Wires n Pliers

Etsy Treasury: Flower Power! Millefiori, A Thousand Flowers

2012-02-02T21:22:00.000-08:00

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing.

We are honored to be included in an Etsy Treasury devoted to Millefiori Glass, rather, caned flowers! This Treasury brought to you by Cathy and her Etsy shop named CathyMakesCards.

I will be spending the whole evening away from home, internationally moving between Israel, the UK and Ireland.

Unrolling my now famous magic carpet, I smooth it out preparing it for my long ride. But first, I feel compelled to backtrack a bit, refreshing myself with millefiori before I completely immerse myself in it.

Millefiori is a distinctive style of glass working where multicolored rods of glass are fused together in bundles and are then cut in cross sections. Depending upon the size and shape of the rods fused together the outcome effect will differ when cut cross wise.

Flowers are the usual result and there are many different flower styles, shapes, and color combinations. Famous millefiori comes from Venice where all the really neat glass originates (among other locations, including homemade lampwork, because we all know, it all came from the home originally).

Recently even polymer clay has been successfully used in the creation of millefiori, too as we will be seeing tonight!

Not having seen polymer clay made into millefiori, I decided to make a visit to YouTube before leaving on my adventure for the evening. I have to say that I spent some time there learning and watching as canes of clays were painstakingly rolled and cut, rolled and cut in successive patterning, then laid back down again and rolled and cut some more.

Finally canes were made then they were cut into sections and each section was rolled and made into beads then threaded onto metal skewers and baked. Later they were coated in a protective covering and then made into jewelry. What fun!

The Hamsa is considered a powerful talisman against the 'evil eye,' and is usually worn around the neck or hung on walls or over the doors of homes and businesses, or over a baby's bed, where it will ward off the evil eye.

On that note I think I’ll make my first stop at a shop that works with polymer clay. The name of the Shop is Mirakris, Colors of Life. MiraKris is also part of the owner’s name Mira (pinki) Krispil, and she answers to Pinki.
Pinki creates every piece of sculpture and they are each a One-of-a-kind piece of art. Pinki’s been making millefiori for about 7 years now, and loves working with all of the colors. She even has bowls which are very beautiful.

One of my favorite pieces is a sculpture of a bull. This bull is a full 6.5” high and 10” long, made completely from clay polymer millefiori flowers each one painstakingly created by hand, utilizing just about every color of the rainbow. The bull also has a ringed tail and horns and is very unique! There is just something about a big strong bull and delicate sweet flowers.

My attention was then caught by something different. Pinki has named it Zentangle, and they are hand drawn art in black and white, in a digital format made exclusively as download art for personal usage for your art!

My display of Pinki’s Zentangle, of course bears her watermark, but yours won’t when you receive your purchase via email. They’re perfect because you can download it many ways, with either an inkjet or a laser printer, in many sizes and formats.
Pinki also has bowls in which she has covered their outside edge with polymer clay millefiori. They’re beautiful, and useable (no dishwashers tho') and can also be used as an ornamental bowl display.
Her shop is most colorful, and I have really enjoyed my time here…. But now I must move onward.

Off to the UK now, for my next stop.

I swoop down to my next stop, Leeski, in Surrey, England! Leeski is licensed to sell Murano glass, and has a beautiful collection to offer, from millefiori to foiled and even hand blown (or hollow) Murano glass beads.

My first glance found these pretty earrings made from hand blown Murano glass.

I love the pink and light green two-toned pattern, with its textured exterior, and when the Swarovski element AB crystal beads are nestled in the bottom of the beaded earrings they look spectacular! Add the gold fill findings and they become an immediate dazzle!

Next I turned to another type of glass bead, an encased style (and favorite style of mine), in which a transparent base is used with the artists style of additional artwork, in this case a reticello (opposite directional twisting) in white glass caning which criss-crosses in a beautiful pattern. Then the bead is encased in another layer of transparent glass and finally flowers have been painted in the molten glass leaving a raised pattern effect. Freshwater pearl accents and goldfill metal work finished the look.

I have to say I am so happy to see the gold fill used; it seems lately that because of the sky rocketing price of gold, that many artists have avoided using it. It’s too bad, too. I love it and enjoy seeing it and for that matter, I also enjoy using it, myself.

The moon is up and it’s time to go; and away I ride into the night.

Now a hop, skip, and a jump over to Ireland, to our Host’s shop: CathyMakesCards

click me to go to Cathy Makes Card shop.

Cathy’s shop is based in Drogheda, Ireland, and she makes all occasion cards, never two alike, in many different styles and using different applications. Depending upon the card she may even embellish her cards with gems, buttons, ribbons, and more.

This cupcake card is really nice looking with the dark background and envelope. I like its presentation.

You can always be sure that you have a unique card to give at any occasion, and here’s a football Birthday card to prove it (Note in the US it would be called a soccer card), either way it is really cute!

OK, it’s a long ride home, and I am going to get an early start on my voyage home.

On my flight home I think about all the really nice things I have seen and what I have learned about millefiori glass, and I am reminded that Cathy also chose an item from my shop wiresNpliers for her beautiful Treasury.

For Summer Sunshine, I chose to mix summery colors of royal blue with lemon yellow for this Princess length (a little over 19”) necklace. I have these really neat citrine yellow Swarovski Element crystals and they remind me of faceted lemon drops! Along with these crystals I have added lemon yellow fiber optic cats eye beads that glow in any light. Tied with pale aqua silk, in a suspended bead style, it also has seed beads accents of pale satin aqua and silver. Each Royal blue millefiori disk bead glows is 14mm and its caned flowers are of yellow, blue and white.

*~*~*

Well, I am back at home now, and ready to turn in for the evening, I have my tea and it has started to rain outside, so I think I'll say goodnight now.

I would like to personally thank Cathy for choosing to add wiresNpliers to her Treasury today, and I would also like to thank all the wonderful artists also chosen for the Flower Power! Millefiori (A Thousand Flowers)Treasury.

This has been a very exciting TravelBlog and I have had fun traveling across the world to visit such exceptional shops tonight.

Thank you again, Cathy
Carol

Men's Jewelry Shops, A Treasury at Etsy

2011-12-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing.
Hovering will show you secret messages.

Well, I am going global tonight!
I am in another treasury and this time it appears I am going International.
I like this particular Treasury because it’s all about Male adornments. It’s hosted by Nadin Sandler of NadinArtGlass.

I had fun shopping and choosing which items to focus on. One thing I learned, what I thought I liked turned out to be a bit different than what I found I liked even more, once I visited the shops I chose from the treasury.

So tonight, while I unroll my magic carpet, the telemetry I will be charting, starts from San Francisco, then onward to the UK and then continuing to Israel, and finally around the remainder of the globe back to our western coastline (or the NE PAC coastline, as I like to call it.) It will be a global flight for me tonight.
So, let’s get started!

From my home down to San Francisco it is a quick jump southward to a much more populated land of enchantment, elbow to elbow innovation and creativity, and the origin of many of our own local artists from back in the 70’s. My first stop tonight, is the shop of JimColony Gemstones and Jewelry.
At first I hesitated thinking I was in a bit over my head with what first appeared to be fine jewelry and then I realized that he has a great mix of style, and an eclectic blend of taste with a bent toward the natural state of stones (which I adore).
I will admit to skipping past the prong settings and the gorgeous jewelry that appears one might find on a velvet bust in a jewelry store focusing more on what I think a lot of men might look at first.

Mens Byzantine Steel and Copper Chainmaille

This might be a difficult trip for me tonight, as I am quite often swept away by items in shops allowing my personal taste to get in front of my reasons for being here in the first place, so I’ll apologize up front, lest I sway into the feminine realm momentarily while showcasing these beauties directed toward the men.
Upon first laying eyes upon this wonderful shop let me just drop some names that we don’t always have to pleasure of seeing here at Etsy all that often. But anyone who loves gemstones as much as I do, let me just say this before I move on to my first showcased item from JimColony: umbalite, heliodor, demantioid, moldavite, imperial topaz, and more. If those words have any meaning to you, you be should be here visiting!

First things first, this guy does some of his own faceting! How cool is that? To be able to facet one’s own Contra Luz opal, or facet some kunzite. But I digress, as I am shopping for a dude, a guy, and if it’s not for a jewelry guy, it has to be really “guyed up” so I will stay in the more rustic sense white I am here, and my first stop takes me dangerously to the edge of that ‘being swept away” thing about myself that I mentioned above.

This is not as girlie as I first thought, but I would wear it in a heartbeat (if I can get my DH in here to get a good once over and a “look see” ). It is a Spessartine garnet (also called mandarin garnet by many) crystal hanging from a chain.

Natural Spessartine Crystal Pendant

Very basic and yet so basic that it sings “Fine, classic, rustic, original, minimal” and I find that the longer I look at it, the more I want it! How often does one see the original natural shape garnet in the perfect size hanging from a chain? Hm? This makes this my second $60 item I want in my Christmas stocking, this year.

Forged Round Sterling Pendant

JimColony also has this really neat sterling silver pendant that he made: It reminds me of grapes hanging in the vine, and its reversible, he oxidized it and it is on an oxidized chain which, in my opinion is a perfect fit for this unique pendant.
JimColony also has another pendant in his shop (pg4) made in the same way and that one looks at first glance to be a dragon (ok, maybe only in my mind), and some other very neat items, shown below:

Dragon ~ Tanzanite Slide Bead ~ Steel Chainmaille

You simply must come to visit his shop. You will find that he covers all price points, so while some items might be over the top for my wallet, others fit right in (like that $60 Spessartine crystal, honey, if you are reading this).

Leaving San Francisco I fly high over the US and the great pond, to the United Kingdom, or England as we call it. Land of my fathers, fathers, fathers, fathers (OK, we've been in the US since the early to mid 1600’s so I am not how sure how many fathers, fathers to count backward without getting out that old scroll and opening it up), to land in Angelique’s shop called “TheRavensDaughter.”

Leather, leather, everywhere, wallets, wristbands, masks, knife sheaths, bike seats, dog collars and more.

Love me Twice Cuff

In this treasury, Angelique’s wristband is one of her “Love Me Twice” wristbands. She upcycles and revamps old leather belts long forgotten and left for goners…. Angelique reloves the leather, embosses it and fits it with a snap closure and prepares it to be worn by someone new. It would be pretty hard to find another one like it, especially if you’re in the states.

So I looked around and there I was looking at stars! How cool is that? She has made astrological/astronomical (OK star maps of horoscopes) you know constellations!

Taurus Constellation Cuff

I chose my own sign for this image, Taurus. I like how Angelique has the hole size in relation to the star sizes in the constellation! Very nice.

Wrist/ Boot Strap ~~ Celtic Stone Cuff

Vintage Tea Party Flower and Leather Cuff

Angelique's Facebook page invites her customers to post images of their purchases “in action” a perfect contemporary version of the old “Word of mouth” advertising.

And now before returning home I will stop by the host’s Nadin Sandler’s shop in Israel, called NadinArtGlass. At NadinArtGlass, I found some really unique supplies. I really like balled headpins especially when handmade, and will opt for them every time unless I have a need to use other types.

Leaf Drop Beads

I really like the way Nadin has applied colors and patinas to some of supplies too.

Colored Filigree trumpet Cones

She also has a line of jewelry, and she is a SRA registered for her hot glass ratings. I learned something here. She makes those cute charms that have the wire coming out of them. I have always loved this type of headpin/bead; but every time I get my hands on them, the wires have been bent so terribly much that they no longer hold any shape, much less have any remaining ability to hold a wire wrap.

Glass bead headpins

Now to see them right after they have been made, it recreates a faith in me that I had pretty much turned away from, and I know that I can securely wrap into jewelry without the fear that they will fall off the moment I turn my head away.

Green Drop Beads

Yes this shop is surely going onto my favorites, right now.
Nadin has a blog, and a Facebook page in addition to links to her other shop and blogs etc on her profile page at Etsy.

Handmade Red Hearts

Now turning toward the long trip homeward, I reflect on Nadin’s wiresNpliers choice from of my Men’s Blue Krobo Sand bead neckwear for her Treasury.

All in blue with a handmade African Krobo sand bead in coke bottle aqua shade, this necklace is meant to be worn high on the neck peek through an open short collar or wherever it ends up showing.

Blue Krobo Sand bead Neckwear

Made in the traditional way the Krobo bead gets its hole by having a kava bead rolled up and placed into the mold of glass sand before firing. During the firing process the kava leaf burns away, leaving the bead hole!

Blue Krobo Sand Bead Men's Necklace

I thank Nadin for including my Men’s Blue Krobo Sand Bead Neck Wear in her beautiful Treasury tonight.

And big Thank Yous to the artists for their special items that I got to see on my TravelBlog tonight, too.

Thank You Nadin,

Carol

An ArtFire Collection: "Sunday Favorites"

2011-11-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing.
Hovering will show you secret messages.

A Collection of Sunday Favorites

I know I am going to have fun here…

When I woke this morning, I stumbled into my family room and settled into my sofa with my morning coffee and opened my laptop thinking I'd be doing some preparation for tomorrow's purchases in celebration of Cyber Monday. I had no idea of what I was shopping for so I went directly to my email to see my messages and to discover what type of ads I had stacked up in my Inbox awaiting my perusal.

I had the usual stack of Ebay watch alerts that I usually click through, which I did today since nothing new or exciting caught my eye. Suddenly, I was staring at an email from a fellow ArtFire seller informing me that I have been included in a Collection. Yippee!

I always save these for last after clearing my inbox so that I can relax and at the same time get excited to find what was chosen from my to display in someone else’s Collection. I always feel so honored that someone else would consider an item of mine to display as a favorite of theirs!

So it appears as though I will be unrolling my Magic Carpet today, and then going on a ride! Charting my course, I find I am covering vast distances, too! I’ll be starting in Northern Wisconsin, Saint Germain to be exact, and then heading to Mesa, Az., and finally I’ll be jumping the left pond to visit the Philippines, where the creator of this beautiful Collection resides.

My first stop, after whipping out the wrinkles and folds from my Magic Carpet, will be across the country from me, to Wisconsin, in fact what I refer to as “way-up Wisconsin.” Saint Germain (St Germain) is almost at the Canadian border, and I arrive amidst the snowflakes and chilly weather. My destination is the WireSculptress shop, by Kristine Schroeder.

Her Wire Art is probably some of the best I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. There have only been a few people that catch my attention with wires as I find a lot of them beautiful but none the less what I consider to be overdone. Now Kristine’s are up there right with the intricate wire wrapping designs, but for some reason overdone is not a term I apply to her work.

Vesta Goth Art Nouveau Earrings

It is gorgeous with a capital “Gorge!” which she describes as: “From Yesterday’s Future ..To You.”

Every single piece ranks as A-1, and explodes with gorgeousity, and not a single piece appears overdone, even though she includes many extras and designs in her work. Many of her pieces are Steampunk and Goth and perhaps that is why they have caught my attention so well!

I looked at page after page of her jewelry and every page held surprises for me. Here is a pretty bracelet that swept me:

Samantha Claire Filigree Bracelet

While Kristine utilizes many of the techniques one sees on other wire wrappings, her eye for detail and just the way she sees things are what attracted me. I am very pleased that I chose her shop as one of my focus picks from the Sunday Favorites Collection today.

As I look back at this snowy scene, I depart with a wonderfully new and impressed view of wire in art and I totally agree with her statement “Reinterpreting Victorian, Steampunk, and Gothic styles of jewelry.”

Kristine

Thanks Kristine for your keen creative ability and thanks for “Pushing the boundaries of wire sculpture and cold connection” and sharing it with the world in your shop at ArtFire!
Oh, and while we’re at it, we must check out Kristine’s web page too!

Next stop! From the snowy northlands to the warm and balmy southwest. We’re headed to Mesa Arizona! We’re going to see Lynn at Desert Rubble! Yay!

I love Desert Rubble! I have a piece of her work, too. I have a big blue green eye. And it looks like it belongs to a serpent! But I have digressed, so let me get back on track. The very first item that caught my attention as my Sunday Favorites Collection page loaded (and I saw this before I saw my own product; I admit it, I was looking for my own item first), but Lynn’s Mace stood out first against the page of Sunday Favorites for me.

Gothic Mace

There‘s nothing like a Mace for a good conversation piece, and even better as a pendant hanging from a neck! YES. I’ll tell you, back when I was shopping at Lynn’s Desert Rubble, I had a hard time trying to choose between the Mace and the Green Serpent Eye. The Serpent’s Eye won out for me because I was, after all, shopping for a pendant to make jewelry with, not for my own pleasure. Had I been shopping for my own pleasure, the Mace would be in my jewelry box right now, next to my cat o’nine tails. :o) oops TMI…. I also thought the Mace would make a great statement regarding my marriage to my darling Hubby. I’m his ball and chain. You bet I am, and never forget it, either!

Lynn makes the coolest jewelry. If it is not Sim-metal hinged fish, it’s body parts, or eyes, or dragon flies, moths, sci fi and more.

Industrial Gold DragonFly

I love the look of spot welding, rivets, and screw heads and springs and a mish mash of parts showing. Lynn’s polymer clay has it all. Looks like metal!

Lynn talks of her desire to start casting in resin, and I read somewhere (probably in a forum) that she’d like to start working with precious metal clays, oh yeaaaaa, Lynn, bring…it…on! I’ll be watching for new and exciting things to emerge in your shop, down there in the desert!

I love her statement: “I feel free when playing with clay, liberated, you can just do anything with this stuff.” And I have to agree, she has certainly done well with her imagination here!

Lynn

Lynn has a website and a blog, and I am sure you will enjoy yourself perusing both sites!

Ok, the time has come to return to my native Pacific Northwest, or as I like to call it My Pacific NorthEast, because in reality, we are in the Northeast quadrant of the Pacific Kingdom, after all.

But first, a stopover at our host of the Sunday Favorites: AccentsandPetals. So across the Pacific Ocean I go, all the way to the Philippines! This has got to be one of the best flower arrangement sites I have seen in a long time and I have to agree with the site’s statement of:

“Accents And Petals Where Flowers Last A Lifetime!”

I am quite impressed with the arrangements because they are made from paper and wood and recyclable things!

Purple Wooden Daisies

At first I thought they were made from silk but no, I was wrong. The wood they use has been salvaged from shipping crates then painstakingly shaved and formed into flowers!

The scraped wood and paper left overs are then recycled into paper beads to sell at their ArtFire Shop too.

But you’d better get there fast, because I just bought some of their beads and flowers, and I suspect that others will be there soon, too! Well, so much for my preparation for CyberMonday shopping tomorrow. It has now become my CyberSunday shopping. No! Wait a minute! It IS Monday in the Philippines! How perfect is that?

Recycled Paper Beads!

To see more of their beautiful custom corsages and arrangements look at their blog.
…Wow! Very Impressive! In a way I wish I was getting married (again) so that I might have AccentsandPetals make some bouquets and corsages (including boutonnieres) for me, too.

~~
Birch wood flowers~~~~~Folded Stars

Oh, and word has it that they are having a Giveaway on their Facebook Page, too: Be sure to “like” the page for a weekly giveaway random drawing!

Well, the time has come for me to return homeward now.

While on my way home let me tell you about the item that was chosen from my shop, wiresNpliers, for the Sunday Favorites Collection by AccentsandPetals.

The item chosen was one of my handmade copper bookmarks called “Bric Brac Love That Black.” This copper bookmark was shaped in a tight undulating wave pattern then with a right angle turn at the top where the hook dangles outside the book spine in an opposing wave pattern and finally adorned with a transparent lamp work bead laden with black applied flowers on its outside edge.

Bric Brac I Love That Black

Below the lamp worked bead another bauble hangs: a cubed jet black Swarovski element crystal. I especially like the texture mixing of the dainty and curving edges of the flowered lamp work, with the angular-edged crystal, as I felt it added to the wave patterns. The shank and top outward face of the bookmark have all been hand scribed by me into the copper creating a flowing pattern.

Bric Brac I Love That Black

Care was made to ensure that all of my bookmarks lie flat inside the books we read. My bookmarks are all buffed and finished with museum grade antiquity wax.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, I am back at home now and I want to personally thank AccentsandPetals for including my shop in their Sunday Favorites Collection today!

I have had great fun on my virtual travelblog today, and I have you and all the beautiful artists to thank for it!

Thank you,

Carol

Gemlover’s ArtFire Collection: Give Thanks For Our Art

2011-11-03T23:48:00.000-07:00

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing.
Hovering will give you secret messages.

Well, it appears that I am going to be getting my Magic Carpet out again. That’s 2 times within 24 hrs! Yay!

This time it is for an ArtFire Collection! Some of our Guild members (that’s the Artisan Jewelers Guild aka AJG at Artfire) were chosen by John, our fearless leader, for his display in his Give Thanks For Our Art Collection. There are 12 spots open and I was lucky enough to get one of them in this great Collection.

So I am going to take a little jaunt to see the shops of some of the other players in this display. I have chosen 2 members to feature.

My first stop is Hagerstown, Maryland. I wonder if it snowed there a couple of days ago, during that early season snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast…

I am traveling to see KathrynDesigns tonight. Her shop is beautiful, and is filled with vintage impressions engineered with a modern styling in her jewelry.

Kathryn on the job

Kathryn’s Flower Heart Polymer Cuff was chosen by John for his collection, and it was created with polymer clay and resin in shades of russet, silver and gold. A flower of copper and gold sits in the middle and is coated with resin for a dimensional and glasslike finish.

Kathryn says that this piece, lightweight though substantial is: “Earthy meets Girly.”

Kathryn likes to create mini collages in jewelry with her polymer clay, utilizing precious metal clay (really neat stuff) in pure silver, gold, and copper.

In Kathryn’s shop I came across her Heart Necklace in antiqued gold with a swirl charm in it. I really like the depth it shows. And it really looks great with the 17 inch gunmetal chain that holds the heart just below the base of the neck, looks so cool with the colors in this heart necklace.

I also found this Pair of earrings in her shop that really look pretty.

I think they would look perfect with long straight hair (especially bright blonde) that would frame them so they could catch the light at just the right angle allowing the black faceted bicone beads to flash back.

And did I mention that Kathryn has two really cute and probably totally spoiled dogs?

Eddie the Sheltie and Allie the Papillion

As I leave to move onward to my next stop I look back at KathrynDesigns one last time noticing that she has a blog….And word has it, there’s a contest currently going on, ending Sat Nov 5th at 11:00pm, EST (that’s 8:00pm here on the Great Time Change day, when I will relish that extra hour of unaccountable free sleep …. Sigh.
Next stop Donna Jo’s, in Des Moines~!

I am visiting Donna Jo at her shop NaturallyNickelFree where she creates specialty jewelry, for those that might tend to have sensitive and highly reactive skin.

Donna Jo uses Argentium, Niobium (one of my personal favs to work with), titanium (one I would like to get experience in) and metals that persons with nickel allergies can almost always find the ability to wear without discomfort.

Donna Jo, busy at work

Of course, like me, those being of a rather high 'maintenance' personality, wear specialty metals even though I don’t have an allergy. We just plain love them. But then, I can probably wear a pencil lead in my ears with no problem, not that I would; mind you. I am not sure whether that realization is good or not so good, so let’s just move on.

Wire Wrapped Jasper Necklace

Donna Jo is a wire artist that loves working with beads, especially beads that are textured and colorful, while knowing that it is the wire that makes the creation, as Donna Jo says “Come alive.”

Donna Jo has her degree in theater education, she writes, and enjoys all of the arts including music, so of course, she’s an artist….with a specialty!

She has a lot of information networked through her shop bio page, her main website, and her blog, and in addition, her listings have specific and valuable information for the reactive shopper that requires the more hypoallergenic metals.

While at Donna Jo’s shop I found this a remarkably beautiful niobium chain pendant necklace.

From the pure natural niobium, being virtually inert to the skin, Donna Jo has curled and hammered this chain, link by link, one after another, shaping a beautiful wave pattern 19 inches long, making this one-of-a-kind handmade necklace shine all on its own...

Donna Jo then took it a step farther by adding (what I would call) a globe of fluorite, a natural semi precious gemstone which looks to be about 25mm or even larger in size. Looking through it, I am dazzled by its dimensional effect.

Next, I found some cute lamp work earrings that I am pretty sure drew my attention because of their bumps and curls and beads that slide.

The bumps on the transparent yellow lamp work have black and white bulls-eyes with red bumps in between. The curls hang below with green sliding beads that float along the bottom edge on each earring. Very Cute!

Well it's time for me to head east...

...to our fearless leader’s shop: Gemlover

John is a grad Gemologist (+40yr) and I believe his fire was lit, when his wife handed him a parcel of gems and said and I quote: “you’re the gemologist, what are these?” One thing led to another and John was cutting his own stones, and next stop GIA Jewelry Design and Repair….whoa he’s up there..….

Together, John and his wife, Deborah’s work makes my head spin, Deborah’s designs with John’s knowledge base, add them together, and you have some pretty significant works of art. John has some rings to die for, and I have to say this, I love his shop because his shop banner is an image of ….. daps ! Priceless!

And one more thing before I leave. When you are visiting Johns Shop Gemlover be sure to look in his pendant section and his gallery for some tasty jewelry treats! And then there’s John’s Ganoskin blog. There’s always something interesting to read there.

Well it’s time for me to return to the West Coast.

I am hungry and I have Indian Food in my refrigerator waiting for me.
I am so glad that I can sit back while my Magic Carpet does all the work for me, I can reflect on the item from my shop that John picked for this great Collection.

Baby Snakes

He chose my Baby Snakes Copper Bookmark style earrings, which are cold forged copper spirals in the style that I use for the bookmarks that I make. They have been patterned, then darkened and finally buffed with a tear drop dangle added…..oops I’m home…And I’m hungry, so I am just going to link the picture of Baby Snakes directly so that you can just “go there” while I am eating my dinner.

Back at home I roll up my Magic Carpet, tucking it away in its secret location until the next time I feel the need to take a travelblog adventure.
My Indian food awaits me.
Thanks John at Gemlover, our leader and dapper…hey….yea he’s our dapper, literally!

Carol

Etsy Treasury Created by Initasworks, features WiresNpliers

2011-11-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing

So I was just finishing up some shipping and cleaning my little work bench area that I use when I create, which is actually my coffee table (so I can hang out near my family), and I happened to check my email and there was a message from Inita of Initasworks.

Not being familiar with the name Initasworks, I decided to see what it was about and I found that Inita has included wiresNpliers in her lovely Green Treasury that has been named:

Always So Topical Bright Green

Oh boy, I said to myself. I get to take a trip! Then I checked to see where Inita lives, and uh-oh (actually yippee), she’s on the other side of the world! Good thing there’s no such thing as “Carpet Lag!”

Unrolling my Magic Carpet, I quickly check it for any wear and tear, since it’s going to be a long day for me, and finding that everything is ready to go, I hop on, grip my fingers into the front facing fringe and I am off~~~~ to... are you ready for this? Latvia! Yay! How fun is that? Good thing Inita specializes in leg warmers!

While I travel this leg of my journey (no pun intended), I decide to take a look at Inita’s Treasury, to see what’s going on. Everything is vibrant green, the same green we see through the backsides of spring’s freshly unrolled leaves that have the sun shining on them; the green of Granny Smith apples, beautiful lush and warm green!
My eyes immediately see an image of some gorgeous bulky green yarn that comes from Heidi at Faroeviking, in Ottawa, Ontario, so I think I’ll stop there while on my way to Inita’s place.

Heidi at Faroe Viking has got one of the most picturesque banners that I have seen in a long time, a cold and misty ocean scape with jagged outcropped rocks, and green lands, and well, I just know that I would love it there. This is definitely the land that respects and glorifies the warm Sun when it does appear from behind the fog, mists, and clouds.

Heidi dyes and then spins her own yarn from fleece she purchases locally, and in her listings she includes the name of the local farms she harvests from. In addition to that, Heidi also supports other Etsy fibre sellers by using some of their fibres as well.

She also weaves blankets, and not only does she have fibre sheep and alpaca, she also creates plant based vegan yarn from soy silk! I must say I am quite impressed. I have never knitted or crocheted, but I love textiles and fibres and felted items so this stop at Heidi’s is quite a pleasure for me.

Now here’s the personal kicker for me, I fell in love with this, though I have no idea what it would be used for: SUPER COIL YARN! Check it out!

What a wonderful shop! As I leave Faroe Viking I vow someday, I will travel here, and maybe even take a lesson from Heidi (if she teaches) on that Ashford Traditional Spinning Wheel!

I have decided to turn Southbound so that I can stop in at ....

PatsOfClay

Pat, of PatsOfClay makes pottery that is fun, spirited and useful as Functional Art, display, and collecting, and I have to say that Pat has taken it a step farther and made this art her salvation after retiring from her teaching position. But she does explain how she witnessed the relaxation on her students faces when she would hand each of them a ball of clay and let them go….

As I mentioned, Pat has found her 'peace' with clay. Facing an unknown future with a pervasive illness, she has dealt with the stress that one feels when having to make life changes. I know how this works personally, because of my own recent situation, and I so love to read about others that have stepped up to the plate when dealt a hand of cards that sometimes feels as if that deck was stacked (see Sarahbushka, below).

Pat creates beautiful work and I love her analogy when she writes that she throws clay (oh I’ll bet she’s thrown some clay in her day), on the wheel. OK, I admit it, I already knew the term throwing clay, but when reading her profile, through misty eyes I suddenly saw her throwing clay .

Pat also makes slip casting art. For those that do not know about slip casting, it is a form of pottery, where greenware (unfired) is created with a low viscosity clay that is poured into double sided molds and dried then the mold is separated and the greenwware is fired, and later painted and glazed. It is an art, that is for sure.

And of course every single item is different, including Pat’s slip cast molded work as she finishes and glazes every single piece individually.

Her words are definitely inspiring, and as I mentioned before she has truly found her inner spirit. I am so happy I chose her work to visit today. For I know the effect art and creativity can have in releasing stress from our bodies and minds, and I couldn’t agree more when she states:

“Act on your inspired ideas ... Follow your heart...Love what you do!”

As I travel to Initasworks, I realize that Inita is another textile freak, just like a lot of us…… And she makes tablecloths!

She also makes colorful leg warmers (see top image below the treasury). Inita is a textile designer and has worked in the industry for over 20 yrs, and loves to create fabric as a hobby. She knits scarves, ponchos, multi colored and multi-textured Gaiters Hand knitted leg warmers, and even some booties. In her shop right now she has a Black Green and Purple scarf that is really cute!

~~*~~*~~*~~

Well, it is time for me to come back home now, and as I return I want to tell you about the necklace that Inita added from our shop wiresNpliers. Inita chose Sarahbushka’s Celery and Greens beaded necklace.

I am not sure if Inita knew it when she chose this necklace but she chose well because the artist Sarahbushka (AKA Sarah) is also a student of the arts, one that needs to blow off stress every once in a while, as do the rest of us that happen to share the household with her. Sarahbushka is what is considered a “classic Autistic” once called Kanner’s autistic, and she is also developmentally disabled. To keep it short, you can click her name, or you can go to our lo-o-o-ong shop profile to read about her and her pursuits in life, but know that she is an artist, one who loves to express herself through her work.

Returning home, I roll up my carpet for my next travelblog, fix a cup of tea and reflect upon my visits today, realizing just how rich I feel, virtually meeting all of you, and I want you to know that I have returned home with a little piece of each of you within my heart today, and I have Inita to thank for all of this.

So I say warmly, Thank You Inita, for opening my heart this morning. Peace be with you, and with all of us, good cheer in the coming Holiday Season.

Namaste.
Carol & Sarahbushka

The Season is upon us.

2011-10-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

I feel like it is time to start the Celebration of sour apple season.

Blue and Yellow, An Etsy Treasury by Kandy

2011-09-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing

A little bird came to my window and told me that we’ve just been included in another Treasury at Etsy, and that I’d be pleased to find that one of my necklaces has been included, but more about that later. The Treasury called “Blue and Yellow,” is an exceptional Treasury, a duo of great Summery Shades, brought to you, by QuiltsByKandy!

Without spilling a drop of my wine, I gathered my spider web weavings and set them in a safe location, and I unrolled my Magic Carpet in preparation for an evening jaunt to visit the Treasury and then onward to the shops of some of the participants including the curator’s shop to see what all the fervor was all about.

Tonight I decided to start at the farthest point and work my way back towards home, and that means I would be headed toward Flemington, Missouri with my first destination to be the shop of SherrisQuilting to view the Treasury item that Kandy chose for her Treasury, Sherri’s Log Cabin Quilt.

I don’t know too much about quilting but I am always amazed to see the way creative minds work when it comes to making things like quilts. Many little pieces of material sewn together, then batting added, more sewing and wha-la a gorgeous quilt is the result! This Log Cabin Quilt is a traditional style and Sherri mentions that it was sewn in the daisy pattern and I find it to be very pretty with the blues on one side of each square and the yellows on the opposite side. A nice effect if I do say so myself, even if I am left wondering what the daisy pattern actually means. Here is what it means to me: This is a gorgeous KING size (94x110) and it she has it listed for only $250.00. That is a great price!
Not only does Sherri make custom quilts, she also makes quilts in school themes and even baby burp cloths and receiving blankets!

Sherri’s Quilting: "Crafted in the Ozarks - One of a Kind, One at a Time."

Now heading westbound my next stop is Denver Colorado, where I will have some foot fun with shoes at CustomDesignedShoes by Kate Friedman. I will be honest and admit that shoes are not the usual item I will stop and look considering that Etsy is a handmade site that also features vintage and supply items, so when I see brand new shoes I am a bit on edge, but then I looked closer and saw the beautiful way that Kate has embellished each pair she sells.

Kate takes the time to customize every single pair in rich colors with feathers, beautiful ribbon work, flowers and sparkly rhinestone adornments. Her D’Orsay style shoes and look very flattering on the Bridal Party, or any party for that matter. And to me, any shoe that has a cut-out, especially in the arch makes a sexy statement reaching farther than just exposed toes, and the leg above it.

Kate also has a website with further information about her art! Check it out! I love her shop banner: Design Your Pedestal! Apropos!

Before returning home, I must stop in Moreno Valley, Ca, to visit the Treasury curator’s shop: QuiltsByKandy, where “Everyone Deserves Their Own Quilt!!!”
That’s right, Everyone does deserve their own quilt. I can attest to this as I was recently delivered my own quilt from my childhood! My mom had saved the quilt that all of us had shared over the years while growing up at her house, and it was given to me! What memories! This is why I like quilts! With good care they will last from generation to generation.
Kandy has a unique method of quilting.
She makes custom T Shirt quilts. Talk about having your own quilt! A person can ship to her 25 of their most favorite T Shirts (What a great way to memorialize favorite TShirts) and she will sew them into a quilt!

Kandy also makes other Memory quilts, quilted coasters, shams, embellishments and even patterns (PDF), and her quilts are in many sizes. I fell for this baby quilt because of its cute pattern!

From wiresNpliers, Kandy chose my floating bead “Summer Sunshine” Millefiori and Cats Eye necklace. I chose these gorgeous royal blue millefiori coin shaped beads and added lemon yellow cats eye, all tied in pale aqua silk and adorned with citrine Swarovski crystal elements, silver discs and shimmering aqua miyuki delica seed beads.

I wish to take this moment to thank Kandy again for including my necklace in her pretty Treasury at Etsy.com. I had a wonderful evening traveling form shop to shop looking at all the “pretties.”

Thank You Kandy!

The Beauty Of Pearls, An ArtFire Collection

2011-09-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

“Marquis Creations” is one of the shops I decided to focus on today. And it just so happens that the very shop I have decided to view first is also the shop that created this beautiful collection aptly named The Beauty of Pearls.

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing

Shaking out my Magic Carpet I am elated because Christy lives in Portland, Maine, up on a hill overlooking the harbor. This sounds very picturesque and like my kind of place! I wouldn’t mind moving to Maine someday, if I were to ever to decide to move away from Oregon. There are great things about both of these states that I absolutely love, and anyone that knows me knows that I only have particular states in which I will live, and Christy lives in one of them, where she creates all kinds of beautiful jewelry.

Christy’s shop’s blog mentions that she has been making bookmarks, well, since I also make bookmarks I want to see hers of course. Next, I am off to Christy’s Marquis Creations Facebook page, “like-ing” her along the way. In my search for bookmarks, something else caught my full attention. Stained glass!

I like the way Christy utilizes stained glass into her work. Many of her pieces have a ‘backdrop’ (what I call it) made from a piece of stained glass, some pieces have framing wirework that lies over it and some pieces that are wrapped in wires as though they are little presents to open (but don’t try this).

I think the item that catches my attention is the very item that she has chosen to feature in this Collection, and that is her Pearl and Copper Wrapped Bracelet.

When I first looked at the pearls, I thought they were made on memory wire, but then I noticed that they are made with copper, and I don’t recall seeing hard copper used in jewelry, but then that’s the beauty of creativity. Anything goes!

Christy’s bracelets are beautiful, and as I looked really close, thinking I was going to see the traditional swirl wrap (bead by bead) with each piece connected end to end I was surprised to find that it wasn’t what I was looking at by far! This looks like it's more of a one-piece unit, being more on the lines of a …bangle! Interesting!

Christy also uses sea glass, upcycled, and beautiful beads, stones, suede, Mgambo beads and even some clay cuffs!

Check out her shop!

On my way back home I find that my next stop is Patricia Saab Designs and it is in Portland, Oregon, in my own back yard! (No I wasn’t just allocating myself to the name Portland, today! It was all by accident, call it Kismet!) On that note, call me a sucker for Tahitian pearls go ahead, because, I am and I will admit it!

Why, I have a stash of Tahitians and other salt water South Sea pearls that I rarely bring out to use in the jewelry that I make, and it is not that I don’t want to use them, it’s because I know that once they are gone I may not be able to find any more like them.
So now you know that I covet my saltwater pearls! I will buy freshwater pearls in large sizes just so that I don’t have to break into my private stash. But I do use them on occasion.

But enough about me, I have now reached my destination and as I fold up in my magic carpet, stuff it into my bag, I look around me.

That big luscious black peacock baroque pearl has already been sold! If my memory serves me correctly, it was a whopping 10+mm and displayed on Sterling Silver cable wire with a SS 925 spring ring clasp. Someone is going to be very proud to be wearing this pearl!

Patricia has many different combinations of pearls in her shop, and rightly so, since she has completed the GIA Pearl Grading course! Patricia likes to use local Oregon Sunstone, jaspers, opals, and agates of which we have many here in our fine state! Patricia makes good use of her photographic experience, and she is a senior member in the Pearl-Guide.com.

In her shop she has a section allocated to Oregon gemstones! Yay! She has sections for men, too! I don’t know for sure, but I think Patricia may have a fondness for the warmer shades of pearls as I see several pearl mixes that focus on the warmer shades like cream, peach and rosy shades of pearls. She even has a Red Pearl Necklace!

Pretty!

I am happy to see such a nice use of pearls in this collection!

From my shop, Christy chose one of my pairs of Pearl Twigs: No.20 Mixed Up in Gold, a collection of pearl shapes, drills and sizes in maroon to silver and white.

14/20 gold fill has been used to lace up these popular earrings. I never make the same pair twice unless instructed in a custom order (of which I happily create, and have a great following for). I have fun making new designs whenever I am bored. I also weave many other things into pearl twigs, and sometimes there’s not a single pearl involved at all!

Anyway, the time has come for me to return to my family after this fun filled excursion through ArtFire’s creative Collection venue on the wonderful Sunday afternoon..
Please enjoy and feel free to share anything you have gleaned from this posting!

I extend a big Thank you to Christy of Marquis Creations for including wiresNpliers in her Collection "The Beauty Of Pearls."

Thank You, Christy!

Burning Summer Days, A Treasury

2011-08-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

So I am sitting here reading and I hear a ding. Email.

(Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing)

My Inbox has an Etsy convo in it from a name I don’t recognize as one of my peeps, so I opened it and immediately saw the words “in my Treasury,” and I thought to myself “Oh Boy! A Treasury! Let’s see what item it is….”
I looked up and I saw the Convo title saying that my Earth Element Breakaway lanyard has been included in Kathy Lycka’s Treasury aptly named: Burning Summer Days.

I clicked the link and there I was at her HOT Treasury!

And Hot, It is burning!!!! (I wonder what it takes to be white hot) What Kathy probably doesn’t know is that these are some of my favorite colors. Red, orange, yellow, clear (or white), with black: colors of flame.

Her beautiful Treasury is all that and more. There is a wonderful blend of yellow, orange, red, white and black, enough to inspire even the sleepiest on an evening as late as this.

I had to get out and unroll my Magic Carpet because it’s off to Long Island, NY, to track down these pretties, and the first place in Kathy’s Treasury that my eyes fixed upon as always: was jewelry; and a necklace made from one of my favorite stones, the chalcedonies. I love the shade of the chalcedonies we see these days. I remember back when most of the chalcedony was pale blue, lilac, and lavender, but today they come in just about any color, which of course makes me very happy.

~~~o~~~

“Fire and Sun” is the name of this pretty necklace made by Etsy shop: MeSheDesigns. Shelley of MeShe Designs presents a very good display of the warm yellow to red palette, each teardrop carefully wire wrapped all in oxidized silver, a great combination of cool metals and warm stones, two opposites yet held together as one. I love this necklace! Shelley also has other beautiful jewelry at her shop. I saw some tensha bead earrings, beer quartz earrings and some very nice Bridal Inspired jewelry.

~~~o~~~

The next place my eyes rested upon was this beautiful fabric that almost reminded me of the Colorado River and some of the narrow canyons that have rocks of this shade.
Just the fact that a piece of silk has the power to catapault my mind’s eye to visualize the Colorado River, is enough of a reason to click this image…..
At first when I looked at this silk it could have been an art exhibit, a fibre art affair, a textile-o-phile’s dream come true.

Hello, My name is Carol. I am a textilophile.

This is a 'playsilk' and it comes on a wand… hence the wand. It is a cool toy for the child whether the child be 3, or 33. Or even 63!

I love these silks. I went northward to the shop BeneathTheRowanTree and with this; I suddenly realized that it is going to be a long night because Lori and Andy’s shop is way 'up and over there,' in Northern Ontario, Canada, and that’s a long way from home for me.

I was blown away, by all the color! This family creates some of the most beautiful silk scarves and playsilks in color combinations and designs which at first appeared to me to be a piece of silk only to find that they are capes, dress-ups, scarves and beautiful twirling skirts and more.

So I was just looking around when all of a sudden I stopped dead in my tracks….did I just see a walrus ball? Gnomes, finger puppets and Bessie the cow? And that Tree-o (that’s right a Tree-o, A trio of trees). Well. You’ll just have to look at this pic o pics (tree-os, get it?) that I made because they’re all so cute….(especially that little surprise egg!) and there's way too many to look at. You can't look at just one.

You know, I haven’t seen a walrus ball for many years now..cough cough…I LOVE IT.
But if you want to see it, you are going to have to look at their “sold items” to find it, because this one is SOLD.

To me.

I used to have this cute little needle felted ewe, then one day I found it desecrated, it had morphed into a ball of felt, it’s head and legs mysteriously disappeared, as though someone licked it to death. Meanwhile, over in the corner sits my fat smug gray cat Banjo, licking dander off her legs.uh-huh.

~~~o~~~

So by now, I am exhausted from all this shopping, and I still plan to stop by Kathy’s Shop: kathylyckastudio on my way home. My eyes are completely focused on the reds, oranges, and the golden yellows of her gorgeous Abstract Textured Orange painting in the Treasury of Burning Summer Days. However, upon reaching her shop, my eyes tumbled right over it, and landed on her Strong Proud Female African Warrior painting. How beautiful is that?

Kathy does stained glass prints, my favorites were "Tangled" and another one called "Swaying Tree," both exquisite in the essence of movement even though they are still. I love her use of colors and of lines.

It was time to bring myself home, leaving Calgary, Canada and returning to my own state. I thoroughly enjoyed my mini trip to Canada, via my Magic Carpet that visits Treasuries allowing me to BlogRamble my findings.

Thank you Kathy,
You have introduced me to some wonderful shops in my visit to your Beautiful Burning Summer Days Treasury.

Thanks for visiting my humble blog.

Europe Is For Everyone, a Treasury

2011-08-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

I've had the fortunate luck of being included in an Etsy Treasury today! It was made by Mari and From her Etsy Shop MadeByMari.

Clicking on any image or link will whisk you directly to the shop or the listing

I went to her treasury to see which item of mine was picked for her Treasury. Loving the anticipation of waiting for the Treasury page to load (unless I am on a dial-up), I get a little excited just to see my item and how it fits the page. Sorry to be so honest, but I am in this for up front promoting focusing on my partners while advertising my own branding, and any perks come back to us, I will in turn share with others. Hopefully everyone wins!

So today Mari whisked my magic carpet and me away, and into her world, her Treasury called Europe is For Everyone. Each item Mari has chosen appears to be representing a country or region, and I enjoyed looking at each of the items. She has a ring of gorgeous tans, red, and black, and appears to be a piece of map under glass set in an ornate bezel. She has a key necklace, an Eiffel tower, several beautiful beaded bangles, a couple of beaded necklaces, even a shamrock under glass.

I eyed them all and then my eyes rested upon the Earrings named Sangria, of course, in copper. I think it was the photo, the background the shades next to the copper, perhaps even Mari’s placement of the image, but it all fit so well that this pair of earrings were the ones I clicked.

Sangria, a pair of earrings made by Etsy Shop: ajbcreations features copper hoops and grape leaves, fire polished, grape crystal with little Swarovski elements in the shade of lavender. These are elegant earrings can make a subtle statement unless the wearer decides to flaunt them at which time they will gladly take center stage at any event, proudly hanging a full 4” on the bare neck.

Ajbcreations, in Kalispell (a nice little trip for my magic carpet), is located on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. It is a beautiful area with the Flathead Lake nearby. In fact, if you are visiting Glacier Park from the West, you will more than likely drive through Kalispell to get there. At ajbcreations you can expect to find a lot of floral jewelry, some beautiful rustic-chic styled jewelry, and as the owner mentions in her profile, she loves things that grow, and vintage and upcycling, with her wide use of gorgeous gem and semi precious gemstones, you can expect to find some beautiful jewelry to wear.
After leaving Kalispell, my magic carpet turned right.

---------

Now I must admit at this point, that my family has a Queen in it. That’s right, it’s our daughter, the famous Sarahbushka with her Art Careers necklaces featured at our own shop wiresNpliers.. Of course having royalty in our family, naturally I would be drawn to others of great Royalty….My magic Carpet flew me right past Mari’s place (she's out of town now) and just kept on going southward until we reach South San Francisco, and a quick visit to HerMaj (as in Her Majesty? See what I mean, drawn like a moth to a light, I came to visit)!

Mari featured HerMaj's lovely vintage Buchan Of Scotland Thistle Ramekin Scottish Stoneware. (Just the name alone sounds royal). I love stonewear, but I just never could see any stones in it, but this is a very cute ramekin nonetheless.

Looking around her shop the first thing I noticed was that she really likes her vintage! I liked her Melmac and her napkin folding book ($4.00)! She has plates, cups and saucers and more, some novelty items and even an 'itsy bitsy baby bootie' key ring that is very cute!
After all this shopping I was getting tired so I left HerMaj’s Castle and started home. I thought perhaps since the Ramekin was made in Scotland it would be nice to take the long way home and pass over it as I returned.
I swear I thought I recognized the Netherlands below me, as I passed overhead…

Mari has MadeByMari and I have been a customer of hers on more than occasion. Mari is a member of the Createability Team at Etsy, as are all of the artists that Mari featured in her lovely Treasury, including myself. Createability is decribed this way:

“We are a group of artists and sellers either with disabilities ourselves, or caregivers of disabled people.” Each of us has the understanding and luck to live with a special needs person in our lives.

Mari makes Cane Catcher’s, and while I know Mari makes other great crafts, her Cane Catchers are the items that are familiar to me. I have purchased several from Mari, one for a client that was using a cane and one for my Mom, who loves hers and will gladly tell you all about its functionality if you were to ask.

Mari also makes Neck Coolers, she crochets Neck Warmers, and she loves watching football!

From wiresNplliers, Mari chose my Millefiori hand tied silk necklace with lemon yellow cats eye beads and beautiful royal blue Millefiori beads to feature in her European Treasury!

Now I am back at home and ready to be tucked into bed, and happy that I perused Mari’s Treasury tonight. The only thing left for me to do now is to thank Mari for including me in her beautiful Treasury!
So, Thank You Mari, I had a wonderful European Mini Cruise through your Treasury.
Thank you.

Life's about the Ability, not the Disability

2011-06-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Ability, not disability.

I like this title, for it focuses on what we can do as opposed to what we cannot do. A simple statement said, yet one that many people drown within, unless faced with a disability themselves.

At Etsy, one will find a blend of artisans with abilities of all kinds and types. Some abilities are easy, some are difficult, but one thing is apparent and that is that everyone is an artist in their own way.

Each artist in this Treasury has special abilities that are present in their lives and lifestyles. It is my hope that many will visit this Treasury and take note that just because a person lives with altered abilities and differences, we are all here together, and artistic creativity still shines through!

*<>*<>*<>*

First we visit a friend of mine, Cindy. I always get caught by Cindy’s art, mainly because she, like me, has a fondness for paua (also known as abalone) and other nautical treasures. She especially loves red and blue Paua!

She also likes volcanic basalt (lava) and enjoys making jewelry from it. Cindy comes from Alberta, Canada, and her shop is called Peacock Jewellery. Cindy is known around Etsy as “cindylouwho2” and is very knowledgeable in her field, and not only sells her beautiful jewelry, she also works with business statistics, and even volunteers in a shop called LoveForJapan, in support of Japan disaster relief.

Next, I steered my Magic Carpet southward to California’s Silicon Valley area to a town named Mountain View, and I found a cute shop named “muddipuppy.” Amberlin in an artist of many medias, she says, and I found that to be very true. I absolutely fell in love with her “For the Love of Animals” cards!

Not only does Amberlin screen print, she also makes some pretty crochet necklaces. She also has a blog. Check her out!

*~*~*~*

The creator of this beautiful Treasury “Aid For Abby” is known to me because of their affiliation with Team Etsy For Autism and also for their membership in Createability Team in which we are both members. Bonnie and Abby offer papercrafting and beautiful watercolor paintings for great low prices. I have a special connection with two of her works of art:

One, I call Stained Glass,

and the other I call Sunrise.

Both are beautiful and I urge everyone to check out their shop and consider how nice her art would look in your home.

From our shop, Bonnie chose Sarahbushka’s (Our Autist Artist) colorful Art Career’s beaded necklace called Rocky Road. Sarahbushka made this necklace of blue, green, black and white conglomerate turquoise and howlite with black graduated disks. Sarahbushka is a member of Art Careers, an adapted recreational jewelry class of adult students with cognitive, expressive, and communication disabilities, all of which have been developmentally swerved from the beaten path…

We thank Bonnie and Abby for including us in their gorgeous Treasury today!
Sarahbushka sends her Thank You's, too!

Anastasia Dreams........A Treasury

2011-06-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Isn't inspiration a great tool to opening the mind to a broader canvas? Last week's Ramblings has led to this week's:

My Dreams
By Lovisetto

Anastasia from Lovisetto has created a gorgeous imagery filled Treasury, jam packed with items that she dreams of.

For her Treasury we find several familiar items and some new items too!
So my journey begins…

Right out of the door, or should I say, while the page was loading, I started to receive glimpses of a item briefly flashing up my screen. I had to squint and be patient as the page loaded, going through the various virus scans, bot seekers, anti spy and related searches for nefarious behaviors which hinder what should be the smooth and seamless appearance of any web address I key into my browser.

As the virtual world cleared before my eyes, and my screen's images now all stablized and settled in, I saw what at first had caught my attention. It looked different that anything I have ever seen before. At first, I thought it was of marine origin, a photo of an item from an exotic undersea garden, the type that undulates in rhythm with the tidal surges day in and day out. It had an definite flow pattern, and yet the expected structure was not present.

I was drawn to it the very moment I saw it…. Did I mention that I also see this item as having possibly come from the Underworld or from Middle Earth?

And my finger had to click it first, just to see what I was looking at.

Nuno Felted scarf shibori
Yellow Savannah

Whoa!
Well, shut the front door…… I quickly pulled out my tape measure and calculated its length, since 140cm doesn’t quickly come to mind, as an American stuck in the system I am familiar with...

I am entranced…because this shawl is felted Merino wool, and we all know how nice a soft, wool scarf can feel. This scarf is a good size for those evenings out, when a cool breeze threatens to make chills apparent at the least expected times. It also circumvents that knitted effect while accenting the unique category. I can visualize seeing this scarf locally!

So I pulled out my Magic Carpet and took a quick ride to GalaFilcs Shop, as it was a distance being in Poland… Besides, what good is a Magic Carpet if I don’t get to take long trips occasionally?

Oh man, I walked in and there were some of the most interesting shapes and colors, and everything in wool. So where did my eyes go first? Why, they went directly to her felted wool bracelet called: “Grey stones Grass” and that’s exactly what it is ! It looks like grey stones and a little bunch of grass! I love it. Imagine my surprise when I realized that Gala Filc also had a matching necklace on page 3 of their shop.

Then I found something that made me hasten my step, and as I approached, my being suddenly froze for a moment in time, as I fell in love with an item of hers, but I am not telling you what it is.
(filing this URL in my personal secret bookmark list)

I definitely recommend taking your magic carpet out (dusting it off, if you haven’t used it in a while) and going for a ride to Poland for the evening, and visit GalaFilc. Tell her hi for me.

I really enjoy this Treasury as the usage of fiber arts is so well displayed. I absolutely love scarves and the texture and color combinations are usually what catch my attention. Anastasia has captured just about every medium here in her Treasury, whether it physically, mentally or even emotionally, and I am happy to have had the pleasure of being included within it! Check it out!

There’s even a Diving Bell helmet!

Lovisetto, or Anastasia Lovisetto, comes from the UK, and in her shop I found beautiful bib necklaces, and especially nice were her butterfly bibs and her netted bib necklaces. She incorporates many different textures into her work and I found it rather enlightening.

Of course myself, having been considered by some as being a bit outside the box, know that I’m fully aware that I can get away with this, when I say, “Ooh, I wonder what it would look like, to have a necklace of bees………or clover…hmm.

~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~

Anastasia chose my Golden Fritter Farfalle necklace to join her other pieces of art and handmade goodies today.
I thank Anastasia for including us in her beautiful Treasury!

Featuring "Ramblings" by Etsian Ariadnes Creations

2011-06-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Ramblings

A treasury of Ramblings, by AriadnesCreations

This beautiful Treasury features some very nice artwork and is very pleasing to the eye. Yes that's it, my eyes literally rambled all over it. nice!

As my eyes rambled over this nice Treasury, I was initially swept by an image of an old house, a house from my dreams, recurring dreams, where I have been given this huge house, and I wander from room to room, each room different from the one before it, and each being full of treasures to find. Things I had not taken a moment's notice of beforehand, now lie before me to discover in my endless days. An old house with many memories that live long past its inhabitants.

I love the perspective Teresa Chipperfield used with her shot. It really does look like the house from my dreams. Old and uninhabited, until you peer closely and notice that there are crisp linen curtains hanging in the windows that might catch the breeze if it eddied through. What appears old and without life on the outside just may neat, clean, and new, on the inside. PhotosByChipperfield

Upon my gazing of this beautiful older home I have come to the conclusion that if I ever have the chance to remodel a house like this, I shall finish it in the natural wood shade that can be seen under its wearing whitewash paint. Somehow, I think that this house would look Grand no matter what color it wears. It looks Grand to me, here, right now..... and it seems that I was correct, when I thought it looked like something from my end of town; yup, right here in the NE Pacific 'rainy' Playground of America.
~~

Well, once I got over my dream state I took a broader look around Ariadnes's "Ramblings" Treasury and there they were, the cutest earrings I have seen in quite a while!

"Clustered Cups"

Rustic White Copper Enameled Earrings

These are so cute, and at first I thought I was looking at little shells (which always catch my attention), and I had to look closely, and then get my stronger reading glasses because these cups have such a unique look to them, that I had to see more. I went right to TekaandZoe's shop to see these up close and personal, and within the spectrum of my ears.... I love these unique earrings. I hearted them for later too, unless someone else beats me to it, I may be wearing them myself very soon..... (btb - they have more cluster cup earrings in additional shades, too!!)

This Pretty Treasury has many more items to look at and drool over, but who am I to put my dreams into your head? Hmm? Click on the Link and take the trip to the Ramblings Treasury by way of the WiresNpliers Magic Carpet~~~ride~~~

AriadnesCreations:
I entered Ariadnes studio and looked around. All around me I noticed beautiful soft colors and hues of assorted gorgeous girly girl jewelry, until my eyes came to rest on this: WOW!

"Tribal Summer"

....a beadwoven Cuff, of beautiful opposite colors: orange and blue, with beautiful wooden beads woven right into the mix.

I swear I even saw a spirit bead......

But maybe I am wrong. Either way, Ariadnes has created a gorgeous Cuff, an item of her jewelry that had no "rambling" to it whatsoever. It just grabbed into my psyche and held my attention right there, in its tight grip! All of her jewelry is uber beautiful, but this Cuff, in particular, caught my attention.

There's no mistaking a beautiful work of art when it has you in its grip.

The item Ariadnes has chosen from the wiresNpliers studio to exhibit in "Ramblings" is one of our Farfalle necklaces:

"The Golden Fritter"

Dark Gold and Gold Lined crystal Jablonex farfalles beaded into a necklace which features a center transparent focal bead, its girth completed covered in a matching dark golden frit which gives this necklace a unique look.

Farfalle beads, like the Italian name infers are bow tie shaped seed beads, also known by some as butterfly beads. The dark golden beads in this necklace are also "cut" beads which have the appearance of being slightly faceted, and reflect light in suprising angles.

"Thank You's" are heartily extended to Ariadnes, and for the journey she has bestowed upon me, today! Thank you.

May her Treasury receive many many comments and accolades!

AriadnesCreations

Like A Day at the Beach, Without the Beach!

2011-06-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

That's right, A Day at the Beach without the beach, yet still discovering a Treasury waiting to be found by others!

Sheryl has collected all of these great "beachy" items together in this pretty Treasury! <~~click that, to go there!

It's a beautiful Treasury!

And she chose one of our items, the Turquoise Nugs (danglers) to be found within her Treasury!
~~~~

A beach without the beach, that's aptly put for my neighborhood. We've had hardly any summer. I think there has only been 2 days over 75 degrees farenheit (that's 25C), so far this year. Of course the flowers love it, all the rain then some sun only to lead to cool days no scorhing sun to burn the petal and fresh young leaves like the flowers and leaves handpainted on Sheryl's flutes, at her Hand Painted Petals Etsy shop.

If you love keepsakes like I do, you'll have a great time as you peruse her pretty goodies.
First thing you'll find as you enter her virtual shop, are her hand painted
martini/marguerita glasses (just looking at them make me crave a jalapeno martini). They are quite pretty!

Another angle of the Turquoise Nugs chosen from my shop for Sheryl's Treasury "Like A Day at the Beach, Without the Beach!"

It's been a Fun Treasury and I thank Sheryl for the chance to be presented in it!

wiresNpliers

Etsy

ArtFire

It's Green Salad Season!

2011-06-03T20:27:00.001-07:00

Featuring Summery Greens and Green Salad Lettuce This Treasury has been created by MagnoliaSurprise and she aptly named it:

TheGardenDistrist at Etsy

Yours Till The Lettuce Peeks To See

One look and it is clear, her well made Treasury is exactly like the tossed green salads of summer, with a little of this, and a little of that, and some spice here and there, and then it’s all held together by the leaves of salad greens and a big bowl.
So without further adieu, here is Sarah’s Treasury:

One more look at Esty’s MagnoliaSuprise and I was immediately drawn to her hand crocheted apple coasters, cute red stemmed coasters some even with apple blossoms. I could envision them on my patio table!

Another fascinating item in Sarah’s shop that drew me, was this pretty Bridal Keepsake evening pouch. These are beautiful, but I have to admit that when I first saw it, I thought it was a purse that I had seen my mom use when I was a little girl. They were all the “rave” back then, pouch style white woven cord draw string purses.
Sarah’s of course are dainty and feminine, and crocheted (no tassles) with an elegant flirty style that doesn’t even need to be lined. You really have to see them.

Sarah has a cute shop full of exciting and fun crochet and knitted items, of all kinds and styles. She even has some toast coasters! I love it!
Oh, and here's her blog with even more in it.

~~o~~

From our Etsy shop wiresNpliers, Sarah chose a necklace named Celery and Greens Salad Necklace, made by our Sarahbushka, in her Art Careers class, an adaptive recreation program in our city. We are so proud of our Art Careers Artists!

We (Sarahbushka and I) thank MagnoliaSurprise for including us in her beautiful Treasury today, and hope to be included in many more of her Treasuries in the future!!
Thank you, Sarah

wiresNpliers
wNp - etsy
wNp - Artfire

Etsy Treasury of Natural Father's Day Gifts, by Hand Painted Petals

2011-05-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

A Father's Day Treasury of gift giving has been created by Hand Painted Petals and a group of 16 chosen artists each featuring an item that would make any Father happy on his special day!

Sheryl chose two necklaces, one being “Fang,” a dude's necklace and the other from Etsy’s jennyhoople “Chocolate Surf,” both looking like they were made with the water-borne surf-rider in mind, OK a big handsome dude that surfs, and walks out of the ocean carrying his board and all dripping wet…

Along with Fang and Chocolate Surf, Sheryl has added an assortment of items, from a key holder, to a briefcase, a clock, wallet, shaving soap, pet grooming items, some art work, scarves (one of which I crave to be mine), and even some chocolates. So be sure to visit or steer the guy in your life, towards this Treasury and take note of where their eyes linger, so you can get an early start on your Father’s day gift list. Just click the image of the Sheryl's Treasury and you will be whisked right to her Treasury, but don't for get to come back for more fun information here at wiresNpliers.

About Hand Painted Petals:
Hand Painted Petals comes to Etsy from the regional area of Austin, TX.

Sheryl is a Floral Artist, and embarked upon this career when she had a need to release her creative energy, discovering the lines, the curves and aspects of flowers; with the rose being one of her chosen species that you will see in her artwork. One off my favorite roses Sheryl has painted on these goblets I love the way they look. But my ultimate favorite item is her shop, are these lovely Calla Lily champagne flutes. I am sure you’ll agree, I get refreshed just looking at them!

At Sheryl’s shop you will find beautiful hand painted stemware and more. Keepsakes, jewelry and hat boxes, even flower pots and greeting cards, all in hand painted beauty.

Sheryl’s shop is easy to navigate, and in her message she guides you to her artwork:

“My shop sections will guide you for easy browsing. You'll see hostess gifts, bridal and wedding gifts and favors, home decor and heirloom boxes as well as examples of custom and personalized orders.”
Stop by and take a look at Sheryl cool perspective of Floral Art. It is truly beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by to visit our blog on this Friday kickoff of this great Memorial Day Weekend!

~wiresNpliers~~
Etsy
Artfire

wiresNpliers.com

ArtFire Collection "Ombre Influence" by Swank!

2011-05-04T17:11:00.001-07:00

Today a well known ArtFire artist created a Collection called Ombre Influence, and one of my items was chosen (among other artists) to be featured in her lovely Collection. Swank was the creator of this Collection. She has birdnest jewelry, boot wraps, and she does amazing wire wrapping (check out her bangles), too.

In Swank's Bio, she says:
"Some of the styles are celebrity favorites and my re-make version of things you see coming down the runway. I take those styles and adapt them into jewelry that the average person can wear everyday. This studio is dedicated just to those styles - and they are for every age."

Swank is edgy and loves the styles she sees emerging in the world of fashion, So check out her shop for some fun browsing and shopping.

For her Collection, from my shop she chose my Juice Earrings. Juice earrings are extremely lightweight in a vine style motif, running the spectrum from blue through green to yellow, in Swarovski Crystal Elements. With vines in black the leaves of these vines have a range of cool shades, and these earrings are long and have handmade round ear wires, in black.

They also come in a warm spectrum, too:

Many thanks to Swank and her lovely Collection at ArtFire! Check it out! Just click the above image of the Collection and you will be whisked away on my magic carpet to the Collection!

Enjoy!

Alteration to previous post.

2011-04-17T11:56:00.001-07:00

Try clicking this image above to get to the ArtFire Jeweler Guild to view and vote.

Blogger seems to have some issues today, or perhaps their issues are with my capture of the blog I am trying to post. who knows, but I will try again.

If you still cannot react the blog, go to the previous post and click the "our blog" which does work, or scroll down to the right sidebar and you will find the blog there, too.

My apologies for the Blogger hiccups.

It's a Challenge! A Mother's Day Challenge!

2011-04-16T08:55:00.001-07:00

ArtFire's Artisan Jeweler Guild is having a Challenge right now on our blog. This is a Mother's Day challenge and a group of us have each submitted a piece of our jewelry for this challenge.

While I don't expect to win, because let's face it, I am but a novice compared to a lot of the artists in the Artisan Jeweler Guild, but the exposure is more than worth the feeling of defeat, and in reality, there is no defeat involved at all, just a reason to up the ante on my abilities, and that is good.

My entry is from my Minimus line:

Minimus No 8. Tendrils and Ringlets

Tendrils curve back and forth gracefully downward, ending in ringlets, at their bottoms.

In shades of copper, like the golden warmth of titian tresses of Rapunzel's locks they cascade gracefully, into the little flattened ringlets. Raw copper, cold forged, with little flattened rings at the bottom that flip in the breeze, just like real curls that lift when the wind blows. My handmade brown anodized niobium ear wires have been added, with copper balls, are perfect for ears that are sensitive (or not), and they latch in the back, too!

These earrings are uber long, coming in at a glorious 3.25" and they will look great no matter what the length of hair they ride under.

Come and vote! Just click the image at the top of the page and you will be whisked away to the blog where you will find the Challenge!

Happy Mother's Day!

wiresNpliers

New ArtFire Collection: For The Love of Copper

2011-04-07T18:53:00.001-07:00

We've been included in a new Collection at ArtFire!

For The Love of Copper

Twelve wonderful pieces of copper art!

FeistyGirlsDesigns is a collaborative shop of Mom and daughter where experience and youth play together to create a unique perspective on design lines, bold opinions and attitude, all of which visibly shines through in their work. Stop by their shop and take a look at their wire bending and twisting and other "wire taming" abilites they share! I think my favorite item is this cute inverted set of twirls that they weaved together called Copper Twirly Wind or Breeze Pendant. I especially like the off-shade of the weave that holds them together. The effect grabs my eye and holds it, as the two unlikely textures appear unrelated, yet in my brain I realize that I probably would not have noticed the perspective had they been woven in copper! I also enjoy the texture that their hammering imprinted in the pendant.

Copper Twirly Wind Pendant

I thank FeistyGirlDesigns for including my Copper Swirl earrings in their lovely Collection! These are fun earrings to make, that I can create in just about any size. . This pair incorparates andalusite one of my favorite colorshifting stones, which shows a different shade as the angle of view changes. Listed in my Art Fire Shop.

I Love Andalusite~Sold 4/6/11~ Thank you FGDs!

My most recent Swirl was a custoom copper pair about an inch long, where the requested stone was to be light pink with a white pearl, so I made them with 4mm rhodochrosite beads that hung inside the frame and I used oval creamy white FW pearls above the frames which connected the frames to dark rose anodized Niobium handmade ear wires.

Here are two other Swirls I have made but havent listed yet.

Chandeliers *~* Swirly Stars

wiresNpliers

It's Autism Awareness Month!

2011-04-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! April is Autism Awareness Month. This year at wiresNpliers I have made a combination of items related to Autism Awareness which includes a necklace, 5 bracelets and 4 SureGrip breakaway lanyards.

First we'll start with the necklace:

Autism Awareness Firefly Necklace

This necklace incorporates Firefly* beads and blackened sterling silver rolo chain, together with an autism puzzle piece. The necklace is segmented, with groups of Firefly beads in the traditionally recognized colors of the Autism Spectrum: yellow, red, light, and dark blue. Two sides complete this necklace which join together in the front, at the wire wrapped puzzle piece. A chain hangs from each side to the puzzle piece, one longer than the other, and both with Autism Firefly beads and a bright silver bead at the bottom. I enjoy mixing bright silver with blackened silver as I feel it adds pizazz to the darkened effect. I also made the "S" clasp and hard-wired it to the chain, and the necklace has an extender chain complete with a Firefly bead and another bright silver bead at the tip.

*Firefly beads are silver lined transparent beads no.6, which have an etched or matte finish. This finish creates a bead that shines from within, as a firefly glows. These beads at one time were very rare, but they are slowly becoming more popular. I have made Firefly Autism lanyards that are quite popular, with my customers including custom lanyards created specifically for certain individuals. Whenever I find a new shade of Firefly bead I grab it up as they make a very unique effect in jewelry items.

The FireFly Bracelets

All of the bracelets this year were made with FireflyBeads, because

like our autistic individuals,

they glow from within.

First, the Autism Spectrum of colors all lined up with pretty sterling silver granulated spacers separating each color group. A simple, yet bright and glowing bracelet, I also decided to add a pretty faceted 8x6mm Swiss Blue Topaz, in a bezel setting.

Autism Awareness in Basic Black. This time I lined up the Firefly beads but instead of just using sterling silver granulated spacers, I decided to add a color that isn't usually seen with the Autism Spectrum shades. 6mm Black Onyx beads were used for separation between the Firefly beads along with the sterling silver granulated spacers. I also added a sterling silver tag that I punched an Autism puzzle piece upon, and it hangs from a violet anodized** niobium ring next to the clasp.

Autism Awareness in a warm copper glow. My next bracelet has the Firefly beads arranged a little differently, in that one of each color sits side by side in each grouping, which has been encompassed within coppery bead caps. Each set has been separated with a coppery ball bead, and a wire wrapping has been added for the loop that the clasp hooks onto. A sterling silver tags also hangs connected by a black niobium jump ring from just below the clasp.

Autism Awarreness can be in Gunmetal too! This cute bracelet was made similar to the basic black bracelet, only this time I used genuine 6mm hematite beads instead of onyx, as separators between the Firefly beads. Each hematite bead also has the sterling silver granulated spacer beads on each side, and the sterling silver puzzle piece punched tag hangs from a black niobium jump ring. The metal components on this bracelet are all in a gunmetal shade to match the hematite, too!

Pearly Girly Autism Awareness: This bracelet I purposely made larger because there is always someone who likes a longer style that hangs freely. The autism spectrum colored beads on this bracelet are separated by pretty teardrop creamy white freshwater pearls which stand out, away from the bracelet when worn. The sterling silver granulated spacers are also included on this bracelet, as is the punched puzzle piece tag, which hangs from an aqua colored anodized** niobium jump ring, just below the clasp.

**Anodized niobium- Niobium is a very strong metal with a hypoallergenic quality, that can be worn without allergic reactions even by most allergic individuals. In its natural form, it is a gunmetal or darkened gray color, but the unique thing about niobium is that when electrical current is applied, it changes colors on the outside surface! I have a collection of anodized wire that I make into ear wires and other items for my customers with delicate skin that cannot wear most metals.

Lotsa Lanyards

Clinical lanyards with a SureGrip breakaway style with neodymium magnetic clasps. All Lotsa Lanyards are a 3 piece design (two sides and a tag) made for strength and wearability, while relieving the wear and tear that occurs at the tag end of standard one piece linear lanyards. All are double crimped on both sides, top and bottom, and have wire wrapped SureGrip connection clasps. All Lanyards also have crimp covers and wire guardians to protect the beading line from stress.

This group:

Earth Elements

Fire! Fire, the element of strength, heat, and fiery energy, this lanyard incorporates beautifully large 13x15mm Czech glass in an amber shade, and Swarovski crystals and Czech spacers and black beads that separate them all. The Swarovski beads all line up as though they are fire, from red (light siam), fire opal (swarovski's bicolor red/yellow), lemon, and even white hot (clear) crystals. This lanyard has been made with 14/20 gold fill.

Earth!

Earth, the nurturer, the grower, the grounded, and earthen source. This earthy lanyard has a mixture of beautifully hand carved red onyx, Chroust Hurricane beads, warm Golden Czech glass beads and some pretty brown cowrie shell beads, all in coppery shades of metals. The tag and SureGrip clasp connections have been made from dark rose anodized niobium for strength and a good match for the copper components.

Water! Water, the juice of life, nourishes all the grows. This pretty lanyard includes a mixture of little white Swarovski Crystal pearls, silver Czech beads, navy Firefly beads, turquoise rondells, sparkling aqua accent beads, lime green Cats Eye (fiberoptic) beads, farfalle beads and the focal beads: Beautiful genuine Paua doublet beads. All metals on this lanyard are sterling silver.

Air!

Air, the life giver that breathes into us daily, that carries scent, pollen, insects, and so many other things, unseeable, untouchable, unless it is graced with something that gives it form. This Lanyard has a blend of muted and basic shades the most colorful being the smoky lampwork beads and the vitral (as in metallic rainbow finish, like gasoline on water) beads, combined with crystal clear farfalle beads, icy clear Swarovski crystals, gunmetal beads, gray Firefly beads and some gorgeous beautiful 8mm hematite beads.

Because April is Autism Awareness month, every one of these items in this post comes with an automatic donation in the buyers name to KindTree.org.

KindTree Productions is a non Profit org that specializes in promoting awareness, treatment, and social/community integration. Check them out, just click on the KindTree Productions name and you will be whisked to their site.

And of course anytime a Lotsa Lanyard is purchased a donation is automatically made in the buyers name, all year long.

Thank you for sharing in Autism Awareness Month!

wiresNpliers

A Collection from AJG A Mother's Day Gift Guide

2011-03-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

Dee has made a beautiful gift guide of Mother's Day items, for an early start to one of my favorite days! I love Mother's Day because I get waited on, hand and foot, by my family.
Ahhhhhh

Twelve artists have their items shared in this guide and I was lucky enough to have one of my items shared here, too!

Barren

Sticks and Stones

wiresnpliers.com

AllWireUpToo

Dee Hausker's Done It Again!

2011-03-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hot Spring Pink Earrings

Dee Hausker at ArtFire's All Wired Up TOO has created a lovely Hot Spring Pink Earring Collection at ArtFire!

Dee has collected 12 members with Pink Earrings from Artisan Jeweler Guild for her member curated Collection, and it is to die for! These are some of the most beautiful earrings made by the lovely artisans in our group! And I am included in her picks! (blush blush)

Dee has a shop at ArtFire, called All Wired Up TOO, and wired up, it truly is! Her style and abilities are to be some of the best I have seen. Her coiled wraps on her bracelets are stunning and she wire wraps cabachons, makes earrings, she beads and she even incorporates fibers in to her beautiful jewelry! One of my favs is her OH Goddess Kumihimo necklace....

Oh.. and did I mention that Dee also saws and cuts her own stones???? She's a Lapidarist! She does it all. Give her a rock and she will produce a gem! How many women can do that? Hmmm?
Dee also has an All Wired Up TOO blog and she runs the ArtFire Jeweler Guild Blog both of which are great reads. Soon you'll be able to read our Bio's at the AJG blog, as more start to show up. Mine is in the works, as soon as I get a spare moment (like, when do I get a spare moment??) Either way, check out Dee's shop, and her blog but first, take a look at her gorgeous ArtFire Collection Hot Spring Pink Collection before you do anything else!

Pink Ghost

My "Pink Ghost" pink chalcedony and tanzanite earrings. Ok, you have to get really close to see the faceted tanzanite crystal beads, but they're there riding above and below this pair of pretty natural pink faceted chalcedony stones. The earrings are sterling silver, cold forged, and hardwired onto my own handmade earwires. Chalcedony (the metamorphic form of quartz) is one of my favorite stones, with pink and yellow being my colors of choice. But an icy blue will always catch my eye, as will some of the blended shades that almost seem to alter colors depending upon what sits side by side to them.

Thanks Dee!

wiresNpliers

AllWiredUpTOO

Ooh, See my new website!

It's the real deal!

wiresNpliers.com

Etsy Treasury - Shades of Early Spring

2011-03-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

Etsian: AriadnesCreations has included one of my items in her beautiful treasury Shades Of Early Spring:

Ariadnes Creations is the name of a Mom and daughter shop (Beverly and Abbie), at Etsy.com. They moved from England to Canada several years and have taken up beading. Their work is beautiful: strung beads, some wire wrapping, and also some extensive work in seed bead weaving, all very beautiful, very colorful and well presented. Stop by and look at their shop. I am sure that you'll find something that catches your eye!

This beautiful Treasury includes the work from 16 different artists, each of which were chosen by AriadnesCreations for their rendition of "Early Spring" inspiration!

Pearl Wings

The item AriadnesCreations chose for their lovely Treasury from my shop are the Earrings I named "Pearl Wings." Aptly named because the wings are actually fresh water creamy white, stick blade pearls, that have been angle drilled at the top end and when strung hang downward at a 45 degree angle. I used 3 pearls per earring and at the bottom of each set I included an antique faceted crystal, both of each approximately 8mm in size, and old enough that each one has taken on a slight antiquity shade on its own. Each set hangs on hand made sterling, torch balled (not by me) head pins and have been wire "wrapped" on silver plated leverback earrings. $14

Many thanks to Beverly and Addie for including my Pearl Wings in their lovely Etsy Shades of Early Spring Treasury!

wiresNpliers

AriadnesCreations

ArtFire Collection: Sticks and Stones

2011-03-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

ArtFire's Artist StephanieRonnyeknit1bead2 has featured my necklace (Barren) in one of her beautiful Curated Collections!

Introducing:

~Sticks and Stones~

Ronnye and Stephanie have been beading and knitting for years, and they have a very nice background story at their ArtFire shop that is worthy of a good read if you happen to stop by and peruse their shop. They have beautifully strung necklaces and wirewrapped earring jewelry and their knitting is gorgeous. Just click on the StephanieRonnyeknit1bead2 name above and you will be whisked away on my magic carpet, and taken directly to their shop at ArtFire!

Barren

Copper (4gauge) was pounded, bent and battered, then artfully etched and woodscaped by hand using cold chisels and punches, until it appeared like a piece of old dead wood. Then it was scorched several times as if from lightning storms and forest fires. Finally, it was tumbled as though the rainstorms had washed it to the lowest section of the forest where it lay resting in the riverstones of granite.

This necklace has been polished and protected with Renassaince Wax, and a rolo chain with additional granite beads was attached with one of my handmade hook clasps, and garnished with several bronze colored beads.

A big Thank You is expressed to Ronnye and Stephanie for including us in their beautiful curated Collection at ArtFire! Stop in and see both of our shops if you have a chance!

wiresNpliers

StephanieRonnyeknit1bead2

Sarahbushka's Art Careers, New Additions

2011-02-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

Sarahbushka and her Art Careers!

New and Beautiful Necklaces

now offered at

Etsy.com

"Rust"

Sarabushka has been very busy lately. She has been hard at work every Monday creating new and beautiful styles of beaded necklaces. Below are some of her newest designs now offered at our wiresNpliers shop (Etsy.com)! Clicking each picture will take you directly to its own listing at our "Art Career Sarahbushka section" of our wiresNpliers shop.

Static Red

Looks like a solid red conversation heart, added to the teeny static seedbeads of red and black in no particular order what-so-ever.

Splash
A "challenged" necklace of all blue furnace caned glass, a beautiful style of glassmaking. Solid blue and encased blue caned furnace glass have been patterned together. This necklace called "challenged" because during photography, it was noted that somehow a dark blue caned furnace glass bead with a chipped corner, got beaded onto this necklace. Like people, one can always find disabled among us! But then isn't that why Sarahbushka makes these beautiful necklaces? It is proof, that even the challenged, can still have beauty and functionality.

Skimmer
Pretty hematite (or hemolyte) rings have been strung all in pink and black shades and in the front center ride these beautiful rings, each of which carries a pretty pale pink faux pearl. Upon closer inspection you can see that tiny seend beads fill every bit of the gap between each pale pink pearl and its corresponding ring. This was an exceptionally hard necklace for Sarahbushka, and she actually needed help with the ring stringing, something unusual for her.

Rocky Road
Beautiful graduated black disks stand vertically alone this necklace. In between the disks, Sarahbushka has placed alternate shades of turquoise and sage green matte beads bordered by black and white seed beads. In the front of this pretty necklace are three composite turquoise beads, in the same shades as the remainder of the necklace and these beautiful beads are the source of Sarahbushka's choice of bead colors when creating this Rocky Road necklace.

Red Chameleon
If you like Chameloens, you'll love this cute red, orange, yellow, black and white necklace. Wound glass in varying shapes and shades have been patterned into a suspended bead style, each bordered by a black charlotte bead and patterned in between by the warm yellow, orange, and red sets of beads. This necklace has a definite Southwestern "look" to its style. A cute wire wrapped polymer clay Chameleon hangs as a pendant in the front. And of course, a Chameleon always takes on the shades of the background it sits in near, as a camoflage effect for its own protection from predators.

Pretty Pearl
Violet and white baroque (or potato) pearls have been beaded in a suspended style also called tin cup styling. Small silver seed beads fill the gap between each pearl. This necklace is a perfect sweater length, between a matiness length and an opera length at just over 24".

Dark Acorn
Acorn styling, a dark metallic bead inside a bumpy bead cap, this necklace hangs from a beaded chain with suspended styling. The stations are pretty dark green metallic tube beads bordered by hematite colored seed beads with short twisted black bugle beads in between.

Happy Day
Caned into a log style then sliced to show the unique and well thought out pattern, this polymer clay Happy Sun (Sol) is framed by a series of pretty muted blues, mint greens, deep reds, and more. An interesting and well made design featuring a keen eye for detail, can be seen upon close inspection. Sarahbushka chose this pendant for the focal point of her necklace and matched the main shades of mint green, muted blue, deep red, and yellows in her patterned beading chain.

Golden Shore
Muted carnation pink, rose, golds, bronze, and coppery shades
all come together to add a nice blend of shades to this necklace featuring golden orange Mabe Pearls in graduating sizes. This necklace is uber long (31") making it a full opera length by design.

Dutch
A gorgeous painted porcelain center bead with what appears to be a blue poppy on it, hangs as a wire wrapped pendant with a swirl at the bottom. Sarahbushka has created her beaded chain from blues, yellows, and transparent beads which match the colors on the pendant bead.

Double Peacock
Black peacock (iridescent) shades have been featured with offsetting blues in metallics and transparent beads in this unique double strand necklace created by Sarahbushka. Black peacock nacre pieces were strategically placed on each strand, three on the bottom strand and one on the top strand. A mix of bead shapes in iridescent colors ranging from reds, greens, golds, and violet each based on the black undertones make this a very dark and gothic styled necklace; a perfect choice for an evening out, especially when worn over black velvet.

Charity
Shades of red and pink are patterned with round white potato pearls in a tin cup styled suspended bead necklace. The pink bead "finishes" range from pearlized shades to clear pink lined transparent shades, and cranberry red beads border each pearl and centered in the midst of each section.

Kukui, 4 U
Reds, oranges and some silver are the many shades in a Hawaiian style necklace that has an organic pendant at the front and bottom of this uber long necklace. To find out more about the Hawaiian Kukui nut pendant I beg you to read the description in the listing. The beads are a blend of firepolished lampwork beads, wound glass, pressed glass and there's even some genuine lava beads!

Cafe, Cup of the Best
Yellow brown red and black are the shades of Sarahbushka's cafe necklace, and believ me, Sarahbushka loves her coffee! The colors of this necklace are reminiscent of South American shades and the beaded pendant looks like a giant coffee bean, although it is actually a tumbled agate or a polished jasper. Black matte beads with yellow, red, and white stripes are spaced along the beaded chain of patterned bright sunshine yellow, red, and gray beads. The pendant is a large bead of brown lampwork glass with a white spiral stringer beaded in a way that holds the above mentioned oblong stone, the pseudo "coffee" bean.

►●What is Art Careers?

Sarahbushka is an Artist with Autism & developmental disabilities, who strings beaded necklaces at her "Art Careers" Class, through our local center for developmentally disabled and special needs persons.

"Art Careers" is a source of beauty and expression; when one realizes that all of the art culminates from the minds of the students; folks that oftentimes cannot express their views and thoughts as others can. ♥

"Art Careers" consists of Jewelry Making through the beading of necklaces, lanyards, and more, with some students currently in the beginning stages of training with metalworking and making charm bracelets. ♥

It is our hope that the world can see that everyone has something to offer, no matter what they are challenged with daily.♥

Sarahbushka's "Art Careers" Necklaces are now being offered at Wires 'n Pliers alongside her own line of "Sarahbushka" & "Plain Jayne" jewelry!

Stop by and visit our "Art Careers Sarahbushka" section, where she proudly presents her beautiful beaded classroom jewelry, as more are introduced periodically!

Thanks for visiting our blog.
wiresNpliers

Treasury Saturday! Beautiful Coppers

2011-02-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Collection. Conduit. Copper.

by ajbcreations

Minimus No.6 Do Re Mi

wiresNpliers

AbjCreations has created this all copper Treasury and it has some beautiful picks from the Etsy Artists. AbjCreations comes to Etsy.com from Montana and one look at her shop and you just know she loves flowers. She incorporates flowers into many of her jewelry creations. She paints, enjoys needle crafts, mosaics, paper crafting and working with polymer and precious metal clay. She also enjoys vintage jewelry, repurposing and upcycling items into unique and unpredictable art. AbjCreations is not her only shop, she also has willowglendrive, a destash and her whimsical and vintage items.

Along with my copper Treble Clef Pendant Abj has chosen 15 other gorgeous copper items. Click on the Treasury to see it close up.

To see AbjCreations shops, simply click on any of her highlighted shop names and you will be magically transported right to them.

To view my Minimus No 6. Do Re Mi Treble Clef copper pendant simply click on the image (or the Do Re Mi) and you will find your self at the listing.

Have a great weekend!

wiresNpliers

And the rain pours on... Another Gorgeous Treasury!

2011-02-05T10:14:00.000-08:00

Trump These Hearts

Lovelies for the Queen of Hearts

by Pullin Too

Oh, The Drama, The Drama

by Sarabushka

This beautiful treasury was created by Etsian PullinToo (also know by: Blaine and Rebecca Pullin) and PullinToo is a supply and destash shop, with charms and sewing notions and great prices. This shop is an addition to several other shops at Etsy, one being called "Rabbittude" (Art, Jewelry...for the love of bunnies!), and AsianFlair a jewelry shop that has, of course, Jewelry in addition to bookmarks, beads, art prints and keychains. One of my favs, is their love for the pitcher plant (I think their's is a Sarracenia, here in Oregon we have the Cobra Lily, "Darlingtonia" also of the Sarracenia family but a bit different in appearance, having a hooded top). They also have some lovely lady slipper pictures (Cypripedium orchids, I believe) and we have them here too; teeny little violet and white wild orchids in our forests, that peek through the natural spaghnum moss growing in the sun spots on the forest floor at the base of our towering Douglas Firs. Funny how species are spread all over but appear different depending upon the locality.

Check out Duane and Rebecca's shops, they have cross links to transport you back and forth between their locations.

And while you are at it, there are 15 other Stars in this Treasury that all have shops filled with wonderful items to peruse!

Click to see Sarahbushka's necklace in the above image.
Click to see wiresNpliers

Many thanks to Blaine and Rebecca for including Sarahbushka in their lovely Treasury.

When It Rains, It Pours 2 ~ another Treasury!

2011-02-04T20:44:00.001-08:00

He Remembers Her Eyes of Blue

Createability Team

Sarahbushka is the Star this time, with her "Splash: A Challenged Necklace!"
She has her Splash necklace included in a treasury with 15 other "Stars" compiled by Createability Team's member: Sunny Plain Quilting

"Splash"

You can see this beautiful Treasury up close, just by clicking the Treasury image above, and of course you can also click on any Sunny Plain Quilting you see, and you will go directly to Deborah's shop where you will find beautiful hand made and beautifully sewn quilted items and more, including her wreaths, fabric letterheads, envelopes and even some gorgeous handkerchief stationary. Oh! and she sews aprons, too! Check out her shop! And I have found that Deborah also has some clothing and of course her quilts (ooh La La), including a flannel quilt! How toasty warm does that sound during our blizzardy winter?

Clicking on Sarahbuska's Splash necklace will transport you to her Art Careers Sarahbushka section of our shop, where Sarahbushka has her gallery nook located!

Click to go directly to "Splash"
Click to go to wiresNpliers

What Can I Say? When it Rains, It Pours.....

2011-02-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

My Golden Honey Drops earrings have been featured in Etsian's Treasury: "Elegant Luster" by Elaina Louise Studios

You can view Elaina Lousie Studios by clicking on her shop name anywhere in this post, and you can view her lovely Treasury by just clicking on the actual treasury image!

...and of course, if you click on the Golden Honey Drop Earrings you will be whisked away to my shop, wiresNpliers

Happy Friday everyone!

Yay! Another Collection! Honey, Look Outside! It's Snowing In Texas!!

2011-02-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

Douglas Fir Under Snow
Woodtique Pearl Twigs

A new Collection, a snowy collection called "Honey, Look Outside! It's Snowing In Texas" a look at our Blizzard 2011, has just been posted at ArtFire and my "Doug Fir under Snow" Woodtique Pearl Twig earrings were included! Yay! This beautiful Collection was posted by ArtFire's Artist: Jewels2aT

Honey...Look outs...

Curated By: Jewels2aT

Handmade Gifts

Front Page At ArtFire.com!!!!

2011-02-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

Our ArtFire Collection from January 24th "Brandy and Cognac" made it to ArtFire's Front Page on Jan 27th, (6:12 a.m. PST)!!!
Gotta love it!!!

Brandy and Cognac

Curated By: WoodcotDesigns

Handmade Gifts

And these earrings are the ones in the collection:

awwww, my first Front Page!

Ready -- Set -- Go -->>

2011-01-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

Sarahbushka
is about to premier 15

new and beautiful necklaces!

Watch for them to arrive in the very near future!

ArtFire Collection: Brandy and Cognac

2011-01-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have had a pair of my Pearl Twig earrings featured in an ArtFire Collection!

YaY!

Brandy and Cognac

Curated By: WoodcotDesigns

Handmade Jewelry

Get a Spine, and get your "Read On."

2010-12-19T11:36:00.001-08:00

Bibliophile, Do you love reading books? The Hard Copy version?

Book Jewelry is here!

That's right, pagemarkers also known as Bookmarkers.

Jewelry adornment and more, for your books, for the bibliophiles out in the real world, that still like to hold a spine in their hand!

~~~~~~~~~

This is a conglomeration of page markers offered this year at wiresNpliers Etsy and ArtFire. All are handmade, cold forged, wire wrapped, and all of copper and other neat things.

I list ready-made pagemarker bookmarks at Etsy and for the Custom work, I list at ArtFire. Here is a sampling of the handmade, cold forged, beautiful and very useful bookmarks that I made. Most have been sold by now, but there is still a small assortment at Etsy.com, and of course, I will always customize and/or create something especially for you, if you prefer.

So here we go:

Like my page marker bookmarks? Let's talk. contact me, and know that while in most cases I can replicate a design, I will purposely create every bookmark to be unique, a one of a kind with no intended duplication, unless a matched set is what you seek.

I am reachable by the "contact me" at either shop below:

~~~~

Etsy.com ~~~~~~ ArtFire

Thanks for visiting my little blog today.

Get a Spine.

Get your read on.

Collections and Treasuries~ Distinctively DD, SanDesign and BerryBlueCreations!

2010-12-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

We've recently been featured in some amazing and beautiful Collections and Treasuries at Artfire and at Etsy.com.

We're so lucky to have such great friends! Thank You's to Etsy's SanDesign, BerryBlueCreations, and to ArtFire's DistinctivelyDD!

Click on the Collection and Treasury images to visit them directly, and please don't forget to comment on them, if you are a member.

Art Fire Collection: DistinctivelyDD's:

It's Crystal Clear

Etsy Treasuries: BerryBlue Creations:

And then there's SanDesign's always gorgeous Treasury making:

Ducks Fly On The Blue Moon

Many Thanks go to our friends for including us in their Collections and Treasuries!

and, of course... A very Merry Christmas

to All

San Design's Treasury!

2010-12-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

San Design's making Treasuries!

Black Ducks Waddle, Too

at Etsy.com

We have been included in a great Treasury featuring Black one of my favorite colors!

Many thanks to San Design!

Included in McIsaacArt's Treasury!

2010-12-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

Another Beautiful Treasury from this weekend!

Spreading a little Warmth to Share
by Etsy's McIsaacArt

Thanks you for featuring Sarahbushka's Phoenix Rising necklace!

It's a beautiful Treasury

Woo Hoo ~ It's Treasury Weekend for us!

2010-12-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

Another Treasury, and this one is called:

For Our Men

by Cecilie from feelinbrassy at Etsy.com shop!

Thank You, Cecilie

Ooooh another Treasury

2010-12-05T10:29:00.001-08:00

Purple Duckies

Created by: San Design!

Thank you San Design

New items to Wires'Npliers

2010-12-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

Coming soon! Just in time for the Holidays!

keep watching,

the announce comes

soon.

Gray Days Ducks Etsy Treasury

2010-12-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

It's a Gray Days DUCKs Treasury, at Etsy.com:

San Design from Etsy (Maman canard de la journée) made this beautiful Treasury and included one of my necklaces too! And here's a little picture of it, but don't let that stop you from going to visit the site. Just click the picture below or the DUCK name above and you will be spirited away, coming to rest in front of this great Treasury!

Just thought I would share something fun.

Carry on....

Oh Tannenbaum! A Collection of Christmas Trees!

2010-11-28T08:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you Dee,

Oh Tannenbaum

Curated By: AllWireUpTOO

ArtFire.com

Handmade Jewelry Fine Art Photography

...For the beautiful Collection at ArtFire.com.
Dee included my Douglas Fir under snow earrings in this beautiful Collection!

Check it out!

What's new at wiresNpliers ArtFire?

2010-10-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to invite you to vote in our Guild's October Challenge. The ArtFire Artisan Jeweler Guild of which I am a new member, has monthly Challenges, and yesterday I got an email mentioning that it was the last day to submit entries. Those of you that know me, also know that I find it hard to let any challenge pass me by. Well this month the challenge is "Copper"(either by metal or color shade). So I looked in my files, for the appropriate piece. This Guild requires items in a person's Studio to be at least 40% created, and by that I mean not manufactured. Here is the description: items must be handmade by me, meaning by wire, sheet metal, granular metals, metal , polymer clays, glass rods for bead making, and slab stones for cab making. Well this certainly raises the bar for me, and that is very good!
(More coming in a later post later about this bar raising experience. BIG NEWS!!!)

My entry for the Challenge is "Barren, Sticks 'n Stones." While I do not expect to win, or even get votes, it is still great exposure and it stimulates my creativity. Ever since our team Jewelry Artist Guild went dark at Etsy, I have really missed having Challenges. So I am very pleased to be entered into this Challenge at ArtFire! If you have a chance, slip on over and vote! I guarentee you, that you will see some gorgeous and very creative beautiful jewelry designs, including the understanding of what I mean when I say "raising the bar" for me and my work. Just click the image of "Barren" above (and you will be whisked away to the blog where you can vote for your favorite entry). And next month, it appears that the Challenge will be "Winter Wonderland" or something of that nature. Hmmmm..

Now, for my newest pieces at ArtFire. Since my work at ArtFire is completely handmade, I don't have a lot of the do-dads that I am used to adding on my jewelry like I do at Etsy, but that's OK. It is good for my hammers and tools to do things other than create items by just squeezing things together, and connecting things, and sliding beads on headpins. Since I make my own head pins I am pretty much free of manufactured components, though I will use cones, bead tips, and even a clasp or two is I feel it is necessary for the style of the piece I am working on.
At ArtFire, of course, all of the metals are Sterling silver, Gold fill, Copper or even Brass on my pieces and if there is something that I question as to it's purity, I will mention it in a listing.

First up, my Pink Ghost Earrings: Handmade head pins, flipped and hammered at the bottom to hold the beads securely in place, these headpins create beautiful baubles which hang from my cold-forged free formed Sterling Silver earrings. I chose 2 pink/blue* matching (or as close as I could get to matching) chalcedony stones. These are genuine stones, each with its own level of minerals in the quartz makeup. Chalcedonies are metamorphic versions of quartz; the quartzes that get pressured and heated underground to the point of melting and their chemical (mineral) traces start to blend, and then cooling without crystal growth, or no space or oxygen for crystal growth, they cool as they are, dense.

Chalcedony is the smooth dense quartz one sees in solid geodes, also the solid dense base below the crystal forms in hollow geodes, and depending upon the mineral content of the quartz, one will see different colors of chalcedony. Agates are also metamorphic quartz all in the same chalcedony family.

*These two chalcedony stones I call pink/blue, because next to pink they appear blueish, and yet next to blue, they appear pinkish! Because of the mock pleichroic appearance (the changing of colors depending upon the angle of light as it strikes the molecular lineup of mineral and crystal formation), I decided to combine these chalcedony stones with tanzanite, a famous gem of pleichroicism (is that even a word?). Tanzanite is a very well known gem that can bring exorbitant prices when in perfect or almost perfect saturation and cut into gems and set onto jewelry. Tanzanite ranges from blue to violet depending upon the light. Lesser saturation will show from light blue to pale lilac. No matter what saturation level it has, tanzanite is a beautiful gemstone and usually catches the eye when worn. Two small faceted tanzanite beads accompany each chalcedony stone which has been microfaceted, and it's milky translucent affect almost glows as each facet creates a sparkle affect. The two stones compliment each other nicely. They hang approximately 2" and they dangle at about 1.5." The ear wires are handmade shepherd hook style and come with soft rubber backs for security. $34

Another new item is also a freeformed style, tentatively named Purple Rain, this pair of earrings being a bit different in that they hang balanced from their handmade and latching ear wires. Two wavy loops free hang unevenly from the earwires in a movement effect. Each loop holds a beautiful briolette cut, grape colored amethyst from which small labradorite faceted beads accent them above their wraps. Their length is 2 3/8" with a dangles of about 1 3/4" creating a chandelier effect. $34

The freeformed shape is created by shaping both earrings together at the same time then hammering, filing , more shaping and hammering (hammering changes the shape by spreading and moving the metals in different directions when the molecules get warmed either by adding pressure or applying heat, and the item must then be reformed during the process). This is one of the reasons that each piece is slightly different. Sanding with finer and finer grits not only smooths the metals, it also starts the buffing process. I also love to polish every metal item with Renaissance Wax, a museum quality preservation wax, that is the utmost in waxing products.

And now, the reason for all of the free formed earrings: The Carnelian Teardrops.
These were custom made to match a necklace I previously made, also of a freeformed style, with all of these stones coming from the same lot, since carnelian has such a wide range of shades. This particular lot of stones, when I saw them, I immediately bought them, mainly because they

looked so much like some of the amber Fire Opals that come from the eastern side of my own state (Oregon). Now I have used them all up, save one single stone, which I may brio wrap in gold making a beautiful and dainty solitaire necklace.

I was asked to create a pair of earrings to match the necklace, and I gave a choice of 5 styles to view, from which 3 were chosen. I then made all three styles and from temporary wraps, I hung the stones and took images of each pair. Then I emailed the images for her choosing and she made her choice including her choice of earwire, and I completed her order, and shipped her new matching earrings to her. The remaining two styles were made into the earrings above! Perfect usage!

~~~**~~~

the hard part

Now, in keeping with my nature of being somewhat of an heelkicker, I would like to list an item that is related to the now infamous Etsy scandal of Fall 2010, when Etsy invited a guest blogger with an eco agenda, that titled her blog entry: Declaring Coral Too Precious To Wear. It was an article that focused on endangered corals being over harvested while proverbially kicking-the-shins of every etsy jewelry maker that owns and uses small inventories of coral in their designs when she asked readers to sign a pledge NOT to buy any jewelry with coral in it.

This of course has led many sellers to scratch their heads saying to Etsy: What were you thinking?

Etsy also allowed her to link readers away from Etsy, to her personal sales website; something that other Etsians are forbidden to do. Once again, Etsians scratch their heads wondering if there are duvets actually large enough for that bed they're all in together?

So, in the name of Etsy's Notorious Etsy CoralGate Fiasco let me introduce:

Black Soot Carbon Free Coral Rebellion Earrings: Safely harvested (in other words: inexpensive non collectible coral, dyed black) on handmade headpins with spiral bottoms surrounding freshwater oval shaped white pearls (also farmed) with pretty 24k goldplated (uh-oh, ok they claim it is 24k gold and I do believe them when they say plated) granulated disks and dark gold charlotte beads. Handmade 14k goldfill latching earwires are also on these earrings. $15

They will be listed at both ArtFire and Etsy, because I can create an additional pair if they sell at both sites at the same exact moment in time.

I will not be linking this blog article to Etsy, because I have heard rumors of sellers/hecklers having their shops "go dark," and suddenly showing the infamous "Uh-Oh" page that states: "This shop no longer exists" on the hallowed grounds where their shop once stood. So much for carbon footprints, eh? Or is that what they mean by carbon footprinting? hmmm?

Thanks for visiting my blog today, and I apologize for the buzz kill that I may have left anyone feeling. Hopefully, I will never have to voice my opinion like this again. Because I prefer laughter and happiness, though I acknowledge that it takes all to be well rounded.

And without the occasional negativity, how can one recognize all the positive things in life?

It's an Earring Extravaganza with the 3 C's!

2010-10-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

That's 3 C's as in Cute, Casual, and best of all Cost Effective!

wiresNpliers

This earring extravaganza or jamboree as I have also called it actually started over a week ago, on Saturday, the 9th to be exact, but I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to blog about it until now.

Actually, what happened was that I started posting the earrings to my Facebook page, and as I listed them, they caused a fervor between my friends and the next thing I knew they were selling right when I was listingthem, so that was very exciting!

So without any further adieu here they are!

Now Featuring

Our Holiday Earring Extravaganza:

Bangkok Bits

Asian styling in porcelain beads with lapis blue pressed glass and midnight blue pearlcoat baubles ~ $10

Turquoise Nugs

Turquoise nuggets with wavy silvery disks ~ $12

Silky Batik

Unique Metallic silk Asian styling ~ sold

Shield N Feather

Rose and fuschia conch styling feather earrings ~ $12

Pink Cathedral

Pale lilac window beads, wavy disks and hematite ~ $9

Pearl Wings

Angle drilled stick pearls with antique crystals ~$12

Into the Ivy

Lapis Blue pressed glass with bicolor glass tear drops ~ $10

Honey Drops

Copper earrings with amber honey colored Czech glass and bi colored glass drops~ $12

Holiday on Ice

Cranberry freshwater pearls with grass green sparkling cubes and wavy disks ~ sold

Eye of The Hurricane

Chroust hurricane glass beads with Swarovski crystals and pearls ~ $8

Crystal Greens

Forest green Cathedral (window) beads and Swarovski black diamond cube beads in gunmetals ~ $8

Just click any picture and my magic carpet will whisk you, directly to wiresNpliers
and the earrings of your choice.

Have a great day

and thank you for visiting my blog!

We've opted In to ArtFire!

2010-09-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

I have had an account at ArtFire account since April, but had never really used it. I did have a couple of items listed, but had never really marketed the account.

Soft Spring Pastel Pearl Earrings

The reason being that most of my stock has been listed at Etsy.com, and at 1000Markets a juried site that was very elegant, and the best part was that every seller had to be accepted, which was very nice because it kept out some of the riff raff that Etsy and other sellers have when it comes to vintage items. Well, 1000Markets just let all of ite sellers know that they had just made an agreement to join another site, giving us all the availability to migrate over to it.

So I prepared my shop items and when prompted I imported them to the new site which had recently renamed itself Bonanza. The shop name (called a booth) at Bonanza is Clayhouse.

SeaFoam Necklace

Then I turned back to ArtFire. ArtFire has done the best thing they could have done . They have been in beta mode for quite a while and to celebrate their launch thy have opted to give a lifetime monthly very low rate, and after seeing the rate I realized that I pay more than that each month at Etsy, already! And it just so happened that this all occured at the same time that 1000Markets closed down. Priceless....

Catedral Rose, rosary wrapped Necklace

ArtFire has no listing fees, and no final fees! Their low monthly rate is all one pays. Of course their basic rate is completely free, the Pro accounts with monthly rates pay for the basic free accounts offered. However the basic free account do not get the tools nor the exposure that the Pro Accounts get.

The Harvest, floating gemstone necklace

So I opted in!

And what happened? I got 2 sales right off the bat, even before the Opt In promo begins which just so happens to be tomorrow 10/1/10 (rather today, since it is now 12:25AM).

CarnelianTeardrops SeaFoam Earrings

So I am happy. Tomorrow morning when I wake up I will be a Pro Member. So I have a lot of work to do. And then I have a custom order to make some earrings!
I am really looking forward to this coming set of Holiday Seasons!

All of the items in this posting are from the new wiresNpliers shop at Artfire.com

New Blog is up at House of Tor!

2010-09-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

The new House of Tor blog has finally launched.

It took awhile, mainly because I am only one person and have so many things to do.

I now have two postings (basically moved over and rewritten)!

My next post:

Aranea, Spider of the World, a signature series In-line necklace, celebrating
the Aranea Spider and it's season of glory,

Autumn.

House of Tor, MisFits, claybritt are all sister affiliates to wiresNpliers at Etsy.com

Dudes....

2010-09-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

WiresNpliers says: Don't forget the dudes..... Why shouldn't men be able to shop for neck wear that isn't a silk noose that has to be worn over a dress shirt?
Men and dudes should be able to shop as easily as women and dude-ettes.

So here are some Dudes torcs, some beaded neckwear primarily focused for the Dudes in your fam.

"Dark Spectrum"

Dark Spectrum is genuine Black Onyx neck wear with colored spacer beads separated by brass washers, and set with 14k findings.

"Fang"

Fang incorporates a nice fang of green Agate which happens to have a red tip at the end off the fang. Matte tube beads are separated by copper washers and grass green African trade beads and this neck piece has a copper Sister Clasp which means it has two sides that overlap to form a very solid connection!

"He"

He is for heishi (He-She) which is coconut shell carved into beads. Wood, bone, and even lava and possibly resin (red beads) has been added to this interesting Islander style neck torc. Brass washers separate the smooth curved dark wooden beads from heishi beads, and carved white donuts surround the brown lava beads and this masculine piece has 14k gold fill findings including a 14mm squeeze style lobster claw clasp.

"Blue Krobos"

Blue Krobos has a unique bead in the front, a sand glass bead made by hand, by the Krobos peoples in Africa,. It is a method of using ground sand poured into a mold and a cassava leaf is rolled up and put through the midsection and when flame is applied the glass melts and the leaf burns away leaving a hole for stringing. This particular bead is almost a coke bottle blue green. The neck wear is created around this bead of cobalt blue tubular shaped beads separated by silvery washers and interesting glow-from-within turquoise beads. The clasp is lobster claw style.

♦ ♣ ♠ ♥

Next up, wiresNpliers will be have an earring extravaganza: easy care, easy wear, and best of all low prices to carry through the Fall and Holiday seasons.

Sarahbushka and her Art Careers! Review of Summer Fun

2010-08-31T07:08:00.000-07:00

Mermaid's Secret

Sarahbushka has been on her summer break from Art Careers class while the teacher and many individuals have spent their past weekend at the yearly Autism Camp on the lake at the beach. Now that Autism Camp is over and everyone is back at home, and gearing up for Fall, preparations are being made for the start of the new Fall Art Career session.

White, Black and Red All Over

With Fall around the corner and Sarahbushka's newest necklaces now listed at Etsy, she can now start to recycle some older necklaces that have been needing to be restyled so that she can begin her beading again, after the Labor Day weekend.

Falling Warm

Here are some additional new Art Careeres necklaces listed to our Etsy shop wiresNpliers:

Royal Blues

Pink Ocean's Love

Dark Rainbow

Additional beautiful Art Careers necklaces can be viewed and purchased at our Etsy shop: wiresNpliers

More About Art Careers:

Art Careers is one of the many adaptive educational classes offered to persons with developmental disabilities. In Art Careers Jewelry Expressions class, the focus is on creating jewelry, and fine tuning motor skills while developing an eye for pattern, balance, purpose and integrity. Not only is Art Careers for creating beautiful jewelry, it also aids in communication breakthroughs as all members use class time for enjoyable social and creative exchanges, while their hands are moving constantly.

"Art Careers" is a unique source of beauty and expression; all of the art culminates from the minds of the students; folks that oftentimes cannot verbalize and express their views and thoughts as others can.

Visit Sarahbushka at Etsy.com

Thanks for visiting our blog, today.

Lotsa Lanyards ~ The Breakaway

2010-07-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

wiresNpliers Presents:

Is it Jewelry? Is it a Lanyard? Why, it's both!

Rare Earth Butterfly Lanyard

3 piece design, in a breakaway lanyard with Sure Grip connnections, and heavy duty magnetic clasps.

Golden Picasso Lanyard

Do you wear an ID tag or a pass card everyday? A badge, or a key card?

Fade To Black

Beautiful handmade beaded lanyards. For a member, a crew, or departmental ID badge.

A Holiday gift for your employee team.

Pearly Girlie Autism Awareness Lanyard

Many individuals work in professions that require that they wear ID badges, key cards, or passes in full view on their person daily.

Firefly Autism Awareness Lanyard

Many professions that require ID cards or badges, also require that any cordage worn be of a Breakaway styling for safety reasons.

Benny's Beaver Nation

While ornamental magnetic clasps are cute, cute is not our goal with our Breakaway magnetic clasp system. We would rather trade power for pretty, function for frivolity, and deliver a stronger, more reliable lanyard, while delivering a seamless beautiful beading pattern.

All About Blues, Beautiful Blues

Even though we have traded pretty for power, our heavy duty magnetic clasp is a special magnet, called a Rare Earth also known as a Neodymium Iron Boron magnets (NdFeB Grade N40) much stronger than a regular ornamental magnetic clasps available.

Tribal Rustic

Our SureGrip finger control is a wire wrapped component with matching beads that offer metal connnections at the magnet, adding longevity to the lifespan of your lanyard.

Pearlberry

While our lanyards fit comfortably over your head, sometimes it is inappropriate, and our SureGrip wire wrap will withstand the attaching and reattaching daily, where normal beading line might fail after aperiod of time.

Oceanview

All of our Lanyards are made with in a "Breakaway" style, with reinforced wire wrapped SureGrip finger control and magnetic clasps, in addition to being strung on Beadalon 49 strand .015 or .018 cordage.

China Blue

All come made with a plastic snapping card holder, though a lobster claw or swivel hook clasp, or split ring is available upon request.

Patriot Firefly

Clear plastic sleeve will also come with your lanyard with your choice of a vertical or horizontal positioning.

Black Violet Night

Lanyards can be special ordered in groups and team colors, too! Lanyards can be made in any length desired, including standard necklace lengths.

For each lanyard purchased, a $5.00 donation will be made to KindTree.org (Autism Rocks!) in the name of the buyer.

Please use safe practices when handling Neodymium Magnets and remember that magnets and pacemakers do not mix.

Some of the above images above show magnetic clasps

prior to retrofitting with Rare Earth magnets.

An Unexpected "Change Up"

2010-04-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was given a project by a friend of mine. It is the type of project I love to do. My job would be to create a pair of earrings for her to give to her dear friend on her Birthday. I had full creative freedom so I got some information about her friend; her age range (let's get real here, we're all the same age after a certain point), and her 'style' and genre. Knowing her age group gave me a head start, especially since I have already seen a few style evolutions in my lifetime, so far.

After talking for a little bit, I started to form an image in my mind; I knew she had long hair, and I was seeing her as a free spirit, living and looking younger than her age, artistic and flowing with energy, probably a fan of 70's rock, natural products, and perhaps she has a dreamcatcher and crystals in various places within her home.

Astrologically speaking, I realized that her birthday, being late in the month of April, would mean that she was either an Aries, or a Taurus, like me.

(hmm red/orange) Loves purple. (hmmm) Aries: Ram, beautifully solid with grace, strength, lively, snappy, I picture: head first, leaning into the wind, with eyes not necessarily looking forward...and Taurus: Bull, like a heavy truck filled with stone, slow to get started off the line, but with each revolution that the wheels turn, exponentially, the power comes to light. The flowing arts, the female counterpart, like the beautiful and acknowledging passion twin of Aries, but Taurus, rather than the head down into the wind, the head is up, with eyes turned to the sides, always watching to see what will happen next. Both, incredibly strong, and unmatched by others, one with a forward force and momentum, the other as stubborn, and hesitant as they come. Both creatively endowed with strong flowing energy.

Ok, enough of that.

So now I knew her genre, her age group, her style, and possibly having perceived a teensy bit of her personality; the most important thing of all; what I had learned so far, was her favorite color and the length of her hair and how she wears it (something always important to keep in mind when making earrings).

All if this from our short and simple conversation. It is very obvious that my friend holds her in the highest esteem, so I wanted both to be as pleased as I could possibly make them.

~~~~0~~~~

I already knew I wanted amethyst as the main stone, I knew I wanted something long and freely flowing, (like her hair) in white metals (silver), and I wanted some sparkle, but not manmade, unless it were to be accent items. I did not want glass, and nothing too heavy with all that I visualized.

Then I found the "entree" stones, 2 natural teardrop amethysts, translucent, and complete with growth rings and their internal crystallography visible, and to them I added some grape colored microfaceted round amethyst briolettes, my new blade* pearls and some sterling silver balls.

I took some time and looked at the pieces until I started to 'see' (ok not really, I was actually starting to see the earrings in my mind as soon as I found the blade pearls), I just didn't draw them out for a couple of days. My mind's image turned out to be pretty good, too. One drawing and I was ready to start.

I made the earrings, but had to stop to make the earwires as they were "hard wired" to the amethysts. They came out beautifully, and right on schedule so that my friend could deliver them just prior to leaving for vacation.

I told my friend, in parting, that the earrings came with one free retrofit, since I made them from a blank mind, and only on what I had perceived from someone's words.

You know, sometimes our words are heard in higher places in addition to being heard right in front of us.

~~~~O~~~~

I told you that, to tell you this: Even when one thinks they know most of what they need to know, the inevitable can still happen.

Her ears weren't pierced.

...but she had plans:
Her desire: to incorporate these earrings into a pendant necklace.

I love a predicament. I think that is when I do my best. So we made arrangements to meet and discuss what should be done.

I have additional (and larger pieces) of the beautiful amethyst, which would make a large and very nice pendant, so I brought them along including some other stones like jasper and sugilite, along with chain samples, and I wore another necklace that I had previously made, showing one of the chains "in action."

She wanted to stay with the two original stones, briolettes and everything, as it was, while creating it as a pendant (are you starting to picture this yet?). good.

So I gathered my things and came home, and commenced to start my work.
Introducing:

Far Out Hippie

May your nacre blades freely swing fore and aft, whilst they guard the gem that lies below,

Your Spirit

~0~ ~0~

fun!

*watch for the "Pearl Diving at the Gem Faire" post to come in the near future, where BladePearls will be discussed.

It's VickiDiane's Artist Exposed for Autism Awareness Month, and Global Street Team Etsy For Autism

2010-04-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

We are proud to anounce the World Wide Debut of the new VickiDiane's Artist Exposed Treasury featuring Sarahbushka and her teammates from our Etsy Global Street Etsy For Autism, in our celebration of Autism Awareness Month!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our team was very lucky to have VickiDiane, the well known Etsy Artist use our team for her Artist Exposed Treasury where she introduyces the Artist behind the work. Our team is the Featured Subject this lovely Easter Weekend. If you are an Etsy member (if you have an account at Etsy.com), please feel free to visit and click your way aoround all of our members' items and read their stories, since every one of us is related to Autism in one way or another. Several of our esteemed Artist members have autism and they are also here: Noah Erenburg's painting: "peace" (Shop elenamary) and of course our Sarahbushka and her "Winter to Spring Sunkissed"! beaded necklace (Shop wiresNpliers) .
If you are not yet an Etsy.com member mosey on down to Etsy.com and sign up, and be sure to tell them that wiresNpliers sent you (as your referral). All you need is an active email (like gmail, hotmail, yahoo etc) and you can sign up!

After all the hub bub, and excitement of being featured in the fantastic VickiDiane's Treasury, we have been blessed to find ourselve's featured in 3 additional Treasuries this great weekend:

Ray Of Light

A few of my favorites

by BlackSheepDesigns of Team Createability

April is Autism Awareness Month

A few of my favorites
by the famous SandysCapeCodOrig

In Whew

Diversity the name of the game

by The Sistersstudio

Here is an image of our Shop page announcement from Wires 'n Pliers (wiresNpliers). We're having a party!

because:

Autism Rocks

Etsy For Autism is also on Facebook, and Twitter so come on over, friend us and tweet with us too!

Hand Carved African Zulu Button Necklace

2010-03-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend of mine, who also happens to be a client, gave me a handful of buttons that were brought to her directly from Africa, by a girlfriend who had visited there, some years back.

These are facial mask buttons from the Zulu Tribal peoples, they are hand carved and the interesting thing is, the back of each button has also been carved in such a way that allows the button to rest flush against whatever textile it has been sewn onto. There are about 8 buttons, each alike, though each separately hand carved so there are slight differences, minute as they are.

After she gave them to me I felt that the most honorable thing I could do, in return, was to give her the very first thing that I made from them. And since they are so unique, using them as a button just didn't seem fitting. So I made one into a necklace.

In doing so, I tried to find out more history and background information about them. I have searched the internet; looking for African Mask style buttons (they are each styled in the shape of a mask, a face mask), and to date I can find nothing like them.

When my client came in for her recent haircut we discussed these super unique buttons and she seemed surprised when I told her I couldn't find anything about this style. She knows that they were sold in a store in Africa, probably a curio shoppe targeted toward tourism. But they were purchased back in the '90s, by her friend when she traveled throughout Africa, and she knows and can confirm that they are Zulu.

I do believe that she will have more information for me when she comes in for her next haircut, and I have some specific questions to ask. I have the suspicion that this is going to be an ongoing quest for me.

~~~~~

To make her a necklace I returned to Africa, virtually, to one of my African suppliers, and purchased some Krobo sand glass* beads in two colors, pale water blue and a muted purple.

I also purchased some wonderful black vulcanite wafer thin rubber disks, that when lined up side by side, appear like a thick black cord.

One of the problems I ran into when it came time to incorporate the button into the form of a necklace pendant was the convex/concave custom system that was originally incorporated into the rear side of the button, since it has carved to lie falt against material.

Being made of wood, and my not knowing their actual age, I was taking no chances of having the constant movement of a chain or anything that would suspend the button, cause stress or friction on a wooden material that might get more and more brittle as time passes by.

So it was up to me to create something that might hold the button stationary. The button has no button holes but rather it was made by carving out a vertical eye hole that protrudes out the backside of the button.

My medium was Sterling Silver, though this was an American choice as Sterling might not be a metal used in this area of Africa. Yellow metals are incorporated into a lot of jewelery, and has, in the past been used as a type of trade or money and is commonly worn on the body as jewelry, call it a body wallet, and as a form of security. Silver has a different connotation and belief system in some tribal areas. I chose silver merely because it was based on the color palette of our local area and my client's choice of metals that flatter her silver white hair.

I look forward to making more jewelry from these gorgeous wooden buttons. and I hope to discover the type and source of the wood and perhaps even find more beads similar in style and age to these beads.

*from the Krobo people of Ghana, West Africa; a dry powder glass bead. Finely ground and powdered glass is funneled into vertical molds made from the local clays. Straw or cassava leaf stems are inserted to make the bead holes and when fired in wood burning kilns the mold burns away leaving unique and beautiful glass beads.