Bead Table Wednesday, June 20, 2012

A quick photo of what is on my bead table this Wednesday. You will see that I have been busy working the metals, applying some of the metal working techniques I have been learning. 

The 2 blue discs, to the left, are going to become a pair of earrings. 

The verdigris discs to the right are going to be worked into a long necklace using the turquoise(ish) seed beads.

The heart in the middle....oh I love this heart!! ...is going to become the focal of a necklace. I cut out  two copper hearts and a plate, which I stamped "love" on. I added patina to the base heart, used colored pencil on the red heart and added patina to the love plate. I sealed all the pieces with a metal sealant and then applied a cold connect technique to hold all the pieces together.

You can find more bead table wednesday participants on Flickr.

Thanks for joining me on this adventure.

I WON!!!

I can't believe it, I actually won! I am so happy. I visited Jean's blog and found she was having a giveaway. Jean Yates has a wonderful blog which I have been following for a while, Snap Out of it Jean, There's Beading to be done. Jean, together with Lark Crafts, offered the book Heat, Color, Set & Fire by Mary Hettmansperger. Jean did a thorough review of the book and I knew instantly that this book would be perfect for me. All the information in this book fits perfectly with all the information I have been learning lately. I entered, and much to my surprise I WON!

I don't exactly know where this will lead me but I do know that all these wonderful pieces of information will be working their way into my work and joining forces into gorgeous, one of a kind, art jewelry.

Thank you Jean and Lark Craft for this gift.

Bead Table Wednesday June 13, 2012

I haven't taken a bead table photo in a while so today I thought I would share.


Here is a shot of the pieces on my bead table today.

Stamped or etched copper, patina added and drying.

Etched copper...waiting for the patina inks to dry....

Some pieces I have cut into jewelry blanks and some squares waiting to be cut up.

One of my favorites gets a close up.

Another favorite deserves a close up too.

Enjoy. You can check out the other Bead Table posts here.

Well Hello

It has been quite some time since I have written. Sometimes I get carried away on a magic carpet ride otherwise known as my life. There is so much fun work (is that an oxymorone?) taking place in studios of Ema K Designs. I feel like I have been on a steep learning curve these past couple of months and it is an amazing feeling to be learning so much.

I have taken a class with Trey Cornette. Trey is a master glass artist and I have admired his work for many years. It was wonderful to meet him in person. He is a truly kind and down to earth man. It makes me happy when a person I have come to "know" through the magic of the internet, lives up to the person I believe them to be in real life. And he is a really great teacher! I spent a weekend in April learning from Trey and hanging out with other lampworkers from my local International Society of Glass Beadmakers, SGB-Boston Chapter. It is always a treat for me to spend time with other glass workers. This is not something that I get to do very often and I treasure the moments. After all we speak the same language, quite literally.

Trey Cornette and me

The stash of beads I created during class. 

I learned some great techniques for controlling stringers (stringers are fine, thin, pulls of glass). We used silvered glass as stringers to boot. Silver glasses have eluded for some time. I finally feel I have the ability to use them and produce beautiful results. I thank Trey for that!

I have also been devouring books. I like to take classes but that is not in the financial cards right now. Most of my income is earned from my participation in fairs or festivals and due to all the crazy medical issues in my family the past couple of years I haven't been able to participate. So I opt for books. Some I have purchased, many I have found at my library. I get so much inspiration from material I have found at my library and tutorials I have found or purchased over the internet. I then take this inspiration to my work bench and apply what I have been reading. 

Recently I have learned how to etch metals from an internet friend, Payton Jett. She sells metal etching tutorials in her Etsy shop. 

A sample of the work I have created using Payton's metal etching tutorial.

Now I had these beautifully etched pieces and I needed to do something with them. For a few years now I have wanted to learn how to use my jewelers saw. I took a metal working class years ago but we didn't we really cover jewelers saws. We worked on soldering. I have tried to teach myself how to use my jewelers saw without any formal instruction but I wasn't very good at it. I would constantly break the saw and I would give up in frustration. Only to pull out the metals and saw a few months later and try again. Again unsuccessfully. I stumbled on this book at my library and next thing you know I was sawing away! Metal Artist's Workbench, Demistifying the Jeweler's Saw. I love this book so much I might have to add it to my permanent collection of books. 

I hope you are learning something new everyday. Perhaps you will tap into one of the links I have provided and  jump in to teach yourself a new skill. Stay tuned because I am very excited about all these new skills I am learning. I see all the individual pieces coming together to create beautiful, artisan jewelry. I don't know exactly how it will all come together but I do know it will. I am very excited to see.

'I can't abide standing outside the fire' 
by WyldAngelz

"Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire."  ~Garth Brooks
On Fire for Handmade Treasury Challenge #50 featuring Tuscan Road

Sunburst Golden Orange ... BreatheCouture $15.00	Handmade Dark Red lace ... seragun $55.00	Sunset Inspirations han... EmaKDesigns $22.00
Fire Red, Tangerine, an... PrettyPigDesig... $5.00	Child Room Decoration. ... YourZenZone $24.00	Spring Children/ nurser... Shellyka $35.00
Orange Heart Earrings, ... GlassRiverJewe... $42.00	Yamira orange elegance ... yamira $29.00	Tree Keychain, Orange, ... lillysnightgar... $5.50
Beaded Jade Energy Brac... tuscanroad $26.00	Silk Scarf - Cherries -... Palettepassion $27.00	Original ACEO OOAK - Re... valeriatelier $12.00
Montanta Topaz Marquise... DesignedbyMarg... $50.00	Fabric Button - Yellow ... PatchworkMill $3.50	Friday Night Lights, 8x... Tealcheesecake $18.00
On Sale Red Bracelet - ... MyGemstoneDesi... $21.25

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Beads on Sale

I am hosting a sale on my one of a kind lampwork beads in my Etsy shop. Sale begins now.
ONLY BEADS ARE ON SALE at this time. See the category Beads On Sale.

Use coupon code BEADSALE at checkout to receive 20% off your order! This is a great sale on unique lampwork beads, don't miss out. It is time to move some beads out of my inventory and on to a new home.

My personal life has been a bit crazy the past couple of years and participating in fairs has not been possible for me. Craft fairs have been the heart of my income over the past six years. At this point in time I need to raise some money in order to pay my bills. I have been learning some new skills and will be offering new beads toward the end of the month so now is a really great time for me to destash the beads I have in inventory.

I am offering an extra special offer to my blog readers. If you are reading this post through to the end you can receive 25% off your total purchase. Simply enter coupon code blogpost at checkout and your discount will be applied.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the SALE!

Finding the Green, Eliminating the Toxins

As many of you already know the last two years have been a personal challenge for me. In brief summary for my new followers; In March 2010 I unexpectedly had a stroke, March 2011 my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, July 2011 my other sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and in August 2011 my Mom was diagnosed too.

Breast cancer has not previously been in our family. I know there are statistics which indicate something like 85% of new breast cancer diagnosis have no prior family members with the disease (I may not have the % exact but it is in the high 80's). But still...I think my family and I thought we might be safe from this fate. We have good genes, our grandparents all lived well into their 90's with our Papa living to be over 100! We didn't see the bad news coming and especially not in this lump sum. 

All of this has led my family to discuss where did this all come from? Of course there could many variables but one of the biggies in my mind is that our environment has too many toxins. I have been on a quest to eliminate toxins in my home and in my life.

My first step was to remove plastics from my home. No more eating or drinking from anything plastic. It is amazing how much plastic you manage to accumulate when your children are small. My children are older now and it certainly was time to move some of these items out. Once I started looking around I was amazed at how much plastic we were using and some of it was very old. OUT it all went. I have to admit that I find it hard when it comes to left overs to find enough glassware for storage. I still need to stock up on glassware in order to complete the plastic removal. But I have definitely eliminated A LOT of plastic.

I am a small step away from no longer going to the grocery store. I no longer buy canned food. I know I cannot eliminate it completely but I will only buy limited amounts of food items there. I realize that I am very lucky to live in an area where farms abound. There are veggie stands everywhere in season, in one direction I have a milk farm and in the other direction I have a "meat" farm. I'm not sure what to call them, a butcher farm? I lean toward being a vegetarian (I will eat chicken occassionally) so I don't love this place but my husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so what can I do? And after that pink slime incident I WILL NOT buy any meat from a grocery store.

No vinegar will be used on this beauty.

There is so much toxic stuff in our immediate environment. Wen we stop to think about it can become overwhelming. I am trying to look at it just one step at a time. I am working on my husband and the choices he makes when it comes to lawn care. I believe we don't need to surround ourselves with that much chemicals. I have recently discovered that vinegar can be used to kill weeds, a great alternative instead of that other common chemical weed killer. 

The next two areas I have begun to tackle are the products I use on my body and the cleaning agents I use in the house. One of my sisters sent me this link today. I am considering changes to the hair products I use and I think this is a great place to start by making my own at home. I have curly hair and find that my hair is very sensitive to shampooing. This just might work for me! I'm working on the cleaning products. I have tried some "green" products but have felt they fall a bit short, especially in the bathroom. I would love to hear about the green solutions you have discovered. Please do share.