Friday, April 29, 2011

~*Charm Day Celebration in South Africa!*~ With, Elna & Benice

~*Between Cupcakes And Tea*~
Benice & Elna did it again! 
They hosted a fun filled workshop to celebrate 
International Handmade Art Charm Day, 
down in South Africa! 
Complete with tea & cupcakes! 

Interested in seeing what they are making here?- http://betweencupcakesandtea.blogspot.com/2011/04/international-charm-day-south-african.html

Visit their blog to read more! http://betweencupcakesandtea.blogspot.com

~*Thank you for sharing your celebration with us Elna & Benice!*~

Thursday, April 28, 2011

# 6 Lynne wins! #11 Leigh gets a runner up prize! Charm Day Giveaway! Say the name & color that you'd like to make into a charm!

 Click on comments below this post and choose anonymous if you do not have a blog id or leave your name and website if that is how you prefer to be contacted! Leave the following info- Color of the heart and name that you'd like it to say! The winner will be offered the choice of having little rosebuds and rhinestones added or leaving it plain with just the name. 

Winner- #1 Lotus ~*Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry - Book Giveaway!*~ Brought to you by the authors, Chris and Peg!

COOL GIVEAWAY!
Chris and Peggy co-authored this book of making all sorts of mixed media charms. 

Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry 


You might find it to be inspirational, informative and entertaining!
(I know I do!)


Click on the image of the book and you will be brought to Amazon.com where you can take a look at some of the pages within the book & you can read some reviews as well. This might help you to decide if this is a good book for you to own.
Leave a comment below to add your name to the drawing.
The winner will be chosen on on Saturday April 30th.
The winner, once announced, will have 7 days to claim the prize!
~*Thank you Chris & Peg for sharing your book with us!*~
It's a great publication!

Winner- Monique from South Africa! ~*Polymer Clay CupCake Beads giveaway!*~ Leave a comment to enter! You will have 7 days to claim your prize if you win!





This offer is for 2 polymer clay cupcake beads made by Amber!
Click on "Comments" directly below this post to enter your comment. Please choose anonymous if you do not have a blog and leave your name and location or your name and email if you'd like to.

Winners- #2 Francine Vorbeck #5 Carmi #8 Lynne Are the winners! ~*Amber Dawn's Handmade Polymer Clay Charms & Beads Giveaway!*~

READ CAREFULLY!-
To enter, please comment with your name AND the part of the world you are joining us from!
If you do not have a blog ID, you can choose anonymous and leave your name. If you have a common name, please leave a unique identifier such as this example- Jane Doe, knitter and charm maker from South Dakota. If you do not mind your email being public, then please just leave your name with email and the place you are joining us from!

I moderate the comments so they will not post right away, please just enter each giveaway one time.

Specify if you'd like a clown charm or a girl bead or write either if you don't care which you win!

I'll be choosing a few winners from the comments, left on this post, on Saturday!
If your name is drawn, you will have 7 days to claim your prize(es)!
:o)
~*Happy Charm Day everyone!*~

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

~*Otherworlds!*~ Featuring artist & designer, Saffron Johns!*~ She's a sensation!

~*FEATURED ETSY SELLER!*~
OTHERWORLDS

The little ladybug is wearing a tiny spotted dress and has cute silver fairy wings, striped tights and red high heel shoes, she flys in the green swirls and blue flowers.

Ladybug in fairyland miniature wire sculpture pendant. sold


~*Wonderful Wire Work by, Saffron Johns!!!*~
I am so glad to have found her on Etsy.  It was love at first site for me!
If you fall in love with her work too, be sure to write her a note telling her so! 
The best part is she is always creating new work!
So, sit back, relax and enjoy some of the miniature "Otherworlds" that she has so lovingly created!


Hi, my name is Saffron Johns I'm 29 years old and moved from the UK to Bulgaria with my partner about four years ago in search of a less stressful life and a place where we could work towards a more self sufficient way of life. We found a rural house with land for veggies and animals and are working at making it a wonderful place of inspiration and life with chickens, sculptures, hydroponics and much more, it's a very big adventure and a lot more work than anticipated.

I specialize in wire art of all kinds including original art, jewellery, beads, treasures, sculptures and pictures, I call this body of work, Other Worlds. In 2005 I received a BA Hons in Contemporary Applied Arts from Hereford art college UK where I spent many wonderful years making and refining my work and this is where I found colored wire. I tried and sill use many different medias but by far my favourite is wire as it is so versatile and comes in many colours and thickness. I also learnt to crochet about two years ago and fell in love with it especially after finding some very small crochet hooks so much of my work now is made by crocheting wire.

The renovation work on the house and limited space meant that I had to put on hold making my larger works until it is finished and I have a studio, this is what inspired me to make miniatures in the form of pendants, rings, charms and other jewel
lery. I am so glad as I really enjoy it and I love the challenge of making things as small as I can with wire, capturing them in a moment in time to make a piece of original art jewellery. 

I take much of my inspiration from dreams I have and  from incorporating animals and bugs in funny, strange imaginary scenes, I find making cats quite tricky which is strange as I have three pet cats and I love making ladybugs, I have collected anything ladybug since I was a child so they have always held an interest for me for some reason.
http://www.wireart4u.net  
http://www.otherworlds.etsy.com
~*~*~*~

A tiny crochet crown with bead detail & banner

                                         Little Princess tiny crown in a bottle charm. 

                                   Currently on Etsy for $18  






A very cute miniature sculpture picture of a tiny hedgehog in a garden of little flowers. This little piece was made with enameled copper wire using a tiny crochet hook. 
 Miniature hedgehog in a flower garden sculpture pendant.  Currently on Etsy for $45. US dollars





A white rabbit driving a carrot shaped car over a field of flowers

White rabbit driving a carrot car 
miniature wire sculpture pendant 
sold



A ladybug sitting on a cloud while his friend carefully cuts another cloud with a tiny pair of scissors releasing the rain which pours into a tiny red cup.
 Head in the clouds ladybugs miniature sculpture pendant.
Currently on Etsy for $40.



A cheeky monkey swinging in the tree tops 

Swinging cheeky monkey miniature sculpture pendant .
Currently on Etsy for $45



A little bee perching on a daisy smiling out at the world from inside his bubble


 Bumble bee sitting on a daisy miniature sculpture glass bubble ring.
Currently on Etsy for $85

 A dancing monkey wearing a red, white and gold jacket and tiny shoes. 

He is really sweet with his cute little outfit, curly tail and cheeky grin.


                          Dancing monkey in a glass bottle pendant. Sold


 A jolly spider with top hat looking out from inside his web



Spider in a web wire sculpture pendant. sold



Plenty of fun looking through the lens at wonderful things in close up.


Through the looking glass optical lens.
Currently on Etsy for $25


 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thank you so much Saffron for celebrating 
International Handmade Art Charm Day with us from Bulgaria!!! 
Your work makes us smile!!!

 ~*~*~*~





Storm in a bottle miniature crochet sculpture

Inside a bottle a tiny teapot pours a flurry of rain into a tea cup, the waves rise and a tiny boat is swished around in the storms brew. A very tiny wire sculpture and very sweet. It is housed in a bottle just 4.5cm tall.








Here are two of Saffrons kitties! :o) 




Cat amongst flowers adjustable silver plated ring  

SOLD

A handmade one of a kind statement sculpture ring 
of a ginger and white cat sitting amongst a bed of flowers.


Saffron takes commissions for special custom orders 
so if you feel inspired to ask her to create a very special
one of a kind "Otherworld" creation, be sure to contact her 
through her website or her Etsy acct.!

~*Midstream South Africa- Charm Day Event!*~


If you are near Midstream in South Africa and don't know about Elna & Benice's event, then please click here to check it out! They celebrate with Tea & Cupcakes!

~*Spotlight on Christine Hansen, co-author of, Making Mixed Media Art Charms & Jewelry.!*~

Chris Hansen, what have you been up to lately as far as creating charms?

I always enjoy participating in swaps – having a theme and a deadline to work with really gets my creativity flowing. I just finished a batch of steampunk charms I’m pretty happy with – which is terrific, because while I LOVE steampunk, it’s sometimes challenging for me to interpret that style in my own artwork. Currently, I’m busy cooking up ideas for two of *your* swaps (Music & The Orient), and in the Art Charms group, I’m hosting two swaps (Winged Jewels & Adopt-An-Ancestor), and have signed up for Barbara Finch’s Celestial swap.

Do you have a special medium that you enjoy working with at the moment?

Glass!!! I am in love with melting glass! In fact, when I’m thinking up design ideas for a new swap, I usually try to figure out if I can do it in glass first. I’m delighted with the glass hearts I made for a recent Valentine’s themed swap – they were so much fun to make. I’m also grooving on the awesome sparkly Preciosa flat-back rhinestones I just purchased from Shipwreck...and paper. I LOVE paper. Paper is good. :)

How has making charms and being a part of the charm swap community changed your life?

Making & swapping charms has had a profound effect on my life. Aside from the incredible creative expression I find in making my mixed media charms, I have been generously blessed with many wonderful new friends. And too, art charms led to the realization of a lifelong dream – that of writing (and publishing, LOL) a book.

What 3 tools do you find absolutely wonderful to use while making your charms?

I have to narrow it down to just three tools? Hmm. What about three non-tangible tools? (1. a sense of humor, 2. a sense of curiosity and adventure, and 3. a willingness to explore and try new things) As far as tangible tools, I can’t live without five: my torch, my pliers (chain nose, bent chain nose, round nose, and flush cutters), my trusty scissors, my (and Jerry’s) drill press, and files to smooth all those edges and corners.



Do you have a favorite piece of charm jewelry? If so, please share...



I think my VERY favorite is my charm cluster pendant, which is currently on my eyeglass necklace. It has my charms and fractal swirl beads on it, as well as a few charms made by my dear friend and writing partner, Peg Krzyzewski. I love how all of the different colors and elements come together so beautifully - and the best part is I can add new charms all the time!




What do you enjoy most about the whole art charm movement?

Three things: I enjoy making new friends through swapping art charms with others, I enjoy expressing my own creativity, and I really enjoy nudging others into playing with art charms, because it’s such an inclusive format.

The art charm movement feels to me like we’re in new territory as artists and as a community – we’re taking odd bits & pieces, often recycled or re-purposed, adding to them, sharing & building connections with other people, and then putting the results together into a unique combination with layers and layers of meaning.

Have you celebrated International Handmade Art Charm Day before?

EVERY day is International Handmade Art Charm Day at my house, LOL.

Do you have any plans to celebrate this year?

Absolutely! Peg & I are donating a signed copy of our book, Making Mixed Media Art Charms & Jewelry, for you to give away, and too, I will be blogging about IHACD with links to your blog, and doing a giveaway of my own art charms.

~*~ 
Thank you Chris!
~*~ 


Thursday, April 14, 2011

Amber Dawn's ultra quick YouTube demo/tutorial, how to make a polymer face cane.

Lower your volume if you dislike loud music, before pressing play.

Here is the link to see it full screen on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8fIC81HuLc



Friday, April 1, 2011

GIVEAWAYS!!! & Send me your blog links if you will be posting on Charm Day!

Start sending me your links and tell me what your plans are for April 28th's Charm Day!

Will you be hosting an online event, featuring charm art, spotlighting your own or another charm artist on your blog or webspace? Also, please let me know if you are promoting Charm Day because everyone who promotes will be entered into a fabulous drawing!!! The prize?
An amazing ONE POUND PACKAGE of charms & charm making goodies! Sterling silver wire, 14/20 GF wire, vintage glass beads, Swarovski components, vintage goodies, beautiful trims and buttons as well as miniature glass vials, some of my handmade polymer clay charms are just some of the lovely prizes I will be giving away the week of April 28th. Become a follower of my blog to keep up with the posts! www.InventiveSoul.blogspot.com