Joyful Encounters - Free Project

Can I tell you how much resin beads are my new best friend?  We met at Bead & Button, thanks to Judy from Natural Touch Beads.  They are warm, the texture is delightfully matte, the colors are luminous and remind me of beach glass.  They are lightweight, durable and create the perfect mix with any type of art bead.  Resin, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Joyful Encounters

Supply List
Nest Pendant and 1 disk bead from Humblebeads
Joy bead and 3 faceted ceramic beads from Diane Hawkey
Shibuchi Flower clasp from Green Girl Studios
6 6mm teardrop Czech glass beads
5 12mm buri beads
3 green olivine 8mm resin coins(http://www.naturaltouchbeads.com/)
25 watermelon 8mm resin coins
3 4mm flat silver spacers
1 6mm flat silver spacer
2 4mm flat copper spacers
size 11 seed beads (http://www.cbbeads.com/)
3" of 20 ga sterling silver wire
2 tube crimp beads
Copper beading wire

Necklace length: 20"

Directions
1. Create a wire-wrapped bail with the silver wire.
2. Attach the clasp to the end of beading wire with a crimp tube bead.
3 String 1 polymer disk bead, 4mm silver spacer, faceted clay bead, 4mm silver spacers, buri bead, seed bead, 3 teardrops, two seed beads.  String the pendant unto the wire.
4. String buri, seed bead, repeat. String buri, 4mm spacer, faceted clay bead, 6mm spacer, faceted clay bead, 4mm copper spacer, joy bead, 4mm copper spacer, buri bead and 3 teardrops.
5. String seed bead, green coin, repeat. 
6. String seed bead, watermelon coin. Repeat 24 times.  String seed bead, green coin, seed bead, tube crimp. 
7. String the wire through the leaf part of the clasp and back through the crimp bead and crimp.

Design by Heather Powers, http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/
Natural Touch Beads is one of sponsors this month. 

Design Team Challenge - June

You may remember a while back I put out a call for our new monthly Design Team Challenge.  Here are the amazing results from our first round. 

I sent each of our designers my Autumn Wildflowers Pendant and a set of Willow Disk Beads.  Their creations are so unique and I'm thrilled to see how different each designer highlighted the pendant.

 Jen Judd

Jen Judd - "For this necklace I wanted to include leather, which I love for texture and the casual influence, so I went with a two strand design. The orangy-red leather brings out the subtle color of the Humblebead pendant. Plus, I added to the centerpiece with another art bead pendant from Kristie Roeder's Artisan Clay. The main component of the other strand is some gorgeous Red Creek Jasper from Dakota Stones. I love the way its organic look works in concert with your handmade pretties."

"I've been in 'set' mode lately, so there's also a multi-strand bracelet and a little pair of earrings that complete the look." 

Lori Anderson

Lori Anderson - Her design used kyanite, aquamarine, and carnelian along with silver.  I love how the delicate flowers of the chain enhance the wildflower pendant.

Erin Prais-Hintz 

Erin Prais-Hintz - I was inspired by the pendant that Heather sent. I imagined that these are like the billowy grasses that are along the waysides throughout the state. Wherever you drive, country roads or highways, you see these grasses and wild plants waving in the breeze. I called this main necklace "By the Wayside" from that inspiration.

And the blue ones were so pretty that they need a design on their own. The branches against a bright blue sky reminded me of the limbs of the trees by the Wisconsin River in the winter, starkly outlined against the sky. And "Frost on the Blooms" was born.

 

Cindy Wimmer

Cindy Wimmer - "I had fun trying out some newly-learned skills from my workshop with Richard Salley. I etched a copper 'frame'/backing for the focal and even created a toggle from copper sheet using a stamp I found in a similar pattern used in the disk beads."

Lorelei Eurto

Lorelei Eurto - "I was so excited to finally get to work with one of Heather's new painted floral pendants. I was following her blog posts about the inspiration behind these, and the different patterning on each of the beads she had been working, really spoke to me. The texture is subtle, and the coloring especially on this oval pendant, was soft and earthy. I love the coordinating beads that she sent as well.

I knew right away that I wanted to use some suede lace, and creating the long wire wrapped lace sections was something that I was just playing around with. Adding in some pretty orange aventurine, and some burgundy buri seeds really makes the colors in the pendant pop. Brass wire, wire wrapping the links together accentuates the vintage flair of the piece, overall. "

Designer of the Week: Beth Hemmila

Each Monday the Art Bead Scene features the Designer of the Week. One of our editors picks her favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's featured designer is Beth Hemmila from Hint!

ABS editor Heather Powers had this to say about Beth's creation, "I love that Beth choose a symbol that wasn't in the painting but embodied the fiery spirit of the dancer.  It's a beautifully constructed piece focusing on the orange hues of the painting.  There is a fluid motion to the necklace that also reminds me of the dance."

To see more of Beth's work visit her blog.
 
This is our last featured designer of June, but there is still time to enter the monthly challenge to win $150 worth of beads!

Sundays with Cindy

Oopss! Sorry I'm a bit late posting this morning - The Teen graduated from high school! Here's a quick snapshot of us after graduation - I'm wearing my "Smokey Blues" necklace from my last Studio Saturday! Enough about me, it's all about the links! Without further adieu, let's see what's going on in the Bead Blogging world....

A Bead A Day
Let's have a Tiki party! Lisa found Tiki beads at Big Lots for $1.00 and is looking for ideas!

About.com Jewelry Making
Thinking of selling on-line but worried about the cost? Tammy has discovered three freebie sites for selling your jewelry, crafts, and vintage items.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene finds findings worth finding!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
thoughts about creating multiple streams of income as a jewelry artist

Beading Arts
Cyndi has a copy of "Metalworking 101 for Beaders" to give away!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi's button maker is the reason for this new vintage image necklace.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy rewinds on wire.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie shows her Steampunk Sampler class made of mixed metals, industrial porcelain, and cold connections.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei's studio is in total disarray. Check out some pics and if you have suggestions, she would totally be appreciative!

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Jean is delighted to review Totally Twisted by Kerry Bogert! You will LOVE this book which focuses on wire and art beads!

Strands of Beads
Melissa discusses the process of reworking a weak necklace design - the revised version of which now appears on the cover of The Best of Step by Step Beads.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Always on the hunt for unique components, Andrew spotlights "pinch bail components" from Shoutrinse on Etsy!

Studio Saturday with Humblebeads

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

This weeks winner is Steufel! Congratulations!

You have won a Miss Fickle Media's Message From the Skies necklace!

Please send Shannon an email with your address so she can ship this package out to you.

Before Bead & Button I did a series on my blog called 23 Days of Inspiration where I shared the story behind some of my favorite beads.  I mentioned at the time I was working on a new collection of beads inspired by Gustav Klimt's paintings of Birch Trees.  He visited the theme of birch trees in several different paintings, but the one pictured here is my favorite. 

So my first beads in this series were literally a little birch tree trunk.  I love faux bois (fake wood) patterns and this one worked out exactly as I had pictured in my mind. You know how hard that can be sometimes!

Another version of the birch tree trunk.

Disk beads in the color palette and pattern of Gustav's painting.

These 6-hole spacers were adapted from a few older canes that were on my table and I just happened to notice that they fit perfectly with the painting when paired together.  (Canes are the long tubes of clay, layered into patterns & designs, that are sliced off into paper thin selections and applied to the base bead.)

These bezel pendants were made with the same pattern, on the back side is an etched brass bezel.  Love them!

Here is peek of a necklace I created with one of the little tree trunks!  You can see a few more photos of jewelry using my new beads later today on my blog.

Okay, so now we need the million dollar question - What season is your muse?  I have to say mine is mostly fall with summer a close second. 

One comment will be randomly drawn next Saturday to win this set of teal birch disk beads.  Have a great weekend!