Hot Off The Presses

Time to take a short break from being a superhero and put on my business lady hat for a minute. I am really excited to tell you about the latest Interweave project I'm involved in, Live Wire. I am sure you have heard a lot of buzz about emags. But, just in case you haven't, emags are digital/electronic magazines. With a few mouse clicks, and no trips to your mailbox or bookstore, you have a copy of a great publication. And something that makes this emags extra special is that it isn't just a pdf of a magazine in print... this one is interactive.

Way back in February, I created a special project just for this new emag. I finally got to take a peak at my contributor copy of Live Wire yesterday and I couldn't get over how visually stimulating it was. Right from the get go, I was sucked in. After downloading the file, I clicked open, and watched as the cover filled, one by one, with all those goodies you see on it in the shot above. You can even see my project there on the cover, it is the cuff with bright orange bead with yellow spots.

Once I got past the cover filling with all that colorful goodness, I clicked to the table of contents and it was so cool!! You can click on images and hop directly to what you want to see OR you can simply move through flipping page by page. What is neat is that as you flip through the pages, each is sort of a title page. If you scroll down on any of those title pages, you can read the related article. Plus, I only saw one single advertisement! No postcards falling out from the pages is lovely. HA! Another interactive aspect is the videos!! Yep, as you work through the projects, many have videos right along with instructions. So, if you aren't sure how to hold your pliers to get that wire bent just so... it shows you.

Some of my favorite bead people are in the issue with me. My pals Cindy Wimmer and Cassie Donlen have shared really beautiful/inventive/sweet projects. Well done, ladies. Also making appearances are Interweave regulars Denise Peck,  Jane Dickerson, Sarah Richardson, and more.

But enough of my blathering... click on over to Live Wire and check it out for yourself! And while you are at it... I have those 5 pieces in Easy Wire 2011 (available as a digital download too) for you to try out.

Twisted Tuesdays - Good Things To Come

I am still working on getting to a place where I can get back to blogging regularly. We are going through a HUGE adjustment over here and I can't tell you how much it means to me that all you lovely readers are still here waiting for me. I will be back... soon.

I wanted to POP in on this lovely Twisted Tuesday to share a few exciting tidbits with you. This week marks the start of the new season of PBS's Beads Baubles and Jewels with new host Katie Hacker. You might remember that earlier this I went to Beachwood Studios in Cleveland Ohio to film a little spot for the show. Just this weekend, a link to a video of my appearance arrive in my inbox!! Check it out....

Isn't the make up artist at Beachwood Studios fabulous?!? HA! A think I babbled a bit, and I need to work on letting Katie finish her sentences, but hey, it works! And I hope it helps newbies decide which wire guages are needed for which projects.

Next up is another cool behind the scenes project I worked on earlier this year that is finally ready for its big reveal. The amazing Denise Peck asked if I might be interested in contributing to the second installment of Wire Style. And I said, OF COURSE I WOULD!! Again, Denise has put together a beautiful collection of 45 projects to delight your wire lovin' hearts.

Drum roll, please, for Wire Style 2!!

I find myself in some really wonderful company in this book. Jodi Bombardier, Jane Dickerson, Lorelei Eurto, Connie Fox, Lisa Niven Kelly, Donna Spadafore, and last but not least, my good friend, Cindy Wimmer. You can now pre-order Wire Style 2 at the Interweave Store and on Amazon. Grab a copy, I am sure you won't want to miss getting this!!

Newsstand Goodies

There are a couple of new magazines on newsstands right now that I want to point y'all to. Both feature my work, as well as the work of a few of my beady friends.

First up is the latest issue of Step By Step Wire Jewelry, Aug/Sept 2010. There is a special earring project of mine in this issue, but I will tell you more about that next week on Twisted Tuesday. Besides little ole me, you will can find a gorgeous mixed media project by my pal, Mary Jane Dodd. I also love Cindy Gimbrone's (of Art Bead Scene) lampwork glass headpin ring project. Flipping through this issue, I couldn't help but feel inspired by the overall look and feel of things. The colors are fantastic and the projects have been photographed beautifully.






Also out now is the annual special issue, Creative Jewelry. This 2010 issue holds 4 projects from me, each using simple stringing techniques with my glass beads. I love the flip-through quality of a special issue like this. When ever you feel like you have hit an idea brick wall, you can flip through this and, no doubt, you will be whacked upside the head with new things to make. Seriously. It is whack-up-side-the-head good!!

Later this afternoon, I will be listing the 4 necklace designs in Creative Jewelry on my website.

Cool Things Coming from Interweave!

One of the perks about being an Interweave author is that I get to hear about all the cool things they have in the works for their readers. There is couple of really awesome new things happening that I thought y'all would like to know about.

1) Check out the new Jewelry Making Daily! Like Beading Daily, this new site is a hub for all things beads. What makes this site different is the focus it has on metal working. I am in love! I already learned something new... check out Denise Peck's fusing video. I always wondered about how to do that exactly. So much information in one place, and it is free... oh freakin' stinkin' cool is that?

2) The main Interweave website has a totally new look. Check it out. One of the things I love about this new site is that you can view catalogs of future releases from Interweave. I flipped through the Fall 2010 catalog and I am excited about a few of the books I saw!! If I ever get my act together and pitch my 2nd book, you might find me in one of those catalogs, ha.

3) There is a new BEAD FEST!!! Interweave just added Arlington, Texas to the stops on their Bead Fest circuit. It will be October 1-3, 2010. Now, granted, I am not teaching at it, but it is a fabulous neck of the woods. This is a great opportunity for those that can't make it up north here to take classes and shop for beads. And who knows? Maybe I will teach there eventually. (Little known Kerry fact: I live in Hockley, TX for 4 years when I was a little girl. Even went to kindergarten there.)

4) Hot dang the extended the Bead Star deadline to May 10th!! You still have time to enter!! I won Honorable Mention in the Glass Category last year when I sent in a last minute project on a whim... you could totally do it.

Browsing Over Morning Coffee

Yesterday was such a nutty day. Just plain hectic and hectic doesn't sit well with me. I am happier in a lazy day. Well, lazy sometimes... I am really really happy in a day that flies by while doing something I love. But then, aren't we all. Thankfully, today isn't an over scheduled day like yesterday. I do have a few must-get-done things, but other then that, the day is open. I started it at the dining room table, with coffee in my favorite mug, and a fresh copy of 101 Wire Earrings.

It was released to bookstore shelves on Aug 1st and I have been stalking the Barnes & Noble website waiting for it to read "In Stock" for my zip code. Why didn't I just pre-order it? There is just something about walking into an honest to goodness bookstore and seeing it there on the shelf with all the other books. You might remember my reaction this time last year when I discovered Wire Style by accident. This time, I had Lauren and Andrew with me to help find it. Lucky for us, there was one still in stock.

As an aside, I must say, strange things are happening at my local B&N stores. I went to the one in my town and one just one town over (Rochester has several of them) and the "craft" section where the jewelry books are held has gotten very. very. small. Where I used to see 4-5 copies of a book, I am only seeing 1-2. And where there used to be 6 shelves for jewelry, there are now only 3. Anyone else seeing this? Is it just a sign of the times? Hmmmm...

Anyway, I am babbling. What I really wanted to talk about today is the earring deliciousness that is ooozing out of this book. Over my morning coffee, I went page by page checking out all 101 earrings. Denise has really out done herself, the inspiration in here is FANTASTIC. If I am totally honest, although I am a contributor (seven designs in the book are mine), I really struggle with making earrings. There have actually been shows where I didn't make a single pair to sell. I like earrings to be unique and sometimes unique earrings ideas can be hard to come by. I think this book is exactly what everyone needs to keep the 'unique' ideas flowing. There are just so many possibilities that can come from these examples. You can make one of the pairs in the book... totally love them... and then think "what if I do this..." or "what if I do that...". Now do that for every pair in the book and you are going to have hundreds of designs to make.

*sigh* earrings

Actually, I have an earring challenge coming up. Next week is my friend Lindsey's birthday. We always exchange handmade gifts (remember her birthday is my half birthday and thus, vice versa) and this year, she requested some handmade earrings to add to her collection. With this book now in my hands to spur on new ideas... I think I can handle that.

Adventures in Loveland... Part 1

*sigh* yes... I am here. LOL. First of all, before I dive into the tales of Loveland, my internet access is hit and miss. So if you are waiting for an email from me, sorry, updating the ole blog won out. But I will get to emails when I can, and if you suddenly don't hear from me until Sunday, it is because of the lack of internet.

Anywho. YES! I am here. On my first ever "business" trip. It truly is wild. I think being distracted by working on prep stuff for book number two kept me from stressing and working myself up about this experience. I didn't have time to nit pick each and every aspect of what might happen. I didn't picture what people would be like, I didn't worry about finding my way here and there, I didn't want to know what would happen before it happened... I am just sort of being in the moment. I am experiencing everything as it comes. And it all feels really *right*. Like this is what I am supposed to be doing.

The flight sucked getting here, lol... so don't think I am all rays of hope and sunshine. I am dreading getting back on the plane. Denver is a very bumpy city to fly over. Add a sudden storm off the mountains and 30 minutes of circling over Nebraska and you have a very ill, cold sweating, green sweater wearing passenger. I held it together though and didn't actually vomit on the two women on either side of me hogging the arm rests. No, I just tried to breathe and get the hell off that plane as fast as I could.



The views here are s.p.e.c.t.a.c.u.l.a.r. I mean, seriously, beautiful. I have lived in NY, and Florida, and Texas, but never seen mountains like these. We have the Adirondacks in NY, but they ain't nothing next to these fellas. I had about an hour drive from the Denver Airport to the Interweave apartment in Loveland. OH MY STARS!!! The expressways!! The speed limit is 75...with everyone going at least 80. I am used to 55 in Rochester, 65 at the most. These people are maniacs. LOL. But AH, the view as you speed through the state! I don't know why people are in such a hurry, I could go 30 the whole way and not mind one bit while starring out the window. :)



So, with mountains out the car window on my left... there was a rainbow out the window on my right. What a treat after the storm that had us circling for so long!! Wish I could take better 'while driving' pictures, but alas, my camera sucks at candids like these. I will just have to cherish the memory of a pretty pop of a rainbow. Hey, maybe I should write it in my Token journal when I get home! A token of love from Mother Nature. LOL.



Here is where I am staying! A cute little one bedroom apartment that Interweave has for authors (and others) that come in for various publishing stuff. It is cute, yeah, like I said, lol. (I think I feel a little jet lagged.) No tv though, and I already mentioned the spotty internet. Makes for a boring time all by my onsie, but I did have a visit with a good friend from high school my first night!! More on her later in the week though.

Up tomorrow is Part 2... all about my first day at the photo studio! If you can't wait to see, just hop on over to my Flickr stream and check out the photos I posted.