Farm Girl Studio

Some new lentils and earring pairs, finally :)

I used the Random number gererator and the number picked was 16.  Congratulations d.j. d.j. said... My fave way to treat myself? Get my favorite mug full of steaming coffee (with the required 2 spoons of Cafe Vienna added, thankyouverymuch), sitting on the couch surrounded by my kids and hubby, watching HGTV, or a movie, or just 'being'. This makes me very happy.....and very thankful for all my blessings! I will contact you to get your information.  Thank you all of the 31 entrys :)  Check back later this week for another give away.

I have a bunch of new beads but I haven't been able to take any pictures because we have had NO sun.  I think we are going on 15 or 16 days without it :(  I will try today to get some good pictures and post them today with any luck.  Check back later

You can enter until midnight tonight cst,  I will pick the winner tomorrow.  give away

This is a link to a beady friend of mine who is having a beads give away Juls beads  go take a look :)

Here is another wonderful site for finding color combinations.  Color Scheme  is a great site when you need help or are in a slump.  Nothing gets me feeling creative more that trying out new colors.  You can use this in jewelry designing or decorating your home!!!

Here the list of spring shows I am doing.  I will be updating this list as I get acceptance to a show.  I will be having show specials so be sure to mark your calendars. I will doing a truck show at Galena Beads on Saturday March 20th from 10am to 5ish.  I have been working on some new bead designs so be sure to check this show out. I will be at the Bead Madness show April 9th - 11th.  This looks like a great show.

This is a great site !! CForiginals if you are a polymer clay artisit or not you will love this site.  She has a new book  called Steampunk designs that I think looks wonderful.  Polymer clay is one of the new medias that the Bead Divas are going to give a try this year.  I can't wait!! You can download projects and look at her gallery for new ideas.  I found some polymer clay that had some sparkles already in it , Pardo Jewellery clay .  It is made by a company called Viva decor in Germany.  They have a gallery also to get some great ideas for jewelry ,  I plan on doing my art clay silver designes in polymer for a different look.   Check back for pictures  

This is an amazing link you must look at ! Pantone has done it again with these beautiful slideshows.  Glass artists and jewelry makers alike will get so much inspriation from this on putting new color combinations together.  I have already found a couple I am going to try next.  Bookmark this so you can go back to it often.  Pantone color palette Pantone color palette Pantone color palette

This is a handmade Boro pendant on an 18" Vintaj Brass chain. This pictues doesn't show it, the pendant is hung from a large jump ring. To enter the give away all you have to do is answer this question in the comments of this post. What is your favorite way to treat yourself? Thanks and good luck

I am in the process of restocking all of my jewelry at the stores that I consign in.  How wonderful to bring in fresh new product !!! I will have a new give away later today so check back to see what it is :)  Everyone is welcome to enter !

I now have Farm Girl Studio t-shirts, I will be adding new items very soon.  So check back soon Farm Girl T-Shirts

I have a list of things I need to get done,  and not alot of them look like I will be getting to them today.  We still have grey skys here so pictures taking will have to wait.  I am putting together a new give away that should be up in the next couple of day.  Check back for that and new beads.  Have a great day. Here is a picture from the farm

Thank you to everyone who entered my give away, I will have them regularly so check back soon.  I used the Random number generator to pick the winner,  the winner is post number 14. Michele P. said... I can think of plenty of thinks I don't like about winter...lol but my favorite thing is to sit and watch the snowflakes falling gently to the ground while curled up by the window with a cup of hot cocoa. So relaxing, and so beautiful to watch. I will contact you to get your information and mail out your earrings.

One of the ways to keep you jewelry designs fresh and new is to add new styles to your lines.  The Divas at Galena Beads thought having monthly creative sessions would be a great way to do this.  Last night was our first one of the new year.  We made soldered collage pendants.  I was going to take pictures but forgot as I got wraped up in the project :)   Here are some pictures to give you a idea of what I am talking about. You can use almost any picture in these so you can make them as personal as you want.  There are wonderful etsy seller that have great collage pages to work with also.  Here are two site with instruction on how to make these pendants yourself Graceful Designs Simply Swank Get a couple of friends together and start your own creative sessions, it's a wonderful way to get together and also learn somthing new. 

Thanks for all your support, I won the design contest at Vintaj.  Here is the link to the winning piece.  I can't wait to design with sampler packs I won.  Don't forget to enter my give away Here   to win a great pair of earring!

This is what the farm has looked like the last couple of days

        These are going up on Etsy this evening

Here are some places in the Tri-State area that sell my beads and jewelry. If you are looking for wonderful local art these are the places to go. Galena Beads This is the best bead store I have ever seen! Driftless Market Wonderful organic products and local produce Creative Soul 145 West Water St. Shullsburg, Wi. 53586 Great local art at an equally great price

I am going to have a regular give away here on my blog. They will range from jewelry to beads, soap and other handmade items. I may from time to time offer cool things that I find that I think you guys may like. All you need to do to enter in the give away it answer the question I ask below in the comments. I will then pick a random entry to be the winner. Thanks for coming to my blog and good luck! Comments will be accepted until Wednesday the 20th at midnight. I will announce the winner Thursday morning. The question for this give away is: What is your favorite thing about winter? These earring and the beads were made by me and are sterling silver.  

I love these new post-it lables These totally go with the whole organizing thing for 2010 I am doing right now. I was going to buy a lable maker but I think these will work out much better, since you can remove them without any trouble. I am sure you can find a ton of uses in your home or studio for these, try them out.

     

     

    Take a look :)

I did take pictures yesterday, but they were just too dark. Since I moved the design area, the photo area got moved also. The light just isn't as bright in the new room. I will spend today setting up a new photo area and get those pictures up as soon as I can. Taking good pictures of you work can be difficult. Here are some links to helpful ideas on setting up a home photo studio. more more

  This is my entry

One of the goals I have set for myself this year,is to enter my jewelry and beads in online and magazine design contests. This is the first one of the year. Vintaj Natural Brass has a design contest every month, you win great Vintaj product!!!. Here is a link to the site, could you please help me win by voting for number 13. Thanks :)

I have spent the last two days changing my house around :) it feels so good !! Tomorrow I can start creating in my new jewelry designing area and I can't wait. Cleaned, purged and organized now ready to begin. I WILL have things up on here tomorrow I promise.

The midwest is getting ready for another big storm. While sitting by a warm fire making jewelry is wonderful, I am starting to long for warmer weather. I am making spring and summer jewelry right now for publications and shows. Pantone has been forcasting the coming hot colors for 25 years. Here is a great link. Take a look to get a head start on spring

I had alot of things planed for today, I got to about half of them. Who else thinks that going out of town can leave you feeling behind on everything. I am organizing and cleaning every room in my house. There are alot of beads that are waiting to be listed. Lets hope I make it that far down the to-do list tomorrow.

I spent the New Year in Chicago with my family. What a great time, we saw Avatar on Saturday. It was wonderful, I want to see it again. I also got to go to Borders and Whole Foods. So all of my vices have been taken care of for a bit :). Ikea was also on the list, I picked up a great book case and rug to start the purging and organizing. If it wasn't so late I would start on it now. Hope everyone had a great new year.

With the new year one of my main goal is to organize my "studios". Right now I have a jewerly and craft studio and a glass studio. Plans are in the works to combine them into one fantastic area later this year:). I work in semi chaos right now lol. Which can lend it's self to creativity sometimes, most of the time just leads it's self to stress. I am gearing up for alot of shows this year so I need to keep my stress down. Vintaj has a great blog that is full of information. Here are some posts that deal with organizing your creative space. I will be coming back there alot for ideas in my area. More links to studio organization www.smartlearningcenter.com/article_FACorganize.html www.squidoo.com/noadi_studio www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/organize.html www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/setting-up-a-jewelry-studio.html www.jewelrymaking.about.com/od/gettingstarted/ss/010209.htm www.ehow.com/how_137860_organize-art-supplies.html Post...