THE PARTY HAS STARTED....

Last week I invited you to Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Party where blogging jewelry artists, whether designer or glass bead artist, signed up for a virtual party where we are hooked up w/ party partners who we then trade a focal bead/piece, coordinating spacer beads & a nice clasp w/. We then have to create a fabulous piece of jewelry w/ what goodies they sent & post it to our blog by February 10th. All in all, EIGHTY-FIVE artists signed up to participate! How cool is that?

I wanted to introduce you to my party partner, Jen Judd-Velasquez, of Jen Judd Rocks! I first checked out her blog to learn a little bit about her & check out what she creates before getting in touch w/ her. We've been chatting back & forth a little bit, getting to know eachother. She's a cutiepie & really talented!! (she's also in the Air Force & I grew up an Air Force brat! She's been stationed in a few places that I lived a long LONG time ago, that's been really cool!) Alot of what she does is work w/ other artists lampwork beads & other focals, like this gorgeous piece she put together using a clay focal piece by Kristie of Artisan Clay.

Isn't that fabulous? She obviously has a fantastic eye for detail. But she also makes her own beautiful polymer clay focals that I just love.

They're just so creative & really funky!! Jen actually asked me if I wanted her to send me other artist's beads or something that would coordinate w/ mine & I responded: "As far as what I'd like to work with, if I really had a choice, I want to work w/ YOUR pieces, not someone elses. I think it'll be really fun to see what I can do w/ something completely different than mine & I love your polymer pieces, so don't worry about putting together something that will go w/ my stuff. Challenge me! :o) I'm going to do the same! This'll be fun! :o)"

So that's what we're doing. I know she'll do something fabulous w/ what I'm sending her... I can't wait to see what she's sending me & start figuring out what out of the box type of piece I can come up w/!!

I thought I'd tease Jen a little bit by posting what I'm sending her... kinda. ;o)

Here's a picture of the box...

& here's a picture of the contents...
See what I mean by sorta?? LOL.

When I know she's received my package, I'll post a REAL picture of what I sent her.

Can't wait to see what everybody else is sending & receiving...& then see what they create out of it!! I'm sure there will be some extraordinary pieces created!

Till then....

Julie

END OF 2009 WORK - Part 2: EARRINGS...

Talk about neglectful... it took me almost a week to get to Part 2!! :o) Here's Part 1: PENDANTS, if you missed it.

How about some fabulous earrings???
I love the earrings that I'm creating. They're not your typical single dangly bead earrings.... these are all really different. Really cool. Funky. Elegant. If I may say so. :o) They're also LONG! Most of these are long earrings..... I love long earrings. I can certainly do them shorter, but they just look fabulous long.... especially if you have lots of hair like I do.

I make my own ear wires, too, for the most part.... and I love the combination of sterling & Vintaj brass on some of these. Check out the ones w/ the Viking knit end caps... how unusual is that? Never seen them used this way before... I think they're fabulous. :o)

Check them out...
This first pair [I offer up for your viewing pleasure] has to be one of my favorite pairs EVER!! Double Helix Psyche, Ivory & fine silver wire dots. I put them together w/ handmade earwires, viking knit caps, sterling beads & a Bali bead, too. (click images to see detail)

Here's another long pair (surprise!) Ivory & silvered ivory w/ one of my favorite vine design elements in Psyche.

This deep red pair of earrings coordinate nicely w/ the pendant I posted in the PENDANT post. Great shape! Vintaj brass & sterling findings.

Lemongrass...one of my favorite [extinct] colors (& the color that disappears from my show tables the fastest, too!), paired w/ the dark ivory & silver, very organic. Vintaj brass & sterling findings... handmade earwires.

Here are some more for your viewing pleasure. Just be sure to wipe the drool off of your keyboard when you're finished. :o)So...what do you think??? Love them, don't you??

I thought so.

Lucky you...all of these are currently available...some of them are going to be listed in my Etsy shop... soon!

WHEN ARTISTS COME TOGETHER: FOR MEESH...

Please read the following, do what you can & pass it on...

I borrowed this photo from Michelle Goldstein's website. I hope she doesn't mind. I don't even know her (other than the fact that she's an amazing artist!)... but to look @ her face & to hear what her friends have to say about her, you just know that she's a kind & giving soul.

A little something from many can really add up to something substantial & meaningful for a family going through something really unexpected & really really rough. This is one of the many things I love about a community of artists... when one of our own is in need, we pull together & do what we can, big or small, to try to help ease their burden, even if just a little.

This is the case, brought to my attention today by a multitude of friends, of fellow glass bead & jewelry artist Michelle Goldstein, lovingly called Meesh by her friends. Her friend & fellow glass bead artist, Gail Crosman Moore, wrote the following blog post in an effort to bring Michelle's story to light. Money is being raised through PayPal & an auction that Gail is putting together. See her post below to get more info. I can't say this any better, so I'm borrowing this from my friend Anne Mitchell's blog post, "Now is the time when our community with its deep collective well of creativity and generosity can come together and be a powerful force. Please be a part of this and join us in this effort."

THANK YOU for taking the time to read all of this & for helping however you can. ~ Julie

....................................................
A New Dawn...Gail Crosman Moore

In my ego-centric world things aren't going so great, but my plight will be relatively short lived. I'm going to follow sage advice and bring your attention to my/our dear friends plight....Michele Goldstein is caring around the clock for the dying father of her children. (There is no time for their family to prepare for the end of his life. Steve's sickness was unexpected and the cancer is moving quickly through his body. His death is imminent, and it's only been three weeks since he was diagnosed.)

If you know Meesh, you know that she is the kindest of souls and is always generous and puts others first. She would never think about asking for money from others. That is why her friends are asking you to think of sending her something.

In looking at the dawning of a new 'age', a new year, I want to start it right and send a loving message of direct help to one of us who is in need. Meesh has been unable to work, has needed to cancel shows and is looking at an uncertain future for herself and her two young boys.

It is my hope that we could take some immediate heat off of her situation by laying down a little padding to her nest. Could you help?

If you can help, the most direct route would be through her Paypal account (meesh@michelegoldstein.com) If you could forward this to anyone who might be interested in helping, please do!

We will be following this up with an interesting auction of donated items, if you would like to become a part of this please contact either me at gail@gailcrosmanmoore.com or Anne Mitchell at aemitchell6482@yahoo.com to develop a trust for her children.
........................
Here is a message from Meesh:

“i am humbled at the out pouring of help from my friends, family and artistic community. there are no words to express my gratitude for the beautiful humans circling my little tribe at this time. i only wish i had time to thank each one of you. thank you.”

......................................

Thanks all! Post this on your blog (feel free to copy any or all of my ramblings), to your Facebook wall & friends, eMail, etc... help spread the word.

YOU'VE BEEN INVITED TO A PARTY...

but you have to hurry...

...& there are guidelines, too....

...........(someone's got to keep us in line!)

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things is hosting a virtual BEAD SOUP PARTY.... it sounded like fun, so I decided to join her!

You need to have a blog to participate.... so if that's YOU, hurry yourself over to Lori's blog & get all of the details. You have until January 10th to sign up!

Check it out... who knows, you may end up w/ something from ME! :o)

Can't wait!!

END OF 2009 WORK - Part 1: PENDANTS...

I've been so neglectful!! I have so many pieces & so many pictures to show you... I've added some of them to my website's 2009 Gallery, but wanted to show a few of them off here, too.

Alot of these are available...some of them are going to be listed in my Etsy shop... someday...

We'll start w/ PENDANTS

Isn't this piece fabulous?? LOVE IT!
One of my favorite ways to combine Vintaj findings & a beautiful hand dyed silk ribbon from Heidi (Jamn Glass)... a little bit of sterling mixed in, too. I bought the Vintaj filigree finding to see if I can incorporate it into pieces w/ my acorns... if you look closely it has little acorns & oak leaves on it.
(click on images for detail)
I'll just show you a few angles of the rest...
I paired this beautiful heart pendant w/ a fabulous Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon...chosen to pull out the colors in the vine design.

Love this heart pendant! I think the bail on this is perfect for this piece... the width, etc. The findings are sterling, Bali silver & just a tiny Vintaj brass bead & it hangs from a beautiful Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon.

This pendant has dichroic glass underneath the center portion. I'm not a glitzy kind of beadmaker, so when I laid the dichro down & saw it w/ the dark ivory, I had to cover it up w/ a light layer of DH Ekho glass, LOL, then encased that section in clear. You wouldn't know it was Ekho & you can still see some of the dichro coming through... I really love it. Pendant has sterling silver & Vintaj findings & it's paired with a beautiful Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon.

I love this piece! Bead's not perfect, but still beautiful. It hangs from a fun Vintaj brass leaf.... pendant findings are a mixture of Vintaj brass, sterling & Bali silver. Of course it's on a beautiful Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon, chosen to pull out more purples from the bead.

Here's one more... my favorite dark red glass. Matching earrings posted here.
That's just a small taste for you. Want to see more? Visit my website's 2009 Gallery.