Ornament Thursday

Hey, Hey....It's Ornament Thursday! No that we have moved past the Holidays, I'm making ornaments for your neck instead of the tree. This is my project for today's Ornament Thursday. I have made these cute little heart beads to look like candy. I stamped the letters into wet clay and once they were fired, I could rub an underglaze into the letters. Next, I wiped off the excess glaze and covered the hearts with their color. I had to mix these underglazes up to get the exact colors I wanted. Three coats of a satin clear were painted on and voila, they were ready for the kiln.

I strung the necklace with size 6 seed beads and some pink stones. Here's a close up below. If you don't want to make the beads yourself, I made some extras and put them in my Etsy shop today.
Make sure you check out every one's projects for this month's theme of "Love Story". Melissa Lee's project has my beads in it too! How exciting!

Ornament Thursday Blog
January is coming to an end and Valentine's Day is looming on the horizon. Whether you wish to shower the people you love with love or show yourself a little well deserved affection, the Ornament Thursday Gang has a bevy of beautiful ideas to inspire you!

Art Bead Scene
The designers at Art Bead Scene have two jewelry love stories for you! Elaine Ray links together a little love with her ceramic heart components while Melanie Brooks Lukacs tells a little tale of romance in a Gothic Garden

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Cindy's Love Story is about a hook and beads

Earthenwood Studio Bead Blog
What is sweeter than a mix CD for your Valentine? A yummy gift box in which to present it, filled with candy themed decorations, including a cute bracelet and cell phone charm!

Heart mobile
painted paper pulp hearts

Humblebeads
Heather shares her favorite bracelet design in a Valentine inspired color scheme.

Jennifer Heynen of Jangles
Jennifer has made a fun "Ornament" for her neck that looks good enought to eat.

Joolz by Lisa
This "Love Story" will last all year long! Lisa shares how beads and books work together.

Katie's Beading Blog
Here's a happy little heart project for you - use it to embellish a bag or your jeans, or as inspiration for a necklace or bracelet.

Kriss Cramer - Art Interrupted
Grow Love! Nuture and care for your loved ones every day. Use this heartfelt book, you can make yourself, to remind you of all the love you have to give.

Linda Augsburg at Make It Mine magazine
Linda's love story project is a dress she embellished by stenciling dancers and a big band along the hem. Read why and learn how to do it yourself on the Make It Mine blog.

Michelle's Love Story...
The band is getting back together again! Ornament Thursday celebrates the story of love...

Savvy Crafter
Candie's love affair with big rings continue...she's making her own now! Love Stories and more over at the Savvy Crafter! XOXO!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Ah, Love ! This satirical creation of Jean's immortalizes certain women's profound affecton for their ... handbags!!!

Strands of Beads
Love speaks many languages. Learn how to say "I Love You" in an untraditional way with Melissa Lee's whimsical jewelry project.

SwellDesigner
Alexa shares with you her truly swell and punny Valentines!

The Impatient Blogger
Love is in the air at The Impatient Blogger! Margot shares two vintage inspired jewelry designs that are oozing with romance...in a good way!

Am I crazy or Efficient ?

Okay I might be letting you into my crazy world a bit too much here, but I guess that's what blogs are for. To see how people are beyond what they make or do. So let me begin by saying, it's the new year and every year most of us make our New Year's resolutions and goals. I am no different. Every year I say I am going to exercise more, I always start out the year walking, but as soon as spring hits and I am swamped with shows and making beads it quickly ends. I don't sit still very well and you would think exercising would be good for that, but I get bored and I feel like I should be getting something done. So being the multi tasking person that I am, I asked for a exercise bike for my birthday. I got one. It's a recumbent bike, where you sit down and lean back while you ride. I also asked for an adjustable table to go a long side. Now I am able to exercise and e-mail at the same time! How great is that? Well I think it's great. I spent an hour last night riding and ordering supplies. I felt great when I got off, not because I exercised but because I got some things ordered that I have been meaning to do forever. So far everyone that I have told about my contraption thinks I am nuts. Just wondering what you think... Just maybe I will be able to keep my exercising goals this year.

It's Coming!

Ornament Thursday is coming back! I think I mentioned this before but it is in the works. Our first Ornament Thursday is next Thursday. We have picked a theme and a Thursday for each month. This month's theme is Love Story. I am working on my project now, but no hints until next week. I will keep everyone updated on the happenings as we go along, but for now make sure you check back for this fun and inspiring day.

Happy Beading!
Jennifer

WoooHooo!!!

I couldn't be more excited. Classes opened yesterday for registration on the Bead and Button website and mine is 80% full already. Only four more seats available. I was Bead and Button's experiment. They weren't sure if there customers would be interested in learning ceramic bead making but it turns out they are very interested. I have to say it doesn't surprise me, playing with clay( the ceramic kind) is tons of fun. I don't understand how anyone wouldn't want to at least try it but I am biased. So if you were thinking about signing up for the class, hurry up only four more spots!

I have one more bit of exciting news to report. Ornament Thursday will continue! Starting in two weeks, ornament Thursday will be a monthly event. I will announce more about the day once we have worked out all of the details. But this months theme is love story and I am busy thinking up my design. Stay tuned.....

Hearts, Hearts, and More Hearts

Hello everyone,
I am up to my eyeballs in heart beads. Simply Beads has a section called Triple Take. This is where they take the beads of a designer and three people make completely different pieces from the same beads. It's a fun way to see people's creativity. This month featured my beads. The designers, Margot Potter, Candie Cooper, and Katie Hacker were the designers so of course there were some really great projects. Today they have a photo of the projects on the Simply Beads home page.

Ever since the magazine has come out, I've been making loads of heart beads. It's been great. Want to see my hearts beads? They are here.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

Huge Clearance Sale !

Okay, Here it is, the big sale was talking about a few weeks ago. It is on. To see what on sale you'll need to go to my Etsy Store. I have done some new year cleaning. These are all beads that are one of a kinds, discontinued, etc. They are crowding my studio and I swear I am going to keep my space clean this year. I have marked the beads, buttons, and embellishments down really low. So check it out.

The Reason I haven't Been Blogging

I went to the office store last Saturday to get some ink for my printer. As we pulled up I saw that the pet store was having a animal shelter adoption day, I knew I was in trouble.

My one and only dog passed away at Thanksgiving. He was 12 and we had gotten him the week after my husband and I were married. We had talked about getting through the holidays and we would start looking at puppies. I think I was especially ready for one, because when you work alone all day you need someone to talk to, even if you don't get answers back to your questions.

Sure enough the boys and I went to look and there he was. It was a litter of three puppies, ten weeks old. They were so relaxed looking, something my previous dog was not so I was hooked. I called my husband over and over for the next hour until I could get a hold of him and tell him about our new dog. I needed him to "okay" him but we all knew I was sold. We brought him right home.

Now it's been 12 years since I have trained a puppy, it's exhausting! We are on his schedule basically. Bathroom breaks every half hour and sleeping next to his crate until he gets used to it. Needless to say, I and working on beads when it's his naptime and playing with him if he's awake.

With the first week under our belts we have made a ton of progress and I hope to be back to blogging regularly next week.

Isn't he cute!

Jennifer

Hey everyone!

Two pictures here....One where I was and one where I will be. I just returned from a great trip to the beach. It's been our family tradition to hit the beach after the holidays. The week started out with beautiful weather, we had a ball. My four year old is turning out to be a lot like me. He came home with two grocery sacks full of shells. We are going to decorate boxes with the shells, according to Birkley himself. Ah, he's going to be a crafter and a pack rat just like his mom. I'll post pictures later of our creations.

But now it's back to reality. These are all of the bisque beads I made before and during the holidays. I have a ton to glaze. This is my time of the year to build up stock. I would like to think I could keep the stock up all year, but when spring hits I get super busy and it gets harder to do. Maybe this will be the year to keep it going. My friend Dori, from Dreaming Bear Designs, sent me a great New Years quote. The quote is from Oprah and I like it a lot....

"Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right."

If your a quilter, you should check out Dori's new line of fabric she designed. It is so cool!

Have a great day!
Jennifer