It's Here!

Today is December 1st, and the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry is now on the magazine racks everywhere!


I mentioned before that I was going to have an article and some work in this issue -- and I do -- but I am also accompanied by some fo the most fantastic artists I have ever seen! I mean, really, MY work in the company of people like Melissa Manley, and Barbara Lewis, and Denise Yezbak Moore and Cindy Wimmer and friends? Really? It's an honor, truly, and I am so incredibly happy to be among them.

(OMG, I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!!!)

Go pick up the magazine for yourself...it's chock-full of fantastic ideas and beautiful pieces of work.

Celebrate!

Oh, there are so many things in life to celebrate! SO many! Just the fact that the weather here has gotten cooler and we are now coming into the holiday season is enough for me to celebrate!

But I think in this post, I am going to take a few minutes to celebrate what I think is a major accomplishment for me this year, although for some in the art jewelry world, I'm sure it's pretty minor.

Publication.

I have always been an artist at heart. Always. When I was younger, it was only applicable to whether I could draw. I sure as heck could dance. I was thoroughly trained and beautiful. Plenty of recognition in my world. But that didn't make me an artist, really, said my young adult self. What baloney! Thankfully, I realized what was at my heart before I got to the end of my life! Now, I am an artist, in multiple media, to be sure, but that is how I describe myself, because *I* believe it. I don't really need to have anyone else acknowledge that fact, because it's essential to my soul.

Outside validation, though, is still pretty darn cool.

So today I am celebrating something I never thought would happen. In 2010 and early 2011, I will have six pieces of my work featured in five magazines. Two of the publications are out right now....

First was the September 2010 issue of Bead Trends magazine:

And the second is the October/November issue of Step By Step Wire Jewelry:


And the third should be available on December 1st, according to the website. I will be in the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry! That would be exciting enough, but what really takes it over the top for me is that two of my friends are also in the same issue -- Cindy Wimmer and Melissa Manley! I am so thrilled to be included in a publication along with such fine artists!

Edited to add: I just heard from another friend, Barbara Lewis, who is ALSO going to be in the Winter Belle Armoire Jewelry! That makes it even more exciting! I {heart} Barbara Lewis!

Check this out!

There's a little sneak preview for you, of one of the two pieces that make up that article. I have to admit it was a complete shock to see this, and I am thankful to Cindy Wimmer for sending it to me, otherwise I would still be in the dark about it! I cannot wait to actually hold the magazine in my hands and see the photography for my pieces....and see what Melissa and Cindy have in their articles, too! Only a few more weeks til it's out!

Sigh. I love celebrating things. This has been an especially fruitful year for me, personally and professionally, and I am just thrilled.

What are YOU celebrating today?

It Never Gets Old

I know that those of you who are subscribers to Interweave Press's magazine, Step By Step Wire Jewelry, will not be surprised by this, as you'll have already seen it, but *I* just got to see it, and I am beyond thrilled!

I am in the October/ November issue of Step By Step Wire Jewelry!!!



This was the very first article that I submitted that was accepted for publication, and it was so exciting to see it finally in print! Of course, I spent all of last week running to the Barnes and Noble near my house to see if it had gotten to the stands yet, and when it did, I bought two copies! (One for me and one for my mom, of course!)

The next day, a package arrived from Interweave that was my bracelets and a complimentary copy of the mag. WOO! There was even my bio and picture (taken at the Barbara Lewis workshop in Northern VA back in March)!

So. Exciting.

Aside from MY article in the magazine, there are a bunch of other great projects in there from friends of mine (and people I don't know yet!). Definitely check out Kerry Bogert's 'Sugar Plum Petticoats' -- I'm going to try those round links in a piece later in the week, I think. Also, Cindy Wimmer's 'Spirit Dancer' necklace is amazing! And Dia Daniels' 'Fetish Pendant' is fantastic....another idea I had been toying with, and it's so cool to see someone else's interpretation. If you don't already have this magazine, I suggest you go get it.

I'll be asking Santa for a subscription this Christmas, that's for sure. :)

Getting back to it...

Okay, so I think I took the month of August pretty much off. Too hot to make beads, too hot to do much, kids running around, work stuff needed doing, and frankly, I was out of inspiring ideas.

But fall is (finally!) coming, and it's on, now, baby!

My first big (real) art show is on September 26 (Arts Around The Lake at the University of Richmond), and I am in "make" mode, planning the inventory I am going to need. Thankfully the preschoolers go back on the 14th, and I know that I will be spending every preschool morning at the torch, making the beads, and at the table, making the jewelry.

Halloween is right around the corner, and so is Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's early, for the September show, but I am planning to have all 3 holidays covered in some way for my displays.

Right now, I'm working on a series of bracelets and some necklaces in "theme" colors....I am making bead sets in specific color palettes that will be simply strung and turned into earrings.

For example, the 'Hallowscream' line palettes are:
lime green/orange/black/purple
black/white/grey
lime/orange/black
orange/black/purple

I'll make sets in these color schemes and do a simple bracelet, earrings and necklace for each, and then a number of single sculpted pendants: ghosts, pumpkins, bats, etc.

Here are some of the beads from the first go-round:
I'm planning to do a Fall palette, a Christmas palette, and a Winter palette. I think I can manage enough beads to have 6 bracelets, at least 6 pairs of earrings, and 6 necklaces for each palette, plus any sculptural single pendants I think of.

I'll be making many more beads for the 'Bloomz' line I've been doing, and trying for 8 or so bracelets, earring pairs and pendants. Then there will be the rest, which will be my one-off designs, and the work that has been published recently.

God, I hope that is enough. It might not be, but there is my plan, not having done the show before.

I pray that my sales will be sufficient to allow me to buy my new torch, pay (off?) my kiln, and start paying for an oxygen concentrator.

The sales needed for those goals approaches the $1K mark. Realistically, can I do that in one day? I don't know. Should I try for it and set myself up for it? Absolutely.

And so, I pray.

Please let me stay positive throughout this incredibly busy September, let me get done what needs to be gotten done, and please let me not get to stressed out while doing it. And please help me to see the path clear to the goals I have set up for myself so I can finally, finally get to where I want to be.

And I cross my fingers, and I plan, and make, and think, and create, and design, and set-up and tear down and rearrange.

Wouldn't it be something? A new *real* torch, an oxygen concentrator AND a kiln by the end of 2010?

So Excited!!

It's ON, people!

On Thursday evening, a package showed up on my doorstep addressed to me. I almost never get exciting packages in the mail, unless I order something, so this was unexpected. The return address gave it away, though -- Northridge Publishing, the publisher of Bead Trends magazine!

In the box was my necklace, "Gaslights", and two copies of the September 2010 issue of Bead Trends!
On pages 86 and 87, you will find a far more beautiful photograph of my necklace than I could ever take, and the tutorial for making it.

Oh, THIS is the necklace, as photographed by me:

I talked about it last fall, in this post here, having worn it to a local art show and gotten lots of compliments and comments on it. (The post I am referencing is one in my 'personal' blog, mostly about my life and my friends and family)

This was the first necklace I have submitted to bead Trends, and the second piece I submitted to any magazine, following encouragement by my friends Cindy Wimmer and Kerry Bogert.

What's really awesome is that I will have five pieces of my work shown in five different magazine issues between now and probably January. It's an accomplishment for me, and I am hoping that next year I can at least do that many, or maybe more.

I'm certainly going to try!

Anyway, I really wants to say thanks for Cindy and Kerry for all of their support, always, and their encouragement, and for giving me the little push I needed to be confident and send my work out into the world on this level. Thank you, ladies, so very much!

This necklace should be in my Etsy shop later today, if anyone is interested. I'll post the link later on!

Have an inspired day!

On Their Way!

Two more packages are going out to publishers today! This makes a total of FOUR publications for me this year. And what's surprising (to me anyway) is that at the beginning of January you know how many I had as a goal?

NONE.

I didn't even think it was possible.

So, get out there and "do the thing you think you cannot do", because I am here to tell you, you CAN.


You'll just have to stay tuned now to find out all the details...