Fire Divas January Challenge: Poll Closes TONIGHT!!!

Glass lovers pay attention: ;) This month's Fire Divas challenge is Romance, and although I'm sure you good folks have already seen this poll and voted, I'll repost it here just in case you had to re-heat your cup of tea last time before you could click your vote in, or comment and BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING FOR THE GRAND PRIZE!!! The Poll closes tonight at Midnight EST!!!

One lucky commenter will receive a 25% off Coupon for Sonja’s Artfire shop. So after you vote don’t forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the post on the Divas Blog to win!! Poll closes at Midnight (EST) on Saturday, January 21st.



Entry 1

Entry 2





Entry 3



Entry 4





Entry 5



Entry 6





Entry 7



Good luck, Fire Divas!

First September Glass!

Birthday month, woohoo!  OK, so this is a very busy month at the Shepherd residence...
The highlights of this month's journey:

• School started for me again!  My latest foray back into college to finish my BS...  Apparently two Associate degrees don't equal one BS.. O_o  Go figure?
• The new position is finally open at work.  It's been a topic of discussion for over a year, and now it's almost interview time... Nervous about that, as I was on an interview panel a few times in the past year and know how nervous the applicants can be.  Wish me luck when the time comes, ok? :)
• My birthday is coming!  Paul and I love our birthdays, because we celebrate Birthday Week as a concentrated week of a few special meals, maybe a picnic or two, hike, botanic garden trip, etc.  My week = my choice, mwahahahaha!
• Preparation for the Holiday Season - oh yeah, you know we still make glass goodies? :)  I've made some cool new pieces recently shown below.  They are basically my last fit of freedom from last weekend before classes started on Tuesday.  The glass will have to take a backseat to these other more permanent things, but I will cling to some of it to ensure my own sanity. You know how it goes, no hobby, no hope ;)

Well those are the biggest items for me, but that's not to say Paul doesn't have his own task list to struggle with, but this is my blog, so... you know, mostly my stuff.  Below are the beads I made this weekend(and some last weekend I think) and the goodies I made as my last freedom session in the studio. :)

A young man (photographer, I think) asked us if we make anything that's "not cute", and after surveying all my trays and suggesting a few pieces that I thought might be less cute, it was determined that my style just includes "cute."  I'm happy with that, despite recalling being a young girl ages ago that wanted nothing to do with the word. ;)

My beads!!! I really still love beads, and I need to make more that I can use to make myself a bracelet or two.  The one with brownish swirl over black (see that nugget on the right at the end?) was very similar to a set I made for a friend's moving-away present last week too.  Things are changing, and not just the leaves. :)

Tide Pool Challenge! (Glass Art from the FD Group)

Right now the Fire Divas July challenge is going on, this month's theme being "Tide Pool." There are some really fantastic beads entered into this one, so you know us Fire Divas are excited.  Even though it's a bit of a competition each month we hold it, we are all glass fans at heart and love to see what everyone is up to in such a talented group.

Voting ends tomorrow! Please vote for your favorite entry on the right side of the Fire Divas blog and leave a comment there to be entered to win a $20 gift certificate from ME! Goodies that you can use the gift cert on can be found at Shepherd Creations ArtFire Studio! Please include your email address with your comment (does not have to show, I don't think) so that the Fire Divas group are able to notify you about your prize. :)


***You can find the poll to the right and at the top of the Fire Divas blog page***

You have to check out the blog to vote and qualify to win my $20 gift certificate, so what are you waiting for? Get over there! :)

New Fire Divas Collection on ArtFire: Spring Goodies!

Today's feature is a new collection of Fire Divas glass goodies fresh on ArtFire.  We have a few new Fire Divas lately, including Michelle of SunDoor Beads and Christina of FengBeads, so there are even more goodies to choose from in the Fire Divas collections :)  Besides this new collection to show off, today is the last day to take advantage of the Fire Divas sale (secret coupon Divathanks for most, see blog for specific shop coupon codes!), so make sure you visit the blog post to know what you're missing!

Glass! Lampwork from the Fire Divas Guil...

Curated By: shepherdcreat...

ArtFire.com

Craft Tutorials
 

Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge: Entries due October 15!

For all you bead connoisseurs out there, the Fire Divas are hosting another Jewelry Challenge! For this challenge, the theme is "The Holiday Season." There are several holidays coming up, and we want to celebrate them! You can see holiday-inspired Fire Diva creations on our Flickr page. By entering this challenge, you have the chance to win:

http://www.twoglassyladies.ca/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JanelDudleyBeads

http://www.arensea.etsy.com/

http://www.teasebeads.artfire.com/

http://www.artfire.com/users/BabsBeadsandDesign

http://www.lajewelrydesigns.etsy.com/
or http://www.lajewelrydesigns.artfire.com/

http://www.hollysfolly.com/

http://www.lutrick.artfire.com/

Owl bead from http://www.maybeads.etsy.com/

http://www.emakaye.etsy.com/

http://www.beadygirlbeads.etsy.com/

Now for the details:

All submissions must feature Fire Divas' lampwork. We require the name of the Fire Diva who made the beads used in the submitted piece, so if you submit something, please be ready to provide that information.

We will allow one submission per person per contest, and a maximum of two photos per submission. Entries may be submitted here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/firedivachallenge/) for approval, no later than October 15, 2010. No Flickr account? No problem. You can also email your submissions to firedivas @ gmail . com (no spaces). Please include, in the comments section or in your email, the following:
Information about the beads:
Description of the piece:
Inspiration for the piece:
Submissions will not be approved without all of this information.

Fire Divas reserve the right to approve or reject any submissions.
Fire Divas reserve the right to modify or cancel the challenge at any time.
The winners will be determined by an open poll which does not allow multiple votes.

So... If you've been stashing away your lovelies and would like to make a holiday jewelry entry, do it now!  You've got nothing to lose and some fabulous prizes to gain.  Come on, bead people, I want to see what you've been up to with all those beads you're buying from my booth!

Fire Divas Quarterly Challenge: The Holiday Season!

So many of you know I belong to a glassy ladies group called the Fire Divas.  We all share a love of glass, and the group collectively creates some really awesome stuff.  Well, part of what we do is showcase the designs that our connoisseurs/customers create using our glass art beads and pendants, and you may be interested to know that the holiday challenge is coming up.  Tell you more? Ok!

The Holiday Season Challenge for jewelry designers is the next Quarterly Jewelry Challenge the Divas are hosting, and it will feature YOUR work if you submit it in time.  Check out this page for more information.  The Holiday Season Challenge can be any of your favorite designs that reflect the holidays coming up, not just Christmas.  So... sift through your lovely designs (or make some new ones with our fabulous new beads!) and submit those photos.  There are some great prizes offered to the winners, such as $20 and $25 gift certificates to Fire Diva shops!  This is all for just submitting your designs, so really you have nothing to lose except a little time you'll already spend surfing the net :)

I'm speaking to the general "you" of my awesome readers, and also those nice folks who recently purchased beads such as these:

Teal/Red and Purple Twisted Squares Bracelet

Although this is a bracelet I made with custom colors for a client, there were other colorful beads in the set that were selected by some artistic designers from my shop recently, so you know who you are, get beading! :)

Sunday: Showing Off!

 Pink and Red Pointy Wicked Flower Pendant

Well, since my lovely rainbow seahorse and the beautiful one I made after him and didn't photograph have been sold, I need to make more seahorses... but for now, please enjoy two of our own Wicked Flower series pendants!  It is just about my favorite design because I love vines and tentacles, and this is the best of both worlds :) This design has been a delight to my customers for a while now, so I hope you enjoy them as I keep tweaking my style on them each time.  Today's are both pointed-petals, though I have made lots with rounded petals that look a bit sweeter (and less wicked!). 

Another wicked flower:

The vine actually wraps around the cord several times.  It is a unique design by myself after making so many flower and octopi that the two designs became conjoined...

 Blue Wicked Flower

Since it's the 4th of July, I should throw in my patriotic bead set still up for grabs:

Patriotic Red, White & Blue Boro Bead Set

Hope you're having a great weekend, and have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Happy Independence Day!