A PRODUCTIVE DAY!

I have been playing with wire and beads since early this morning. Since it has been snowing, snowing, snowing, I decided to just stay in today and see what I could get done. I made another Egyptian coil bracelet and added a lovely turquois bead to it, then made pendants, also using the coil. I plan to hang them from leather cord. I also made several more of my peace discs (pictured a few days earlier) for earrings and made a couple of batches of jump rings. Jeanne came over and I showed her how to make the E. coil bracelet and she tried adding one of her lampwork beads to it - a very nice touch! She's going to finish it up at home - I can't wait to see the finished product. So, it's been a very busy day. I'm calling it a night! Until tomorrow. Sweet Dreams!

PMC - 1ST ATTEMPT

My friend Jeanne and I had our first experience on our own with precious metal clay in silver. We recently purchased a kiln together and put it to work with our creations, even making our own molds to work with, along with some purchased molds. My sun faces came out pretty well, one better than the other as far as details, but overall, once cleaned up, patina added, and some elbow grease, this was the final result. The little face was created because we're expecting our third grandchild in March and I wanted a baby face to reflect "Baby G" as he or she is lovingly referred to. I'm not sure this looks like a baby though! What do you think? :) The face looks sweet against a brass disc.

PEACE SIGN JEWELRY

I've been working on some peace sign jewelry. A while back I had made a pair of earrings and wanted to continue experimenting with wire to create pendants and also more stamped disc designs. This is the result of those attempts. I personally like a rather "rough" look to some designs, and this is one of those times. I am still a novice in my soldering skills, but I think it works okay with these pieces.

The discs are soldered copper on brass with the peace sign on the copper. I added patina to bring out the design and I think I will make earrings with these pieces.

Jewelry Expressions by Anita is Up and Running

Ahhhh...success at last - I have my new name (JEWELRY EXPRESSIONS BY ANITA) and my Artfire site is in place. (For anyone new to this blog, it was previously named BeaDazzled by Anita, as was my Artfire site.)

I have listed some of my jewelry on Artfire today and will continue that process over the next few days. I do not have my Facebook page back up as I am awaiting a response from the Facebook team to see if they can get my page back up so I can rename it, or if I have to create a new page. It would be nice if I could get my old page back, but what will be, will be.

Thanks to those of you who helped me out with picking a new name. You gave me a lot to think about before choosing Jewelry Expressions by Anita. I will be in touch with you via e-mail in the next day or so to thank you personally.

Have a wonderful day!
Anita

BeaDazzled by Anita has a new name!

I want to thank everyone who e-mailed me or commented on the blog regarding a new name for my jewelry business. It has been a struggle coming up with a name that would work, but the new name will be(drum roll please): Jewelry Expressions by Anita.

I hope to have my Artfire store and Facebook page back up and running over the next few days. Once that is complete, I will contact those of you who participated in helping me with suggestions for a new name. I appreciated all the feedback - it was extremely helpful in sorting out what would or would not work.

Thank you!
Blessings,
Anita

AWESOME OPENING AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS

I don't know about you, but I thought the opening was spectacular. The visuals were beautiful and the music was outstanding - I loved it all - and K.D. Lang could not have poured more soul into Alleluia - I could watch that performance over and over. It took my breath away. And Nellie Furtado and Bryan Adams - wow - what a way to get everyone pumped up for the games!!!!!!!! I just wanted to dance and sing along. Then there was Thomas - gliding through the air like an angel. HATS OFF TO CANADA!

Here is a link to hear K.D. sing Alleluia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&feature=related

HELP ME PICK A NEW NAME!

My BeaDazzled by Anita Facebook page was removed and I consequently found out that "Beadazzled" is a trademark name. Therefore, I am TEMPORARILY disabling my Artfire access from this blog and I am going to change the name of my jewelry business.

But, I need YOUR help! I have been checking on some ideas and doing searches on-line for name conflicts. This is a list of possible new names we've come up with so far:

Anita's Trinket Box
Ashton's Trinket Box (my granddaughter)
Emerald Lane Jewelry Boutique (my birthstone)
Anita's Handcrafted Jewelry
Anita's Wire & Beads
Anita Hearn Jewelry Creations
AAA Crafted Jewelry
Anita New Trinket
Anita’s Jewelry – Shimmer! Dazzle! Sparkle!
Bangles by Anita
Beads and Bangles by Anita
Anita’s Bangles
Anita’s Jewelry Cache
Anita’s Trinkets and Treasures
Anita’s Treasure Chest
Anita’s Jewelry Box (or Chest)
Anita’s Jewels(or Jewelry) and Trinkets
Anita’s Handcrafted Jewelry Creations

I am open to suggestions - so if you would like to vote on one of these names, or if you would like to suggest a name, please e-mail me by FRIDAY, FEB 12TH at:

ajhearn@roadrunner.com

I will attempt to shorten the list to 2-3 names and let you vote again. Once I have my Artfire store and Facebook pages up and running again, I will have a promo for all of you who participate. Thank you.

NEW BEAD STORE IN GREENVILLE, PA - Let It Bead!

There was a wonderful write-up yesterday in The Herald about "Let It Bead", Main St., Greenville - a new bead store owned by Kris Roscoe. Kris sells jewelry supplies and her own hand-crafted designs, as well as designs by her patrons. She has beading birthday parties for children, and is happy to teach you how to create your own designs. She wants to get to know local artisans - so if you live anywhere near Greenville, PA - look her up at "Let It Bead!

EARRINGS TO GO WITH EGYPTIAN COIL BRACELET

I am making one of the Egyptian Coil bracelets as a gift for a friend and decided to include a pair of earrings. She gets them next week - I hope she likes them.

BEADAZZLED ON FACEBOOK - BECOME A FAN!

I created a page on Facebook for BeaDazzled today - I hope you and your friends will become fans! Please share the page with your friends and family! Thanks and have a wonderful week. Anita

Link: Copy & Paste

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BeaDazzled-by-Anita/136809478056?v=app_6261817190#!/pages/BeaDazzled-by-Anita/136809478056?v=wall

Egyptian Coil Bracelet

I took on a new wire project this week - an EGYPTIAN COIL BRACELET. I downloaded the free tutorial from http://mckjewelry.blogspot.com/2006/08/egyption-coil-tutorial.html. So my thanks to Marie Cristine! I had fun making this bracelet, starting out using inexpensive 19 gauge stainless steel wire that I picked up at a local hardware store. Having never worked with stainless steel wire, it was harder to work with than copper as it stiffens up as you work with it. But the end result was worth the effort. After making my first piece, I moved on to 18 gauge copper wire with the results pictured. I am very pleased with this piece and my advise if you decide to make this bracelet is to keep each wire length the same, check each piece after coiling to see that each piece is still the same length. Be consistent in each step you do so that the final piece comes out well balanced. I really thought the bracelet was beautiful in its natural copper coloring, but decided to patina it and absolutely love the antiqued look from this process. If you decide to make this, please share a photo with me! If you have ANY QUESTIONS regarding this piece, or anything else on my blog, please e-mail me through the blog!
Have a great week.
Anita