Home Creations

Wednesday was class day so Thursday was turn Mom’s house into a studio day! It was hot, humid, and stormy last Thursday but we still set up work stations around the house and on the deck. We had a torch station, a hammering area, a drilling area for metal a separate drilling area for glass, and then the big table was our work table. We took what we had learned in class and applied it to ideas that we got in class but didn’t have time to work on. We also tried out some experiments that we didn’t get a chance to do there either…like drilling glass and enameling balls. The enameling didn’t work out very smoothly b/c it was hard to see the flame outside…and the wind was a factor. But drilling glass was very successful. Both of these new pendants have pieces of wine bottle incorporated in them.
I love these pendants and wore them to the B+B shopping area over the weekend. A couple of the lampworkers commented on them, and one even gave me some advice to try and take them to the next level. Although the glass pieces look rough and sharp I guarantee you they are not…I used a stone to sand down all the sides and have been trying to cut myself on them just to make sure they are not sharp…I haven’t even gotten a paper cut! They are quite fun to rub…almost like a worry stone.
The one on the left is olive glass against brass metal. The danglies are green glass and a piece of turquoise. The piece on the right I actually made twice. The first version got too close to the hammer when I was tinkering with it! oops! The metal is copper with a heat patina.  It’s not as blue as the piece below it but it has some oranges and purples that really glow.  I think this is the one BE will like!
I had a lot of fun with these and am itching to make more and try new ideas. I’ve been doing google research on the ideas and techniques. As well as seeing what has been done out there. This seems so far away from my flowers…but I’m sure I’ll find a way to tie it all together some how.

class creations

The top picture are the creations from Stacked and Stitched.  The first one on the left was my first piece and the perfect example of a stacked pendant.  It has a real pleasant rattle to it when you wear it.  The one in the middle was the last piece I made.  The larger main piece used to be a shiny copper I used heat to patina the copper and got lots of cool blue colors.  The silver piece is actually nickel and I used my dapping block to dome it.  The piece on the right is my bug.  I stitched together three pieces of heat patinaed copper and came up with the bug.  This is really one of my favorites.  He’ll go on my winter coat this fall.

These are the creations from the Textured Twining class on Saturday.  The piece on the left took the majority of the class to finish.  Here I learned the basic twining stitch and then went on to experiement with some different variations.  It actually kinda folds on top of itself…I was going to for the 3D effect.  I really really loved doing this.  The pin itself is kinda pokey w/ the wires hanging off like that, but its not too bad.  The piece on the right was started in class and finished at home.  I was learning to twine a circular piece and didn’t quite pull every thing tight enough to my liking so then went on to make it into a mini basket.  you can tell I got kinda sick of it and finished quickly.  I still like it though…its kinda fun to hold.

Vacation Education

I am back from my vacation…already in my back to normal mode and probably 5lbs heavier! The funny thing when combining beads and and vacation… I seemed to eat a lot of good food. Although walking the show floor was some pretty good exercise.
Mom and I have gone to the B+B show before, but this year is the first year we’ve taken classes. The classes aren’t cheap but they have everything under the sun about beads and metal that you could possibly want to learn. We were both drawn toward Mary Hettsmanspurger’s work almost immediately. Mary has a background in metal work, bead work, and basketry. Her metal work uses the concepts that I’ve been wanting to learn w/out going into the precise details that many many metal artists go into. So far my theory is to really get into metal work you have to be a perfectionist…I’m not a perfectionist in that way…so Mary’s thought process really worked for me. She was an excellent teacher, knew how to describe techniques in several ways and provided great demos. In a class of 25 she managed to find time to meet w/ each of us at least once to make sure we were completing what we wanted to complete and learn.
Wednesday’s class was Stacked and Stitched and was a 6 hour class. I liked the simpleness of the pendants but wasn’t a huge fan of the stitching, until I tried it out. I ended up making my self a really neat pin from stitching three pieces together. I call it my bug. The other two pieces I made were the stacked pendants that I liked from the pictures. They’re fun to make and when you wear them give a little jingle. What I really got out of this class was learning the techniques used to manipulate the metal. All this talk I’ve typed out about my torch, and metals tools and the millions of ideas I have…. I do have them all…but haven’t been brave enough to actually try it out. This class not only put me in the perfect setting to try it also gave me the opportunity to ask questions and actually see it all be done. The drill and the torch were the big ones. I’ve never worked with either, I know they were simple tools, but I also know they have the potential to be dangerous. And for me being shown how to work a tool is a big big deal. Now I feel comfortable melting balls on wire, and making heat patinas on copper. I’ve now successfully drilled through both metal and glass. Even watching someone add texture to metal and seeing how hard to hit w/ a hammer was a big help. I’m all for experimenting but sometimes its just nice to watch everything be done.

Saturday’s class was Textured Twining. Twining is a basket weaving technique and so Mom caught on really quick and I wasn’t far behind. We both really really enjoyed this. I’m not sure how to incorporate it into flowers but we were both coming up with great jewelry ideas that had the twining involved. The look itself is a bit rustic which is nice, but Mom was able to pull the weavers so tight it looked like a loom had woven the wire together. Marilyn Moore is another twining artist…her work is amazing! I love how she shades her leaves…just baffles me. She also uses wire in 30 and 32 gauge…thats like metal thread! I tend to break my 28g while lacing! I can’t imagine pulling hard with 30g or 32g.

I will post again and put up pictures of everything I made. I haven’t done it yet b/c Chris took my camera to Yellowstone. What a trip he had! They got to see all kinds of crazy wild life both black and grizzly bears, moose, elk, eagles, otters, and pronghorn. They hiked through snow storms and camped in some pretty chilly weather but man are the pictures amazing. It sounded like an excellent trip. We’re now discussing if Yellowstone should be a larger part of our late summer vacation together. We’re both leaning toward yes!

I’m on Vacation!

I’ve been happy dancing for the last few hours…b/c I’m on vaaacaaation!  I even have a little vacation song… actually I just sing “I’m on vacation” but I do think it is something to celebrate.  So far on vacation I’ve eaten really unheathly food and I’m on my third glass of wine.  I’m looking forward to another 6 days of similar behavior.  I’ll be back next week!

the deck is callin

Another busy and productive weekend.  It’s now Sunday afternoon and I have all my bead and metal stuff packed up.  My clothes are about half way packed and I haven’t even started packing the kitties up yet.  It’s been one of those weekends that we just couldn’t sleep in…at all.  So at the crack of dawn yesterday Chris went for a run and I started picking up the house and organizing.  Doing those things that we’ve been putting off for weeks/months.  Like packing away winter clothes, putting some boxes into storage, and finally resetting up the bead room.  Once the stores opened we did our parts as responsible citizens and stimulated the economy.  We had a list of large items that we needed around the house but just haven’t gotten around to buying yet.  So we went out and bought Chris a Husqvarna weed whacker, we got a new mattress so now we’ll have a bed in the guest room, and we updated our phones.  Once we got home we went to work in the yard.  I planted flowers in several pots, finished up the brick work project, and started cleaning up the back yard.  And then I pooped out!  I managed to cook Jerk chicken for dinner and the rest of the evening was spent watching the White Sox game and then vegging out.
Today I haven’t worked as hard, but Chris has been pretty busy around the house.  We’ve been packing both him and me up all day.  Now he’s just back from a beer run, we’re trying Miller Chill and Sam Adams Summer Ale.  The Sox game is on again…we’re in extra innnings.  As soon as I’m done typing I’m joining him on the deck with a beer.
The picture is my latest bangle….it’s a stab at making the flowers wearable.  It’s still in the prototype phase…I plan on wearing it to the B+B show next weekend.  I already have some ideas for the next one…things to change to make it better.  But I want to wear it around for a bit to see if I come up w/ any more.  So if you’re going to B+B and see someone wearing this…come say HI! 

Lost Finale

Tonight is the season 4 Lost season finale.  It’s hard to believe a year ago we were watching the end of last season…how they thought they’d get off the island.  It was the big show down w/ the Others.  Now in the show its what a week later and in reality its been a year.  Kinda crazy.  During that crazy week several people have died…Jack has had surgury…many more questions have arisen, and very few have been answered.  I’m sure they’ll answer a few questions will be answered tonight.  Lost is pretty famous for their great season finales, it’s almost what keeps the show going.  So I’m sure they’ll throw us a few bones, but they’ll add another huge twist to the story too! 

busy busy

Phew whatta weekend!  It was action packed with driving, family, friends, and mostly decent weather.  We stayed w/ Chris’s parents and saw 3 grandmas, 3 sets of cousins, an aunt/uncle, and close friends.  I’m so glad it was the holiday weekend b/c we never would have finished it all w/out the extra day.  but we got it all in and it was all very productive.  I might be making some flowers for his cousin’s wedding this fall…we had lunch on Saturday and fed on eachothers excitment talking about it.  I got to see my cousins little veggie garden which was fun b/c I’ve been aching to get back out into the yard and finish up some loose ends…not sure when it will happen though. 
This week isn’t much of a break.  We’ve been shopping for camping/backpacking gear for Chris.  While I’m drooling over beads and taking classes he’s going on a guys trip to YellowStone National Park.  I’m a bit jealous b/c it sounds like a blast.  Yesterday we went out and got him some nice hiking boots and a backpack w/ first aid kit.  Today we might stop by another shop to see if they have any clothing he needs to bring.  I’m mentally making lists of tools and beads I want to bring to Mom’s next week.  I leave Tuesday morning so less than a week away!  In fact a week from right now we’ll be in Milwaukee getting ready for our first class….more on that later.
Unfortunately all the fun of visiting w/ family and friends along w/ packing hasnt’ left much time to experiment or play w/ my glass and metal.  And now I’m starting to think that next week won’t be enough time.  oh well…I’ll do what I can w/ the time I have.  It’ll be so much fun…I can hardly wait.

taking action

It’s been a while since I’ve showed any kitty pictures so today I picked two of the funnier ones we’ve taken recently. The top pic is Mira giving Orion a bath. She’s so funny when she’s in bathing mode, her entire head and neck get into the motion so it looks like it’s a workout. The even funnier thing is when this was snapped she was in mid lick and the next lick turned into a bite which became a brother-sister brawl and a good wrestling match! The bottom picture is Mira in her not so modest pose. She was at the Vet yesterday and now weighs 10.5lbs! That’s what Orion weighs and she’s half his size…except in the belly region She’s definitely not ashamed of that belly of hers. I think it just makes her more squishable! =0)

The last few day’s I’ve been feeling really good. For a while now I’ve been in a situation where I’ve been doing the dance of uncertainty about what to do about it. Well I’ve finally made a decision and have been taking action in all different ways in my life. And it feels so good! The craft fair this weekend was a big milestone for me. I really think that if I had really been miserable I wouldn’t still be thinking about it and getting excited. I also think not being accepted into the larger show I applied to was a big milestone as well. Now I can do the experimenting I’ve been thinking about and talking about for months. And so instead of still thinking about it…I took out some of my stuff and began experimenting….

My newest obsession and idea of experimentation is not the metal work you would think….although I plan to combine the two. It is with glass. I have no desire to take up lampworking…I think it’s an incredible art but I’m just not set up for it at home. But inspired by this Watch Me Create blog and the idea of recycling coupled with the fact that I LOVE wine… I want to use the glass from wine bottles to create something. Right now my ideas are for simple jewelry. I have several pendant ideas to play with. I would like to be able to make a cab out of the glass and make a bangle or something that way since I’m personally more of a bracelet girl. I’ve got an idea to try and combine some of the glass with some PMC to try and make a broach that’s in my head. And if that works that’ll open up some ideas for a different bracelet…which can evolve into some pretty neat centers for some flowers. BUT what occurred to me the other day was how cool would it be if I can shape the glass just right to make leaves from green wine bottle glass!!!! This could be a way to get me to create leaves faster and w/out procrastination! And that is really how the train of thought in my head evolved with all those ideas…it’s a wonder I get anything done at all.

Now what I’ve actually done for experimenting…. I’ve done some internet research for ideas on how to sand down the edges of sharp glass as well as how to drill holes in glass. I’ve purchased a stone for sanding glass and some diamond drill bits. Monday I took some empty wine bottles and a hammer and broke some glass. I picked out some pendant size pieces and in water carefully sanded the edges of the glass. I want the piece to still be shiney and see thru…otherwise the easy thing to do would be to put them in a tumbler and make some beach glass. That’s an entirely different area to explore. I haven’t tried drilling yet although I’ve found some instructions. The last few days I’ve been sanding different pieces to get a nice pile together. The sanding works great! I’m thrilled with the results. What I want to work on next is finding a way to cut shapes from the glass…I bought some glass nippers but that more shatters than breaks. So research that and try out the drill…that’s what’s next on the list.

first craft show

I have survived my first craft show. It went fairly well, we got there around 7:45am and unloaded the truck and set up the booth all in about an hour. We were give about a two hour slot to set up so that wasn’t so bad. Unfortunately, we had some issues with a canopy that I bought earlier in the week. Good thing it didn’t rain…although it was quite chilly. The weather man said 70’s but it ended up being in the 50’s and very windy and mostly cloudy. I was completely chilled. Mom brought me a sweater that helped a lot, and Darcey’s mom let us borrow some blankets.
I sold one piece to Mom but that was about it. That was pretty much what I had expected. It was a very small town in the outskirts of Chicago area, and there wasn’t a whole lot of advertising going on. I got a lot out of it though. I learned how to stake down all of my display in extremely windy conditions…it didn’t fall once! I slowly got an idea of how to arrange the display so that it will invite people into the booth. This was hard w/out walls…and in the picture was not a good flow. About half way through the show we rearranged a little and that helped. I learned that I could sit in not the best of conditions while not exactly doing well and not hate it. That’s kinda a big deal b/c it comes with the territory if this is something I want to pursue. I have a list of things I want to add or change for the next show. I’m not scheduled to be in another this year, but you never know. I received a variety of comments ranging from overflowing compliments to a low grunt.  I’m actually thinking that I’ll try this again.  I’m making a list of other shows in the area to go check out this summer to see how well flowers would fit in.  Should be fun doing the research! 
Now that this is over I’m excited about doing some experimenting. I have a few ideas up my sleeve for some experiments with some glass and metal. This is taking a step away from flowers and going into new territory…jewelry. I’m hoping I can bring some of my ideas back into the flowers but I’m going to start small first. I also have quite a few flower ideas stored up too. But experimenting is taking a priority since the B+B show is fast approaching and my ideas sort of tie into the classes we are taking.

Metallic Enhancements

Chris came up with Metallic Enhancements as another way of describing these new flowers. I thought it created a different visual…but not the wrong visual. It’s odd how different words meaning the same thing can imply or create different mental images.

Here are my final two pieces to share. This is it for now…everything I have done is in the gallery. phew it feels good to be all caught up with that. You can see it all in person on Sunday in Pingree Grove if you’re in the Chicago area.
The first I’m going to show is Rusty Rose. I created this last July and actually worked on some of the wire wrapping while camping in Missouri last summer. I entered it into a juried show at the Peoria Art Guild and it was on display there for a month last fall. The bottom layer of petals are made using the most sparkly of cut beads. They were bought out west and I doubt I’ll find them again…but they are wonderful. The wire work is copper, and small turquoise rounds are the accents. Rusty Rose is permanently planted in a pink wine glass.

Late last fall early winter I started thinking about using the wire work with petals to create a SnowFlake. We all know no two snowflakes are exactly a like and really that holds true for flowers as well. I think blending the concepts into a snowflake flower turned out spectacularly well. This is a little rough…but I really like it. I think it could become a line of flowers when the winter mood hits each year. I was really torn on this flower whether or not to add some leaves, and what they would look like. Then it dawned on me…snowflakes don’t have leaves. If you think it looks a bit lonely, it really looks spectacular when combined with some live baby’s breath.