Stephanie Recommends

It has been awhile since I did one of these posts (or any posts for that matter, SORRY!) so I thought would update you on some wonderful shops which I LOVE to shop at here on the internet.
UnkamenSupplies on Etsy:

On Edge Square Bronze and Stainless Steel Bracelet

 Ralph, Karen, and their family are fabulous to work with and they make top quality jump rings for chainmaille designs.  Their kits contain everything you need (and isn't this new design amazing?!) and they are above and beyond fabulous in the customer service department.  We have worked with them many times on many projects and we couldn't be happier.  There are plenty of places to buy supplies for chainmaille, but this is our favorite and first go-to spot to start.  Tell them we sent you!

ikandiclay on Etsy:

Mini Kaleidoscope Cane (Polymer Clay)

I came across the ikandiclay shop on Etsy last year when I was looking for small, pretty polymer beads to make earrings with.  Ivy (who lives in Omaha) makes gorgeous polymer beads and canes and what amazes me is that while the picture above shows you the beautiful details of her work, it is only part of the story.  This picture shows you the actual size and it is indeed MINI!

You can learn more about Ivy's beautiful work at her website ikandiclay.com and she also shows you how she makes her canes and how you should bake them to make them into pieces or beads.

Mimi's Gems 
I came across Mimi's when I was hunting for glue in Tierracast bails for Chris's new pendant beads he is making.  Then I fell in love with her prices, selection, and fantastic service!  She has a huge amount of Tierracast at some really awesome prices (and you can order the full package of the style).  She has a wide variety of Swarovski crystals in colors and styles I hadn't seen before too.  They are getting ready to move their store from California to Nevada (I think) so their shop will be closed for a month starting in May.  But these are some of the fabulous pieces I have purchased from them:

I have a weakness for LARGE Swarovski stones and rivoli.  Mimi's has some really cool colors of rivoli!  Stop by their website and check them out!
Good Quill Hunting and Bead Dreamers are a couple of seed bead pattern sources I have purchased from lately.  Good Quill Hunting owner and design artist Christina Neit has some really fun patterns, kits and finished jewelry.  I purchased this pattern from her:

and I made it using terra cotta and turquoise Tila beads resulting in a very Egyptian bracelet!  I added a Tierracast Ankh charm to complete the design.  Would love to show you, but can't find it at the moment to photograph it!
I met the gals behind Bead Dreamers last weekend at the Grand Island Bead Bazaar.  They are from Minnesota and these are the patterns I purchased from them!

Cheeri-O Bracelet

 

Chinese Coin Bracelet

I have started on my Chinese Coin pattern and it is pretty quick to put one ring together, so hope to have the bracelet done by the end of the weekend.  I plan to play with my seed beads all weekend while we visit with Chris's family for Easter!  See you here next week!

Grand Island Bead Bazaar

We are spending our days getting ready for the Grand Island Bead Bazaar!
Here are the details:

Bazaar website

When: Saturday and Sunday, March 31 and April 1
Where: Exhibition Building, Fonner Park, Grand Island, NE

Time: Saturday, 10-5 and Sunday, 10-4
Cost: $4 per person, children 12 and under free

New this year!  Classes (we are teaching chainmaille) here is the class page link:
class schedule
Vendor List

Julie's Xpressions won't be teaching a class, but they are having Make It and Take It projects going on all day both days and for a small fee you can do a quick class and learn a new skill!  More info to follow!

Spring~~Glorious Spring!

If there is one season that makes me want to sing, it is Spring.  I love the "rebirth" of the Earth, growing plants, blooming flowers, trees sprouting leaves, and the fields of wheat so green they make your eyes hurt to look at them.  I really love the change of all the seasons as I find it a wonderful spur to my creativity to look at the seasons and make jewelry accordingly.  But SPRING is my very favorite!  Here are a few lovely things I found on Pinterest and wanted to share with you that make me think SPRING!

New Photos, LOTS of New Photos!!

At long last, here are some new photos for you to see what we have been up to!

Vintage Owl Necklace (special order)~Chris's owl, my wire wrapping of Czech glass leaves, flowers, and crystals

Black and White and Red All Over~Necklace Chris made one day while I was working at Julies, then he came home and made the custom heart bead for it.  It is for sale at Julie's Xpressions in Hastings.

Tory in the Garden~Wienie Dog flower pendant necklace Chris and I made for my niece Creighton's birthday.

Mina's loom woven wall hanging, for sale and on exhibit at Graham Gallery in Hastings.

Sonora Vintage~Necklace using one of Chris's Sonoran focal beads and spacers, along with Czech glass beads and crystals (sold at Marble Crazy).

Bunny earrings for Marble Crazy and spring shows.

Glub, Glub fish pendant/suncatcher (Chris's bead, my design)

Half of our table at Marble Crazy

The other half of our table.

A really good picture of the Sonora Vintage necklace

Bridal Penguin couples with their pet Weinie dogs.

The drunken uncle and little sister Penguins

The before picture of the more expensive marbles on display.

The $8 marble tray

The bead and marble master!  Great picture, Huh?!

Tatterpillar Garden necklace.  Chris's beads, my bead work

Birds by Chris, Charms by Earthenwood Studio, and my beadwork.

Beaky Bird in a Cage.  One of Chris's birds wired into a "cage" in a style I learned several years ago from Carla of Beads by C.

Galactic Madness Marble on a display made by Frank Brooks.  This was the first and second marble style we sold.  It is also my favorite design!

A really cool picture with Chris's marbles and Frank's stands.  The stands look like the belong in Star Trek!

Here there be Dragons!

Keyed up beads and ceiling fan pull beads not yet glued on the pull chains

More of Frank's displays with more of Chris's really cool marbles!

New style of pendants we premiered at Marble Crazy

Chris playing with fire

One of the marbles he made during his demos.  They will be used for donations or auctioned off.

The booth next to us.  He didn't have any $8 marbles!  Gorgeous globe style marbles.  One of them was $5500. Yowza!

So there you have new photos!  Hope you enjoyed them!

Marble Crazy Recap and Current Project

Photo courtesy of Moon Marble's Facebook page

Here are the marbles that were made during demos at Marble Crazy last Friday and Saturday!  Chris's are the left and center of the 3 on the bottom row.  They are really awesome, and I will try later to blow them up larger with photo software.  We had an amazing show, and it was really gratifying for Chris as everything we sold was his work or a combination of his beads and my designs.  Great feedback and we want to thank all of the new folks who bought from us!  Thanks also to the fabulous staff of Moon Mable, always willing to sit in the booth to give us a break or just to answer questions.  Frank and Deb Brooks (the link on their names will take you to their Etsy shop) we also great, helping us design some pendants, key chains, and marble stands for display with Chris's marbles. Thanks to Mina too, for helping Chris with the driving and keeping him entertained and awake when I failed to stay awake any longer.

Meanwhile, this beauty is what I am working on!

Pattern and Photo from Good Quill Hunting

I purchased this pattern a couple weeks ago, and started on it this week.  The version I am making is terracotta and turquoise Tila beads with a Picasso finish in browns/blues for the center Fire Polish beads and gold, cream, turquoise, and brownish size 15 beads for the accents.  Fun design (once I caught on to the pattern) and I have been working on trying new seed bead stitches and designs to broaden my repertoire.  If you have not been to Christina's site, be sure to click the link on the caption, she has amazing patterns at wonderful prices!

30 Day Bead Challenge & Updates

This morning while catching up on email, I came across this idea from FusionBeads.com (one of my favorite beading sites).  In March they are conducting a challenge.  Read more about each day's challenge here and find the download calendar for the whole month here.  They are also hosting a Pinterest contest which you can read about here.

Meanwhile, we are still busy prepping for Marble Crazy which occurs this week (Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3) in Bonner Springs, Kansas.  Chris is nearing his goal of 50 large marbles plus some really pretty new pendant style beads with Tierracast Bails.  I have been busy rooting through his bead boxes creating jewelry with his products.  Chris has also been busy making some really awesome chainmaille designs, teaching chainmaille to Girls Scouts for ArtVenture yesterday, and managing the chores in the house.  I have also been trying to get the tax info finished up to get to our new tax guy, David Bierman, CPA.  David and Stacy are friends as well as customers (their daughters, Keirnan and Justine always make me smile) and we are glad to give our business to them.

I will try to post some new pictures of items this week, but with all the packing and stuff we have to do, there  is NO guarantee that will happen!  Hope your week is a GREAT ONE!

Happy Mardi Gras!

 I posted these pictures a couple weeks ago after I learned the flat spiral stitch.  I have made three bracelets since.  One for Julie's in beautiful reds and one for Pixybug in pretty pastel seed beads and round Swarovski crystals instead of the pearls.  OOOH that one is so pretty!  But since today is Mardi Gras I wanted to repost the pics from this bracelet.  Lent begins tomorrow, and though I am not of a religion that restricts the menu during that period, I am always happy because fish appears on menus!  I love almost all seafood and am glad for those 6 weeks to have the option when eating out!  Happy Tuesday, we are busy prepping for the big show at Moon Marble next week.  Chris spent his government holiday with his marble mold and scorched himself and his chair twice.  I spent last evening working up his lampwork creations into jewelry to take along to the show.  New photos soon if the sunlight cooperates!

Marble Crazy!

We received word last week that we have been accepted to be vendors at Marble Crazy at The Moon Marble Company!  Want more info?  Click this link!  We have spent the past few days prepping and wrapping our minds around doing a show in another state which we haven't done before.  Here are some of the details we are dealing with:

• Tax id number for Kansas (and may I just say, their tax system is a nightmare).
• What about accepting credit cards?  We have done so for the past year using Chris's cell to phone them in but it can take 3-10 minutes to submit the info depending on if you push the wrong button, and if we get busy that won't work.  I signed up for Square this morning but that means I will have to upgrade my cell phone from the simple $25 per month (no texting, no internet, 40 minutes of air time) to an Android operating system.  We can run it through one of our iPod Touches, but only if we have a wireless signal.  
• Hotel reservations, directions/map for getting there, and arranging schedules to be off work/off school.  Thankfully, Mina doesn't have school on that Friday of the show, but we will have to head down the day before to be able to set up for the show first thing on Friday morning (it is about a 5 hour drive from our house).  
• Inventory, what to take, what to sell!  
• Chris alternates between thrilled and nauseous! He is so excited to meet all the other marble makers and learn, but the demonstrating makes him a bit frightened (even though he demos at almost every show we do).

So there it is, prepping for a show we haven't done before.  If anyone has any helpful advice, we would love to hear it!  If you are in the Bonner Springs, KS area on March 2 & 3, you won't be sorry for stopping at Moon Marble!  It is an awesome shop!

Big Art News!

Mina and I have been juried into the "Seeing Red" show coming soon to Graham Gallery.  This is my submission and Mina made a loom woven wall hanging of the Nebraska Sunset for her submission!  Our beautiful, talented daughter also received word that she was awarded her SECOND Gold Key in the Scholastic Art Competition.  She also won a Gold Key for her marble submission last year.  This is the submission for this year:

Special Thanks goes out to Christine Brown who is Mina's amazing art teacher! 

Greetings all!  Guest blogger Chris here.  Here are pictures of some marbles I made yesterday.  I hope you enjoy...

What do you think?  I am partial to the bright pink one and the yellow tiger striped one.  I also enjoy the yellow one with the snakes!

Blog Recommendation

I came across this awhile back and wanted to share it with you.  Too funny!  Enjoy your weekend, we are about to be snowed in AT HOME!  YEAH!  Bead time for me!
Beaded Laughter