A New Newsletter from ZenithJade Creations

New news! There's several NEW blog posts up in my blog- most of them are about taking stellar photography! Here's the link: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ .

You probably don't know that I participated in several cool contests and blog hops. Their content is on my blog as well! My favorite, so far, is the Bead Soup Blog Hop run by Lori Anderson. It is wicked fun! In a nutshell, I was assigned a partner to send beads to, and my partner did the same for me. The next step was to design piece(s) from those beads! It is a HUGE bead and jewelry blog hop/party! I had so much fun designing for this one, that I'm going to do my level best to participate next year, as well. (The Bead Soup Blog Party post is currently the third post down, but in case you don't want to scroll for it, here's the link: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/2013/04/bead-soup-blog-party-7-reveal.html .

Also recent news for all you beady types- I joined a wonderful site called Bead Swap USA. It is AMAZING. There are boxes full of beads to swap, as well as finished item swaps and person to person swaps, plus SO MUCH MORE. http://beadswap-usa.com/ . It's set up in a forum type format, with each section run by moderators. It is really nifty!

Have you noticed I've been trying to blog more? :) I'm doing my level best! My good friend Kerri says that I have interesting stories to tell, and I sure hope that's the case! I surely don't want to bore anyone! *winks* Maybe each time I write a blog post, I'll email it out. I'd love some feedback on that! I don't want to spam your inboxes. Opinions on the matter can be emailed to me at zenithjade@yahoo.com.

I also chat passionately about charitable causes I'm involved in. Here's an update from my ZJC Facebook page I posted fairly recently:

"You can join Jilly's Bead Posse, (it's a crazy group of crazy artists and jewelry designers who believe in fighting for the cause of Alzheimer's) by going here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JillysBeadPosse or here: http://www.jillysbeadposse.com/ . I made and donated 36 pairs of earrings to the cause. Others are making (even more) earrings, bracelets, keyrings/chains, necklaces and what-have-you. :) Another thing I'm doing is taking over 150 pictures of earrings & editing them for my friend Kerri, who is donating 163 pairs of earrings!!! (And I thought 36 pairs was a lot! LOL!). ANYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN. There are at least TWO fundraisers going on RIGHT NOW. Please check out the website for details. (It's under Fundraisers!).

I have several new blog posts up, two of which detail photography tips & tricks + editing. Mostly, I'm just linking to others blogs, eventually I'll write my own tutorial on how to get good pictures... but until I do, there are a couple of great ones that link from my blog! Here's the link to my blog: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ .

Tonight I made five new polymer clay hearts! Yes, the pretty rustic ones. I recently bought some LOVELY vintage cabochons from Lindsay, (a Bead Swap USA member: http://beadswap-usa.com/ ), and had so much fun incorporating them into my heart designs. I hope you'll like them! I promise to show some pictures tomorrow. And I don't think I'm done playing with polymer clay yet tonight! :) I am having WAY too much fun. You can view a rustic polymer clay heart component here, to see what I'm talking about: https://www.etsy.com/listing/123593014/rustic-polymer-clay-heart-set-with . Woot woot! Lots of new news!
PS- if you've read this far, I'm having another GIVEAWAY when I reach 400 fans! I only have 31 more peeps to "like" my page and we're good to go! If you'd like to help, please do so by "sharing" this page with your friends. I'm very rarely boring, I promise!"

So that's what I've been up to! :) Have a wonderful, fantastic day, and don't forget to give me feedback on whether or not I should email about blog posts! zenithjade@yahoo.com!

Love,
Andrea

Original Email:  http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2e39a3b8ab9b48f3cf3a22c14&id=1901fb711f

Teaser Photo from the BSBP7!

Here's a teaser photo of the necklace and earring set I made from the components that Andrea T sent me:

I used http://pixlr.com to strange-ify my picture.

I can't wait until my reveal date on April 6th! Hope everyone is having as much fun as me!!! :)

What I Gave My Partner (Andrea T) for Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP7)

A lovely mishmash of mostly greens and a little bit of brown and some pink. I also gave her all black findings, (toggle clasps, earwires, and other findings). The idea was to use the fancy jasper as the main focus of the design, so all the colors blend well together. :) But that's just MY idea. I can't wait to see what Andrea does!

The focals on the left are made by me, ZenithJade Creations! You can find more focals like them in my Etsy shop, here: http://ZenithJade.etsy.com/ ! I also included a brown and green jasper? focal that's on the bottom right in case the others wouldn't fit her color scheme. (They're a mix of brown, copper, pink and translucent!)

As you can probably tell from the photo, I included a diverse variety of goodies to choose from! In the middle top is a strand of irregular freshwater pearls...

Here's the heart focal I made for Andrea. Isn't it cool? I embedded three Swarovski crystals into the heart. It also has a place to hang dangles from! :)

Here's an up-close view of some Czech? glass beads that are black & green, some fancy jasper and green aventurine. YUM!

Andrea T just received my beads YESTERDAY, so I can post about what I gave her safely now. :) I'm sorry if these pictures are a little washed out- I edited them in photoshop so they wouldn't be so bad! *laughs* You can keep up with Andrea's blog here to see what she does with all the goodies! YAY!

How Beads Have Changed My Life!

Beads are a wondrous thing- they can sparkle, intrigue, and spell-bind... They can be mass produced, or artisan (one of a kind). Sometimes, they fall in between, with small batches being made. :)

I first began my journey with beads making macaroni necklaces for my Mom... then, in middle school, I made my very first beaded necklace for her. I took a break for many years from beading until I went to Brazil as an exchange student and discovered the most exquisite wirework known to man. It's incredible! I determined then and there that I wanted to make beautiful things out of wire and beads. I still have a gorgeous choker I got there. It's now missing some amethyst chips, but I'll get around to replacing those some day... (another picture I have to take for you!).

I didn't realize at the time just how many types, sizes, finishes and styles of beads there were! I bought some agate rounds with channels around them, and started practicing my wire-work skills. My first attempts were *interesting*. I may still have one of those attempts laying around. I'll try to find it for you and take a picture of it. :)

When I got back, I discovered ebay- and gemstone chips. Real, genuine gems! I bought chips in a RAINBOW of colors. Literally! I made my very first rainbow necklace, and then gave it away! I also bought faceted agate tubes, and other interesting beads.

Hence, my love of all things beady was born! I became obsessed with beads. (See above for why!). Wire work fell to the wayside as I learned how to weave, (self-taught), string, (self-taught), and create!

I started seriously selling my jewelry in 2001, came up with a business name (ZenithJade Creations), and started selling! I sold directly off my website and on ebay. It was all so new! And then I sold my very first woven bracelet! (It was made out of black-light reactive acrylic beads- very pretty!).

I started playing with polymer clay in 1999, but let it go after a few *interesting* (there's that word again!) attempts. (Again, another picture opportunity- will do all these pictures when I have better light- it's currently 2am here!).

Then, I went under the tutelage of Vanessa Hand to really learn how to wrap raw rocks! It was a wonderful time. Vanessa did fairs at the time in Cameron Park in La Crosse, WI, and sold some of my work there! (I used her supplies to learn with). And it SOLD! *falls over* It was a heady experience!

Then I moved to Columbia, Missouri- and things started to get really interesting! I taught some beading classes at the University of Missouri-Columbia for about six months. It was wonderful teaching others the joy of beading!

My business took a break, and I worked on other projects for a good while- stamping, making cards, and ATC's (artist trading cards- google them, they're GREAT!). I also happened upon scrapbooking. And crochet. And and and. AND cat toys!

I got a few custom orders during my time in Missouri, but for the most part, my creative energies were spent on other projects.

When I moved from Missouri to Michigan, once again my jewelry making badness was ignited. :) I started creating jewelry again on a regular basis. I didn't stay in Michigan very long before I moved back to Wisconsin, (where I'm at now, even!). And my business was reborn by selling on Etsy now instead of Ebay! I sold some beautiful work on Etsy! Some of it was quirky, some of it elegant, but it was all me. :)

I discovered ArtFire many years later. ArtFire is another handmade artist's site on these great interwebz. ;) I jumped the Etsy ship for a while to really throw myself into ArtFire. Now, I'm selling on both! They both have very distinct styles. My Etsy shop is dedicated to mother of pearl flower and Swarovski crystal jewelry (hair clips and rings), and my ArtFire shop is EVERYTHING ELSE!

Here's a link to both of my shops so you can see what I'm talking about:
http://ZenithJade.etsy.com/
http://ZenithJade.artfire.com/

As you can probably see, I've been incorporating many of the skills I've learned over the years into both of my shops.

My goal is to learn as many different techniques as possible and then combine them into stunning pieces of jewelry-artwork.

Some of my newer pieces really combine my first love of wire, (I've been wire-wrapping pearl sticks and Tree of Life pendants), gemstones, polymer clay and stringing. It's just so FABULOUS!

Beads have been a part of my life for YEARS. They've changed me, grown with me, and defined me. I continue to grow and change. My styles have evolved with me. It's been a fabulous process, and one that I hope will continue for many years to come!!!