Some Pumpkin Photos from Cedarburg

Just last week I enjoyed walking down Main St to take these photos.

Pumpkins and the colour orange sure do brighten up my day.

Saturdays in October

This is a bench I photographed in Cedarburg, Wisconsin last weekend.

Christmas Glare

It's getting harder for me to photograph my new art cards.

I just love using glitter and shiny papers. They don't photograph well, but I think you will get a sense of how bright these cards are.

I have never made as many resin filled embellishments. This One of A Kind show will really feature some of my best pieces.


I love this retro Christmas cat!

And there are dozens of Japanese and Russian dollies!

Polymer Clay Pendant Necklace

I am so new to polymer clay that I had to check the spelling of "polymer."

I have been using the words FIMO or SCULPEY to describe it but those are brand names so I think I will finally just say polymer clay.

Polymer clay - I think I love you!

All kidding aside. I think you just need the right instructor or book to make you really figure out how to use a new medium. (Can I remind you once again that I was in classes with polymer clay artisan Laurie Mika this past weekend.) She has no fear of this medium. She just dove right in and tried out a million techniques. In turn, she taught some of those techniques to us and I bet a few of us will come up with even more. These sample pendant are from a workshop she taught focusing on pendant sized pieces. I do love to work small. I see endless applications for me in my art card productions.

The secret to part of my success was this tray of old bezels I have had (FOR YEARS) in the old stash-a-roo. They made perfect little frames for me to work in and when I came home I poured resin into my openings. Since it is Thursday, I wanted to post a wearable piece of art, so I picked one of the pendants. Okay. I picked my favorite pendant and made this simple little necklace.

I have this additional pendant ready to use too...but time is short right now. It will have to wait till December when there is some down time post the One of A Kind show.

I Have Laurie Mika's Sample

Look what followed me home from vendors night in Cerdarburg!

I waited very patiently to see what Laurie Mika was selling Saturday night. Purchases were made while I was waiting. Don't you hate that? What if what you really wanted was already sold?

I didn't have a wish list. Just a desire to have a peice of her work as a momento of a great workshop. I picked this box up immediately. I liked it instantly and didn't change my mind.

I didn't realize in the moment that I had already seen it and loved it!

If you have this issue of Workshop you will see that Laurie is one of three featured artists.

This is the box she built as a sample for the magazine.

The article is excellent. A great 'how to' if you can't get to her class in person.

My husband can't believe she sold the sample. I am so glad to offer it a nice home!

Taking a Class With Laurie Mika

This book has been sitting in a prominent place on my coffee table for a year. I constantly flip through it. I had no idea that fimo and the other clay products could create this type of art.

Now, having said that, I have been collecting clay, clay tools and everything you need to make this type of art for years. I just needed one workshop to get me started.

When I found out Laurie was teaching in Wisconsin over a weekend I was available I signed up without even thinking about it. I could not wait. When I saw the class list I realized I did not have to buy one thing. I already had everything in my stash.

We were in the first workshop for only a moment when the excitement for me started to build. I knew I was in the right place. These are the name tags Laurie made up for us.

The first workshop was about building thick ATC sized clay pieces. I stuck to that format for only the morning.

Then I started to build clay pieces using whatever shape I fancied. I could not believe how many techniques we were learning. So many of the things I am currently NOT using work with clay. My rubber stamps are now going to be used for something different. My supplies have a new life.

Clay is so forgiving and is relatively inexpensive.

I could not wait to come home and add some resin into the reservoirs I made. There was a point in the workshop when I felt like I had so many new ideas that my head might explode! It's been a while since I felt that way after a workshop.

This is Laurie.

If you get a chance to sign up for a workshop with her...do! She is a fantastic instructor. Prepared, inspirational, kind and best of all...totally approachable. She loved to see what everyone was working on.

I'll post more about the second workshop tomorrow!

My New Locket

I am back from the Raven's Nest Retreat in Wisconsin. I learned so much and I fell in love with Cedarburg.

I thought I would just post the locket I made in Richard Salley's class. It is called a hinged copper locket and we made everything from scratch.

A process I do not enjoy.

I hate to admit it, but hammering metal does not appeal to me at all. I also do not like cutting or filing it. But the instructor was excellent! My locket does not look like the sample for the class. I did not have the right copper wire with me so I decided to just improvise in order to complete my piece.

I never get tired to learning.
By the end of the class I had figured out away to make the locket work just by looking at a sample. I have a wonderful memento of my day in the workshop.

While I was gone the beading gang ewas really busy too! Here is my usual weekend links list.

About.com Jewelrymaking After posting a new jewelry book review for a very cool mixed media book, Tammy is looking a head to other reviews coming up very soon.
Art Bead Scene You've heard of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Well, this Sisterhood shares bracelets.
Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe gets tangled up with Chain Style book review
Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi decided to finally use her bead stash from Paris.
Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva Cindy's got some new findings from Ornamentea. What's she going to make with them?
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles The inspiration for Melanie's Machinery of Nature necklace comes from science, steampunk, and nature.
Jean Campbell Jean struggles through the creative process while bezeling some unusual crystal shapes
Jewelry & Beading Little beaded flowers are addictive to make, and before you know it, you've got enough for a complete necklace!
Katie's Beading Blog Check out Katie's ideas on making your old beads new again- and make some affordable gifts along the way!
Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Better get on board, Lorelei is having the last of the Enchanted Adornments giveaways. Leave a comment to play!
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean has a little Boo power going on for her in this hand made Halloween bracelet!
Strands of Beads Melissa shows off metal clay goodies from Rings & Things

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew revisits a bracelet design and creates six others.

I am In Heaven

By the time this posts I'll be waking up in Wisconsin getting ready for a day of classes.

I'll try and send some photos via my blackberry as I am travelling without my laptop this trip.

Paris Bead Stash

As my niece would say "what the heck?"

What kind of beaded necklace is that?

It's all because of this vintage bead vendor in Paris.

This doesn't look like much, but trust me if you go to the big market north of Paris you would find this bead and ribbon vendor. Their family has had a stall here for over 30 years. They sell beads by the cup. And by cup, I mean teeny tiny cup. One cup is $16 Euros. You can put as many beads in it as you like and people get very crafty layering beads in their cup. I have been coming here once a year for over 7 years. Multiply that by 2-4 cups of beads each time and you can imagine that my bead stash is getting a little unwieldy. Especially since I won't use the beads.

I have them all nicely organized into trays.

Well the trays came out!

I thought I would just make a few loops of these special mementos. One loop into another. It was fun, relaxing and I had three hours of TV to get through.

I didn't want the project to end, so I just kept on looping one set after another.


I used up some of the special beads that I had to dig in the wooden boxes for and only had one or two of.


I finally stopped. A mixed media piece it is. No plan. Just a goal to make a dent in my stash.
I think I could make 6 or 7 more and still have beads left over. No more hoarding.

Freakin To Do List

I love this artist and her blog. Erin Vale often posts handy dandy sheets you can download and now she has these as pads of paper you can order. I printed this off again today...because MY FREAKIN TO DO LIST is a mile long!

You'll love her "Pain in the ass groceries to buy list" too!

Beautiful Handcrafted Pin Cushions

During our trip through New Hampshire a few weeks ago we came across a very big antique store. The last thing I expected to find were these newly crafted items. The booth vendor clearly loves to sew with vintage ribbons and buttons. Those were available to purchase too, but her new pincushions were so lovely I opted to buy two of those instead. I am hoping to learn how to make flowers from ribbons some day. These two pin cushions will be my inspiration until I can take a class.

The 50's

These are just to going to make me smile. I put the Russian doll on a vintage 50's wrapping paper back ground. This card has the bonus of a kokeshi doll pendant too. Everything I love all on one card! Then the 50's gal in the white coat got cleaned up in Photoshop. She has new glitter buttons.

If Artists Were In Charge

If Artists were in charge of the world we would have a lot more of this.

A handcrafted cross made from a used bullet.
I came across this piece in a booth at the Creative Festival in Toronto yesterday. The vendor had never been in a show before and she had been collecting trinkets and antiques for years. She had no idea where she got this item, but a tiny note on the back said it was made by a former child soldier in Liberia, Africa. It really appealed to me because I have been using bullets in my assemblage pieces too. There is something about a bullet's shape and colour that makes you wish they had been crafted for another reason.

Sunday again friends.
Another week has flown by and my beading friends have all been busy. Here are a few inspired links for you to enjoy with coffee.

A Bead A Day Do you have a distinctive style or do you go where the wind blows you? Lisa would love to hear about your design process.
About.com Jewelrymaking Fall is in the air, at least in some areas of the world, so it is time to think about making fall jewelry.
Art Bead Scene ABS shares a motherlode of giveaways for October.
Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe gets a mini artpiece from Artbeads.
Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi makes some resin filled embellishments quickly!
Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva There's a new addition to the Heartz n Skullz Family. Come check out the new Skully Bowz!
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie heats things up with some fire inspired crystal and porcelain beads in her newest necklace from her Art Beads crystal week
Jean Campbell Jean reviews Wendy Ellsworth's wonderful new book, Beading--The Creative Spirit.
Jewelry & Beading Cyndi shares the instructions for a special necklace that she made for a friend, called "The Fourth Day of Creation"
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is swooning over the newest Crystallized Innovations from Artbeads!
Strands of Beads Melissa is proud to be Soft Flex Company's Spotlight On... Designer for October!
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton See what Andrew whipped up when he sat down in the studio after a dry spell.

Pink, Blue and Teal Christmas

I love this colour grouping!

Chrismas Russian Dollies

I am having a very festive time placing these Russian doll images on vintage Christmas paper backgrounds. I have about a dozen designs using these dolls. How could I not smile all day making these?

Fast Resin Embellishments

I wanted to finish these new little Kokeshi Poufs (c) I made and could not find a pretty dangle in my stash. I wanted something Asian that would match these pretty girls.

It happened that I had this amazing piece of Japanese paper already out on the table. All I had to do was cut out some of the more beautiful parts.

The paper looked very pretty on its own...but I did have these tiny flowers in my stash. I thought I would add them since the paper goes a little transparent in resin anyway.

I did say I was in a hurry, didn't I?

Anyhoo, when you need a resin filled embellishment fast it is best to use UV resin. It dries in the sunlight, but under a UV lamp (which I have) it is hard in 5 - 10 minutes.

Finished embellishments in under 30 minutes! Of course these would be pretty necklace pendants too!

Card Making in Earnest

So many embellishments.

So little time!
I am finally starting to build all the cards I need for the many embellishments I made last month! I am totally backlogged at the moment and need another set of hands.

Post Holiday

Ah. Here it is post vacation and post Thanksgiving.

I won't get on the scale for a day or two. I just hope I have not ruined by ten pound pledge loss.

Fingers crossed!

I found this card display in Lake Placid last week. I love him! I have always wanted an interesting stand for my cards. This guy will be coming with me to the One of a Kind show. He is very heavy!

I will have lots of neat new art to post this week.

These resin baubles were drying while I was away. I was so happy to see that they tuned out beautifully and will be on a card set by the end of the day.