OMG... Ok, so life is full of surprises!

Ok, so you know how it works...  After getting the rejection notices from my submissions, I was not feeling too bad.  My BF from NY called me and we were chatting away...maybe for an hour or so...  I checked my email...and guess what?  You guessed it!  I did get one piece accepted...I am very excited...I even did the happy dance!  What a surprise!!!  I thought all my pieces were rejected because of the way I received my emails...  But I was wrong..and I am soooo jazzed.  I submitted 4 pairs of earrings...and the one I really liked is the one that made it...  Its will be later this year when the magazine comes out.  I will have to let you know when that time comes.

Happy me!

The joys of rejection!

Well, you know how it goes...you found this article in a bead magazine...they say they are looking for a specific type of designs to be submitted into the magazine for a special type magazine.  So your brain starts kicking in and you start drawing up all these designs...and you start chugging away, making this and making that... Your mojo is on full speed! You take tons of pictures trying to find the perfect one for the submission...hr after hr of working and fixing and making sure it is all perfect for your expectations ..and really they are perfect.  The day to submit is getting close... you work even harder to make all your jewelry look great!  You are set to go.  You submit your designs one by one...slowly making sure you do everything exact as the instructions from the magazine tells you to do.  You proof read your submission...then you take a deep breath...and click on the SEND button...  Phew..that was easy.  So you continue with your remaining submissions    All is well, you can breath now.  They tell you it will take up to a week for them to respond.  So you move on with your daily stuff.  Minutes go, hours go, and even a couple of days.

 You are sitting in your work room playing around with a few more ideas...then suddenly you decide to check your email... VIOLA... you got messages from the magazine...YAY..  Ok,  hold on...take a deep breath...after all this is your very first submission to a magazine...  You carefully open the first message...BAM!!  REJECTION...awww..ok, so lets try the second one..BAM, again...wow..what did I do wrong!  Next one...BAM..that makes 3..finally the last one, you are holding your breath...crossing your fingers...BAM..not again!  AAAAwww...  I thought I did everything they wanted...right?

 Well..you bet you I did.  But it wasn't what they are looking for...so...I move on..try again.  Perhaps my jewelry will go better in a different magazine.  After all, I am still a baby when it comes to doing bead work and jewelry making.  Many designers who get chosen have tons of years and training behind them...not me.  But I do know my jewelry is unique and just as good as many of the well seasoned jewelry makers.  Just mine is my way.  So, am I angry, NO, am I disappointed, MAYBE, will I try again, OH HECK YA!  If there is anything I learned in life, is that there are 2 sides to everything, and its either GOOD or BAD, WHITE OR BLACK, LIGHT OR DARK, you get the picture.  I am glad that I even tried.  So, I need to keep chuggin away...and enjoy making my jewelry my way...FUN!

Ok, now that I got that all off loaded, I feel better now...THANKS for listening...

I will put the pictures up soon since I can now display them online..

Chris

Hand Made Artist - this weeks Artist

This week, its all about Pam. You really need to take a look at her jewelry. You can tell the love and care she puts into each of her pieces. Her creativity and imagination is amazing, I love her style.

 Here is an example of her jewelry..

Take a few extra minutes and check out her shop, you will be happy you did!

http://handmadeartists.com/shop/beadthing

http://www.abeadthing.com/

http://www.abeadthing-pam.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ABeadThing

http://www.twitter.com/abeadthing

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110317413792216731338/posts

Hand Made Artists Blog Hop...

This week, we started doing a blog hop.

Come check out Hand Made Artists. Perhaps there is something there that just might catch your eye!!!  The video I created is just a little blurp of what you will see there.  There are many talented artists there and I am sure you will find that special item you are looking for...so dont be shy!  Click on the link and explore...

http://handmadeartists.com/forum/index.php

Lavendula Enamel Drop Earrings on Handmade Artists' Shop

Lavendula Enamel Drop Earrings on Handmade Artists' Shop

Pink Enamel Drop Earrings on Handmade Artists' Shop

Pink Enamel Drop Earrings on Handmade Artists' Shop

Hand Made Artists HD with music

Support Hand Made...  Here is a video I made to support HandMadeArtists...dont forget to visit my site...I am going to upload new jewelry today...  YAY finally! https://handmadeartists.com/shop/wingsnscales

Bead Soup Mix 7

Dont forget to check out Bead Soup Mix on Pinterest   There are a ton of pictures there of all the beautiful pieces and soup mixes....

Here is what I sent to my partner. She has received her soup already and I hope she has lots to play with now.

Pinterest Bead Soup Blog Hop

How to make a two wired head pin!

download pdf

Sounds a little funny but if you are a jewelry designer this is a simple tutorial on how to make a two wired head pin you must try out.  I actually have been doing a lot of wire working research, mainly looking at lots of other artist’s designs and trying to figure out how they make their beautiful pieces.  I have purchased a few tutorials myself and have learned a lot.  But this technique I kind of figured out all by myself.
So, lets get started!
First here is the small list of tools you will need.

• A torch
• 20 gauge copper wire
• Liquid flux
• Hemostats
• Goggles
• Flush cutters
• Small bowl of cold water

Cut two strips of copper wire with flush cutters, approximately 6 inches each.  I like this length for learning purposes.  Make sure both ends are trimmed using the flush cutters and that the ends are flat.
 

Put both wires with the hemostats really tight so both wires are side by side and don’t fall out of the hemostats.  This can leave marks on your wire, so put them in a spot that can be covered with beads or some other way to conceal the marks.

Dip the end of the two wires into the liquid flux.  You may want to put a small amount of the liquid flux in a small container which is clean.

(****I have not tried this yet without using flux, I just know that the flux is a great way to clean the copper when it gets heated up.  So this step could probably be eliminated.)

Next, fire up your torch and heat up the copper until it makes a ball at the end.  This happens really fast.
Once the ball is there, quickly quench the wire in a bowl of cold water.

That’s it…finished!  If you know how to use enamels, then this is the perfect time to dip the head pin in the enamel powder. Just eliminate the step of putting the headpin in water…