Wow!  Has it really been 2 weeks since I have visited with you folks?  Good gravy,  you must all think I have forgotten about you.  Well, I have not!  I have just been busy coming up with some new creations.  Wanna see?

There are these.  Yes, I have gone a bit ring happy lately.  See, there was this challenge, the Blissful Garden Beads Ring Challenge.  You can see all the rings, including mine, here http://www.blissfulgardenbeads.com/2011/03/monday-morning-and-winner-is.html and here: http://www.blissfulgardenbeads.com/2011/03/blissful-garden-bead-ring-challenge.html .   No, I did not win but that does not matter.  I was more than inspired by the whole process of it and now I am making more rings to delight all of your senses.

Garden of Bliss Ring

This is my challenge ring.  The bead is surrounded much like a cabochon would be, with 3-1 Half Persian chain and he band is a weave called Forad's Kaede.  It is a nice dense weave that has a wonderful texture that light just glints off of. 

Pearl Solitaire Ring

This is another version of the solitaire style, this time with a 4-1 Half Persian weave band.  The pearl is a freshwater pearl in a wonderfully rich gold.  This style can have any kind of stone, including gemstone beads, crystals, pearls or even set stones if that is what your heart desires.

This one and the Garden of Bliss Ring, above, are amazing to wear, since they move with your fingers.  The slight give of the chain also makes them incredibly durable as well as incredibly delicate looking.

Eternity Band - Mother's Ring Style

Mother's Ring - Bypass Style

The ring on the left is and Eternity Style band.  It is made from many, many tiny little jumprings using the Double Spiral Weave and features tiny Swarovski crystals 'in the channel'.









Here you can see the Mother's Ring.  This uses the same chain weave but is arranged in a Bypass style to hold the 'stones'.  The swarovskis here are the colors for November, May, September and February.  In the image below you can see the ring laying flat in my hand.  Flexible yet strong, this ring is amazingly comfortable to wear.

Mother's Ring off the finger

Another lovely piece I have been working on is a Cross.  Yes, I know, you have seen my Crosses before... you most likely have heard me rant about how it is my copyright design and there are far too many folks who think they can make them without my permission, and yes, I am sure you know that I am in the process of filing my Trademark for them, but trust me, you have not seem them like this.

Baby Celtic Cross

This tiny treasure is just over 3/4 of a inch long.  That is my finger it is sitting on in the image, and you can see that is is not much longer than my finger is wide.  This one is on a tiny pin which is embellished with AB Clear crystals.  These can be made with the baby's birthstones, child and parent birthstones, simple blue or pink, or in any other color that may tickle your fancy. 

Yes, it is THAT flexible!

The most spectacular thing about these is just how flexible they are.  No pokies for baby no matter how much they wiggle and move.

Funny story.  Someone was looking at some of my pieces one day and a woman picked up one of these tiny Crosses and I watched her face as she lifted it.  "Uhm, I think I did something here...." she said softly.  I smiled and took the Cross from her, commencing to watch her face turn dead white as she watched me kinda roll it into a little ball.  When I held it up to her and she saw that it was still as good as new she was thrilled.  Yes, I made the sale... in fact she bought 2.

So small....

View of the pin

In the picture left you can see just how this Cross measures up.

To the right, you see the diaper style pin that holds the Cross to babies undershirt or other garment.  I also sell these with chains, which can be embellished with the child's birthstones.



I have also been working furiously on keychains.  I have a friend here in PA who just moved her store.  Melissa, that is her name, Melissa, and she owns Hidden Treasures, PA in a nearby town called Pottsville.  She sells all kinds of antiques, collectibles and vintage goods.  You should check it out if you are up this way.

Anyways, she wanted some of my work, but was not sure what.  We talked and thought and came up with keychains.  The thinking being that they are a good, relatively inexpensive way for folks to get a taste of EyeCandy work and then they will come back for more... and more precious.

Celtic Cross Keychain

Rose Centered Celtic Cross Keychain

 To the left is a Celtic Cross.  Of course, you had to know that one of the keychains would be my copyright piece.  Well, actually 2 styles.  The one on the right has roses attached in the center of both sides.

These are made from aluminum and are light, flexible and look great!

Byzantine Pentagons w Worry Bead

These are of some of the other keychain designs I worked on.

The Byzantine Pentagon keychain, left, has a worry bead in the center for fiddling.

Below left, are my Byzantine Squares.  These are the same as my Byzantine Squares earrings with the exception of the worry bead that was added to the keychain.

Below right, Byzantine Diamonds.  These are just cute!!!

Byzantine Squares w Worry Bead

Add caption

See, I really did not forget you all, I have just been occupied with coming up with wonderful designs.

Okay, so should I tell you a little story.... hmmmm.  Okay!

Tuesday, I went out.  I went to the post office and to the store.  I went by myself.  Now, I know that does not seem a big deal, but bear with me.  See, I have some health issues.  I have fibromyalgia which sometimes knocks me for a loop, making it hard to do much, and I have bipolar disorder.  Lots of folks have that, you might be thinking and you would be right, except I get no relief from the medications.  They just do not work for me and the few that offer some help, I can not tolerate, so I do this all on my own.  So Tuesday was a big deal.

I went to the post office and got wonderful things while I was there.  My ring from Bette Lushka-Gamell came and my earrings from Bobbi Maw came.  I also got some pretties I was waiting for.  I then went on my way to the store, nothing special, just some Swiffer cloths and a broom.  Yeah, boring stuff, I know.  The thing is that I did it on my own and as I was driving home I realized that.  I was not feeling overwhelmed or panicky, which is common for me.  And I did not have the screaming in my head.

I thought about that for a moment and then I laughed.  The voice (no, I don't mean I hear voices, I am referring to that little voice that we all have that plays in our heads as we go through our days) really is kinda funny sometimes.  I will think, I need to go get something.  The voice will say, "You mean out there?  Someone will see us!  They might talk to us!  Then we will have to talk to them and... and... what if we say the wrong thing?  What if we forget how to get there?  What if the sun comes out and it gets on your skin?  What if... What if... "

I have been told that many folks have dialogues in their heads like that, but mine seems to have the ability to stop me from doing the things I want to be able to do.  It works better than an armed guard and locked door to keep me inside.  That, apparently is what the anxiety part of my illness has the power to do.  But anyways, Tuesday was a good day, and most of all, that is what I wanted to share with you all!  Good days are the best!!

I am slowly getting my new pieces into my shops.  You are all invited to stop in and take a look around.  Maybe, just maybe, you will find something wonderful that just wants to come home to you.  I promise to pack it lovingly and ship it off to you quickly, if that happens!!

www.eyecandychainmaille.artfire.com
www.eyecandychainmaille.etsy.com
www.handmadeartistsshop.com/eyecandychainmaille.html

All Blessings,

Inspiration is not always an artist to artist thing...

Hello!  I am getting this written and up a little late this week.  For those of you who have been looking for it, I apologize, sometimes my schedule goes kafloowy and things get mish mashed around.

So, reading the title today you may be asking yourself, "Is she off on a tangent?  This blog is supposed to be about folks... artists, who inspire her and her work."  Well, no, not really.  Sometimes the best of inspiration comes from the most ordinary of places. 

I am sure you know how it is.  You are walking down a street and you see something that you just cant take your eyes off.  A gorgeous rose bush not quite fully in bloom but close enough that it is just spectacular, or that fabulous outfit the person who walked past you 'threw' together today, or even the amazingly rich azure blue color of the sky when it is in the 50 - 70 degree range in mid-spring.  Inspiration comes to us from all kinds of place and from nearly everything we do.  That is kinda how it works.  Our creative brains just sort of function that way.

Well, sometimes the inspiration comes from the kindness, curiosity and praise from others.  I have a friend up in Canada... well, let me correct that.  I have a number of friends up in Canada but today I want to mention Eileen.  She is a very energetic and enthusiastic gal nearly my age (I am a very proud 46) who lives with her husband and two daughters.  She works for HP and has a part at home job and part at the office job.  She has some of the normal teenager frustration with her daughters, her oldest a bit more right how since she is in the beginnings of her teenager years.  Eileen also has some health issues that are more of a nuisance than a debilitation.  She also loves the hot, sunny weather and this past Dec went to Mexico with her family.  I know these things because over time we have talked about ourselves in our exchanges. 

But I digress.  I met (was contacted by) Eileen when she saw one of my Celtic Crosses on a jewelry site.  If I can recall correctly she had purchased the tutorial at the site and then bought an Argentium Ring kit to make the Cross.  She had a ton of questions about closing rings correctly, making things shiny as possible without a tumbler, how to figure out what she needed for another project since the size she wanted to make was different and would the rings she had work.  Honestly, as I read the first couple of emails she sent to me, I thought at  first, "Wow, she has lots of energy and enthusiasm!," with a big smile on my face; and second, "Wow, she has lots of energy and enthusiasm!," shaking my head just a bit wondering if she was bouncing in her chair as she was typing.  Yes, her enthusiasm is that infectious and intense!  After a few days, she sent me this:

Yes, it is one of the Celtic Crosses I designed.  That was the point of the conversations, but what floored me is that for someone who seemed so nervous about starting it and had so many questions for me, Eileen had executed the design magnificently and the results, as you can see, speak for themselves.  There have been many, many more conversations.  Sometimes the questions impress upon my sense of color and ask it to move in ways I am not normally prone to do.  Sometimes she asked me to help her solidify the thought of a color that she has no name for and we come to something amazing.  Sometimes she asks me to take something to another level, like when she asked me to help her come up with earrings to match a bracelet she was making. 

 Those earrings became what I now sell a tutorial for as Spirals & Chains which you can see in the pictures.  A thousand times more important than the product I ended up with is the fact that Eileen inspired me to do the work needed to learn how to micro size the chain weave and sharpen my skills doing precision soldering, which is how the studs in the pic on the right are made.

Eileen had also purchased all the rings to make the inspiration bracelet from me and then came back and asked me to help put together an order for a necklace using the same weave.  Below you can see her results, which I can tell you are stunning!!

 
See!  I told you it was stunning!!  More to the point, it is inspirational.  Her amazing success and her willingness to take the little bits of information I offer and make finished pieces that are so amazing inspire me.  It inspires me to continue to help her and others.  It inspires me to continue creating.  It inspires me to allow other folks to offer opinions and give advice that I can, if I wish, incorporate into the pieces I make and design.

My inspiration to continue to share information and advice has brought me many new friends, including a  young lady who is just starting on her journey of creation and hobby to business building.  Julia, of http://bonniemaille.com/ is an friendly, outgoing and talented young mailler who I am sure we will all be hearing from for a long time to come, since she is just a teenager now.  I would recommend checking out her site and, if you want, drop her a note to say hi and encourage her a bit.  With her parents support, she has managed to build her love of maille into a website and I hope lots of sales.  I hope that by keeping in touch with her I can offer her, if only just a touch, of the inspiration everyone has so kindly been able to offer me. 

In the end, I think that what I really want to say this week is that inspiration, for me at least, comes from everyone and everything that touches my life.  Does it matter if you are mentioned here today?  No, not really.  Is it the case that those folks need to be a permanent part of my life to be considered inspirational?  No way!  Everyone I love and care about, everyone I meet or even see become a part of all that I am and all that I create.  I owe you all a big thank you and, that is why I named the blog I get by with my Friends since without all of YOU the well of creation would run dry.

All Blessings!

A Garden in Glass

Today's featured artist is Blissful Gardens Beads.

Listed on the Blissful Garden Blog as Feb 17 Special

I wanted to show you all lots and lots of gorgeous beads and offer a bit of insight into a fabulous artist names Heather Davis.  The problem with that is 1, the fabulous beads she makes never last long enough in her shop for the posting to be accurate, and 2, perhaps more importantly, I really know precious little about Heather, which in a way says a lot about her work.  She has been able to quietly and consistent build a business that is a part of the jewelry making world just on the power of the beauty and quality of her art. 

These were featured in Dec.  Image from Heather's Blog.

Heather does lampwork.  Now, for any of you who do not know what lampwork involves I will offer a very quick, and hopefully somewhat accurate picture of what it entails.  The artist prepares steel mandrels (rods) with a release agent and then, after warming long glass rods in a torch flame, wraps the near molten glass around the mandrel.  Sometimes only one color and sometimes many colors are whirled together or dropped in discreet parts of the beads to form a pattern, depending on the effect the artist desires.

Links to Blissful Garden's Blog

BLISS Pale Blue Swirls

You can see in both of these beads the effect of the colored glasses in the beads.  These beads are more on the flat (smooth) side similar to the bases of the floral beads.  Yes, these beads were made by Heather too.


Once this base 'bead' is formed, Heather takes 10 giant steps forward and creates gardens of flowers on her beads.  Yes, each one is still made using the nearly molten glass, which is attached to the bead base while it is still warm. 

One of the more profound things about all this is that when Heather is working with the glass, she can not see the final product as hot glass glows a deep orangey-red tone.  Heather's amazing gift is the ability to instinctively know what the molten glass will produce once it is cooled.  I think you can see, she is extremely talented.

Karen does her beads in a variety of shapes, including squares, hearts, little houses, tulip flowers and of course the amazing round ones.  Often the sets will have a couple of matching spacer beads to mix in when the buyer uses the more decorated beads, but that can also be used on their own. 

These are from December 2010. The link goes to Heather's shop.

 
These are called Speckled Tulip Beads and I think you can see why.  I would like to say I know how the speckles are added but I am not sure.  I do know there is a technique that uses glass frit, or small bits of glass to add color and this may be a case of as the bead is being produced they are rolled in the frit to add the speckles.  However the effect is added, these are spectacular!!  And yes, the color is permanent to the glass.







Now, you might be thinking glass beads with be fragile and not hold up.  I have to admit, when I first saw these gorgeous lampwork treasures, that is what I thought.  But the truth is they are not very fragile at all.  Heather makes each bead and then the beads are put through a kiln annealing process that takes many hours.  This tempers the glass making each and every bead very strong and durable. 







You can see in the image below, Blissful Garden Beads are an amazing addition to finest handmade jewelry. 

This necklace, which has matching earrings and bracelet was made by Karen Snyder using Blissful Garden Beads.  Its an amazing piece that showcases the beads as well as the chainmaille of Karen from OSebastian Studio. 

No link is shown with the picture since the pieces are already in their forever home.










I hope you can see from the pictures how wonderful the lampwork that comes out of Heather's Washington State studio are.  There really are no words that adequately express how amazing they are, with each bead unique to itself and unreproducible,  they truly are a Garden in Glass you can hold in your hand.  I hope that you will all take the time to stop by Heather's shop and look at the beads currently available.  I know you will not be able to pass them up.

Blissful Garden Beads on Artfire

You can find Heather's shops on:

Artfire:     Blissful Garden Beads on Artfire
Facebook   :  Blissful Garden Beads
And on Heather's blog:   Blissful Garden Beads Blog

Polyclay Magic....

Today's feature is 2 Good Claymates, a husband and wife team out of British Columbia, Canada.

Gecko Brooch - 2 geckos are the 2 Good Claymates logo image

Carolyn and Dave Good make all kinds of amazing jewelry, household and art pieces in their home studio.  Carolyn, the main force behind 2 Good, states she has always been interested in design work, first in the textile arts, later in the floral arts having once owned a flower shop, and then into the beading arts and polyclay.  "Color has always played an important role in my art," says Carolyn in her Artfire bio, "so it was only natural to branch out into bead work and since discovering polymer clay, I've been able to apply all of these techniques to this new art form. Being a practical person, I feel my art will always complement the person or the home."

Among the amazing and useful pieces that you can find in the 2 Good shops are Candle Collars and Switch plates.  2 Good even accepts custom orders for them.
 

Chili Peppers Double Switch Plate Cover

From the just for fun look of the Chili Peppers, left, to the elegant and highly textured Exotica, below right, and on to the fun and fabulous Personalized switch plates, below center, for a child's room, you can see just how fabulous these plates are.  They are all coated to keep them looking beautiful through years of use.

Exotica Single Switch Plate Cover

Personalized Children's Switchplate

For those among us who make jewelry, 2 Good offers fantastic beads filled with rich color and in a number of varieties, as well buttons galore for textile or jewelry use.

Tiger Print - Made To Order

Zebra Print Pendant

These amazing pieces are not only a work of overall design but require lots of patient practice and anticipation of how the clay and colors will move when they are being layered during the caning process.  Carolyn's talent and obvious skill are really showcased in these Animal Print treasures.

Light Vintage Rose Textured Lentil Beads

This is a fabulous example of how these beautiful little lentil beads can be used.  Carolyn shows them as a necklace, bracelet and earring complete ensemble.  You can see the amazing amount of detail that is captured in the beads as well as the additive affect of the other handmade beads that are used for this set.

Antique Copper Textured Tube Beads

Among my personal favorites are these tube beads. 

In the description for these Carolyn states that she uses her own technique to create these so there is no seam.  This is a wonderful feature that really enhances any design they could be used for.  The beads are all finished so they maintain the shimmering metallic finish.

Me, I love the colors and texture 2 Good has available.  I can imagine including them in a fabulous necklace with lengths of Gold Filled or shiny raw bronze chainmaille between them.





Now, don't imagine that you can not get amazing, stylish and just gorgeous pieces of ready to wear jewelry from 2 Good.  Carolyn and her husband work hard to make some fun and stylish pieces that are great in sets or single statement pieces.

Amparo Blue and Turquoise Bangle

This pretty piece features the swirling movement that is so typical of polyclay, though I think we can all agree that this piece is anything but typical.  Pretty and ready for that Caribbean vacation, a wonderful week long cruise or just a summer-time flash of color.

Amethyst Weave Textured Earrings

Amethyst Textured Tube Bead Ribbon Necklace

 

These fabulous earrings, left, show lots of texture and an elegant grace of design.  The coordinating necklace, right, is yet another showcase of the amazing seamless tube beads, this time in Amethyst tone.

Blue and Gold Shawl / Scarf Pin

Can you just see yourself in your favorite shawl or long, thick scarf and this richly toned and patterned pin holding it perfectly in place?  I can!  Understated, elegant and the perfect accessory for those loose knit essentials.











The latest additions to 2 Good's lines is the Country Charm Collection.  These pieces not only offer themselves as yet another example of Carolyn's design sense, but are made using a "special technique where no two piece come out alike."  Real, one of a kind treasures.

Layered Feather Earrings in Honeysuckle Pink

Feathers!  The birds would be jealous if they could see these.  Well, maybe not, but they are really amazing and look like they would be lots of fun to wear.

Boot Bracelet - Olive Green and Gold Lizard Tail

Boot Bracelet -Black and White Lizard Tail

Couldn't you just picture yourself walking into the Toby Keith concert or the Summertime Rodeo Event with one of these wrapped around your boot?  I could!  I can't help but find myself staring at the amazing movement and color in them.   And to think, not one lizard was harmed to create them.

Below is a composite image of the Blue Feather pieces that are part of the Country Charm Collection. 

The Country Charm Collection

Stop by and check out what 2Good Claymates has for you.  They are way friendly and always happy to answer your questions.  Oh!!  Oh!  I almost forgot.... they sell a few tutorials too, so even us clay novices can learn to make amazing clay works, though I am sure it would be damned hard to even match the beautiful pieces that 2 Good makes.

You can see these pieces and so much more at the following 2 Good webshops:

Artfire:  http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=28096&op=new&body=1
Etsy:    http://www.etsy.com/shop/2goodclaymates
Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/2goodclaymates?ref=ts

Thanks for stopping by!  All Blessings!

A Little About Me

This week I thought I would spend some time talking about myself.  Not something I am either accustomed to or comfortable doing, it was suggested to me that folks would like to know a bit more about me and about what I do.  So here goes.

I make chainmaille jewelry.  I am a jeweler.  The piece above is an example.  Yeah, I know, that really does not say much but it kinda does.  Let me explain.

I started making maille because I was interested in having a set of ankle bells.  I was quite heavily into a game style chat group that had some S & M components to it and the idea of the bells just fascinated me.  So I looked everywhere on the net for a site where I could buy anklets with bells.  No luck... at least not 6 years ago.  What I did find were a couple of sites, such as Urban Maille, Blue Buddha, Spider Chainworks, and TRL where there were many different kinds of jewelry pieces that caught my attention.  Well, I got some rings and was off to the races. 

The first few pieces I made were not that fabulous.  I started with Euro 4-1, which is the weave in the image above.  I then learned byzantine and after that Japanese.  I made a couple of different chains, mostly to give to my mom and son... and my then boyfriend.  Then one day I was playing around trying to figure out how to make a Cross.  For some reason I did not realize at the time that most chainmaille Crosses were Persian weave and I worked at it until I had a Cross made using the Byzantine weave.  It took more than one try... many more than... but I finally managed it.  The size below, the Large, is the first size I managed to make. 

Now, this Cross... this image, has been seen so many times by so many folks that I reckon most of you who know me are sick of looking at it.  The thing of it is, from this single piece has come so much for me.  I currently make this Cross in 5 sizes in this style and 3 sizes with a set stone in the center.  I also make them in Silver, Copper, Gold-Filled and Aluminum (for key chains).  I also offer tutorials and kits for those who want to learn to make them themselves.

The experience as a whole has made it possible for me to become a better and visually stronger designer, along with teaching me what is involved with taking an idea through my skill set to a finished piece.  At risk of boring you to death, below are a few of the more recent Crosses, some of which will not hit my site for sale until midweek.

Peridot Small Cross

Amethyst Small Cross

Citrine Small Cross

Small All Silver Cross

Each of these are the same size, which is 11/4" tall x 3/4" wide.  The stones are set in a cast vee head setting with prongs that keep the stone absolutely secure.

The All Silver version, which is below, right, has a rich shimmer.  This is one of the newest batch, as the last of the ones I had from the last batch is now happily at home with a US Soldier.  I am very proud that my Cross was chosen by one of our heroes.







So, some of you may be wondering what else I do.  Well, lately I have been working quite a bit on getting the behind the scenes stuff for my business done.  I have been organizing, which is not much fun, and working on a database that will keep track of everything.  Once upon a time I was a DB Administrator and programmer and you would think that would make developing one of my own easy, but skills like that get rusty and out of date quickly so it has not been as easy as I would have liked.  I now have a mostly functional application and will be taking if for a hard spin around the block and punishing kicking of the tires in the next few weeks. 

Besides the EyeCandy stuff, I take care of my son, who just turned 18.  That should mean he doesn't need all that much care anymore but surprisingly my son still depends on me for things, no matter how much he would like to think otherwise.  He is a wonderfully intelligent boy who thinks he is grown and knows all the wrong buttons to push.

I also take my mom shopping when she needs to go and help her with other things she really should not do by herself anymore.  Since she lives in the apartment downstairs it is not far to go but sometimes too close for comfort, if you know what I mean.  She's a great lady and at a bit past retirement age, she still works full time and is amazingly health.

Please feel free to contact me.  Say hey!  I love hearing from new folks just as much as from old friends.  My plan for this blog is, first and foremost, to feature folks who's work I love, but you will also find some postings about me... a sort of get to know me.  You are also invited to come and take a look at my shops.  I am currently on Handmade Artists Shops at www.handmadeartistsshop.com/eyecandychainmaille.html , on Artfire at www.EyeCandyChainmaille.artfire.com , and on Etsy at www.eyecandychainmaille.etsy.com .  I am currently testing a host for a website of my own and hope to have that up and running by April.  If you want a more everyday look at me, you can also find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100000268195212 .

Business Woman - Jewelry Artist - MOM

Today's feature is Karen Snyder, Owner of OSebastian Chainmaille Creations.

In her Bio on Artfire, Karen states that she has been an 'avid crafter' for most of her life.  In reality, Karen is much more.  A former Corporate Sales executive, she brings her strong ability to move people together with her designer aesthetic to create a successful entrepreneurial venture, all the while being a stay at home mom to her energetic 4 year old son, Seb, and 2 year old daughter, Piper.

Nexus, one of Karen's signature designs, is available in a number of her pieces.  This weave is somewhat reminiscent of Japanese weave but there are parts that look a bit like Celtic Visions as well.  This is a lovely meandering configuration with lots of visual movement. 

Sterling Silver Nexus Necklace

Shown right is the Nexus Necklace.  Karen fashioned this design to sit just on the collar bone, sometimes called Opera length.

Below, the Nexus Pendant.  Karen suspends it from a chain she calls O's with a unique pendant holder.

O's Necklace & Nexus Pendant

Nexus Bracelet

The Nexus Bracelet, a natural match to the Nexus Necklace or Pendant.  Karen uses a double locking clasp on this one, which I love and do myself on more involved pieces.

Perhaps with a little persuasion we can get Karen to include earrings in her Nexus Collection.  :-)





Karen does lots of different earrings.  A large proportion of them are chainmaille based and the balance are either wire techniques or combinations of both the wrapped and twisted wires with chainmaille.  Karen even encourages her children to grow and develop their creativity by including them in some of the beadwork decisions.  This is especially true of her son, Seb.

Sterling Silver Wrapped Love Earrings

 First off we have a simply beautiful example of form and function.  Elegant and delicate, these are wonderfully understated while still being detailed enough for any gal to love.  Karen calls these Wrapped Love and I have a feeling these will be a big seller for the upcoming Valentine's Day gift boxes.

Color Explosion Earrings

Round Maille Flower Buds

Left, Color Explosion.  They sure are!!

Right, Round Maille Flower Buds are one of the many drop earrings that Karen does so well.  The entire length and overall balance of the earring makes it wearable by almost anyone.

Descending Loops

Contemporary and casual, Descending Loops are wonderfully structural and add a fantastic pop of color.  Imagine these with a favorite pair of jeans and a silk blouse for that day out with the girls or to add a pop of color to that little black dress for date night.





Left, yet another version of these in a wonderful ambery tone.





Karen does an amazing job of juggling the full time job of raising her children and also honoring her creative calling.  Her full body of work includes rings, earrings, bracelets, as well as chainmaille bags and small purses.  She also offers custom orders, for those who are interested.  It is well worth the time and effort to take a look at all Karen's OSebastion Chainmaille Creations has to offer.  I guarantee you will find something you love.

Find Karen at any of these places:

On Artfire:   http://www.artfire.com/users/OSebastian

On her own site:   http://www.osebastian.com/

On Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/karensnydersO.Sebastian


Stop by and take a look at all OSebastian's has to offer.