About Our Guild

Guild Description:
Our guild represents a wide variety of jewelry artists with unique talents and techniques, as well as the suppliers of beads and beading supplies.
Guild Mission:
To gather together Jewelry Design and Jewelry Supply Studios for the purpose of sharing information, ideas, techniques, and strategies for promoting our Artfire Studios.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Featuring Wire Wrapped Jewelry Designs and the Supplies That Can be Used to Create the Designs





There are many different techniques when making jewelry and one of the most exciting and creative ones is "Wire Wrapping". This week the Ajdjss guild celebrates the many lovely wire wrapped designs created by members and the fabulous jewelry supplies on sale to create wire wrapped designs.
Here are just a few of the "Wire Wrapped" Creations and Supplies for creating them:
Crystal Quartz Briolette Earrings

Jinx1746.artfire.com





20 gauge Round Dead Soft Oxidized Copper Wire
FreshStringBeads.artfire.com



Sterling Silver Turquoise Ring
GravelRoadJewely.artfire.com







Garnet/Swarovski Pendant
ExqusiteStudios.artfire.com








Picasso Jasper Heart Pendant
PopnicuteSupplies.artfire.com







Amethyst Coil Pendant
Catinalife.artfire.com







You are invited to visit the Ajdjss Shops for more "Wire Wrapped" Creations and the many wonderful Supplies to make them. We are looking forward to seeing you.
Thanks,
The Ajdjss Guild~Studios with unique and beautiful handmade jewelry and fabulous jewelry supplies~

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Featured Studio: BrokenWingDesigns

This weeks featured studio is "Broken Wing Designs" aka Peggy.
When you visit "Broken Wing Designs" you will see amazing designs in copper, silver, and turquoise. It is easy to see that Peggy has a great passion for handcrafted Native American Jewelry. This great passion has been part of her since she was 18 years old. This is when she began collecting this type of jewelry and this was probably the time that she began to "dream" of creating her own special handcrafted jewelry.

Peggy has definitely fulfilled this dream and her studio "Broken Wing Designs" is proof of this. For Peggy "Broken Wing Designs" is a true labor of love. It is the place where she is able to showcase her fabulous handcrafted jewelry and concho belts.

Here are some of the fabulous creations that you will find in "Broken Wing Designs"










It is absolutely amazing all the time, work, and absolute creativity that is certainly put into each of these designs.
I am totally in awe of Peggy's metalsmithing skills. She certainly is a very talented jewelry artisan.
Btw, "Broken Wing Designs" also showcases the work of other Native American Jewelry designers. When you visit "Broken Wing Designs" you will see some fabulous pieces, some are even vintage pieces. Definitely worth a look.
So, take a few minutes and visit: http://BrokenWingDesigns.artfire.com
You are in for a real treat.
You are invited to leave a comment here for Peggy.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Featured Studio: AndreaTJewelry

Our featured guild studio this week is "Andrea T Jewelry" aka Andrea. Before I say anything else I must say this: " I love this cat avatar"!!! And of course, Happy One Year Anniversary here at Artfire. WooHoo!

Okay, now I can go on.

Visiting "AndreaTJewelry" is definitely a pleasant "visual" experience because Andrea has filled her studio with jewelry creations that are not only lovely but also so very feminine looking.
Andrea loves working with gemstones. You will find designs with Amethyst, Adventurine, Labradorite, Tourmaline, Lapis Lazuli, just to name a few. Most
recently Andrea has become "enamored" with Larimar. She loves the colors of this stone and how well it goes with other stones.
As a rule Andrea uses the "rougher" cuts of stones not the "gem-quality" stones because she feels her designs really lend themselves to the "rougher" cuts and let's face it the "gem-quality" stones are definitely a bit pricey.

Here are some of the lovely and feminine pieces of jewelry that are a "visual" pleasure for sale in "AndreaTJewelry":

NECKLACES

BRACELETS
EARRINGS



Yes indeed, definitely a "visual" pleasure!

Besides being a very talented jewelry artisan Andrea is one fabulous lady. You can always find her on the artfire forums supporting our guild members and other artisans. She is kind and empathetic. Recently, I have felt the warmth of her humanity on the forums. She is definitely a special lady who brightens up our guild enormously.

You are invited to visit: http://AndreaTJewelry.artfire.com to see for yourself the lovely and feminine pieces of jewelry for sale there.

You are also invited to make a comment in support of a talented lady here, and on the artfire promotion thread.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

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.

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~*~