Earrings and Other Stuff

Good Morning,
I made it out yesterday to take my photos, It was beautiful so I had my light tent up and was taking these pictures along with some Etsy photos. I went inside for a minute and out of no where it started puring down rain. It didn't stop for a few hours. My tent and backdrop papers were soaked, along with Otis who was helping with the shoot. He was due for a bath anyway, so I went ahead and shampooed him up while he was wet. But, I did get most things shot before the rain.

Here are the earrings I made with the new links I put up on Etsy yesterday. I think they might have already all sold, so I am making more today and will let you know when I list them again. Have you been noticing the fluorescent colors showing up in fashion again? It takes me back to seventh grade when I had a lot of it. I had a big neon sweatshirt, fishnet socks, a rubber belt, a couple of purses, some jewelry...and best of all my best friend, Tarin, Had the exact same outfit and we would wear it on the same day. That was we could like like twins. Man we were cool. I won't be adding that much fluorescent to my wardrobe this time around but I did want to add a little to my earrings.

Here is the pendant part of the necklace that s in Creative jewelry this month. I promised a photo from yesterdays post also.

Last, these are some rings I made with my disc beads and these cool wooden rings from Fusion Beads. Yes, you are seeing correctly, that is a nail holding those beads onto the ring. I just made sure the top beads was wood to absorb the shock from the hammering. Super easy!

Alrighty, I am headed out to the glaze studio to paint away....
Jennifer

New Stuff all Around

Good evening...

I haven't been getting around to posting in the mornings like I usually do, but better late than never. So I finally sucked it up and bought Photoshop. I have needed it for about ten years now but I never wanted to pay the big price tag. I finally got it last week and I have to say I am addicted. It's hard to learn all of the steps and options but oh it's fun. I made a new banner for my blog above and a banner for mt Etsy shop.

The big disc at the top of this post is also new too. I just added it to my website. I just had a project in Creative Jewelry with one of these discs used as a pendant. They will also be featured in a project in another publication next month...but more of that later. Anywho I love working with them. I have done a bunch of crafty projects and sewing projects with them too. As soon as I can get things photographed I will get my projects up here on the blog.

Also as we are speaking of new things, I just added these super cute links to my Etsy store. I made some earrings with them that I have been wearing ever since, once again no photo until later, sorry. This is the problem with posting in the evenings, it's too dark to take pictures. But I will get them up soon. I am liking these links so much, I am thinking of adding them to the website too. I can think of so many possibilities for them.

That's it for this evenings post, I have to get back to watching Wipeout with my boys. It's our favorite show....

Jennifer

My New Necklace

Hey, Hey,
The nice folks at ArtBeads.com sent me some ICE resin and other goodies so that I could show them off in my blog. I thought, why not, I am always up for a project and I love ICE resin. So I made up a cute little polka dotted bezel and put my dog Otis' picture in it. I also found a little silver dog bone charm to hang on the bottom of the bezel. To finish it off I chose these size 11 lime green seed beads to use for the necklace. So what do you think?

Ceramic Bead Making

Just a quick reminder...don't forget to sign up for my ceramic bead making class at the Beaded Frog. It starts in a couple of weeks and it will most likely be the last class of the year for me. Just think of all of the Christmas gifts you could make with the beads we make in class. It will be fun, I hope to see you there.

Jennifer

Out my Window

How cute are my baby deer? I took this picture out my kitchen window the other day. Every year we have a momma deer who has two babies and they live in our yard. This morning they had a play date with another momma and baby in our yard. I love watching them.

Tide Pools

Good Morning...

I promised more vacation photos. I am running out the door to go to a bead show today but wanted to get a few more up in the meantime. I won't make you sit through the slide presentation of the 200 tide pool pictures I took. (My poor family had too.) But I will show you a few....

I love them, I wish I could have one in my house
Have a great day,
Jennifer

My Summer Vacation

Hey, Hey,
I am back from my vacation. Actually I have been back for a few days but it took me a few to get organized and started on orders. Orders are top priority, blogging comes next. I love coming back from a break because I am always renewed and ready to get creating again. But what I am making is a whole other post that I will save for later.

The Heynen family went on their first road trip. The boys are 6 and 8 now so they are old enough to ride in the car for long distances without going crazy, so we tested their limits with this trip. We drove up to Indiana to see family and drop off the pooch at Gran and Grandad's house. Then we headed to Maine. We camped in Acadia for a week and then headed back down through Canada to Indiana. We hit some other cities along the way like Niagara Falls, CA, Portsmouth, NH, Quebec City, and Toronto. We all had a really good time.


I took 619 pictures on our trip, so I wil show you a few today but it's going to take me forever to edit all of them.

This was my favorite surprise of the trip....Quebec City, it's a fortified city that is 400 years old. I felt like I was in Europe and I got to use my French and that doesn't happen very often. Here I am super happy...I looked like that the whole time we were there.

Time Flies

Time Flies...doesn't it? I will be back in the studio from my break on Monday and I will start shipping orders right away.

Thanks for being patient while I enjoy my time off.
Happy Summer,
Jennifer

The Time to Be Happy is Now

I just wanted to say hey to my friend Dori...she has a great blog and she does some really cool art. If you like my beads you will like her things too. They are bright and fun mixed media and painted pieces. Dori and I met a long long time ago at the Chicago Gift Mart when we were both exhibitors. The Time to Be Happy is Now is her blog. You should go check it out....

Free Project-Flower Pendant

Supplies:

• 1 Large red ceramic flower
• 1 small orange ceramic flower
• 1 small yellow ceramic flower
• 2 small ceramic leaves
• 1 ceramic leaf charm
• 4 red 6mm faceted Czech beads
• 10 silver 4mm balls
• 132 seed beads, two greens
• 5 inches 18 gauge sterling silver wire
• Silver clasp and beading wire

Instructions: Before stringing the necklace, you will need to make the pendant. Assembling the pendant:

1. Take your piece of silver wire and make a simple wire loop at one end. Before closing off the loop string on the leaf charm.
2. String 12 green seed beads onto the wire alternating colors.
3. Next slide on a silver ball, the large flower, and another silver ball.
4. Just above the top of the last silver ball make another simple wire loop. This one can be small, because it just needs to slide onto the beading wire.
5. Trim the excess wire. You are ready to assemble the necklace.

Stringing Instructions:

Start by crimping one end of the 24" of beading wire to the silver clasp.

String 20 seed beads, alternating colors. Add a Czech bead and continue with ten more seed beads.

String a silver ball, a small flower, and another silver ball onto the wire. Continue by stringing ten seed beads, a Czech bead, and ten more seed beads.

Next, string a silver ball, a leaf bead, a second silver ball and ten more seed beads. Now you have half of the necklace strung.

String on the pendant that you made and continue with the second half of the necklace.

To finish, crimp the second half of the silver wire to the end of the wire. Trim the excess wire.

Jangles Inspiration

Hop on over to Katie's Blog and check out the post she has about creating this necklace....
Have a great day!
Jennifer

Free Project-Three Ring Necklace

Three Ring Instructions

The Rings in this necklace have denim blues, avacado, a cobblestone brown, and a chocolate brown. I can see this necklace worn woth blue jeans or a brown work suit.

What you will need;
• 1 large Seaside Ceramic Pendant
• 1 pair of Seaside Ceramic Hoops
• 9 brown wood 10-12mm discs
• 18 Montana blue 6mm crystals
• 132 Ecru size 6 seed beads
• 8 silver size one crimps
• 36" of beading wire
Tools Needed:
• Chain nose pliers
• Wire cutters
Instructions:
1. Start by crimping one end of the beading wire to one of the loops on the ceramic pendant. Onto the wire add two seed beads, a crystal, a seed bead, and a wooden disc. Next add another seed bead, a crystal, and two seed beads. Crimp this to one of the wire loops on one of the hoop beads. Trim the excess wire.
2. Crimp the beading wire to the remaining loop on the hoop.
3. Start by stringing ten seed beads, a crystal, a seed bead, a wood disc, a seed beads, a crystal. Repeat this sequence two more times.
4. Next string 5 seed beads and a crystal. String another ten seed beads and then slide on a crimp bead. After the crimp add another 17 seed beads, slide the end of the beading wire back through the crimp and pull snug. This should create a loop. Before crimping the bead, test to see if the loop sis big enough for the wooden disc to pass through. If it is go ahead and crimp the bead.
5. Now that you have one side of your necklace complete, it is time to start the second half. Repeat steps 1-3 to start the second side.
6. Once you have those steps finished, finish the necklace by stringing 5 seed beads, a crystal, and another ten seed beads. Follow those seed beads with a wood bead, a crimp, and another seed bead. Bring the beading wire back through the crimp and pull snug. The last seed bead should hold the wood bead in place. Trim the excess wire.

Check this Out!

You need to hop on over to Lorelei's Blog to see this really cool necklace she made using some of my beads. I am in love with it...

4th of July

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!
Jennifer