11. September 2009 by Kathy.

While we were all in Los Angeles I did basic enameling with the girls.  While using a torch is a bit scary they all did GREAT.  I need to take some photos of their pieces to show you.  But here are some pictures of the crew at work!

Laura just prepped a piece and is getting ready to torch I think.

Suzanne putting on the enamel powder (and in a newly acquired find from the Garment District):

And I think this is Emily holding her recently enameled frog?

Thank you it Art Unraveled 2008 and Richard for getting me hooked again.  All of them LOVED it I think.

And we did some basic earring making also.  Don’t they look like teenagers here humoring their aunt?  They are very good teenagers…

Posted in family, class, jewelry | 1 Comment »

5. February 2009 by Kathy.

I signed up for Robyn’s class this weekend (Sunday) at Piecemakers.  Great class, great store, great teacher!  While I took Sally Jean last fall for soldering you would think I would have confidence but since I managed to burn my hand pretty bad in class (and not on the project or the soldering iron mind you!!!) - I haven’t really worked on soldering jewelry since then.

The best way to get myself going again is to sign up for a class!!!!  And this looked great.  I had high expectations and Robyn surpassed them.  For now here is a photo of the class at work soldeirng outside on a gorgeous day in Southern California…on February 1!

And some not great shots of Robyn’s work but glass is hard to photo because of reflections (at least that is my excuse).   Robyn does really great work with tiny bottles and she enhances them with buttons or such on top!  She explained how she built the box around the Charlotte on the left side also - I am going to try to make it more “fabric” oriented, although I do have some charlottes small enough to do that I think!  And notice those dice on the bottom!!!!

Posted in class, favorite store, jewelry | 2 Comments »

17. August 2008 by Kathy.

Last day of conference…last class…and the long drive home only to go back to work the next day. Sigh.

Enameling Copper with Richard Salley. Great class. So glad I bought those precut copper shapes from Lonnies earlier in the week!

Below are photos of Richard soldering, some samples of his work, a classmate’s sample and then two classmates working - enameling and shifting enamel.

Finally - a photo of my projects:

Can you see those frogs in the lower left corner?  I managed to get that shape, flowers and hearts.  Then I also did the pendant design Richard taught us.  He has great methods of holding metal without soldering, etc.  And they look great!

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17. August 2008 by Kathy.

Today was SHOPPING and Patina’d Metals sample.

First shopping - Carol got me thinking when she bought the piece from Susan. It would be nice to have some pieces from various teachers. So I went shopping with the intentions of getting a Jane piece and a Josie piece. I succeeded…

necklaces from Jane:

necklace from Josie and a few other NECESSARY supplies:

Josie’s able assistant (not Kay this time) pointed out the quality of Josie’s work. She was right - I bought this piece further down and on its own its fine but next to a Josie or Jane piece - not the same caliber.   Having been to her online store I think this is not of the caliber this seller normally makes - at least not by what I saw posted.  Anyway, here is this piece:

Then I stopped at a place that was selling acrylic flowers and leaves - bought some. Have to find that website so I can order more! No photo - forgot to snap it. Maybe later when I use them on CQ work.

And found a place where the lady was stamping on those resin pieces I have in my jewelry supply selection and haven’t done anything with- its an interesting idea. Anyway, I bought cords from her to hang my pieces from Jane from. (And don’t you love that hand? Its a vintage glove mold. I was lucky enough to get a left and right hand…they are beautiful.)

Finally shopped at the other local mecca store for altered artists - The Paper Studio - because as they said they brought the store! I would show the papers but they are rolled up. But I did get some great pendants from them also. I guess they just started making these.

At this point I thought it best to go rid myself of my shopping so I could get ready for class. Then I had a bit of time so I tried Hannah and Gray’s booth one more time and was able to get to it! Here are a few of the things I bought there - always an eclectic selection, lol.

Class - Patinaing Metal

WOW! In this class I learned how to paint a sky. Ok I learned a lot more but Jacqueline Sullivan opened my eyes to painting again. I remember my Sky Dyes fabric class with Mickey Lawler - I just could not get a sky for the life of me. Thus I am a lifelong customer of Mickey, lol. (I still would be even if I had been able to paint a sky.) But in this class - at the end Jacqueline had us paint a mat board to float our patina’d metals on and she challenged herself (and us) to pick colors OUTSIDE of our comfort area. My fav color that always works for me is green. Then the reds and oranges and yellows. So I went for blue and purples. Her advice to take the darkest and start at the outside (or was that how I interpreted it?) worked for me. Here is my canvas with metal:

Ok - back to the purpose of the class. Jacqueline explained weather, heat, etc impact how each metal turns out. Also how much of the liquid and other items were with the piece of metal. Oh and the different metals. I need to redo some of my class experiment because I used too much saran wrap to hold the liquid and metal together - not enough sun! But I got some results so I understand the process.

Jacqueline taught us another way to etch metal also. Oh boy - this metal etching is fun!

Posted in fabric, jewelry, paper | 3 Comments »

17. August 2008 by Kathy.

Another class with Jane - Captured! Bezeled Found Objects.

It was another day of soldering but without copper tape. Again a teacher made it way easier than I thought. (Light bulb moment - this is why I take classes - they have already done the work, the trail and error, that would take me months of frustration to get thru (mainly because I stop for a while when frustrated!). Someone once asked why I take so many classes - this is one reason. If I learn one “trick” in a class its the cost of my time/money doing home alone trial and error!)

Back to the class - Jane demoing soldering!

Some of Jane’s bezels:

A sample (of my yet not finished) bezels for the day! A face made out of a washer, bezels to hold a shirt and pants (both are actually lampwork beads I have been hoarding - I want to make them moveable in the bezel), a tire (long story about last trip to LA - scary), my failed attempt for the pants bezel and the heart bezel.

A sample of my tube cuttings (both at home and at class)!

And a trip

to Harbor for said cutter and a few other supplies - thanks for the tips Carol! And I just LOVE new tools!

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17. August 2008 by Kathy.

Thursday was Altered Curiosities - the Lighted Shrine - with Jane Wynn. Have you seen Jane’s book? Its wonderful! And between the two classes I took from her we actually covered a lot of her techniques. Its great when teachers are so willing to share so many ideas. (Josie was the same way and has TWO great books out there! Plus she is proposing a book on soldered items for the home - I hope that one goes! Great idea)

What a fun class this was. Artists think of the strangest things/projects and it comes out so great. Here we took one of those great crystal type frames that we buy (ok I buy) and then never use because they are a little too much maybe? Anyway, we took those frames, added a shadow box behind it and then punched holes and wired with lights. The above photos are of one student gluing the wires down and of Jane assisting another student in gluing the wries down.

My project is not finished - thus came out easier to photo because not glass reflecting back at me (I do wonder where I put that glass!) This will be for my oldest niece’s high school photo…she is 18 this year! Scary!

Most important lesson learned from Jane: TRY IT! She says her students come up with ideas she never thought of and she says try it - she has learned they are determined and will make it work. I think there is a great lesson in that for me - just TRY IT!

Most important tool Jane showed us - at least to me…and the technique is in her book already. Tube cutters:

Trip to Harbor Frieght was required!!!

Resin Charms

I have had Sherri Haab’s book on this for a while and in a previous blog entry (last Feb) did the heart earrings. Well since I had problems I thought it would be good to take her class and see what my mistake was. (There were several - mostly the one I knew about - not stirring enough)

I learned how to add the color (but use the same manufacturer that was specified…see my lifesaver!). This is the quick drying resin. When they came out of the mold I was not impressed but days away from them and I like them. (Not love them but they are definitely useable!)

Sherri demo’d making a mold (the lifesaver!) We played with two of the three resins she had. (I learned a lot about resin types - hmm if I had READ the book I would have learned it there!) And to keep my fingers out of the molds. Another student (and Sherri ) have the same trick I figured out - freezing the mold sometimes helps with hard to remove pieces, but they did it for other reasons.

We (some of us) tried Susan’s new resin - I loved it! Here are my examples along with the two hearts from Sherri’s resin kit I had at home (the ones I did for Valentines day). The bezels were from Nina Designs - great bezels, thank you Nina and Sherri!

Other news/info

I won a t-shirt! Great shirt from Golden (love those products)

Also the founder of Art Glitter Institute was there demoing - she has this great technique with lace…here is the piece she did to demo it for me:

Posted in display, jewelry, paper | No Comments »

17. August 2008 by Kathy.

Two classes on this day!

First class Soldered Journal with Josie (and Kay) again.

Josie had designed a great cover for the soldered journal class but I wanted to make mine into a memory book of my art classes this year so after emailing Josie for dimensions (because it was an option for all of us to design a cover ourselves if desired) I made my front image the week before class.

I had decided a map - well 6 maps - of the areas I would (or have been) in for taking classes would be good! Its a fun year - ribbonwork with my favorite Aussie - Helen Eriksson, attending Art Unraveled, attending Art and Soul, attending the International Quilt Festival. The cover shows up with my class project!

Class itself - Josie and Kay made soldering easy. Kay was a stickler on getting that tape down (burnishing). At first I thought it was overkill. But since we broke for lunch and came back to start soldering - well I could instantly see places where the tape had not STUCK! And Josie has this neat trick of tapping the surface as she goes - makes for a cleaner look. I, of course, forgot that for part of it and boy did it make a big difference!

Did I mention we patina’d? Fun and a great way for beginners like me to blend in less than perfect soldering. Thank you Josie!

Evening Class - Buckled Memories

The class description missed a few key things - mainly we were transferring the photo to LEATHER! That might have brought in a few more students. Dorothy was a great teacher - it was an evening of challenges for her for sure and she handled it like a pro.

The whole project was an interesting concept. I had thought they were just frames and so had planned on grouping three together (I still have to finish this project) into a shadow box. Everyone else were making pendants to hang on a chain. So Dorothy taught us Richard Salley’s staple method and her original method of wiring the buckles to hang on a chain also! I learned a lot that night. One thing I learned (and Dorothy did also, lol) is that the tongue of the belt buckle comes in various thicknesses and I had the thickest Dorothy had ever seen (you see you have to cut that part off!). That took me quite a while to cut off. So here is my photo - this is not a done transfer though because I had the wrong type of paper. I will post later when I have it done:

My roomie had Susan’s class on resin that day and produced this:

The first piece is actually a ring made with the resined papers - really nice! The second piece is actually Susan’s work.

Posted in book, jewelry, paper, kit | No Comments »

17. August 2008 by Kathy.

First day of classes. Mine was Copper Etched Journal with Josie C. and her able associate KAY!!! They made the etching process easier than I had been expecting - others had told me it was hard to do! Josie shared her stamps (great collection - some her design) with us and away we went.

Helpful info - did you know that tin snips can cut thru 24 ga copper? So much easier (and quicker) than using a saw. Josie says Tim Holtz’s new scissors also cut thru 24 ga.

It takes a while for the etchant to work so while that was going on I (and probably a few other students) learned that the word signature has a second meaning. Signature also means a folded section of pages in a book. The book we were making has three signatures. Josie made it all simple which I really appreciated.

What is it about a “technique” class where you get to do a project that is so rewarding? And Josie believes in student success so she had done so much prep work for us - we didn’t have to cut anything - copper, mat board, papers, linen thread. She pre drilled and punched all the holes in the covers. And she brought her able associate KAY. Thank you Josie and Kay.

The etching will be great to try with the jewelry process and making a book was fun so I might do that again!

The picture did not do the project justice. Its a tiny book - so cute! Plus I learned to etch! And here are a couple other examples and then some fellow students photos (mostly hands - I am recording hands at work this year).

oops - almost forgot Carol’s class project from Michael deMeng:

Posted in book, jewelry, paper | 1 Comment »

30. March 2008 by Kathy.

I took a bead class yesterday - great teacher, great project and great instructions!  Here is a photo of it:

I love Jenni Bowlin!  I have that yellow rose leftover from her calendar project kit from january.  The pendant looked best photoed against that.  Now for a close up of the wonderful pendant with a Swarovski cut crystal (3omm!) in the middle (see how its multicut?  I chose the golden shadow I think so its got a nice vintage tone to it.  Now I just have to make it into a necklace.

And you see the little bit of glass behind that?  Carole told me where she got these great cupcake/dessert holders.  She puts her lovely pincushions in them.  I set them up for easter (and will now have to clean the one of glitter - but thats a whole other subject).

And what did I put in them for Easter?  I found the moss rock eggs that Teresa McFayden had shown - those are too funny!  Plus I can leave them up all through the rest of the spring, probably summer and into fall.  I so love green and moss so this is a great combination.  In the taller one I put the easter eggs I made following Amy’s instructions.  I sent off some of them to my sister with earrings inside for her and the girls.  I also sent one to my Bellitoria exchange partner.  (I haven’t heard from her - getting worried that the package has not arrived!).  I used a lot of that great vintage ribbon from Carole that is gradated from gold to pale yellow or purple to pale violet.  And for most of them I used a vintage piece of jewelry to decorate, but mine have flowers on them…still look good!  (Oh and that cupcake display stand is now COVERED in glitter!)

Don’t you just love those displays?  Carole is so creative - makes it always an experience to visit her ribbon shop!

Posted in display, jewelry, holiday decor, swaps | No Comments »

29. March 2008 by Kathy.

So I have been collecting interesting items in the way of jewelry and using them on different objects or in new jewelry.  Ok, I admit it - I seem to be addicted to rhinestones at the moment.  You can’t tell by what I wear of late but I seem to be drawn to shiny things!  Or is it because I live in Las Vegas?

So one of the blogs that motivates me is Seeking Everyday Beauty & Velvet Strawberries.  If you look at the blog entry titled Oh and one more you will see Andrea’s find for storing her pieces/parts.  (And a great collection of pieces/parts.)

I hunted high and low at two local Michaels but never saw this - probably was looking in the wrong area.  And I was in and out of several Tuesday Mornings looking for something like it and had no luck.  I did buy a substitute at Michaels but it was not deep enough.  So I just thought to put the idea in the back of my mind and hope someday to find a similar item.  Now while at Tuesdays I did buy what I thought was a drawer divider of sorts for the kitchen tool drawer.  Why I thought that was what it was is beyond me - I found it in the craft aisle.  (Isn’t it great they have a CRAFT aisle?  I have tassels collected from there that I am hoarding, lol.  They make great package tops for little kids - fun to play with!)

I unwraped/unsealed the drawer divider and was checking it for fit only to realize it has a COVER.  And said COVER slides off!  Well, by chance I bought the correct item to store those jewelry bits so I can see them but have them protected.  Here is a shot of it with the lid partially open that I took to show a friend how the cover worked (look at where the bubblewrap is NOT and you will see a shadow of the cover):

I think it will work!  And the wood color matches the wood in my workroom.  Sometimes you accidently discover what you are looking for all along.

Speaking of jewelry - Martha did pearl dying yesterday on her show.  Martha did it with Rit Dyes.  What I loved were the gradations of the pearls but Martha made me think that the powder dyes of Rits that I ignore should not be.  Her staff is so creative.  And then she stitched them on Silk ribbon and tyed it around her neck.  Look at the instructions or the video to the project - Pearls by Martha.  I bet this will work with real pearls too?   I have a lot of freshwater ones…

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Posted in thrifting, jewelry, storage | 1 Comment »