Featured Studio Piece 4-1-10

Today I would like to feature a few of my wire wrapped crystal pendants. Not all are listed in my studio yet, but they will be soon. I go to visit my grandparents in MT every year or so. There are wonderful parks and forest up in the Rocky Mountains that we visit each time we are there for the fishing and camping... but also for the quartz crystal digging. So, I end up with LOTS of quartz crystal points to play with.

Lately I have begun wrapping and weaving wire around them and adding on little beads to brighten things up. These crystals range in price dependent on their size and wire wrapped complexity.

PassionForBeads

Today I would like to feature an artist who is constantly featuring the artwork and items of other artists with her Passion's Picks of the Week: PassionForBeads!





Her name is Sally and she's originally from Hong Kong China. She has lived in Canada since 2001 and has been beading for about 7 years. She a stay at home mom and has two gorgeous boys ages 7 and 4. She first started her online shop in March 2009 and has been focusing on selling jewelry made from swarovski crystal beads.

I sent Passion a few questions to discover more about her and her creative work. Below are her answers.



How did you first get into your craft?

I have been doing a lot of crafts in my life. I do knitting and crocheting dolls, cross stitching, paper quilling, clay... When I first started beading, I just LOVED it! I was doing for fun in the beginning. Then one day a friend of mine asked me to make her a choker and a pair of matching earrings. I started taking orders thereafter. Last year I started selling online.

Is there any particular artist or person in your life that influences or inspires you?

Everyone in my life inspires me! However, my main inspiration comes from beading books.

What are your favorite materials to work with and why?

I love crystals, especially those swarovski crystals. I just fell in love with them at first site. They are so beautiful, shiny, sparkly and most importantly they make my jewelry look beautiful!

Is there anything that you do that you think makes your creations stand apart from similar ones/your competitors?

The jewelry I make is unique and not everyone can make it. I have customers who make jewelry too. One of them says she buys from me because she thinks my jewelry is beautiful and she cannot make it by herself.

Anything else you would like my readers to know about (sale, coupons, other services you offer)?

You can find me on:

Artfire http://passionforbeads.artfire.com/

MiM http://madeitmyself.com/user/passionforbeads.aspx

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/PassionForBeadsFanPage

Twitter http://twitter.com/passionforbeads

Blog http://passionforbeads.blogspot.com/

I do feature artists on my blog and its called Passion's Picks, a weekly free promotion! If you would like to learn more about Passion's Picks, here's the link http://passionforbeads.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-passions-picks-weekly-free.html



Be sure to check out Passion For Beads on Artfire!

Featured studio item 3-8-10

Today, in honor of my previous blog about quartz crystals, I would like to featured one of my necklaces made from a quartz crystal point that I dug out of the Rocky Mountains of MT myself. I took this little single terminated quartz point and wire wrapped it in copper 18 gauge wire. I then wove garnet beads onto it with a much smaller gauge wire and kept on weaving to ensure a secure cradle for the crystal was created. I use no adhesives in my wire wrapping and allow only pressure to hold the stones fast. This pendant is dangled from an antiqued copper chain and is a dainty and grounded look for any neckline out there.

Edit: I would like apologize for the fact that this blog will only allow the WORST picture of this piece to be uploaded. If I could get my better picture of this piece uploaded, I would love to be able to show that one instead. Stubborn blog.