Lark Crafts

Our two brand new releases in the Beadweaving Master Class series are Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue and Sabine Lippert’s Beaded Fantasies. We’re posting two more projects from these books so you can get a good taste and feel for them; use the links below to download the PDFs:

From Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue, click here to download a PDF of the Sonoko Wave project

From Sabine Lippert’s Beaded Fantasies, click here to download a PDF of the Purple Rope Necklace

You also can click through to earlier blog posts to download even more content from these books. Click here to get the Les Fleurs Necklace project from Sabine’s book as a PDF. See this post to download the Crystal Rose Necklace project from Sonoko’s book and to see photos of other projects from the book.

Please join us on Pinterest at Pinterest.com/LarkJewelry and on Facebook at Facebook.com/LarkJewelryBeading.

And, while you’re here on the blog, let me share with you a great array of blog posts that included project PDFs for you to download and preview the books. (Remember, you can always find these and many other free Lark Jewelry & Beading projects, as well as other craft projects, at http://www.larkcrafts.com/bonus/. Bookmark it!)

From Heat, Color, Set & Fire by Mary Hettmansperger:
Etched Copper Neckpiece
Liquid Enamel Necklace

From Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects:
Fortune Teller Beads Necklace
Midnight Snowflakes Necklace

From Making Wire & Bead Jewelry by Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley:
Cascading Spirals Bracelet
Wire Pod Pendant

From Rachel Nelson Smith’s Bead Riffs:
Rondo Neckpiece
Billie’s Bounce Necklace

From Laura McCabe’s Embellished Beadweaving:
Herringbone Cluster Earrings (plus an interview with Laura!)
A Well-Kept Secret Necklace
Star Flower Earrings

From Maggie Meister’s Classical Elegance:
Artemisia Earrings
Laksmi Pendant
Fiore Earrings

From Tapestry Bead Crochet by Ann Benson:
Treasure Box
Golden Paisley Bag

From Sherry Serafini’s Sensational Bead Embroidery:
Arizona Sunset Earrings
Rock Star Cuff

We hope you enjoy all these great projects!

I’ve done a lot of interviews over the past two years on this blog, and I figure y’all are getting a little tired of my questions. (Okay, I’ve been in Asheville, North Carolina, for six years now, but “y’all” still doesn’t sound right from me even when I type it.)

So, when I was ready to interview Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley—owners of the business Wired Arts, fabulous teachers, renowned jewelry designers, and the authors of the new book Making Wire & Bead Jewelry: Artful Wirework Techniques—I came up with what I think proved to be a better idea: Ask Janice and Tracy to interview one another instead.

They were remarkably good sports about what a skeptic might have perceived as my avoiding work on the weekend.

Enjoy the interview, and click here to go to an earlier blog post with two project PDFs from the book (one from Tracy and one from Janice, naturally) and a collection of preview photos of projects in Making Wire & Bead Jewelry.

I encourage you to buy the book at your local bookstore or bead store, and of course it’s also available via Amazon and BN.com.

Janice:
Okay, first question: Tracy, what was your favorite part of writing Making Wire & Bead Jewelry?

Tracy:
My favorite part of writing the book was knowing that I could put out what I consider to be good, solid techniques in an easily followed format.

I also wanted to reach more students than I ever could in the past, and now those people who do take classes with me finally have a book to go home with that they can use as a reference in their wireworking ventures.

Question: What do you hope people will take away from this book, Janice?

Janice:
Thanks for asking, Tracy! To me the most important thing is technique. Because the book has so many step-by-step images, the processes are easy to follow visually, making this the go-to guide for wire-bending techniques.

After technique, the rest is just plain wire-bending fun!

Which of your projects is your favorite, Tracy, and why?

Tracy:
My favorite project to make is the Rock and Roll by the Sea necklace. It has a little bit of everything in it, from my favorite—a double loop wrap—to coiled eye links. It’s hard to get bored making this one because there are so many fun components, and every necklace you make looks so different depending on how you combine the components, beads, and charms!

My favorite piece to wear is the Wire-Wrapped Bangle. I wear mine every day. The specific one I wear every day is made up of all metal beads. This bracelet is so comfortable and it goes well combined with other bracelets.

How about you, Janice: What is your favorite project you created for the book?

Janice:
It’s hard for me to choose. My two favorite techniques are making spirals and basket weave. For that reason, I would choose my Beach Pebble Bracelet and Wire Pod.

As far as everyday wear, I choose my Beach Pebble Bracelet. It has simple techniques that I would use every day, especially the spiral. The spiral, one of the common forms found in nature, is one of my favorite techniques.

While we were writing the book, I made a Beach Pebble Bracelet, and it has only left my wrist once since then. That was at the Denver airport. I took it off for the TSA and promptly forgot it!

Some jewelry is just meant to be yours, though. The Denver airport was on its game and got it back to me in no time, so it’s safe and sound on my wrist again.

And basket weave—I have always been a fan of pods. With the Wire Pod project, you learn the basket weave technique, which is a soothing and tranquil process. All the while you’re creating a pod form, and then you get to stuff it with your favorite beads. It doesn’t get any better than that! [Editor’s note: The Wire Pod pendant is one of the projects posted as a PDF to download in this earlier post.)

So, tell me a little bit about how you began wire bending?

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UPDATE: Congratulations to Traci Staves of Whitefish, Montana, the randomly selected winner of this giveaway. Our thanks to everyone who participated! ~ Ray

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I just sat down to write this blog post, a giveaway of a big set of a dozen bead books to celebrate the release of Sabine Lippert’s Beaded Fantasies, and happened to notice Lark Jewelry & Beading’s two Beadweaving Master Class books released this spring, Sabine’s book and Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue, are the No. 1 and 2 books at this hour in the Jewelry category on Amazon. (See image below and, hey, look at what’s No. 3!) So, thank you for your support of the books — I hope you love them — and we’ve really got something to celebrate here!

Here’s how I like to celebrate: I’m giving away a complete set of the Beadweaving Master Class books, plus a few other bead books for good measure. Some of the books are signed by their authors, too.

Here’s the list. The Beadweaving Master Class books included are:
Sabine Lippert’s Beaded Fantasies
Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue
Sherry Serafini’s Sensational Bead Embroidery
Rachel Nelson-Smith’s Bead Riffs (signed by Rachel)
Maggie Meister’s Classical Elegance (signed by Maggie)
Laura McCabe’s Embellished Beadweaving (signed by Laura)
Marcia DeCoster’s Beaded Opulence (signed by Marcia)
Diane Fitzgerald’s Shaped Beadwork (signed by Diane)

PLUS we’re giving away a few more great beading titles:
Making Wire & Bead Jewelry by Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley
Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects (signed by Diane)
Dimensional Bead Embroidery (signed by Jamie Cloud Eakin)
And not exactly the same kind of thing but too much fun to leave out:
Creating Glass Beads (signed by Jeri Warhaftig)

So, two things: First, yes, you might have bought some of the books already. No worries: Enter anyway for fabulous gift-giving opportunities or to donate those books to your local bead society or library.

Second, people tell me sometimes they get frustrated: they enter a giveaway, forget to check who the winner is so the giveaway never really “closes” for them, and then later realize they’d forgotten to buy a book they really wanted. Easy solution: Click through and wishlist the books you’re interested in right now. If you don’t happen to win, you’re giving yourself a reminder. And if you do win, you’re already set!

How can you enter for a chance to win the set of 12 books? Leave a comment on this blog post by 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 25. Any comment works, but if you’d tell us who your very favorite bead artists and designers are, that’ll be an awfully fun and interesting set of comments for everyone to read through.

One winner will be selected at random and announced on the Lark Jewelry & Beading Facebook page on Monday, April 30, so please click through and “Like” the page. Also, you can click here for the official rules.

Thank you for being a part of the Lark Jewelry & Beading community, and please be sure to check out and follow our new and fast-growing Pinterest boards at Pinterest.com/LarkJewelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making Wire & Bead Jewelry: Artful Wirework Techniques is the brand new release from Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley, two wonderfully popular artists and workshop teachers. They’ve put together a fabulous teaching book that’s jam-packed with 500 how-to photos that step you through learning many wire techniques and making two dozen gorgeous wire-and-bead projects. The book includes a gallery of jewelry from the authors and guest artists such as Lisa Niven Kelly, Laura Gadzik, Cheryl Sweeney,  Renee Corry, Mary Ann D’Amico, Rosanne B. Cox, and Kimball Otterbein.

Get a taste of the book yourself right now. We’re posting TWO project PDFs from the book:

Click here to download a PDF of Tracy Stanley’s Cascading Spirals Bracelet.

Click here to download a PDF of Janice Berkebile’s Wire Pod Pendant.

And then scroll down further to see a handful of the many creative, inspiring bead-and-wire projects the book offers. If you like what you see, you can purchase the book at your local bead store or bookstore and also online. We hope you enjoy the projects: Please do let us know what you think about the projects and the book!

Learn more about Janice and Tracy on their Wired Arts website.

Connect with Lark Jewelry & Beading on Facebook at facebook.com/LarkJewelryBeading and Pinterest at pinterest.com/larkjewelry. Check out other jewelry and beading projects on the Lark blog by clicking here. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you haven’t done so yet, read our interview with Dana Schneider, the jewelry designer who made the mockingjay pin that actress Jennifer Lawrence wears in the movie The Hunger Games. Dana has designed jewelry for more than 50 movies, television shows, and music videos.

We don’t have one of Dana’s exquisite pins she made for the movie to give away (only four exist), and we wouldn’t give it away if we did! But to celebrate the key role a piece of jewelry is playing in the most talked about movie of the season, we are giving away a licensed version of the mockingjay pin.

To enter for a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post by 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 11. Any comment is fine, though we’d love to know your thoughts about The Hunger Games or to hear about a favorite piece of jewelry in a movie or television show.

One winner will be selected at random and announced on the Lark Jewelry & Beading Facebook page on Monday, April 16. Click here for the official rules.

Go to Lark Jewelry & Beading Facebook page to see the announcement now!

[Please connect with Lark Jewelry & Beading on Facebook.]

 

Today we talk with Dana Schneider, the jewelry designer who made the mockingjay pin that actress Jennifer Lawrence wears in the movie The Hunger Games. As you know if you’ve read the books or seen the movie, this pin (worn by main character Katniss Everdeen) is an especially important part of the story—a symbol of rebellion in a post-apocalyptic world.

When I found out I was going to interview Dana Schneider, the jewelry designer who made the mockingjay pin for The Hunger Games movie, I was excited. But I was also not sure what to expect from a woman who has made jewelry for more than 50 films and television shows (including Planet of the Apes, The Matrix sequels, and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), designed what Cher has described as “her favorite ring,” and is friends with Marilyn Manson.

Within moments on the phone, I realized I was talking to one of the most engaged, confident, and also humble and generous artists I’ve ever met. She loves what she does and at the same time is very clear about just how hard her work is.

She is equally passionate discussing the magic of movie making, heavy metal music, women with charm bracelets jangling beside her at the symphony, and her own work in her studio and her Etsy jewelry shop.

Can you tell me a little about how you got started designing jewelry?

I learned basic jewelry-making skills as a child from my father, who was an engineer: how to cast, how to solder, how to use a pair of pliers. I’ve always just naturally been a craftsperson. I’ve also always been a movie fan.

When I attended the Rhode Island School of Design, I planned to focus on animation, but in my freshman year I decided to do sculpture instead—foundry work with heavy forged steel, cast bronze, and aluminum. Then when I graduated, I decided I didn’t want to have a career as a fine artist.

Why not?

I felt art was about communicating, and I knew that I was young and didn’t have a lot to say yet.

I got a job in the repair department at Tiffany & Co. in New York City. But I didn’t actually repair the jewelry—I did public relations for the repair department. And I learned how people use and abuse their jewelry, how they don’t want to think about chains breaking and pearls needing to be restrung—especially on pieces from Tiffany.

I realized that when people buy something, they want it to last, and I could understand that. I started my own jewelry business as soon as I left Tiffany, and I’ve been making jewelry ever since.

So how did you start designing jewelry for movies?

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Short and sweet: In honor of all the pop-up jewelry stores, well, popping up this spring, we’re doing a pop-up giveaway: 48-hours from now we’ll give away a set of 12 author-signed jewelry and beading books. Some of the books are brand new releases, some are older classics: all are wonderful.

They’re a mix of metalwork and beadweaving titles, because all the books hold ample inspiration and beauty for artists and jewelry designers of all types. If you already own some of them, of course the books make wonderful gifts for friends.

How can you enter for a chance to win the dozen books? Leave a comment on this blog post by 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 4. The comment can be anything, but just to be different, why don’t you tell us what your favorite poem is? It’s a time to celebrate, after all: April is National Poetry Month and in spring, to paraphrase, the world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.

One winner will be selected at random and announced on Monday, April 9. Click here for the official rules. Thank you for being a part of the Lark Jewelry & Beading community, and please connect with Lark Jewelry & Beading on Facebook.

maggie (meister) and milly and molly and may …

While you’re waiting to see if you win, give yourself a reminder about getting your favorite books: pop over to your local bookstore or online and wishlist the books, just in case:

• Metal Clay Fusion by Gordon Uyehara
• Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects
• Diane Fitzgerald’s Shaped Beadwork
• Dimensional Bead Embroidery by Jamie Cloud Eakin
• Rachel Nelson-Smith’s Bead Riffs
• Maggie Meister’s Classical Elegance
• Laura McCabe’s Embellished Beadweaving
• Chains Chains Chains by Joanna Gollberg and Nathalie Mornu
• 30-Minute Rings by Marthe Le Van
• 30-Minute Necklaces by Marthe Le Van
• 30-Minute Earrings by Marthe Le Van
• A Bounty of Bead & Wire Earrings by Nathalie Mornu

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UPDATE: This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Tessa E. Rickard-Carpenter of Hamtramck, Michigan, the randomly selected winner, and thank you to everyone who participated. I was truly delighted by the poems cited, recited, or created in your comments. Happy Poetry Month, everyone! ~ Ray

 

 

Heat, Color, Set & Fire: Surface Effects for Metal Jewelry is the brand new book from jeweler and teacher Mary Hettmansperger, known far and wide as Mary Hetts. The book has been dancing atop the jewelry book bestseller lists since it released from our warehouse a month ago, but it’s officially an April publication. (That’s just how publishing works; believe me, don’t try to make sense of it.)

In the book, Mary teaches readers how to add color and texture to metal jewelry using a wide variety of low-tech approaches, including patinas, enameling, keum boo, copper etching, fusing, weaving, texturing with tools, and more. Twenty-one projects bring to life Mary’s approach to jewelry and design.

To get a sense of some of the contents, we’re posting a second project PDF from the book: Click here to download a PDF of the Etched Copper Neckpiece.

Here’s the earlier content we’ve already posted, too:

Click here to get a PDF of the Liquid Enamel Necklace project and to see a few project designs from the book in that earlier blog post. You also can read an interview with Mary Hetts from a little while back with photos of some of her beautiful work.

Mary lives in Peru, Indiana, and she teaches classes across the United States. She’s also one of Lark Jewelry & Beading‘s most popular authors, with more than 65,000 books in print with her fabulous library of teachings for jewelers: Fabulous Woven Jewelry (2006), Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet (2008), Mixed Metal Jewelry Workshop (2010), and now the brand new 2012 book Heat, Color, Set & Fire.

We hope you love the new book — and all of Mary’s offerings.