The excitement is mounting!

I am even more excited about the display/furniture that my husband is building for me!
It's been coming along slowly, but OH SO BEAUTIFULLY!
The following are a few pictures to illustrate for you what he is working on...
This is the arch of the left side door. Just a pencil sketch, waiting to be cut...

This is the centerpoint where the two doors will join...

This is a view of the mold that he constructed along with the doors after being molded and penciled...

This is just another view of the uncut doors with the mold/frame he made to bend the wood...

He is CARVING into the the doors... It is AMAZING!

This is a carve test to see how the wood cuts with various bits, blades and tools... He is still not yet satisfied with the way the wood is carving. He is looking for a different technique...

MJSA Manufacturing Jewlers & Suppliers of America

What a fun experience!

One of my students who is a member of the Bead Society of Greater New York gave me a VIP invite and some cash to have fun at the show.

And fun I did have!

I saw a few new things and some familiar faces, including a woman who I met on the subway one day in 2007 who is a jewelry artisan. Regina was also at the art clay booth right after I got there.

My wallet got a bit of exercise. I bought a bunch of goodies at the ART CLAY WORLD USA booth. My first time purchasing PMC.
It was only a matter of time before I finally bought some.
Someone named Jackie Truty was demoing and explaining the process of working with the products.
I was in a bit of a rush and she was pretty patient with me and my many questions. I am a bit nutty when it comes to buying new things and when I don't know about what I am buying, I LOVE to ask questions!
My one complaint- THE PACKAGING IS SO DECEPTIVE!
I bought 50 grams of the silver clay and it was EXPENSIVE... I bought 24Kt gold for use with the clay... it is like a TEENY bit and I could have ground up my own dust and saved $$$.
The clay paste was 10 grams in a large bottle.
and the clay part was a slight coating on the bottle!

OK that was a rant... I also bought a few photopolymer plates to play with. And overlay paste to use on fused glass.
.
((I made a few pieces from the PMC that I will be firing this weekend at some point.
I have NO idea what I am doing- But I love to experiment!))

I ran off to see a few sellers that I buy from who were showing.

Then I made a few rounds to some sellers who I heard would be there.

My FAVORITE booths were those that had the natural stones and FUN layouts. I met Lenny Quintana from Mexico at one of the mineral booths.
Seeing her tray full of stones and specimens inspired me to purchase a slice of something sweet.
I also bought a DELICIOUS drusy leaf with opal coating. WOW!!!
The price was NOT wholesale but I HAD to have it.
Eye candy beyond belief!!! My DH will be paying for the items when I get the bill. (a very nice birthday gift!)

There was an offer from a company rep for me to design something for their website... I am thinking on it...

I wore a few pieces of jewelry constructed from charms from the International Charms Exchange group. The pieces got a LOT of attention.

Speaking of which- I am hosting *17* new charm swaps!
Pretty cool themes! I decided to host them all at once to save members on shipping,

I digress- Rio Grande also had a booth there and so I had fun with one of the reps who with the patience of a saint answered my rapid fire questions.
I ordered two specialty tools and sampled a flex shaft with optional HAMMER mode! That was pretty interesting.

DH picked me up after the show was over, and we met another jewelry artist (who had been at the show) in Herald Square. I learned a LOT and am pretty excited about the connections she shared with me.

All in all, the people were VERY VERY NICE!
I learned a LOT and met a few new friends.

A plea for more swappers to join my Black and White charm swap!

Now I am begging!

I really want to have 25 charms to exchange, but we only have 14 artists signed up so far.

*please consider* joining in!

The only reason why it is juried is to make sure that the work is not sloppy and harmful.

Here are the charms from my last private black and white swap.

Please think about it!

Amber

Are you attending the MJSA here in NYC?

I have an invite to attend, and was wondering if you or someone you know will be showing or browsing?
It is the BIGGEST show for beads and supplies...
I'm pretty excited about it!

International Charms Exchange group Charm Swaps!

Art charms made by (listed from left to right) Amber Dawn, Heather K., DDSZOO, Sherry S., Ellen Gray, Chris Hanson, Jan H., Amber Dawn, and Peggy K.

My wonderful international charms exchange group has been such a delight to work with.

We are artists from all sorts of backgrounds, walks of life, ages and occupations.

What we have in common is the ability to share works of art from our hearts with one another.

Here are a few examples of two theme swaps that were held over the last two years. The first is a swap based on Asian culture, with good fortune and the color red.

The other sampling is made from a beautiful fabric wristlette that Sharie M. gave to me as a hostess gift. The charms were made by, (in order from left to right) Kate Webster (Top left) Felted "A" by, Amber Dawn, "Sneek a Peek" by, Jan Hamill, Sharie M. ---

CENTER cascade-

Top right side between the pink and blue bead- Colleen from NM.

"What's Your Vision?" by, Sherry S.

Orange felt with green sequins by, Orla Swift.

Comic fabric charm made by Catherine in the Netherlands

Embellished purple pillow charm at the bottom by, Colleen McGinty.

Right Side of necklace-

"Be You" by, Sharie M.

"Believe" birds nest by, Heather Kayser

Tiny pillow by, Ruth O'Connor from Australia

top right- POM POM fiber charm made by, Orla Swift.

This necklace was assembled from a selection of fabric charms submitted over the course of two swaps.

FUN FUN FUN!

I am currently hosting a private black and white swap! Details are posted a few blog entries down. You are invited to submit!

I've been good and kept a promise!

FINALLY!

I posted something for sale on my ETSY shop. Not anything that I have made yet, but I WILL! I posted 6 pocket watch caliber movement plates. Sans gears etc.

CLICK HERE-> AMBER DAWN ON ETSY

I have a LOT to post for sale, so bookmark me!!!

*Smiles*

Beautiful Words

I've been scribing scriptures on mat board for some practice.

I have been practicing other languages and characters, but I need a LOT more time to perfect each jot and tittle.

~*MY BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!*~

This is my cake! It arrived early! My special day is the 23rd!

Lori gave it to me.

It's mine, you can't have it!

Lori Anderson, a ~*FABULOUS*~ designer and composer of all things beads and findings sent me an early birthday gift.

READ MY POST BELOW TITLED "~*BIRTHDAY CAKE*~"TO LEARN HOW TO WIN A SWEET PRIZE PACK!

Bottle Cap Couture! Recycled art on sterling silver by Pati Woodard in NM USA

This is another cool trade that I received in the mail in exchange for rusty bezels. This piece was made by request, a mix of Elvis and Marilyn images.
Click here to see PATI'S RECYCLED GOODS!

A bracelet like this one would cost ya around $45.00

She can make them using all sorts of pictures!

((Maybe even pictures that you provide too? I will ask her!))

~*Cascading Jewels*~

While working at Calico Juno for less than a week... (you should check out her cool designs!!!) The designer who owns the company trained me how to work with gold and silver wire. I learned techniques on how to work the wire without marring and denting it too much. Thank you so much Bonnie!

Well, I am not quite there yet as far as tight and perfect technique, However I do like to practice! This freeform cascading piece is composed of CZ drops, dyed fresh water pearls, Austrian crystal bicones and gold filled wire.

~*Margie Fenney!*~

Here is a closer view of what I made for Margie... Mailing it off to you this week Margie!

It is a name recognition ink doodle (I make these for nice people) along with a 2 sided etched piece of copper. The front says, "Margie", and the back says, "celebrate"...

A bird in the hand is MESSY! Art by Chetta! (Connie Williams in HI USA)

This is just the funniest card that I have gotten so far!

Chetta is trading her charms and goodies for some of the rusty bezels. I will add pictures of her glass work and charms to this post as soon as I can.

Thank you Chetta! You are so wild!!!

~*Ringing In Spring!*~

These are the little bells that I made for Heather's swap!

~*BIRTHDAY!!!*~ CAKE!

This is my cake!

Lori gave it to me.

It's mine, you can't have it!

Lori Anderson, a ~*FABULOUS*~ designer and composer of all things beads and findings sent me an early birthday gift.

It is a glass lampwork SLICE OF BIRTHDAY CAKE *bead*.

If you are not familiar with the whimsical and sophisticated design style of Lori, I encourage you to check her work out!

I LOVE LORI!!!

She has a beautiful personality and cheerfulness which she so lovingly infuses in her work.

In honor of my birthday I decided to offer a special drawing for those who make a purchase with Lori...

If you purchase a piece of her work between now and April 23rd and mention my name, you will be entered in a chance to win a pretty assortment of treats! It will not disappoint! Your name will be entered to win for each piece you purchase!

To find Lori's blog, and her web sites, click on her name (LORI A.) on my links list!

Don't forget to mention my name when you pay for your order.

A fun end of the month. March was busy!

Hi! If you are a subscriber, I hope that you did not mind the wait! HAPPY SPRING!
I am happy to share some of what has been going on here lately.
Adding in a few pictures here and there for fun.

Knitting again this week after a long break.
I knitted the above from embroidery wool that I tied together. All of the pictures in this post are courtesy of a cell phone.
So that explains the noticeable graininess and lack of clarity.

That heart shape at the tip of the nose makes me laugh.

Some wear theirs on their sleeve! Mine is right there in front of my face!

Must be the Venusian in me.

I took these pics of myself back in 2007 during a ride through the lower east side. (Manhattan NYC). DH's new car was so rudely taken the end of Feb. and found last week- totally stripped down. So that ends the chapter of owning a sports car.

Personally I am glad that it is gone. As nice as it was, I did not enjoy having such a luxury item parked out on the street.

Sadly though, the lucky ducks who committed the grand theft, now have or have disposed of hundreds of dollars of personal property and some sentimental items. Things can be replaced.

Life goes on.

I joined a Spring swap hosted by Heather S. B. and although I have not yet taken pictures of everything that I got, I did take pictures of two of the pieces on display. The little duckie was made by "Speckled Egg" it is sitting on the top of the letter "I" in imagine pictured below.

I LOVE IT! I will post the link to the artists' sites next weekend if I can.

(((The "Margie" card is for Margaret Fenney. I etched a piece of copper for her last week and inked out her name on a piece of matboard for fun. She got me started in the art form of etching.)))

And then there is the little tri flag banner draped from my Hotel de ville de Paris chalk board/clock.

The two roly poly characters on either end are vintage/antique German blown glass. LOVE them!

I FINALLY got a new sewing machine!

I am SO EXCITED!!!

I had to give up a *lot* of extras in my life to afford it right now, but it is so worth it!

This is a very good thing!

Alma if you are reading this, I got the free form foot, so I can doodle!
The past week has been pretty good.

To be sure, ETSY will be seeing more of me in April and May and I hope you will enjoy seeing what I make!

DH bought me a beautiful bouquet of long stems- yellow roses with a sunset trim on the outer petals. SO LOVELY and they smell SO luscious! I trimmed the stems down and arranged them in a glass.

Here he is standing still for me in the cold as I snap the picture taken today. We had a fun time playing each other at Mrs. PacMan which we both played a lot of when we were a LOT younger! Like 26 years ago! A local spot that has had a race car arcade game of one style or another for the last 10 years replaced it for the relic.

There were several glitches in the game that added moments of surprise and prompts for a good laugh!

After that we walked up to the factory to collect rusty bezels for Sue.

Right now I am listening to music from the 20s and 30s. The lyrics are hilarious. At the moment an orchestral piece called Hallelujah I'm a Bum Again is playing -1932 the Al Jolson version. The music from that era is just beautiful. The tunes are catchy, fun, light, bouncy and airy!

I love listening to 90.7 FM.

SO! I signed up for the Gleaner zine swap with my zine friend Christi Miller of Material Zine fame.

ONLY FOR HER! (ONLY for you Christi)

I am in the process of designing a mini zine so that she can swap them out.
I have no interest in the swap at this time otherwise, as I am backlogged as it is... I think I just want one of hers badly enough!

If you are into zines, hers are fun to watch for.

Below, are two pictures taken through a chain link fence at the factory where I dig for the rusty bezels.

Technically, I bring a dowel and poke through the gate and drag out rusty bits. Some of them are actually in the dirt (off to the side from what you see in the pictures) so I do dig them out.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much FUN working with these rusty and tarnished bezels is! Don't worry, I know what I am doing and I do not handle the pieces without treating them and sealing them first.

The trades that I have gotten for them are amazing.

Mija Marie sent me a gorgeous assortment of goodies that I have stashed away to use in the warmer weather out doors.

Pati Woodard just traded me one of her cool sterling silver soda cap bracelets.

I will post pictures at a later date.
If you are interested in trading for some, let me know!

It is not easy to glean these pieces through the gate with a dowel in usable shape as many are bent and flattened so it takes me several weeks to collect a good 40 of them. Still trying to find an easier way of collecting them. The rotweiler, factory guard dog, is my friend so he leaves me alone when I am there poking through the fence.

If you want a lot, you will have to be prepared to wait a while for them.

They are not for sale, only trades.

HAVE A FUN APRIL!

~*Amber*~

Sharing my world... I LOVE COLOR!

~*~*~*~*~

This is a peek at my hippity hop swap Ring in Spring trade. She is so cute.
She is a vintage paper doll restored and altered a bit in Photoshop. I then printed, snipped out and pasted her to a little bell shaped piece that I cut from a Christmas garland. I then stuck a real silver bell inside to help her ring with style.
I made the flower from hand dyed silk ribbon by, Grace Brunelle, tulle, ombre ribbon, Swarovski crystal rhinestones and hand made stamens.

This was a fun swap!
Thank you to the ladies in the GREEN group.

I already opened all of mine while standing out in the sunlight the morning I got them and a bit of snow crystals sprinkled down on me while I was standing there (Snow was not in our forecast!) It paired well with the glittery goodness on the lovely art pieces.
I guess some will consider me a bit of a cheater since we were supposed to open one a day. What can I say? I could have waited, but it all looked so lovely I didn't want to wait!
THANK YOU LADIES! I adore my gifts.(March 14th)
I will post my pictures here in April



Well....
Here are some pictures of a corner in my studio.
Notice the serger that Sweet Carlotta sent me!

The flower pot by Sonji is inverted with a classic handmade porcelain lamp on it. I got that lamp and the frame around my cork board from an estate for free (free cycle).
There are swaps and gifts on the board.