Meet Eric Ennis at Ornamentea

We are showing five beautiful works of art by Eric Ennis this month and are so happy to host a reception for him on Thursday, September 17th. He'll be on hand to talk about his work and share stories from his career.

Eric has been an opera singer, a couturier and dressmaker to brides and Miss America (five of them!) and is an inspirational artist. His beadwork is exacting and colorful. His stories make us smile, and we want you to get a chance to visit with him.

Please RSVP to Eric's reception (it's free, we just want to know how many cookies to bake!)

The above image is from an article about Eric in Our State Magazine. See that article here. 

Ornamentea Customer Kate Ward Featured In The N&O

We love this recent profile of Kate Ward in the News & Observer. Her textile necklaces are beautiful, colorful and innovating. They look great with boho and preppy fashions, and they are each unique due to the antique and vintage textiles she uses in the manufacturing process.

We've been lucky enough to watch her tackle construction and design issues as she's developed this line, which means we've also been able to fondle quite a few of these as she was working on them. That is a great job perk!

Her designs are carried at Fab'rik and Charlottes in Cameron Village, Raleigh, as well as many other shops.

See the full article, including a video interview, here. That image is by Julie Leonard and was taken from the N&O article.

How To Work With Ice Resin, a video we LOVE from Jen Hilton

Jen Hilton, a customer we LOVE, has this fabulous set of three videos showing you how to use Ice Resin. I love this resin; it's always clear-drying and the mixing plunger means you never make a mistake when measuring (see that here.)

Give these a watch!

Adding words to your jewelry...

This necklace by Deb Averitt features the word 'naughty' hidden between the paper circles...read her blog post to find out why she chose that word.

This necklace would be a great entry for the Wellness Words challenge over on Tracy Statler's blog Make Bracelets!

Oh, wait, the necklace says naughty. Okay, maybe NOT such a great project for that challenge...unless that is your wellness word? Hmm...

Elaine Ray Photo Contest on our facebook page

This photo by Susan Reynolds was posted in our Facebook photo contest. You can go vote for it. The winner of the contest will receive a $25 Ornamentea gift certificate.

The photo contest details are under the Photo Contest tab on the top of our page. You will need to 'like' Ornamentea to see them. Visit us here.

Felted Goodness

Many folks have asked me, "What can I do with the felt roving?" Well, here you go! This menagerie of adorableness was created by one of our regular customers, McLeod Skinner. She needle felts adorable critters that make people smile. If you'd like to see more of McLeod's work, you should check out her etsy site: milepost13. If you'd like to learn to make your own felt creations, just come in the store! We'll give you a little demonstration. With little more than the wool roving and a single felting needle, you can create your own little creatures.

Customer Work - Rosemary modifies a technique Thursday

See how Rosemary modified a Technique Thursday project to include a few Elaine Ray washer beads. I loved the results.

Customer work - Julie's earrings from Belle Armoire

Did you see Julie McCann's work in the latest issue of Belle Armoire? She features Elaine Ray's beads in her Hammered Earrings article and the jewelry is so lovely. Actually, the whole issue is lovely. The fine folks at Belle Armoire do a great job of photographing and showing off all the work they feature.

If you'd like to see more of Julie's work click the title of this post to visit her etsy site.

 If you haven't seen the issue yet we have it in the store...

Customer work - macrame bracelet by Malin

 

This bracelet by Malin De Koning was inspired by our recent macrame video tutorial, the Macrame Meanings Bracelet. Malin used a lovely natural hemp and a mix of beads to make hers. That sliding knot clasp at the back is the trick. It makes the bracelet seem endless and oh-so-easy to get on. Read about this project at Malin's blog and you'll also see some lovely work by an artist who really gets color and LOVES art beads...

Customer Work - Skull and Wire Earrings

We have a contest going on over on our Facebook page. We've invited customers to share their favorite Ornamentea item on their facebook wall and I love seeing what folks like and why. The fans are excited to have a chance to win $10 gift certificates, I like the fact that I can peek into our customers studios. 

I like seeing what they make with the items they like.

These earrings are by Cindy Mays of Sweet Southern Charmer. She shared the skull beads (which I also like a lot!) but I really liked her super-wrappy wire work on these earrings. That kind of wire wrappy-wrap-wrap stuff is harder to do that you might imagine and almost impossible to teach to people. You just have to understand the way the wire is going to look and relax about it lining up just exactly. Cindy's work is sold at the Old Wilmington City Market among other places...check it out.

The Facebook contest ends on the 8th.

Customer work - Star Statement Necklace

See how Mor created a dramatic and personal gift for a friend...right at our work table!

great quote from Kristen at Moodswing...

Surround yourself with people who are explicitly rooting for you, and stop trying to win over those who aren't.

 I saw this quote recently on Kristen Randall's blog. It's pretty good advice, I think. Get rid of your detractors.
If you want to see some seriously kick-@ss jewelry that makes you think 'mmm...' go visit Kristen's website at Mood Swing Studios. And if you want to purchase me a gift just because you are rooting for me, well check this out. 

handmade Harry Potter jewelry

These amazing pieces of jewelry were all created by Susan Reynolds in celebration of the newest Harry Potter movie. I love them all. They are so beautiful I would wear them to any movie. I wish I were wearing them tonight, to see Harry. Are you going?

These images are from Susan's etsy shop at Bijou Savvy. Please visit her shop today.

Thank you, Susan, for sharing these images with us, and have fun tonight!

The amazing bead embroidery of Eric Ennis

We are really excited here at the store about this article in the News&Observer about Raleigh artist Eric Ennis. He creates amazing, complex bead embroidery on fabric panels. Our staff loves his work and we love working with him when he brings projects in to the store for bead matching. Eric's eye for color is incredible and his gentle sense of humor make him one of our favorite customers.

Eric's work is available for sale at Bellagio Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina.

 

photo by Chris Seward for the News & Observer, read the article here

Note: if you live in Raleigh and DON'T get the N&O at home, why not? did you know that without locally-based journalists we'd not only miss great stories like Eric's, we'd also miss out on the good investigative reporting that keeps our elected and appointed officials on their toes. From college coaches, to highway patrol officers, to commissioners of agriculture, your local paper is watching out for the interests of the local people. Support them by subscribing, today. Okay, I'm down off my soapbox!

Sarah Skoniecki in the Customer Showcase

Did you see these luscious bracelets by Sarah Skoniecki? These illustrate how a very simple treatment of beautiful beads is often the best option. The color-themed bracelets have our Tulip endcaps and they look exactly like the kind of item I would put on day after day.

Sarah's Etsy shop, Gypsy Adornment,  is right here.

Have you entered anything in our Customer Showcase? Sarah won a $20 Ornamentea gift certificate. I wonder if she already spent it on more beads or end caps?

the perfect wedding bouquet...

My husband and I have been married for 19 years. Our wedding, way back in the dark ages, was just perfect for us - lots of friends and family in a casual outdoor setting with good food, laughter and a very fancy dress for me. I had two Diva Bride moments. I wanted dark-purple cloth napkins (totally un-rentable items in Ohio in 1991. Thank you Mom and Aunt Beth for sewing 110 napkins!) I also wanted an all-white bouquet of giant lilies. No greenery. No ferns. No spikey leaves. That was also almost un-heard of in 1991 in Ohio. The florist went against my wishes and slipped in some ferns but because of the high heat that sunny August day I ended up being happy she had. The lilies shed their petals as I walked down the aisle, unintentionally dramatic, until I stood under the trees next to my husband with a green bouquet of ferns and lily stems. Of course, that could have 'ruined' my wedding if any of the magazines are to be believed, but it really didn't matter.

I love it when I hear of couples who create their own fabulous wedding days that reflect them. Afternoon, pig-picking, blue grass wedding with a preacher in overalls? Great! Midnight, all-black Goth wedding with kabuki bridal makeup and Wiccan priestess? Awesome. Saturday morning Baptist church, white dress and veil, Reverend Miller officiating? Tremendous.

Hopefully, you'll only do it once so I think you should make it as memorable as possible.

This bouquet that our customer Sarah told us about was part of what I imagine was a sweet and memorable day. And I bet the flowers didn't fall apart!

Sarah hand-folded flowers and added watch parts, typewriter keys and vintage rhinestone centers. The bride, Sarah, is a librarian and the couple has 'more books than two people should own!' They chose meaningful pages from favorite books and sheet music from their days as musicians to create origami-folded flowers for the bouquet. The vintage rhinestones add a bit of sparkle to the bouquet. I love the way Sarah watercolored select pages to match her lavendar shoes and magenta petticoats. Sadly, she didn't include any shoe-and-petticoat pics for us to drool over!



Congratulations Kevin and Sarah!
oh, Sarah's etsy page is www.ForgottenThings.etsy.com
go check it out!

See Becky Caldwell in our Customer Showcase

This lovely piece is by Becky Caldwell and it was one of the winners entered into our recent Customer Showcase. The necklace features Elaine Ray dotted orange beads as well as some lovely vintage Czech glass beads. She strung the design with brass spacers beads and finished the design with brass chain. Of course, my favorite part is the pendant she created with copper and enamels. Notice how Becky created large wrapped loop beads to allow the pendant to swing freely.

For more information about this lovely project please visit our Customer Showcase page. You can also enter your own work and if you are chosen for the Showcase you'll receive a $20 store gift certificate.

Erin Strother's Customer Showcase project featuring Elaine Ray

 

This piece by Erin Strother was included in our Customer Showcase. I love the way she used Elaine Ray's washer beads with leather...you know I think those beads are amazing, but the leather strips make them even better. I think she did a bit of wire-wrapping to secure the leather sections. All our showcase winners receive a $20 gift certificate to the store. 

I wonder how Erin will spend hers? 

See the rest of the recent winners here and find out how you can enter your work. 

Elaine Ray Beads Retiring...

We are retiring select Elaine Ray beads to make room for new ideas she has cooked up. You can order these soon-to-be-gone styles right here at Ornamentea.com. If you want to know what she's up to, come see her on Friday or Saturday this week at the Double Trunk Show. She'll have some of her newest glazes and shapes for you to see and purchase. You can even talk with her about what you'd like to see or show her your designs. Elaine loves to make beads but she really loves to see what other folks do with her beads. 

The necklace above is by someone...I have the picture but no name attached to it. Obviously, the disc bead is Elaine's. If this is your necklace, please let me know in the comments! I love it!

Trunk Show Preview