News Day – Tuesday, 9/4/12

New Feature

As the name implies, News Day – Tuesday is a new  weekly feature on Linda’s Bead Blog.  Each Tuesday I will be updating you on new items in my shops, work in progress, shows I’ve done, and random chatter. 

Speaking of random…I can be very random, (not my best quality) and it always takes massive effort on my part to incorporate new routines.  But I’m really going to try to be consistent with my Tuesday posts.  There’s a lot that happened over the summer and I’ve done a pretty lousy job of keeping my blog current. 

Catwalk

As I’m writing this I’m sitting in  a new artists cooperative gallery and boutique in Tacoma, WA.   Named “Catwalk”; our gallery is a temporary pop-up in an empty store, right in the heart of Tacoma’s museum district. 

Catwalk as seen from Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA

Right now there are about a dozen artists showing their work here.  We have everything from paintings, to couture clothing, altered art, books by local writers and of course, jewelry.  Several of the artists take shifts running the gallery.  My work day is Sunday.  By the way, one of the artists took home that plant in the broken pot (in picture above), so the entryway is more inviting now.

The pictures that follow were taken during a recent Tacoma Arts Walk.  Things were slow at first, so I had time to take some pictures.  Later in the evening the gallery was packed and we had pizzas and a raffle!

Front of Catwalk Gallery

If you look just behind the 2 shoppers, you can see a bit of my jewelry display.  I took other pictures of my jewelry, but it was too dark.  Later, I changed the settings on my camera  and remaiings pictures turned out much better.  The desk in the foreground, above, is where purchases are made–would you believe that the Bead Style magazine isn’t mine?  Really!

The Tacoma Weekly printed an article about the gallery this week. If you’d like to read more, check out Catwalk Boutique and Gallery Offers Handcrafted Jewelry, Apparel and Art.

Back corner in Catwalk

I love art-to-wear!

 

Beauty Berry Bracelet

My ArtFire shop is looking a bit empty at the moment.  I took quite a bit of the jewelry out of it and placed it at Catwalk.  It was time to freshen up my ArtFire offerings, anyway.  So with that, I’m embarking on adding new work.  My first addition is the “Beauty Berry Bracelet”.

Beauty Berry Bracelet

The colors in this bracelet remind me of our Beauty Berry bush that sports bright lavender berries in our garden throughout the winter.

Beauty Berries

The Beauty Berry Bracelet is a collection of  handmade glass and ceramic beads, along with some commercial beads.  I wired the beads on black craft wire to bring out the black in the lampwork glass center bead.  I also fashioned a handmade clasp of the same wire and added some pretty dangles along one side.  The colors in this bracelet are just luscious and I love the texture added by the unusual 3 sided, lilac ceramic bead (by Marti’s Buttons and Beads), and the teardrop shaped beads at the back of the bracelet.

Beauty Berry Bracelet

Head over to Linda Landig Jewelry to see more pictures of the Beauty Berry Bracelet.

Gotta Be Green!

Earring Giveaway

First things first:  I must apologize for completely forgetting the earring giveaway from the Bead Soup Blog Party!  So without further ado, the winner is:  Christine Murrow of Charis Designs!

Giveaway earrings

Christine, please contact me with your mailing address and I’ll get these on their way to you right away!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day To Ye!

I love me some green!  It is one of my favorite colors.  I have green blouses, pants, sweaters and even a green purse.  So it will come as no surprise that I enjoy designing green jewelry, too. Here are a few examples.

My “Castle in the Sky” necklace was designed as part of an online jewelry challenge hosted by Michelle Mach.  I love combining green with amber-brown.

Castle in the Sky necklace

On Wednesday’s blog post I mentioned that I enjoy doing right angle weave bracelets.  My “Peony” bracelet is and example of this weave.  The beads are 8 mm, so it is a somewhat bold bracelet that proclaims a love of sunny days and beautiful flower gardens.  The bracelet closes with a beautiful German vintage glass button.

Peony Bracelet

The  “New Growth Earrings” also herald the coming of spring.  The serpentine ovals are that same yellow-green hue that the new growth on the tree branches have.  The earrings are topped with Swarovski crystals and have beautifully faceted pearls on the end that match the deep blue of the crystals.

New Growth Earrings

There is more green goodness in my shop, Linda Landig Jewelry.  I hope you’ll check it out.

Wishing ye the luck o’ the Irish, today and always!

Pretty Pairs

Holiday Preparations

I’ve been working hard to have a full jewelry shop by Thanksgiving and I’m also working toward the goal of creating enough beaded treasures to offer at the Winter Fine Arts and Crafts Show the first two weekends in December.

Earrings

Earrings make a good holiday gift, it seems to me.  What do you think? One size fits all and they are usually in most people’s comfort zone price-wise.  I’m still curious to get feedback from readers regarding their favorite type of jewelry gifts for the holidays.  Let me know your favorite colors as well.

 

Handmade Green Ceramic Heart Earrings with Sterling Silver Ear Wires

 

I bought these little green ceramic dangles when I was in La Conner last week,  Aren’t they cute!  I knew they’d make sassy little earrings!

 

Green Glass Earrings with Circular Patterns and Gold Crystals

 

Staying with the theme of sassy and green….how do you like these?  Believe it or not, I got those two types of green beads at separate occasions, but when I saw them together, I knew it was a marriage made in heaven.  I love how the circular patterns echo each other.  Both the upper and the lower beads are very unusual–which is, of course, why I chose them!

 

Silver Gray Shell Pearl, Mother of Pearl and Sterling Silver Earrings

 

These have been in the shop for about two weeks now.  What I like about this pair is how versatile they are.  They’ll go with everything and can be dressy or casual, depending on what you wear them with.  The silver sheen on the shell pearls is just gorgeous, too.  OK, do you want to see one last pair?

 

Lampwork Earrings with Hematite, Crystals and Sterling Silver

 

I just made this pair last night.  The lampwork glass is by Jenelle Aubade of  Radiant Mind on Etsy.  These beads are so gorgeous, with tracings of onyx black glass over a sand colored slightly speckled surface.  I love these beads so much that I have them in three sizes, so be prepared to see more of them!  I paired them with hematite to make casual, chic earrings.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and don’t let errands eat up all your time.  Find some space for fun.  We’re going to an October Fest at a friend’s house.  Bottoms up!