Preparing for Boogie on the Bricks

Every year for the past three years, we have vended at the Uptown Athens event “Boogie on the Bricks".  It is held in conjunction with the annual "Brew Week” which is a celebration of small breweries, and is a fun family event during a long summer month.

This week I will be busy working on some jewelry to take, and here are a few pieces I made today:

This piece is made with porcelain, shell, and Czech glass.  I wanted to have something a little fun and funky.  I bought most of the beads at Hobby Lobby, and the rest came from my personal stash.

Detail of the pendants.

Side view of a cuff bracelet made with Moroccan tile beads and Czech glass “druks” (round beads).  Each set of tile beads are strung on a headpin which is then looped at either end and then slid onto two loops of bracelet wire.

Combo top/side view to give you an idea of how the bracelet looks from a different angle.  I used two magnetic clasps to keep the cuff securely on the wrist.

And finally, because I found the center beads while cleaning my art table and wanted to make something with them:

The round discs and the white bicone beads were what I found under my art table.  The rest was improvised from my stash that I still need to put away from working on the Lark “Beading With World Beads” queries last year.

Detail view of the ceramic discs and wood and glass beads along the side.  This piece is strung on “imitation sinew” which I believe is just a very heavily waxed polyester thread.  It splits into smaller sections and knots up beautifully for this kind of funky work.

Detail of the original beads which caused all the fuss.

And, finally, something I did for me, which is still in process as I need to make a hanging loop for her.

What stated out as a mermaid type figure and which morphed into a seahorse.  The funny thing is that I wanted to make a seahorse to go with the piece I was intending this for, but didn’t know how to go about it.  I started this by beading the face cabochon (from Earthenwood Studio) and then beading the bead to make a vase/body.  It needed something else, so I ran a line of peyote down one side and then chose to increase rapidly, creating the ruffle.  All she needed was a little flat spiral from the base of the vase and voila! Seahorse!  I’m going to peyote stitch a loop off the back of her head and run a chain through it.  Hopefully I will be wearing her if you come by our booth on Saturday.

Winner!

Thank you to everyone who commented and entered for the drawing. The winner of the signed copy of Beading With World Beads is Upper West Side Writer. I will be emailing for details. Thank you again and happy beading!

Wishing

Jamie Ridler offers bloggers to join together each Wednesday to express our wishes and support each other in achieving them. This week she asks what we wish to nurture.

I wish to nuture my imagination, to expand the ideas of how to make a living with these gifts I've been given. I've been so focused on the day to day existence that I've forgotten how to play and how to access the bigger vision which I know lies within me. I've found that struggling and stressing over how to make things happen hasn't worked so well for me, and it is time to take a different path. Growing my imagination and being open to the possibilities is what I wish to do now.

Check out Jamie's blog and join in! There's power in numbers and you'll meet some great new people along the way.

Her Name Is Lola

As part of my pet portrait commission service, I am working on a piece for my friend T.  I present Lola, in process:

The basic applique on a base of Pellon 40 interfacing.

Lola appliqued to her background, embellishment/quilting stitches in process.  I went with this yellow fabric because Lola stood out from the background and the sunburst print gave a really festive feel to the piece.  I know T loves bright colors and this felt like the right choice.

A detail of the stitching.  I am using sashiko and DMC perle cottons so far.

And what is art if not inspirational, especially for the artist?  Here is Lola in the Sky with Diamonds :

50 cent craft paint, Souffle pens, hand carved stamp and commercial stamp, star paper punch.  This is in a Bee Professional series sketchbook, with heavy paper that takes wet or dry media.  So much fun!

Detail of her face.  She reminds me of a dingo or hyena, some kind of Trickster.

Art about art, sometimes the most fun you can have without leaving home.  Though I surely would like to put Barry Manilow on ‘pause’ (“Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl….”)

An Open Letter to Governor Strickland

Dear Governor Strickland,

I am writing to ask that you reconsider the proposed budget cuts for the Ohio library system. Libraries are so important now, more than ever, as people use their resources for job searches, resume help, a non-judgemental place where one can find out about services for people in need, and yes, even as community centers. In our small town, the library serves as a place for our children to go after school, and provides snacks and activities during the summer for all of our children. These budget cuts would be catastrophic, as our library would be shut down, leaving the children with nothing to do after school.

We have used the libraries when our power or water goes out; they are always a haven, especially for those who are elderly or who are home with small children, giving people a place to go which is welcoming and free. The libraries provide gallery space for local artists to exhibit, exposing many people to the pleasures the arts can bring into their lives. The libraries also provide low-cost meeting areas for groups of all kinds from La Leche League to local conservation groups, and programs for patrons of all ages, including yoga, writing, local history and more. The loss of these services would be devastating.

Please, please, please reconsider and do not cut funding to our libraries. They are too vital and too important to let go by the wayside.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Andrea L. Stern

If you are in Ohio, find out more about saving our libraries at these sites
Athens County Public Library (lists the budget committee members)
Save Ohio Libraries (Facebook page)

Beading With World Beads Giveaway

The new book Beading With World Beads features 38 beautiful projects made with beads from around the world, including beads from Africa, Thailand, and Tibet. I am proud to have 8 projects included in this wonderful book, and am inspired by the work of my fellow designers. Today I put together this pair of earrings, inspired by “the good earth” pendant designed by Candie Cooper.

In Candie’s wonderful design, she dangled a bone face bead from a filigree star pendant. I took a page from her design and made the loop extra large on the wire so that the star pendants could dangle in front of the long bone spears. The piece is completed with Tibetan prayer beads, ostrich eggshell and carved wood beads. (Bone spears are from Becky at St Theresa Textile Trove, the other beads have been in stash so long I’ve forgotten where they are from).

Ok, I hear you asking “But you mentioned giveaway in the header of this post, where’s the information on that?”

Here’s the details. You can win a signed (by me) copy of Beading With World Beads if you are the lucky winner chosen on July 7 (Ringo Starr’s birthday :) You can enter up to three times, by

A: Leaving a comment on this post telling me what your favorite world bead is (mine has to be the wonderful Thai silver I used in the Temple cuff)

B: Adding me on Facebook and leaving a comment here that you’ve done so (I am Andrea L. Stern on Facebook)

C: Following me on Twitter, or tweeting about this giveaway. Leave a comment here and let me know your user name so I can follow you back!

I chose July 7 because it is Ringo Starr’s birthday, and he was my favorite Beatle when I first re-discovered them at age 12. July is also full of birthdays of my loved ones, including my Gran and my BFF for longer than I can count, Beth. I figured this is a great way to celebrate those happy days!

To whet your appetite, here are a few teasers from the book:

The cover, with delicious coral and turquoise Mumbai Melody by designer Jamie Cloud Eakin.

The Temple Gate Bracelet, image from the book, above, and on my wrist, below.

Silver Dragon necklace, live and in person (project is on page 104 of the book). Chinese turquoise and Chinese silver, with some African turquoise cones on the bottom.

Zambezi Journey, illustrated from the book and live and in person below. So simple yet so funky.

I really love everything about this book, from the designs (and not just mine!) to the layout and the photography. The editor Ray Hemachandra and crew, including the magnificent Beth Sweet, really knocked themselves out for this one. This is a volume you will come back to again and again for inspiration and fun. Remember, you have until midnight on July 6, 2009 to enter. I will choose the lucky winner on July 7th. Good luck and happy beading!

An A-Muse-Ing Workshop

For the past 4 weeks, I have been receiving regular emails from Artella’s Make Change With Your Muse online workshop.  This new course mixes both online email journal prompts and lessons with a wonderful packet of ephemera and world coins mailed to your doorstep to use in the many projects designed to help you both appreciate the abundance you already have in your life and bring more abundance into your life.

May may not have been the optimal month for me to sign on with this course, as I have had many other events happen in my life, from my husband nearly totalling our only car on the 1st, to the SAQA conference here in town Memorial Day weekend, to my uncle passing away on May 24th.  The emails gave me something to look forward to each day, and always had something that helped me step out of where I was at the moment and appreciate what I have. 

I have only had time to work on three of the projects, a candle holder, a gratitude purse, and finally an abundance ATM card, which I made today.  I found the process so fun that I made several:

The horizontal format ones.  I used a pack of bristol board ATC cards by Strathmore which I picked up at Crafts 2000 sometime during the past year.  The backgrounds are a mixture of color photocopies of my work and images taken from magazines.  I love the fish stickers, and the coins are from the ephemera packet I received as part of the course.  The Bible verse stickers were from my Gran’s collection, and contain quotes about abundance, asking and receiving.

The vertical format ones, including an image from an ad in American Style magazine, an Absolut ad, more fish stickers and more color photocopies of my work.  I just love working with color photocopies of my work, it makes it that much more personal.  These cards are designed to be kept in your wallet or placed in other areas where you will see them regularly.  They are intended to help you keep your focus on the good things in your life and the good things you intend for yourself.  I plan on keeping a couple in my purse, but I am also pinning a couple up next to my bed so that I see them in the morning and at night.

Marney is also launching a new program, the Artella Artbundance Coach Training Program and is offering a free live workshop/trial of the program on June 29.  I am really excited about this opportunity, as I love to create and I am always seeking ways of helping to spread the healing that creativity brings to my life to others.  You can find out more by clicking the link either here or in the sidebar.

This week I am finishing up a new water tower piece to take over to the Parkersburg Art Center for their “Splash” regional exhibit, so I may be a bit skint online.  I hope you all have a happy and creativity filled week!