May Component of the Month Reveal!

Today is the big reveal for the May Component of the Month, which was Mini Cabochons!  Please check out what everyone made and leave them some love!  Thanks!

Guests

Allison Herrington

Lola Surwillo

AJE Team Members

Susan Kennedy - host

Diana Ptaszynski

Kristen Stevens

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Caroline Dewison

Lindsay Starr

Lesley Watt

Jennifer Cameron

Niky Sayers

Susan Kennedy 

May Component of the Month Winners!

The winners of the May Component of the Month, Baby Cabochons, are:

Alison of Alison Adorns

and

Lola of Bead Lola Bead!

Congratulations Ladies!  I'll be sending you an email tonight! Thanks to everyone who commented.  If you still want to play but didn't get chosen, or didn't comment, you can pick up some baby cabs in my SueBeads etsy store.  You are always welcome to play along!

May Component of the Month Giveaway and Challenge - Baby Cabochons!

It's my turn to do the Component of the Month, and I have selected Baby Cabochons!  Since everyone here at AJE is mad for seed beads, I thought these would be a good challenge! 

Of course, you don't have to use seed beads - you can bezel set these as well.  I'm sure you can also come up with even more uses for them!  These cabochons measure between 9 and 12mm.  They vary in height as well.  Do you want to play?  Here are the rules: 

• I will give away 2 sets of 3 baby cabochons (you will receive a random set) to 2 winners selected randomly from those who leave a comment below this post. Your comment MUST include your EMAIL AND BLOG address so we can contact you should you win.

• Please — only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date.

• The names of the 2 winners will be announced on Monday, May1, 2016.

• This giveaway is open to US and international countries, but please be aware that these will be posted from the US and international addresses will have longer postage times… sometimes up to 3 weeks.

• The blog reveal will take place on Tuesday May 31, 2016.

I will also have random sets of these baby cabs available in my SueBeads Etsy store for purchase if you don't get chosen but want to play along as well.

I look forward to the reveal!

Susan Kennedy

Bead retreat + Beach retreat = Bliss

Dunes at Dewey

Beads and the beach? Beach combing? Hanging out with friends old and new? Stitching and shopping? Sign me up! 

And so it happened that three of us ( Diana, Jenny and Sue) arrived at Dewey Beach DE for the final Bead My Love retreat of 2015. I had attended last year (my post is here) and loved it! The beach off season is gorgeous, spacious and just as stunning than in summer time. Sue greeted Diana and I with the picture (above) while we were still on the road. 

Meg and Moggie host multiple retreats during the year, spring and fall/ weekend or weekday. Included in the registration are some meals, a few perks, instruction, an outstanding project kit... Camaraderie, friendships, relaxation - all free with the package. ( Bead My Love site for details) The retreat welcomes all levels of seed bead experience, and everyone is bound to learn and be inspired! 

My view across the table! Love it! 

Sue at work - and the progression of her piece from kit to halfway completed. 

Susan: I loved taking this workshop because, first, I got to hang out with Jenny and Diana and I don’t have any beady friends here in Pittsburgh. I loved this workshop second because I never have time where I can just sit, spread out all the beads, and be creative. This gave me uninterrupted time (except for talking with beady people) to just create, and not worry about what’s the plan for dinner or having to be anywhere! Meg does a great job teaching and is available for questions and demos the entire workshop. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again!

Diana's kit, learning peyote, and the progress steps in her fab scarab piece. 

Diana: The Bead My Love bead retreat was wonderful! One of the great things about this retreat is the relaxing, pressure-free environment in which you get to create. There was no set project so you picked a kit and created your design from start to finish using your imagination (and massive supply stash). Everyone was friendly and encouraging and it was fun watching their projects take shape. The best part of this retreat though (besides finally learning peyote bezel), was getting to spend time with my friends just beading and beach combing. I hope to take another Bead My Love bead retreat in 2016!

Jenny's workspace goes from organized to jumbled as a few different projects take shape. 

Jenny: What can I say that they haven't already said? I do quite a bit of bead embroidery these days and I relish the retreat as a place to play, to learn, to experiment, and to relax. It was great fun to have a beady sleep over at the family beach house! I feel energized and tired, with new ideas percolating. 

There were beach walks and beach combing. 

The off season rates/ retreat pricing are quite reasonable, but we three stayed at my MIL's beach house. Pretty nice, huh? We took advantage of the beach whenever we could! And we were gifted with great weather!

Diana's found treasures, Jenny's impromptu found bead dish, Sue's finished piece!, Jenny planning yet another one... 

 Dinner out in Rehoboth Beach, DE - great seafood! Great fun! Then the next day? More beading, its a win-win situation.

Dinner? Seafood? yes! 

 I knew many of the attendees from last year's retreat. Lovely to see new friends again and what they are up to... Simply walking around the room and viewing other's WIP was inspirational. Everyone is ready to share a technique, offer ideas, and discuss.

We loved seeing our friends and colleagues cabs! Can you spot a Lisa Peters cab? A Staci Smith polymer pair? And a Celtic cab by yours truly.

Diana, Jenny, Meg our hostess, and Sue. 

And now we are all home. Unpacking our loot, finishing our pieces and starting anew. I mss them already! Until next year... bead all the things!

Goodbye ocean... until next year. 

From Scotland to Bead Fest: mermaid medleys

Did I grab your attention with that title? Come on a mixed media journey - I will explain...


Earlier this year, my friends Sarah Dressler ( of Toadstools and Treestump artist dolls) and her family went to the UK. Sadly there were ashes to scatter, but also family to visit and adventures to be had. One pivotal stop was at The Ha'en. (Ethie Haven, north of Arbroath on the East Coast of Scotland). Sarah’s maternal grandfather purchased a cottage in the early days of this century. Originally fisherman's cottages, they have been shared and passed down to family members to this day.

Ethie Haven, Scotland aka the Ha'en. 

Naturally Sarah and her daughter Emma (my fabulous, talented teacher's aide) did some beach combing. I was struck by the delicate beauty of their dainty treasures; which they graciously offered to share with me. The idea to encapsulate memories, to create a talisman for them was instantaneous. Here is what I created:

Mother and daughter "Memory medleys" contain shells, sea glass, coral chips, pebbles... from the beach at the Ha'en. 

The tiny bits of sea pebble, beach glass, coral, shell are cast into a resin cabochon. The outer shell was a beach combing find as well, and I knew I wanted the wee pieces to peek through the ring of shell. The pairing is tab set for strength, security, and to provide a bright reflective backing - highlighting the treasures.

This medley of sorts, a mermaids treasure, a selkie's collection - the idea took hold of me... I can't walk the Delaware beaches without at least one pebble or shell. The ocean gives me a small token each trip. I have ocean treasures in many spots around my studio, AND I recently went to the Sea Shell City shop in Fenwick DE with this idea in mind.

Treasure on my "water" shelf; purchased materials and found treasures. 

These are the first pieces. They are a bit yellow as I was using older resin, and that doesn't bother me. A bit of a golden glow... They are easy to do, yet very time consuming as each involves 2-3 resin pours. Items are added in layers to control floating... and sinking!

Mermaid medley resin cab prototypes. 

These would be perfect for tab setting. For bead embroidery. They could be drilled. I plan to do 4 different things to these four. Oh so many possibilities! 

And I am making a batch for Bead Fest - please! Chime in now! How would you like to see them? What format works for you? Cabs? Drilled? Already tab set? Id love to hear your thoughts!

To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.     William Blake

Romancing the stone....

My name is Francesca, and I am a stone-aholic.

A very small sampling of my cabochon hoard collection inventory

A very small sampling of my cabochon hoard collection inventory

One of the reasons I got into jewelry making in the first place is because I have a thing for stones. There's just something about them I'm helpless to resist - their natural beauty, the enormous variety, and how unique they all are. And when they're well cut and substantial, I'm a goner. 

A gorgeous, thick chunk of Palomino Jasper. Please pardon the horrific condition of my hands.

This is why finding a new supplier who does great work has been both a very, very good thing and a very, very bad thing. So in the interest of sharing my addiction so I don't feel to alone my good fortune, let me introduce you to the work of Mike Hoffman and Mary Olczyk of Twisted Cabochons.

Prudent Man Agate

Mushroom Rhyolite

For starters, their stones are beautiful and unusual. These two are among the several many that I just had to have when I saw them. I don't think I've ever seen a Rhyolite as stunning as this one and I love the way they cut the Prudent Man Agate to emphasize its natural banding and the "bubble" edge along the top.

Dear lord, my hands look horrible - sorry about that! I've been working on class samples non-stop for the last two weeks. 

Like all of Mike and Mary's work, these are substantial - they don't skimp on the material when they're cutting, which I so appreciate. And look at that girdle - that's the flattened section around the side of the stone. It's clean, even and sharp, and just the right size - big enough to facilitate setting the stone, but small enough that the stone isn't overwhelmed by the bezel when it's set. (Mike and Mary also cut stones without a girdle on request - they're easier to work with for people just starting out with bezel setting.)

And the points are crisp, too - no chipping.

I also love that Mike and Mary ship their stones in these little plastic bags, marked with everything you'd want to know when it comes time to use it in your own work: the kind of stone, how much you paid for it, and (if they know) where it came from. (They've included my name on all of these, too, but I'm assuming that's for their benefit as they're shipping orders and not because they think I'm going to forget my own name.... right guys? Guys?) This is enormously helpful - and combined with the detailed PayPal invoices they send, there's almost no record-keeping to do when the stones come in. I know that seems like a small thing, but if I've purchased 10 or 15 stones, that's time saved for me to do things I actually enjoy doing (like, setting the stones).

Mike and Mary have an Etsy shop, but they do most of their selling in an open Facebook group. At the moment, there's not much notice when their new stones go up for sale, so make sure you have your notifications turned on for their group - stones go FAST once they're listed, and I'm not too proud to admit that I've been one of those people obsessively refreshing my Facebook page to see the new stuff as they list it.

So for those of you interested in working with unique, high quality cabochons, Mike and Mary might be a good match for you. There's something special about stones cut by someone you can actually talk to and who are as passionate about them as you are. Just make sure you leave a few for me!

Until next time -

2015 NY/NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem & Jewelry Show Recap!

Normally this weekend would have been spent at Bead Fest Spring but this year I decided to change things up.  Instead, I attended the 2015 NY/NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem & Jewelry Show in Edison, NJ.

Scenes from the show floor

This was a large gem & mineral show held inside the Edison convention center.  There was booth after booth of mineral specimens, fossils and the occasional bead vendor.  I skipped most of the bead vendors because I do all my major (gem) bead shopping at Bead Fest in August.

Amethyst, petrified wood, rough green garnet

I found the show to be overwhelming.  I didn't go in with a game plan so I became distracted by the rows upon rows of vendors.

Faceted gems, metal detector finds from local properties, cabochons

There were plenty of faceted gems to be found in a wide range of prices but the cabochon selection at the show was lacking. I only found 3 vendors selling cabs.  

Fun finds at the show

On a positive note, they had some wonderful fossil and mineral displays.  The dinosaur fossils were great and they were brought in by a broker who rents/sells them for private collections and museums.  Yes, we could have come home with our own dinosaur...ok, maybe part of one (a REALLY small part).  They were waaaaaay out of my price range.  

Fossils on display

Overall, we had a good time and I picked up a few things (which I can't show you because they are gifts).  I probably wouldn't go back though as the bead scene is really my thing.  

What fun things did you do this weekend?

Happy Beading!

Unearthed: The Beads of Fremont State Park and Museum

You may recall that back in November I went out to Utah to visit my parents.  I wrote a post about a few of my favorite things out there and how they inspire my work.  Well, I had another wonderful trip and got to visit Zion,  Snow Canyon State Park,  Arches National Park and my favorite was actually this little side stop on the way home... Fremont Indian State Park and Museum.

Fremont State Park is located off of I-70 near Sevier, Utah.  This little gem of a site contains pictographs, petroglyphs and a host of other artifacts left behind by the Paiute Native Americans.   This site was used as a place for seasonal travel between two hunting areas.  

In addition to all the fabulous petroglyphs and pictographs, there is also a small museum.  I only got to spend a few minutes inside but I managed to snap a few photos while in there...

Of course I photographed the most important things....beads!  

I'm ashamed to say I passed right by all the artifacts recovered from the site just so I could quickly gaze upon the beads, pendants and buttons that have been recovered.

I love the simplistic look of the beads even though they took time and skill to create.  Makes me want to return to some more simplistic designs.

I wonder how much more is still out on the site just waiting to be discovered.

In the early 1800's, the site was used as a wagonroad.  In 1877, the Lott family settled in the Canyon. These sewing bits were discovered at was once the site of their homestead.  

I wish I could have spent a few more hours at the park but we had been on the road for hours returning from Arches.  I suppose it gives me an excuse to visit again in the future.

Oh, remember that rock shop I wrote about in the prior post?  I went there again on my second day of the trip.  Since it was the end of the season, the owner didn't have as much stock BUT I still managed to find some goodies.

There's an assortment of dendrites, wonderstone, picasso stone, unakite, turquoise and a couple of trilobites.  Most of these are gifts that I still need to send out (oops!).  

Anyway, if you ever get a chance to visit Southern Utah I highly recommend Fremont Park and Museum AND a trip to Springdale Utah for the rock shops and Zion National Park!

Happy Beading!