Busy Before the Holidays

Hello friends!

Wow, it's been a little while huh? I've been here as always, just BUSY. I have been selling out of beads before they get to my Etsy shop and here(YAY!)! My facebook bead previews have been really awesome. If you don't already know you can check out my posts on my profile or business page.

Want to see what found new homes(Yes, these are all SOLD OUT already)? I thought you might ;)

Ok so I am mildly obsessed by sea glass green AND it's even prettier stone textured! I finished off the "collection" of sea glass beads with the smaller lentils and headpins. 

Mmmm I also love this terracotta color as well. It is SO dreamy with silvered ivory and raku! Here you can see if shiny and stone textured. Amazing how different they look huh? 

I also did  a collection in this color scheme. I call it "Antique Mint". Yes, it does look blue, but the original glass is a minty green before they come full circle to look like this. Pretty huh?

Here are the rest of the beads. I made the spacers just before this collection. I didn't get to smaller lentils yet. I really love the way these turned out.

OUTSIDE THE WORLD OF BEADS....

So aside from making beads Ricky and  I have been creating art.  It's really nice to be creative together. Here are some of the things Ricky has been creating.

This piece is called "Entomology Specimen" since it looks like a scientific study of animal life. I love that it is on 3 canvas' that go together, but are separate. 

This piece is just SO gorgeous. I had to show a few shots. There are SO many details!

I just love all of the texture and layers. 

This was a second piece in his "Urban Vandalism" series called "Dapper Disguise" :D

This one is still unnamed. It's amazing to see where the piece starts and where it ends up. It was really awesome at this step, but just wait til you see the finished piece.

Wow, huh?! It reminds me of thoughts, and aspirations, a journey in life. I love the gears too. It has that "street washed" feel to it like his kind of urban city graffiti style too.

 Here is the base of his newest one. It's even completely past this part already. This is just the bottom layer with many more to follow. I love seeing the pieces come together.

I have been at it as well. Creating as he is making things for his shop. Mine have been for gifts.

I love the ombre wine cork hearts you will see bouncing around Pinterest. I started out with my simple text background and decided to do some more mixed-media stuff to it AFTER I attached the heart. Now ideally I would have done the layers first, but you know how that goes ;) I still am very happy with how it turned out. This went to my bro's gf for xmas :)

It's FINISHED! It's so different from where it started, but it's SO beautiful! I am really happy with how it turned out! I began working on another for a "Pinterest Party" to which I was invited.

This time I wanted raised "gilded windows" for my piece. This step took me forever so I decided to set this aside and start working on a more free flowing piece in the same style. 

Ok... I took A LOT of pictures of this one. I had such a wonderful time creating it. It took me a full day to make it. I loved enjoying it on my wall and I was sad to have to give it away. I'm glad it went to a home where it will be loved ;)

Detail top left.

Detail middle.

Detail bottom right.

The finished piece. This is functional wall art! So cool!  So I did wine corks on the left side to be used a bulletin board for photos. On the bottom are hooks for keys, jewelry etc. 

 Yes, I'm a nerd. I had to take photos of the new piece with it's sibling ;) 

Here they are together on the 1st pieces side. 

Here they are together on the second pieces side. As you can see these were not hung to be close. We just hang our work on the already existing nails from what we had up on the wall before hand ;) 

We were pretty excited to get a Keurig! This was our gift to each other for Christmas. It's been super sweet having fancy coffee every morning. Now I just want to run out and get a ton more pods! Lol. 

 I will be taking a break from making new beads through the rest of the holiday. For now I will focus on making gifts and try to re-charge from the busy year. I will begin new work after the 1st. It's been an awesome year. Each year we have been getting increasingly busier thanks to my lovely supporters! You all have made this dream possible! 

Happiest Holidays to you and yours and a prosperous new year!

xo Genea

BLACK FRIDAY SALES ANNOUNCEMENTS 2013! Shop Handmade!

Hello friends! 

Can you believe it's THAT time of year again?! Where has fall gone?? Well if you have not already seen our sales announcements plastered ALL over the web you get to see them here ;)

So below I will fill you in on some sales from me and some other wonderful peeps! See I am makin' it easy for you to easily find art this year instead of getting bored doing searches only to NOT find what you want ;)

Yay! Go me for including ALL you need to know in the photo! This sale will be ONE DAY ONLY on BLACK FRIDAY! So the code will be active at midnight! Be sure to hop on and grab what you want before they end up in someone elses cart! ;) www.genea.etsy.com

Want to dress up your rockin' bod or your wall? You can do both in my jewelry shop! www.geneack.etsy.com

Come on over to Ricky's shop and show him some love! My budding artist has been busily creating master pieces! This will be his FIRST sale and what better time to do one than Black Friday?! www.stacheart.etsy.com

Don't forget our fine folks over at Love my Art Jewelry! A special thanks to Marsha Neal Studio for setting this up for all of us! You can check their current link for Black Friday info here. So be sure to add your shop to the list if you are vending or if you are shopping a click right there will whisk you away to handmade shopping bliss! 

So I think that should cover some super SWEET sales going on this black friday! Just think! No crowds for you, handmade savvy shopper! You can shop local or support handmade artisans right from the comfort of your own home! You don't even have to get dressed or shower! 

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!

xoxo Genea

New Beads in the Shop and creativity at the C-K House.

Hello friends!

Are you tired from holiday prep already? I am already feeling the fatigue myself. It feels like there is so much to do and the days are FLYING by! Some of the newest beads managed to make it to the Etsy shop(YAY!), but don't delay! There is no telling how long they will be in there ;)  Want to see the new arrivals?

Here is the Q&D for you all that want a quick glimpse ;)

Beach Stones "Painted Desert"- Did you ever have those upcoming projects and you weren't sure what you were going to make, but you just decided to make a bunch just in case? Well that is what these spacers were. I guess I am over due for this combo. It's pretty nifty!

Beach Stones "Sea Glass Green"- YUM! I don't think I can ever fall out of love with this color. I only managed to make one set, but that is how "bead free stylin" goes. You make a little bit of whatever pops into your head ;)

Beach Stones "Yellow Lime blush"- You know how I love me some collections so what better to fit a collection than spacers?! 

Earth Stone Droplets "Desert at Dusk"- Boo! Only ONE? Yes.. that is how it goes. I had some singles, but only one pair. I ran out of baking soda by the time I got here. Something about using the stuff sitting on your table versus fresh out of the box. Go figure *shrug*

Earth Stone Droplets- "Painted Desert"- MMMm yes, ivory is always the answer. Add in some rainbows and you have a masterpiece!

"Sacred Om Lotus"(front)- I managed to make some more. This little baby will be featured in one of my upcoming magazine tutorials. You can expect to see it in March/April 2014! 

 "Sacred Om Lotus"(back)

Spiral Earth Stones "Yellow Lime Blush"- Hellz yeah! You know when you have a focal size, spacers, and headpins, you need to have a set as well. I love these rainbows on this vivid canvas! 

CREATIVITY IN THE C-K HOUSE...

Do you make art? Do you have other areas where you excel besides your main medium. Well I do too! With the holidays fast approaching, Ricky and I have been busily creating things. It's nice to step outside of your normal creative area and do something different. I am always amazed at my well roundedness in art. It's pretty exciting :D

Like our studio, I mean kitchen?! You wouldn't believe the other piles. 2 creative people sure do make a hellacious mess! 

Here is my budding little artist at work. Normally Ricky spends his creative energy creating edible masterpieces in the kitchen. Who knew that he would get into mixed-media?! I won't lie, I have always dreamed of dating an artist or photographer. Who knew I had married one? *beams*

Here is one of his latest pieces. He wasn't really happy with it in the beginning and he is still working on it, but it really came together! You can't totally tell from the photo, but he learned this amazing layering technique. You use matte medium and tissue paper to create see through layers! It's SO amazing! I loved it so much I even used in in all of the pieces I have done! We went craft shopping and he had to check every place we went for cool tissue! Lol, so awesome that now he knows what it's like to be on the hunt for your favorite supply! 

Here is his other piece that is still being created. He started like 3 projects at a time. I was a little worried for him, but he proudly stated that in the videos he has been watching "they" tell you to work on more than one piece. Look at him "schooling" me on how to do art! 

Did you know the last art class Ricky had was in 8th grade?! He didn't get to take any art classes in highschool or college. What a bummer! Aren't you so impressed with his intuitive skills? I sure am! 

Here is his other piece. I really love this one! This is just the bottom layer.

Here is the finished piece! It's SO awesome! There are so many layers and texture. Some of the stars are even textured with some kind spackling paste! He is learning so much from these mixed-media you tube videos he has been watching.

Ricky's new work will be added to his Stache Art Etsy shop in time for holiday shopping! He will even be announcing his Black Friday plans soon. You can hear all about it on his facebook page.

Here are the projects on which I have been working. 

I started out with layers of torn up newspaper text. I wanted a nice base for my work.

Next I did drips of water colors and glued on crayons. I was inspired by the gagillion diy tutorials on melted crayons! 

Here is my melted crayon. I love that you can see the water color drips underneath as well :D 

I added a few of those tissue layers and I'm still not done. I have been building this piece in my mind and working on it slowly :)

For this second piece you can see I did the newspaper and tissue layering again as my base. You can see the text through the purple tissue.

I was inspired by this image I saw on Pinterest and decided to take that idea and put my "Genea Spin" on it.  Here you can see I added some other elements and raised all of my designs with some foam sticky tape. I love the glittery paper and jewels I found as well! 

Here is the finished piece! I am SO in love with it! It's hanging in my kitchen right now so I can admire it :)

What creative projects have you been making for the holidays? Are you anywhere near done or have you not even started yet?

xo Genea

A Glimpse into my Days and the birth of Stache Art!

Hello friends!

I always have so much to tell you. I swear by the time I get here I could have written about 4 blogs to tell you about everything that is going on. So I guess get ready for a long one! 

So I guess I feel the need to tell you a little bit more about my life and how my days tend to go.

I am, yet again in another transitional period in my life. As you may have read I currently live in Olathe, Kansas just 15 minutes over the Missouri and Kansas border on the Kansas side. Ricky and I moved here so that he was closer to his work. Unfortunately that job situation ended up worse and worse until he finally quit. He started up a new job that is just down the street from where we live now so it's nice that he doesn't have a crazy long drive. As soon as our lease is up in April we are looking for a house to rent again! I am over this apartment crap.

 Anyways.. that was the back story. So let's fast forward you to my weeks now... 

My studio is at my mom's house in Kansas City, Missouri. So I spend 2-3 days "up north" creating beads. I do wish I had more days in the studio because when I am not there creating beads that is all I can think about ;) Here is a pic of my humble little "Bead Dorm". I work and stay in my old bedroom.

When you enter the room you will see my sleepy spot to the left. You can see my little work area in that far right corner.

Here is the rest of the room. As you can see my work area is at the far left corner. 

**Just a quick side note** Now, just so we are clear. You don't see a ventilation hood. I have a double fan that goes in the window for exhaust. You may see it in the background of my bead photos. This is NOT proper ventilation, so please don't set up a lampwork studio like mine and say you saw it was ok to do that here. ;) I would never suggest my set up to anyone that wanted to work in glass. This is just how I have to work for now until I can do my entire set up. PLEASE be safe when you set up your studio. For proper ventilation please check out Andrea Guarino-Slemmon's web page here. Sadly, I have this same ventilation set up ,but it's in a box until I am in a more permanent studio :/ Moving on...**End side note**

Here is the view out of my "lampworking" window. This was taken last year, but it is almost looking the same about this time of year :D I love the view! It relaxes me to see trees and a soothing environment outside of my window. I call mom's back yard "The Canopy". It reminds me of a canopy in the rainforest or something. That wonderful feeling of being under lots of trees protected from the world outside. 

On the right you can see my second window and all of my glass in boxes on the floor. Someday I will have a nice sturdy glass shelf with all of my glass in separate cubbies all labeled. *dreamy sigh*

Here is a close-up of that corner. You can see my poor vent fan sticking out of the banana boxes on the right side of the photo. My double burner for pickling is on the floor(no I don't plug it in on the floor to use it :P)

Here is the view outside of the other window. Pretty huh?

Here is my bathroom. This across the hall from my "Bead Dorm". Where I get to hose off my crustiness after a long day of bead making ;P

While I am at the KC studio I only have an ipad and phone for my communications so if I have long messages to write I save those for the home pc since I can hammer out messages and chats so much faster from there on a *real* keyboard. So if you dont' see things I say I will post up right away this is why. If I do forget or if I miss responding to your message, please send me another one! It's totally not intentional. Mobile devices are awesome tools to stay connected, but sometimes I miss things! ;) This is also why there is a 1-2 business day ship on my Etsy items ;) If I am in the studio I am not with my Etsy shop stock ;)

Here is my little work area in Olathe. My bead desk, and all of my shipping stuff. One day it will be more organized when I get more fixtures for sorting, but this works for now.

This is where I am right now typing to you. So when I am online you can imagine me here going *clickity clickity clickity*

So now you can see how I spend my days in and out of the studios. It's hard. I have trouble transitioning. It's like being on vacation and then arriving home. You have to transition to one place and then it takes at least a day or two to transition to the other, then repeat.

SO WHAT IS THE OTHER NEWS??

Well, geez, I have lots! So I will try to give you the short version(insert laugh here). Well for starters I had the extreme pleasure of my veiled cane glass being featured in GG Glass' ad!!!

How flattering is that?! This is the necklace I was inspired to make since Bead Fest Philly and just got to recently! 

I was inspired to work with some silver glass and I created these new INCREDIBLE focals! They are all SOLD OUT. I hope to get more glass so I can make more soon. Speaking of selling out, that has been happening a lot with my beads(again YAY so flattering!). So if you want to snag some I would suggest watching my Genea Beads facebook page for previews! :D

THIS has been where I have been spending ALL of my creative energy last few days!

 So while I was at Hobby Lobby picking up some supplies these chip board moustaches were "talking" to Ricky. 

He picked up one and then we headed to a thrift store to look for some other supplies. Ricky did collages back in highschool and was inspired to create some with a moustache as a base.

That night while I worked on a crafty gift, Ricky sat at the table and worked on his FIRST art piece! He found an M.C. Escher book at the thrift store and thought it was perfect for his first collage. I am so proud of my little artist :D

He was really excited about his M.C. Escher moustache collage!  He titled it "M.C. Stacher"!

Didn't it turn out amazing?! I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE M.C. Escher. I fell in love with his work in high school and have loved him ever since. So after this first piece Ricky was hooked and talked to me about creating an Etsy shop!

So what would any good artistic wife do?? Well create her husband a shop along with all of the necessary pieces!

I got to work on Ricky's shop banner. His favorite color is baby blue so we used that for the base color of the banner. 

Next he needed an avatar so I had him pose for this photo using my palm tree shower curtain as the back drop! I love this photo! It really captures Ricky's personality :D

Every good business needs a logo, right? So I fumbled my way around photoshop and created this logo for Ricky! I LOVE it! 

Of course Ricky also needed a facebook business page too, right? So I hopped on and created Stache Art's facebook page!

You know how much I LOVE packaging, so I HAD to go get Ricky some good moustache packaging supplies!

You need to have "Thank You" cards too so we picked up blank kraft cards! I stamped each one with a moustache stamp on the card and envelope while Ricky worked on his second piece!

This one is called "Stache Dynasty"! 

It has a wonderful Asian art theme with sumo wrestlers on down to Buddha!

Each of his works have a moustache "signature" embellishment and are signed and dated by the artist!

Here is Ricky's newest piece. He is working on a vintage style mini stache that will get a little hanger on the back so it can be mini wall art! 

So if you have not already stopped by Ricky's fanpage or shop, stop on by and show some love by "liking" the page and sharing with your friends!

Thanks so much for stopping in to see what's been up in my world!

See you soon!

xo Genea