2 Monochromatic Entries By Cindy Dolezal Designs

We have 2 new entries to the monochromatic section of our challenge!

Both are made by Cindy Dolezal using her own handmade clay pieces. Check out Cindy's Etsy shop here. I love how Cindy's first necklace has such an exact color match, but uses different textures and materials to give a really interesting look. The smooth pendant is set apart from the rough natural stones by her use of chain.
In Cindy's second entry she used both Red and Pink beads to create interest. Yes, red and pink are both forms of the same color- red. Pink is created by adding white to red, which is a great way to add dimension to your monochromatic projects.

Here is a close up of Cindy's pendant. Cindy fused red glass into the center, creating a two toned piece.

Thanks for sharing your work Cindy!

Analogous - Blue-Violet By Jen Judd!

We have our first entry to the Analogous section of the color challenge! I love this piece by Jen Judd!

And check out that great big clay bead! I want one!
Look at all the gorgeous pieces that came together to make this necklace!
Check out Jen's Blog post to read about her design.

and here is Jen's Etsy shop!

Summer is Having a giveaway!

Summer Hodgmen Just opened up her etsy shop, and started her blog! Oh yeah! That calls for celebrating! Summer is holding a giveaway!Violet Victorian Scrollwork

Win this necklace---- Visit Summer's Blog for all the details

Here is her description of the prize--

So, here it is, Violet Victorian Scrollwork. Purple-colored copper wire serves as the base to display scrumptious cherry quartz,pink crystals, and and purple and pink glass beads. The pendant (about 1 1/4" around) is stoneware and purple recycled glass by ArtisanClay. At about 21" long, the necklace is "Matinee" length.

Then and Now

Two pieces of Art by me... One old, One new, Then Wheel Thrown Smoke fired pottery, and now A necklace using my smoke fired beads.

The pot is will be the prize for my 400th etsy sale... (because I like to celebrate) 1 more to go.
Yep, way back in the day ;-) I used to make pottery from time to time.

And the necklace I made using some of my side drilled smoke fired circle beads. -- I have 3 of these beads in my etsy shop. On this page.

I definitely see my smoke fire bead work as a continuation of my smoke fired pottery work. :-)
Fun Stuff!

Promises of Spring, An Auction for Tanya by Sandfibers

Carol Dean Sharpe-- aka Sandfibers is holding an Auction for this necklace on her blog. Tanya is an Etsian who needs a life saving operation--- But she needs to pay for it before she can get it!
I can't imagine that stress she must be under. I moved some money from my Hospital Bill fund to her Hospital Fund.

Check out What Carol has to say about the Auction on her Blog here- http://sandfibers.blogspot.com/2010/01/promises-of-spring-auction-for-tanya.html

Carol used one of my Style B Cabochons in White and Spring Green for this Cheerful Necklace.

Restful Jade Waves and Celtic Copper 2 by SummerAlyssa

Restful Jade waves by Summer Hodgmen

Here is Summer's Description-

This is my entry into Artisan Clay's monochromatic challenge. I didn't mean to go with green yellow, but I find I dream in green a lot lately. Winter is wearing on me. I dream of waving fields of green rye and corn stalks;)

The beads are dyed jade, and the focal is a 1"x1" clay bead by Kristie aka Artisan Clay. This won't be in my shop, as I really, really loved how it turned out;)

Celtic Copper 2 By Summer Hodgmen

I love those coiled wire links!

Here is Summer's Description--
This is my first color challenge piece for the Beads of Clay blog. The challenge was monochromatic: colors on the same spectrum of the color wheel. I chose orange.

The clay art bead is a button by Tari Sasser of Creative Impressions in Clay. I stitched it in a traditional peyote bezel with a spiral edging.

But the real star of this piece is the chain. I made it completely from scratch! There are a total of 14 jump rings, 28 links, 56 swirls, and 12 connectors with faced glass beads. I can tell you, my palms were red by the end of the night. But this chain is supple and gorgeous, and sure to attract attention!

The pendant is 2” around, and the necklace is “Opera” length (30”).

Summer will donate a portion of the sale of this necklace to a Michigan nonprofit of your choice.

Thanks for Entering your work Summer!

New Analogous Project Kits in Store

I have been thinking in color schemes lately.... Here are 4 new pendant and beads sets which would be a perfect start to jewelry project in an Analogous color scheme.Bright Red and Orange set

This set has one of my Style D pendants in Red and Orange along with coordinating beads in Carnelian, Breciated Jasper, Agate, and wood.

Sunny Yellow and Orange
This set has a golden yellow and orange pendant, matched with two kinds of Agate and Calcite beads.

Green and Yellow

This set includes one of my Style C pendants in Moss Green and Dark Green. I have matched the pendant to Moss agate and Calcite rounds and Peridot Jasper ovals.

Blue and Green Set

This pendant is a similar size and mood to the pendant I used in my Analogous Challenge example. I have paired the pendant with Marble, Sodalite, Moss agate and wood beads.

I am really excited about this new section of the challenge! A really great set of beads has been donated as our prize! I will announce the prize next week!

Part 2-- Analogous

The second section of the Beads-of-Clay & Artisan Clay Color Challenge Begins today.

Check out all the info on the Beads-of-Clay blog here- http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/2010/01/analogous-color-challenge.html

You have 4 weeks to enter Part 2 and there are 2 more weeks left for part 1 of the challenge.

What's New? Bead shows, 400th sale, OH my!

Ring of Fire Donut

It has been quite a while since I have blogged about the new goodies in my etsy shop. And all the new things going on around the studio....

By the Fireside Pendant

I am very excited to announce that I will have a table at the Berks Bead Bazaar in Reading on February 27th and 28th.

Pink Bursts Button Set

I am also super super excited that I will be sharing a booth at Bead Fest Philly in August with Jennifer Van Benschoten! WooHOO!!! I am so stinkin' excited!

Big Pink Button Set

What else??? I am only 5 sales away from my 400th Etsy sale in my ArtisanClay shop! WOW! This last 100 went really fast! As always I will be giving a Fabulous prize to the sweet customer who buys the item that brings my sale total to 400. Oh, how I love to pick fabulous prizes! Summer Hodgeman had a fun suggestion, and I am going to run with it--

Rectangle 4 loop link

My fabulous 400th sale prize will be something I made just for fun, that you cannot be bought in my etsy shop. Exactly what that is.... I certainly don't know yet ;-) I have 5 sales until I have to figure it out

Handworked Blues 2 hole Pendant

Otherwise, I am working hard at working in wet clay, and my 30% off sale is still going strong. I am going to keep the sale going until I make a good bit of progress at paying off my husband's hospital bills. Funny how a couple of hours in the emergency room equals so many hours as a bead maker ;-) It's all good, I am glad he seems to be healing.

My brother bought his second business! Yay! He has now added Powdercoating to his Wet painting business. He does custom finishes for industry. Hospitals, military, lots of interesting stuff. He did a rollercoaster once for Disney World and then went for a ride when the ride opened. I have been helping him with the transition, since he is now running 2 businesses in 2 locations! Go get 'um big bro!

My serving of Soup

Check this out! This is what Janet sent me to work with for the Bead Soup Swap Party. I love what she chose! The wood and Heather Powers' Pendant are so my style! I can't yet imagine what I will make, but I certainly think it will have a feeling of spring with that lovely Bird Focal.

This must be the time for me to try my hand at working with Heather's beads. I just received my order from Humblebeads. I had won a Gift Certificate from Heather's Fun with Focals Challenge. Boy that was a fun challenge to try! I am so happy that I won, and that I even participated in the first place. It was so great to keep the challenge themes in mind in my work for that week. I think it really helped me turn out some great work. And... I think it is almost official-- I signed a contract today. One of those challenge pieces should appear in an upcoming magazine. Cross fingers-- The whole process made me SO NERVOUS! Head shots-- Bios-- Sentences! Ahh! I must be stronger now, because I am certainly not dead ;-0

Bead Soup

Bead Soup? What will be the flavor. Maybe something warm and fiery? Maybe fun and fruity? I wonder.

Combine ingredients: Calcite, Brecciated Jasper, Agate, Frosted Glass, Ceramic and Recycled glass pendant. Add house spices. Serve immediately.

This is for the Bead Soup Swap Party---I am sending these goodies to Janet McDonald. Here is Janet's blog I just got my package of beads in the mail-- I'll have to take a photo and show them off! I will make a piece of jewelry with them in time for the reveal date of the party!

Monochromatic Prize

http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/2010/01/monochromatic-prize.html

Jen Judd Rocks!

I know I already posted this on the Beads-of-Clay Blog, but I just couldn't stand to think that some of you might have missed it :-) I just love Jen Judd's Entries for the Monochromatic Challenge! And how about this photograph? I think it is a really good one! Of a really awesome necklace!!!

Jen also made these great earrings using Marsha Neal Rectangle charms! I really love the variety of beads Jen found to work with the theme!

Check out Jen's Blog to read more about her work!

New Work

I just unloaded the kiln today. It is always fun to see how things turn out.
I really like how the glazes look on this grey connector.

And this bright teal,

And new Cogs and sprockets and gears and wheels..... They remind me of visiting Stonehenge for some reason. I think it was hiking around and looking at the different rocks between Stonehenge and Salisbury. I never noticed rock like the ones in Salisbury before. I think I can remember a cathedral wall built with them....? My husband loves rocks, and has a collection, so I think if I ask him, he probably smuggled one home on the plane. I'm sure he knows exactly how they were formed ;-) (he says he did get one)

-- I haven't listed any of these beads just yet... I just opened the kiln today. If you are interested in anything, you can always contact me on Facebook (artisan clay) or note something on flickr (artisan clay) and I will make sure to get back to you before I add anything to my etsy shop :-)

Does anyone else like to work on the floor?

Look at me! I am so happy that I picked up a new pair of wire cutters that I just had to take a picture! I love them! They have a fancy compound action to make it easier on my hands to cut. I make hundreds of wire loops for my jewelry pieces, and some times it is quite a chore. I find the high temp wire to be really dense and hard on my hands. Did I say I was happy about my fancy new tool?

I am firing my kiln today :-) While I was sorting my beads and choosing colors, I realized how often I find myself working on the floor. I don't know, I guess I just like to spread out. I pile everything around me and grab this or that from in front or behind or over here or there.

Does anyone else like to work on the floor? I may be a little bit "different" but at least I get excited about my work ;-)

I hope you are having a great weekend!

Monochromatic Color Scheme Challenge

The first color scheme for our challenge is the Monochromatic Color Scheme. Monochromatic schemes can be considered one color. So pick one color found on the color wheel and stick to it. You may use different tones and shades of that original color.

Tones and shades are found when you add either black or white to your starting color. An example of this would be red. If you start with red and add white you will get pink. So a red and pink combination is still Monochromatic because you didn’t add any of the other colors found on the color wheel.

I chose Yellow Green. I used dark beads in yellow green and lighter ones. The challenge I found was to just stick to one color. I think the challenge for me was to not let Green and Blue-Green into the mix. I love Moss agate and it kept trying to sneak in, but the moss agate I have has a bit of blue-green to it.

So here is my finished piece! I used my Small Style A Cabochons, Agates, glass, and a silk cord.

(Cabochons like this are available in my made to order website www.artisanclay.com)

This challenge will also take place on the Beads-of-Clay Blog. There are a couple of different rules for the BOC blog challenge, but there are also prizes to be won. Please become a follower of the Beads-of-Clay blog here.-- http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/2010/01/beads-of-clay-blog-color-challenge.html

Does this sound tricky to you? It's not! Give it a try! I will be listing bead sets in different Monochromatic "inspiration" sets in my etsy shop to help you get started

Are you up for a challenge? Wanna play along?

Hello!
It is the one year anniversary of this Blog! Hooray! I have enjoyed blogging so much this past year!
It’s a New Year with new goals, and I am renewing my commitment to blogging and improving my work by initiating a challenge to myself and to all of you who would like to join in. I hope that by the end of the challenge I will have new and varied work to show in the summer season

Here is the goal: To complete a finished piece of artwork, piece of jewelry, Art Bead or Beads that illustrates each of the following color schemes within the time allotted.

Each color scheme will be open for 4 weeks, and a new color scheme will be announced every 2 weeks. This is a rotating schedule—it’s a little crazy I know, but I would like to finish it up before the busy summer season. I will list the time frame for anyone (like me) who would like to plan ahead!

So If you would like to participate, please share your photos with me and add them to the flickr group ArtisanClay here-- http://www.flickr.com/groups/1241528@N21/ So please create anything in your favorite medium hopefully within the time frame listed and share your photos of what you come up with. So for the challenge on this ArtisanClay blog, you can make anything! No limits to your materials! It's just for fun! Please label your photo with the color scheme you are working with. example: Monochromatic, yellowgreen

There’s more! Many of you know that I blog for the Beads-of-Clay Blog. We will be holding the same challenge over on the Beads-of-Clay blog—there is just 2 differences in the rules.

1. Fabulous prizes from Beads-of-Clay bead and button artists will be awarded to one of the entries in each of the different color schemes at the end of the allotted time.
2. Each entry on the Beads-of-Clay color challenge must include a clay bead, button, cabochon ect made from one of these materials -- Porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, terra cotta, raku, Egyptian paste, and clay slip – so that means earthen clay only. The entry itself can be a Bead of Clay or Set of Clay beads, or an entry can include a bead of clay. Entries are not limited to wearable arts.

Entries in the challenge should be added to the Beads-of-Clay flickr group in order to be considered for the Fabulous Prizes! Please also label your photo with the color scheme you are working with. example: Monochromatic, yellowgreen

What do you think? Are you ready to have fun, and stretch your use of color?

I will attempt to define and illustrate each color scheme on or around the opening date for each scheme for those of us who may need a reminder.

Color Challenge Time line

Monochromatic color scheme January 8th-Febuary 5th
Analogous color scheme January 22-Febuary 19th
Complementary color scheme February 5th- March 5th
Split-complementary color scheme February 19th- March 19th
Tetradic color scheme March 5th- April 2nd
Neutral color scheme March 19th- April 16th
Accented neutral color scheme April 2- April 30th
Warm and Cool Color Schemes April 16th- May 14th

Here is a very useful tool that I found to help with the challenge-- http://websitetips.com/colortools/sitepro/
It generates color schemes!

Wikipedia says this about color schemes—Here is a link-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_scheme

30% off Sale At ArtisanClay!

SALE! 30% off everything in my Etsy shop except Gift Certificates! My husband recently hurt himself and I need to pay some doctors, emergency room staff and all that fun stuff. --ASAP

You can purchase your items and wait for me to invoice you for the sale price or you can pay and I will refund your savings if you would like your items to ship immediately. You may also purchase items and choose to hold items for up to a month and pay for them together if it is convenient for you.

You may also shop my www.artisanclay.com site for beads made to order to your color choices-- I am extending my 30% off sale to cover purchases from that site too! Just follow the paypal check out and I will refund your sale discount. Thanks!

So shop both sites www.artisanclay.etsy.com and www.artisanclay.com at 30% listed prices!
Don't let your favorite pieces get away from you! I can hold items for you for up to a month-- just let me know that you would like me to do so :-)

3 New Turquoise Cabochons

I added three new beautiful Cabochons to my Etsy shop today!
Big Beautiful Purple, Turquoise and Blue Cabochon

Shades of Blue Cabochon

And a lovely Aqua and Turquoise Cabochon

Color of the year?

Fantasy Colors

Word on the street is that Turquoise is this years hottest color....

Bright Turquoise Aqua and Black

My intuitive powers have done it again. I just made a fresh group of Turquoise based pendants and Cabochons!

Powder Blue and Turquoise

All three pendants are made in one style and finished in different colored recycled glass.


Ooohh, la la. I can also make these pendants for you in your own color choices! Just ask me about it!

I hope you are having a great day-- My one year anniversary of starting this blog will be on Friday the 8th and I will have a BIG announcement for you then! Please check back! I am so excited!

I read a quote today that is perfect for how I am feeling at this moment. "Transition and Change are painful not only because of the leap into the unknown, but because your self-image is tangled up in your work." Gail Platts quoted in Make it Profitable by Barbara Brabec

I have been really working hard the past couple of weeks. I try to work hard all the time but this working hard is different than my normal routine. This work is the stuff that is out of my comfort zone, the stuff that makes me feel scared and open to criticism.

So what's the big deal Kristie? Come on now! I set a goal to submit some work to magazines and to re-do my website to offer my work made to order. Good goals, but now that I have been working on it for weeks, and nothing is being expressed as I envision it to be. My confidence is getting shaken. I just want to make beads, and ignore the yucky stuff. But where would I be then? A quitter! That won't work.

I have asked some folks to give me input on my writing and website before I open up to the final audience. That will help. I hope.

Check this out!

Kool and The Gang

by Lorelei Hill Eurto

I just love this necklace by Lorelei Eurto. It includes one of my small smoke-fried Donut Beads.

I spotted it when she first listed it on Etsy just before Christmas, but I could not share it until now. I love that rectangle opposite the donut!