Ramblings on jewelry-making and life.
Look at the tasty bit of goodies that came in the mail this week:
These findings by Becky Nunn at Nunn Design can be had at your local bead shop (Nunn Designs is a wholesaler, so you'll need to order them from your local bead shop. Click here to find a store near you).
I'm got my eye on those big silver tube things...they'd look pretty nice wrapped with some square or peyote stitch done with Delicas. Another future project! I'll keep you apprised of my progress...
The highlight of my week? Hands down: I taught Emma how to solder!
She had a pair of earrings that needed their jump rings closed, and so she dove right in, fixing them up herself. Way to go, daught! Double pneumonia can't get you down, girl.
Find out the week's highlights of my beadblogging friends through these links:
A Bead A Day: Lisa's sharing some extra Swarovski sparkle! You won't want to miss the glitz!
About.com Jewelry Making: This month's feature jewelry designer is Jean Campbell; read about her beading and editing life.
Art Bead Scene: Check out all the great pieces the Art Bead Scene readers made in response to last month's challenge
Beading Arts: Nobody ever likes to talk about that necessary evil...pricing!
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles: Melanie reveals a new bird carving that will become a new pendant design.
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading going on!: Jean is so READY for Michelle Mach's Suddenly Spring Challenge! Check out the whole story!
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton: Andrew announces three new limited edition components available by pre-order!
Post has no comments.
Look what came in the mail yesterday!
I love it when Swarovski sends me their latest line of elements. Receiving this "sneak preview" box is hands-down my favorite benefit of being an Ambassador. I get to see all kinds of elements that we beaders don't usually see, like buttons, rivets, and interestingly shaped beads that aren't always at my local bead shop.
Another bonus is that I get to share them with you, too! Here's the tour:
Crystal Pearls Update String: Gemcolors
Wave Family: Wave Flat Back Hofix (2788), Wave Bead (5525), Wave Pendant (6525)
Crystal Blend: Fern Green-Topaz Blend (724), Burgundy-Blue Zircon Blend (723), Crystal Vitrail Medium P (001 VM), Oval Bead (5050)
Rose Peach (262), Crystal Rose Peach Pearl (001 674)
Column Bead (5534), Xilion Bicone Pendant (6328), Ellipse Pendant (6470)
Rhombus Flat Back Hotfix (2709), Rivoli Snowflake Fancy Stone (4747), Shell Fancy Stone (4789), Organic Oval Fancy Stone (4855) 
Crystal Luminous Green (001 LUMG)
Crystal Mesh Ball (40515), Mini Rondelles (4720/101 and 4720/102) 
Chessboard Family: Chessboard Decorative Button (1786/101), Chessboard Jeans Button (1796/140), Chessboard Rivet (53 600)
My favorites? Well the Crystal Luminous Green is definitely the thing I went to first. It is absolutely stunning in person! And that Rose Peach pearl is pretty delicious, too. What are your favorites?
We had such gut-busting good time yesterday at the Medicine Lake Art Shanty Project! They'll be up for one more weekend, so if you have a chance, do yourself a favor and go! In the meantime, take a peak at these shots of how people who live in the tundra entertain themselves:
You can actually sit in this beautiful thing and SPIN!
These are homemade wear-on-your-head camera obscuras.
Yes, this is what it says it is...
...and we made our own letterpress postcards inside!
This robot shanty moved across the ice with a little help from its bundled-up friends.
There were interesting bikes like this all over the place...
These were the most fun. Probably not very functional, but funny.
This was by far our favorite shanty: The Dance Shanty. Plain and simple on the outside...
...and rocking on the inside! (When else do you get to dance to loud, fun music...in a fishing house...with 20 other people in hats, boots, gloves...in 15-degree weather...on ICE?!)
And now, without further adieu...
BEADBLOGGERS SUNDAY!
After a 1 1/2-year hiatus...back by popular demand...I'd like to happily announce the return of my Sunday bead-blogger links! If you're a beadworker and want to know what's going on, or even if you're just a creative person looking to find out what other creative folk are thinking about and doing, check out the links to these wonderful bloggers' sites:
About.com Jewelry Making: Are you struggling with the cost of metal right now? Tammy gives you a tip for getting the look of metal beads without the cost.
Art Bead Scene: Gaea shares some of her current favorite beading and craft related tools
Beading Arts: Interested in publishing this year? How about starting out with a magazine?
Beads and Books: Join the spring challenge and makeover a ready-made wintry bracelet into a piece of springtime jewelry!
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!: Everyday Gemstones from the publishers of
BeadStyle magazine is beautiful, easy, and is a special Winter 2012
issue --and Jean thrilled to be in it!
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton: Want to help a small business out? It's so easy! With a few clicks you can help Allegory Gallery get some free advertising dollars!
Post has no comments.
Carmen and I have been looking out of the window of my office at the gray and cold the last couple days, stuck in front of the computer, editing. (Well, Carmen's not technically editing, but she's good company.)
For those of you who don't know, I do the first-round technical edits for Beadwork magazine. What does that mean? Well, if you've had a project accepted to appear in the magazine, its life at Interweave starts with a photo shoot, then it comes to my house. I go over the file you've put together to make sure it makes sense grammatically, but my job is also to make sure that it sounds like every other project in the magazine. For example, since beadwork doesn't have a "language" like, say, knitting, your file was most likely written in a different dialect than your fellow contributor. So if you say "Pick up", I change it to "String". If you say "needle the bead" I change it to "pass through."
That's the language part of what I do. The other part is pretty technical. It's almost like putting together DNA charts or something. I usually give letter assignments to different bead types, so that means I go through your entire file, marking your "black size 15 seed bead" with an "A", your "white size 11 seed beads" with a "B", and so on. I then need to make sure that your instructions are correct. That the instructions read smoothly and correctly. It's important that how I order the words--and which words I use--will result in allowing the readers make what's shown in the photo. Because I have been doing this type of editing for over 15 years now, I can usually do this in my head and on paper. Sometimes I need to get out the beads and test, but not that often.
Finally, I sketch up rough drawings for each how-to diagram and take snapshots of your piece. I send these to Bonnie Brooks, our fabulous illustrator (who is also a wonderful beader, thank goodness!). We go back and forth, refining the drawings until they're just where we want them.
The whole shebang goes to editor Melinda Barta, who gives everything a second eye. If it's your piece, this is when you get to read it. And then the file goes to design where it all ends up looking like a real magazine article. The file is read at least 3 more times after all of this.
So yes, that's my day job. It's dry and technical, but I learn so much everyday. It's like having a bead class every time I pore through someone's project.
Subscribe to my RSS Feed
Comments (0) Click to view comments or add your own
Post has no comments.
Add Your Comment Below