The spoils from Staci and Karen+Super *Secret* news with Staci Smith REVEALED

Hello friends!

Well the time is finally here for the super *secret* news you have been hearing about!  But first, I want to share some of my goodies with you. Don't worry this is like the pre-story for the main event ;)

So let's start out with my friend, Karen. I had the extreme pleasure of a trade with the amazing, Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio! Wow did she SPOIL me!

 

Just look at all of these AMAZING BEADS! If you don't have any of Karen's beads in your stash, you totally need some! Not only is her work amazing, but the details, and skill in her work are just outstanding! Did I mention the packaging as well?! Wow, she has literally given me the BEST packaging I have EVER received! It's such a treat to open her packages!

Your goodies from Karen will arrive in some of these pretty recyclable textured craft boxes.

Upon opening them you will see this.

Under this, you will see this.

 

If you ever wondered about the scale of her work this shot will give you an idea.

Karen's work is so masterfully detailed and tiny. She told us she has little elves that come help her do her work. There were 3. I can't think of their names at the moment, but they sure do a good job, don't they?!

Here is another shot of the beautiful oil lamps Karen makes. You can find them in her shop here I just love this awesome black clay with the glaze at the top and the bottom left "raw"!

 

See! Look how teeny he is! This is one of her infamous whale beads, if you have heard of their legends. I think she will be making some more soon if you don't see any in her shop. If not you could always send her a nice little message to see when she will have more in stock ;)

 Not only is Karen, super amazingly artistic, but she is probably one of the NICEST people I have ever met as well! I have enjoyed getting to know her so much, and I am so grateful to call her my friend :)

Here are the GORGEOUS spoiles I received from Staci, whom is also one of the most amazing people I have met. I am so happy  and honored to call one of my good friends! She is such an amazingly talented and super sweet person! I don't think I can say enough nice things about her!  If you have not seen Staci's work, then you simply must run over to her shop and familiarize yourself!

Aren't the BEAUTIFUL?! I just LOVE everything she sent! Oh, did I mention she SPOILED me as well? (A girl could get really used to this spoiling business! Being the oldest, I normally get shafted! ;P )

Wow, well where do I begin? Staci makes some amazing bronze clay pieces and patina's them. You can find them in her shop here.

She is also doing some AMAZING new painted polymer pieces. OH the HEARTS *swoon* All of the colors and texture in them. They remind me of beautiful batiked fabric! Some even have these little kinda barbell guys sticking out of them. They kinda look like they have little piercings ;)

I made some matchy wing dings(more about this below).

She even creates these wonderful nautilis shell connectors and such with this amazing crackle finish!

So just one more thing before I deliver the news.... Staci ended up picking up some of my recycled glass bottle beads and created this amazing bracelet I want you to see.  I take the bottles and simply melt down the glass to work them into beads. Here is a quick photo I took from my phone as I was making them :)

Here are the finished beads  and glass headpin from this photo. These are in the hands of Miss Karen Totten, but don't worry. I will be making more soon. Stay tuned for updates on those ;)

So about that bracelet....

 

This is the bracelet she just "whipped up" LOL. I was like just "whipped it together" huh?! This is AMAZING! Don't you LOVE it?! I think it's absolutely fantastic!!

So speaking of inspiration(this is the part you were finally waiting for ;) So When I received Staci's package I was so INSPIRED by her work I just HAD to match some beads to her wonderful pieces(You can read about more of my inspiration in my LMAJ Blog post here).

You know how much I LOVE color and I have such an eye for color matching, it's retarded ;)

 

So off I went, matching, and matching and making, and making. WING DINGS galore!

I was so excited about it I came up with this wonderful idea and ran it past Staci.

So here is the BIG BIG NEWS... I am excited to announce that Staci and I are working on a collaborative project together! We will be making some LIMITED ADDITION beads to offer up together complimenting each others work!!

 

Here is a little teaser! Staci will be creating some of her beautiful hearts and I will be making matching wing ding sets! We will only have a LIMITED amount of these color sets and focals available so when they are gone, they are GONE. 

In the coming weeks we are both busily creating this special collection for our friends and designers out there! We are SUPER excited about this wonderful project and can't wait to see what you all think!

As we get further on this project we will be updating everyone on our blogs(here((If you are reading this then obviously you know my blog address ;P lol)) and Staci Louise Originals) and facebook pages Genea Beads and Staci Louise Originals)so do check in to see how our project is going!

See you soon and thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Genea

Genea Beads- Love My Art Jewelry- Inspiration blog post

Looks like somewhere in the shuffle my blog post for Love My Art Jewelry got a little jumbled. Here is what the post is supposed to look like ;)

Hello friends!

I must say how flattered I was to be asked to write a guest post here in this lovely community. When asked to post I really had no idea where to start so Izzy suggested I write on what inspires me.  Well I would have to say what inspires me is everything around me really....  especially COLOR.

 Color spectrum chart.

My "Wing Ding" style beads in a rainbow of colors.

I think artists are given special eyes to view the world closely, differently than the average person.

I heard that people perceive color differently. I never realized I had a knack for picking colors until I had a friend that didn't have that same gift. I guess sometimes we don't realize certain things we have are gifts and don't realize that not everyone has them. I feel I get my artistic gift and color sense from my mother, whom is an artist as well.  Here is a picture of one of her paintings she made me for Christmas. I look at it every day since it hangs just above my computer. It is no wonder I had the idea to see how it translated into glass!

Here is a picture of mom's painting and my bead inspired by her work.

I took this bead a step further and created a pendant so that my mom could wear my interpretation of her painting around her neck.

Sometimes I am inspired by scrapbook paper. A certain color palette or pattern might catch my eye. I generally pick up the paper and stick it on my studio wall for inspiration or maybe just walking past it will inspire an idea right away.

I saw this paper at Hobby Lobby and picked it up since I loved the colors. This design and color palette turned into my "Retro Daisy" design! Aren't these colors yummy?!

Sometimes my own work inspires me to move in different directions. For instance I created this set of "Tornado Candy" beads back in 2009.

In 2012 I decided to re-visit this design only I started out by making a large focal size.  When starting the new design in a focal size, I kept getting ideas so I pushed the design a little further each time until I had created 3 new styles from just a single idea !

From Left to Right:"Tornado Candy", "Tornado Candy Ruffle",  "Tornado Candy Ruffle Button", and "Tornado Candy Ruffle Daisy".

I truly love bright colors, so naturally that is my color palette of choice. My very favorite colors are lime green and aqua. So sometimes when I have a design idea I start out creating them in my favorite colors. I then like to add in some other favorites like coraly pink or orchid purple. See how well they seem to complement each other?!

I also enjoy working in more earthy colors as well like in my "Desert Serpent" design. Earthy ivory with a smack of rainbow colors. 

My newest inspiration comes from one of your very own Love My Art Jewelry artist and designer, StaciSmith!

We recently did a bead swap and I received these amazing beads from her.

I was so inspired by them I began to color match my glass to her work and create a special bead set!

We were both so excited about this idea that we are doing a very special project together that we will be revealing  on our blogs soon!

I hope that reading this post helps  you put on your "artist eyes" so you can  take a deeper look at the world around you and be INSPIRED!

xo Genea

Bead-inside-a-bead-hollow's in the shop today!

Hello friends!

Well I finally got the BIBH's in the shop! I know I was supposed to get the one like Heather's soup up in the shop the other day, but you know how that goes ;)

So people always ask me how I get the bead inside. I usually reply with "It's like the ship in the bottle." It's not really, but kinda. I then explain how the bead is created. You start by making the center bead first, the create a disc on either side. Wind them all together and you have a bead-inside-a-bead-hollow. No, it's not really THAT easy, but that's how it's done ;)

So first I will show you Heather's soup incase you missed it. 

See the hollow in the background? :)

 

"Island Punch" Bright and magical. Let the photos do the convincing ;)

 

"Parrot Fish" A nice soft palette with some glittery lime green :D

 

"Spring Whisper"- Originally I made this clasp for Heather's soup, but it ended up being more pastel so I thought I would share the love :)

The fish that matches my bead. This is called a "parrot fish". Quite pretty if you ask me :)

 

"Islander" - These large streaky glittery leaves and winding vines make me think island flowers. 

Well I hope you enjoyed this weeks updates!

Have a fantastic weekend!

xo Genea

Marsha Neal Studio- New sets!

Hello friends! 

Have you seen Marsha's new work?! OMG is she making some GORGEOUS stuff! Not only does she have these amazing silks, but don't forget to check out the challenge silks as well! Our very own Bead Babes have selected special color palettes for your shopping pleasures!

My goodness, where do you start?! Marsha has made so much new amazing stuff, I just want one of EVERYTHING! I'm sure you will too when you check out some of my favorites!

 

Look at these wonderful color sand textures. 

 

New Item Handmade Ceramic Bead Set Round Beads

 

Bead Set

 

Spiral set

 

Round Bead set

Well what are you waiting for! Go Shopping!!

xo Genea

5th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal!- Genea Beads and Humble Beads

Hello friends! 

Wow can you believe today is the reveal date?! Me either! Well I will attempt to keep this short as I know there are a bagillion blogs to see(ok so not really a bagillion ;)

Heather sent me not only one amazing helping of soup, but 2! One was my challenge set with more muted colors and the other was some gorgeous bright colors!

 

Here was the first set of soup I received from Heather. I worked on my challenge set first thinking it was only fair ;)

These earrings came together quickly and easily. I even used the ribbon she had tied up my soup packages with. Why leave anything to waste? ;)

Well I must say my soup sure did give me a challenge. I muddled with a design for quite a few days.

 

I got stuck here. I really wanted to use this gorgeous heart focal with a bird on  a nest, but it was just so small and delicate against the clasp and the other beads in the necklace. 

I had planned on using the larger winter bird and egg to create some sort of simple necklace with just those 2 beads and some branch or nest as the focal. Hmm... I pulled out my wire and began to wrap, and wrap, and WRAP....

 

I fashioned this lovely wire nest and wove in some feathers. I strung on my dove and created a wire bail! My focal piece for my design!!

 

Here is is on white. It was really hard to get a great shot since each piece is light and dark so no background was really fitting. This photo doesn't even really do it justice at all for how AMAZING it is!

 

I just love the way everything turned out. These soft muted colors remind me of how things look outside now. It's these soft muted colors of the remnants of winter and the promise of spring :) 

 

Here you can see the finished necklace with the earrings from above!

Soup helping number 2!

 

Ahhh nice and comfortable! BRIGHT COLORS. Now the tealish turquoise is definitely one of my favs, but this ruby pink, although not one of my go to colors, is totally gorgeous! I just love these 2 colors together! I was excited about this set because for one, it was easier and I had a lot more bead sin my bead box to match ;)

 

Here you can see my necklace in the works. I wanted to create another incredible piece with these beauties so I decided to say on that nature theme by creating a wire woven wreath as a connector for the center of the necklace! I also wanted to incorporate some feathers into this design. I took my nice large egg and placed into into this gorgeous flower cup, a few feathers and DONE!

Here is a close-up of the Heather's willow pendant bead and my wreath. I wove in feathers, and wrapped on some leaves and flowers :D I'm so excited for just how well everything worked out and how GORGEOUS it turned out!

BUT... these colors inspired to make some designs to match. I added some of my "Cream Rainbow Ribbon" spacers to start and decided to create some other beads to add to the design.

 

Here are the beads I created to match. See how well this color glass matches Heather's bead on the right? I just love this Creation is Messy color called, Mermaid. It's a wonderful blue teal! I even did some etching and shiny stuff with these beads to better match the color of Heather's branch beads! So much fun! You can read more about how these designs came about in this post.

 

I also dabbled in this wonderful ruby pink glass to match those other fantastic willow beads Heather sent. I got on a roll so I made some extras for my shop as well.

 

So after the creation of my matching beads, away I went adding them into my design. I even used the ribbon Heather used to tie up this soup as well! Why let such pretty ribbon go to waste?!

 

Here you can see a lovely close-up of the flower cup with the egg and feathers inside :D I just love how the gorgeous Czech glass beads heather sent go so well with my lampwork beads and her gorgeous work as well!

 

The finished necklace! *GASP* OMG, isn't it BEAUTIFUL?! Do you ever look at a piece after you have created it and can't believe that YOU made it? Yep, that's what both of my soup pieces felt like!

 

What is a gorgeous necklace without some matching EARRINGS?!

Well I hope you enjoyed reading about the creation of my Bead Soup jewelry!

I want to thank Heather for her very generous soups, for all of the love and care that went into her packaging and presentation of her works, and for very sweet messaged through out this last party!

A huge thank you to, Lori as well for putting on these wonderful hops, and connecting us with such wonderful partners and wonderful participants!

Here is the soup I sent Heather! Now that you have seen what I created, please stop on by her blog to see what incredible creation she has made!

 

Love Heather's soup beads? I will be adding beads like her soup beads in my shop as we speak!(11:15pm)

Want to see what everyone else created? Please stop by and see the other BSBP artists by visiting Lori's page here!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Hopping!

xo Genea