Off Topic: Entrecard Contest Entry - Who's My Fave?

There's a contest going on at one of the blogs of Entrecard, and this is my entry. To enter, I need to answer this question:

What is your fave Entrecard blog site and why?

My favorite blogger over at Entrecard is also another beadmaker and bead blogger. Her name is Jenelle, a.k.a. Sortafloweringdesigns, and her blog is called Glass Muse.

From a purely asthetic point of view, this blog is gorgeous to look at. Juicy colors, lots (but not too much) going on in the blog, and stunning beads to look at. Browsing her blog when I drop my card there everyday brings a smile to my face. She's got lots of great content on a variety of artistic and glass/bead/jewelry related topics, too. I'm most drawn to her brilliantly colored beads and her sweet, floral graphics.

Jenelle also has another section of her website devoted to the Entrecard dropping system, which brings up art and hobby blogs for me to drop my card at. This makes my day easier, and lets me see some really pretty, artistic blogs. You can join her list, and your blog will be put in her code, which when you click on it brings up ten entrecard blogs at a time to drop your card at. What I like is that the blogs listed are all hobby, art, fashion and craft related. I usually stick to those kinds of blogs when I am dropping.

Jenelle is a talented artist, brilliant marketer and colorful soul. That's why she's my fave over at EC!

If you want to enter this contest, please visit the website in the widget below. You can also visit Entrecard here to see what all the fuss is about. Don't forget to join my Entrecard webring, too!

Contest Sponsors:

Viral Emails

The Lie Politic

My Reality Television

Sinigang For the Soul

Blogs That Follow

Entredropper.com

Spring's Not Here Yet, But....

Making beads in spring colors just seems right. Spring is nature's hopeful time when everything is new and bright....and we sure need that in this world right now. We got that hint of hope last week with the changing of our leaders in office, but for the rest of us regular folks, it's taking some time for spring's newness to come upon us.

These rays of hope have been peeking through for me, thank goodness. The depression of this last winter is starting to lift. I'm not normally so depressed over the winter months, but this year was quite difficult for me, like it has been for many people.

Color always lifts my spirits, though. Playing with color and light seems appropriate this time of year, and pink always makes me smile. So I paired it here with that lovely green I captured in my last bead set to make beads in a classic spring scheme. I think these turned out really well.

I was moved again to list them on ebay, because the last set is doing quite well. So, yey - here they are!

The set, called Strawberry Fairy, is playful and happy - something which I want to be right now. I almost always equate the pairing of green and pink with fairies. I'm not sure why - it's a feeling I get. That forest-y dew of the green with delicious, sweet pink makes me think of those pretty little nature spirits. It's hard to put into words. And the designs are fairy-like - with tiny flowers and dots and scrolling lines, these beads could almost be little fairy furniture.

I had a lot of fun making them. Hopefully the fun trend will continue!

When Color Just Works

I finally got my butt back on the torch the other day, and let me say - it was so much fun! There's just something that happens to me when I pick out just the right glass colors to melt and layer together.

I've done greens with purples many times before, but I have never combined these particular shades. The glass colors I used on this set are from CiM (Heffalump and Dirty Martini), Effetre (Dark Lavender, Dark Violet Transparent, Yellow Green and Sage Green Transparent) and Precision (Diamond Clear).

Oh, magic! Usually, instead of the minty freshness of Dirty Martini, I use the reactive Copper Green. Using DM gave a cleaner, crisper finish to the mint green opaque base on these beads, without the tendency to patina with copper that Copper Green has. And the opacity was dense and smooth. (Opacity? Is that a word? Opaqueness?)

Heffalump, Cim's lavender opaque glass, replaced my usual Effetre Pale Lavender. Heffalump is more vivid and has less of a tendency to fade than PL, and just glows under lights.

I normally use a lighter shade than Effetre's Dark Violet Transparent (like, say, Ink Blue Violet), but with the Heffalump, it just sings. It's so deep I had to really layer it thinly, but encasing it with the Dark Lavender Effetre really helped bring out the color.

Yum. I am really happy with this set. So happy that I couldn't break it up into smaller bites like I usually do to list them on Etsy. This time I just lumped them all together and put them up on ebay - something I haven't done in months. There are more pics at the auction, so have a look!

Tarot and Color

I love Tarot cards. I've been reading Tarot for about five years now. I am most drawn to the visual images on the Revelations Tarot
deck - because of the vivid color and the similarities to stained glass. That's the deck I read with most often - along with the standard Rider Waite
deck I learned on.

I think Tarot can be very inspiring creatively - because of the images, but also because of the cards' meanings.

If you've never tried Tarot before, and you have an open, creative mind, I would suggest doing some of the free online Tarot readings (no, not the ones that scam you into paying, but the real ones). Then buy an inexpensive pack of cards and use them for inspiration and creativity. You may even find yourself wanting to learn to read Tarot once you have the cards.

Here are a couple to try:

Facade's Free Reading
Llewellyn's Web Tarot
FreeTarot.com

I took a test to find out what Tarot card matches my personality - I am the Star card. It's a fun test - click this link to take it yourself.

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

Awarded - thank you!

rkdsign88 over at Handmade with Heart gave me the Lemonade award today! Such a nice thing to do - thanks sweetie!

This award is given to people who look at the bright side of life and make lemonade out of lemons. These are the rules for participating - which is totally up to you, the bloggers nominated:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude or gratitude!!!
3. Be sure to link your nominees with your post.
4. Let them know they received the award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Share the love and link this post to the person that gave you the award.

So here are the blogs I am nominating - some of my favorites!

1. Lori Greenberg

2. The Venerable Bead

3. Jen Geldard - Torch Songs

4. Art Bead Scene

5. Island Top Glass Art

6. Torch By Night

7. Sheila Morley - Art Talk

8. Deanna Chase

9. Glass Muse

10. Simply Shiny Adornments

Congrats, guys! :)

Off Topic - Tag!

One of my fave blogs, Lenox Knits, tagged me! I've never been tagged before, so let's hope I can do this right. :)

The rules are easy - list 7 things about yourself - weird or random stuff. Then tag seven other blogs to play the game. Also, link back to the blog that tagged you. Sounds like fun!

So here goes....

1. I love almanacs. I love reading the little snippets of information and fun anecdotes, and I LOVE the weather predictions. I like the daily moon phase and astrological information! I collect almanacs - especially pagan-related ones. The Witches' Almanac is my favorite.

2. My hubby and I are highschool sweethearts, and our parents still live within a few blocks of eachother. We met my freshman year of high school and were in the band together. We didn't start dating until my junior year. We have been together almost 19 years now.

3. I have to turn off those commercials about abandoned or abused animals. I literally cannot stand to watch them - I cry every time they come on.

4. I think I might be tetrochromatic. It would explain a lot.

5. I am an aunt! I have two gorgeous nieces - Morgan and Maia. Maia's three and Morgan is almost five months. I ADORE them - they are amazing little girls.

6. I can't have children, and have a long history of misscarriages. Hubby and I have decided that we can live vicariously through our siblings when they have kids. Now that we have two nieces, we get the fun of spending time with them and the ability to give them back to mommy and daddy afterwards! :)

7. I am utterly fascinated by anything paranormal. I like the science aspect of it rather than the "feeling" aspect, but I think both are valid. I love the idea of trying to scientifically prove the existence of things like ghosts, esp and ufo's. So yeah, I watch Ghost Hunters. Yey!

Okay, there you have it! Now - tag, you're it! It's okay, of course, to decide not to play, especially if you've played before. Here are the tagged blogs - some of my faves!

1. The Copper Cauldron
2. Sweetwater Designs - Fire & Glass
3. Crafting Bliss
4. Geek Mom Mashup
5. Judith's Bead Lounge
6. BeadsMe
7. Cen's Loft

Off Topic - for Entrecarders

I just started a web ring for those who have blogs that are art or craft related, and who use the Entrecard widget to help promote their blog. I'm going to be using it as my main drop list, so I hope you'll join me!

Entrecard Arts & Crafts

Yes, it's pretty empty right now, but hopefully it will fill up fast so we can have a fun group of blogs to read and drop cards on.

Embrace The New Colors of Our World

The gorgeous colors of today are filled with meaning and hope. Happy Inauguration Day!

On Seasonal Color

Do you often find yourself sorting colors in your mind? I do - and it's almost always by season. I have colors in my head that are intrinsicly autumnal, and so forth.



This often helps me when I am picking out colors of glass for making a bead set. I think about what season it is - or what season it will be soon - and certain colors just stand out.

For some strange reason, I am not a Christmas Red and Green kind of gal. Unless the colors are a very specific shade, I kind of don't like red and green together. Give me a velvety deep purple-red and a pine green, and I might be okay with it. But tomato red and kelly green are nauseating.

Right now, I am working with pinks and reds for winter - specifically for Valentine's Day beads. Now, that's pretty self explanatory. But what colors would be good for winter in general?

For me, I like icy blues, minty greens and cold purples for winter. And of course, winter white is always nice.

When the new year comes, I kind of slowly slide over to the hot pinks and reds for February, then the sweet spring-ish greens for March.

Once spring starts to near, I like to work with soft pastels with shiny black as an accent - especially lavender and green. Coral is a fantastic spring color that will hold right into summer.

Of course, in summer the deep aquas, teals and greens are wonderful to play with - makes me think of swimming and the beach. Summer is a great time for anything vivid and cheerful.

By far, my most favorite season for color is autumn. You can see it in my gallery - most of my bead sets are in autumn shades of deep purple, amber, pumpkin, black and green.

Neutrals are also wonderful this time of year because they will last throughout the fall and winter season. I adore Halloween, too - which adds a whole new dimension of color.

What are your fave seasonal colors?

Total Lack of Color Mojo

So. What do you do when the color muse and the creative muse are both on vacation, sipping their margaritas and flipping you the bird? Because that's where my muses are right now. :) I seriously have absolutely no creative mojo this week!

The last few times at the torch making beads have almost been like pulling teeth. I can't come up with a decent color combo to save my life.

Sometimes, it's just like that. For no real reason other than that the muses would rather party it up by their mythical pool than hang out with me and help me out. Ahhhh creativity.

Soooooo, what do I do in that situation? Well, I look at yarn. Yep, yarn! Hand-dyed yarn mostly. The colors people are coming up with in the fiber arts industry are really inspiring.

Sometimes, I even buy the yarn I am looking at, even though it tends to be slightly out of my price range. And I justify it by saying to myself - "Hey, I knit. And someday, I will use this. Yeah."

Because, seriously, the colors are just out of this world. The textures only add to the inspiration.

Here are a few of my favorites this week - hopefully the sellers will be okay with my using the pics, since I am linking to their stores. Go and buy their yarn!!



This first one is ribbon rather than yarn, but it counts because I just adore the colors. I love variagated yarns! These cool purples and teals are perfect for this time of year - saturated and cold. This is sold by
JodyPoesy on Etsy.



I really love the play of color in this batch of fine yarn sold by Yarnplayer on Etsy. It's so highly saturated, I can almost drink it! The sweet shades of orange and deep magenta would make lovely beads, too.



I normally don't do white, but I admire the subtle use of it in this color scheme by HandSpunandDyedToo on Etsy. Reminds me a bit of mixed up Neopolitan ice cream. This would make a gorgeous felted bag that I could attach a lampwork flower in matching colors to. Ideas are starting to come - yey!



Oh, so soft and beautiful - this is a many-colored scheme that just flows so well together. I want to cuddle up in these colors! This is a theme that would likely keep me going through several bead sets that are slightly different but all coordinate. Check them out over at exclusivelylindalee on Etsy.



And here we are with a revisit of a favorite color scheme - I am just reminded of how much I absolutely love deep browns with icy turquoise. MMmmmmmmmm winter!! Thanks, FreckleFaceFibers on Etsy for the gorgeous re-inspiration!

If that's not enough to entice the muses back from their poolside lounge chairs, you can do a google search for hand-dyed yarns and be inspired. :) I think I am off to make beads now!

Completely Off Topic - Entrecard

I've been using this traffic program for a couple of weeks now, and I really like it. There are a few things I would like to say to all those who are using Entrecard, and for those who are thinking about it. (Click on my widget to the right if you have no idea what this is).

First, I personally think it's really fun to use - and I have run across several interesting blogs which I have bookmarked. Dropping my card is easy, for the most part, and being able to advertise for free is a nice added perk. I spend about an hour every day while drinking my coffee just checking out blogs, commenting and dropping my card.

There are just a couple of constructive criticisms I would like to offer other bloggers who are using this program - maybe it will help you increase your traffic and the usability of your blog.

1. It's a huge pet peeve of mine to click on a blog from the Dashboard at Entrecard and have it load fully and not be able to find the widget at all. If your widget is no where on the landing page, I can't drop my card, and I will likely not take the time to read your blog. Please, put the widget somewhere on the landing page. Even if it's at the bottom - that's fine. *Especially if you participate in the web rings or special lists for Entrecard users.

2. Do not automatically load sound or video on your blog! Nothing makes me want to leave it faster. It not only taxes my system - it's rather annoying, because I am often listening to something on my own system. If you want sound on your blog, give the user the option of playing it or not.

3. If you have so many widgets, advertisements, images, etc that are randomly scattered all over your blog, I will likely leave without dropping my card. Too many widgets and ads reduce the effectiveness of the ads anyway. It's mind boggling to me why a blogger would want to clutter their pages up so much that it's hard to find anything. I won't stay and read your posts if I am overwhelmed by the sheer volume of distractions.

4. Make sure your scripts all work and that your blog actually loads. I've clicked on many a blog link only to find that script errors are making it impossible to load. Please make sure you check to see if your blog is actually loading.

Now, with the criticisms, I would like to add a few positive things.

I love blogs which.....

1. Are pleasing to the eye. Pretty images, organized pages, subtle but interesting graphics - these all make me want to stay and read your content.

2. Have interesting and engaging content. Posts on how to make money online are so prolific that I often just leave. But posts which contain information that draws me in and makes me think will often get my bookmark. I realize this is a personal thing, though. Just, you know, blog about something you think might interest the masses.

3. Are updated more than once every few months. I struggle with this too, but I promise to work on it if you will!

4. Have contests - I love entering contests - just make sure the rules are clear!

5. Have a graphic Entrecard and not a text Entrecard. No real explanation for that one - it's just my preference.

That's pretty much it! And if you have never heard of Entrecard and you have a blog, I highly recommend it. Even if you don't have the time to drop your card, etc., you can buy the credits to advertise. There are a lot of art/hobby/fashion related blogs there, which really is attractive to me as an artist who likes to keep up on art-related discussion. And the color inspiration on some of these blogs is astounding. :)

Best Color 2008

Happy New Year, Coloraddicts!

Thank goodness this year is over! I don't know about you all, but I am really looking forward to a much better one in 2009.

In the tradition of the gazillion "best of" stories that run at the end of every year, I am picking my fave glass color of the year 2008. My pick this year is a glass color that I not only loved working with, but one which I think kind of goes with the type of year we had in this world.

And the winner is.....CiM Leaky Pen!

The richness of this color mirrors the complexity of the year, I think. And the deep, dark shade is akin to the scarier climate we find ourselves in. Leaky Pen is neither a true blue or a real green - which reminds me of the idea that we are in an ambiguous, ever-changing time in history. This color is still strikingly beautiful and reminds us of what a gift life is, even in the darkest, scariest of times.

I've been working with Leaky Pen a lot since I wrote my first review of it over a year ago. I think my favorite color to pair Leaky Pen with is purple. That combination thrills me!

CiM's colors in general are very stable, and this one is no exception. Their quality continues to be very high.

Where can you find this gorgeous shade of glass? Well, luckily for us beadmakers, Leaky Pen is a common enough color from the CiM line. I've bought it from Frantz Art Glass, Moretti & More, and LBSupplys. You can also see it on the Creation is Messy website.