I WISH...

I wish I had enough to say daily to keep you guys entertained, but I'm so busy keeping all of my balls up in the air that I'm not even coming up w/ things to say on FACEBOOK! How crazy is that?? :o)

Things are going GREAT... I'm enjoying keeping my Etsy shop stocked... although it's ALOT of work & life tends to keep me from listing as often as I would like to, but it's really satisfying to have my work on the internet instead of just @ shows, where only a small amount of people have access to my pieces. I'm focusing on acorns these days, I just can't make enough... can't complain, but they're the most labor intensive of any of the work I do, so I have to do them in batches, which makes each step, including photo taking & listing, a process. I do enjoy it, though. I've just listed 30 new acorns in my Etsy shop, they're already being plucked up, which makes me very happy... but there you go, I have to get busy making more!! :o)

Anyway... here's a few more acorns that I listed.....
(clicking images will bring you to their listings)

& a FABULOUS skeleton key heart that I just love!

Off to make some more acorns!!

~ Julie

PAST FEW DAYS' BOOTY...

I'm busy getting pieces made for BeadFest Texas... it starts 2 weeks from today! I'm leaving Tuesday, the 28th AND I have a 3 day Kristina Logan class next weekend, so not alot of time to get ready!! I only decided to do BeadFest a few weeks ago, which I know is crazy, but I'll be ready. It'll be a great show! Hope you're coming!!

(click image for a larger detailed shot)

Just thought I'd do another "beads soaking in water" shot for you... I love these. This is what I've been doing for the last few days...

 

I've been having fun w/ skeleton key beads. Some of my favorite are actually not skeleton keys, but are sewing machine keys... even clock keys... they don't have the typical "key part", they look like this instead...

...kind of pointed (or square) on the end so I can just make an end-of-the-mandrel bead [like I typically do these days] on the end of the key & it looks great! It allows me to get a really good shape on the bottom. I love doing it... it ends up being just a really beautiful bail to hang from a ribbon or cord. The ivory heart and the piece @ the top of the picture by the big heart are made like this. So glad I found these keys!

Anyway... busy, busy, busy. So excited about Kristina's class, but need to focus on getting tons of things done this coming week!

Till then....

~ Julie

COUNTDOWN TO ETSY SHOP REOPENING...5 DAYS...

(click images to enlarge)

I've been working my butt off (I wish) to get a gazillion pieces photographed & listed in my Etsy shop & get it opened by September 8th. Shall we have a Grand Re-Opening celebration?? :o) Maybe we will. Maybe there will be a shop discount. Maybe there will be a shop discount to anyone who mentions my blog, or the BEADWORK Glass Artist article about me in their upcoming October/November issue!!!

Thought I'd put out a little teaser... a few pictures. You know how much I love to tease. 

I've been having a blast making my first skeleton keys. Yes, this is a key. It was a teeny-tiny key that was calling for a heart... but not just ANY heart... THIS heart. :o) It was made directly onto the key

These are my first 5 keys EVER. I love them. :o) They've been so much fun to do & I really love making them MINE... 

Okay, not MINE, for me, but MINE, as in JULIE STYLE. You can tell that I made them, right? I'll probably lightly embellish them (or some of them), but hmmmmmmm... they're so beautifully simple just hanging from a long ribbon. Maybe I WON'T lightly embellish them. What do you think???  

From here on out, other than when I'm REALLY on vacation, my Etsy store will be stocked daily w/ new items. I'm also going to be working on setting up a shop on my website. Stay tuned for that one. 

Till then...

~ Julie

SO EXCITED!!....

I'm so thriled w/ the beads I made today... especially the 2 skeleton key beads. They're FABULOUS!! I'll post pictures of them in the morning when they emerge from the kiln. These are #4 & #5 skeleton keys... I should show you my other ones!! :o) I have yet to be able to get any of them to move freely, although the 2nd & 3rd ones had bead release. I figure that I didn't have enough, so I have a few keys ready to go that have an obnoxious amount of release on them, so we'll see! The two I did tonight were done w/out release, so they're on there for good. So pretty.

I also made a heart that I think will be fabulous. Not absolutely sure, but it looked great going into the kiln. (colors always change from when it's hot to when it's room temp.) I started out w/ Moretti Purple Red Special (my only red!) & ended up adding some powders to it... not what I planned (not a surprise!) ....& then I added some Andrea details to it & it looked fantastic (& big!) Just not sure how it's all going to look w/ the red base. Probably wonderful. I put the powders on pretty thick in most places... but that was before I pulled it into a heart shape, so I have no clue what it's going to look like w/ the powders thinned out like that. We'll see in the morning, won't we?? :o)

Having a great time... feeling really good. I need a shower like nobody's business, though. Think I'm heading there now... who needs to sleep? ;o)

Later...