Marcia Sobel of Greenville, NC. Congratulations Marcia! And congratulations Linda Hartung. Nearly 3,000 entered for a chance to win a kit for her beautiful " Crystal Rhythms " necklace. Read More

This morning, I received a press release, announcing that three jewelers — this brings the total to 60 — have agreed to source precious metals responsibly, by signing the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals... Read More

I recently enlisted my best friend/maid of honor/graphic designer to create the images that will appear on my wedding invitations. She was tickled pink to be asked, but flatly refused payment. As an artist myself, I knew that she deserved compensation... Read More

It's coming upon that time of year again. For me "The Holidays" stir up all kinds of feelings, and not enough of them are positive. There is hope on the horizon this season however: I'm looking forward to my honey and I celebrating ten... Read More

Normal 0 0 1 122 698 5 1 857 11.1282 0 0 0 Tonight, I’m making myself a necklace and earrings to go with a new dress I bought for a wedding I’m going to this weekend. I’m also listening to “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown. Other recent bead/reads: Duma... Read More

Every year, Cathy and I design jewelry to be auctioned at Kathy's Garden Party . This year's theme: "All Dolled Up." I stayed in my comfort zone, making a charm bracelet with pink and peach gemstones. Cathy, however, has been trying... Read More

Last Friday, I attended Chicago’s International Expositions of Sculptural Objects & Functional Art (SOFA). I saw some innovative jewelry creations, such as the woman who showed me a ring that, when not being worn, fits seamlessly into a freestanding... Read More

I’ll be doing a demo and signing copies of my book Hip Handmade Memory Jewelry at the grand opening of the new A.C. Moore store in Willow Grove, Pa., from noon. to 3 p.m. Nov. 21, 2009. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, please come and say hi. It’s... Read More

Lately, I've been really impressed with teenagers. My son and daughter are so much more responsible than I was at their age. They have great friends, they spend time doing volunteer work, and they do homework each night without reminders from me.... Read More

In last week's post , I talked about how I'm a true beginner when it comes to using resin. So I've been practicing, making lots of pieces in my molds. (By the way, I love the mold-making stage — it's much more forgiving than the mixing... Read More

A few months ago, Bead&Button Editor Ann Dee Allen blogged about the efforts to help The Bead Museum in Glendale, Ariz., keep its doors open despite distressing economic times. The Bead Museum is the last of its kind in the world after the bead museum... Read More

We ran a short Q&A about Brea Bead Works — our third "Favorite Bead Store" winner — in the November issue of BeadStyle . Here is the Brea Bead Works profile with the info we had to trim for space. Congratulations again, Brea Bead Works ... Read More

Having designed and written about jewelry for many years, I've taken for granted my ability to handle the basic steps of jewelry making. Not so with resin. I'm working on a resin project for the March issue. Up to this point, my experience had... Read More

I’ve just discovered Kumvana Gomani ’s fabulous recycled-materials jewelry. Her fashion-forward collection is created from reclaimed PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic and aluminum. I particularly like her snö jewelry, including this necklace and... Read More

While hunting for a fallen bead under my desk today, I picked up a number of bits and scraps of wire from projects past. Normally I just toss them, but I've started to save them (at least the sterling and gold-filled bits) to sent to Rio Grande for... Read More