Wednesday, September 24, 2008

For those that love charms-

If you have practice, and are pretty good at making artsy and creative charms I am actually hosting over a dozen charm swaps!
Let me know if you would like info.

Amber Dawn

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A RECALL A learning experience! A delay in shipping too!

"Product RECALL"

If you have gotten a gross charm from me, please notify me at once!
I had created some VERY lovely vial charms with little flowers Swarovski's and reflective tape inside along with words.
What I did not know, was that the adhesive I had used, would react and turn my work colors and make the charms look corroded after a month of "sitting" and curing.
The metal on the back of the stones and the make up of the tape reacted with the Diamond glaze.
It is KNOWN that DG reacts with some metals, but I THOUGHT the DG had cured clear.
The DG must have still been "wet" when I sealed the vials.

Only a few of you have gotten these from me and I think that I sent them as extras to you anyway? I will trade you for a version of it that does not look terrible.

I had also promised a gift in the mail to three other artists, Joanna, Pam, and Christi.
When I went to pack them up for you guys, I saw how the charms had totally transformed and mutated into an unlovely looking work of art!

So that is why I am delayed.
I am airing out and reworking my methods!

I love the charms, and they are worth waiting for!

Amber

~Black & White~ details


CLICK HERE FOR THE CHARM SWAP BLOG

Remember that this is an "upscale" swap and no junk or lack of style charms and packaging are welcome.


If you join, be prepared to make your artistic charms with care and flair!
OK- rules-All of the charms must not have ANY color.
That includes AB rainbow effects on any of the materials.
So just white, black, gray, clear, silver, steal.
All of the pieces need to be less than 1 1/2 inches long and no larger than 1 inch thick if possible.
All of the findings must fit the gray/black/white standard.
So no brass and no copper.
Try to make them as sturdy as possible so that they can be worn, if on a bracelet, and withstand a few hand washings at a sink.
(If someone is wearing it out to dinner, or uses the restroom)
Please do not use E6000, or other long lingering odor type adhesives.
All of the fumes, MUST be nil when I get them in the mail.
Does this type of a swap excite you?
It does for me!
I LOVE wearing my black and white pieces out often and they certainly get a LOT of attention!
The due date will be mid November I think.
I am STILL asking for people to sign up.
So far I have two sets that have been sent to me and they are very nice!

This is a 20 for 20 swap IF we can get 21 people to join us!
It will be less if not enough join.
This swap is a go, regardless of number.

So far we have charms from-

Rita Jackman

Brenda Wampler
Michelle Walker

Amber Dawn
Melinda Cornish
Cynthia Deis owner of Ornamentea & Panopolie in Raleigh, NC USA
Melanie Becker in Germany
Susan Zacher
signed up

& Sabii Wabii and Cindy Ericsson are showing an interest in joining.
Leave a comment for me if you are interested in joining.
Thanks!
Here is the first set of B&W's that have come in-
RITA JACKMAN

MADE FROM SWAROVSKI AND JAPANESE BEADS
EXCELLENT QUALITY!




WITH EACH TORUS CHARM (the beaded circle)
RITA ADDS an ADDITIONAL BEAD DANGLE!
ABOVE IS A SAMPLE OF HER ENTRY.
ALL OF IT WRAPPED AND TUCKED AWAY IN
THE BEAUTIFUL TIN then inserted in the
HANDMADE RIBBON TIED SACK!

THIS IS THE TORUS (Her official charm entry)


THIS IS THE EXTRA SHE ADDED IN
(Only mine says panic...gee thanks?)


Beautiful presentation!


All of the assorted bags that Rita has sent in!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Dear Jamie, Here is the box... from 2003



I used to make a lot of these types of fun "story" boxes for the home.
Jamie Noel, she makes them to WEAR!
Tiny cool movable circus and carnival theme games and attractions
FUN holiday an anytime gifts.
Catch her goodies on Etsy, or from any of the other places they sell.
You can find her link on my sidebar.
She is SO entertaining too!
(This box was assemblaged in 2003, the circus part is a music box too!)

Friday, September 12, 2008

IT's Being Printed (In Canada) !!! The DIARY/journal is READY for orders!



YAY!!!!

I have to say that I LOVED working on this project!

I LOVE GRAPHIC DESIGN!


http://www.fantazya.ca/diary2009.html

If you participated in the book, you get a small discount, so if you are ready to order, be sure to contact Lucy for the "insider" price list!

Since shipping from Canada is a bit high, you might want to buy multiples along with some of your interested friends and share the shipping cost.

The project may also be purchased on disk or downloaded!

I am really looking forward to seeing this in person.

Click the link to see sample pages!

One of them is a design/page that I created for Debrynda D.

(She makes some really cool image sheets for multi purpose art.)

You can see all of my diary page designs in previous posts.
Enjoy!

Amber

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Would you like to follow my blog?

I would like to invite you to use the newest, coolest feature here on my blog.
To the right, you will be able to see at the top of the column a link to follow this blog.
Your name can be listed, or you can follow as an anonymous viewer.
I have been waiting for this feature to go live for a few weeks and it is finally active!
Join my blog feed network!
:o)

Amber

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

~*Think Pink*~

I am getting the entire batch of ~*Think Pink*~ charm swaps ready to ship. LOTS of swapping and wrapping, writing and taping!

It was a great turn out with 30 participants plus myself.
Each participant made a set of 12 charms, 10 to swap and two are a donation.
The extra charms will be used to create lovely art to wear bracelets.

Monica Magness will be holding a raffle and 1 of the bracelets will be used as a prize, the other one will be auctioned off on EBAY.

YAY!
:oD

Amber

Where is the love?

Amber would very much like Suzi Finer to return Amber's entire selection of wedding book submissions. It's been several months since she was promised that she would get it back and Amber is deeply hurt.
Why is it so much trouble to return?

If you have a shred of human decency you would not leave Amber high and dry this way Suzi.

Think about it...
It is really cruel.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Dined at Orsay

ORSAY (click to see the place)
MMMMMM.....

Very good~!
Very nice!

However, if you order the Heirloom Tomatoes ($10.00) and Mesclun ($7.00), be prepared to see two tiny bowls, with barely anything in them.
Well, I was a bit stunned at the size of the bowls. A few of the slices (tomatoes) had scaring on them, so that was a waste.
for $17 dollars, I could have done much better ordering something else.

The place itself is lovely, our waitress was pretty cool.

The place is $$... But the flavor of all of our food was so worth it.
again... mmmmmmmmmm....
The bathroom is a bit tedious! If you go, be prepared to squeeze in and out of the stall.

We chose to eat at this place after spending time way uptown at the top of Central Park.
It was so GORGEOUS there! I did take photos, maybe I will post some.

For desert they had Gelatto in Astoria from Martha's Country Bakery.
YUM!
I bought a tiny cranberry and walnut tart. :oD

Persepolis- and more... Just some thoughts and feelings about movies I saw this month.

____________________
I cannot sleep, there is a cricket outside the window chirping like mad!
_____________________________
I'm looking forward to my first day, without anyone in the house other than myself today!
It's been a LONG time!
SO much to catch up on and get done!
~*~*~*~*~*~

Movies sure help to distract your mind and help pass the time!

Persepolis-
This film was very entertaining and lots of fun to watch!
I found it quite cool!
Although it is animated, this film is *NOT FOR KIDS*!
It is heavy, full of mature themes, mature language and pretty serious subject matter.
The story is about a girl who grew up in Iran, and lived through war,
the issues and oppression that the country had to deal with and being a teenager coming of age.

It is now playing in select cities... However you can also get it from the video store
Be prepared with tissues if you see it in the theater. You *might* need them.
If you do rent it, be sure to see the special features.

The film trailers are also entertaining.

I also saw Children Of the Lost City.
This film is not for the squeamish.
It gets gross and nightmarish (Quite literally actually)
in several parts of the film.
It is pretty cool in some parts.
I love the nod to steampunk
paraphernalia and fixtures.
Well, this movie is like modern art...
you just have to accept it as such in order to appreciate it!
The movie is loaded with color and sound.

Ron Perlman has a Russian accent in the film.
(The English version is what I watched)
The kids in this film are *adorable!*
The characters are very well played and
the costumes and sets are entertaining.
---Again, pretty gross and sick in some parts, NOT FOR KIDS!
It is easy to lose interest in the film... But hang in there, there are some good scenes.
And although it is not a "happy" ending I can say that it is a good ending.

:oD

I saw Terminator 2 and 3 this past week.
I liked it!
TONS of action. It makes the movies fly by!
Although I've never seen part one, part two
was pretty good and you kinda don't need
part one to get into it all.
I am hoping that part 4 is just as good.

I saw Ghost rider... I kinda liked it. Kinda cheesy... See it of you are a fan of the actors.
It's a typical "deal with the devil" plot... Not for little kids...

I saw Nancy Drew. THIS MOVIE WAS GREAT!
PERFECT for ALL AGES and quite well done! A VERY GOOD PLOT!


Watched most of Angel-A... This is NOT a film for kids, and although I found most of the film sick and twisted I enjoyed the cinematography.
It is B&W.

And lastly, Becoming Jane.
I really liked it, and had fun watching it!
Love the costumes and set design- LOVE the manners and protocol...
Never want to live like that though!
:od Too "proper".
It was fun learning a bit about the author behind some of the coolest stories in English Lit.
So romantic... *sigh*.
_________________________

A funny thing happens when we (my husband and I) rent films.
There is always a connection a scene or an actor, a director or character that matches in 2 films out of every batch we rent.

This happens every time.
It's something we laugh about!

There is a scene from Terminator in Persepolis...

And although this does not really count-
3 of the films were actually French

2 of them had actors from Amelie, one of the best movies on my list of must see films.

Ah, and Ron and Linda were a team on "Beauty and The Beast" back in the 80's...

Amber