Happy Mail Art 2016

So in 2015, I did the Happy Mail Art Project. Anyone remember? :) I am thinking I'd like to do it again! Here are some examples from 2015 of the art I made, (some of it is stamp art, and some is hand drawn & colored):

 I did NOT keep everyone's addresses. So if you want Happy Mail again, please send me a message with your address. Please do not post your address on this thread, as I am posting publicly. Thank you! Feel free to nominate your friends for Happy Mail, (send me their address instead of yours!).
 

Last time I did this, I mailed over 40 pieces of art world-wide!! If you'd like to help with covering shipping, please let me know! (International mail costs a little over a dollar to ship an envelope and US costs $.49- it adds up pretty fast). But don't fret if you can't help- it just may take me a little longer to mail out all the art! *mad love*

Thank you for participating in this year's Happy Mail Art Project! Woo!

YOU CAN SEND ALONG YOUR INFO BY CLICKING HERE, (it leads to my facebook page where you'll be able to message me privately). Thanks!

Bead Peeps Swap 'N Hop Informercial ;)

1. Why or how did you get started making jewelry?
2. What style(s) of jewelry do you like to make?
3. What materials do you prefer to use (and which ones do you avoid)?
4. What techniques do you prefer (and are there any you don't like)?
5. What colors do you use most, and which do you run screaming from?

1. I started making jewelry in 1999, sooner if you counted the macaroni and beaded necklaces I made for my Mom when I was a youngin'. I first began making jewelry because Brazil inspired me to do so- they have some of the most incredible wirework known to man down there. It is amazing. I was an exchange student back in 1998-1999. :) I didn't even wait to get back before trying some wirework of my own!!! LOL. INSPIRED.

2. I love to make classic beaded jewelry with lots of freshwater pearls! My favorite material to work with are FW pearls. And art beads! I LOVE ART BEADS! *drools*

3. I love everything, pretty much, except for cheaper plastics. :)

4. I *JUST* got into metal stamping, so that's probably out for now as a medium as I'm just too new. I don't enamel or do anything with a torch. I don't have a cat-free and safe place to play with fire! I also don't have a kiln. Boo! With all that being said, I do love beading and wirework, and some loom-work and stitching. (Although not too much of both the latter). I also work with polymer clay!

5. I like jewel-type colors the best, but will try anything. Really. Just don't send me something you wouldn't use yourself! I also collect: cat anything, Hello Kitty or peacock stuff. Love all of that.

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

BSBP #7 - What I GOT from Andrea T!

Here's all the awesomeness that I got from Andrea T:

Those are some COOL BEADS BATPEEPS! (And yes, CAPS was needed! LOL!)

The toggle is to die for, it's very unique, and the focal. OMG. Very cool. It's from Antelope Beads.

And those gold beads in the middle? VINTAGE!

Yes, I lucked out BIG TIME. :)

Here's a pretty mix! Andrea T also sent me sea glass! Do you guys have any idea how much I LOVE sea glass?! I've never gotten to play with it before....... .. .... .

There's also some stunning big amethyst chip beads, some crystals & Czech glass, chain, "FUN STUFF" (*giggle*), and a bag of mixed gemstones. *drools*

And here's a close-up of the focal. :) Pretty rad, right? The sea glass is right behind it. Yes, I'm going to do my level best to include the sea glass! Hehehehehehe!

Here's a link to Andrea's blog so you can check out her progress with the goodies I sent her. :)

Thanks, Andrea!