…little mixed media”paintings” small enough that they could be incorporated into jewelry projects.

butterfly painting

This one uses a butterfly-shaped piece of confetti that I painted on & decorated with alcohol inks.

Finally finished my bead and wire chain necklace, added a pendant, and made the matching earrings! Yay!

I think the colors are perfect for summer – bright red beads and little blue flowers – and I personalized it by adding a photo pendant with an image of my son holding my hand. Want to make a similar set? Check out my tutorials on how to make a bead and wire chain and how to make a photo pendant, then head over to artbeads.com to purchase the vintage red glass beads & blue glass flower beads and a photo pendant blank, print up some tiny photos, and get started! The earrings are simple dangles on head pins (as is the flower dangle on the necklace) and I attached the pendant using a jump ring.

I think this necklace would be perfect for 4th of July BBQ-ing, with it’s colors being so close to red white and blue, but not in an obvious way. You could also wear it while cheering on the USA in the World Cup, since they just advanced to the next round (yay!)

I used 22 gauge argentium silver wire for my chain, and instead of a clasp I opted to make it long enough to slip over my head (boy do my fingers hurt!) If you use my tutorial(s) to make your own necklace, please let me know in the comments & I’d love to see how you vary the design to make it your own.

I have some leftover beads, so look for another project how-to at some point in the future – I have a very cute design brewing in my head, but need to gather a few more items in order to make it.

Edited to add: I always forget, disclaimer! Artbeads gave me the glass beads & photo pendant blank used in this project. I’m not compensated in any other way for telling you where to buy this stuff

…is coming along nicely! I haven’t made a necklace length bead and wire chain in literally years – it is pretty time consuming, especially when you work in 5 minute increments when both kids are asleep. And all that wrapping is making my fingers sore! But it’s going to be so pretty, and perfect for summer.

Bead and Wire Chain

Bead and wire chain is a great beginner/advanced beginner (though time consuming) wirework project. Basically, you make a wrapped loop at one end of a piece of wire, slip a bead on, then make a wrapped loop at the other end, so you have a little beaded unit with a loop on each end.

To make the next piece, start a wrapped loop but before wrapping it closed, slip through the loop of your existing piece.

Continue making & connecting these units until you have a chain the length you want.

Completed necklace project using a bead and wire chain is next!

I have an article published in Artella’s e-zine (the May 2010 issue). So exciting! I received a comp issue, and I’m really enjoying it. It’s all about mixed media art, my current obsession. The article in the zine is a reprint of one I originally wrote for my blog about using resin to make collages – which reminded me that I still have my resin collages waiting to be cut up and made into jewelry. They are nice and stiff from the resin & several layers of papers & ribbon, so they’ll be perfect for the little open-backed frame pendants I wrote about last week.

Anyway, you can buy a copy of the zine or just look around the Artella site here. Disclosure: that is an affiliate link, so if you buy something, I get a commission. Enter at your own risk, if you like mixed media and digital art projects you might be tempted by the magazine as well as many other products there.

Where did May go? It flew by here! I’ve been working on a bunch of fun projects & have lots to do this summer. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend – we celebrated quietly at home with a little BBQ and discovered our 2 year old loves corn on the cob. “I love corn because it’s DELICIOUS!” is how he put it.

I got some great picture frame pendants from artbeads, and I wanted to share how I incorporated images onto two different types of frame pendants.

Picture Frame Pendants

The sterling silver pendant, on the left, has little slots on the back that you can slide an image into. First, I cut an image to size and made sure it fit well. [As an aside - here's how I got such tiny photos printed.] Next, I used that as a template to cut out two small, thin pieces of mica*, which I adhered [glued - I used mod podge] to the front and back of the image. I let it dry, then simply slipped my now reinforced and protected image into the frame – easy!

*I got mica tiles a while back at a craft show, from Hannah Grey. I assume there are other sources, but it’s not something I’ve found at local shops. To make thin pieces for this project, you basically peel off layers from the thicker tiles. The thinner the layer, the more transparent it is – so if you like a more antique look, you could use slightly thicker mica, but if it’s too think it won’t fit in this particular pendant.

The copper (technically, copper-plated pewter) pendant is solid, so I glued an image into it. Again, I started by cutting an image to the correct size, and when I was happy with it, I glued it in. You could stop here (as I did) or, after the glue dries, you could fill the frame with resin to give it a domed look as well as protect the photo. If you opt not to use resin, I recommend painting some kind of protective sealer over the photo to make it water resistant. You can get inexpensive varnish at craft stores that works great, or get a more expensive UV-protection coat so your image won’t fade in the sunlight.

If you have specific questions about making either pendant, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

My summer project is coming along, and I’ll be using some of these pendants in it, so stay tuned. If you want to read more about the project, I’m also posting about it on my other, non-jewelry blog (decided it was time to separate my many other craft interests from the jewelry blog). So – the jewelry aspects of the project will be here, and the non-jewelry stuff there. Still not saying what the project is though

Next up: a tutorial for making a bead and wire chain to hang the picture pendants on – this bright colored project is perfect for summer! (Too bad it’s raining here…el nino is back with a vengeance in Northern California, but at least our reservoirs are filling up after a few drought years.)

Disclosure: artbeads.com gave me the blank pendants in exchange for writing about them. I am not compensated in any other way for my review. Edited to add: if you want to make a picture pendant, you can get 10% off the blank pendants on artbeads.com through July 31, 2010 with this code: SCF10P-ARTBEADS-0125.

My artbeads design stuff came in the mail yesterday! Yay! It’s the best selection yet, at least in terms of what I want to do – all the products were exactly what I was hoping for. Detailed review, tutorials, and more photos to come in the next few weeks, as soon as I get it all finished.

Photo Frame Pendants

Vintage Glass Beads

(Notice my props in these photos? Another part of my big summer DIY project, which I’ll be sharing in bits and pieces until it’s finished…)

I’m excited about this summer – lots of projects in the works!

First up, my latest goodies from the artbeads blogging/designer program are on their way to me, so I’ll be showing readers how to make a really cute necklace and earring set with vintage red and blue glass beads and wire, then customize it with a photo pendant. Can’t wait to get started, and my supplies should be here today or tomorrow!

Next, my secret project is coming along – I’ve located some supplies I need for the next few steps, so I’ll be posting pictures of my progress as I get little things done here and there. I hope it turns out as great as it is in my head! My first big mixed media project, combining pretty much all of the crafts I like, including metalwork and beadwork, of course.

I’m about ready to come back from “maternity leave” so I’m working on the paperwork to move my business and get everything set up again. Very excited about that! I miss making jewelry, and my etsy shop badly needs some fresh designs. In the second half of 2010, I plan to do exclusively one of a kind and *very* limited editions – I’ll make an edition of anywhere from 2-10 pieces in one session, and when it sells out, I don’t plan to make more of that particular item. Production was a major cause of burnout for me in 2009, and I don’t want to repeat it, so when my excitement about making a piece dies down, I’ll stop making it. This hopefully means a lot more *new* work for my shop.

I’ll also be listing a bunch of beautiful things that are already made that didn’t make it into my shop due to lack of good photos – so while I’m getting back into the groove of making new work, hopefully I’ll get good photos of the stuff that’s been sitting in storage so I can share it.

My little girl is doing

A little peek at my current project….and yes, it *is* jewelry related, I swear!

Recognize one of the matchboxes from my teaser post last week?

I painted it, decoupaged it, and made a drawer pull to open and close it.

It’s just an experimental prototype, part of a much bigger project I’m working on. I love how it turned out though! (And it’s a perfect size to store some hoop earrings, no?)

Another hint: I’m going to be using a recycled wine box for this project. One of those cool wood crates that wineries use for essentially expensive wine gift packaging – they are really nice boxes, I have one that I’ve used for years to store CDs.