Studio Saturday With Jangles

Hey Hey...It's my Studio Saturday over at the Art Bead Scene...hop on over and see what I have been up to.

BeadStyle Earrings Projects

Hi all, I got an exciting surprise this week. My ceramic bezels are going to be featured in a BeadStyle newsletter. It turns out if you are a newsletter subscriber you will receive a earrings project next month with my bezels. I had no idea I could get a free bead project every month by being on their newsletter. I signed up here and you can too. Make sure to look for my bezels next month.

By the way, I am in the middle of some needed updating and rearranging on my website. I did just add some new bezels to the site. Keep watching the site there are going to be lots of new beads over the next few months.


Have a great day, Jennifer

Kilns 101, new class just added

Hey Hey...Just thought I would let you know a kiln class has been added in Miami. My kilns 101 class sold out in the first day at Bead and Button, so if you are one of those people who didn't get in but still really wants to take it maybe this will work for you. It's a Friday evening dinner/kiln class. How fun does that sound? It will be running the same weekend as my Ceramic Bead Making Workshop trough the SFJAG. I think this announcement might be so new that it hasn't made it to their website, but it's on the way. I know they are already signing students up so you can contact them for more information. Hope to see you there.


Kilns 101 Class Description

Have a kiln but are afraid to use it? Thinking about buying a kiln and not sure which one to buy? This is the class for you. Many kilns can be used for ceramics, glass, and metal clay. Students will learn which kilns are best for each media. There will be demonstrations on loading and firing ceramic beads, glass fusing, and firing metal clay. We will go over sample firing schedules for all three medias. There will also be an extensive question-and-answer session, so students are encouraged to bring their kiln manuals to class.

Ceramic Bead Making with Bonus Raku

We are taking ceramic bead making to the next level to create vessels & rattles. Students will learn basic ceramic bead shapes as well as how to create hollow forms: vessels or rattles. For those who didn’t take the 2008 class, the focus will be on basic bead shapes. But, don’t worry, the 2008 class is not a prerequisite and the required kit includes all materials for bead making! In addition, all students will get an introduction to raku, with an opportunity to complete one pendant.
You can see more information here at the South Florida Jewelry Arts Guild.

Can't make it to Miami? I still have some spots at Bead and Button for Ceramic Bead Making. You can see the class lists here.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

Home is where the Heart Is

Hi there...as a forewarning...if for some reason I stop blogging or e-mailing...it's my computer. I have a laptop and desktop computer that are both on the way out. I did order a new computer yesterday but it will be a few weeks before I receive it. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope I make it till then.

So back to my post...I wanted to mention a local event that I got to be involved in. Home is Where the Heart is it's a charity auction to benefit the local Habitat for Humanity. We all got a wooden house about ten inches tall to decorate. There are some really great ones. I used my wooden house as a pattern to make a house out of clay. There it is above and you can see it on the program also. The actual auction is this Friday, if you're near here you should check it out.

And by the way the link takes you to a local artist's blog. Her name is Genevieve Gail and she also has some great work. She also got an Etsy shop with some really great pendants.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

Photography-Repost

Hi all! I am back from the Buyers Market....exhausted and still trying to recover. I had a great show and I need to start getting beads made. I thought I would feature an older post on photography today. Have a good one,
Jennifer


I Recently, have had several people ask how I go about photographing my work. I have to say I am using my third camera in the course of my business and every camera has required a different set up to get good photos. So, as with most things, trial and error is the best way to figure out what your best set up is.

The first thing I have always had is something to block out shadows. I used to tape vellum across the front of my lamps, now I have a light tent. These are great, I use mine almost everyday. See the photo above.

In the past I have used daylight bulbs or tungsten bulbs. Make sure that you set the lighting type on your camera if you have one. My last camera had a tungsten setting and I used those bulbs and I got great shots. My new camera doesn't have that option, therefore it was back to experimenting. I found the sun to be my best lighting. I live in Georgia, where there is currently a drought. So the odds of having a sunny day are pretty good. You might have to save up all you photography until you have good weather. I also like to shoot around noon. The sun is overhead and it seems to help. If you need to use lights instead, place one on each side of the tent.

My camera also has a macro and a super macro setting, which is great for beads. I almost always shoot my work on a white background. This makes for easier editing. After shooting the photograph on macro, I use Photoshop Elements to edit. It has color balance and other editing features to help with brightness and contrast.

The camera I am currently using is a Fuji finepix 600. It's a couple of years old and they have different models now. My camera before this one was a Cannon Elph. I liked them both. But like I said before every camera is a little different so you'll just need to play around with what works best.

Above is a photo of my set up.

Good luck!
Jennifer

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The official rules of Jangles Creative Celebration Design Contest

Hey there, here are the official rules to the Jangles Creative Celebration Design Contest.

Send me your best jewelry designs using Jangles beads. When the contest closes Jangles will be having a online open house to celebrate and show off all of your creations. The best part, there are prizes!

First Place
A 100.00 Jangles Gift Certificate
Second Place
A 50.00 Jangles Gift Certificate
Third Place
A 25.00 Jangles Gift Certificate

Entries are officially being accepted today and will be accepted until March 27th, 2009.

To enter please email me at jennifer@jangles.net with the following:

1. An image of your fabulous jewelry containing Jangles beads. It must have at least one Jangles bead in the piece. It must be your original work which you own the rights to. Pieces can be necklaces, earrings, or bracelets. The image should be a jpeg. and 1000 pixels in either height or width. A neutral background is always you're best bet for photographing jewelry. Don't freak out, this is supposed to be fun.

2. Please include your name, any contact information you would like posted on the blog. Examples, blog addresses, Etsy shops, website...you can't pass up free advertising if you have a business. You don't need to have a business to enter the contest.

3. Materials list for the entry.

4. A bit of background info. This can be either about you, your inspiration, or your design, whatever you feel you would like to say about your piece.


You may enter up to three entries, please make sure to send only one entry per e-mail. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. Judging is based on originality, craftsmanship, and aesthetics. Judging will be by me, Jennifer Heynen, and two other non Jangles judges.

Once I receive your entry, I will send you a quick e-mail letting you know I have received it.


Good luck and have fun.

Side note...if for some reason I don't get at least 30 entries for the contest I won't be able to go through with it. It would be a pretty boring night without your designs.

Excting Announcement

I have had it with winter and I am officially declaring it spring. I am going to be doing some fun stuff over the next few months. As you know I have been working on my new years plans and I think I have come up with some fun stuff. Let me list the fun...

I think I mentioned the new flower beads I am working on... well I will be debuting some as well as some other new and springy fun beads over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Next, I have been working on lots of craft projects lately. These are crafty projects that are all made with beads. I am going to declare March Jangles craft month. I will be featuring new projects every week for the month.

Now what I think is the most exciting bit of information....Jangles is hosting a Creative Celebration. Here's the scoop. We are kicking it off today and it will all culminate on April 1st. Let me explain the Jangles Creative Celebration. It all starts with a contest. I will be hosting a jewelry design contest with fabulous prizes. Jewelry should contain Jangles beads. (I will explain the official rules in another post tomorrow.) On April first I will be hosting another online event. If you attended my Holiday open house, you know it was fun. This one will be similar, but not exactly the same. I will announce the winners of the contest that evening, as well as feature designs throughout the night. This is a great chance for everyone to get a little inspiration and if you sell your jewelry it's free advertisement for you. I will also be having some sort of sale, but don't ask me what it is right now because I don't know. I will be working on some door prizes and other fun things once it gets closer to the date.

I hope you're all on board for some fun in the next few months. I will post the official rules in the next post. Feel free to pass it along to anyone you know, it's free to enter and there are some great prizes. Get your thinking caps on and start working on those designs.

Happy Spring!
Jennifer Jangles

I'm off to the Buyers Market

Hey Hey...I am traveling to the Buyers Market of American Craft. This is my once a year big ol wholesale jewelry show. I will be gone for the week, but I will be checking in every now and then. I still will be posting to the blog too. I promise to have photos next week of the Market. In the meantime, make sure you check back later in the week, I will be announcing an exciting event.

These are some of my pendants that I will be selling at the show.
Have a great day,
Jennifer

New Flowers

Whew! I have been working hard to get some new beads up in the Etsy shop. I just added some new flower beads, and some pendants, and other new stuff to the shop. They are all so nice and springy. It's that reoccurring spring fever thing I have going on.

I don't have time for much else today, i am working hard to get things done for my wholesale jewelry show this week. So everyone have a great day and I will be talking to you soon.

Jennifer

The Sale ends Sunday

Etsy Buy Handmade Jangles

Just a reminder that my sale ends tomorrow.I will be taking everything out of the shop on Monday morning. I have marked some things down even further. I really want all my beads to go to good homes, where they will be used and loved. This is the big clean out so I can start filling the shop up with all of my new spring goodies.

Have a great weekend!
Jennifer

Flowers

Hi!

Happy Friday!

Flowers....I have been thinking about them a lot lately. I think partly because I have a bad case of spring fever but partly because it's the new year. Flowers, especially new ones, make me think of new beginnings, starting over. I have never been one to sit still, I always have to be starting something new. My folk art class is what's new right now. I also have been working on new beads, new jewelry designs, and just new art. I am painting parts of my house new colors, and I am working on my front and back porch to make it fresh and fun. I think I am just pretty darn excited that soon, I will be able to drink coffee and read the paper on my back porch. Just a little bit longer...

Over the next week I will show you some of my new flower beads....

Have a great day and think spring!

The Sale is On!

Etsy Buy Handmade Jangles

The sale is on! What are you waiting for go shop. It only happens once a year.

I have cleaned out my studio. These beads are one of a kinds, beads I am going to discontinue, and beads I just felt like adding to the sale. I am working on new beads for spring and I want to have an empty Etsy shop to add them too. Like always, these items will be shipped right away so you can get working on your creations right away.

Established wholesale account holders will receive your discount at the sale.

January, uh I mean February Clearance

Hi ya! This is going to be a super short post today. I am working fast and furious to get my Etsy items marked for my gigantic clearance sale. I am adding all sorts of items and marking down what already in the shop. I think when it starts tomorrow I will have close to 200 items listed. Yikes! That's a lot of beads.

Jennifer

Wow! It's Monday again?

Gosh I feel like it was just Monday last week. Time has just flown by. I had a sick little guy last week , so I didn't get a whole lot done. My show is next week! I have most of my line all ready to go, I just need all those little last minute things, oh and a catalog. I did a Studio Saturday post a few weeks ago about coming up with a line of jewelry. You can see it here at the Art Bead Scene, if you interested.

If you not...you still need to listen to this. If you were one of my blog readers last year, you would remember that I had a great clearance sale in January. Well, I know it's officially February now but it's still going to be the same clearance sale. I did some cleaning, and I am going to discontinue some things on my site. Also, you will find some one of a kind beads. I am constantly trying out new designs and bead sets. When I just don't get around to finishing the project, it goes in my clearance box. I need room for my new spring things I am working on. Plus I just need a good shop cleaning at Etsy. The survey shows that you want more things on Etsy and I plan to get to it after the sale.

So the sale details are this... starting this Wednesday at noon EST my items will be added to the Etsy shop. Prices are marked...super cheap....I might add. Make sure you go through them all because just for fun I have added some crazy deals, but they are hidden throughout. The sale will run until the evening of February 8th.

I am around if you have questions about the sale....

Happy Monday, Jennifer

I am also going to leave you with some Bead Surfin links for the week.

About.com Jewelry Making
Check out our Show & Tell forum folder some amazing jewelry eye candy.

Art Bead Scene
Take a risk in your jewelry design. Why a risky color choice works.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe reviews The Fabulous Fabric Beads book.

BeadStyle magazine
Erin posted some great new stuff to tie in with the March 2009 issue of BeadStyle magazine.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi wishes she was going to the prom with her "Urban Corsage" project.

Jennifer Jangles Blog
Jennifer highlights a few posts to help with your jewelry business.

Jewelry & Beading
How about improving your design skills in 2009?

Katie's Beading Blog
Katie shares more DIY tips for stylish and fun beading. Check it out!

Snap Out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean was interviewed by the fabulous and brilliant Barb Switzer! What an honor!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Amidst the preparations for the Tucson shows, Andrew whipped a cute Baby Bird Necklace with a new Green Girl Studios fine pewter piece.