Featured Studio: LaJewelryDesigns

This weeks Ajdjss featured studio is "LaJewelryDesigns" aka Lea.

LaJewelryDesigns is a studio that is filled with a variety of lovely lampwork beads in different shapes, sizes, and colors.

What is really fabulous is that Lea makes each and every bead by herself. She does this in her own studio in NY.

Lea takes great pride in the quality of her beads. To ensure the strength and longevity of each of her beads she immediately has them annealed in a digitally controlled kiln in her studio. Annealing is quite an important procedure when making lampwork beads because it ensures that the beads will not shatter.

Here is are some of the wonderful lampwork beads found in "LaJewelryDesigns":

Lea is a proud member of the organzation "Self Representing Artists" (SRA) and she has the distinction of having her beads showcased in various publications:

June 2007 "Bead and Button"

September/October 2007 "Belle Armoire"

November/December 2007 "Bead Trends" and

March/April 2008 "Bead Trends"

Wow, Lea you are to be commended for your talent and skill. "Hooray for Lea"!!!

Btw, my dear guild members "LaJewelryDesigns" is now offering "FREE SHIPPING" to guild member studios--WooHoo!!!

You are invited to visit "LaJewelryDesigns" to feast your eyes on some really fabulous beads to create with.

http://lajewelrydesigns.artfire.com

Our Recent Guild Events

The Ajdjss Guild has been "at it" again:

With the start of this new year our guild has been pretty busy:

1. We had a "Valentine's Day" challenge with 4 winners each receiving a bag of vintage beads. 2. We also had a "Lampwork Bead" contest and have 4 winners for this event.

The first prize winner will receive a "Lampwork pendant" necklace set.

The second prize winner will receive a "Lampwork Bead" pair of earrings.

And the 2 third prize winners will each receive a bag of "Lampwork Beads".

3. We are currently having our 2nd annual "Valentine's Day Promotion" with our participating member studios offering some type of Valentine special like free shipping, discounts for items on sale, free gifts, and more. This event will end on February 14th.

Now stay tuned because we will be having a "St. Patricks Day" Event so don't forget to keep your eyes and yours ears open for the information about it!!! Thanks,

The Ajdjss Guild~*~Studios with unique and beautiful handmade jewelry and fabulous jewelry supplies~*~

Featured Studio: SilverBirchDesigns

This week's featured Ajdjss Guild studio is "SilverBirchDesigns" aka Elizabeth. Elizabeth has had quite a lot of experience in designing jewelry. Her first attempt was when she was 11 years old when her grandmother gave her some of her "junk" jewelry and asked her to make pretty new things with them. Well, after this she was just plain "hooked".

"SilverBirchDesigns" is filled with many natural materials such as stone, bone, glass, silver, gold, and gold fill. Her interest in designing with many kinds of stones comes from her belief that they have "healing" qualities. She even provides her clients with information about the metaphysical/healing properties of the stones.

The different techniques of beadwork are also of great interest to Elizabeth. She has learned a number of techniques in this genre. She can do the right angle weave, African net, odd count peyote, even count peyote, brick, square and lazy stitches, spiral, tubular peyote, tubular brick, and herringbone. WOW, what an impressive repetoire of beading techniques!

Elizabeth also likes to do use other jewelry techniques in her creations. Among them are wire wrapping, braided stringing, and she likes to work with multiple strands.

Here are some lovely examples of the jewelry for sale in "SilverBirchStudtios":

Elizabeth shares her love of beading by teaching beading classes. She is in the process of putting together a lesson so that she can teach an on line class. How exciting that must be. Good luck Elizabeth and contact us when you have it completed. We can all benefit from learning some new beading techniques.

"SilverBirchDesigns" offers mostly one of a kind designs. However, the studio offers a less expensive line of stretch bracelets, wire rings, and earrings that are can be duplicated.

Custom designs are always welcomed here.

Elizabeth is a proud member of Self-Representing Artists in Jewelry Design and the International Jewelry Designers Guild.

Give yourself a treat and visit this wonderful studio filled with wonderful jewelry.

If you want to reach Elizabeth of "SilverBirchDesigns" simply contact her through her studio:

http://SilverBirchDesigns.artfire.com

Guild Events

"Valentine's Day" Challenge

Recently the guild had a Valentine's Day Challenge in the Artfire Chatterbox forums--http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=forums&op=view_topic&tid=437

There were 12 pictures of Valentine items posted on our Guild's guild event blog from 12 different guild studios. We challenged sellers and buyers of artfire to identify the studio that each of the valentine items were listed in.

You can read all the details here: http://ajdjssguildevents.blogspot.com/

We had 4 winners who were sent a package of vintage beads as their prize.

It seemed liked everyone who participated had a good time.

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"Lampwork Bead" Contest--ongoing until Janurary 31st

The guild is currently having a contest on the Artfire Chatterbox "Contests and Promotions" section. We are asking that both artfire sellers and buyers search through the guild studios to post lampwork beads and jewelry made of lampwork beads. We also have asked for the entries for this contest to be promote,on twitter or facebook, the items that they have posted.

Read about it here: http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/1896_product_1986229287_thumb_crop.jpg

There has been a good turnout for this contest so far which I am happy to report. The topic has 4 pages of posts so far. This contest will end on January 31st. There will be 3 winners each receiving a prize. All this is discussed on the link above.

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"Valentine's Day Promotion"

The guild's 2nd annual "Valentine's Day" Promotion starts on January 29th and runs through February 14th.

Participating guild studios are having a separate section for Valentine items.

There will be many specials for this promotion. Free shipping, discounts on items, and free gifts. Each participating studio will have it's own special.

Visit our guild's event blog for the participating studio's and more info: http://ajdjssguildevents.blogspot.com

Don't miss out on all the lovely items that are going to be for sale especially for Valentine's Day and the specials too.

THE AJDJSS GUILD~~~Studios with with unique and beautiful handmade jewelry and fabulous jewelry supplies~~~

Featured Studio: LaBellaLuna

Our featured studio of the week is La Bella Luna aka Evelyn. Evelyn is an authentic "Jewelry Artisan" who specializes in creating very lovely handmade silver jewelry. When you visit the "la bella luna" Artfire studio it is very apparent that Evelyn has a genuine love for creating her jewelry and accessories. Because of this genuine love she created "la bella luna" in 2006 to share her lovely handcrafted creations with others.

The name "la bella luna" translated from French is "the beautiful moon''--Evelyn says, "what was once moonlighting is now my favorite full-time occupation". Thus, it is a "fitting" name for her jewerly studio.

Evelyn is a denizen of Connecticut and is a graduate of Paier School of Art located in Hamden, Connecticut. She is a certified jewerly artisan and is a member of several artisan guilds.

I don't know what anyone else thinks--but I am definitely envious of Evelyn's skills and talents. How truly wonderful it must be to be able to design and make your own pieces to create jewelry with! Kudos to you Evelyn your creations "ROCK"!

The lovely handcrafted jewelry of "la bella luna" is made of fine silver, sterling silver, and 22 carat gold overlay. Evelyn's favorite creations are made by creating silver charms combined with fused or forged wire.

Here are just some examples of the truly lovely handcrafted creations found for sale in "la bella luna" by this very skilled and talented "Jewerly Artisan":

And here are some of the pieces that can be viewed in her special gallery:

With the way fashion is today styles of jewelry change quite often. What is popular today is often "outdated" in just a few months. With this in mind, it is a real pleasure to say that the jewelry created by Evelyn is "a little bit cool, a little bit funky", but alway classic and in style.

Please take some time to visit this truly lovely and "classic" studio of jewerly designs, you will be most impressed with the talent and skill of this wonderful "Jewelry Artisan".

http://labellaluna.artfire.com/

You can find Evelyn at these websites also:

http://labellalunajewelry.etsy.com/

http://www.facebook.com/labellalunajewerly

http://labellalunajewerly.blogspot.com/

http://www.twitter.com/labellaluna4u

You are invited to leave a comment here for "labellaluna" aka Evelyn!

Featured Studio: Pixie Dust Fineries

This weeks featured guild studio of the week is "Pixie Dust Fineries" aka Trish.
Pixiedustfineries is a studio that is filled with a lovely selection of necklaces, earrings, bracelets and more. Trish loves to create jewelry pieces that are classic with a modern twist.
She really enjoys designing jewelry that is great for everyday wear and yet fancy enough to wear for a special occassion. Great pride is taken in her designs and therefore she uses only the best materials available and there gives a great deal of attention to every detail of a piece with the utmost care.
Trish loves the look of Swarovski crystals and tries to incorporate these sparkling beads in her creations.

Here are some of the lovely pieces found in "Pixiedustfineries":


Pixiedustfineries has a special section for jewelry to support a number of very worthy causes such as Breast Cancer, Domestic Violence, Multiple Sclerosois, Diabetes, Heart Disease, and more.

Here is some of the Awareness Jewelry found in Pixiedustfineries:





There is also a wonderful section for bridal jewelry too:




Trish began her "career" in jewelry design after leaving her job for health reasons. Christmas was coming and she was concerned about how she was going to manage giving gifts to her family.
When she was in a craft store she found some free jewelry making brochures and after reading a few she decided that she was going to try creating jewelry for gifts.
Being a crafter for years--ceramics, sewing, knitting, crocheting, macrame, and more--she knew that she would be able to create pieces of jewelry. And now jewelry design and creation has become her most passionate hobby.

Please take a few moments to visit 'Pixiedustfineries' to experience for yourself all the lovely pieces that this "Passionate" Jewelry Designer has created.
http://pixiedustfineries.artfire.com/
Leave a comment here in support of Trish and her wonderful studio.