Inspiration

It seems we all write about inspiration at one time or another.  Where do we get the "inspiration"  for composing blogs or for that matter making or doing the things we write about in our blogs!

For me inspiration comes from everything and everybody around me.   One example.  I got this great toy during the holidays from my sister.  It is called ZolO-a-go-go (tm) and is a building  set a lot like tinker toys.

We saw ZolO in the Museum of Modern Art Store, I absolutely loved it.  It was just so much fun!!  And just having the "creatures" around me makes me want to create something bold and beautiful.

So what happened?? I made this bold, chunky button and bead bracelet.  I just listed it on my Etsy site annemadethis.  You can get a good look at it there.

PAPER BEAD AND BUTTON BRACELET - YELLOW CEREAL BOX

And don't forget to add your comments.  Comments and links get you a chance in the annemadethis free giveaway.   Take a look at my post from December 27th.

Free annemadethis Giveaway

Enter for your chance to win:

Visit my  Etsy shop  and pick your favorite item. Leave a comment and a link to that item on this blog post and tell my why you like the item.  This will automatically enter you for a free paper bead bracelet.

I will give away an annemadethis  paper bead bracelets to one of you! Every comment is a chance to win. I will announce the winner on January 25th. And in the meantime I will be looking forward to seeing what your have to say about my paper beads.


Here are some pictures of paper bead bracelets that are in my  Etsy shop now.   

You could win one of these bracelets!

PAPER BEAD BRACELET -PURPLE









PAPER BEAD BRACELET-PASTEL

Holiday Madness

This holiday season jingle bells sound like disharmonious jangle bells to me.   I don't enjoy the magic of the season because I am always rushing to get things done.  With orders to finish and mail,  my own holiday shopping to finish and what about the baking!  It seems that I will never be finished in time.  My best solution to the craziness, just stop the holiday madness for a few hours.

This week I took a break from the hustle and bustle and shared some time with family.  We went to the Baltimore Symphony to see and hear a holiday circus!!  The afternoon was full of gymnists, trapeze artists, jugglers and contortionists, what fun!  The music was wonderful and the decorations were spectacular.   Colored lights and videos everywhere. 

Later we all spent time talking, eating and reconnecting.  Lots of new ideas swirling around the table.  Those few hours was revitalizing.  New sights and sounds always reboot my creative juices.  I came away refreshed and able to accomplish more than ever!!

Paper Beads

Everyone is always amazed when they see a necklace of paper beads; they can never believe the beads are paper.  After a couple coats of glaze, they really look great.
In my designs, I usually mix the paper beads with other beads.  The "other" beads can be glass, porcelain, acrylic, stone or seed beads.  You can make the paper beads small, so they can fill in between other beads or the paper bead can be large enough to be your focal bead.

This is an example of beads made from a map.

So far I have found that paper beads can be made from just about any paper.  I have made the beads from special art papers, menus, maps, magazines, cereal boxes and other light weight cardboard.  As a matter of fact, I love the cereal box beads the best!

And the other surprising thing about paper beads is that it is always a surprise  how they turn out!


Here are some examples of beads made from different papers. 

These are beads I made from a Chinese restaurant menu

These beads were made from a cereal box

I have other examples on my etsy site:  Etsy.com/shop/annemadethis.  I would love to hear from anyone who is reading this.  In the next several days, I hope to show you how I make paper beads.  And I want to visit with some of my "artist friends" , preview their work so I can share it with you.

Also let me know if you know of a good place (reads cheap) place to buy large coat buttons. 

Thanks.

Anne

Paper Beads

Probably the hardest part of writing a blog is just getting started.  So here it goes.

My name is Anne, and I love to make useful beautiful art out of things others throw away.   I have been making jewelry and mixed media collages for about 10 years.  Recently I have been creating jewelry from my handmade paper beads.  My beads are made from magazine pages,cereal boxes, brown wrapping paper and newspapers.  They are rolled, decorated, glazed and combined with other beads to create a fabulous piece of wearable art. And if you want, the menu from your favorite restaurant or a map of your city can be fashioned into a bracelet or a necklace.

Making paper beads dates back to the Victorian era, when women made beads from wall paper to create room dividers. Now beads are made in Uganda by women's small business enterprises.  Paper beads are made around the world, many artists sell their paper beads in Etsy shops.  You can see some of my beads in my Etsy shop-annemadethis.

Check me out on Facebook and Twitter