Read all about me on this month's SYDNEY MUM blog...

Over the last couple of years I have been fortunate enough to have had a profile done and my work displayed in Australia's Creative Beading Magazine. During that time I met freelance journalist and blogger Sharon Quill who edits and compiles the profile stories and other articles for the magazine. After completing another recent story for the magazine she asked if she could "blog"about me on her Sydney Mum site, of course I was thrilled to be asked... http://sydneymum.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/what-a-beading-beauty/

Melissa Player:Creative Beading SWAROVSKI Competition Results 2010

After many, many months of waiting and anticipation the results for the 2010 Creative Beading Swarovski Competition are finally out and all place winners and finalists have been published in the March edition of the Creative Beading Magazine.

I'm very pleased to announce that I received my magazine in the mail this week and I received 8th place for my crystallized Akubra hat "Australiana" and 10th place for my necklace "PREY: Protect Our Children".

I'm just thrilled for the 2010 winner (a lovely lady & a very deserving entrant) and I'm also very excited to see so many of our Beading Forum members being recognised for their amazing vision, skills and talents.
www.beadingforum.com.au

This is a very difficult competition...after a few years of entering I still can't figure out the judging criteria but as long as you have a go, express yourself and enjoy your craft then you are certainly in with a chance.

 

SAFARI by Melissa Player

Many thanks to Australia's Creative Beading Magazine for featuring me as the profiled designer in your recent edition (Vol6 No2). I had no idea how much work goes into writing an article for a magazine, getting the photographs right, getting the copy right etc,etc. I really have a whole new level of respect for such processes.

Pictured: SAFARI - Hand crystallised Leather Corset, 2009 - 3rd Place Creative Beading Swarovski Crystal Competition

FUN with FERIDO

Last year I noticed around the traps a newish product called Ferido. This groovy product is a 2 part resin that when kneaded together in equal parts works just like a soft clay before setting rock hard in just a few hours. It comes in a number of colours and can be used to set a variety of objects such as crystals, stones, shells,pearls, fibres,buttons,metals etc. The Ferido website states that it can be "machined, drilled, tapped, turned, filed, sawn, sandpapered and painted"...it can also bond to "wood, brick, cement, metals, concrete, plastics, glass etc". I'm sure you'll agree that these features will allow for a multitude of uses in the jewellery and design arenas!

After doing a bit of research on the product and seeing some of the lovely work that Lisa Pavelka had been doing with this product I decided to give it a go for myself. So with less than one pack of black Ferido I managed to create this piece.

The above necklace "Coco Goes Seaside" recently won 10th Place in the 2009 Swarovski Create Your Style Creative Beading Competition held annually for Australian & New Zealand residents. I essentially encrusted a large Swarovski starfish using Ferido with an assortment of small Swarovski crystals and pearls - I have to say that I was very pleased with the result! The inspiration for this multi strand beaded necklace came after watching the movie "Coco Avant Chanel" at the cinema.

Is BLING your thing?

Ok, it has to be said that being an active forum member in the wider beading community certainly has both its advantages and disadvantages!!! I'm sure that those who have participated in any type of forum will agree that there are some wonderful stories of special friendships and opportunities that have evolved from the daily chit chat on forums and then again there are some horrible, hellish tales of nasty cat fighting and behind the scenes (private messaging) backstabbing....meow!!!!

What I love about the forums I belong to is that I get to discuss, learn, participate and grow in an area that I am passionate about...and in my case it's beads and jewellery. Sometimes I think there really needs to be a 10 Step programme for all of the bead addicts around the world - I know I could fund a small community in Africa with some of my bling and I truely feel guilty about this sometimes! To give me some peace of mind I have set up a regular contribution to World Vision which has certainly been a valuable & worthwhile activity for our whole family. But, until such a time that I can work out a way to curb my obsessive complusion to buy all things shiny & sparkly I thought I'd share with you a couple of forums that have been incredibly supportive in my beading career to date.

Beading Forum dot com dot au is an Australian beading forum but there is large membership base which spans the globe. It's an amazingly supportive place to belong to and there are some incredible designers that create inspirational jewellery from scratch with impeccable skill,artistry & precision that would blow anything commercially produced right out of the water .

This is a picture of Caroline Fung's award winning necklace 'CINDERELLA"

Another forum I'm proud to be a member of is the Swarovski Create Your Style Community - there are many, many international jewellery designers that frequent this forum and who post their creations in the design section. Of course if BLING is your thing then Swarovski leads the way in shiny, sparkly beads - in my opinion there is simply no better quality than what these incredible elements lend to a designers palette.

There is also a special Ambassadors section where you can read reviews, receive tips & tricks, see new designs & learn a variety of techniques. Such internationally famous designers include: Margot Potter, Diane Whiting, Val Hirata, Lisa Pavelka, June Beach, Lilian Chen, Jean Campbell, Linda Hartung, Brenda Schweder, Leslie Frummin...and several more.

See link at the bottom of this page....

And here is a picture of Diane Whitings Award Winning "CRYSTAL BOW PURSE" with over 10,000 hand sewn Swarovski crystals - WOW!

I hope you have enjoyed my first "blog" entry and I look forward to sharing my beading world with you. I know how frustrating it is when starting out to find good information, reputable sites to buy bead goodies from and places to go to get a bead-u-cation!

Thankyou & please feel free to leave me your own personal comments, forum stories or areas that you would like to see covered in this blog....