An opportunity--and look what I made.

You can skip to the bottom colored area for the opportunity part--

I found my jewelry making desk last night.  

  It had been hiding behind a pile of half sorted Artisan Clay beads and bead trays that had gone out of control with dividing and combining and newly made additions and half finished projects and ideas to be kept for future reference.   I was nervous to get started, since it has been so long since I have made any finished jewelry.  What if I had forgotten how to make jewelry?  What is my style at this point in time?  And then there is  the stubborn part of my nature who simply cannot handle being like the crowd... What if ~gulp~  I end up making something that looks trendy?  I know, I'm a little bit weird, and there are tons of folks who do very well in life by being agreeable, but I am not those people.  Alas.... always searching out a challenge, always being difficult. 

-I'm not saying that I don't like the current trends or that popular styles aren't popular for a reason ;-)

-I'm not saying the things I made last night were the most inventive new jewelry pieces in all of the world or anything, I just always want to be sure to be the me I need to be, that's all :-)  I was experiencing a little nervous block.

So-- I did end up making a few new things.  I made a secret necklace for the Button Swap with 3 of the buttons that my partner Shannon Chomanczuk (For my Sweet Daughter)  sent me.

I made the chain necklace above with some of my new "porcelain chain link" beads.  It felt good to make.  Those beads have been sitting in limbo for quite a while, stewing in my brain.  So- now I made something with them and so now I can make more beads and let other people have a few :-) 

And I made a pair of earrings.  Now my Etsy shop is back to having an earring section once again.... (with 1 item in it) 

So I've made and sold what seems like a million beads these past months/year/decade.  I wonder what has become of them.  I want to see them in use.  I want to be inspired by the way you use them to make more! 

This is the opportunity part...

I would like to start a design team.  I would like you to be a member.  Artisan Clay Design team members will receive Artisan Clay beads for their use in their artwork.  I ask that you blog/(or otherwise share on social media) how you use them.   

Interested parties should contact me via email at artisanclay @ hotmail.com Please tell me why you would like to be an Artisan Clay design team member, your website links, and what types of my beads you like the most. 

I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you better.

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.

Trunk Show EXTENDED! And Open Studio BLOG HOP SALE this weekend!

Philly folks!

  The Artisan Clay Trunk Show at The Bead Garden in Havertown has been extended for one more week! 

Get 'em while they're hot folks!  After this week my beads will be packed up in a big box heading to Kansas City, MO...   So, if you are in the Philly area... go to the Bead Garden... If you are in the North Kansas City area.... check back for more details about my next Trunk Show scheduled to begin around Mid-March....

And if you are nowhere near either of those areas..... come by this blog and my Etsy Shop this weekend and SHOP my BEADS OF CLAY OPEN STUDIO BLOG HOP SALE AND GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!    ha!

If I'm really hardworking and I don't get dressed and don't stop for food ( for either myself or my children) than I might have some really fun experimental beads to share with you... on Sunday..... to giveaway.... maybe. 

And if I don't then I will still have a killer sale and great bead studio spring cleaning surprises in every order.

A Christmas Workshop

Last week my friend Beth clued me in on her great Christmas gift idea for her Nana.  She wanted to make a "worry jar" for her...and maybe I could help.   I think that is the perfect gift for Nana.

Here's Beth!  She hasn't made anything in clay since 7th grade when Ivan Belac, a blind potter, came into art class and helped everyone make a pot!  Truth!  Ivan Belac coming into art class in 7th grade is legendary--- he came to so many years of art classes.  Beth's older sister, Debra, myself and Beth span @10 years of art classes at my guess.    That brought back memories.  I think my clay future was carved in Mrs. Barnacks art class.  I used to convince other kids to let me wedge their clay for them.

Here is Beth's work!  Nana's worry jar!  with buttons! 

Here is mine.  We used Sandi Pierantozzi's method--- seen in this video-- http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/handbuilding-techniques/handbuilding-video-how-to-make-a-textured-tripod-pot-with-soft-slabs/#comment-5763
Sandi has done workshops with my potter's group, but I never made it to the workshops. This video crossed my path right after Beth's request and I thought it a perfect fit for her worry jar idea. 

I also tried to make a planter for my brother.... I don't know if it is going to work.  He said he saw a narrow linear planter for planting grass... for on your desk.  He said this way back in June or July.   So here it is.  I gave it a try.  We'll see how I feel about it when it is finished and how I feel about looking at it every day while at the office.  The growing grass is supposed to be calming.  I'm thinking Chia pet  ;-)   Beth says it should be made into a Dachshund shaped planter....  I don't know how to attach a head, and I suspect that would loose the Zen effect....