Bead and Button recap

I returned Monday from Milwaukee from the annual Bead and Button Show sponsored by Kalmbach publishing. This is the 4th year in a row I’ve been at the show and my first time teaching. It was really quite incredible to have my own table at the Meet the Teachers night, a big event where all of the students purchase tickets to see and purchase work from the large cadre of instructors. To be in their ranks was, indeed, an honor. I had butterflies in my stomach as I was setting up my table and putting out all of my published jewelry samples, along with some of my work for sale and my books and DVD. My work elicited some of the best comments and I was walking on air at the end of the evening. I also got to meet in real life Jo Jones, better known as JoMama, a fab artist on our ICE Resin Creative Team this year. She is a hoot!

The ICE Resin booth was handled this year by our incredible associates — Carol LaValley, Misty Grosse and Cindy Moss. These ladies worked their fannies off for four solid days. Cindy and Misty did two make ‘n takes with Iced Enamels and Misty rocked the booth demos of them out of the park. I was just so proud of our team! My workshops were awesome and so much fun. I particularly loved my Cold Enameled Cuffs class because there were a couple of students who’ve done a ton of traditional enamel work and were blown away by the grace and ease of Iced Enamels on the curved cuff form. Susan’s two workshops were completely filled and I heard lots and lots of fun and laughter coming from her students.

I got a little time the last day of the show to walk the floor and buy a few goodies to use in my work. I had to see Green Girl Studios and ogle their great charms. I also ran by Heather Powers from Humblebeads to see her gorgeous handmade beads. The pic above are some of her gorgeous handmade peacock headpins that I absolutely had to purchase so I could make a pair of earrings for myself. The star of these earrings, of course, are Heather’s clay beads. It was simple to add some crystal rondelles and blue faceted crystals and wire them up really quick. The moment I put the sterling silver French ear hooks on them, they went into my ears and have been happily hanging out ever since.

I’ve had a few days to rest and unpack. Tomorrow I’m off again for Southern California where I’m teaching a couple of metalworking classes at the brand new Charity Wings Art Center. Next week, I’m home for about 5 weeks before I have to head off to Summer CHA in Las Vegas. I have plans to do some fun family things with my kids for the summer break, as well as get some samples made for next year’s classes.

I sincerely hope you’ve been able to eek out some creative time in your studios or art rooms. And for all you parents out there who find it much more difficult to make work during the summer months, just know I’m right there with you. As soon as I get a chance to clean my studio a bit, my daughter and I will be back to spending some art mornings together painting and drawing.

Here’s wishing you a truly Artful week!

Sonoran Living and Terri O

Me and the fab Terri O! She is so darn adorable.

As you might know, I was invited to be on ABC Channel 15 Sonoran Living by the incredible and crafty Terri Ouelette. When she emailed me, she asked if I could come on her show and “be fabulous.” (NOTE: Click the tv link above to watch the segment). Sure, no pressure. I had about 36 hours to make some new art samples and design a stepped out craft project. No worries!

Thursday was a late night — up until midnight getting it done — but the end result was so worth it. Last thing I did before bed was brush on a sealer layer of ICE Resin® for my cold enameling and then 6 hours later woke up to my charms being dry and ready for attachment with some jump rings or ribbon.

My two books, some art samples and Karen Lackey’s handmade bust displaying some jewelry. The table got too crowded for my DVD and magazines too. LOL. You can’t throw it all in.

I arrived on the set by 8 a.m. to set up my little 6-ft display table, listened to bits and pieces of the 15-minute staff meeting where Terri and her camera crew were going over the show, did a few minutes of social media on Facebook and Twitter and then lights, camera, action the segment was live. I followed her lead, answered questions and just tried to enjoy the moment as much as possible.

Iced Enamels™ and Spellbinders® Media Mixage™ with Susan Lenart Kazmer™ blanks that I used to make a charm bracelet an also a cold enameled cuff. I adore this cuff. The design is exactly me – mixed media, colorful and quirky! I’ll be teaching this cuff at the new Charity Wings Art Center in San Marcos in a few weeks.

I had fun making jewelry and home decor samples using the Spellbinders® Media Mixage™ with Susan Lenart Kazmer™ line of blanks, available at Joann Fabric and Crafts, along with some cold enameling techniques. I also brought with me another little friend that’s been sitting in my studio since last summer; an adorable burlap mannequin designed and created by my friend Karen Lackey in Phoenix. These babies are awesome for displaying and photographing your jewelry. She sells them in her Etsy shop and also during vendor day at Art Unraveled. The poor girl has been waiting for me to get her over to the Stampington offices in Southern California, where I’ll be next week. However, I thought she needed a little moment in the spotlight before she leaves me.

Here’s a little wearable journal I made using cold enameling, ICE Resin® and ICE Resin® paper. This design is one of Susan’s originals. Earlier in the year, I needed to step in and teach a class for her where the students made this piece and this is my inspired-by-Susan piece. The wire framework is 100% SLK.

I can honestly tell you that I went into print journalism over television news a long time ago because I just don’t think I have quite what it takes to be a television personality. But you know what? I’m starting to get used to seeing and hearing myself on video and it’s not as bad as I thought.  As a matter of fact, it’s downright entertaining.

Here’s a closer look of the set display.

Found objects in a new light

There was a little glitch with the Interweave store over the weekend and sign ups for my webinar this Thursday were not available. The good news is that it’s been fixed and the link is working. If you have some time Thursday, May 16th at 2 p.m. EST to take my online workshop/webinar on found objects, mold making and casting, I’d love to have you join me. Remember, even if you’re working and not able to join, you can still sign up and watch the webinar at your leisure. Here’s the link: http://www.interweavestore.com/on-the-hunt-for-found-objects-how-to-create-new-and-eclectic-molds

Whatcha doing May 16th?

Do you have plans next Thursday –May 16th — at 11 a.m. (MST)? I’d love for you to join me for my live webinar with Cloth, Paper, Scissors online editor Cate Prato. We’ll be talking about one of my most favorite subjects — found objects for collage, assemblage and mixed-media jewelry. I’ve been working hard on the powerpoint presentation for this online class. In addition to making a new collage that I’m teaching step-by-step how to create, I’ve been having a blast taking some crazy fun pictures of the all the odd bits and pieces I’ve collected throughout the years for mold making and casting. The webinar will give a small peek into my studio where I show the displays I have of my lovely vintage treasures.

I know I’ve said this before, but I adore casting found objects. My favorite medium for it is a two-part molding putty. Despite the fact that I’m not much into representational art, I really enjoy casting found objects in ICE Resin and then do all kinds of lovely surface designs to recreate the objects so convincingly that it takes a good eye to see the difference between the real object an its reproduction.

As much as I can go on and on about found object, making molds and casting, I must stop right now and save some information for next week. Here is the link to sign up for my webinar Found Objects; Searching For Texture, Style and Relief.

For those of you who work during the day, I’m pretty sure you can sign up for this webinar and get a link to listen to it  later. Also, Interweave is including a discount coupon for my new DVD Breaking Out of the Mold if you purchase the webinar.

Hope to see you there. Have an Artful Day!

CREATE workshops

It’s that time of year when I’m starting to gear up for the next round of teaching and workshops across the country. It’s been nice to be home working in my studio since March, but I find myself getting a little itchy as the days tick by and the retreats draw near. In just a few weeks, I will be in Orange County, California for the Cloth, Paper, Scissors CREATE art retreat. I do love this event, as my fellow instructors are so darn inspiring with their class offerings and the students are radiate with positive energy as they are learning and creating. Talk about being in the flow!

I’m teaching 4 workshops — 2 all day ones and then 2 evening classes. Like always, I’ve packed a lot of instruction into them. We always end the day with a completed project, but I structure my workshops so we begin with basic techniques and build on them as the minutes and hours progress. We work up to things logically, but so quickly, that my students will often say halfway through “Wow, I had no idea we’d be doing so much!” I love it when that happens.

So for all you West Coasters with a little bit of time on your hands and who want to make art, check out the CREATE website and all the incredible class offerings. Not just mine, but also my dear friends Kristen Robinson, Ruth Rae, Elena Lai Etcheverry, Pam Carriker, Kari McKnight Holbrook, and Joanne Sharpe. You can see all their bios here. Remember if you are looking for unique art supplies, handmade art from some of your favorite instructors and unique mixed-media jewelry to wear, the Artist Faire is free and open to the public. I’m working on some pieces from my book to sell, specifically metalwork bangles, rings and earrings.

Here are pics of my classes:

Resin clay, painting, texture, hand building, fiber jewelry, cold connection attachment, making clasps and findings

Cold enamels, texturizing, forging, dapping, doming, disc cutter, cold connection – lots of fundamental metalwork.

Heart’s Desire journal. Resin, resin paper, fabric flowers, doodling, stamping, surface texture, forged wirework. Lots of technique packed into one workshop!

Cold-Enameled Heart Necklace class. Learn all new enameling techniques for adding color to metal and also advanced resin techniques as well, plus metalworking of making forged neck collars and handmade findings.

Found Object Work in Progress

This week I’m pulling together my powerpoint presentation (artwork, photos and text) for my upcoming May 16th webinar with Interweave called “Found Objects: Searching for Texture, Style & Relief”  – More deets on this soon! The webinar inspired me to dig around in my plastic bins filled with found objects. I started picking from my collection of vintage hardware and found oodles of inspiration in this particular drawer pull. I still have to finish off my transformed necklace by making some chain and closures but here’s my Work in Progress pic for now. If you want to see the finished piece, sign up for my webinar. (How’s that for a tease??!)

Sweet Hearts

I was playing in my studio over the weekend and wanted to make a sweet little pair of earrings to wear with a T-shirt and jeans when hubby and I have a casual Friday night date night of sushi and a movie. Here’s a little secret: I love to make jewelry, specifically mixed-media jewelry to wear when I’m at art retreats, but….I hardly wear much in my daily life. Most days you will find me wearing a pair of earrings and my favorite stack of mixed metal bangles that I made from forged wire. These earrings are perfect for casual days at home.

Hearts are definitely a Talisman shape for me. You will see them a lot in my work. I’m on a search for a new shape. I wonder what it will be?

Stampington & Co Freebie

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How fun to open my email and see a project of mine on Stampington & Company’s Postscript newsletter. As I do these kinds of articles, I mark them on my big office calendar, do the work, turn them in and usually forget about them until I happen to open a magazine or an email and there I am. It’s always kind of cool to see the process come together. I really do love working with all the Stampington editors because they know their stuff when it comes to layout and typography. Johanna Love, Stampington’s Director of Photography, has such a gift for taking pictures that I do believe every piece of art sent to her looks better after she’s styled and shot it.

For this Guest Artist piece, I created a little house triptych with lots of surface layers of paint, rubber stamps and color. I had a blast playing with Dina Wakely’s stamps. I know Dina and she’s an awesome artist. Her new stamps are perfectly in line with my own aesthetic; a little  edgy with an urban vibe. I used her circles and random number stamps for this.

Believe it or not, I struggle when it comes to giving my work titles. I have no idea why considering I like to think of myself as a wordsmith. However, as soon as I finished this triptych and looked at the images, the storyline “Ma, Pa and the Cousins visit the Big City” immediately popped into my head. The family is dressed up for a night in the city and the tickets represent an invitation to attend a swanky gallery gala, given to them by a worldly artist they met when he came through their hometown in search of a rural landscape for his paintings.

I had so much fun using these altered vintage photographs that are in Spellbinders® Media Mixage ™ with Susan Lenart Kazmer™ line (Available in the paper crafting section of Joann Fabric and Crafts stores). I’m not sure how many of you know this, but ICE Resin’s Art Director is Karen Michel, an amazing mixed-media artist, author and instructor. As a matter of fact, Susan and Karen became friends 13 years ago when they first started teaching the national mixed-media art retreat events together. Karen is the person who’s responsible for all of our new packaging, our website design, our company blog design, etc. She’s also the artist who created the collage ephemera papers for Susan’s licensed line with Spellbinders® Media Mixage ™ .  Her eye is impeccable! The other reason I like the ephemera packs so much is because it contains so many old papers — all over 100 years old — that we’ve collected on our trips to France’s flea markets. We’re talking the real deal.

All said, I really do like this art piece. It makes me smile. It’s colors are happy and uplifting and there’s just something kind of giddy about it.

Anyway, enough of the “behind the scenes” talk for this piece. Pop on over to Stampington’s website and take a look at my project here. The best part is it’s a freebie!

Work in Progress

I thought it might be interesting to start showing some work in progress. I created this new Studio graphic from a photo I recently took and then altered in Photoshop Elements. Whenever you see this image at the top of my post, you’ll know its a Work in Progress update.

During a recent interview, one of the questions the writer asked is how I work. Ricë wanted to know if I had an idea and then sat down and completed it in a linear fashion from start to finish. Unfortunately, this isn’t my process, though it was when I first began doing mixed-media. As I explained to Ricë, these days my daily life is managed in chunks of time. This has impacted my creative time as well. This means I will work on things in stages and have projects in process at all the different stations I have in my studio. At first blush, it looks like a frenetic and messy way to work, but it’s how I manage to keep moving and juggle my plate.

The absolute worst thing for me is when I’m forced to completely clean my studio for a photograph. It’s like when I put things away I spend too much time searching for them again. My saving grace; tons of clear plastic shoe boxes from Costco to hold all the similar parts that I can make and rifle through when it comes time to finish a piece. (On a messy note, I do a once a month “sweep through” to keep my things from completely overtaking my space, but it never looks truly tidy.)

Like Ricë, I’m also fascinated by how working artists manage their time. Some people I know go deep into their work and don’t come up for air until their bodies force them to with a need for food or sleep. Others work a fairly 9-5 stint while their kids are in school or spouses off at work. Still others work around the clock, moving from laundry and carpools to teaching workshops, making samples and writing articles. Obviously, I fall in the latter category. I can’t imagine not having my studio in my home!

So, as promised, here are some pics of a project I’m working on for a Stampington deadline in 2 weeks. It’s a journal, and my inspiration is texture. I began earlier in the month with a painting playdate one morning with my daughter. The papers shown above are mine and not hers (lol). A few weeks later and another couple of hours resulted in finished front and back covers. In the next few days, I plan to work on collaging the inside pages, adding some photo transfers and then some journaling. Knowing myself as well as I do, the entire thing will get packaged and mailed off just in time to land on the editor’s desk the day of deadline. We can’t all be perfect! (grin)

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my studio. Now it’s your turn. Tell me, what is your work in progress and what’s your creative process?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Cold Enameling with ICE Resin

Our Iced Enamels program is a unique, custom formulated, proprietary Cold Enameling system for permanent adhesion of color on metal. Our custom system of enameling powders, enameling medium and ICE Resin work symbiotically to create a permanent, jeweler’s grade bond of color on all types of metals, from precious metals to base metals.