Category Archives: Cool Sites

October 28, 2013

Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead Jewelry Blog Hop Reveal

By joolzbylisa

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and the Southwest. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration takes place on October 31, November 1 and November 2, in connection with the Halloween,  All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. That’s the basics.

Sugar Skulls and marigolds are central to the theme and along with painted faces and decorations, those elements make their way into jewelry. It’s time to reveal what we made for the Halloween/Day of the Dead Jewelry blog hop! sponsored by Suburban Girl Studio.

I’ve got cuffs! Lots of etched cuffs with sugar skulls, marigolds and bright colors.

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All of the above were etched and colored by me. Colors are from Color Me This metal patinas.

In addition to the etched versions, I have some amazing glass sugar skulls from Torch by Night Lampwork. One is ring size and the other is cuff size. Both are on interchangeable Sirius System findings from McDuck Creations.

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I hope you’ll visit all the blogs in this hop! Lots of creative minds have come together. You can find them here:

Diana Ptaszynski  http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Staci Smith  http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/

Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com

Sue Kennedy  http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com

Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Linda Landig  http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com

Lynn Jobber  http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk

Michelle McCarthy  http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Karen Totten  http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com

Jayne Capps  https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Joan Miller  http://metalmudandsand.blogspot.com/

Melissa Meman  http://melissameman.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger  http://www.beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Kari Asbury  http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Inge von Roos  http://www.ingetraud.wordpress.com

Andrea Glick  http://zenithjade.blogspot.com

Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com

Lola Surwillo  http://www.beadlolabead.com

Jennifer Cameron  http://glassaddictions.com/blog

Diane Hawkey  http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com

Kristi Harrison  http://kristibasket-itsanewday.blogspot.com

Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com

Tanya Goodwin  http://www.Pixiloo.blogspot.com

Shai Williams  http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Sandra McGriff  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Marie Covert  http://thistledown-and-swaddlings.blogspot.com

Lisa Stukel  http://www.carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com

Laurie Vyselaar  http://www.Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Pam Traub  http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Lori Dorrington  http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

Kristen Stevens  http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Eleanor Burian-Mohr  http://cornerstoregoddessjewelry.blogspot.com

Sally Russick  http://thestudiosublime.com

Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com

Christine Damm   http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com

24 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Blogroll, Color Me This, Cool Sites, Creativity, Jewelry, Metal Me This, Not So Daily ChitChat

September 18, 2013

Artisan Whimsey Patina Sunset Challenge

By joolzbylisa

Slipping in under the wire with this challenge on Artisan Whimsey…I’ve been out of town for a short, but much-needed break with my parents in Colorado Springs!

Rita from Toltec Beads reminded me about this challenge and how perfect it would be to take part in with Color Me This patinas…I loved the beauty of heat patinas but I didn’t love the fact that I couldn’t replicate them at all, much less get great results regularly. I’m sure it was something I wasn’t doing, but given the fact that I love colors and also had a need to attempt to replicate some colors on design sheets for other designers, I went the route of working with some of my own blends and cold application patinas that are now on Etsy. More about those another day…

For Melinda Orr’s challenge on Artisan Whimsey, I decided to submit one of my newest creations and part of a series that will grow as the ideas are overflowing (more than the time available to implement them!)

I have been making etched copper and brass cuffs for a couple of years now, selling them on Etsy, Facebook and at shows. I love the etched textures and I love coloring them. One of my favorite patterns is a background of peacock feathers.

This is one of several color variations I’ve come up with. It features Turquoise and Sapphire over Burgundy and Plum (all from the Original set of Color Me This 6-pack). I’ve swirled and layered and sanded and played til I got something that I liked. This particular one not only mimics the colors of peacock feathers, but also has some great sunset colors with the Burgundy and Butterscotch shades. On top of these, I’ve added some  luster with some shimmer dust powders and played some more.  You can find others on my Facebook page. Check out other Patina Sunset Challenge participants

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Color Me This, Cool Sites, Creativity, Jewelry, Metal Me This, metalwork

November 20, 2012

Artisan Whimsey 2012 Holiday Collection

By joolzbylisa

Start your shopping season off right with handcrafted designs for all the special people on your list (that includes YOU!)

I’ll be offering various discount levels throughout the week (but with one-of-a-kind creations, you won’t want to wait til the end of the week to shop!)

 

Cyber Week Sale: Friday through Friday, Nov. 23-30, 2012

Use Discount Code: TAKE25 and save 25% on anything in my store for Small Business Saturday. Check back all week for additional discount codes for  available limited times.

My giveaway is a $25 gift certificate from my Etsy store. Leave a blog comment to be entered. Share my blog entry and be entered again. Drawing will be randomly chosen December 1, 2012.

Shop the finest Jewelry Designers For the 2012 Holiday Season

Many of our artists have published work & sell their beautiful pieces nationally and internationally.

See something you like?
Please click on the picture to browse their giveaway and view all their
Fabulous Handmade Jewelry Pieces.

The largest Artisan shopping event
for Cyber Week…Ever!!
It starts this Friday, Nov. 23rd thru Friday Nov 30th.

All participating jewelry designers will be offering a discount on their stores & will be promoting a giveaway.
Winners will be chosen individually by the blog owners.
For event wide discount code use: AWHOLIDAY

We will be hiding
Three Exciting Giveaways 
throughout our participants blogs.
When you find them, follow the directions to be entered!

AND! Bookmark ArtisanWhimsy.com for Future Artisan Jewelry Shopping Opportunities!

WordPress isn’t cooperating with the links, so please click this link to be taken to a display of the other participants. Thank you!
Jewelry Participants


Components Participants

39 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in black friday, Cool Sites, holiday sales, Metal Me This, metalwork, shopping event

October 16, 2012

Reveal Time: Mismatched Earring Swap

By joolzbylisa

I met Diana Ptaszynski (Suburban Girl Studio) online and then at BeadFest in Philadelphia this summer. She’s fun, talented, creative, fun, crazy, but did I mention she’s a lot of fun? She hosted a mismatched earring swap among a couple dozen other creative souls and I thought I’d play, too.

The premise was to create a pair of unmatched earrings, that coordinated, but weren’t your typical matching set. Easy, right? Not so much…Fun challenge though and I hope to do it again both in my own designs and it another challenge.

I was paired with Kari Asbury of Hippie Chick Design and she sent me some great earrings! Colorful and textural, and mismatched! You can see what I sent Kari at her blog, but here’s a photo of the earrings I received.

The hoop-style earrings are wrapped with FiberWire from Nellie Thomas of SpinCulture and YarnSweetYarn and carried in Karen Totten’s Etsy store. the cool green and teal coordinates great with these delicate ceramic beads from Nan Emmett of Spirited Earth in a soft purple and deep blue. The colors pick up the tones in the fibers so nicely! The “mismatch” comes with the colors and I love how they coordinate. I’ll be wearing these a lot! Copper wire and chain ties the free-spirited look together.

Thanks, Kari! And thanks, Diana, for letting me play along!

Now take a stroll through the other participants blogs and see what kind of creativity everyone came up with:

26 Comments | posted in Beads, Blogroll, Cool Sites, Creativity, Exchanges, Fibers, Jewelry, Not So Daily ChitChat, wire

September 13, 2012

In the Pink…

By joolzbylisa

Remember in the last post I mentioned special interest groups and what a large part they play in an online world these days? Well, today’s post is about another one of those groups and the person behind it. A group of us have been planning this “blog-out” for months, and who knew a group of chatty women could keep a secret when they are in and out of pages and groups and walls with the special person, day in and day out!

“In the Pink…” is a reference to one of my favorite people in this world: Lori Anderson of Lori Anderson Designs and the dynamo behind the Bead Soup Blog Party™ (and the soon-to-be-released book based on that HUGE online blog party.) Lori added pink streaks to her hair as a nod to her creative side and it suits her to a “T”. Check the bottom of the page for a photo of my homage to her fabulous pink hair!


This photo was taken in June at Bead & Button…Lori’s hair is longer now, and the pink is such a whimsical touch. I smile whenever I see it!

Let me back up….I have “known” Lori for years–online. I can’t even tell you when we “met”, but we’ve emailed and chatted online for years about making jewelry, books, our kids, and the ups and downs in our lives at different times. We had never actually laid eyes on each other til June in Milwaukee. I knew Lori was going to stop by my booth and yet when she did, it was still such a shock! We both squealed like 10-year-old girls who had stumbled on Justin Bieber concert tickets! I know we hugged and we might have done the jumping up and down thing, too. And then we crossed paths again in Philadelphia at BeadFest and I got to meet Zach, her son. I am as in awe of Lori, the mother, as I am of Lori, the writer and entrepreneur. Though our “real life” time adds up to a few hours, our time as friends adds up to so much more. I consider Lori one of my dearest friends.

A little about Lori

She gets more done than any 3 people I know! Lori is a talented jewelry designer whose work has been published in many magazines over the years. That’s an area that she encouraged me to pursue, as well, and I’m grateful for the nudge.

While I am always making deals with myself to blog more often, Lori is a wizard at it! She is generous with her ideas and suggestions. She coaches people and has written an ebook with blogging prompts to help those of us who struggle with that, and she practices what she preaches: blogging daily and more. Always looking for ways to encourage others to their own success.

That’s the premise behind this big blog party around “bead soup”, started by Lori  a few years ago. We just finished the 6th version of it with 400 participants over 3 different weekends. And because all of those participants (and more) from previous blog hops wanted ongoing connections after the  hop ended, Lori started a Facebook group called Bead Soup Cafe. There are now over 1100 of us (growing each day) who stop in (on Facebook) to hang out, share tips, promote our wares, exchange chitchat, ask questions, find great deals, and bridge the fact that most of us are miles and miles and even oceans away from each other. It’s the online equivalent of the kaffeklatch that my mother and her friends had…groups of friends getting together to share their days. It’s a far larger undertaking than I can imagine, and that’s where this blog hop to Lori comes in….a chance to thank her for all she does and for the great place she’s put together.

Thank you, Lori, for pinking up my life!

For more information on the Bead Soup Blog Party book and it’s concept, check out this link where you’ll meet Lori, too! (Check out the hair!)

And here’s my take on pink hair:

 

To read other stories from others participating in this hop, take a look at these blogs:

Gail Vanderster-Zwang http://angelmoose.blogspot.com

Lea Avroch http://lajewelrydesign.blogspot.com

Leslie Wayment  http://www.aabeadsonline.com/blog

Kelley Katherine Hagerty-Fogle  http://www.mylifeonebeadatatime.blogspot.com

Sheila Davis http://www.stonedesignsbysheila.blogspot.com

Amanda Effron http://craft-o-licious.blogspot.com

‎Solange Collin  http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com

Jennifer Chasalow VanBenschoten   http://www.vanbeads.blogspot.com

Isolina Perez  http://IsolinaPerez.blogspot.com

Toltec Jewels www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Mary Howell Govaars  http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com

Bee Kuhlman http://mixedmayhemstudios.blogspot.com

Lynnea Perry Bennett   http://designsbylynnea.blogspot.com

Alicia Marinache  http://www.allprettythings.ca

Heather Otto http://www.thecrafthopper.com

Kimberly Flood  http://www.goddessesandbeads.blogspot.com

Courtney White Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com

Marlene Cupo http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com

Marianne Baxter  http://www.simplyseablimejewelry.blogspot.com

Mária Horváth   http://horimarikabeads.blogspot.hu

Andrea Beth Trank www.heavenlanecreations.com

Heidi Mansfield Kingman  http://mybeadtherapy.blogspot.com

Emoke Schmidt  http://emoke1.blogspot.com

Sandra MrtzDiaz www.petaloazuljewelry.blogspot.com

Lupe Meter  http://gesmpccorner.blogspot.com

Tanya Boden http://fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com

Ambra Chicandfrog http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com

Kumi Fisher http://maliekaidesigns.blogspot.com

Sandra Young  http://blog.gypsyroadbeads.ca

Sandi Marinaro Volpe  http://www.sandivolpe.com

Gretchen Nation  http://www.artfoodlodging.blogspot.com

Mimi Gardner  http://www.othercuriosities.blogspot.com

Marian Hertzog http://mhertzog-msplace.blogspot.com

Sonya Ingersoll-Stille http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com

Terry Matuszyk   http://pinkchapeau.wordpress.com

Audrey Belangér  http://esperianterra.blogspot.com

Sandra McGriff http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Mowse Doyle http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com

 

12 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in balance, Bead soup, Beads, Cool Sites, Creativity, Jewelry, Life, Not So Daily ChitChat

March 3, 2012

Did Someone Say Soup? Bead Soup, That is!

By joolzbylisa

It’s here!

Bead Soup Reveal Day…and I made it by the skin of my teeth…again. But no one wants to hear about that. Bring on the party!

My partner, Marion Simmons, of Shade Tree Studios sent me some yummy ingredients. Here’s a recap:

Bead Soup 2012 The focal is this huge 2″ x 3″ copper filigree piece that Marion wired an equally large copper flower onto. It sparkles with fairy dust and has a beautiful ruby center. You can also see copper round beads, bead caps, rose/taupe glass beads and a delicate copper toggle. Lots to work with!

I had some luscious rose beige freshwater pearls that I’d been hoarding for the right moment. It was time. The colors were perfect! And I had some interesting copper chain…

It took a few starts and stops to arrive at something I was happy with. That’s the way it goes. I ended up with two pieces. The necklace you see below that uses the centerpiece, copper rounds and the toggle, along with my pearls and chain.

Here are a couple of views:

It’s got a very romantic feel to it, and I thank Marion for sending me ingredients that took me in that direction.  Here’s another look…the full necklace. It’s two strands, one of the pearls with the copper rounds breaking up the strand and one of the cool copper chain. I decided to hang the focal vertically.

The second piece might change…It’s sort of where I was going. About 90% where I want it. And a totally different look than the necklace. It uses the tiny glass beads from Art by Lisi, a gorgeous dyed silk ribbon from Julie Mitchell, and a couple of my own etched copper disks. The glass beads add some movement and the bracelet ribbon wraps around the wrist and ties.

Here’s a look at it tied on my wrist:

Thanks for stopping by. There are 199 other participants…the links are below or you can get there from Lori Anderson’s site too. Enjoy visiting the wonderful creations from all over the world. Thank you, Lori, for continuing to be the hostess with the mostest!

Hostess, Lori Anderson


Special Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer

1.  Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)
2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)
3.  Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)
4.  Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman
7.  Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu
 
 
15.  Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)
16.  Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)
 
 
21.  Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski
22.  Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)
24.  Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)
25.  Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs
 
 
32.  Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)
33.  Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)
37.  Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)
39.  Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)
 
 
41.  Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)
43.  Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday
45.  Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)
48.  Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent
 
 
54.  Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)
55.  Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)
 
 
65.  Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)
66.  Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)
 
 
76.  Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)
78.  Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)
 
 
83.  Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)
 
 
92.  Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde
93.  Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick
95.  Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)
97.  Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)
98.  Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

84 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Bead soup, Beads, Cool Sites, Creativity, Exchanges, Jewelry, Lampwork beads, Metal Me This, metalwork, Not So Daily ChitChat, wire

February 8, 2012

Bead Soup 2012

By joolzbylisa

I was selected to participate in the next round of Lori Anderson’s wildly successful Bead Soup Blog Party and I was paired with a lovely woman named Marion Simmons from Shade Tree Studio in Loveland, Colorado. We’ve talked online about what kinds of materials we like to work with and have sent off the “ingredients” for the Soup.

Marion sent me some really great ingredients to work with! A really large copper focal that she embellished with some additional flowers, a pretty copper toggle and some copper beads and bead caps, tiny blue crystals, and a beautiful set of handmade lampwork beads by Art by Lisi. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making a few pieces for the big reveal on March 3rd! Mark your calendars to start blog hopping through the 200 participant blogs to see a world of gorgeous creations.

Bead Soup 2012

13 Comments | posted in Bead soup, Beads, Cool Sites, Creativity, Exchanges, Jewelry, Metal Me This