Third times the charm...?

Hi everyone,

   You would think by now that I would learn NOT to hit enter after typing in the title....but no!  Maybe more than one cuppa is called for!  I will be glad when computers learn to take dictation and type the words themselves!  

    Well, enough of that!  Now for the news....I was asked to be in Tonya's Master Muse program back in the fall but couldn't tell anyone!  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am really lousy about keeping secrets!  But I did keep the secret and now it is time to talk!  Tonya has launched the program with Anne Mitchell's clasp project and it looks really good! She has also re-done her blog page and it is very sleek looking!  Tonya sent half of us supplies with one challenge and the rest of us with (different?) supplies and a different challenge. We were also able to pick what kind of clay we wanted to work with...copper, bronze or silver....I got some silver, some nice stones and watch parts and the surprise item.....I don't know if I am allowed to tell the challenge behind my bead so you will just have to watch Tonya's site....mine is due in a couple of weeks but I don't know when Tonya will release it. We are each doing 6 projects....it will be interesting to see what we all make. And for those of you who will be at either Bead and Button or the PMC Conference in Perdue: you will be able to see what we have made, up close and personal. Tonya is going to put what we have made to date in a display of some kind....exciting, right?

   And now to show you what I have made in the last day or two....besides teaching Morgan embroidery...with lots of ribbons and beads.  I was also going to show you Morgan's first embroidery piece from when he was 6 years old, but he would rather I wait and show this new piece. He thinks it is more grown up and he is 19, after all...nuff said!  He picked out a piece of wrought iron detail to blow up and do and tomorrow we are going to make the pilgrimage to JoAnn's to get some more supplies.  I was doing another beaded bezel around one of my beads that has a fancy gold bezel of it's own with black opals set into the ring.  The center piece is one of the paper-porcelain pieces I made with Marsha Neal and then tinted with liquid polymer. This bead has all the things I love...porcelain, beads, PMC, polymer and beads and fro-fro and last, but not least...pearls! How can I go wrong?  I am thinking of using the Stuart Abelman side beads in the necklace part with the pearls.  I also have a couple of John Winter's hollow gold beads that I may also use. I think I need to make a clasp of some kind to finish it off.  Anyway, I am off to work on some beading of some kind...maybe Zen-beading on microsuede with one of my cabs....porcelain or PMC?   Hope you like the new piece...have fun in your studios, Kelly

   By the way, this piece is called "The Protector" ...he was cast in a mold that I made from an old Art Nouveau stamp case that a friend of mine let me borrow....Thanks, Shelia!  

and yet again....

All sorts of interesting goings on.....

After all this time....

Hi everyone, 

   I thought I would show you what I have been playing with this week....I actually have done some peyote stitch bezels this week that I haven't done in about eight years! Talk about getting back on the bike! The first one was really wonky so I thought about the beads and tried again....definitely improvement! It is hard to get my mind back into beading mode after so long away! The second bezel with the flowers came out much better! I am thinking of making these into kits of some sort with two smaller medallions on the sides and maybe a bracelet enlarger to work as a set. And to top it off, it only took three movies to finish the medallion....The Fifth Element, The Mummy Returns and Monsters, Inc. favorites, all!  

   The other thing that happened this week, after all this time, was re-connecting with a friend of mine from way back from high school. Talk about changes! My old high school is now bigger and one of two and the house I used to live in is now gone and in its place is a McDonald's, a Walgreen's and some condos and a few traffic lights thrown in! What a pity!  And I also found out that one of the main mentors of my artistic life passed away. I can't even describe everything I am feeling about that.  I am glad about re-connecting with Jim though. He was a good friend starting when I first moved to Jackson and it is a pleasure to "talk" to him again and catch up.  So, for the last couple of days I have also been thinking that has happened in the last 30 years! Quite a lot!  Well, enough of that, I have beads to sew together and I am going to be teaching Morgan peyote stitch tonight....wish me luck!  He wants to learn something new.....have fun in the studio, Kelly

New beads and new hair.....

Hi everyone,

    Well, I admit it....been lazy this last couple of weeks....normally I am busy getting ready for Tucson...making beads, re-doing my displays buying any loose little bits I may need and trying to sleep, wash clothes and pack in between!   I am still working on my new beaded designs and I went to the Baltimore Bead Show last weekend to buy a few beads....came home with 300$ worth! Granted, that is a few for me but they were all seed beads, and a lot of them!  I got to see some friends I haven't seen in a while and that was nice to be able to catch up.  I did get some beautiful 2mm crystals and am planning on using them on my beaded polymer cabs as the accents around the face.  

    I am also involved in a secret project(I will let you know when I can) and had to have my hair done and photos taken....so I had Brandon come over and do me up and then he took my photo....hair looks good but the photo isn't the glamour shot I hoped for!  Oh, well....have to work with what you have....

    I signed up for my classes at Bead and Button and am way excited!  I am taking a glass casting class with Susan Lenart Kazmer and a enameling class with her also. Then I am taking a PMC/enamel on glass class with Vicki Hallmark and another enameling class with Gwen. A couple of seed bead classes with Leslee Frumin and a image transfer class with Sherri Haab on PMC and one with Donna Faulkner on transferring images to fabric.....I am looking forward to trying some new things!  I noticed that a lot of my friends aren't going to be there which is a shame since it seems like I never have enough time to shop with them. I am so hoping things get better soon!  So, today I will show you one of the necklaces I am planning with one of the beads I showed you last time.....I think it is going to be pretty once it is finished. I need to go to Beadazzled up in Baltimore to pick up some needles to sew it up...can you believe that I went to the bead show and forgot to get needles and thread and beeswax!   Anyway, hope you like the pictures....and before you ask, no pink since I am not going to Tucson....maybe for Bead and Button!  Have fun in the studio, Kelly

Working on....?

Hi everyone,

   Well, we are still working on the cabinets...since we are making them from scratch...cutting the wood, gluing and nailing, fitting the supports, fitting the doors, etc. It is going to take longer than a weekend or two.  I am looking forward to painting it...have already picked out the colors. I am planning on a beautiful shade of teal for the base with a creamy ivory with a touch of mint for the top coat and then I will sand back the highlights to expose the teal. I also picked out this really rich purple for the living room walls, yum!! 

     During the week, while Ed is at work I am trying to decide what to do with my schedule....I am not going to Tucson (what a bummer!) but it looks like my work will be there. Andrew Thorton from Green Girl Studios is going to bring some of my work there for me....isn't he the sweetest?!  So, I am thinking of sending some of the necklaces that I am working on along with some beads....I am actually going to string up the pretty little moon and owl piece that is pictured in the sidebar to the right with some antique black 3-cuts (that I just finished cutting off a damaged antique purse and washed down....took me 4 hours to get ready!)....and I am using some little 2mm bicone crystals in clear to look like stars among all the 3-cuts.  I am thinking of using some of Lisa Kan's beautiful plum blossoms in among the black to remind one of a garden at night.....I will post the photos when I have finished. 

     I am also working on 4 or 5 other necklaces that feature my beads that have polymer in them. I am going to be showing my work at the Synergy Conference here in Baltimore (in Feb) and want to have some new pieces just for the show. I am very excited about them. I am using an antique pearl collar as the base for one of the necklaces and adding copper electroformed pods and more of Lisa's flowers and some crystals in peachie red....have to let your mind play with that until you see it...I am starting that piece today! Way excited!!!  Anyway, now I need to go...too excited to sit here any longer!  I am posting photos of some of the beads I am using in the necklaces I haven't told you about and the one with the pearl collar....any comments are always welcome!  Have fun in YOUR studios today! Kelly

    The top piece has a tiny piece of roman glass in the center and a tiny black opal set off to the side and the lady on the dragonfly has a colored background done with colored pencil and the third lady is a inlaid tearaway with colored pencil and antiqued with paint after I attached the PMC border....guess which one is the center bead for the pearl collar!  

Happy New Year!!!

Hi everyone,

    Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and will have a great New Year!  I am making a lot of changes and will probably even change the changes!!!  I am thinking about doing a showcase of beads I will have for sale, three every Saturday, so those of you who have wanted to know where to get my work....here it will be. I am also working with a couple of seed bead designers on some kits for necklaces and bracelets featuring my centerpieces of silver and polymer. These will also be sold on this site. Please let me know if you would like to see anything in particular.  The last thing I am thinking of doing is writing up some step by step instructions for some beads and centerpieces. I am planning on taking some classes this year to move in some new directions. Some polymer with Dan Cormier, some bronze and copper clay with Gordon Uyehara(I hope I have spelled that right), and another bronze class with Barbara Becker Simon. I am also teaching a Surface Technique seminar with Barbara at the PMC Conference in Perdue this summer. and then there are all the seminars at Synergy and the PMC conferences and I may even go and take classes at Bead and Button instead of going as a vendor....lots of changes....

   At home, we are building a wall of cabinets 16 feet long and 8 feet tall, with all the bells and whistles.  I am going to paint it a beautiful teal and then over the top of that, a creamy ivory with a touch of mint (mostly cream) and then sand the highlights back to antique it all. We are even doing the pretty curved arches on the top of the upper bookcases and doors and 3" trim on the bottom. Yeah! Storage!!  

   We had a nice Christmas eve dinner and both the boys were there. Brandon and Alex even brought a bottle of wine for the hostess! Talk about all grown up!  I got some great books, like nobody guessed that would be what I would want(!), and even a book card to get some more....so I went and picked up a great book on caterpillars, one on butterflies, one on treasures of museums, one on weird bugs and then one on steampunk jewelry to round things out!  I also picked up "Inkheart" and "Inkspell", and for those of you who haven't seen the movie, you should!  Sherlock Holmes was really good, too!  So, between picking out paint, helping build cabinets and cutting wood, going to the movies and reading (and of course, eating good food) I haven't been at the journal....which I expect to remedy this coming week....I hope you have all had a great holiday season and will have fun playing in your studios, Kelly    

     Thought you might enjoy the bird, the butterfly and the bug (the caterpillar photo was taken by Tonya Davidsons husband while I was out there teaching a couple of years ago)...I still have no idea what kind it it...but it is cool looking! K