Portrait by Chuck E Cheese

I spent most of yesterday at our local Chuck E Cheese establishment. I made a quick decision to spend the afternoon here after discovering that the local indoor amusement park was closed. On a Tuesday. That makes no sense to me....and my nephew...who had been planning this outing for weeks. Surprisingly, Chuck E was a great second choice. The highlight for me was letting the computer Chuck sketch us. Getting my nephew to cooperate was no so easy but when the camera finally snapped we were in position and watched old Chuck sketch us and then sign our portrait. Not bad for just one token.

But the studio keeps on humming. New resin bird embellishments now adorn these fabric cards.

And vintage Christmas is getting some glam!

A Few New Canvas To Card Sets

I was hoping on the day I sprayed a final top coat to these canvases this summer that I would really get a chance to use them in my card production this fall. Just looking at this picture I remember how hot it was. The spray dried so quickly.

I am really enjoying working with the images now. Especially on such a grey day like yesterday was in this part of Ontario. Here are two more of the canvases turned into art cards.

I don't get enough bright green in my life. I wish I had a shirt in this colour.

The little matching Pouf (c) pieces turned out very pretty too.

The Anti Yodeling Ostrich Request

I received this email from my sister in law earlier today.

Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Friends -

Stella has her eye on a Wii, which can be hers for selling something like 75 magazine subscriptions.
Please help us help her reach her goal. The stakes are high: if she sells only 12 subscriptions we’ll be the proud parents of a neon green yodeling ostrich.
I’m sure you understand the urgency of aiming higher.

On behalf of the anti-yodeling ostrich league, we thank you for your support.

Until you know a child that has to fund raise, you have no idea how great these subscription rates really are. So I am appealing to all my Canadian readers.
Martha Stewart is 66% off newsstand. The full year was $22 which I don't have to tell you is a whole lot cheaper than picking it up at Chapters.....

So, if you want to do something for yourself...and something for my niece I have attached all the information below.

Check out the deals and steals at http://www.qsp.ca/

The school account is 16452 (Our Lady Of Peace.)
The child is Stella Cimicata and she is in Grade One.
Her teachers name is SMAILEY.

Monday Mayhem

I can no longer ignore the piles and piles of stuff.

I need to sort some clear space before I can get started this week.

Sunday Morning Coffee

Every morning I get up and go straight into my studio.

I walk a direct path.

You might think it is because I am so excited to begin working but the truth is my coffee maker is in there.

My first cup is the best. I need to have at least two before I make any decisions. I need to have at least two cups before I even speak.

Since I am in the studio, I often take a look at things that are partially finished. I especially love to see if my resin projects dried perfectly overnight or if a pesky bubble appeared long after I went to sleep.

These purse hangers turned out really well. I hate to put them away because they look so pretty on the table. The next time I see them is when I unpack them at the One of A Kind show in November.

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Enjoy your Sunday friends. Here is a link list to all the interesting beaders!

A Bead A Day If you are "mousing" all day and still want to wear a bracelet, memory wire rubber tubing is a simple and comfortable option.

About.com Jewelrymaking Tammy is already thinking about and making Halloween jewelry so she can wear it next month. What about you?

Art Bead Scene Keep misplacing your ruler? Get one for free!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts 29 Days of Giving starts with a Japanese book giveaway.

Beading Arts So, what to do with all those left over seed beads...?

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi discovers Free Trade Kazuri beads from Kenya.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva Cindy imagines a movie and writes a script.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie congratulates Jean Cambell and shares the beautiful piece she made for Beadwork Magazine using an Earthenwood face stone.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Check out the beads and goodies Lorelei bought on her recent trip to London, England.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean reviews Big and Bold, a really pretty book of jewelry designs culled from BeadStyle Magazine.

Strands of Beads Melissa shows off her new "Twilight" choker made with Swarovski crystal from Artbeads.com.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton The pace is picking up for Andrew and his BIG SALE. Check out where he'll be next and celebrate his birthday with a special 15% off promotional code!

Winter Whites

Crossing over into holiday mode has not been easy this summer. I keep visualizing my booth at the Christmas One of A Kind. Making it really festive and pretty is my goal...but I need to start making festive and pretty inventory!

So I worked on a snow white theme for a day. These photos are a little darker than I would like.


But I think you get a sense of what I was up to in the studio.

The big change is setting up my indoor studio. I prefer to walk outside at noon and take photos in the natural light...but lately, the sky's have been grey during the day again. So my indoor storage cubby is a photo studio again. I need to get used to the light settings again. Soon it will be second nature to take a picture right here.

My Shag Carpet Postcards

Okay. The shag carpet reference was an exaggeration.

But doesn't this pink fiber remind you of thick plush carpeting?

I could not wait for these vintage postcards to arrive in the mail.

They are even better than I had hoped for! I hope I can add this type of texture to my own cards.

When A Bead Looks Like a Landscape-Kazuri Beads

At the beading show last week I went crazy over this bead.

I love pale blues and aquas and I don't always see this colour in my travels.

This bead immediately caught my eye.

Doesn't it make you think of Africa? I really felt like I was looking at a landscape.

They are Kazuri beads from Kenya.

I had a really hard time selecting beads from the table. Really, I wanted them all. But in the end I made a few groupings and then spend a few moments speaking with the owner of Karibu Beads. Karibu sells the hand made Kazuri beads. The story behind these beads is fascinating.

Karibu - the Swahili word for "Welcome".
In 1975, Lady Susan Wood set up a fledgling business making beads in a small shed in her back garden. She started by hiring two disadvantaged women, and quickly realized that there were many more women who were in need of jobs and so Kazuri Beads was created and began its long and successful journey as a help center for the needy women especially single mothers who had no other source of income. In 1988 Kazuri became a factory and expanded hugely with over 120 women and men.

I want to make something really special with these beads. The website has the most beautiful design samples. You really must take a peak.

Happy People Make Happy Cards

I have gone down a road so cute...I may not be able to return!

From One Palette To No Palette

There are days when all my cards can be organized into the same colour families.

Like this card. Black, white and gold. A favorite. Ordinarily I would have made four sets using this colour scheme.

Then there are days when I am all over the colour wheel.

I went from one end of the colour wheel to the next. It's good not to think too much.

Cards With Ornaments

I made one more set of these wooden bead embellishments. After spray painting and filling the centre with resin I decided these would be very pretty to wear...but in the end, they ended up on a card set.

My Heart Is Happy!

The Bead Oasis show is on this weekend and I spent yesterday in two classes at the event downtown. I have been wanting to take this wire wrapping class from Judy Feskun for years!!! I will definitely be taking more classes from her in the future!

And the Peyote stitch. Not so easy...let me just say. It was very difficult to get going, but these two bracelets in progress have really made me appreciate the beaders even more. I have a long way to go before I get any good at this style of jewelery making. Catherine Salmon is also a wonderful instructor.

My day was full.

My recycling bag for purchases is full.

My wallet is empty.

Another great day out.

Here is a peak into the world of my jewelry making friends this week!

A Bead A Day Bead-wiring vs. bead-weaving...which do you prefer?

About.com Jewelrymaking Loving some filigree, check out these new filigree jewelry projects.

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene shows off her top art bead picks for this month's Kandinsky Challenge.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten ArtifactsBarbe goes crazy over Mixed Metals book

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi's creates a necklace using canvas and leather.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva Cindy makes more Through the Looking Glass Nuggets Charms that match perfectly with Frost Links.

Earthenwood Studio ChroniclesMelanie shares her uncertainty about a new dragonfly pendant design. Jewelry & Beading Cyndi has finished another CopprClay necklace and wants to share the instructions!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Bead cones can be used in more way than one and Lorelei shows an example!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean comes across her "Digg it" necklace--far out! She's like an archaeologist!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Art Bead Scene's September prompt is Kandinsky's Improvisation No. 23. Andrew shares the piece he created in response to the painting. Check it out!

Mail From The Local Funeral Home

Even my local funeral home is using the iconic Marie Antoinette to advertise it's services.

In answer to their question: my plan is to not get my head cut off.

Despite The Distractions

Even though it seemed like there was so much to do outside of the studio this week, I have managed to stick to the quota. Yesterday was a very long day for me.

It is a pleasure to use embellishments I made myself. I need to take some time today to set up the next round of bezel creations.

Van Gogh Meets Sticky-Back Canvas

It is Thursday again and I have another short demo on how to make this cute leather and canvas necklace.

Van Gogh's art is clearly the feature of the necklace. I bought the images in clip art form from Dover images...but what makes it work is Sticky-Back Canvas. I printed my images directly onto the canvas using my plain old ink jet printer. The colour saturation is fantastic...and my printer is old!

Because the canvas already has the "sticky" back, it is so easy to cut the images and attach it to another surface. In my case, I stuck it to the suede side of the leather.

Now my Janome Jem machine was put to the test.

I have not tried sewing leather and canvas with it yet.....

No surprise! It sewed beautifully. I switched to a slower setting so I could watch the stitches. It went through both the sticky-back canvas and leather like it was plain old cotton.

I already had an idea of how the necklace would be assembled in advance. All I had to do was punch some holes and attach each leather piece with gold jump rings.

The necklace is light as a feather! I may still add some beads later.

This is what the Sticky-Back Canvas looks like. If you can't find it near you, I do have it in my web store linked here.

Production Days

Yesterday I finally made a very large number of cards. Tick Tock. The clock is constantly chirping at me. Here is a little look at a few of the card designs.

A card set for me. Featuring my art printed on cotton.

Great Ideas For Fabric

Isn't this a great way to show off your fabric?

I would love blinds like this!

I took this picture in the prettiest quilt store in Cookstown.

Paris Altered Book Assemblage

I am going to miss this little skeleton. He's been in my studio for a few months.

He is the star of my book "Paris Loves the Camera."

It was a little difficult to capture as a picture. The book features a vintage camera and finding the right angle to photograph it was not easy. The image inside is of two nuns walking in Paris. The Notre Dame is right behind them.

I also attached a mini Eiffel tower. You can only see it if you peek in from the side.

It is off to a really good home though!