Bead Soup from my partner, Ann Sheridan

A couple of weeks ago, I received my bead soup from my partner Ann Sherwood, for Lori Anderson's 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.  It took me a while to get pictures of it so I could post it here.  Here's what Ann sent me. This wonderful ceramic Dragonfly focal. She couldn't remember the artist.  I love dragonfly's.  Plus the great Swarovski beads, 5 each of 3 different colors, this gorgeous blingy pewter toggle clasp, these great pewter flower beads and 2 hole connectors, this strand of tourmaline (I also LOVE tourmaline),these pearls, plus this great ribbon and wire knitz. I've never worked with wire knitz and really like the look of it, but not sure how to use it.  Isn't it a great soup?  The only problem is, I'm having the dickens of a time, figuring out what I want to do with it.  I love them all, I'm just not liking any of my designs.  I've google online several times, trying to figure out what/how to work with the wire knitz.  I've come up with several designs for the focal, but nothing is really coming together. And I'm running out of time. I have to use the focal and the clasp and my reveal is the 13th of April.  So stay tuned and see if I get past my design block with this wonderful soup and what comes of it.

And here's what I sent Ann. She said she loved it.  Be sure to watch her blog to see what she creates with the soup I sent her, Ann's Blog.

And if you're looking for some of my Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass designs for your Home or Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.  You'll also find some of mine and my mom's beaded, wire-wrapped jewelry there, like this great Boot Jewelry with these Jasper stones.

Simple Soldering Book Review-Kate Ferrant Richbourg

I recently received Kate Ferrant Richbourg's new book, Simole Soldering - A Beginner's Guide to Jewelry Making from Interweave/F+W Media. I've been wanting to learn to solder and this looked like just the book to help me.  This is a great book. She starts off with all the basics, an overview of what soldering is, how it works and why.  Then she talks about all the tools we need and the materials we'll use in the projects.  I love the fact that she starts you off making a 'sampler' of all the techniques, just like you would if you were beginning quilting.  It focuses on the process instead of the results and lets us learn at our own pace. This is great, because it helps you get over the fear of messing something up.  I know that's usually one of my biggest fears whenever trying something new. I just don't want to mess up and feel like I've wasted all that time and money/materials.  Plus the 'sampler' helps you learn how to correct your mistakes before you start on a project.  I think the 'sampler' itself will be a cool piece of art to use in some way.  And you start off with the easiest skills/projects and then move on to the more difficult ones.  Another great thing about this book is the included DVD.  There is an icon for the DVD that shows where techniques featured on the DVD are highlighted, so you can watch it in action.  I always find this very helpful, if I can see someone performing the techniques.  There's all kinds of tips, plus a section on how to get organized and set up your work space. I found that very helpful, too. I always seem to have everything just scattered around and have to search for it.  I did find the list of tools a little daunting, so won't be able to complete my sampler right away, as I don't have everything she lists, but she does start out with the basics you'll need for soldering and then moves on to the more advanced tools. So you could do several of the 'sampler' pieces without having everything she mentions.  It is a very comprehensive list.  The book is well-written and illustrated. It is also very thorough. I feel like I can really do this now.  Then she gets into the projects after you've finished your sampler.  She talks about making your own findings, like clasps and dapped bead caps to make your projects uniquely your own.  Two of my favorites are the Tube-Riveted Pendants and the Copper Tube bead. These both look very exciting to try.  All in all, I loved this book and am anxious to jump right in and start on my sampler so I can move up to the projects.  If you've been wanting to learn to solder and enhance your jewelry/metalsmithing talents, this is a great book.  Get it now here at

Amazon,

Barnes and Noble or

Interweave. 

 You won't regret it.  To whet your appetite, here's a picture of some of the projects.

Stay tuned to my shop, KayzKreationz for jewelry/projects I'll be listing as I practice my soldering techniques and making things.  And if you're looking for some great Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden, you'll find it at KayzKreationz.

(The book above was provided by F+W Media for review. The author of this blog has not received any other payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.)

Zinio Magazine giveaway Winners!

Yay!  Here it is!  I finally heard back from all the winners and as promised, here is the list of winners for the Zinio magazine subscription giveaway.  I hope you all enjoy your digital magazine subscriptions.  And stay tuned. I've got another book review coming up in the next day or so.  This one is on Simple Soldering by Kate Richbourg.

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:11Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Karla

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:1Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Ana

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:15Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Shaiha

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:2Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Tiffany

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:8Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Sherry

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:6Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Kim

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:5Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Susie

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:3Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Tracy

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:9Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Jen
Congrats to all the winners. Zinio should be contacting you directly within the next 3 business days for info on how to access your subscription.  I hope you enjoy them and enjoyed this. 
Looking for Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden?  Looking for unique, eclectic wire-wrapped, beaded Jewelry? Check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

Challenge of Music

I'm so disappointed and apologize to Erin and the rest of those participating.  I eagerly signed up for Erin's of Treasures Found blog for her Challenge of Music Hop and Reveal.  We were to pick a piece of instrumental music, listen to it, let it inspire us, etc. and then design a piece of jewelry or something else from the inspiration from the song. I knew which song I wanted to do from the beginning.  I have always loved the song 'Wipeout' by the Safari's.  (Although this cheats a little, because they start the song with the words "Wipeout")  In case you don't know the song you can hear it here at YouTube. (Hopefully I did this right)



 

I've listened to this over and over. I started on Erin's ideas of  drawing and free writing while the music is playing. (I haven't gotten very far with this yet)  and I finally got some ideas of what I wanted to do.  But nothing is coming together.  Although the picture is a surfing scene and you usually think of beaches, waves, etc.  I found myself going back to psychadelic colors, frenzy, hippies, etc.  I wanted to do something with some polymer clay, perhaps some crazy colored dagger beads and smaller round clay beads in between.  But then life got in the way. I had signed up for an earlier challenge (the AJE jewelry component challenge with an enameled disc from Francesca Watson-see reveal Here).  Due to circumstances, she couldn't get the disc mailed right away and I had 2 weeks of some volunteer service I'd signed up for by the time the disc came. Still I was working on it and thinking all the while of my Music challenge piece.  Then last week, my 83 year old father developed appendicitus (very unusual in people his age the doctors tell us) and had to undergo an emergency appendectomy Thursday. So I spent all of Thursday and Friday at the hospital with my mom, sister and  him.  That was the final clincher.  I lost that time to work on my idea for beads and had to finish my volunteer work this last weekend.  In the meantime, I hurt my knee again, so have been having to keep it up with heat and ice on it.  This was stressing me out so much, I finally had to let Erin know I wouldn't have a piece done in time for the reveal yesterday.  She suggested going ahead and sharing what I had done/been thinking of while going through the process, so this is my post about that.  I loved the idea of just listening to the music and letting it take you where it will.  And I still intend to finish my ideas and my piece and post it later on.  So if you're watching or following me, keep an eye out for my Music Challenge piece at a later date.  Sorry to disappoint everyone.