Stepford Artist

Good evening and oh my goodness, tomorrow's Monday already? Yikes! I've been on auto-art drive the past week. Working all weekend on samples and prepping. Last week, Tim and I worked no less than 3-16 hour days; every other day, at least 10-12!Needless to say, I'm a little crabby. And, my washing machine's been on the fritz...we'll be on week 2 as of tomorrow, but I've been promised that the part is in and will be repaired on Tuesday...one day of the laundromat is enough for me, thank you very much (knowing that I have a washer and dryer that's just over a year old...frustrating!).

This will be Crunch Week 2, but there will be light at the end of the tunnel-the blank, dead look of the woman in the pic? That's me at the moment, but there's a glint of hope! All of you that are dealing with the CHA crush, I feel your pain and I know you mine. I have to say that I do have a knack for creating under pressure. If three cards were put in front of someone, they probably wouldn't know they were all from me, I can "jump style" when needed.

Since my life has been so focused on creating samples and prep for the show, enjoy the beadbloggers' linkety links!

• About.com Jewelry Making Tammy talks about an article she recently read which deals with various jewelry-related ethical issues such as free trade. Even though many of us are "small time" designers, that doesn't mean we can't at least listen to this on-going conversation which is a hot button issue in the jewelry industry right now.
• Art Bead Scene The Art Bead Scene editors are sharing a little Valentine's love early, with a post full of love related eye candy.
• Jewelry & Beading Amazing fiber and bead artist Rebecca Brown is profiled on Jewelry & Beading this week.
• Katie's Beading Blog The February Triple Take from Simply Beads is online now. Visit Katie's blog for pix and links to this month's fun, hearty projects!
• Naughty Secretary Club This week’s link is not about jewelry, but instead about supporting fellow crafter Bernie Berlin in her quest to expand her animal shelter A Place to Bark. Bernie saved over 500 cats and dogs last year and with our help can save even more!
• Pearlesq. Check out more of Robin's jewelry and the craziness of CHA preparation!
• Savvy Crafter Oooo, Baby it's coooold in Candie's apartment!!! In honor of having no heat, she whips up some Sweet Snowflake earrings to go along with the chill in the air. Brrrrrrr!!!
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Eni Oken (www.enioken.com) is a famous wire working star. I just had to try my hand at her fascinating ring. She was really kind and encouraging to me by email, and enthusiastic, too! That is what I love in a teacher! It makes you WANT to learn from that person!
• The Impatient Blogger So you sold a project or a book, now what? Summon your inner pirate with Margot Potter as she tells you how to negotiate a fair deal. Arrr...

Enjoy the week! Robin

Beadalicious Links and Show n' Tell

Hello, Everyone! I've been sampling and necklacing and inking my heart out this weekend! With CHA weeks away, there is not a lot of down time to relax! I'm not used to blinging up necklaces like my buddy Miss Margot, but I did okay! Thanks to some awesome new things that I got to play with from Beadalon, I actually did some things using some of my stash that I've had "in inventory" for a while.

This is a pendant from Amate International. Armondo and his wife Erika are such great people. Their website is down right now, but you can contact him here. I created a background with Wrinkle Free Distress using a page from an old book. I then added some of Tim's Distressables, then filled with Glossy Accents(tm)!

The chain looks like it is heavy, but it's light as a feather, from Beadalon. I decorated the chain with adding decorative touches with CZ Gem Dropz, Swarovski(r) crystals and wonderful beads from Melanie at Earthenwood Studio...I'm dying to play with more of them, but one thing at a time! What is so great is that it's easy to decorate these chains, even if you don't have a lot of jewelrymaking experience!

Here's another one where I used the flying bird charms from B'Sues Boutique on the chain and embedded in another Amate Pendant. I just love how this will look when worn with a black shirt (or any color shirt for that matter!) with the birds flying all around.

There's a lot more that I've made, but I'm holding on as we get closer to CHA.

Well, I'm headed back to prep, prep and more prep! Hope you enjoyed the necklaces, and enjoy the beady links! Have a great week!

About.com Jewelry Making Do you like two tone metal jewelry? Are you a metal clay jewelry maker? Tammy tells us about a new product to help you mix up metals using metal clay techniques.

Art Bead Scene We are feeling groovy here at Art Bead Scene, as we celebrate our own Tari Sasser's recent press with her tie dyed beads. What trippy thing would *you* make with them?

Jewelry & Beading Cyndi has a free book giveaway going on! You can enter to win a copy of "Crazy About Jewelry" simply by leaving a comment on this post! What could be easier?

Naughty Secretary Club Thinking of selling your jewelry for a living? Jen has some tips on free promotion and suggested reading to get you started.

PearlEsq. Check out the latest adventure of a rubber stamp that's made its way to Australia!

Savvy Crafter Finding the findings is always an interesting experience in Candie's part of the world. This week she shares a couple of pictures from a trip to Hong Kong.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Beautiful (...possibly even...sexy?) champagne coin pearl chandeliers by Jean!

The Impatient Blogger Need a dose of inspiration? Check out this video blog post by Margot Potter as she traverses a whole new dimension of bloggy goodness!

A Flakey, Linky Friday

Happy Friday! What a week-only three days long, but it felt like 8. I'm looking forward to another weekend of creating. There's a few things that I keep wanting to share, but I forget until after I've posted...It's like always forgetting to add on the attachment that you referenced in an email...you know what I mean!?

Margot and our buddy Inky (Rebecca Peck) has the front web page projects with Adirondack(r) Color Wash-these are even more awesome in person. She has such a great eye for color and altered art...go Inky!

You'll also notice a link to a cool website that's apparently been around for a while, but I just found. It's quite addicting! There's another link from someone that only goes by "Mister X" that has made this into a science. For the papercrafter, it's actually a kind of neat exercise in making your brain think in a certain way to make specific "cuts" to get a special flake. or just zip the mouse around like crazy, and you may surprise yourself. Give it a try. If you want to see any of my "attempts", just do a search and enter "RDB" for the name and "Neptune" for the location.

I hope everyone's keeping warm and has a crafty, creative weekend. Check out these pics of real snowflakes as well as the beady links of last week and this week! My bad-the new year got away from me!

• About.com Jewelry Making New Year's Eve means it's time to put your big bling pieces on, and Tammy has lots of ideas to make you super sparklie.
• About.com Jewelry Making Along with a blog, Tammy's jewelry making web site has a pretty active forum. She gives you a peek inside at a few hot topics.
• Art Bead Scene The crew is on a short holiday break, but we hope you will come by the blog to celebrate with our special week's worth of the Best of Art Bead Scene posts from this past year.
• Art Bead Scene It's a new year, a new month, and thus a new challenge! Bundle up and break out your art beads for January's Ice Storm theme.
• Jewelry & Beading One of Cyndi's designs was chosen for a new book on the Art of Jewelry ~ Wood. Come and see her necklace, called "Measure Twice, Cut Once"!
• Jewelry & Beading Artist Irma Peredne is profiled on Jewelry & Beading this week. Irma has the most wonderful story about the origin of her business name, The Amber Box!
• Katie's Beading Blog Katie's getting ready for the next filming of Beads, Baubles and Jewels. This week, she shares a cool necklace idea using a chain bail and tassel.
• Katie's Beading Blog Katie's Dreams of Topaz necklace is featured in Beadalon's new ad campaign. Get the scoop and links to the instructions on Katie's blog this week.
• PearlEsq. Check out Robin's collaged and soldered Birdies! A fun way to start off the New Year!
• Savvy Crafter No clue what jewelry you’re wearing to the big New Year’s Eve bash? Hop on over to Candie’s blog for an easy and festive fix!
• Snap out of it , Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean just had to repost these sweet necklaces that she made for the childrens' teachers as holiday gifts! They are just too yummy looking snuggling up against the luxurious rose velvet pouches she packaged them in. Happy Holidays to the VIPs in our lives!
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is excited to participate in the Art Bead Scene competition, as always!

Thanksgiving Leftovers...better than ever!

Happy Sunday! I'm sure most of the leftovers are gone and it's slim pickin's in the fridge and the reality of the impending Monday is a bummer, so enjoy these fun bits of info and eye candy!The four soldered pieces above have been my latest bit of fun. I've been so wanting to play with these Red Lead Paperworks stamps and I finally had some time to do so. Love the vintage looks and adore the little sayings. I'm word crazy as it is, and to have little words stamps to add to the backgrounds (words are already on them!) and these cute kids...can't go wrong! For the kids I made Tim's Distress Ink(tm) Wrinkle Free Technique, but with a Mini Mister spray of water and Perfect Pearls(tm) to create the pearly sheen. I then cut them out and did a mix n' match of their outfits; since it's on watercolor paper, they seem to have even more dimension. I added the little bit of white opaque pen to "bandanna" them a little bit. I created Distress Crackle Paint(tm) Bandanna Backgrounds. The crackly background makes a wonderful contrast to the pearly color of the Distress inks. All I need to do is add some charms to the bottom (maybe some Swarovski crystals!) and chain on the top, and they're ready to go. These are likely headed to the Red Lead sisters, but I know I'll be making more. If anyone's interested in them, let me know.

Yesterday I spent a day with my buddy Jen Starr and took her Ranger Layout Extravaganza Class. It's quite the class. We made some suggestions and a few tweaks. It was fun to take a class for a change! Now it's my job to pick the pictures to go with the pages and put 'em together.

This picture just makes me smile from ear to ear. Thanksgiving was so wonderful because we were all together-my parents, both my sisters...so all of the kids were together. So they suffer through my begging them for me to take a picture. This was on the first go-even the dog looked forward. How's that for luck!?!?

I also wanted to tell you about my friend Aleida Taddei-Thomas. She's a graduate of Ranger University, both Perfect Pearls and Ink/Embossing. She's extremely talented. She became as obsessed with my Bandanna Technique...she even created Bandanna Stamps from real Bandanna designs! Check out Aleida's Blog to see what wonderful things she creates-she also travels to teach. Here's the Bandanna Plaque I created...she's seen it and it's on its way to Aleida in Texas. Here's some closeups of the letters:

Before I get to the Beady Links, if you've not seen the Bandanna Plaque I made as a surprise for Wendy Vecchi, here it is:

It's not a surprise that it's been done in the only colors that Wendy uses: Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans (only teasing, Wendy!). I also picked up the key from somewhere...I liked its swirly looks and thought it would be neat to allude to it being the "key" to creativity...which Miss Wendy, as well as Jen, Aleida and the Red Lead Sisters Chris and Sharon have-all locked up! Check 'em out! And speaking of checking things out, enjoy the following Bead links from these talented artists. Enjoy the day!

• About.com Jewelry Making Give a double whammy of beads this holiday. Tammy has discovered a group that has great beaded jewelry to give and get that also gives to needy young women.
  Art Bead Scene Only a few days left to enter the Art Bead Scene challenge with the Coffee Haus theme! Get your caffeine on and get moving on a coffee related design using art beads!
• Bead Arts Cyndi is ga-ga over the pictures and information she found recently on Kanzashi, Japanese hair ornaments.
• Jewelry & Beading Two of Cyndi's pieces are in the latest issue of Jewelry Crafts.
• Naughty Secretary Club Grab a left over turkey sandwich and tune into the DIY Network Holiday Special this weekend with oodles of different craft projects. One with Jennifer Perkins making a chunky charm bracelet and necklace using decoupage.
• Pearlesq. Check out Robin's closeup photos of Distress Crackle Paint along with tips and techniques to get the best "crackin'" results!
• Savvy Crafter Last week Candie found herself in a maze of seed beads in Kathmandu. See pictures of her visit to the Indra Chowk bead market…
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! It's not too early to start stashing away those hand-made teachers' gifts for the Holidays! You will be glad you did later when the rush is on! Jean shows what she decided to make the teachers (shhh! It's a secret!) this year!
• The Impatient Blogger If you're feeling the holiday stress, take a moment to enjoy a delicious little gem of a movie that'll spark your creativity and make you smile. A kinda movie review from your pal Margot!