Lucky 2013

I was reflecting on this past year and thinking about new goals for 2014. I don't know if I'm ready to say goodbye to 2013 yet, it has been such an amazing year for me! It was so much better than 2012 and 2011 which I was definitely ready to say buh-bye to!

I learned so much about myself this year. The biggest is to grasp my God given talent and put myself out there and not worry "what if I'm not good enough". Because I put my fear aside, I filled out an application to be a part of a design team that I have admired from afar. I still could not believe it, even after I read the email that I was chosen, oh, probably 20 times. (Be sure to look for my first project on the ICE QUEEN ZINE blog on New Year's Day!)

Something else I am getting better at is being fully present when I am talking with someone, especially my family. I'm certainly not perfect yet, but I am working on it.

I think though, one of my proudest moments is Aiden creating his own art and wanting to do shows with me. He has done his first 3 this year and has been so successful. He is also understanding the meaning of being an entrepreneur, saving money and being careful what to spend it on.  He is starting to understand how he can be and do anything he wants as long as he works at it and is true to himself.

As the last day of the year dwindles down, I will continue to think about the New Year and will be sure to write down my goals and what I want to achieve and manifest by December 31st, 2014. This past year will be tough to top, but I'm sure it will be quite exciting and will have a lot in store for me because I will be dreaming even bigger!

Eucharisteo

Eucharisteo...thanksgiving...always precedes the miracle.

I love to read and a friend of mine from church was reading a book one day at the pool this summer,  "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp. Kathy told me a little bit about it and mentioned it was a book they were reading in their book club. I could not make the Monday evening get togethers, so I purchased the book on Amazon and read it pretty quickly.

Ann, the author of the book writes about "How do we find joy in the midst of deadline, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does a life of gratitude look like when your days are gritty, long and sometimes dark? What is God providing here and now?" She discovered, in giving thanks for the life she already had, she found the life she'd always wanted. She kept a notebook and wrote down her daily thanks as she came across them in the moment. 

Now, I also love to make jewelry and I am usually inspired by what I am reading at the time. I happened to be taking a webinar "Windows to My Heart" by Diane Cook at the same time and the image popped into my head what I had to make.

I really enjoyed the book and it opened a "Window to My Heart", so to speak and I translated this into my bracelet.

The base of the cuff and the heart are both nickel silver and the band in between the two is copper. On the heart I etched "Grace, thanksgiving, joy" and "Eucharisteo".

The copper band reads "The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live...He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything.

The image under the mica is part of the painting "Supper at Emmaus" by Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio. In "1000 Gifts", Ann travels to Paris with a friend and sees a Rembrandt of strangers at Emmaus eating with Christ. Everything she wrote about came together and was so clear to her at this moment. I googled Rembrandt's painting and was in awe of Caravaggio's painting and had to use it in my piece instead of the Rembrandt. Don't get me wrong, I do love Rembrandt!

"When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (Luke 24"30-31 NIV).

I had to finish the back with sheet music of "Joy to The World" - it just seemed so appropriate to me.

"Thank You, God, for the bread of now...
for Your Son and sacrifice...
for the love song You keep singing, the gift of Yourself that You keep giving...
for the wild wonder of You in this moment."

Stacking Ring Class at Eva's

Last Friday, in the 90+ degree heat, 3 of us took a class at Grand River Bead Studio with Kristina Malcom. It was fantastic! It was like getting in a hot yoga class at the same time! I think the hardest part was walking up 3 flights of stairs with such humid air.

I have to say, heat aside, I really enjoyed the class along with the two others, Claudia and Marilyn, and all of our rings turned out beautifully.

I ended up coming home, ordering a bunch of supplies, which just came in the mail a couple days ago. I can't wait to fill up my fingers with stacking rings!

Kristina and Claudia polishing away

Marilyn busy shaping her rings

My rings soldered, pickled and ready to set!

Group shot from left: Marilyn, Krisina, Mine, Claudia

Close up of my rings with a 6mm Labradorite, copper band with silver ball and a 4mm Alexandrite

Copper and Leather and ICE Resin, oh my!

Here I go again, resin crazy, both Aiden and I are filling everything we can get our hands on!

I am hooked on combining copper and leather, I really like the look. Here, I've made some bezels out of copper tubing from the hardware store, soldered on a back and micro fastened them onto the leather. In the bezels, I've included handmade paper with skeleton leaves and some rhinestone chain that is oxidized and cut into individual pieces. And of course, some text out of a thesaurus distressed with ink.

I love working with Susan Lenart Kazmer's ICE Resin®; It mixes so clear with virtually no bubbles.  You'll have to check out her site for some of her newer products and bezels, very fun! I'll be sure to share some pieces soon with her new Iced Enamels®!

My Little Artist

Here is a picture from Art by the Falls this month with my 7 year old son's work. He has the crafting bug! Everyone in the family has been saving bottle caps for him to use and his most popular item at the show was his resin filled bottle caps. I really love the look when he squirts in different glitter glue and then lets it dry. When it dries, it shrivels up and makes very interesting patterns.

We signed up to do another show, Art on the Hill in Mantua on July 13th and we're pouring resin on a regular basis :o)

And the Winners Are......

I am so happy! Out of all the entrants, my Believe necklace was picked as a runner up for the 7th Bead Soup Challenge! You can see all of the winners here.

First of all, thank you so much to Lori Anderson who organized this event, it was my first time entering and I really enjoyed making everything from my "Soup".  Thank you to all of the sponsors: - Beaducation, Kalmbach Publishing, Fusion Beads, Nina Designs, Lima Beads, and PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft for their time and contributions.

A special thank you to my Bead Soup Partner, Jennifer Davies-Reazor, I was thrilled to be partnered with you and to receive such amazing pieces to work with - I am so happy to have made a new jewelry friend and am in total awe of your work!

Faux Bone with Becky

 What a fantastic day I spent with Becky. Her boyfriend, Harry, a good friend of mine, bought her a class to take from me as a Christmas present. She chose to spend a day exploring faux bone and what a fabulous outcome she had with her first piece! For those of you who aren't familiar with the substrate, it was founded by artist Robert Dancik. It is a completely non-toxic, high grade rigid PVC that does not outgas (produce fumes) when heated properly. Because it is malleable at just below 250 degrees it can be heat formed into just about any shape. You can learn more about it at Crackerdog Design.

Becky teaches African Dance and just a little over a year ago travelled to Africa, so, that was the inspiration for her creation!

 First, she learned how to use a jeweler's saw - talk about picking that up quickly, look how great her shape turned out!

 
Here is Becky cutting out a couple discs to possibly use on her piece. After the texture was added to both sides, she applied acrylic paints and shoe polish.

                 

Becky decided to put "location markers" with tube set cz's in the countries she went to when she visited Africa. She decided to put the copper disc she cut with an etched image of a butterfly wing on the back.

 Here are the finished creations with chain. She will be stopping back at Bead Paradise in the near future to pick out a couple African Trade Beads to add a splash of color to the chain.

Thanks again Becky! How much fun it was to hang with you for the day!!!