Featured Studio: Bijouxdesignsforyou

The featured studio this week is "Bijouxdesignsforyou". This wonderful studio is one-half of the fabulous mother and daughter team of Glenda and April. Their other wonderful studio is "Rouge River Beads" a jewelry supply studio which was featured here in July.

This mother and daughter team share the love of jewelry and all things pretty. Both are talented crafters dabbling in sewing, quilting, decorating, painting, folk art, and of course jewelry making.

Glenda and April are committed to creating fun, delicate, and unique jewerly and other items that will accent your wardrobe and your home. The wealth of beautiful beads and stones is a constant inspiration for their pretty creations.

In short "Bijouxdesignsforyou" is a lovely studio that showcases many lovely creations.

What specifically is all about?

"Bijouxdesignsforyou" is about pretty jewelry:

"Bijouxdesignsforyou" is about pretty things for the house:




"Bijouxdesignsforyou" is about pretty bookmarks:

"Bijouxdesignsforyou" is about pretty things for your wine glasses and bottles:

"Bijouxdesignsforyou" is about pretty stocking stuffers for Xmas:

"Bijouxdesignsforyou" is also about creating custom favors for weddings, proms, bridal and baby showers.

This is definitely a great studio for a wide variety of pretty things.

You are invited to visit both "Bijouxdesignsforyou" and "RougeRiverBeads" for a look at many more fabulous things.

http://bijouxdesignsforyou.artfire.com/

Featured Studio: Ilmare

This week's featured studio is Ilmare aka Sufen. Sufen's studio Ilmare Atelier actually began out of a desire to fuse both art and jewelry into unique and versatile jewelry creations that are wonderful to wear and are also quite affordable.

This lovely studio's name is very significant to Sufen. According to Sufen "Ilmare" means "the sea" in Italian, which brings to mind the lovely shimmering hues of blue and green. "Atelier" means "workshop" in French. When put together, we have "Studio by the Sea, an absolutely lovely and intriging dream that Sufen is working towards. What a lovely name and what a lovely thought.

When you visit Ilmare you just have to be hugely impressed with the lovely colors of gemstones sparkling in each of Sufen's jewelry designs. Each of her creations not only sparkle beautifully but they shout out beautiful feminity.

Here are some of the fabulous creations:

Indeed, there are so many lovely colors and so many different gemstones used in these fabulously feminine creations. Each piece of jewelry is just like "eye candy"and are quite striking.

Sufen has a tremendous amount of pride in her work and the materials that she uses in her creations. She insists on using only very good quality gemstones and prefers to use goldfilled wires and findings. She uses goldfilled materials because she feels they are far ;more tarnish resistent than other metals.

It is evident that Sufen is definitely successful in fusing art and jewelry into unique and versatile jewerly creations. Kudos to you for your integrity and your art.

Btw, since Sufen has become a member of our guild she has proven to be most supportive of the other members. I see her promoting our featured members each week in the artfire forums and posting in our guild forums too. It's members like you, Sufen, that make being a member of this guild a pleasant experience. Thank you for all you are and do.

You are invited to come to studio "Ilmare" to see how successful Sufen is with fusing art and jewelry.

http://Ilmare.artfire.com

Featured Studio of the Week: Cthings

This weeks featured studio is Cthings aka Cindy. Cthings has the distinction of being a part of the Artfire community for just about a year now. Yes, she is one of Artfire's original pioneers.



Cindy is a jewelry designer who really loves what shes does. She has been designing and creating jewelry for 3 years now and is still going "strong" at it. Designing and creating new pieces of jewelry from the beads and supplies she has on hand is lots of fun for her, as well as, being able to design and create custom pieces for her clients.

To this end she has developed wonderful communication skills with clients. Now this is definitely a very "savy" business woman!

In designing and creating new pieces Cindy uses a variety of jewelry making techniques from stringing to wire wrapping. She likes to work with a variety of beads and supplies. Look carefully and you will see crystals, pearls, semi-precious stones, lampwork beads, and more. For Cindy the saying "variety is the spice of life" holds true!

Here are some examples of her fabulous designs for sale in her studio:

Cindy has been an active participant of the world of arts and crafts since she was a child. She has found that jewelry design and creation is extremely satisfying but she has a stong passion to learn metal smithing. One day she hopes to take some classes so she can actually make her own metal pieces for her designs. Cindy, this sounds like a great future endeavor and here's wishing you lots of good luck.

Btw, before I forget Cthings has a special section for wedding jewelry with some really lovely pieces for sale in her studio:

Aren't these fabulous?

On the personal side our Cindy is a wife and mother and has a wonderful massage business that she "runs" in her home. Hey Cindy, how come you live so far away? I love getting massages, I would be a regular client if you were here in the NYC area.

Writing this studio feature for Cindy of "Cthings" has been quite a pleasure for me. Cindy is one of our most active members. Go to the forums and you will find her actively promoting for us. Each week she takes time out of her busy day to promote the featured studio on ByHand.me. Her spotlights are always amazing to look at. She is kind, friendly, helpful, supportive, creative, in short, a fabulous human being. Hey Cindy, you are one of the people who have touched me in a special way. You are a wonderful asset to our guild.
May you always have good health, happiness, and lots of success.

Come visit this fabulous studio:
http://cthings.artfire.com/

If you have any questions for Cindy or custom orders please contact her through her studio.

"Autumn Leaves" Guild Challenge Results

Our "Autumn Leaves" challenge is long over and it is about time to announce the results.






Originally there were 13 fabulous entries, each a wonderful tribute to "Autumn Leaves". The members of the guild voted and the entries were narrowed down to 4. Then the voting went public and after all the votes were tallied the most voted entry that best represented the theme "Autumn Leaves" was:
CLASSIC AUTUMN-AGATE and ADVENTURINE NECKLACE SET
Designed and created by GemKitty Jewelry

A Carnelian carved oak leaf pendant gracefully dangles from a lovely necklace of Moss agate ovals, Adventurine and Evergreen rounds, accented by bright copper beads to give you the feeling of Autumn. Matching earrings are included with this set.

A warm congratulations to Kathy aka GemKitty Jewelry for designing this fabulous necklace set that is such a wonderful representation of "Autumn Leaves"--WooHoo girl!!!

Kudos to all the entries--because each one is a piece to be proud of!

Featured Artist of the Week: Beadlady5

Margo, also known as Beadlady5 is a true artist. She is an artist because she designs and makes one of a kind jewelry pieces, but also because she manages a very large guild and at least 4 online shops.
She has a unique style and sense of taste that I and many others can recognize any where on the web. Her eye for color, detail and sense of passion for what she does is visible in every piece she creates.

Not only does she help the guild members with promoting the group, she also helps and listens to us individually. I have to admit that when I first started on artfire I was lost, confused and didn't know what to think or do half the time. She has guided me in selling online but also guided me, as a new jewelry designer. I bet at times her patience was wearing thin with me but she never showed frustration or anger. She showed nothing but passion for wanting to teach and guide me through the process.

I know this blog post doesn't do Beadlady5 justice but I hope at least it helps many understand the passion and care she has for not just her jewelry but helping artists as well.

That's all for now, libertydoll.

Featured Studio: Creations With Heart

Our first featured studio in over a month is "Creations With Heart" aka Julie.

When you visit "CreationsWithHeart" you can certainly see that the jewelry for sale has been made by someone who truly enjoys creating each piece from the "heart".

Julie has many different designing styles. She creates classic pieces, southwestern pieces, western pieces, animal themed pieces, and

her own inspirational pieces.

Julie enjoys creating stylish pieces of jewelry using a number of different materials. Some of her favorite materials are semi-precious gemstones, crystals, pewter, and leather.




Julie confesses that she is a "dog mom". She loves animals so very much that it is very important for her to include jewelry designs with this motif. When you visit "Creations
With Heart" you will find an entire section devoted to "Paw Print Jewelry".

Julie must be commended for generously donating a percentage from her sales of "Paw Print Jewelry" to help animals. She honestly gets personal satisfaction in helping our furry friends that need and depend on us.

Here are some of her whimsical and fun "Paw Print Designs".

I have to say that it has been a really wonderful experience having Julie as part of out guild family. She is kind, friendly, upbeat, actively involved, and very supportive of other members of our guild.

In short Julie of "Creations With Heart" is a talented, generous, kind, and supportive guild member that has enhanced our guild in so many ways.

Thank you Julie for all that you are and all that you do--You are much appreciated!

Now it's time to check out:

http://CreationsWithHeart.artfire.com

You will be delighted that you did!