February Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Can you feel the spring coming?  I can feel it on my skin and in the light and in the mud. The kids and I visited my Dad and family in Kansas City last weekend.  The travel is on.  I catch it every spring.

My birthday was last week. I usually make a point to have a February picnic and announce the ending of winter and pronounce it officially spring.  Some years I have found myself at a frozen lake, clearing snow from picnic tables and allowing the strengthening sun to warm the bits of my face that peek out between my hood and scarf.  This year, winter never seemed to come.  I usually enjoy a few "snow ins" with my work.... I was looking for it.  I suppose we did get a few "flood ins" in the late summer and early fall though... I enjoy the times that mother nature holds me in from my wondering.  I need it sometimes. Left on my own, I think I could blow anywhere the wind will take me.... following the breeze and the season...

The past year has been a crazy ride.  Many of you have told me how happy you find me. I have been happy.  I seem to be on some kind of high, and I hope to not fall too hard when I come down.  I have found myself wondering how I could possibly be so lucky.  Job, family, friends, support, challenge, comfort... I feel like I have it all. Sometimes I don't want to believe it and I arm myself for the fall... but it hasn't come yet.  I choose my reality. ?Right?  I choose happy.  I want to remember to keep choosing happy.....I seems "unhappy" got more beads made :-)  But the priority had to be mine and my children's mental health, so bead business slacker, happy Kristie, happy babies, it has been.

Having recently separated from my husband, (I don't think I have said those words here before-I know my husband reads the blog as well as members of his family) my family was been amazing at showing me love on my birthday this year. My brother made sure that I had company to go out dancing on the weekend and then took me and the kids, my parents and his girlfriend and her son out to Hibachi Show. The kids love that place.... their laughs warmed me so much...the egg tricks and the onion mountain get them rolling every time.... I felt so warm throughout the whole weekend.

Enough with my annual, birthday, life flashing before me, post.(which historically has had it's very own entry--did I mention the slacking?)..

it's design team day..... 

The picture above shows my necklace project. As soon as I went to photograph it, I realized that it matched one of the new dresses I picked up for myself for my birthday... I am pushing summer along and a $20 bill got me a few new sundresses at the Salvation Amy... I will wear them with cardigans and tights until the temperature in my super heated office allows me to wear dresses everyday.

Here is the necklace long.  I intended to make a long necklace, one to play with....dangle in my hands when I talk and swing from side to side....don't you play with your jewelry?  Isn't that the point of wearing it?.... anyway, most of the jewelry I make these days is for myself and I tend to wear really short @15"necklaces... so I made this one so that I can pinch it short close to my neck or wear it long.  I am always doing that... making things with dual purpose....

The frosted glass ring is from Glass Garden Beads and I picked it up at Bead Fest Philly last August.  I really love them!  I have a few more and I can't get enough.  I love how they are glass colored, bright candy colors yet frosted and slightly mis-shapen which to me takes the manufactured edge off and gives me a more natural feeling.  I love how the colors and the circle shapes work with the glass fused beads that I make.

I used a jumbo chain link, a flower cap and a upwards flying bird to make a simple and playful piece.  Every part moves and I can turn the glass ring around the chain link and admire the bird and the flower as I wear it....

I forgot to take a picture of the charm sets before I sent them out to the design team, but here are some examples of charm sets made into simple earrings.  I really love the versatility of the two sizes of charms that I make. 

I am only 4 sales away from my 800th etsy sale... wow!  I am always shocked at the awesomeness of ----->  YOU!  my wonderful customers and friends... How do we do this?  I love it.  I make the things, you like the things, I mail them to you, I make more.  It's a great deal.  I certainly can't stop making them, and I am so glad that you like them and take them and love them.... So  THANK YOU!  yet again for another 100 sales and as always, whomever purchases the item that makes my little counter hit the even 100, will get a super special surprise of my choice in the mail... and those of you who have received super special surprises from me in the past, know that it could be nearly anything... but typically something I have made myself.

I am participating in the Bead Soup Blog Hop..next week?  so stop back for that!

And now----- Drum roll please!!!!

Follow the links below to check out what the design team has made with their challenge beads!



January Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Today is the day where the Artisan Clay Design team reveals what they have made with the mystery beads which I have sent them!

I can't wait to see what everyone has made.  I sent each designer a different kind of bead, so we should be treated to some very different styles of jewelry.

I took the day off from work today to have an Artisan Clay/Mental Health day and I am really excited about that.... The kids are headed to school in an hour and then I get to be alone.... well not entirely alone, because I live with other people, but more alone than I've been in a long time.

The big plan is
1) kids to school
2) find the sun on this rainy day and get my design team projects photographed and posted.
3) pick up my jewelry and pottery from a store that will no longer be selling it
4) go to a wholesale button appointment
5) find a better shop to sell my jewelry while still visiting the same town

So---- I will blog again once I get good photos of my project, but for the meantime, please visit the design team's blogs and see what they have created.

----UPDATE time--
I looked everywhere for my tripod and I have decided myself an expert tidy-upper... because it is so tucked away in such a perfect spot that it has made itself invisible to me.

So-- here is what I made this month.

It's not a new design for me, but it is new work and I really needed to break back in with some production type making time.... and I have been itching to get out and contact new stores to carry my work and this is what I want someone to carry. 

These necklaces are so fun to wear and I have made quite a few for friends/customers in the past few years.... and they have been loved, really really loved.  It is just a really simple natural style that suits my breezy spirit and seems to suit quite a few other natural breezy spirits too.

Now I'm off into the world-- new necklaces and buttons in hand and adventuring into the shopping district.  Wish me luck!

Don't forget to check out everyone in the design team's blogs.

This month Staci is auctioning off her necklace to help out a friend who is going through a tough time.  SO!  Check it out!

Thanks for coming!

Artisan Clay Fall Fashion Show Blog Hop

by staci l. smith

It's time for the Artisan Clay Fall Fashion Show Blog Hop!!!!

In case you missed the last post about the design team this month, here is what is going on- ILO a regular design team this month, we are doing a Fall Fashion Show of Artisan Clay Components in Jewelry.  The cool thing is, everyone can join in, even you!!!!
Just link up below, and make sure your blog is all about your Artisan Clay designs!

Make sure to visit all the blogs!  Because then you can stop back here and leave a comment (just one please) and let us know what your favorite design or component was.  You are then entered for a surprise giveaway~ I will be sharing one of my Artisan Clay components with one lucky winner.  Giveaway ends at the end of the day!

Like always, please make sure you leave an email or you have one linked to your blog to qualify.

Most of all~ have fun hopping!!!!!!!

Fall Fashion Show with Artisan Clay

Guest post by Staci L. Smith

Kristie's life is busy right now, like, really busy.  Like, so busy, she let me guest blog.... (thanks Kristie, I am truly honored that you trust me with your bloggers). 

So, October is flying by, and I thought perhaps, instead of doing a design team challenge this month, which would be more work for Kristie, we could thank her by doing a Fall Fashion Show of all the wonderful pieces we have made with Artisan Clay components.  It would be the last Friday of the month, October 28th, and EVERYONE can play!!!!!  Just add your inlinks that morning to Artisan Clay's blog, and we will have an Artisan Clay Fall Fashion Show Blog Hop!  Sound good?  I think it would be fun to see some of Kristie's work (and ours) through the years....so if you have old stuff, dig that out too.

Just to kick it off.....here's one of her wonderful and addicting smoke fire donuts in a silver bezel and surrounded by baroque pearls. 

So share this, and spread the word, so we can see LOTS and LOTS of new people joining in the fun this month.  Its a party people, so bring a friend!!!!!!!

July Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Check out the beads that the design team had to work with this month!

Recycled Glass fused Donuts-- The ones available made to order in standard sizing and colors to be exact.

Everyone picked one piece from this photo.

Except me that is.... for some reason I was dead set on green this month.

Could it get more simple?  Really? 
I had my mind set on furthering my ideas from last month and weaving another collar inspired by the ribbon of seaweed I saw on the beach in Oregon, but--- I couldn't do it.  It was just too much. Too much color, too much action, too hard to wear.   Life for me these days has been so complicated and difficult to figure out and I just long for simplicity.  If only life were more simple.... If only there was a clear yes or no....and people-- the wild card.   So~~ this is what you get, simpler than simple, easy to wear and no competition for the bead. 

When I decided on donuts, one of the design team members mentioned not using donuts in her work before.  They can be kind of tricky to work into a design, but some people seem to be able to find endless ways to do it.  I decided to go through my old photos and show examples of my use of donuts in the past.

I like to chain them up.

This one has a wire loop fired into the clay itself making it easy to string as you would a pendant.

This one also has a wire loop and I made it into a Christmas ornament.

Here I have used one of my cast donut bails in Bronze....

And this piece was chained up like the first few examples.

This last piece was made by Design team member, Carol Dean Sharpe, Sandfibers.  She is dealing with health issues this month and was unable to blog for this month's reveal. 

Carol made this piece for me to show at last year's Bead Fest Philly.  Carol has been so kind to make gorgeous display pieces for every one of my Bead show booths.  Carol has such skilled hands and a magic way with color and I am so lucky to have an Artisan Clay fan in her.  She is an awesome friend too!

So... are you ready to see what the team has made?

Have you made something with an Artisan Clay bead?-- then add your link below!

Design Team Reveal Blog Hop!

I am very excited to announce the second Artisan Clay Design Team Challenge Blog Hop!

This month I decided to send each member one of the styles that I have made quite frequently this past year. The photo above is what I sent. In making these pieces, it has been all about the color. I have been dying to see them in action.
 Now for the Reveal!

This is the necklace I made for this month's challenge.  I made it for my darling friend Debra's, Aunt Bonnie, who is letting me stay at her house during my trip to Oregon (today)

Bonnie likes blues and greens and I wanted to try to mix the smooth brightly colored glossy glass surface with the Matt wood and stone beads and natural fibers (waxed linen)

It was tricky for me.  I always want to pair the glass pieces in sleek contemporary designs apposed to my stoneware pieces which I use in rougher natural styles.

Here are a few more examples of how I have used this style of bead in the past...

It makes a really fun earring.

The pools of glass fracture light and can sometimes glow.

Clean and fresh

And feminine

So.... many of you know that I have been traveling.  I ended up being quite mixed up in my arrival.  I slept in Gate 78 at San Francisco Airport Wednesday night and arrived in Oregon 12 hours later than expected.  So.... I only just now was able to get this blog post up... A little late....

I am having such a wonderful time!  It turns out that a second friend of mine lives here too!   Our planned camping trip for the weekend is looking like it will be a big party.  I will post photos a little later.  There were actually photos taken of me yesterday that I will make disappear...

We'll talk about that later...

I am thinking of blogging my trip photos as a way of recording them for myself.  I hope you don't get too bored of it.

NOW----

Check out all the goodies that the design team has come up with.

Artisan Clay Design Team-- The Beads!

This Friday is the Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal Day!

I can't believe how fast it came up on me this month.

Here are the beads sent out to the team.  I sent charm sets to those members who typically use more stringing techniques.  I sent a single cabochon to those members who seem to like to use bead weaving techniques.

I only had single charms left over, so I will use one charm alone in my design....unless..... I can find another set hiding somewhere on my desk....

Why did I choose these beads for the team?

-- It feels like I have made a million of this size bead.  It feels like I have mailed out a million of these beads.  I would love to see them in use.

Simple enough-- I would like to see more ideas of how they can be used.  This is one of my standard sizes and I can make them in many color combinations and make them to order (given time) 

I can't wait to see what the team comes up with!
There are a couple of charm sets in this size in my etsy shop.

Don't forget!  You can join us on reveal day by linking up to a blog post of your own where you show us how you have used Artisan Clay Beads in your work.

Or... you can join us on Reveal Day and feast your eyes on the goodies that the team has come up with!

Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal Day Has Arrived!

Welcome!

I am very excited to announce the very first Artisan Clay Design Team Challenge Blog Hop!

This month I decided to let each member of the design team choose a bead for themselves.  The photos above were what they had to choose from.  I really love this metallic bronze glaze and as soon as I made these funky link focals I have been dying to see them in action.

Now for the reveal!

I had his crazy idea rolling around in my head.  A few months ago I started to have all these ideas for a photo shoot with feathers.  I want feathers in my hair, feathers in my hat, feathers on my purse. I want to have a fun feathery time, put on some sunglasses and pretend it's not me and glam it up :-) 

Ask my friends, I went on for weeks about this and that.

It still would be fun to try. 

I didn't get that far--- but I did buy some feathers and I did work out the hows and whys of adding them to this necklace.   I found it both tricky and fun, because for me, tricky makes it fun.  I like to try to figure out new skills with out being told how to do it.  That might be the hard way, but my brain likes the adventure.

So, what do you think?  I wonder what they would think of it at the office. 

Want to see the what everyone else on the team came up with?  I sure do!

Follow the links below to all of our design team blogs. 

If you are checking in early, and there is not at least 7 blogs listed below, check back as everyone links up.

If you have blogged about your creation using an Artisan Clay Art bead, please add your link below and let us all see what you have made!

Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal Tomorrow!

Our reveal day is the last Friday of April (THAT'S TOMORROW!) and I would like to invite YOU to join us!

Our Awesome Design team has been hard at work this month making, making, making with their Metallic Bronze Beads.  Tomorrow we will share our designs!


If you have blogged about anything made with Artisan Clay Beads this month I invite you to link up to our reveal post tomorrow as well.

Or..... maybe you are the last minute type, or are looking for a fun project for today???? Maybe?

Maybe you have some Artisan Clay beads hanging around your beads stash just waiting for their moment to be worked with.... maybe you like to have a deadline, goal, challenge.....? I invite you to use your Artisan Clay beads in a design this month, blog about it and on April 29th add your link to our reveal party! Contact me if you have any questions :-)  artisanclay (@) hotmail.com or via etsy convo :-)



Make something or not, please join us for the fun tomorrow!

Welcome to my Work, Studio, Home, Garden!

First things first! Welcome to my Blog! Welcome to my Studio, my home and my garden!

I am super happy to be participating in the Beads-of-Clay Blog hop again!

 Don't forget to stop by all the "live" blogs from 1-4pm today for their "live" giveaway 1/2 hour windows! A few of us are participating in the hop, but are not doing the "live" posting.... in these giveaways, you have a longer comment window in order to be entered to win. My giveaway winners will be announced on Monday.  We all have specials going on in our online shops for a limited time.

Use coupon Code BOCOPENSTUDIO gets you 25% off your order and special Spring Cleaning HANDMADE BEAD SURPRISES IN YOUR ORDER

Here is a little sample of some of the beads that I make.  I use mostly stoneware clay, but sometimes work in porcelain or whatever suits my mood...    This week I have been working on a few new pieces inspired by my friend and jewelry designer Staci Louise Smith.

and this leads me to Giveaway #1.....  Hot out of the kiln...

A lovely spring flower.  Comment on this post for a chance to win the piece shown here.

The kiln shed is a mess from a winter of working to load and unload the kiln, but the cold and my schedule chasing me out while leaving tools lie.  Mice have made their winter shelters and yard tools and summer toys are piled high.   

My Daughter Sonya (6) is almost finished painting her Enormous Fairy Statue.  We often work together.  She tells me that one day she will have a shop and sell my work.  That would be a lot of fun. 

And also still warm...

My second giveaway!   Again leave a comment below... leave one comment leave six comments... I don't care.  Let me know you came :-)

I have been feeling the Spring coming and I feel the pace of life changing.  My messy home has been driving me crazy and stubborn as I am, I have tried to find a way for everyone to better clean up after themselves.  I totally understand that I make HUGE messes in all the crazy things I do..... and that's more reason for everyone else to clean up after themselves, right?  Picking up after myself alone is a full time job!  ha!  So here's the improved system... See the different cube bins?  Everyone has one, even the dog. (Our dog Samson's box is turned around so that he can't open it with the handle-- because he was quite obsessive about doing just that) This replaces the large containers to the right which used to house all the winter hats, gloves etc.. for the entire family.  Maybe we can handle keeping track of personal property better than rooting through communal property?  Maybe?  I hope so.

  The kids and I are still working on their room.  My goal is to get rid of the toy box.  We have a place for dress up clothes, a place for each girl's jewelry and make up, a place for Lego's and barbies and horses... and we're still working on it.  I have to wait for more shelves to arrive at the store in order to finish the job.

Spring means gardening to me.  I grew the beans and potatoes picture last year and I will replant with them again this year.  I'll be outside planting peas and sugar snaps and snow peas and lettuce and bok choi and potatoes and onions the weekend after St Patricks Day.  I might not be able to wait that long to start planting onions.  And there is starting seeds inside as well.  Very soon indeed!   I love planting veggies! I plant my yard to the max and my mom and I have 2 community garden plots.  This year I will also be planting a garden that is grown for a local pantry.  I don't know where I am going to find the time, but I always do in the end.

I did a little experiment this winter... I planted and relocated a few things as I was cleaning out the garden for the winter.  I put a sheet of glass over the bed and I peeked in every once and a while to see what happened.  Even in the snow and not shoveling the snow off the glass for a week or more sometimes-- things still grew.  It was great to have these little babies out under the snow.... but a little rodent found them and moved into my little salad bar during the snow storms and ate quite a bit of what had grown bigger.  It was a fun experiment and new sprouts keep popping up even now.  I took the pictures here yesterday.

If everything goes well with the family today, then I will be listing the extra flowers pictured above in my etsy shop while we do our normal Sunday night routine.... PBS-- Nature and Masterpiece Theatre... I don't even know what they will be airing this evening, but I hope to be relaxing on the couch and listing on etsy by then :-)

Thanks for stopping by!  Thanks for your comments!  I don't always get back to everyone who comments, but I do really appreciate when you let me know what you think!

SALE TIME!

SALE! It's Beads-of-Clay Open Studio Blog Hop time again! COUPON CODE BOCOPENSTUDIO gets you 25% off your order and special Spring Cleaning HANDMADE BEAD SURPRISES IN YOUR ORDER! ~Now through Sunday March 6th.~


I will also be posting my Open Studio Blog Giveaways and Spring themed posts on Sunday Morning. 2 Winners will be announced on Monday. Tons of great Ceramic Bead goodness will be going on by many of our Beads-of-clay members.

There will be new work added to the shop this weekend, but not til late afternoon on Saturday and mid-morning on Sunday..... There's actually a little bit of a bead shortage around Artisan Clay land... even though I keep making more, much of it is promised out already.


I did get the kiln loaded up yesterday and start to fire as soon as I can get the nerve to go outside in the dark cold of this end of winter-- so close to spring- morning ;-)
 
I have been packing up beads to head out to Heather Powers for her Bead Cruise at the end of the month-- WOW-- It's fun packing them up, but it looks like I only made 50 or so disc beads in my last firing... time to make some more :-)  
 
So....SALE and new work coming to the shop this weekend... then probably there will be less new work in the etsy shop for a time while I make things for trunk shows, and get my jewelry retailers restocked and I do a bit of traveling-- ok for me it is a lot of traveling :-)  4 trips before June-- how am I going to pull that off?  It should be fun.

Color Chip Challenge ----Red Rebellion and Urban Midnight

Red Rebellion

 I have to tell you how much fun I had working on this Challenge!  It speaks to me!  I love color, and I had been feeling swarmed with "stuff" and not knowing what to do next.  I make so many decisions for other people and organizations and I really was thrilled with someone telling me what to do.  Weird, yes, but there is a certain measure of freedom in it. 

 This is my first color scheme.  MicroChip, Barely There, and Red Rebellion.  It was suggested that the kind-of Grey green Microchip be used as the wall color, Barely there as the trim and Red Rebellion as an accent.

 So this is what I came up with.  The Splash is the Red Rebellion Stone Coin bead gifted to me by my friend Staci of Staci Louise Originals.  She stopped by last weekend to shop my Etsy sale via my home..... because she gets to root round in my entire stash that way :-)  Smart girl :-)

In her beady friend awesomeness she came bearing gifts of fancy stones and pearls,  and that big gorgeous Rebellion was one of them.  I pulled out my color chips and let out a big "Ah ha!  That's what I needed for this"  So, Staci is Awesome...

Back on track--  I did use my own handmade ceramic beads in this piece, but true to name, they are in the Barely There part of the piece.

Lastly, the Microchip portion was made with Sesame Jasper and a Green "Marble"  It was hard for me to see the true color of Microchip.  It looked grey in the sample but green in it's use in the color chips' example room.  So grayish green it is.

 Urban Midnight

 Here is my second color scheme... Because I lost my original and Erin kindly sent me a great assortment of replacements.  Thank you Erin!  I think I will make them all as I get the time. 

OK the Colors are, Restoration Green, Urban Midnight, and Theatre Dress.

Here it is!  Urban Midnight.....  I have made this necklace design before, and I have been wanting to make it in more colors.  I really like doing that.  Finding a design that speaks to you and making it work in different color combos.... because I am all about the color.

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a set of Disc beads by yours truly, Kristie Roeder, Artisan Clay.... 
Oh Yeah!  If you're into it, I posted a giveaway on my blog last week as well.  The winner will be announced Sunday or Monday :-)

And hop on folks!

A blog hop wouldn't be complete without some hopping!



Be sure to stop and hop over to the other participants on the list below.

( I hope the links work!  If not AND Just because.... Go to Erin's Blog for a full list and Giveaway--http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/ )

•Amy Freeland

•Beth McCord

•Brandi Hussey

•Cary Scholes

•Catherine Pruitt

•Cindy Wimmer

•Claire Maunsell

•Courtney Breul

•Cristi Clothier

•Cynthia Riggs

•Emanda Johnson

•Holly Westfall

•Janea McDonald

•Jeannie Dukic

•Jennifer Cameron

•Karyn White

•Keirsten Giles

•Kelly Morgan

•Kristie Roeder

•Kristin Stevens

•Lisa Godfrey

•Lisa Tracy

•Lori Anderson

•Mallory Hoffman

•Marie Voyer-Cramp

•Mary McGraw

•Nicole Keller

•Nicole Valentine

•Paige Maxim

•Patty Gasparino

•Rebecca Anderson

•Renate Stark-Krammer

•Sandy Richardson (Emanda's mom - bonus hopper!)

•Shannon Chomanczuk

•Sheila Summers

•Stefanie Teufel

•Yelisa Rojas