Clinkscales Arts

Last year after reading about the Bead & Button Show and their auction to help fight breast cancer, I came across Jeanette Shanigan’s website and her beaded quilts.  Jeanette asks beaders around the world to donate individual beaded squares based on a theme.  She then sews the squares together to make gorgeous quilts, mounts them in shadow boxes and donates them to be auctioned at the Bead & Button show.  In 2008, these quilts raised nearly $4,400 for breast cancer research.

Being a member of the Etsy BeadWeaver’s team (EBW), I knew we were sitting on a goldmine of talent.  I asked the group if they would like to make squares to be included in Jeanette’s quilts.  I would collect all of the squares and submit them at one time in hopes that they would all be included in one quilt.   Fifteen EBW members stepped up and created 35 squares to be included in a 2009 quilt.  The theme for 2009 is “Bead artists have the heart to take on breast cancer” and I believe the EBW contributors did a magnificent job representing it.

Below is a mosaic I created of all of the EBW squares.  This is not the actual quilt, only a digital version using photos I took of each square.  Please visit the Bead & Button Show website to find out more information about the auctions, which will be held June 6, 2009.   Below the mosaic is a list of contributors and links to their shops.

First row (l to r): Susan Clinkscales, Eddy Downing, Eddy Downing, JoJo Curley, Swanee Hielscher
2nd row: Swanee Hielscher, Swanee Hielscher, Swanee Hielscher, Linda Davis, Smadar Grossman
3rd row: Smadar Grossman, Smadar Grossman, Smadar Grossman, Lisa Savoy, Lisa Savoy
4th row: Lisa Savoy, Jama Watts, Jama Watts, Jama Watts, Kerrie Slade
5th row: Kerrie Slade, Kerrie Slade, Kerrie Slade, Victoria Thompson, Victoria Thompson
6th row: Victoria Thompson, Kim Shaver, Dawn Nelson, Melody Murray, Melody Murray
7th row: Ileana Munteanu, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht

I just entered this photo in Handmadeology’s Etsy Worthy Photo Contest and I need your votes!  I also just listed these Red Patina Earrings in my shop.  I am so totally addicted to these patina brass stampings, don’t be surprised if a lot more start showing up in my work - and not necessarily just in jewelry.

Hello peeps!  Thanks to the new website Craftopolis I was quickly able to see that I am featured in two treasuries on Etsy this morning.  And what gorgeous treasuries they are!  I think they should both be on the front page of Etsy, don’t you?

This plum-luscious beauty was curated by gulinoartware.  Check out this gorgeous piece from their shop:

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Check out these colors - they are fabulous!  This treasury was curated by blackpotter, and I have to say, I LOVE his shop!  Check this out:

And now for the surprise!!  My birthday is next Monday (March 16th) and I will be having a special sale this weekend in my Etsy shop to celebrate.   For the general public, the sale will begin Saturday morning (March 14th), but for my bloggy readers, I will give you first dibs.  For you, the sale starts Friday - yay!

I will post the special here on Thursday night, so be on the look-out.  Thanks and have a great week!

I was happily surprised to be featured on Sam Andrea’s blog, 200 Pound Ballerina - check it out:

Sam Andrea has some great jewelry in her shop, Sam Andreas Designs.  Have a look at this great Nest Pendant:

A fellow EBW member, Karen of Hiding Place Beadery, included my Spring Greens Necklace in this gorgeous treasury.  Thank you, Karen!

Greetings and salutations!

I’ve been wanting to post this picture on my blog, but it took me a while to get it mailed to the recipient.  And since she reads my blog (and received a matching necklace for Christmas) I couldn’t debut it until she had it in her hot little hands.  And now, I can show you the bracelet I made for my sister’s birthday.  I love the way it turned out.  I think I have a crush on these whiskey quartz beads.  They are some kind of wonderful!

Another cool thing that happened this week was my Last of the Winter Brown necklace appeared on Etsy’s front page thanks to Ozetta adding it to her beautiful treasury.  Here’s a shot of the treasury, I didn’t get a shot of it on the front page.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a shop update.  I have several sparkly gemstone beauties to add that would be just perfect for your Valentine’s sweetie.

I love making these woven balls!  I’ve done them in turquoise, several different agates, pearls, amethyst, garnets, and fossil stone.  Here are two more I just listed in my shop.  Stay tuned in the coming week for more (if I can get home from work in time to get some decent pics.)  Thanks!

As you’ve probably guessed, my shop is out of vacation mode.  YAY!  It’s not sad anymore.  Our vacation was so wonderful, we had a great time.  I’ll be posting pics soon so you can see our luxury accommodations.  It was so wonderful!  I can’t tell you how happy we were to have comfortable furniture it sit on.  Some of our past experiences with vacation cabins in eastern Oklahoma have been, well let’s just say, less than luxurious.  Oh, and Felix was VERY happy to have us back.

Here’s a sneak peak at one of the new items I’ll be listing in the next few days I just listed in my shop.  I love making these beaded dodecahedra!  They are held together with only the tension of the thread.  The picture makes the bead look larger than it is.  It’s really only about 1/2″ (12,7mm).  I’ve made them in several different precious and semi-precious gemstones.  This one is stabilized turquoise suspended from a leather cord.

I just finished a commissioned rosary that I’ve been working on for a while.  There are a LOT of beads in a rosary - 59 to be exact.  This is made with turquoise beads and a set of vintage Italian sterling silver medals.  There’s 10 feet of sterling silver wire holding everything together.  I love the way it turned out.  I was hesitant to take the commission because I had never made a rosary, but I’m glad I did.  Working with the wire has given me lots of ideas.  Stay tuned!

While wasting time on Etsy yesterday, I found myself with a treasury.  I named it “I have nothing planned!” because I really didn’t.  I went through my favorites and picked out some gorgeous pink items, then did a search for my EBW team members to see what they had been creating in pink.  I think it turned out well.  If you’d like to see it in person, it’s live until Monday, September 22.  But…stay away from that painting by Lavatican - I want it!  (I can’t afford it, but it’s mine nonetheless.)