AJE Earring Challenge Reveal 5 (weeks 9 &10/52)

Please click the photo below and follow it to my blog to see the AJE Earring Challenge Reveal 5.

Ema K's Trunk Show and Auction

I am hosting an online trunk show this weekend. I am auctioning off over 80 items! Included in the auction are lampwork beads, copper jewelry components and jewelry, all handmade by me. The event begins at 9 am on February 22  and ends at 7 pm on February 24.

Come on over to my Facebook fan page and join in the fun! Auction items can be found here.

All the details can be found on the event page. I hope to see you there.

Focus on Life Week 7

A new blog post is up on my new blog page.
Focus on Life, Week 7, is all about Flowers

Hop on over, check it out and join my new page.
http://www.emakdesigns.com/2/post/2013/02/focus-on-life-week-7.html

New Website = New blog page

Hi Everyone,
It has been a while since I posted here. At the beginning of January I began blogging from my website. I invite you to join me at www.emakdesigns.com/blog.

There is lots of beads, jewelry and fun happenings going on so I hope you will join me.

A 52 week exploration in photography, Focusing on Life. Sally Rusik at The Studio Sublime is hosting a wonderfully inspiring word prompt each week. All the the participants are challenged to take this prompt and translate it into a photograph. I just love the positive thoughts this challenge leads to all week long as we ponder Sally's prompts.

A Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge hosted by Tracy Statler of Make Bracelets.

Lisa Lodge is hosting a jewelry challenge over at Pine Ridge Treasures. 

The 7th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party.

Erin Prias-Hintz of Treasures Found is hosting the Challenge of Music.

I am so excited to share that my work was published in Bead Trends Magazine February 2013! 

All this and it is only the first quarter of the year. I'm sure there will be much more goodness happening. So jump on over to my new blog and follow me.

Thanks for visiting. See you at www.emakdesigns.com/blog.

Lampwork Bead Destash Sale has begun

Today is the day, The HUGE sale over at my Facebook Fan Page. I invite you all to stop by and have a look at all the beads I have up for sale. It is time to let go of some oldies but goodies to make room in my studio for new ideas to grow. There is nothing I want more than to send some beads from my studio to yours.

Here is a brief sampling of the some the beads on sale.

 

I set up a photo album, Lampwork Bead Destash Sale by Ema K which has all the information you need on the how sale will work. 

 See you there, at the Destash Sale.

Happy 2013 from Ema K

A new year has arrived and I am looking forward to it. 2012 was a tough year for me personally and I am ready to move on. One new item on my list is my new website! Yay! I just love the look and all the options available to me here. I can blog directly from my site. I love that. 

I invite you to subscribe to my new blog. I intend to be blogging once or twice a week, so don't worry about getting too much information in your inbox.

What is happening in 2013? Well first up is a huge destash sale. I have been working hard on taking photos of the ooooh sooooo MANY lampwork beads I have. I have too many and it is time for them to find a new, loving home. 
Here is a sampling of one of the pieces which I will selling for HALF OFF the original price! Yes 1/2 PRICE!
It is a good deal for you and allows me to clear some space for new work on my bead table. 

On Monday January 7th I will begin to pictures in a Destash Beads album on my Facebook fan page. The rules of purchasing will be as follows:
The first to comment "SOLD" will be the new owner.
Post your paypal address or send me a message with your paypal address and I will send you an invoice.
Shipping will be $3.00 for the first item and .50 cents per additional item. 
The sale will continue through Saturday the 12th and beads will ship out on Monday the 14th. 

There will be one shipping date because I will be adding beads all week and this will allow you the chance to add additional beads to your order which will ship in one package on the 14th. I will post at different times of the day to allow for various time zones and work schedules, so don't fret about missing out on the bargains.

In February and March I am going to have tutorials published in two magazines. I am excited about that. Stay tuned for more to follow.

Thanks for stopping by and please join me on my new site: Ema K Designs blog.

Have a great weekend, see you Monday.

 ~ Ema

Reflecting and Looking Forward to 2013

The holiday season is here! Are you ready? I still have a few people I need to find gifts for and I am feeling stumped. Hopefully gift ideas will come to me within the next couple of days, as I'm not a very good at last minute gift buying. That thought brings me to the point of today's post. I plan to be off line for the next couple of weeks. Taking some time to spend with my kids and my family without thinking about creating or marketing my work. I hope to refresh my spirit, get a couple of projects off my list and just have fun.

This has been a busy year for me, full of interesting learning curves. While dealing with multiple members of my family having serious health issues (which thankfully are behind us now) I found I completely immersed myself into learning new techniques in order to maintain my sanity.  

I kicked off the year by creating a Katwise sweater coat for myself.

Sweaters were taking over my kitchen.

But I LOVE my coat. 

I took painting classes.

I gifted myself a lampworking class with a fantastic teacher, Trey Cornette. Lampworking classes are very expensive so I don't take a class too often but I really needed something to make me feel better at this time. I have long been an admirer Trey's work and there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity.

These are the beads I created in Trey's class. With Trey's help I was finally able to work silvered glass in the flame without it turning a muddy brown. This was huge and exciting for me! Sometimes it is a small thing that makes me so incredibly happy.

One of the beads I adorned with kumihimo braided seed beads. I just love this piece!

I spent a great deal of time researching and learning metal working techniques. I worked on etching copper in an acid bath and a more environmentally friendly etch using a salt water bath.

These are the results of my first experiments with the salt water etch.

Now that I was creating with metal I needed to finally learn how to use my jewelers saw so I could cut and shape the metal into jewelry components. I read a wonderful book, Metal Artist's Workbench: Demystifying the Jeweler's Saw. This book was extremely helpful in getting me to understand how the jewelers saw works and provided some great practice projects.

A finished piece of jewelry, using lampwork beads and etched copper as a focal which has been colored using Vintaj patina inks. This bracelet was a gift to my niece for her birthday.

In addition to etching metal I learned to emboss and impress images onto metal. Now this is really fun to do!

These bracelet focals have been cut, sanded, embossed, patina added using liver of sulfer, sanded some more, shaped with a partial curve and sealed.

I purchased the book Painting with Fire by Barbara Lewis. Barbara developed a technique of adding enamels to metal without using a kiln. I was lucky enough to visit Barbara at her new store (of the same) and got a mini private lesson. I haven't had a chance to explore painting with fire in my own studio. I intend to do more of that in 2013.

Enameled metal beads

The internet has so much to offer in terms of learning new techniques. I have to credit many of the fabulous women I have met through A Creative Bead Chat group on Facebook. Without them I'm not sure I would have learned so much this year. Thank you CBCers.

There is still so much more I look forward to learning and adding to my work and sharing with you.

I have some exciting events coming up during the first few months of 2013. 

Over my break I will be going through my beads (oh there are so many beads) and jewelry preparing for a huge destash sale during the week of January 7th. Stay tuned to my Facebook fan page for the details.

In February and March my work is going to be published in two different issues of beading magazines! I am very excited about this and will share more details about this in January as well.

In late February I will be hosting an online auction of my work on the Facebook site, Artisans Open Market. I hope you will be able to join me for this event. Stay tuned to my blog and my Facebook page for all the happenings.

I have a few other ideas in the works for January too. I'm thinking about a Component of the Day, offering a bead or jewelry component at half price! What are your thoughts about that deal?

Thanks for joining me and I hope all my friends are enjoying their December Holiday Celebrations and I hope you all have a very Happy New Year.

See you in 2013!

The Challenge of Color - Earth as Art

I joined the challenge this year. Erin Pais-Hintz of Treasures Found and Brandi Hussey of BrandiGirlBlog are hosting the 3rd Annual Challenge of Color.

The Earth As Art image gallery is a group of over 120 pictures taken from the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites since 1972. These pictures of the unique features of our beautiful planet are a vital resource for understanding scientific issues related to land use and natural resources. I encourage you to check out these photos. They are beautiful images and so inspiring!

Each participant was assigned two color palettes from the Earth as Art images. I was given these two color palettes to choose from. 

A little background on the Dardzha Monster:  Looking like a monstrous ogre with something gooey in its mouth, the Dardzha Peninsula in western Turkmenistan lies among the shallow coastal terraces of the Caspian Sea. Strong winds create huge sand dunes near the water, some of which are partly submerged. Further inland, the dunes transition to low sand plains.

Background on the Dasht-E Kevir: The Dasht-e Kevir, or Great Salt Desert, is the largest desert in Iran. It is a primarily uninhabited wasteland, composed of mud and salt marshes covered with crusts of salt that protect the meager moisture from completely evaporating.

I committed to working the Dardzha Monster palette. I found this choice to be my challenge. I thought and thought, how could I design a lampwork bead in this color scheme. I had some ideas and got to the torch.

Round 1 of beads. I was not satisfied with what I was coming up with. The colors were proving to be a real challenge for me to create beads with. I had made a few more of the spacer beads. They seem to have disappeared from my work bench for the moment so they missed the photo shoot.

I know I committed to the Dardzha color scheme but it just wasn't working for me. So I thought I would try the Dasht E Kevir color scheme.

These beads are from the second round at the torch. I was seeing blues and off whites in the Dasht photo. Then I thought earth and nuggets. So I created nugget shaped beads as well as round beads.

It all looked good going into the kiln but once the kiln had cooled I was disappointed. Although I like the beads there is too much blue in these. Again not the look I had in mind.

Round 3 and I nailed it! (if I am allowed to say so myself). Okay, finally, beads I can work with. Immediately the ideas for a finished jewelry design began to  take shape.

 This is a blog hop. I am sure you will want to check out what all the participants  created based on the images they were assigned. We were given some great inspiration photos. I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Erin Prais-Hintz http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html

Rebecca Anderson http://songbeads.blogspot.com

Kris Auderer http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com

Chrizette Bayman http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com

Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com

Courtney Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/

Lynsey Brooks http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk

Stephanie Buss http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com

Iveth Caruso http://www.creativeatelier.net/

Shannon Chomanczuk http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com

Lisa Cone http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/

Cece Cormier http://thebeadingyogini.com

Lori Dorrington http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

Dawn Doucette http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Jeannie Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/

Kim Dworak http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/

Beth Emery http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com

Janice Everett http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com

Pam Farren http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com

Donetta Farrington http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com

Gloria Ferrer http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/

Cherrie Fick http://designsinthelight.co

Therese Frank http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com

Patty Gasparino http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com

Tanya Goodwin http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html

Ambra Gostoli http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color

Jess Green http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/

Denielle Hagerman http://somebeadsandotherthings.com

Mary Harding www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Karla Hartzog http://www.karlakrafts.com

Kim Hora http://www.kimmykats.com

Brandi Hussey http://brandigirlblog.com

Emanda Johnson http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com

Jennifer Justman http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/

Sue Kennedy http://suebeads.blogspot.com

Ema Kilroy http://emakaye.blogspot.com ***** you are here *****

Lee Koopman http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com

Linda Landig http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Kirsi Luostarinen http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com

Cynthia Machata http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca

Beth McCord http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com

Mary K McGraw http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/

Karen Mitchell http://www.overthemoon-design.com

Cheri Mitchell-Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Aimee Moisa http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com

Karla Morgan http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

Penny Neville http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com

Becky Pancake http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com

Kashmira Patel http://sadafulee.blogspot.com

Alice Peterson http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com

Kayla Potega http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com

Debbie Price http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk

Bobbie Rafferty http://beadsong.blogspot.com

Caron Reid http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/

Nicole Rennell http://nicolerennell.com/blog

Cynthia Riggs http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html

Andrea Ross http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/

Sally Russick http://thestudiosublime.com

Annie Scherz http://www.studioluma.ca

Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Sandra Stein http://sannipanni.wordpress.com

Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Tracy Stillman http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com

Sherri Stokey http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html

Lola Survillo http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com

Kay Thomerson http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com

Jo Tinley http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com

Emma Todd http://www.apolymerpenchant.com

Cory Tompkins http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com

Pam Traub http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Michelle Tucker http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/

Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Monique Urquhart http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/

Rachel Van-Walsk http://balancedcrafts.com/blog

Patti Vanderbloemen http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com

Lesley Watt http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Lynn White http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html

Joan Williams http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com

Thanks for joining me. As always you can visit my Etsy shop to find lampwork beads, metal components and finished jewelry at Ema K Designs.

Rolling Along and Painting with Fire

I am just back from a vacation with my Mom, two sisters and my youngest son. My Mom and two sisters have happily finished their radiation and/or chemotherapy treatments and all are doing very well. I saw this trip as a celebration of our lives and our health. I am happy to have those treatments behind us. It is not easy watching your loved ones deal with the side effects but I was also pleased to see that cancer treatments have come such a long way. I encourage you to support your favorite breast cancer research foundation. It is important to all of us.

My sisters and I sitting on top of 4 feet of shells washed ashore by Hurricane Sandy

My sister Pat, myself and my Mom

We, as a family, are lucky to regularly visit the West Coast of sunny Florida; palm trees and beaches, my favorite place to be. This trip had a special side trip in it for me. I was an hour drive from Barbara Lewis' new store Painting with Fire in St. Petersburg. Definitely put that trip on the agenda!

Photo from Painting with Fire website (I forgot to take a photo!)

What a joy it was to meet Barbara. She is definitely a kind hearted soul. (Again I forgot to get a photo with her). She dropped everything she was doing to chat with me, give a demo and even allowed me to enamel a couple of beads (should've had one of my sisters take a photo of this!). I explained to her the trouble I have had in removing the bead from the mandrel after it has been enameled. She gave a mini private lesson so now I should have no trouble making enamel beads. Thank you Barbara, I am looking forward to trying this technique out in my studio.

The two beads on top are from Barbara's demo. The bottom two are from my mini lesson.

Of course I shopped too. Barbara's store is full of goodies. I had to refrain from overspending. There was so much good stuff. The shop has everything you might need without feeling crowded. The shop is very comfortable but not lacking for any supplies. In addition to a great stock of enamels, plenty of beads to enamel there was nice variety of metal working supplies. I picked up some jewelers saw blades, a trivet for enameling metals on a flat surface, metal beads to enamel and some sari silk.

Metal beads to enamel

Sari Silks

Ribbed beads to be enameled

The whole stash! The trivet is in there, buried under the silks.

I didn't waste anytime putting those silks to use. I am trying out some new styles.

The Power of OM necklace by Ema K designs

Sari Earrings by Ema K designs

The Power of OM set

Boho Sari Heart by Ema K designs

I will be listing these pieces in my Etsy shop soon or you can visit Ema K designs on Facebook to find these pieces. What do you think of this new design style? I would love to know your thoughts. I know I had plenty of fun visiting Barbara and her shop. If you get the chance you should definitely stop in to meet Barbara.