Fabric of My Life with Shelley Graham Turner: September 2012

Monday, September 24, 2012

PLAY DATE artist : Rita of Toltec Jewels

Today is my first play date! Today's playmate is Rita of Toltec Jewels.

Play Date artist (PDa) is a new feature here on my blog. I send out a package to my playmate which includes some of my handmade components (beads, charms and/or focals) along with a few coordinating beads and findings. My playmate and I will both create a piece of jewelry using those same select components plus some of our own stash.

Here's what I sent to Rita -

The palette I sent is one I absolutely love, purple and lime green. I love how the colors pop when placed side by side (in fact, I am painting my new studio space with these colors!) The larger purple polymer beads are part of my SILLY RABBIT series.

I make them in vivid colors and they remind me of one of my favorite childhood cereals - TWIX!

My "Silly Rabbit" Beads

I like to make bracelets so I set off to try a technique I haven't tried before - a triple row beaded wrap bracelet. I really like the way it turned out!

Now a little about my playmate, Rita of Toltec Jewels. Rita is an encourager and an inspiration. She's just one of those people who always finds a way to offer a kind word and put a positive spin on a situation. THAT is a gift! I feel blessed to call Rita a friend.

So come with me and see what Rita did with her bead mix - CLICK HERE!

READ Rita also took part in our Holiday Bling Blog Hop as well as What's in a Name Blog Hop! We are getting verrrry chummy!

Please be sure to tune in next time for another episode of PDa!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

IN THE PINK for Lori Anderson!

Bead Goddess by Lea Avroch

Today is officially "IN THE PINK for Lori Anderson" Day !

After months and months of scheming I can finally let it out! PHEW!

This whole thing has made me a nervous wreck. I am terrible at keeping secrets! I was so afraid SOMEONE was going to spill the beans - namely, me! But I think we ACTUALLY pulled it off!

So here's the back story -

As most know, Lori Anderson is the genius behind the Bead Soup Blog Party ®. She works tiredlessly to hook up artists from around the globe - this time her blog hop party guestlist was 400 strong! THATS crazy...and LOADS of work.

With all she does for our beading community I thought she should be recognized and shown some love! I wanted to do something really different. So I thought, and thought...and thought some more. THEN finally the answer came ... we could all go pink for Lori, afterall isn't her pink hair one of the things that sets Lori apart? They say 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', right?! I went ahead and put the idea out there and Sandra McGriff (my savior) jumped on board and the secret Facebook group, IN THE PINK , was born!

We then set out to try and invite everyone we could. This, it turned out, would not be so easy. Did you know that you have to be friends with someone to add them? UGH! We just had to find a more efficient way of contacting all the Bead Soup participants. That's where Amber Chicandfrog came in...she showed up and helped us big time! She went online and visited participants' blogs, rooting out as many e-mail addresses as she could find. So we sent out an e-mail and between that and word of mouth we had over 130 people join us!

Everyone wanted to show Lori some love but some weren't able to permanently dye their "locks of love" so we had to get clever. One member, Kimberly Flood, a hairstylist by trade, offered up lots of ideas for temporarily coloring our hair.

I bought some extensions, but they just didn't do it. I searched for the hair mascara - nada found! I then decided to try to hunt down some spray-in color. After visiting over six stores I FINALLY found it.

Jordyn and Gegi went PINK too!

My grandkids were visiting at the time so for fun, we ALL tried it!

You know what happened when I put the pink in my hair?????

I liked it!!

I would like to thank Lori for ALL her work, her vision and for providing a way for us all to meet new friends from all around the world! THANK YOU LORI ANDERSON, our Ambassador of Beads!

I would also like to send out special thanks to the two ladies who worked so very hard on this project - it absolutely would not have happened without them - thank you Sandra Mc Griff and Audrey Belangér ...so grateful to you both!

And for all the ladies who participated - thank you for helping us show Lori what she means to us! (check out their blogs by following the links below)

READ: I took part in Lori's 6th Bead Soup Blog Party ® , read about it HERE!

FEEL THE LOVE by following the links below!

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

Lea Avroch http://lajewelrydesign.blogspot.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isolina Perez http://IsolinaPerez.blogspot.com

Toltec Jewels www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Sherri Stokey http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Mary Howell Govaars http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com

Bee Kuhlman http://mixedmayhemstudios.blogspot.com

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

Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca

Heather Otto http://www.thecrafthopper.com

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

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

Lisa Liddy http://lisaliddy.wordpress.com

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

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

Mária Horváth http://horimarikabeads.blogspot.hu

Andrea Beth Trank www.heavenlanecreations.com

Heidi Mansfield Kingman http://www.mybeadtherapy.com/content/blog

Emoke Schmidt http://emoke1.blogspot.com

Sandra MrtzDiaz www.petaloazuljewelry.blogspot.com

Lupe Meter http://www.gesmpccorner.blogspot.com

Tanya Boden http://fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com

Ambra Chicandfrog http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com

Kumi Fisher http://maliekaidesigns.blogspot.com

Sandra Young http://blog.gypsyroadbeads.ca

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

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

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

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

Terry Matuszyk http://pinkchapeau.wordpress.com

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

Audrey Belangér http://esperianterra.blogspot.com

Sandra McGriff http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Sally Bohner Anderson

Mowse Doyle

Judy Daly Reganti

Brenda Lee Sigafoos

Saturday, September 8, 2012

CBC Administrator Day!!

Today is the day...we are honoring the ladies behind my FAVORITE Facebook group - CREATIVE BEAD CHAT!

Why is this group my favorite? Well besides that its packed with so many talented artists, its a place we can share and showoff our lastest creations; get feedback, advice and suggestions; learn of great resources; and just chat!

BUT what I love most is that the ladies who run it are all funny girls! I LOVE a good sense of humor! I love when they go back and forth at each other and that they will include anyone, there are no cliques here. And no mean girls either. AND they even let guys in..hahaha (settle down men, just messing with you !)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I have met great people because of you all and have formed some friendships that I really cherish. So, here's to the Administrative ladies of CBC - who all are fabulous artists!!

Melinda Orr Designs and her blog

Marla James and her Blog

Karen Totten and her Blog

Marla Gibson and her Blog

Keirsten Giles and her Blog

Sunday, September 2, 2012

PDA: I’m a WEIRDO, and I admit it…

I am an artist. I love color, texture and working with my hands.

I like accounting and math too! I love structure, rules and deadline!

I guess that’s why I love challenges so much. When working at a challenge I can get creative but with some rules and a deadline. I have found that I need that discipline; otherwise I don’t always venture into my studio and get work done as I should. So that’s why I think I gravitate to all the challenges and blog hops.

Unfortunately the challenges seem to come in bunches. I might have two in a week and then not another one for a couple more weeks. I need MORE structure!

So I am instituting my own structure, but I need some company. Do you want to join me for a play date?

PDA, or “Play Date Artist”, will appear as a biweekly post on my blog. I will feature my “play date” friend and his/her work plus write a small blurb with the artist’s contact information (similar to BFF*).

* BFF is BeadingFriend Friday. It is my weekly interview-type blog post featuring some of my favorite artists. It has been a weekly feature here on Fabric of My Life.

Should you want to come play, here is how it will work:

1. I will send off to you a package of my handmade components (beads, charms and/or focals) along with a few coordinating beads and findings.

2. You and I will both create a piece of jewelry using those same select components plus some of our own stash. You do NOT have to use the all the pieces I send but just the focal bead/charm(s).

3. On a set date (about two weeks later) we will both show off our designs on our blogs, with links to the other’s post.

So, do you want to play? If so, just leave a comment below!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

REVEAL DAY: Challenge of Travel Blog Hop

(Read more about the challenge by clicking HERE)

It's REVEAL DAY for the Challenge of Travel Blog Hop sponsored by Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found.

Erin challenged us to the task of creating an accessory that captures the spirit of the nation that we'd be assigned. We could take our inspiration from the climate, the landscape, the colors on a topographical map, the way the people dress or what they eat, the architecture of the cities or the natural landmarks..she left it up to us. My assigned country...

AUSTRIA....
The first thing I thought of was " the hills are alive with the sound of music" - granted if I were a more travelled being I would have had loftier things come to mind. But the fact is I have never been out of the United States, unless you want to count ten miles outside Buffalo to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls! And my very least favorite subject in school was Social Studies AND all things of a historical and geographical nature - I loved MATH! So I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

I did decide to take a Frommer's travel guide from the library so that I could learn more about Austria, but didn't get too far in it - not enough pictures! I got as far as reviewing the table of contents (do I get points for that?!). From the chapter topics I noted that people travel for many reasons and when they do they are drawn to many different things - some reach out for the culture; fashion; music and entertainment; or maybe the food. I like the natural beauty of the countryside or if in a city the colors and textures of the buildings and structures. (For instance, while in Boston I love to take photos of all the woods, bricks and stones!)

Though a city such as Vienna would be nice to see one day, I really think I'd be in awe of the Alps!

The shades of color, all the vividness would excite me. So it is no surprise that I chose them for my inspiration.

OH, I did learn one fact...70% of Austria is covered by mountains and the foothills of the Alps! (Extra credit, right?!)

AND here is my inspired bracelet (which my daughter scooped up IMMEDIATELY, total compliment!) Patina focal by Melinda Orr! ...