Can It Be That the Muse Has Returned?

     Now I KNOW I shouldn't even lead with a header like that, since it's really tempting fate, but it seems that the muse may have returned -- along with the first hummingbird of the season!  Both flit in and out of my life in the spring and summer, but I'm hoping they'll both decamp for a while and become a part of my life.
     The picture appended to the left is the latest goodie--a beaded wave in my under the sea collection.  What you can't see very clearly in this rendition is the changing nature of the necklace beyond the wave or that it's offset, with the clasp close to the shoulder, not the nape of the neck.
     Even better, I've been creating some chain maille/beaded bead necklaces in multiple colors and looks..They're part of the "just what the doctor ordered" collection.  With loop and bead closures in the front, they're designed particularly for individuals who have trouble with arthritis in the shoulders, elbows or even hands.  In fact, they've been "test driven" by several friends who, sadly, have limited mobility in these ways.  Let me know if you want to see some of them.  I'll load them up.
     I'm now working on a few "finish ups" that have been in the works for quite a while.  Stay tuned.  It's getting exciting to see NEW THINGS.  And I hope to get them up on the website for EVERYONE to see.
     Challenges for the rest of the summer:  getting new pictures shot of a few special pieces; getting instructions written for a few bracelet kits; getting instructions for a different bracelet AND pictures to a beading magazine for consideration as a published article; getting materials together for a class I'm teaching at the end of the month, and getting show applications for 2013 started. Hard to believe when we're just halfway through 2012!  And oh, boy, do I have a lot of work to do.
    Hope those of you in the heartlands (or those who want a great town to visit!)  will find time in mid-July (18-21) to come to the Ann Arbor Craft Shows. FOUR different shows all at the same time!  And I'll be there -- at the Guild Show -- State Street, booth 4!  Drop by!
 

 

Show hiatus--until July

just in time for summer:
Under the Sea: turquoise and
coral seaweed --pricing/sizing
available
through www.theafine.com

The good news is that the shows this spring ultimately were successful. The contacts were great, the opportunities for teaching are superb.  Now to find a locale for the classes -- perhaps the clubhouse here at EH would be better than the studio itself.

There is no bad news!  I've the time to design and to get some kits and class materials together.  Remember, I'm teaching at the Gemcutters Guild of Baltimore at the end of June, beginning of July....check the classes out on their site!  I'm teaching three ways of bezeling around the gems they've cut....What fun...and you can join in!!!

I'm awash in ideas for new designs for both Circle the Stone and Under the Sea, but before I go there, I need to finish up the two prototypes for the Judaica collection so I can share with a few shops.

The latest addition to the collection is "Just what the doctor ordered" -- they're custom-made and sized medic-alert bracelets.  A large step up from the garden variety from the drug store!  Chain maille or pearl or swarovskis are in the works.  Stay tuned.

BUT, before I do anything else, I need to finish up a writing project AND a baby sweater for a friend's soon-to-be-delivered new granddaughter!

I'm also learning all about Pinterest -- not sure WHAT I'm doing, but trying hard to do it! LOL.  My work has been pinned a few times already.....

A Teaching Gig! With more to come......stay tuned

I'm going to  be teaching a weekend class--Circling the Stone Times Three--June 30-July 1-- at the Gem Cutters Guild of Baltimore on three ways to create beaded bezels around their freshly cut gems.  If you're in the area and want to participate, check out their website (below) to get more info. And while you're there, check out the other classes on their website (http://www.gemcuttersguild.com/classes.html).


Now the challenge is MAKING THE INSTRUCTION SHEETS!  Any creative ideas? I KNOW I'm going to take some photos to add to the document, but the graphs are the part with which I will struggle! LOL, I'm so good at MAKING the jewelry, just not at drawing diagrams of HOW I make it!   Once I get that worked out, doing the class should be fun.

Now, for your eye candy for the day, I present an additional picture of the famous VW that has been beaded inside and out by the Huichol tribe of Mexico and on exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian.  There are over 2.27 million seed beads, weighing over 200 pounds that have been set in resin on the "bug." The symbols depict culturally important ceremonies, events and designs.  It too 2 families over 9,000 hours to create!.  SO COOL! SO CREATIVE!  And signed just above the bumper, or so it appears.

 Thanks to my hubby, the docent at the Smithsonian, for taking the pix for me one day when he was "at work."

Cover Girl!!

I just learned that the Circle the Stone necklace that graces the front of my website (www.theafine.com) is the cover picture for a beading group--Beads and More (BAM)--on Yahoo.  It's a group of several hundred bead artists of varying experience who exchange knowledge, share solutions, and undertake bulk purchases to realize economies of scale.  While now a "closed" group due to the large membership, my selection and the kind words about my work were quite the honor (albeit, something about which I was unaware until I went to look at something on the site!)  By the way, the cabochon focal around which that piece is based is by Marsha Neal whose porcelain cabs and earrings and pendants are absolutely bodacious!!!

Yes, this blog entry features a DIFFERENT piece in the Circle the Stone line,  -a hidden-front-closure piece that features a wonderful apatitie cabochon and stones. I barely got a photo of it. No sooner did I finish it than it found another home during the ACC show. I hope my client wears it well and with great joy, since I had a blast creating it!

I show it  because I'll be teaching a weekend class--Circling the Stone Times Three--June 30-July 1-- at the Gem Cutters Guild of Baltimore on three ways to create beaded bezels around their freshly cut gems.  In the area and want to participate and get more info?  Check it out, and check out the other classes, too, on their website (http://www.gemcuttersguild.com/classes.html) and check it out.