Tejae, Vintaj and me...

Sweet!  The designers at Vintaj have put up two projects featuring one of my Flora Beads.  The bead used on the project to the left is  on page 12 in Tejae Floyde's new Polymer Artists Showcase book.  I was also very honored to have my Pink Scroll Flora Bead bracelets chosen as the cover image for the book.  And thanks to the gals at Art Bead Scene for the shout out too!










Another announcement:  I am thrilled to be a member of the faculty at Donna Kato's new on-line teaching venue CraftEdu.com along with a few hundred other amazing artist/teachers.  Sign up for notification of the beta launch, scheduled for a date in the very near future!  This is going to be big folks! :o)

For those of you who have asked, most of the beads and jewelry that are left from Santa Fe BeadFest are on my Clearance page.  I'll have lots of new work at the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair in June.

If you're interested in wholesaling my work or beads, please contact me at barbfajardo(at)gmail.com.   All you need to do is supply me with your resale info and I'll send you the password to the wholesale page.  I'm also on-line at WholesaleCrafts.com (artist# 25840).

Happy Spring!!  May the warm sun be shining down on you in your neck of the woods...

Springtime!

It's almost here...I can feel it :o)  

Today was beautiful here in NM and my sinuses are telling me that everything's getting ready to bloom.  

Hope my stuffiness, sneezing and itchy eyes get better by next Thursday.  

Here are a few different kinds of blooms that I will be taking with me up north...Santa Fe here I come!

Railrunner day trip to Santa Fe

This past Sunday Rudy and I finally took the Rail Runner to Santa Fe, just to fart around for the day.  After about 90 minutes and 4 stops we arrived.  We were told that the shuttles around town don't run on Sunday, so we were left to trek to the Plaza on foot...which was fine except that it started snowing (hard) as soon as we got off the train.

Our first stop was just a short walk down the street to Zia Diner catch a bite and warm up.  We then made our way to the Plaza and we see a Five and Dime store.  Again, we need to warm up and dry off a bit.  I had a hat and scarf, but no gloves...so I find a great little pair of purple gloves for $3.99.  Hey, you can't beat that right?

Next, it's on to the La Fonda, where I want to check out the Ballroom where my table will be at the Santa Fe Bead Fest in a few weeks.  We were lucky enough to have a nice security guard open up the Ballroom so that I can take a peek.  I had been there some years ago, but it looks different.

We rested in some wonderfully comfortable big leather chairs in the lobby and wondered what we wanted to do next.  We had about 5 hours to kill.  We cross the plaza over to the Palace of the Governors to look at the Native Americans selling turquoise jewelry on the ground as they've done for almost 75 years. 

Around the corner we find the New Mexico History Museum which just opened last May.  It's an incredibly gorgeous museum and one that you should definitely see when in Santa Fe.   If you get a chance go before the Fashioning New Mexico exhibit leaves on April 10.  The wedding dresses were just mesmerizing.  I got lost imagining the lives of the people who wore these lovely costumes.  Rudy had to go and sit it out, I just didn't want to leave!

Again, we talked to a really great security guard at the museum, who directed us across the street to warm up in a sweet little bar at the Inn of the Anasazi.  Couple of beers later and we were back outside.  The snow has finally stopped. 

Time to find Rudy's college roommate Nick who he hasn't seen in about 30 years.  He owns a bar called Evangelo's.  It was so funny to listen them talk about the old crazy college days.  A portion of the movie Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges was filmed at his bar.

We are down to about 2 hours until the train leaves for Albuquerque and we've worked up quite an appetite.  So we decide to walk back towards the Santa Fe Depot and we find a cool place that is across the street from Zia which was our first stop at 11:30 that morning.  It's called Cowgirl BBQ...thought we could catch the Olympic hockey game on the big screen, but they weren't playing yet. 

With only about 45 minutes now before the train pulls in we decide to go and have apple pie and coffee at The Flying Star.

What a day...whew!  Exhausted, but happy!

I'm thinking about all of my clay friends traveling to Baltimore for Synergy2 this week.  I so wanted to join you guys, but I'll be following all the fun on Crafthaus where Cynthia Tinapple of Polymer Clay Daily and Libby Mills will be live blogging for the event.  Can't wait for pictures too, so don't let me down peeps! ;o)

Hope you all have a blast!!

Dream Interpretation and new bracelets

I always have trouble coming up with a blog post, which is doubly hard for me because I'm a terrible typist.

But, I have been on a bracelet making binge and I had a weird dream last night.  I'm hoping if I tell you about the dream, it will help me figure out if there is a connection between the two.  LOL, just for fun you know...

So, to make a long dream short...

I'm with some old friends (think 20's when we used to party every weekend, no clay friends)...they had rented this enormous house in a gated community that was at the very top of a winding trail of ups and downs, steps and ramps. It took quite a while to get there...going along narrow ledges and crumbling steps.  I feel like I'm in Spain.

We finally get to the fabulous house which is like a long southwestern ranch spread, one story with lots of space.  Some people are relaxing in about 6 claw footed bathtubs (weirdest part for sure) on different levels of a sunroom with lots of hanging ferns.  There is sumptuous ochre leather furniture, a roaring fire (although it is summer outside) and a Spanish tiled kitchen.

So, I walk through the house putting my purse in one of the back rooms.  I'm kind of disgusted because the house is a mess...not with trash, but just junk everywhere.  A house this beautiful should be kept nicer.

When we leave, neighbors are partying in swimming pools and on decks at some of the houses we pass on the way down.  Again, we are winding up and down steps, and around winding curves.  About half way down we stop to chat with people.

Then I remember that I left my purse, go back by myself and wonder if I can even find the house again. None of the houses looks familiar so I circle around, go back, take different turns like I'm in a maze.  Finally, I end up at a dead end and then I wake up!

Strange, huh.  It really was a pretty and colorful dream though!

Oh, here's the bracelets ;o)

BeadFest Santa Fe 2010!

I'm happy to announce that I'll be showing at BeadFest Santa Fe this March!  The Show is at the new Convention Center and at the La Fonda Hotel.  I'll be in the La Fonda Ballroom booth #27.  I'd love for you to come by and say hi if you attend the show.  Santa Fe is beautiful in the springtime and the show promises to be as gorgeous as it was last year
.

I need to let you all know that most of the unsold merchandise here on my site will be taken with me to Santa Fe, so if you've been looking at some beads or jewelry now is the time to purchase them.  I will keep everything here until Sunday, February 28th.  After that what's gone is gone!

Happy February to you all.  Here's hoping that Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow tomorrow ;o)

New Style - Watercolor Flora

So...last year my wholesale line did well, but I've never been very comfortable making the same thing over and over.  Even making different textures, using different colors of paints, trying different petal shapes and petal arrangements hasn't been very satisfying.  I should be figuring out how to make rings and brooches and narrowing down my 2010 line, taking pictures, making a catalog. And I have other deadlines that I need to meet, but yet again...I get sidetracked thinking of new bead designs.   

Anyhow, I like these beads and it felt good making them.  Being able to shape individual petals and not feeling so constricted with petal shape is more my style. I've been getting a little tired of brown acrylic paint and missing using black clay.  I like using clay bits for the centers of the flowers instead of embossing powder or coiled clay. 

For my next set I'll change up the layout...because like I said, I'm easily distracted...but I'm guessing you all can figure that out by now ;o)  I must have ADD for artists...bet lots of you can relate.

Merry Christmas!

Free Priority Shipping!

Limited time only!

Announcing FREE Domestic Priority Shipping on all orders of $75 and over. 

http://www.rubarbdesertdesigns.com/purchasebeads.html
http://www.rubarbdesertdesigns.com/purchasejewelry.html
http://www.rubarbdesertdesigns.com/clearance.html

This is a wonderful deal for all of you last minute shoppers that like to shop 

from the comfort of your computer chair...

or perhaps because buying on-line makes more sense than fighting the crowds 

and/or shoveling your driveway to get out!

.

Barb Fajardo

Turquoise

I love Turquoise...the color and the stone.  I was pleased to find out that it is Pantone's pick for the Color of the Year for 2010.

Here is a strand of a few squiggly, swirly, scrolly beads (not sure what to call them)!  I had in mind making beads that were sturdy enough to use as a belt.  I didn't have enough chain to make it long enough, but it makes a cute necklace too.

I mixed trans, pearl and white clays, stuck the coily things down on raw clay bases, painted with Baja Blue pinata ink, sanded some, added some gold paint, sanded more, added more gold paint, sanded more and finally buffed.  They were tons of work, I like them, but the Baja Blue isn't quite turquoise, and I'm not totally fond of the shape. 

Look for more turquoise stuffs in the weeks to come!

Revisiting Inks and Banners

I'm dragging out my inks to play with this week.  I do miss working with them.  Layering color upon color and trying out different textures...it's soooo satisfying, but soooo messy.  I'm wondering if I can isolate myself to just using a few colors, to be consistent enough to offer these at the wholesale level.  I can work a gold filled line in that way and not just the more rustic style with the Vintaj brass findings I've been working with.

Hey, here is something I bet a lot of you can relate to.  January 2010 will be my 10 year anniversary working with polymer clay (and also my 50th BD...shh...don't tell anyone).

I began to look at the gazillions of folders that I have on my computer and started to get sort of nostalgic. Not only did I find a lot of family photos that I had forgotten about, I found sort of a time line of my work in the banners that I've made for my website and auction descriptions.  Unfortunately a lot of the banners I've made over the years I've deleted, but here are three that I ran across.

I think the plain one that you see at the top of this blog and on my website will last for a while.  It's simple, just my name and tag line "Flora Art Jewelry"  The initials FAJ are the first three of my last name "Fajardo"  so it seems right.  It will be nice to stick with something for a while ;o)

One last bit of news for the Holidays.  I have a new "Newsletter" page on my website and will use it to
 communicate with my buyers and fans.  If you are on my mailing list, I'll still send you a note letting you know that I've got a new one up.

Now through December 28, 2009 get a Free Pair of Matching Earrings with every pendant or necklace that is purchased from the clearance page!  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

ACREs of Opportunity 2009

Barb Fajardo - Flora Art Jewelry

The business of wholesale is a completely different animal and one I'm glad that I leapt into. I was unsure if my work was marketable because I had submitted images for ACREs of Opportunity '07 (for the '08 show)and didn't make the cut. 

As I let the dates to apply for ACREs of Opportunity '08 (for the '09 show) tick by, a good friend (she knows who she is) urged me to enter, saying that she didn't want me to regret not trying again. I thought about it and really...what did I have to lose? I may not make it, but then again I might.  Life is a crap shoot and I wanted this, so I had to try again!  

I was thrilled that I made it and now after successfully taking orders at the paid IPCA booth that Pat Bolgar, Lauren Abrams and I shared last year, I can say that if it weren't for my caring and kind of pushy friend, I wouldn't have had this experience.

Having the previous year's ACRE 2008 winners serving as our mentors was incredible.  The insight and support from Sandra McCaw (one of the jurors this year), Meisha Barbee and Judy Belcher (past IPCA president who stepped in for Lindly Haunani) helped us to feel comfortable with decisions we made on everything from our product line, catalogs and price lists, to lighting and display.

IPCA members can submit until November 15 at callforentry.org.  You still have 10 days (which include two whole weekends) to gather together 5 images of your best work.  

We'd love to see you in Las Vegas next June.  It really is an amazing time to take that leap.  I am now serving as your pushy friend...don't let it pass you by!

Making textures...

I get a lot of questions on how I make my textures. I use a variety of tools, my favorites being stylus, kemper cutters and tools, tissue blade, etc. I impress different designs, make reverse textures and then sometimes texture again. Here is a picture of some that I've made in just the past couple of days. I myself never use store bought textures, it's way more fun to just sit and let your mind do it's thing :o)

Petal Perfection ;o)

I'm only calling the necklace that because it might actually *be* perfection this time. I'm pretty proud of myself for not giving up on this design. I've been very stubborn...every time I thought that I had it, I said to myself...no...there has to be a better way!

I joked recently on twitter and facebook, that this necklace was an "engineering marvel." Well, maybe not quite, but it felt that way to me since I've spent many days bugging family members (husband Rudy - an autocad teacher, and son Daniel - an engineering student). I asked, prodded, wondered why, asked some more, tried to change minds...and finally, FINALLY, I came up with the final design mostly all by my little ole self. It might look the same as some of the others on flickr, but it *is* different...you'll have to take my word for it.

Now, I won't give you details, but I've given you a close-up to try and figure out what the problems were, and how I fixed them. I am wholesaling these after all, so I wouldn't feel right spilling all the beans, but...anyway, here you go. Enjoy wracking your brain, like I have!

I'm still here...

just trying to be focused and disciplined...it is so unlike me :o)

So sorry for neglecting the blog, I really haven't stopped to breath lately. I probably won't be doing another post again for a couple of weeks at least, since I have a big show in June...so you're forewarned!

Here is a necklace finally worth showing. I won't bore you with the details, but let me say I spent three days on one necklace and I ended up ruining it! I wanted to make connector beads and ended up drilling so many holes and laying out so many variations, linking and un-linking chain that I just about drove myself mad! I did learn that the best way just happened to be the easiest way on this one.

So...I think I finally have most of my line figured out for ACRE in Las Vegas in 2 weeks. Of course I still have the hard part left...making a line sheet with descriptions and sizes and of course a wholesale price list.

But, for this weekend I have to stop thinking about beads and upcoming shows. I have a high school graduate that has his party this Sunday. Congrats to my "baby" Evan and the 2009 class of Valley Vikings!

New Mexico Art and Celebration

The art is from a polymer clay artist living in Taos, NM that I ran across yesterday. Her name is Elizabeth Rusnell. I found her work on a site called New Mexico Creates which is run by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Shops in Santa Fe. It's always exciting to find other artists in your home state who work with polymer. Shown is a lovely daffodil yellow necklace that she calls Yellow Abstract Shapes Necklace. I looked around the web, and haven't found a website for her or anywhere else that she sells from.

The celebration is the annual Founder's Day Fiesta, held in Old Town which is just a few blocks from me. It is Albuquerque's 303rd birthday this year! There is a parade, music and Old Town merchants sell their goods on the sidewalks and plaza. I'm so happy that the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing after a few days of rain (which we really needed!) and constant howling of the wind.

On a side note, if you are interested in learning how I made some of my very first Flora Beads, I've added a link to the left sidebar where you can purchase my new PDF tutorial "Introduction to Textured Flora Beads." I also have buttons on my website here and here.

Happy Weekend!

You'll never guess...more flowers...

I have made so many beads these past couple of weeks that I'm seeing texture and color every waking moment. It can get to be exhausting when you are trying to get new work done and narrow down your product line. I'm getting closer, but ready to take a break this weekend.

I wanted to give a shout out to Cynthia Tinapple of Polymer Clay Daily. Last month at her home in Ohio, she hosted the past and incoming board of the National Polymer Clay Guild newly named International Polymer Clay Association. You can view some of the photos on Cynthia's new personal blog and even a youtube video of a drumming session that brought on some serious brainstorming regarding the direction the new board will take. Thank you Cynthia for all you do!

Sidetracked...sort of

Only sidetracked from working with the colors I had planned on, as in the last post. Got to finishing up some beads that I already had going and decided that I needed to get more jewelry made since I bought a day (Thursday, March 26th) in the Gifts Guide Showcase at Etsy. I'm still working on getting my shop noticed there, but it's sort of been taking a back seat lately.

Anyhow here is a necklace that looks nice and since I'm going to be doing a double strand Flora Bead necklace for my "wow" piece at ACRE, I need to get comfortable with the shape and how the necklace will drape. Need to stop thinking about it and actually *do* it though!

Speaking of Flora Beads, my Intro To Textured Flora Beads on-line class at thatcreativeplace.com will be available to download through next Saturday, March 28th. I'll be checking the message board and will be available for chats too. Did you know that I have a fan page on Facebook? I usually post news there too.

Something else that I'm working on for 2009 is more on-line classes. I will probably do a Swirl Lentil on-line class from my website, since I remembered today that I can put a chat board on my site and make the page password protected. For now the old Swirl Lentil with Beadcaps tutorial is there, but probably just through April. If you want to download this tutorial, just email me (desertdesignsbybarbara (at) gmail.com) for the password. I hope to have a new Swirl Tutorial available for purchase in early May.

Today's starting point...

Working on some pieces for NM Arts and Crafts Fair, ACRE and possibly a Bead Dreams submission. Thought you might like to see what I'm starting with today. I should have a couple of different blends with a Vintaj selection to work with tomorrow.

It Ain't Easy Being Green...

Remember Kermit the Frog? That was his line, but when I realized that the color of this pendant was not going to tone down much with more sanding, that was what I heard in my head. I thought about antiquing, adding more copper....something. But I couldn't decide what if anything to do, so here it is...the color is crazy, no?

And I had a lovely 5 minute visit with polymer clay goddess Victoria (Tory) Hughes at Bead Fest Santa Fe. A couple of other clay artists had booths there as well (Klew, Jeanette Easley and Loco Lobo)The show was very busy and everyone was happy that Bead Fest was back in SF...where it all started I was told.

Here is an FAQ page for those interested in my Intro to Textured Flora Beads on-line class at thatcreativeplace.com. I'll "see" you all there on March 21st, next Saturday...can't wait!

And Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

gapingvoid.com...cartoons drawn on the back of business cards

Thought I would share with you the latest blog that I've added to my google reader...
this guy, Hugh MacLeod is insanely brilliant!
His advice is "Ignore Everybody" which is the title of his book coming out this summer...