Confessions of a lampwork addict...

Since my early bead newbie days when I nearly fainted the first time I picked up a lampwork bead and realized that yes, 1 bead did indeed cost $36.00, I've been fascinated by these tiny works of art and the amazing artists who create them. Even after taking a couple of lampwork classes myself, I still marvel at the fact that rods of glass can be turned into flowers, fish, birds, frogs, snails, entire underwater or spatial scenes and just about anything else the artist can imagine.

I'm always on the lookout for additions to my lampwork library and here are a few of my recent acquisitions:

Lovely blue glass tulip beads from blissfulgardenbeads on Etsy. I love pairs - so perfect for earrings!

I liked this design so much, I had to get a pair in pink as well.

A set from beadintrigue on Etsy - the colors were so yummy-looking that I couldn't resist them. They look just like candy!

Same artist and style of beads - but look how the change in colors changes the entire look and feel. This set is so much more girly and soft.

Obviously, I was on a roll. But seriously...can you blame me? LOOK at the COLORS!

Watermelon, anyone? Again, these look good enough to eat!

And finally, this gorgeous focal bead by koregon on Etsy:

I'm not sure why, but I see Kokopelli every time I look at this bead even though the design is actually more random and not a specific figure at all. I still see him, though. Perhaps I'm a bit woozy from staring at shiny beads for too long?

Naaaaahhhh.

KJ

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Had a little excitement around here last night with a 4.7 earthquake. I live about 40+ miles south of the epicenter and while we definitely felt it, it had no effect or damage on anything in my area.

I disagree with the article saying it was enough to "terrify" Californians. Nope. This was a baby as earthquakes go. Slight initial shake, then a pause, then a more significant "bump" and then it was over. Actually, very short in duration especially when compared to, say, the Northridge quake. I distinctly remember that one and the feeling that it was NEVER going to stop shaking. It just went on and on and on.

I've been in So Cal since 1970 and have been through a lot of these, including three significant ones (Sylmar, Whittier-Narrows, and Northridge) and I just don't get excited by anything less than a 5.5-6.0. My one real concern was that this could be a predecessor to something bigger on another fault.

KJ

Bead Giveaway!

Fab Fibers blog is giving away these AMAZING beads from Bluheeler Glass!

Aren't they the coolest? Love the colors and the nugget-like shape!

Fingers crossed that I might win them...or your if you go post a comment on her blog!

KJ

Introducing the Memoire Collection

It's here! I finished up the website updates last night so today is the official launch of my new "Memoire Collection." I was so inspired by some new materials I picked up at the recent OC Bead Society Show at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA, that I took off in an entirely new design direction.

I'm using lots of different metal finishes, delicate flowers or antique-looking beads and lots of chain. There's even some asymmetry - which anyone who knows me can tell you is something I always WANT to do, but my brain just fights it and automatically puts everything back in order. Still, I think I pulled it off on a couple of these pieces.

I've also played around with different metal finishes when in the past I've been a strictly sterling silver/gold fill kind of girl. I have metal allergies so I've been leery of using any of the base metals, but I think the products have really improved - vendors seem to have upped the quality due to the increased demand for these items. So the new collection incorporates brass, gunmetal and pewter in addition to sterling silver. I've got copper in my stash as well so that will join the collection eventually, too.

Here's my favorite piece from the new group:

I know they're just simple earrings with dangles, but I think the brass really sets off the Caribbean and Pacific Blue Opal Swarovski crystals...and plus...don't the earrings sort of look like the Eiffel Tower? One of my favorite places!

I hope you enjoy the new pieces. Please take a look and tell me what you think - I love constructive feedback!

I also re-vamped the website since I was adding this new section anyway. I'm totally self-taught on Dreamweaver and I know just enough to put up the very basics so it's not fancy, but I like the new order of things on the front page and think it's a little more visitor-friendly.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, today started off with the nicest surprise. My beady friend, Julie, gave me three gorgeous porcelain pendants. I'll get them photographed and posted next week, but oh, they are so pretty! And I can already see they will look AMAZING with brass or copper chain! Thanks, Julie!!

Julie and I and possibly another friend are off to the Rings 'N Things show in Buena Park, CA, tomorrow. Can't wait - I always get some great stuff there!

KJ

News, earrings and beads

Congratulations to Dave Robertson of Rings 'N Things on the birth of his new daughter, Esme! Also, check out the news on his blog about big changes to a popular Swarovski crystal. Lastly, R&T is having a bead show from 10-2 on Saturday, May 16th, in Buena Park so if you're in So Cal and you like great beads (and great deals), don't miss it.

And now, on to the jewelry...


More of my vacation beading:






I bought these chandelier components several years ago from a great internet site called "The Bead Shop." They disappeared for a while (closed their physical store and got rid of a lot of their on-line inventory) but they seem to be coming back. If nothing else, their design gallery is WELL worth trolling through. They have AMAZING ideas!


Anyway, to these components I added garnets, peridot, pearls, vermeil and some chain and voila! Earrings!

And then there's this pair:

In which I continue with my love affair of mixing aqua and amethyst together. I'm happy with the color combo, but something about them is not quite right. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has them.

And some beads:




Made by Kerri Fuhr from Etsy. She sent along an additional set of spacer beads that match this as a freebie. How cool is THAT?!

More tomorrow.

KJ

Heart's Garden

A while back, I posted a picture of this really pretty lampwork heart toggle clasp (if you click on the link, scroll down to the VERY BOTTOM of my random blatherings to see the picture) that I bought on eBay.

Well, I finally got around to making something with it. Actually, I made this piece pretty quickly after I bought the toggle...it's just taken me this long to get it photographed and posted.

I went with a very simple design so that the toggle would take center stage and really show itself off.

Overall, I'm pleased with it, but I'm still a little on the fence about the Swarovski crystal butterfly dangle. Too much? Let me know what you think.

Also, the pearls are actually white to match the toggle even though they appear a bit pinkish in the picture. Another stunning example of my amazing (lack of) photography and Photoshop skills in action.

In other news...still working on getting the new collection up on the website. That one page is actually done, but in the process of working on it, I found a bunch of other things that needed to be corrected and the homepage needed revision to show off the new collection and I've stayed up until 2 AM the last two nights tinkering (because my Dreamweaver skills are only slightly more spectacular than my photog skills) trying to get all that done. Still aiming for an end-of-the-week launch.

I'm also thinking about having a "house cleaning" sale on some of my older designs. Need to clear some room for the new stuff, etc. We'll see.

Okay, that's it for now.

KJ

Vacation Download

Finally time to post my vacation pictures - hey, it's only been a month, right? The kidlet and I and some friends went out to Palm Desert the first week of April and had a great time going to the pool and the zoo and riding the tram up to the top of San Jacinto peak.


Here are some pictures from the zoo:

Giraffes.

Obviously :-)

More giraffes. In case you couldn't find them in the first picture.

This gorgeous cat is called a cerval and I was all set to take a fabulous picture of her except that during the "delay" on my digital camera (y'know, that annoying pause between when you press the button and when the darned thing actually TAKES the picture?), she turned her head. So, here is a fabulous pic of the back of a cerval's head.

Isn't her coat pretty, though?

This is the smallest member of the fox family - called a fennec. This was his first time doing the animal show so they had him on a leash. What a cutie!

And here's the fennec meeting a desert tortoise.

Then we headed over to the amazing butterfly and hummingbird exhibit where I engaged in my yearly battle with my digital camera to try to get at least ONE amazing shot of a butterfly. See what you think about my results:

A spicebush swallowtail and a painted lady stop in a puddle for a drink. A little blurry, but not too bad.

A zebrawing butterfly taking a rest.

A male spicebush swallowtail on some pretty purple flowers that I don't know the name of.

Spicebush swallowtail again. I kept following this guy around because he was being so obliging and holding still for me. Love the iridescence on his wings.

I like this shot because you can see the pretty colors on the underside of his wings and the spots on his body.

And then it was the hummingbirds' turn...

Okay, a LITTLE blurry, I know, but HEY, it's a hummingbird in FLIGHT. Kinda hard not to have it be blurry, ya know?

Not much better, but you can see him zeroing in on the feeder.

Sigh. Some day, I REALLY need to take a camera class.

I did better with the mamma birds on their nests:

I was so amazed that she let me get this close!

Hard to believe there are two babies underneath her in that tiny, tiny nest!

Profile shot, please! Make sure you get my good side...

And then some pics from up on the mountain (no animals, unfortunately):

I liked this little baby tree growing right at the foot of two really huge trees.

Big rocks and a tree stump. I know, I bring the excitement with the pictures, don't I. But hey, at least they didn't move so they are NOT BLURRY!

I liked how the bare branches on this bush had kind of a "lacy" look to them. At least, they did when I saw them in real life - not sure it came through in the picture. But again, NOT BLURRY!

And, more rocks. Because, you know, they might've changed from the previous picture and this IS taken from the other side of the formation. Oooh...the excitement!

So, why did I bother to take and post all these boring pictures of my silly little vacation? Well, I had this idea percolating that I might use some of the for jewelry inspiration. Now, using nature photos is in no way a new idea (it's rather old and worn out actually), but it's new for ME. And since I do have a tendency to get stuck in the same color choices (blue, turquoise, green anyone?) or using the same materials (lampwork, crystals) over and over, I thought it might help me break out of my rut a bit.

For example, I would never think to mix black, blue, orange and white in a piece, but the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly looks FABULOUS dressed in his colors...and still manages not to clash with the mossy rocks or the bright pink flowers.

I can even go more literal with the idea and use some butterfly charms or the actual butterfly wing pendants I bought at the LA Gift Show oh, like THREE YEARS AGO or something.

And I have a gorgeous porcelain hummingbird pendant, too.

Anyway, you get the idea.

I've already started expanding into a new area with an exciting collection that I'm hoping to debut later this week. It has nothing to do with these photos - I haven't started putting my "photo challenge" into practice yet - but it is a HUGE departure for me in terms of materials and style. So, keep an eye out and I'll hopefully get the web pages finished and uploaded and pics posted here by the end of the week (she said, fingers crossed).

Okay, more beads tomorrow.

KJ

Enchanted Forest

So, about a month ago, I bought this lovely set of beads from Sue Beads on Etsy:

I took them with me on the trip to the desert (pictures of that to come in a future entry) in early April and I was lucky enough to have the time to create this:

This piece is a bit different for me because I normally like to surround lampwork beads (especially really outstanding ones like these) with fairly simple designs so that the beads can really stand out. That was my initial plan for this set as well, but when I started playing around, I just got carried away and kept adding more and more and more beads and, well, three strands of beads later, I had "Enchanted Forest."

The beads I used include: faceted smoky quartz rounds, Swarovski crystals in indicolite and light topaz, Swarovski pearls in Tahitian blue, some really cool Czech glass ovals in an olive/brown mottled color that look like real stones, green garnet rondelles, mother of pearl round beads, Bali vermeil spacers and 2mm gold-filled round beads. Indecision as a successful design technique? Yep. I'm going with that.

I sent Sue a copy of the finished piece and, fortunately for me, she liked it and posted it on her blog (which is really great and has lots of eye candy so you should definitely check it out).

I bought these beads from Sue as well:

But, as is typical for me, I haven't done anything with them but add them to my hoard yet.

Bead hoarders unite!

Okay, that's it for now.

Kelly

Back to the Beads

Okay, I promised we'd get back to normal around here and I meant it so here we go.

These are some cute clay "ocean-theme" beads I purchased a while back and just recently realized I never posted them here.

Unlike most of my purchases, I have some potential designs planned for these babies and I've even bought some metal "ocean-them" charms and things to go with them. Now, just need the TIME!

In 2007 (yikes!), I bought this pretty set of lampwork lentil beads on e-bay and while I was on vacation, I finally got to make something with them:

The vendor kindly included a couple of extra beads to the set so I had enough left to make earrings:

Okay, that's it for now. I do have a HUGE backlog of pics, though, so there may be more later today.

KJ

Dad's Funeral

Today will be the last day I will post about this in detail, but I did want to show some of the pictures and hand out some thank you messages so please bear with me.

To everyone who came to the service, sent flowers, left comments here on the blog or just generally supported my family and me through this difficult time - you have my heartfelt gratitude.

It's been wonderful to know how many lives my Dad touched and what a positive influence he was on everyone around him.

Here are a few more pictures from his life and from the services:

This is my Dad with (I think) his grandparents.

Dad with his roommate at the Naval Academy. No wonder he always insisted my bed be made so neatly (not that I ever did it).

Another Academy pic. Dad is the one in the jeans.

Dad did love his card games - looks like that started early on. He's the one on the left reaching into the middle of the table.

Dad with his parents at the Academy - Parents' Weekend 1958. Was he handsome in his uniform or what?

There are lots more pics, of course, but I just get a big kick out of these really old ones.

And now some from the funeral:

This is from the visitation on Sunday after we closed the casket. It shows the flower spray and the folded US flag since he is a veteran.

One of the arrangements at the cemetery. I thought it was particularly pretty.

Dad was buried with military honors - a 3-person team from the naval base in San Diego came and did the flag folding and presentation ceremony and a bugler played "Taps." It was really beautiful.




I tried to get a shot when they held the entire flag up for view beyond the casket, but it happened so fast that with the delay on my digital camera, I missed it (hate that delay!)

I can't believe how young these sailors are. They don't even look 18 to me!

After this picture, the flag was presented to my mother, but since I was sitting right next to her, it didn't seem appropriate to take a picture right there at that moment. I think some of the other guests may have caught it with their cameras. I hope so anyway.

Thanks again for bearing with me while I pay final tribute to my Dad. Next post it's back to the beads - I promise!

Kelly