Farm Girl Studio

Aren't these rings just the coolest thing!  When I was at the Madison Bead show I picked up some componets, the red flower is from Unicorne and the enamels are by C-Koop .   I am going to make some of my own glass flowers the next time I get to the torch.  So look for that in the near future.  Vintaj Natural Brass has a wonderful post on how to make rings.  Rings are hot right now! I am going to be experimenting with other ideas this week.  Check back to see what I come up with. 

Had a great time at the bead show.  Picked up some wonderful beads that have me wanting to make jewelry today!!.  I love to see artists that I have met along my creative journey, it's so cool to see where their art is headed.  We talked to Kathy who runs Valley Ridge Art Studio .  Take a look at the class list, I am sure there is something you want to take!!.  We all said in the next year we need to get away and take a class

I am heading off to the Madison Bead show in just a couple of mintues.  I had promised a give away yesterday but the day got away from me.  So here it is!!!!!!.  This is a small coin bead set that is perfect for earrrings.  They would work well in a bracelet also.  All you have to do to enter this give away is answer the question below in the comments.  I will pick a winner at the end of next week. What is your favorite color combination

Sorry about not updating yesterday, my internet was acting up.  One of things you deal with when you live in the country.  Not much going on today, we are having family over for the weekend and I am going to the Madison bead show .  This is a great show, not to big but still has some great stuff!!.  I am probably not going to get to Bead and Button this year.  This is going to be my one big shopping trip for jewelry supplies.  I hope to find alot of springtime beads.  I will be posting a giveaway tonight, so check back

Our next creative session is on Steampunk!  This style is very popular right now in jewelry.  One of the wonderful thing about it is you can use almost any media it create it.  I have seen great riveted, resin and clay steampunk pieces.  Here is a post on the Vintaj blog that will give you lots of links.  Vintaj is also a great resourse for steampunk components.  Old watches and found items can also be incorporate in steampunk for wonderful results. Christi Friesen  does some very cool things with polymer clay.  Check out her new book.  I have some steampunk style necklaces in my Etsy store now.

These cored beads will fit you Pandora and Troll style bracelets. Going up on Etsy today!

I have been wanting to make some of these for a while now. Look for my silverware jewelry very soon.

These are some friends of mine, check out their blog Wybourn Blog

It snowed the night before the show. We woke up to about 2" on the ground. I really hope this is the long snow we get, I am waiting on spring!. People come to the show anyways :) a couple of wonderful ladies even drove from the Chicago area. I got to meet a great customer of mine, Hi Sharon!. Doing the demo's brought people in from the street, and they oftened stayed to buy beads. I left alot of beads in the store and just went through my Etsy store to remove what sold at the sale. During the next week I will taking photos and putting beads in my Etsy store. I think I will even design jewelry this week!!!! I can't wait. Sending off jewelry and beads to magazine is going to have to fitted in there some where :) Busy week ahead for me. Check back early next week for a new give away also. Here are a couple of beads pictures and my table.

I will at Galena Beads from 10am to they close :P  Lampwork demos will be going on all day.

I am finishing up with the last things I need to do before Saturday.  I stopped production yesterday to concentrate on carding and pricing.  This is a change from shows I have done in the past.  I would work on inventory up until the last minute.  It was crazy making.  Since it has been a while since I have done shows, I decided to make it a little easier on my self.  You are probably saying, hey when are you going to list some new stuff in your Etsy store also :P.  I know I haven't had any new things up in a couple of weeks.  As soon as this show is over I will be listing a lot of NEW styles of beads.  I even have some new mixed media things I will be listing.  My Etsy store will be on vacation mode tomorrow through Sunday.  All of my inventory will be going to the show with me.  So if you want something that is in my store now, get it before tomorrow as I can't be sure it be available on Sunday.  We have had great weather the last couple of days but a cold front is coming in

My friend Jan is a wonderful artist, her medias are painting and jewelry design. I meet her on my very first visit to Galena.  Jan had a hand painted clothing store that she had set up a table of beads, The Bead Bar. I talk to her about my desire to move to Galena for a long time, I felt I had found the place we had been looking for.   Later she would say she knew she would be seeing me again.  Jan is also the person who gave me the title "Artistic Pioneer Women". Always looking for ways to expand her creative footprint on the world.  She is a co-owner of Galena Beads  in Galena Illinois and Beadology in Lake Geneva Wisconson.  One of her great inspriations is Georgia O'Keffe.  Take a look at her blog where she  tells you how Georgia helped her become the artist she is today. This is one of my favorite paintings by Jan.

Thursday, March 11, 2010 Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge It's time for the Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge! The theme for this challenge is Spring! Show us your beautiful Spring themed jewelry creations featuring Fire Divas' lampwork. Head over to the Flickr site to see many beautiful jewelry pieces made with Fire Divas' lampwork to inspire you! You have the chance to win these incredible prizes from the Fire Divas: $50 Gift Certificate to http://www.hollysfolly.com $25 Gift Certificate to http://www.lajewelrydesigns.artfire.com or http://www.LAJewelryDesigns.etsy.com $20 Gift Certificate to http://www.teasebeads.artfire.com or http://www.teasebeads.etsy.com Bentley the Blue dog from Lauren of Maybeads $25 Gift Certificate to http://www.arensea.artfire.com $25 Gift Certificate to http://www.beadygirlbeads.etsy.com $20 Gift Certificate to http://www.lutrick.artfire.com $2

And it's beautiful here on the farm!! Spring has arrived !  I have been getting ready for my show this Saturday at Galena Beads.  So no beads on Etsy until after that.  I have been working alot of new style that I hope you guys will love.  Have a great day.

It was a rainy day yesterday, so we decided to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3d.  We really liked it even though it is not the original story.  I really don't remember the Lewis Caroll story very well so I am going to download the audio book next. Look for a book review in the new future.  I also made a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up a Crop a Dial .  I am looking forward to using this in some new jewelry ideas. 

Last Monday we had a great creative session at Galena Beads working with wire.  If you have any tension or stress you need to get rid of, give this a try!.  We pounded and hammered all night long.  A lot of our ideas came from Belle Armoire Jewelry  .  If you only get one magazine a year this is the one you need.  The winter 2010 issuse has the work of Richard Salley  who does amazing things with wire and found objects.  One of the wires we used was called Tie Wire.  It is used for tieing rebar when they lay cement.  You can get it at Lowes or Menards.  Only about 5 dollars for a couple hundred feet!! Here are my projects from this creative session

I will be having a trunk show at Galena Beads on March 20th, from 10am to 5pm.  Hope to see you there, I will be doing lampworking demos though out the day.  Many new bead styles to choose from. 

You still have time to enter the Art Bead Scene color challange the deadline is April 1, 2010.  Here is my entry.  I can't wait to see everyone designs. 

If you haven't checked out Vintaj Natural Brass you have to take a look at this.  They are offering a wonderful digital downloads  to you for free.  They fit perfectly into the Vintaj blanks !  You can use them with resin or soldered pendents, even altered books.  The possibilities are endless!  Take a look around the whole site,  the project idea and gallery pages are excellent.  I am sure you are going to love Vintaj as much as I do. Don't forget to look in the glass and store section for my glass beads.

This is just a short preview of his new video.  Visit their site to see how to order. http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=100678243301865&ref=mf

I have been in a kind of funk lately, feeling very blah.   It's not anything big or important that has me feeling this way, I am sure the weather and the economy have something to do with it.   I am not going to dwell in this though, I am going to be grateful for what I have.  If you have read the Secret you know that you can't wallow in bad feelings.  Being Grateful is a great way to look at your situation differently.  I have much to be grateful for, but the main ones are. I am grateful for my family and friends My wonderful customers that allow me to do what I love And my good health. Think of what you might be grateful for today

This is a wonderful piece of jewelry made by a customer of mine..  Sharon is a very talented jewelry designer.  Look for more of her work in an upcoming Bead Trends magazine.  This is what Sharon had to say about her piece I ordered several shapes of Cathie's deep blue beads, and when I saw them, Gasp!, I knew they deserved a special presentation. A piano student has the piece "Nightfall in Tossa de Mar" by Martin Cuellar. The cover photo of Tossa de Mar on the Spanish coastline was total inspiration for several pieces! More beads needed, and Cathie is working on them now! When you gaze at this necklace, I hope you will imagine the sky growing darker as stars start to appear over the Mediterranean Sea. Enjoy!

Please contact me so I can send you your beads :)

Well I never heard back from Steve.  He didn't have a good link to contact him so I had to pick another winner.  I use  random.org to pick the numbers for my give away. The new winner is #2 HopelesslyAddicted said... Hope your question motivates more of us to grow our own! I'm limited to containers for tomatoes and basil, but I do buy from local markets, they're great!

The last Creative Session we had at Galena Beads  was working with Ice Resin.   I think I have found my new love !  This is so fun and the ways and things you can do with Ice Resin are endless.  You can take paints or Ranger Inks  and pictures and apply them to metal blanks.  Small pieces of metal and broken jewelry can be "floated" in the resin.  Ice Resin is very popular right now in jewelry making and altered art.  So search the web or site and ideas on how to use this great media.  Here is a site with instructions on how to use Ice Resin

Still hasn't contacted me with contact information.  Steve please contact me by Friday the 5th with your contact information. If the beads go unclaimed,  I will pick a new winner on Saturday the 6th.

Bead of the Day - March 1st Welcome to the first week of March! The Bead of the Day for March 1st is this stunning focal lentil from Ema K Designs. The teal, aqua and ivory form a stirring counterpoint to the blood-red accents, and where the ivory and aqua meet there is some serious fractal action going on. Ema has lots of yummy beads in her Etsy shop, and also sells on ArtFire. Pay her a visit! In fact, why not visit all the Fire Divas this week and get spring started on the right foot. You need Fire Diva beads for the jewelry challenge anyway, right?