Hanging with MargaBeth Cibulka

MargaBeth has become a good friend of mine since we were first introduced during the planning stages of Grove Gallery Co-op.  She has been an East Lansing/Williamston local for longer than I should even mention and her home-studio out in Williamston is too much fun not to go visit and have an art-infused play-date.

I biked out there on Wednesday (50 miles total) with my laptop, beads and camera to help her take some recent photos of her work so that we can share them via the Grove Gallery website and I'm posting a few of them here!

MargaBeth is a fused glass artist who does things out of the box.  From my understanding some glass is compatible and some isn't.  Since most of what MargaBeth uses is all recycled glass it can be somewhat hit-or-miss.  She turns her pieces into wonderful linkages, outdoor art, and wall art.  Come see some of her newest work (and her smaller studio space) over at Grove Gallery Co-op in East Lansing!

Also she hosts "Art for the Soul" at her house at the begining of December every year.  Her purple house, barn and collection of artwork is enough to drive out for the event.  Plus she makes really yummy Glug!  The Art for the Soul Facebook page will be updated as it gets closer!

Leaves Between Bangle and a little Lucite

Normally, I hate using any sort of plastic beads or accents in my jewelry.  I don't really have anything against it (there are some amazing pieces out there using plastics), I have just had a preference for glass beads over the years and am slowly working into more use of gemstones and pearls.

Sometimes I purchase a bead with a "maybe I'll use it" or "just in case I run out of ideas" purpose.  The lucite flower in this new piece was purchased just in case it would look good as a necklace accent for my wedding.  I bought one in this off-white and one in lavender from the Bead Gallery in Ann Arbor.  It sat amongst lavender pearls and antique seed beads until after our wedding when it was then sorted back into my stash.

After my failure piece with the tan base I was determined to make something in lighter colors.  White generally isn't my thing, but I have been seeing so much white this year in summer fashion along with the wedding blogs I still like to follow for inspiration that I decided I needed to give it another go.  As I began picking pieces in whites this flower popped out at me and became a focal point for this piece.

I personally think it turned out stunning.  Rather bridal looking, but I would/will wear it casually too, it would look great with a little black dress and a pearl necklace.  "Leaves Between" in Bridal White is making it's debut today at the opening of the Ann Arbor Art Fair in the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild booth, so if you're down there, go check her out!

Pixel and Hank Inspiration for my Bangle Fix!

This is more of what I was going for with the failure-bangle that was in my last blog.  I had to find a better focus for color inspiration and what better way to find it then buying a new hair piece for myself!  I had been watching this pretty hair clip on Etsy.com for a while and decided that it would go with the dress I'm wearing to an event this month. 

I actually came across a hair clip in the usual round-about way of internet surfing.  I love keeping up with the Tell Tale Photography Blog (http://www.telltalephotograpy.com/).  Melissa's photos are always so amazing.  She did a photo shoot with Pixel and Hank, posted them on her blog, and the photos were so great I had to wander over to the Pixel and Hank Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/pixelandhank from there I found and fell in love with the Shirley Hairclip!  http://www.etsy.com/listing/49207816/shirley-fushia-hair-clip

I sat on this one for a while though, I didn't have the right outfit to wear it with, I just loved the colors.  Well, I found the perfect brown summery dress and within about a week my first Pixel and Hank hairclip was mine!  I normally don't like to bother doing my hair, but I have a feeling I may get a hankering for another one.  Also check out Pixel and Hank's Blog: http://pixelandhank.blogspot.com/  They do wonderful pieces for weddings among other events.

Anyway, purchasing the Shirley hair clip was the answer to my desire to use these wonderful fuschia (or magenta) beads that I have and I will be hanging on to this one for a minute so I can wear it with the outfit it is to go with.  Maybe I'll get around to getting a photo too.

Now, back to business as I prep for the Ann Arbor Art Fair with the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild (we're about at the corner of East Williams and State Street).  I made earring cards today!

Color Choice FAIL.

I picked up these dyed fuchsia stones while we were in Rome and have been dying to do something with them.  I need to make another "Leaves Between" Bangle after the green version sold at the Okemos Art Walk this past weekend and I figured, why not try it with this fuchsia stone with some tans?

As it was coming together I keep looking through my bead stash to find something that will work better for it.  Hrm.  This is what I started with:

As the project grew I was trying to stick to brown, tan, black, with fuchsia accents.  It continued to not work at all like I had planned.  My friend Abigail helped give me some suggestions: take out the black, add more brown, different sized/shaped beads....  I was determined to finish it while we were in the Upper Peninsula this weekend visiting friends.  But alas.  Sunday is when I decided it was best to stop beading on it.  I would put it on my wrist, crinkle my nose and pick something else to add.  Normally more is more to me (bigger, better, more bling, more visual excitement), but I guess sometimes more is worse.  Even the bead pile is unhealthy looking!

At the end of this exercise in "lets try something completely different than my norm," I decided that sticking to similar color tones is part of what is making these bangles work for me.  Maybe if I used a dark brown base, or a black base of the same tone as the fuchsia stone it would blend together and be less of an eyesore.  This will go into the "UFO" (UnFinished Objects) pile until I get the patience to take it apart to re-use it's pieces.  I'm moving on to a new piece that won't be so frustrating!