm going to make some of this in a larger gauge! I love the rounded, hammered portion.

Lynda, I hope you're pleased with how your "baby" has grown up. It made it all come together so easily--it really is a joy to design around a beautiful art bead. Thanks again, Lynda!

"Early Summer" Pendant with Summers Studio Lentil Focal

Inspiration FINALLY struck for one of Leann Weih's gorgeous porcelain lentil beads. I've been hoarding this, and another similar one, since last September. (You can visit Leann's Etsy shop HERE). I had some ideas knocking around in my head, but none of them felt right. I was absently pawing through my pendant collection again on Saturday, and opened Leann's package again. I had an idea, grabbed some aqua terra jasper beads, and decided that's what I would combine it with. I started on it this morning, and I had already wrapped one jasper bead when I thought it was missing something. I wanted to include some blue in the piece, to bring out the subtle washed denim hue in the focal. But gee, what did I have in that color? Gosh, how about that big fat ziplock bag of denim blue coral roundels? Oh yeah, those! Well, I laid those out together and I liked it. And then the aqua terra jasper didn't work anymore, but it still needed a little green. So I grabbed a couple of the matte finish Chinese jade I picked up locally--the color matched the green glaze exactly, and I threw in some green button pearls I tarted up with tiny antiqued copper bead caps. I had a couple of these floral copper toggle clasps I bought ages ago because they were on sale, never really thinking I would use them, but they were perfect for this piece--the flower is even kind of similar to the flower on the lentil focal. A teensy bit of antiqued copper rolo from Ornamentea, and it was done.



The bead caps on the blue coral and Chinese jade are more of mine (looks like I'll be spending another lunch hour at the office with my metal punch). The necklace measures a little shy of 18" long, but because the wonderful rolo chain from Ornamentea has open links, it's easy to change the length of it without having to cut any links. Oh, and by the way, fired up the propane torch--the little button-like thing at the base of Leann's bead is a hammered ball of copper I made myself with my torch!! I can't believe I waited so long to fire it up. It was easier than opening a bag of chips. Unscrew the top, pop on the head, turn up the dial, click the starter. Voila. Fire. The copper melted beautifully. I'm looking forward to melting all of the copper I have.

Purple Cactus Studios

I stumbled across this clay artist on Flickr the other day when I was uploading photos to the 88 groups I'm in. I was just blown away by her work! The colors seemed electric! And the patterns in her clay are just phenomenal. Psychedelic! I've never seen polymer clay quite like that. Like my most favorite fluorescent Crayolas. In her blog she also explains that she works as a muralist and faux finisher as well. I asked if I could feature her on my blog and she said sure. So here are some of my favs from her Etsy shop! You can also follow her blog, Purple Cactus Studios. I did.

This is a bangle! Looks like it was made out of a psychedelic snake!


Isn't this AMAZING? I just love it! The background for the photo makes me think these are little mushrooms you definitely don't want to eat. Or definitely DO want to eat. Depending on the kind of, ah, experience you're looking for.


Look at all these individual little petals!


And this is just way cool:


I could put like 40 more photos from her shop on here but Blogger won't let me. (Her Etsy profile indicates there are TWO artists, Amber and Laurence--one makes the clay beads, the other turns them into jewelry.) Bravo! Drop by for a visit!

P.S., you can also visit her website where you can see photos of her mural and faux finish work.

Interview with Lorelei Eurto (for Mostly Self-Serving, Opportunistic Reasons)

I was recently feeling some artistic growing pains, and feeling a little overwhelmed by the unfavorable free time:inspiration ratio in my life (too many ideas, not enough time). Jewelry designing seems to have awoken some latent ADHD in me, and focusing enough to actually create something had seemed beyond me for some weeks. So I decided to pick the brain of one of my favorite designers, Lorelei Eurto—she is constantly offering up new jewelry pieces on a pretty regular basis, they are all very unique and each obviously involve a lot of contemplation, and she also works a full time job. The first I aspired to, and the second two I felt we had in common, so I thought some input from her would probably be pretty relevant to my dilemma. She was kind enough to respond to my questions, and her answers were really helpful, mainly in sort of giving myself permission to let up on myself a little. With her permission, I’ve shared her insights below (my questions are in italics) into her own creative process, along with photos of some of her recent pieces. (To see more visit her Etsy shop, or her new Artfire shop; for information on the artists who make the art beads she uses, visit her blog). Hope you find it helpful too (especially those of you with the keeper day job and the jewelry gig on the side)!

What is your creative process? Do you plan somehow, what you create? Do you have production goals? (Like make X bracelets, or make X items using X beads you just got)? Or is it totally organic?
There is no science behind my motivation. You say you've been feeling really overwhelmed with too many ideas and not enough time to put them out there. What's the rush? I have the same issues. There are days when I cannot keep up with my fingers and I bead my heart out for hours on end and still don't complete everything I set out to do. But I don't put any pressure on myself ... I don't have a quota where I want to make so many bracelets, so many necklaces. 95% of the time, I sit down in my studio and I have no idea what I'll come up with.

This past year I have really gotten my name out there and have promoted myself in publications. But I have never been in this to make a ton of money. Beading is like therapy for me. It's my one creative outlet that helps me relax at the end of a long day. And if I can make something that will sell quickly so that I can buy more beads to make something else, then my goal has been reached. I have always just wanted to keep beading.



Do you complete a design in your head/on paper first, and then put it together? Or do the beads just talk to you?
A lot of my work revolves around art beads. Handmade beads and components make it easy to design around. I don't make a whole lot of jewelry that doesn't incorporate some sort of art bead in it. I have a very large collection of art beads. I hoard them. I think when I buy certain things from people, their hope is that I create something around their beads right away. But sometimes I sit on them for a while before creating anything because the ideas have to build up over time.

It's rare that I come up with an idea ahead of time. This happens occasionally but more with my art jewelry type of pieces. Like the necklace I did with the Alice in Wonderland theme. That piece happened slowly.



Do you work 40 hours/week? How do you balance studio time/time with your husband/other personal time?
I work 40 hours a week at the Museum. I work on jewelry in the evenings after dinner for a few hours. We go to bed fairly early so I'd say I don't bead past 9:30 pm generally. Sometimes I like to have stuff to list in my Etsy shop every day. If I take an evening off, sometimes I whip something up in the morning before I go to work. I get up at 6:00 am, and this is when a lot of business stuff happens. Packaging orders. Printing labels. Taking pictures of jewelry made the night before. Editing photos. Listing pieces on Etsy. Putting pics on Flickr and Facebook. I'm out the door to work by 8:45 am.

I do spend time with my husband during the week, when I take evenings off from beading. And on the weekends. I do create a lot on the weekends but Joe usually works on the weekends too so that gives me a lot of time during the day to get stuff made. We don't have a lot of plans generally.



My technique toolbox is pretty petite still, and I'm relatively new to the creative process, but I'm afraid I'm going to burn out from lack of direction. Any words of wisdom?
I'd say my technique toolbox is also petite. I find that I don't have to do a whole lot of fancy beadwork and wire work for my jewelry to sell well. Once you get into a routine, and a niche with your designs, you'll create what sells best.



Do you ever suffer from a lack of focus, and how did you deal with it? Any organizational aides you've developed that help you bring to life what's in your head?
There have definitely been times when the creative process falters. Where I feel overwhelmed and can't focus. When this happens, I walk away for a while. It doesn't take long, away from the studio, to get inspired again. My advice for you is to not put so much pressure on yourself. Put pressure on yourself after you've quit your job and are creating jewelry for a living...I am lucky in that I've got my dream job, and my dream hobby all wrapped up in one. I have no intentions right now to do jewelry full-time. That would feel too much like work and I'm not into making my hobby feel like work. It's supposed to be fun and relaxing and it's nice because there is no pressure. So take advantage of the fact that you have another job that pays the bills and treat the jewelry thing like your hobby.

Don't worry so much about techniques. Find your niche and continue with the designs that sell well. Get comfortable with this and then if time permits, try something new.