Something Sublime

Exhibition 36

by Susan Tuttle

Brand new and hot off the presses...well, not exactly off the presses yet!  "Exhibition 36-A Gallery of Mixed-Media Inspiration" by Susan Tuttle is set for release this coming December.  I'm very honored to have artwork published in this book and can hardly wait to see.  December seems like a very long wait!  You gotta love Amazon though...the book is already available for pre-order.  It's going to be a must-have.  Susan has compiled artwork from 36 different artists, creating a virtual art gallery tour.  The thing I love the most about this book is that the reader gets a chance to peek inside 36 artistic, creative brains to see what inspires them and makes them tick.  And, for more inspiration, collage sheets are included to get you on your way to creating your own works of art.  Congratulations Susan!

Captivated by Artful Blogging

I apologize in advance but I just simply must indulge in a little mindless, shameless, horn-tooting.  As I thumbed through my new issue of Somerset Studio, I discovered this ad for Stampington's new issue of Artful Blogging.  I've been absolutely thrilled because I knew my blog would be featured in this new issue of AB but, when I came across this ad, I got even more excited because one of the featured spreads in the ad is from my article!  As terrific as that is, the thing that really has me going is the fact that the folks at Artful Blogging did an incredible job on the article.   From the little bit I see ("The Art Journal I Never Had") in this ad, it looks gorgeous!  Everything in this ad makes me want to run out and get a copy...the artwork, the colors the photos...yum!

Isn't the cover pretty?  My friend Ruth Rae's blog (you can see a preview here) will also be featured in the new issue along with...who knows?  Whatever is between the pages is sure to be fascinating.  This is one of my favorite publications.  I guess that explains my excessive enthusiasm!  I hear that the new Artful Blogging is already in the mail to some.  The rest of us will have to be patient as we "prepare to take another voyage into the captivating world of Artful blogging!"

A Charming Exchange

My dear friends Kelly Snelling and Ruth Rae have a brand, spanking new book coming out in a few months entitled "A Charming Exchange-25 Jewelry Projects to Create and Share".  The book is about collaboration in jewelry making and features jewelry made by Ruth and Kelly and by numerous other talented artists.  The idea for this book grew from a collaborative project called Just Simply Charming.  Make sure you check out the JSC blog for the full story but, the short version goes something like this:  Artists join together for charm swap;  organizing artists create blog for swap;  project is published in lovely magazine Belle Armoire, organizing artists have brain spark and submit book idea;  book idea accepted and published...yay! 

 

We've waited a long time to see this work published.  I was a part of the original charm swap and am excited to have several pieces of jewelry published in this terrific book.  From what I hear, it's going to be just beautiful and I know it's full of extraodinary jewelry.  I believe it hits the stands in June or July but, don't wait, you can pre-order it at Amazon.  Congrats Kelly and Ruth!

Step by Step Wire Jewelry

   

I'm absolutely thrilled to have a piece of jewelry published in the Spring 2008 issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry.  I got the chance to meet the lovely and talented Ronna Sarvas Weltman last year at Art & Soul and she encouraged me to submit. 

disk necklace by Ronna Weltman

Ronna makes the most beautiful jewelry incorporating polymer clay.  If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and take a look...it's really remarkable.  Ronna had one of her "disk" necklaces with her when I saw her and it's even more beautiful and impressive in real life.

"Faith, Hope and Love"

You may remember seeing this piece here at Something Sublime.  You can now see it in the gallery of Step by Step Wire Jewelry.  By the way, their website has all kinds of useful information including tips, tutorials and projects you can download.  Take a few minutes and check it out.

I'm off to the bead show tomorrow...fun, fun!

Spring Vines

"Twining Vines" earrings

The stunning Angela Cartwright  recently purchased a few of my "vines" pieces.  Wow...my jewelry never looked better!  Also, take a look at the post on this blog.  Thanks for the mention Cynthia!

 

"Twining Vines" nest

As you probably know, Angela is an incredibly talented photographer and artist.  She has a few more shots of these pieces and another pair of the earrings posted on her blog.  Go...see!

Oh, and I just got my new issue of Angela and Sarah's quartz "Pasticcio".  Love this publication...if you haven't seen it in person yet, you should treat yourself.  I'm tickled that they included a piece of my artwork in this issue:

"Auto Ride"

But back to spring ornaments...

"Vines and Nests"

I just finished these earrings for another order.  I made the nests a bit smaller than usual;  more appropriate for earrings.

The nests and vines translated well into earrings.  As I was working on pieces for the workshop that DJ and I will be teaching, and then began working on jewelry projects as an offshoot of that, the vines and leaves got smaller and smaller.  These are quite tiny but all the "in" birds are wearing them for Spring!

BAJ Ad

Looky, looky!  I opened my new Somerset Studio and there was my jewelry...in an ad!  Not just one piece, but two...whoo hoo!  I have to say, it was a thrill to see my reliquary pieces featured in an ad for the next issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.  The folks at Stampington have been very good to me.  I haven't received my copy of the new BA Jewelry yet but, according to Stampington's website, it's now available.  I was very pleased with the way my reliquary jewelry turned out.  I worked hard to make these pieces unique.  I hope you like them!

Belle Armoire Jewelry Peek

 

Something exciting is happening for me!  I'm thrilled, once again, to have my jewelry included in the next issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.  Not only that, one of my reliquary pieces is on the cover!  See it there?  The third circle down.  Whoo Hoo!  Also, take a look at Stampington's sneek peek...scroll down when you click on the Belle Armoire Jewelry link and you'll see a little more of my piece.  I'm so excited and grateful!

Pasticcio Quartz

You may be asking yourself "what the heck is a quartz?!"  Since you're itching to know and since I have Angela and Sarah's beautiful, new quartz Pasticcio (issue 2) in hand, let's ponder the wonders of it together.

artwork by Sarah Fishburn and Angela Cartwright

First of all, Angela and Sarah have cleverly come up with their very own breed of zine which they call a "quartz" or...QUality ART Zine.  It's not enough for these two artists to pack their publication with outstanding artwork, book and movie reviews, and all kinds of interesting, artsy information but they just had to take it a step further and make it irresistibly pretty!  They just had to use, heavy, high quality paper for the pages...and use the most stylish design and layout...then, wrap it all up in gorgeous, glossy covers.  Who could resist?  Who would want to?

And besides all that, I'm delighted that Sarah and Angela chose to publish another piece of mine, "Structure of the Heart".  I'm especially happy they chose this one since, for reasons I won't bore you with here, it's a fave of mine.  One of the nifty things about Sarah and Angela is that they like to expose the public to the artwork of lesser known artists...like your's truly.  They have a knack for selecting unique artwork which makes each issue exciting and fresh.

So, that's the story on the new "quartz".  It's fun to spout off about things you like so, if you have either issue 1 or issue 2, I'd love to hear what you think!

Mixed Emulsions

I'm sure many of you have already seen this fabulous book but, I just received my copy in the mail over the holidays.  I've waited a long time for this!  If you haven't seen it yet, RUN to Amazon, or your nearest bookstore and get it!  It's my friend Angela Cartwright's terrific, new book on altering techniques for photographic imagery.  The awesome thing about Angela, and what I love about this book, is that she's not one to hold back what she knows.  She shares it all, willingly and generously!  In this book, she guides the reader through all kinds of techniques for altering photos and imagery, including coloring, texturing, collaging and everything in between.  It's packed with inspiration, instruction and gorgeous photos.  There's a beautiful artist's gallery as well, in which I am honored to be included:

"Skippers"

This is one of my favorite pieces as the image I used is one I took of my son's hand holding stones he'd been skipping on the river.  Even though this isn't a picture of the river or of my boy's face, every time I see it, I'm transported back to that day spent in the pleasant pastime of skipping stones.

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Swap

Have you seen the Nov/Dec issue of Somerset Studio?  Jenny Doh wrote and published a great article about a swap I'm in called The 12 Days of Christmas Ornaments.  12 artists are creating ornaments (12 each) for swapping, beginning Dec. 1st.  Traditionally, the 12 Days of Christmas begin on Dec. 26th but, in the interest of being able to enjoy our ornaments longer, we'll be opening them early.  Each day, each participant will open one ornament.  Somerset has published beautiful photos of each of the 12 ornaments plus a few from last year's swap.

 

Aren't the ornaments fabulous?!  I've been in a Christmas ornament swap for the last 3 years or so with pretty much the same people and, I have to say, this has been my favorite swap of all time.  I guess it's because I adore Christmas so much but also, I love the surprise of pulling out the ornaments each year and remembering which of my friends created them.

Last year, a friend of mine Lelainia Lloyd organized a group of 12 of us to swap Christmas gifts (not ornaments).  She called it the 12 Days of Christmas swap and organized a blog for us.  I loved the way the gifts were opened, one each day, representing the 12 days.  Lelainia's swap inspired me to organize the ornament swap for this year in the 12 days style.

My ornament group is starting to mail out the goodies now.  Since the project was put together, we've had a few changes in the artists participating and most of the ornaments will be different than what you see in the article so it will be fresh when we start opening packages.  I'll be posting each one to my blog, starting Dec. 1st so stay tuned...you won't be disappointed!

Belle Armoire Jewelry 3

 

I'm so pleased to be able to say that the kind folks at Stampington have published another of my jewelry projects in their newest issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.  Several friends also have projects in this issue including jewelry and metal clay artist Catherine Witherell who's gorgeous bird house necklace graces the cover!  Inside, Kristen Robinson generously shares her knowledge on how to create beautiful poured resin jewelry and Rhonda Scott has an article on metal "retro recipe gals"...very cool!  Here are some pics of my published pieces:

"Crystal Rose"-vintage chandelier crystals, rose quartz, vintage spoon, freshwater pearls, steel wire, leather, paper. (sold)

"Crystal Rose" detail

"Crystal Rose" detail of link-rose quartz and freshwater pearls

These pieces have been away from me for quite awhile so it's really exciting to see them published!

"Blue" (nfs)

"Blue" detail

"Faith" (nfs)

"Faith" detail

A Charming Exchange

Here it is!!  This is the cover of the new jewelry book by my friends Ruth Rae and Kelly Snelling.  I'm pleased and honored to say that some of my jewelry will be published in this gorgeous book.  Ruth and Kelly worked very hard on this and it will be one of those "must have" books...full of inspiration and how-to's.   Ruth created the beautiful bracelet on the cover with contributions (left to right) from myself, Catherine Witherell, Jess Berry, and Crystal Neubauer.  The book is all about creative collaboration through jewelry.  I think it's not due to be released until July of 2008 so we have a bit of a wait but, it will be worth it!  I'll be posting about it again once it's released.

Speaking of terrific publications...have you seen this one?  It's a brand new zine by my friends Sarah Fishburn and Angela Cartwright and it is beautiful.  It's full of big, glossy pages and stunning artwork.  I'm honored to have a collage published in Pasticcio.  You can get your own copy by clicking here.

moo card by Deb Trotter

Obviously, I'm back from Art Unraveled and it was a fun experience!  Lots of creating, lots of friends, lots of moo cards, and lots of jabbering until midnight!  My poor roomate Deb Trotter is probably glad to finally get some sleep!  But, it's great to be able to discuss, with another creative soul, issues that face us, as artists, and it was great rooming with her.  Her artwork, in person, is beautiful...the colors and textures are so much deeper and brighter than online.

My sweet friend Maija purchased my "A Joyous Life" necklace (see post below) and, I have to say, it looks really fabulous on her.  She's a delightful person and I was thrilled to get a chance to spend some time with her at AU.  Once I'm unpacked, I'll be posting more about my AU projects and other friends, new and old, I was lucky enough to see there.

Artful Blogging

Of all the publications I've seen from Stampington, I have to say that this is one of my very favorites.  As far as I know, it's the first publication of it's kind, totally devoted to something near to my heart-art blogging.  There are so many terrific art blogs out there that they couldn't possibly cram them all into one book so "Artful Blogging" will be a quarterly publication...yes!  The photographs and artwork, all from the bloggers themselves, are spectacular.  You really have to see for yourself.  Reading each artist's thoughts on blogging has really inspired me to start to see blogging in a little different way.

There are some fabulous bloggers in this premier edition including my friends Patty Van Dorin and Misty Mawn.   Patty's blog is one of my favorites and I've long wondered when I would start to see her artwork published.  And Misty, well...her artwork is gorgeous and her posts are always insightful.

I was really excited to see a piece of my artwork published in this issue.  Michelle Ward runs an art challenge blog called Green Pepper Press Street Team that I participate in and my piece from the first challenge was printed in Michelle's article!

This page shows some of the challenges or "crusades" as Michelle calls them.  She's such a clever girl!

Like I said, this publication has got me even more excited about blogging than ever.  Although, in the beginning, I had to be coaxed into making a blog, I immediately fell in love with blogging.  I recognized the connection it gave me with other artists and the opportunity it gave me to expose a little piece of myself through my artwork.  It seems that now is a good time for me to say "thank you" to my readers...all dozen or so of you (ha!).  Thanks for visiting loyally and thank you, especially, for your comments...they've meant so much!

Looky, Looky...

 

Have you seen it yet??  The new issue of  Belle Armoire Jewelry is set to come out Sept. 1 and it looks to another terrific publication by Stampington.  And, I'm overjoyed to see my friend Cathrine Witherell's jewelry on the cover (at least the working cover!).  Her metal clay birdhouses are so very enchanting.  Congrats Catherine!  I will have a few pieces of jewelry published in this issue as well.  Great news too...BA Jewelry will now be a quarterly publication.  If you pre-order, the price is $12.95 as opposed to $14.95.  Gotta love that!

Hot Off the Press-Belle Armoire

Have you seen the new issue of Belle Armoire?  My issue came in the mail the other day.  Not only is the cover gorgeous but, I'm honored to say, a group of artists that I belong to called "Just Simply Charming" has some jewelry pieces published in this issue.  JSC answered Belle Armoire's call for creativity for charm swap collaborative projects.  We weren't the only group that answered the call but here are the creative pieces that were published from JSC:

necklace: Jerri Reimann  book: Carrie Edelmann Avery

top: Lelainia Lloyd  bottom:  Crystal Neubauer

This was my piece for the project:

You can read a little more about my piece here.  I have to say, every charm in our group was unique and beautiful.  To see them all together and published is an honor.  Congratulations to the participants of Just Simply Charming!

Pick up this issue of Belle Armoire if you get a chance as there is also an article on the incredible jewelry of Eric Silva that you don't want to miss.

A Great Read

By Susanne Simanaitis

Have you got your hands on this great read yet?  The sub-title reads "ideas + projects to SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY" and, wow...Suze and friends do a great job of that!  This isn't your typical how-to book.  Of course, there are terrific projects in the book and the graphics are just incredible but my favorite thing is that many of the artists that wrote for the book go into the mysteries of inspiration.  They tell their own secrets for what inspires them creatively and also divulge great tips on how you can be inspired as well.  Amongst the talented artists published in this book are some of my own artsy friends:  Susan Tuttle, Pilar Pollock, Sylvia Luna, Lou McCulloch, Melissa McCobb Hubbell, and the fab Mary Haldeman.  Congratulations to you ladies!

   

On another note...I finally got my copy of the new Belle Armoire Jewelry and am so very pleased with it!  They really did an amazing job with the layout and photography.  This is one of the pieces, by yours truly, they were so kind to publish:

"Fly Away Home"

Belle Armoire Jewelry 2

 

I usually try to avoid too much shameless self-promotion on my blog but I just got my e-copy of Stampington's Post Script and I'm SO JAZZED!  A piece of my jewelry is on the cover of the new Belle Armoire Jewelry 2!!  Ok, so it's not the whole piece and it's not the whole cover but those are mere technicalities.  Also, it's right, smack in the middle!  I know, I know...I'm even making myself sick here but let me just discretely say...whoo hoo! 

This is especially exciting for me because this piece features a little nest charm that I made a few years ago.  At the time, I hadn't seen anything like it and was really happy with the way it turned out.  So happy that it then languished on my workbench for the next 2 years for no apparent reason.  Finally, the right project for it finally came along and now...here's my baby...on the cover!  Again, I say...whoo hoo!

Sneak Peek

Stampington is coming out with a new publication Belle Armoire Jewelry 2 that will be available March 1, 2007.  They're offering a special, pre-order price of $10.95 plus s&h.  Click here for a sneak peek.  The project at the bottom of the page is mine!

I'm published again!

I'm honored to have an article published in Stampington & Company's latest special publication "Belle Armoire Jewelry"!  I just received my copy today and this is an absolutely gorgeous magazine with page after page of inspiring jewelry projects.  All types of materials are used by many different, very talented, jewelry artists.  The photography is beautiful and each project includes full instructions.  If you're at all interested in creating unique, original jewelry then get your hands on a copy of this publication!

I'm Published!

Somerset Studio Mar/Apr 2006

I'm thrilled to have a feature article on my altered cabinet cards published in the latest issue of Somerset Studio magazine!  If you're not familiar with Somerset Studio, run to your nearest magazine stand and pick up an issue.  Somerset is a gorgeous, high-quality publication dedicated to paper arts and mixed media.  It's loaded with collage, calligraphy, bookmaking, and all kinds of altered art by talented artists from all over the world.  It's an honor to be published in such an inspiring and beautiful publication.  Thank you Somerset!