My friend Cyndi Lavin is reprinting the interview she did on me earlier this year, this time in her new jewerly and beading blog on B5. I hope you’ll stop by and see new blog, as always, it will be a great source of inspiration.
I’m pleased to announce that two of my collaborative charm necklace projects were accepted by Belle Armorie for publication in their September/October 2007 issue. Belle Armorie is a national magazine featuring mixed media art to wear. Both necklaces can be seen in the magazine, along with a brief statement about each one by the coordinator of the project.
The first necklace was coordinated by my friend Cyndi Lavin, who has many published credits to her name and is the writer of the blog Bead Arts. I’ve known Cyndi for many years and was pleased to be asked to join “A Charmed Life” two years ago in order to create a necklace to be sold and the proceeds donated to cancer research. We choose ocean colors as our theme and tied all the different charms together via sterling metal. When I wore this necklace to my husband’s college reunion last year, everywhere I went people stopped me in the street in order to touch the charms on the necklace and ask about the story behind it. The “Ocean Necklace” will be auctioned on eBay sometime in September and I will post an announcement here in this blog when it is available.
The second collaborative charm necklace I participated in was coordinated by Lea Avroch, a wonderful lampwork artist that I met via a jewelry making email list called Jewelry Haven. The Haven is home to a few hundred jewelry artists that talk about life, the universe and jewelry. They are a great bunch of ladies and I’m pleased to be a part of the membership. This second necklace is very different from the first. We used copper, sterling and brass to create a handmade chain and the charms are everything from lampwork leaves, to my copper wired leaf forms to interesting metal leaves.
Over a year ago, my friend Derek Andrews created “The Carnival of the Creators†back when blog carnivals were not all that common. His idea was to develop a carnival that would promote artists and their artwork. I am hosting the carnival this month and below are several submissions by various creative people for your view. I hope you enjoy them!
Interior Designer Mark Cutler presents us with Voices of Design: Richard Johnson an interview with an interior decorator posted at Mark Culter Design.
A post about a creative explosion in pixels as digitized images of artwork are repurposed in an obsessively enjoyable new project., Creative Explosion. Posted at Energies of Creation.
Painter cest.la.vie presents Recently finished: ‘Away From Me’. posted at http://creativeevolutions.blogspot.com/</a>.
Writer and Musician Madeleine Begun Kane expresses her views on Cashing In With Doggie da Vincis, about canine painters, posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.
Bartender George Courtney Jr posts his thoughts on Three Steps To Increase Your Creativity posted at The Authentic Bartender Blog.
Seamstress Sara presents Growth, a dialog about the creative process behind designing her earth tone skirt. Posted at Flutterby Gifts Blog.
Read the story of a collaborative charm necklace that brought artists together from across the country, to raise money for breast cancer research! ?A Charmed Life? has returned ?home? posted at Bead Arts.
Graphic Designer Ryan Haigh illustrates uses for “popcling†in Wall Art Extravangza posted at BigChase.
Lampwork Bead Artist Lori Greenberg muses on how she learned to make beads in I spank you because I love you: Building a foundation posted at Bead Nerd.
Writer and Graphic Designer Vishal K Bharadwaj explains an odd way his mother encouraged him to draw in Vishal vs Apartment posted at allVishal.com.
Next time the carnival will return to its home at Carnival of the Creators. Please visit the main blog to view more interesting articles about artists, crafters and musicians!
Years ago, I developed a style of delica earrings that I affectionately called “pompom earrings”. The fringe pattern was based on the pompom of a knit cap from a standard earring pattern. Not only did this earring have an unusual fringe, but I also worked on the “innards” to make the interior as sturdy as any of my metal and stone earrings.
My friends asked me to create a tutorial for these earrings that I’ve sold in my booth for years. This month, I gave my friend Cyndi permission to reprint that tutorial on her blog Bead Arts. I hope you’ll stop by and take a look at the tutorial.
Back in 1997, I wrote an article about how to do simple beadweaving on a loom. This is a simple tutorial on how to make a bracelet or headband on a little “indian loom†that you can find in any craft store. My friend, Cyndi Lavin, has republished this article in her blog Bead Arts. You can see it here.
I personally have made dozens of bracelets and a lovely turquoise and ivory hat band that I wear in the summer time when I want a bit of extra color on my sunhat. If you are interested in trying to weave beads, but was not sure how to get started, please visit my tutorial today.
Cyndi Lavin was gracious enough to give me an artist profile on her new Bead Arts blog.
Wendy Van Camp’s Artist Profile
A little about Cyndi Lavin:
Cyndi is a mixed-media artist living and playing in central Massachusetts. She is completely convinced that life and art are intertwined. Every person is a work of art, designed to be a creative being, and life consists largely of discovering the things that he or she was meant to create.