Beadfuddled

Finally finished....well, maybe!

2011-04-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I would show you the finished purse. Although, I am thinking of adding a liner and maybe some little sprinkles of beads near the beaded bezel....but since I want to think about that before I add them (if I do), I am declaring it done! I really had a great time doing this....it combines a lot of my favorite things....fabric, thread, beads, polymer, PMC and glass. I am going to wear it to the Art and Soul Retreat that I am going to next week. I am going to take a weeks worth of classes....some to actually learn something I don't know and some just for fun (those would be the Zentangle classes!). Although, I don't know how to transfer those Zentangle designs to fabric which I am looking forward to. I am hoping I will be albe to transfer them to fabric that I can then work into the nuno felt. Let the games begin!!! I am also taking a class with Chad Alice Hagen...she makes some wild felted pieces and I have seen her work at the ACC shows for years! We are going to learn how to dye the felt in all sorts of different ways! I used to dye fabric and do shibori and Katazome silk painting, so I am excited to see how I can transfer these ideas to felt for my purses....!!!!!

For those of you who are following my rings on the Flickr RAW project...don't give up on me...I have been working on some new rings and will get back to the project when I get back from the retreat. I have 4 or 5 laid out....one has a polymer bezel with the stone laid into the surface and is four fingers long.....one may become a pendant, but we'll see. I am still trying to use little bits and pieces to make these rings so I can try to out wait the cost of silver. I may have to turn in my 5lbs of scrap so I can buy a kiln to do bronze clay in. Who doesn't need four kilns!!? Maybe I should get one for glass and porcelain too!! No, that's just crazy!! One at a time!!!

I may not post while I am at the retreat....depends on how tired I get....I am taking 8 or 9 class in 6 days.....a bit crazy, but I want to get all I can out of the experience! So, I hope you will all have fun in your studios while I am gone....I will try to post, but I am not promising....Kelly

P.S. The photos, in order are, the front of the purse, the second is a close up of some of my polymer and PMC beads and the last photo is the back of the purse showing the bead I used as the closure. Hope you like it......K

Show News.....

2011-04-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I just posted my show news onto the Metal Clay Magazine blogspot and hopefully, Jeanette won't kill me for that, since I didn't yack about metal clay. Oh, well, what are you going to do?? So, I will now tell you all about the work of the last couple of weeks.....I was waiting to go back into the studio after the the kitchen flooded....had to wait for the light to dry out and while I was waiting, I got a call from Darlene to ask if I wanted to share the booth at the show in Philly. I had enough beads and polymer cabs to go with but I wanted something new to have to attach beads to....how many necklaces does a person actually need? So, I decided to make some nuno felt. I had learned how to make nuno felt down at Carol Hamilton's back in Feb and thought that might be a great background to sew beads to. So, I did a lot of research and got a lot of silk tops and wool roving and went to work! My dining room became a make-shift workroom along with the kitchen and I now have multi-colored silk and wool dust bunnies of various sizes all over the house! But I do also have some great looking felted pieces! I was really happy with the response they got! I picked out three pieces for myself to use as samples and then put the rest out for sale. They were like honey to the bees...everyone wanted to come over to the booth and touch them! I started sewing some beads onto one of the sample pieces so I could show everyone what I was thinking what I had mad the felt for. I am making mine into a small cell phone purse, which is funny, since I don't have a cell phone! My friends are hoping that after I am done, I will love my purse so much that I will buy a cell phone! Not! I am doing all the beadwork first and then I will sew up the back seam with some decorative threads or silk ribbons and some sari silk ribbons for the straps with some of my polymer beads as accents. I may put in a liner and a tassel at the bottom, or maybe not.....I will post photos as the work progresses.

On another front, I just wanted to tell everyone that I will be teaching a class with Debbie Taylor and Carol Hamilton at the polymer retreat that is taking place in July in Chicago right before the Metal Clay World Conference. The class is three days long with a day each for metal clay, torch firing enamels and polymer clay. Carol will be teaching the metal clay and Debbie will be doing the enamel bit and I will be doing the polymer clay pod bit. There will be a good bit of experimenting in this class. Let me know if you are interested or have any questions.

Have fun in your studios.....Kelly

The first photo is the piece of felt opened with the beadwork on the part that will be the front. If you click on the photo, you will be able to see more detail. The second and third photos are the class project sample. Comments welcome, Kelly

Just a quick note....

2011-03-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hi again....

WOW! twice in two days....but this is just a quick note...I thought I would show you a few of the beads I am bringing to the show in Philly on some of my felt....which I think I may have incorrectly labeled as nuno felt....it may be just regular felt with fabric on top. I don't care which it is since I like the look and the fun I have making it. But, I don't want to be saying I am making one thing if I am not, so, there you are....

Anyway, I am hoping you will stop by and see some of my new things...here is a photo of two...see you soon, have fun in your studio...Kelly

Well, what's new????

2011-03-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I would show you what I have been up to! I was working on my RAW project and was planning on going into the studio the next day too finish my ring when my kitchen pipes decided they had had enough time working at our house....I got a bit stressed when I saw water all over the kitchen floor! Had to shut off the water main and wait for Ed to come home to fix everything....good thing he knows how to do all that! I got a new sink and faucet...yea!!! I hate stainless steel sinks!!! I now have a bigger sink, nice white cast iron, and shepherd's crook faucet...I am so loving it! I didn't care for the water pouring through the studio ceiling and wrecking my ring mandrel and dapping block and various other tools....replaceable, so live and learn. I couldn't go and work in the studio since there was water in the light fixture and we had to let that drain so we wouldn't have problems with the electrical.....so I decided to get going on some new projects for a show in April that I am doing with my good friend, Darlene.

I am trying to continue to work in PMC even though the cost has gone through the roof! So, I have started thinking about making smaller charms and one-sided centerpieces that I could use with bead embroidery. I had also played at Carol's house with her Babylock Embellisher and had some ideas about combining the felt I made with the PMC charms. I have now made three sheets of nuno felt and love the process...I have two pieces drying as I write! I am planning on cutting some of the sheets into pieces big enough to make cell phone purses that customers can pick and choose their fabric, maybe add a charm or two or a centerpiece and then some fabric for the straps. They can add embroidery stitches and some beads and personalize their phone purses. Since I don't a cell phone, I am using mine for business cards, credit cards and keys.... have I am hoping to make some up before the show....(which is the Philly Wire Fest show at Valley Forge Convention Center), I am also making some polymer cabs for bead embroidery and to use on the purses....as soon as I finish one up, I will post a photo. By the way, I will be in the booth next to Twisted Sistah with Darlene of D7 Studios...hope some of you can stop by and say hello. I will be making more felt for the next couple of weeks but I will get back to the rings after the show.

I have saved the good news for last.....I was asked to be one of the jurors for the PMC Annual!!! I was so happy to be asked....Thanks, Tim!! I am in the company of three other people...Celie Fago, my first teacher, Robert Ebendorf and Lorena Angelo. I am excited to see all the photos...I hope I do a good job.

I hope you are all having fun creating....I am going back to the machine....Kelly

the photos are as follows.....the first one is before it was felted and the second photo has been felted and the third photo is the same piece before felting.....I think they will look a bit lighter when they dry and the silk shows up a little better, but I love how soft the colors look!!

New number 10...

2011-03-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I am sitting here with my latest ring on typing this out. It was supposed to be a entirely different ring but.....So, to start with, I will tell you what it was supposed to be and how it changed. Originally, it was to have one of my epoxy cones (with red metal flakes) coming up through the copper faceplate. The copper was supposed to be about 1/16th above the silver band, so you could see that the copper faceplate was what was holding the cone in place.

So, then the problems started...first the sterling ring was too big, so that had to be cut down and then when I tried to rivet the faceplate to the sterling band, the faceplate broke after the first one was set. Then the ring didn't have enough tension to hold the cone in and then another piece broke off....finally, I laid it to one side to think over possibilities. So, a month later, this is the result....

I decided I was going to do something with this ring if it killed me....but it didn't! I put on some old world type music and I think that inspired me....I ditched the cone idea (for now) and really looked at the ring. I liked that there was still this space between the sterling band and copper faceplate, so, I looked through some of the PMC pieces that I have (already fired) and found one that was large enough to fill the hole in the faceplate. I was happy that the faceplate was still going to be the part holding the center of interest in place...just not a cone. The disc had a hand imprinted on it and already had two little holes and I was planning on riveting the whole thing in place, so I got some thread out to hold it all together and decided I liked that look better than the rivets. So, I got some pretty turquoise blue silk thread and tied the whole thing up. I wanted the ring to look like it had been broken several times and fixed on the spot rather than being discarded. It was pretty shiny when I was done so I decided that instead of using LOS, I would use paint for the patina. I went over the whole ring and then wiped it down, thread and all!! I then went back and highlighted the thread with a little colored pencil to brighten it up again. I like that it looks dirty. Even with the thread and different edges inside, it is very comfortable to wear.

I have also been trying to design some classes and have been pretty happy with what I have come up with, so we will see how that works out. Some of them may become step by step projects or kits.....so, keep having fun in your studios...and I will too, Kelly

and now, number 7!!!

2011-02-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

It has been a busy couple of weeks....after I got back from Carol's I had to get ready for my two day class with Jeff Devers. We were going to making boxes with lids....Jeff does some of the most amazing boxes out of polymer clay. We started by making a box out of card stock and then covering them with clay and baked them. We used these as our interior molds. We built up our boxes in layers with a lot of baking and sanding in between (good thing we had a day off to catch up on our "homework"). We then learned how to make two different kinds of fitted lids. It was interesting to see how Jeff works and how he pays so much attention to detail. I would show you a photo of mine but I loaned it to my gal, Gloria, so she could work on her next step.....when I get it back I will put on a decorative layer, bake and sand again...then I will post a photo of the finished piece! Something to look forward to!

In between getting ready for the workshop and the couple of days after, I have been busy in the studio when I haven't been in bed with the flu. I finished off 4 rings that I had in various stages of being finished, and 1 completely new one, so now I am not behind on my RAW!! So, I will start with the new one.....really simple...I had a wonderful piece of copper metal clay that I had textured in Gordon's class with the tearaway method last Feb. I antiqued the surface with acrylic paint and then heat set it before sanding the surface lightly with sandpaper to bring out the details of the little angel. I also had some little bits of already fired metal clay and one of them was a #7 and was just the right size to use on the surface, so I antiqued that with the same colors of acrylic paint. If you look closely, you will see that the little angel looks like he is holding the big ball with one hand and throwing a little ball up in the air with his other hand. The little ball is actually the rivet that holds part of the ring together. Since I don't solder, I needed to figure out how to attach the shank to the band. I decided to use the holes in the #7 disc and the upper right hand corner, which worked out to look like he was tossing a ball in to the air. I liked the way a bit of the band peeked out of the far edge and decided to keep it and then added a little amethyst stone to the sterling band. The little tab also holds the ring in place and keeps it from spinning. It is quite comfortable to wear even though it is off center.

So, for ring number 8, I had a ring cut out from a Faux Bone blank and had experimented with coloring the surface last summer. It has been sitting on my worktable just waiting for the right little something. When I had found my little number 7 disc, I had also found some of the long fragments that I used to make for earrings. I also had a large disc...I hammered that into a bowl so I could set one of those rivoli stones into it and I had a purple one that worked with the surface of the already dyed faux bone ring, so I started assembling the ring. I used two long fragments on the sides and used some sterling headpins to attach everything together. I then found a smaller fragment that fit in between the two that worked out well. When those were attached, I drilled a hole in the faux bone with a round tip bur and set the bowl into it after doming the center section in a smaller divot to conform the bottom of the bowl. I then set the rivoli in and chemically bonded the whole thing together. Yes, I know, it is the easy way out, but have you ever tried to rivet on a ring band? It is hard to flip the ring and hammer on the inside of the band....and since I had to use epoxy to glue the rivoli into the bowl, I really didn't mind.

So, while all the epoxy was drying, I pulled out some rings I had made in a class with Tim McCrieght. I liked the idea of the rings but they were too big, even for me, so I thought about what I could do to shrink the interiors so they would fit. I had made a polymer sheet that looked like slabs of wood and it ended up being the right thickness to close up the interior so the rings fit nicely. I love the natural patina on the two rings. The third was in a plastic bag, so no patina as of now. I am still playing with the idea of setting some small white topaz in a couple of the rings. Well, that is all for now...hope you like some of the rings....let me know if you can...I would love to hear from you...have fun in your studios....Kelly

Number 6 on board!

2011-02-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

It has been a busy week and a half! I went down to Va last week and cooked and partied and made a silk felted scarf, which I can't show you since I left it in Va (I think Carol's doggies wanted me to stay and one of them stole it out of my pile of things to be loaded into the car...the little stinker! I bet it was Marly!)

I started the weekend out at my little groupie, Terresa's house for her big birthday party! I helped her cook some of the buffet...made my paprika chicken with saffron rice! YUM!! Stayed up til 3:30 partying with the guests....and then we went to a international market on Sunday and got some steaks for dinner (yeah, the pioneer women recipes!) steak bites with mashers, YUM again!

On Monday, I went over to Carol Hamilton's house so we could play with her embellisher.....Terresa joined us and we ended up going to Alexanderia to the Fibre Space store for silk and wool roving. I also got some beautiful silk yarns to do kumihimo with. We also hit another international market..(that's what happens when Terresa is driving....) got some rose water and orange blossom water for some Moroccan recipes that I have been wanting to try. Lucked out and found some ginger cookies with lemon filling.....and YUM again! Great weekend so far!!

We all went back to Carol's and started our felting with the embellisher. It has 10 needles and no feed-dog so you can free sew with it. We worked for several hours working the roving onto the silk chiffon so we could then put it in the felting machine to felt. I got to wear mine to the local PMC guild meeting. Finally got home on Thursday and started work on my RAW for the week...

So...started one ring and everything was going fine until....dom, dom, dommmmm, the top piece broke into three pieces.....frustrating.....time to start a different ring....started that on Saturday....incorporated three of my favorite mediums...silver sheet, epoxy and polymer clay....my idea of stacking rings....I haven't written in silver so that was a experience that I need to practice, but I do like that it looks hand written...went through 3 drill bits and 5 saw blades. I realized that I should have written everything out with a smaller marker so my lines would have be more spot on and Bur Life would have helped, but all in all, not too bad... I was just going to use a polymer clay sheet that looks like flames but I decided to slide in a sheet of epoxy that had some gold glitter and red ink as a tint. It added a little bit of sparkle behind the openings in the letters. I then fit the polymer sheet so it shows the epoxy sheet as a border. I chemically bonded the whole thing together and then filed down the edges and applied 24kt gold leaf to the polymer edges. I buffed the polymer and I love the way the pattern looks 3-dimensional. I am going to try to finish another ring in the next couple of days since I have a 2-day class with Jeff Devers. My girl Gloria is taking the class too...we are going to have sooooo much fun!! It has been a while since I last saw her...she has been playing in Tucson for a month or so. Anyway, hope you like the ring....and that you are having fun in your studios...Kelly

P.S. I thought I would show you the photo Morgan took with my camera on Saturday morning before I started my second ring...I didn't find them until I downloaded my ring photos...I love the way the sunrise matches my ring colors....too funny, huh? K

Here we are again....

2011-02-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all keeping warm and having fun in your studios! I have....and now you can see what I have been doing....

I am still playing with these epoxy cones...this time I decided to use the bottom half. I wanted to set one of those fancy rivoli stones that the bead workers are using in their latest pieces and I do love the sparkle! Major bling! So, I thought that by using the bottom, I could make a bezel that the rivoli would fit into and live up to the color of the rivoli. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men....after I had cut out the cone shaped opening, I decided to change my design...again...I had these lovely pearls from my friend, Carol Hamilton, and I decided to use one in the center of the bowl. That was when I decided to use some of the 24ft gold sheet inside the cone. I love the way it makes a halo of light around the pearl. I had planned on using just the cone for the ring...but...it looked so lonely by itself, so I dug around for something I might use to bump up the idea of a raised bezel. I had some small metal clay discs and I domed them and then decided to slide in a epoxy disc in between them. I think it looks like a Dr. Suess stack of plates and bowls (think green eggs and ham)....

I don't solder so I am always looking for creative ways to attach things together. I didn't want to use a wide band but in my scrap, I did find a gold band that a friend had given me when he went out of business about 12 years ago. Did you know that if you smack the crap out of a size 5 gold band with a chasing hammer, you can bring it down to a size 9 with a bit of work?! By beating it so hard, I cracked off the solder and concentrating on the heavier area where the bezels where, I was able to move some major metal. I then made one big spike type rivet out of 16g sterling and used that to hold everything together. I did have to chemically bond the pearl since a 16g piece of wire isn't going into a pearl without a lot of trouble.

I had a lot of fun making this ring. I love when the light shines through the resin and makes the gold glow! I must have smacked the gold band a bit too much because it is a bit too big and sways back and forth on my finger, although, that could also be because it is top heavy!!

And as a last comment...wait until you see what I did with my other epoxy bits....I guess you will have to come back next week to see! I will be hanging out with my friends down in Va for a couple of days....playing in a couple of different studios...making some bronze clay sheets, some felted silk bits....maybe some silk paper for some future rings....just thinking....trying to be open to all the possibilities! Hope you are being open too! Have fun and stay warm! Kelly

TAAADDDAAAA! Number 4!

2011-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Here we are again...wondering what is happening! Well, my latest ring also had a mind of its own and decided what it wanted to be and nothing I could say would change its mind...maybe it was my muse and not the ring, hmmmm......anyway, I was still looking for that etched metal sheet I told you about last week and still haven't been able to find it, but have found alot of fun things to play with in the future! So, I had to come up with a idea that would translate into a cool ring!

I have been playing with some epoxy ideas....coated some rose petals to stack, made some cones that didn't work, made some that did....I had gotten so excited about the way they looked while I was making them, that they tended to grow bigger! At first the cones were only about 1/2 of a inch tall and then I started to make the molds longer and longer!!! I then had fun with all the different things I could add into the epoxy after pouring it into the molds! I think my favorite is the flake glitter! Thank you, Martha Stewart! I chose the green for this project but I have all sorts of other colored cones waiting in the wings! So, after waiting two days for all these epoxy experiments to cure (one batch didn't make it) I had some do-dads to play with!

I had thought to use a smaller cone and turn it upside down and then drill out a cone shaped hole so I could chemically set a large CZ into the epoxy, but since in my excitement, I made the cones so large, I didn't have any stones that would fit (need to get those big stones from Barbara Becker Simon!! Well, maybe not that big!!!) Anyway, I had to come up with another way to show off the epoxy cone. It was my son, Morgan, who finally saved the day! He laid the cone down flat on his finger and said I should make a girlie ray-gun for making slow drivers get out of my way! I am sure you will all want one!! Making the blowing up sound not included!!

So, I got out some sheet metal and made the band with overlapping ends to hold the entire kit and kaboddle. I then scrounged up some metal clay discs that I had made last year and used them as a way to add some metal accents but still show off the cone. I bent the discs to fit the cone and then drilled the hole in the cone for the rivet. Everything is held together by the one rivet.....I drilled the hole smaller than my wire and then filed the wire to fit to make sure it was nice and tight. Getting a really long rivet into a smaller circular band is a pain but it worked out in the end. I decided to add the end accent at the last minute and am glad I did....it just finished everything off and holds the whole design together. For the end piece, I just drilled a small hole in the cone and doubled over a head pin and after placing a teeny bit of glue in the hole, I placed the disc on the end and stuck in the doubled head pin which then sprung on a little bit to hold everything securely in place. Done! And comfortable to wear!! I love that the whole ring is held together with one rivet...how cool is that? Anyway, I hope you like it....I am going down to the studio to play with my other cones and epoxied bits...have fun in your studios...Kelly

The latest experiment!

2011-01-21T12:41:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I have had a very productive week!! Actually designed some rings for the RAW challenge and went down to the studio to make the one I choose, but couldn't find the etched silver I wanted to use. I had put them away for "safe-keeping". Of course I couldn't find them (3 lovely sheets with a lace pattern etched into them from 13 0r 14 years ago when I attended a class at Penland) and thought the necklace I had designed for them was too kitschy....it was the beginning of my metal experiments...I also found out that I wasn't crazy about soldering....which is probably why I love metal clay!

Anyway, I ended up cleaning the studio trying to find the sheets and ended up against the deadline....so I looked around to see what I could do. I had just suggested to a friend about doing a epoxy ring with rivets but she wanted to use her own idea (although my idea got her started)...a couple of hours later, I called her and told her if she wasn't going to use my idea, I was.....so I did...with a few changes!

I have sheets of epoxy just lying around, so I chose the most flexible one and then I went looking for some cute little brass tube rivets that I have...and, guess what...couldn't find those either, but found these cute nuts and bolts that I have been saving for a project that would show them off...I think they are so cool! So I decided to use them. Since they are black, I looked through my stock for something to put between the two layers of epoxy for a bit of interest. I have these cool rub-ons that were small enough to use and of course, curlie-cues...so, I had to use them. They are in between the layers of epoxy so they won't get rubbed off. I then worked to put the nuts and bolts into the ring...which ended up being tricky since the epoxy wanted to heal almost as soon as I put the hole into it. It ended up being a race between how fast I could poke the bolt through before the hole closed up tight....I won! Three times! Actually one of the fastest rings I have ever made and I think it is pretty cool too! And is comfortable to wear, believe it or not!

So, I am going back to the studio to look for those etched sheets again to work on next weeks ring. Probably end up cleaning some more of the studio, which could be a problem, since I can never find anything afterwards...which is why I am still looking for those dam---d metal sheets! Oh, well, I will just plug in some great music and dance my way through it!! Have fun in your studio....hope you like my ring....Kelly

Next Experiment....

2011-01-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone....

This has been a week full of experiments! And most of them turned out well. Several of my friends told me about a great site, The Pioneer Woman, and she has great recipes! We decided to try out her steak bites and potatoes au gratin....made a double batch of those...yum! Going to make them again tonight! I strongly suggest a look at her recipes....you may find some you like!

I also experimented in the studio...my second Ring A Week was due...I have been wanting to make some more hollow polymer beads. I also wanted to use some tearaway sheets with inlaid color. So, I decided to make a "stone" to set in a ring. I also wanted who ever was looking at or wearing the ring to be able to see the back of the "stone". As I was working on the stone, I felt it looked like lace and decided to put a molded face into the stone surface. I inlaid the tearaway texture with purple and teal and blended the colors where they overlapped. After I had built the top and sides, I cut out the opening and made a mold of a face and pressed it into the opening to fit. After the face was baked, I put it in the opening and then fit the back into place.

While I was working on the "stone", I wired up the shank. I used 16g sterling and wired it up with some 30g purple wire to hold the shank together. Once the shank fit my finger, I wrapped the purple wire around the top where the six ends met to hold them together. I then bent up the arms and fit them to the "stone" as prongs. Before I bent them around the stone, I hammered them out so they would be thin and not compete with the stone. I then bent them to hold the stone in place. I am pleased with how it turned out. It is very lightweight, even though it is about 1 and 1/2 inches high and it sits high enough off my finger so I don't have a problem using my hands while I wear it. I already have my design for next weeks ring.....woohoo!

Anyway, I hope you like the ring....and I hope you are having fun in your studios...Kelly

Look at what I did this week!!

2011-01-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, it has been a busy week.....I decided to give myself a goal that I had to produce for. You know, instead of a project to be made sometime in the future, I joined the RAW (ring a week) group on Flickr. So, I have a week to produce a ring of some kind and to post the photos....otherwise, I am out. I think this is a good way to try out all the little experiments I have been wanting to work on.

This week, I focused on epoxy set into a frame of some sort. I had some metal clay sheets with tearaway images of earth spirits on them that I thought would be great for the front and back of the ring. I also wanted there to be a tree reference for the earth spirits to be connected to.

I had this rod of molded plastic that I ordered last year and it is a lovely ivory color and I can cut it as thick or thin as I want to. It takes a bit of time to cut it...it is too big to go under the blade of the bandsaw, and I would lose too much material if I use the power mitre saw, so I had to do it with my jewelers saw and a big spiral blade. So, I cut it (it took about a half hour) and then sanded it a bit so I could draw my pattern on the surface, drill my holes and then cut out all the leaves and the hole for my finger.

I decided to use some of the copper metal clay sheets that I had made in Gordon's class last Feb as the outer sides with the "french ivory" sandwiched in between. I cut the sides out and filed the edges.

I then fit the "tree" frame to the sides so I could cut out the outside edges. I then sanded everything and put packing tape on the one side and went on to mix up my epoxy and ink to get my leaf color. I used one drop of a pea green and 5 drops of a blue to get the color I did. I was trying to make the epoxy color work with the paint patina I had demo-ed on the metal sheets (at the PMC Conference this past July). I filled the spaces with the epoxy...some were over-filled and some had a little less than needed, so on one side of the ring, the leaves look thick and thin and on the other side, they are all the same level and sanded to a matte finish. I then riveted all three pieces together. Not my best riveting, but I haven't done any in about a year, so I am not going to cry over it.

It is a comfortable ring to wear even though it is quite tall...about 2" and about 1&1/2" wide at the leaf edge. It is a little thicker than a quarter so just about right. I can't wear wide bands.

I learned a lot on this ring....it was the first time I had worked with the "french ivory" and was happy with the way it was easy to cut and carve, but after I saw the spaces with the epoxy in them, I saw where I could have been a bit more careful at the points of some of the leaves. I also should have waited to cut the sides of the "french ivory" until after I had riveted everything together.

I am already to start my next ring....toooo many ideas and not enough time....I am thinking about using this shape ring for all my rings to see if I can work myself out of a corner.....well, maybe not all.....Hope you like the ring and please, post some comments so I know what you think works and what may not have...it is the only way to learn....thanks, and have fun, Kelly

the photos are....1. a close up of the "Flora" side with the sun shining through the epoxy.

2. a close up of the "Earth Spirit" side and you can see the difference in the leaves.

3. a over all view of the ring, "Flora's" side.

Happy New Years!!!!

2010-12-31T23:54:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I am finally back! Hopefully you will forgive my absence. I have a good reason..and a doctor's note. I have been really tired and dizzy this past year and added to that is hearing my blood rush in my right ear(24/7) and boy, does that become annoying! Anyway, this fall I started getting really bad, constant headaches so I went in to the doctors and finally got a good one! With the military medical services, you have to hope the luck of the draw gets you a good doctor that you see more than once. Luck was with me as this doctor actually listened to what was ailing me. So, I went and got my blood taken and had a CAT scan done....mixed results...brain still there (mind may be gone!) and no extra bits inside the skull but the blood tests had more exciting results. Seems I almost gave myself a heart attack by having my iron and potassium so low. I was actually having spells of arrhythmia, which is when your heart actually stops working for a couple of beats and then starts up again. My low iron also explained my headaches and love of naps! I have been on my new meds for a month and a half now and now I don't have any headaches (unless I earn it) and I am sleeping better and have lots more energy! I even lost 20 pounds this fall for the simple fact I didn't do anything but sleep! So, getting squared away has made a huge difference in my outlook and I think my work will reflect that.

I have already started my first project of the year....it is a surprise....I will tell you when I am allowed to. I am thinking about doing RAW on Flickr....is anyone else doing this? I found out about RAD too late to do that and I think my naps would have gotten in the way! I think I could do the Ring A Week without too much trouble.

I am planning on making up a schedule for pieces I want to make just to get back into the swing of things. I have some experiments from this fall that I want to expand on and some new projects that I want to start....hopefully you will still be here to watch what I make. I will post some photos next time since I don't have any new ones to show....I did take some of the lunar eclipse but they aren't that great....so, please bear with me while I get my feet back on the ground.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season (you know what yours are) and will have a great New Year! Have fun in the studio and I will work on getting something done to show you all....Kelly

Belated Happy Birthday to me!

2010-10-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I know I haven't posted lately but I haven't been doing anything that would be exciting to anyone......I have been trying to organize my studio and my thoughts! To that end, I have designed a project planner for myself that I can add photos and color samples and texture ideas to along with cost and time quotes. I can then fold up the planner to go in a file box until I am ready to work on that project. I even found some plastic cases that will hold all the supplies and beads that are needed for the projects and keep them all together. Normally when I design, I work on 20 to 30 ideas at a time, since one idea leads to another....then I wait for a few days and look at them again...the strongest ones are the ones that get made. I am hoping that I won't feel like I am working in a tornado.....although fun, I am sure I can get more done if I organize myself!

I am wishing my self a Happy Birthday so those of you who don't follow Facebook will understand what I am talking about when you look at the photos I posted.....they are some of the lovelies that I got yesterday when I went out to celebrate my birthday with Debbie and Carol....we went to a huge antique mall and then when we were shopped out there, we went across the street to Savage Mill. It is kind of like the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Va. but with more than just art studios. There are antique shops there and french bakeries and hair salons and clothing boutiques and of course, The Queen's ink, a fabulous rubber stamp store....lots of great stuff. I did a lot of damage to my wallet in the antiques shops and Debbie did hers in the Queen's and Carol did hers in the antique shops too....although, to be honest, she was looking for a dining room table set....I think she won! I got some great old postcards for resin work and of course, some great spoons.....if I could play the spoons, then maybe I could understand my obsession, but I don't......although, I am planning some fun small box beads to use them with, so maybe that is the obsession. So, I will be playing in the studio some more....

I still have more celebrating to do....my son, Brandon is coming up from DC for dinner tomorrow and then I am going out with Gloria and Terresa sometime next week and I am also going to be seeing some friends at the bead show in Newark(Delaware) this weekend for dinner ....and there will be cake! Morgan and I have been having Moroccan food a lot this month...all good...one pot cooking, easy and flavorful! how can you go wrong...I am having couscous tonight made with the broth from the tagine we had this weekend....yum! Ok..well, that's enough about me...how about some about you? comments, photos of your work....hello's......anyway, take care and have fun in the studio, Kelly

Just a quick note....Carol, Debbie and I will be teaching a three day class at the polymer clay retreat next summer that happens prior to the MCWC in Chicago. The first photo is the project we will be teaching....Carol will be teaching how to do the metal clay frame, Debbie will be teaching how to do the enamel work and I will be teaching the polymer part and showing everyone how to put it all together.

The second photo is a idea I am playing around with.....I made the copper sheet in Gordon's class back in Feb....

And the last photo are some of my new birthday toys.....aren't they lovely??? I did get more but I shouldn't show you everything, should I???? Anyway, have fun, K

some new stuff.....

2010-10-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I am still in the hiding mode but I am playing with a few things.....some polymer ideas I have been thinking about and wanting to see if I could make them work. I saw some beautiful gold brocade fabric that I thought would be beautiful as a polymer plate. Well, I am still experimenting to get that look.....what I thought would work ....didn't! and I was kind of surprised at that! So, I thought about it some more and changed directions a bit, but I still didn't get the look I want....and number three and four didn't work any better.....but I think I may have a winner with idea number five (although, I thought I had a winner with idea number one!), so we will see.....

I also wanted to make something fun out of PMC just for myself to wear. I don't normally make anything for myself but I got these great stones at Bead and Button and the PMC Conference so I decided to use some.....and I got a beautiful tiny spoon on the way to the conference when I was driving with Debbie and Carol. I wanted to make a little steampunk kind of piece...I love the look....Victoria's swirls and frou-frou with scientific lines....kind of like experimental artwork for the body....at first, I was just going to make a sweet little charm type box bead with the bullet stone rising up from the center but when that didn't quite have the feeling I wanted, I started doodling and came up with a frame for around the frou-frou part. I was going to cut out the back of the frame to make a skeletal type frame with the curvy part suspended in the center but I was afraid it would buckle in the kiln so I left the back in tack. I was thinking about cutting out the back(after firing) in a fancy type design and filling it in with resin so it would appear light and glass like. I decided against all of those in favor of the beautiful butterfly wing I found in the studio. I sealed the wings in resin and set the stones...a total of 9 layers of resin and drying times.....I am still trying to decide if I should lightly sand the resin behind the curvy part.....I wonder if it is too shiny....I think I may be trying out this bead in different ways to work out some of these questions....working in a series again, always useful.

I hope everyone is having fun in their studios whether they are hiding or not....Kelly

P.S. the first photo is the front of my steampunked piece and the second is the back with the opal. The third photo is one of the polymer experiments I tried and didn't work. It is kind of cool, just not what I was working towards....time for more playing with polymer.....hope you like them...K

it has been a long month....

2010-09-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I hope this finds you all doing well.....I have been working thru the the passing of 6 people that have been in my life in one way or another. That is tooo many for one month! I will be glad to see the backside of September. I feel for all my friends that are dealing with their loses and it is hard to know what to say to help. So all I can do is be there when they need me.

I have been in Virginia helping my friend, Carol Hamilton, with the loss of her mother. She had a big show to get ready for and then we had a class proposal to put together with our friend Debbie Taylor to do. We got our proposal done....metal clay, polymer clay and torch fired enamel in one project. We have some more little bugs to work out but it is looking good. I will post a photo soon. I had also made a small keepsake for Carol to carry a tiny bit of her mothers ashes but her sisters wouldn't let her keep any ashes so I will be adjusting her keepsake. Carol and I are thinking maybe some of the dried flowers from the memorial service. I will post photos of that later too.....

Since I have been home from Va. (I was there for three weeks out of the four)....I have been working on some ideas of my own. Right now I am waiting for the resin to cure on one of the pieces. I have set real butterfly wings into the open panels on my pendant. I still have to set the three stones and put on the front medallion. For a pendant that isn't but a inch and a half at best, it has taken a lot of work to make. I am also redoing some sweet little angels that I made about ten years ago.

On a side note...I did get a wonderful surprise the other day....I had been talking to my dad and normally it is about a 15 minute chat about how we are and what we have cooked lately. We try to out do each other in the ideas of what to make for dinner. My dad is a great cook, but there are a lot of ingredients that I would push to the side.....anyway, I was telling him that I didn't have a mixer anymore and he bought a KitchenAid mixer and sent it to me as a surprise!!! He also got the attachment to grate down potatoes to make your own hash browns for Morgan. Time to have fun in the kitchen!

I am going down into the studio now to add yet a bit more resin to my pendant....and starting a couple of new pieces....I am trying to take my time to get back to my real style and making pieces I love instead of what I think may sell. I hope you will like them as well. So, have fun in your studios.....Take care, Kelly

The photos are (from top to bottom)...one of my little angels...to be made of metal clay and it will be a little tinier and a bit more detail in the wings and dress. The second photo is the bottom of the class proposal piece that Debbie, Carol and I are working on. The design has polymer clay pressed into the opening for a slightly raised feel. And last, the third photo is the class proposal piece with the polymer clay "seed pod" set into the bezel and the torch fired enamel leaf set next to it....in the class we will be attaching the leaf before setting the polymer but since I had set the polymer by mistake, before attaching the leaf, I now have to make another leaf and figure out how to attach them. The fun of creating!! Hope you like them, K

I am back...finally!

2010-09-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

So sorry I haven't written in a while....it has been crazy! Last time I wrote, I was getting ready to have dinner with Joyce Scott, Kate Fowle Meleney and my good friend, the famous, Gloria Askin! We went to a fab restaurant in Baltimore and had a 4 hour dinner....I think the chef's and the dessert guy should be on Top Chef! Everything was great! It was nice to catch up with everyone, and we even had a show and tell....that was a fun bit to see what everyone was up to!

Then I had to make a bunch of new beads for the BeadFest Show up in Philly....I was sharing a booth with my good friend, Darlene. One of my friends from Mississippi came to see me while I was there. She moved up to Wilmington after Hurricane Katrina tore Bay St. Louis and Waveland off the map!! I used to go to her antique book shop and buy lovely little odds and ends to use in my work. I even helped her re-design her house...and then it was sucked up into the bay with the storm waters. It was so fun to see her again (it's been ten years since I had last visited with her) and I was really pleased to see her. Darlene and I had a fun time....we are trying to figure out some kits to do together...some kumihimo with teeny crystals and seed beads with PMC bead caps and a focal point....or something like that ...or a couple of bracelets...or.....any suggestions would help! Anything you would be wanting to take a class for??? Resin? Riveting? Faux Bone? PMC? or bead work of some kind? Inquiring minds want to know.....

While I was at the show, I had a call from my friend, Carol, whose mother had passed away unexpectedly. So, the following week, I went to Va. to help her get ready for her show that opens this weekend at the prison. Stayed for four days and came home and got sick enough to have my lymph nodes pop out on my neck like I was a baby Frankenstein! Three days of sleep pretty much took care of it and I have been moving ever since.

I was going to work on something for the Saul Bell Award but I couldn't decide which idea I liked best for it....so, maybe next year....or maybe not.....I was thinking that the cost of creativity piece I wanted to do might be a little too much of a joke to be considered seriously. I am still going to make it though....it is a arm, a leg and a left nut! I am going to torch fire the arm and the leg and the left nut is going to be Kuem-bo'ed and have directions written on it on how to loosen the stress....("turn to the left to loosen") and having all the parts hanging by either a chain or a thread....I am still on the fence about that bit. Anyway, between working on that and the teaching proposals, I have been working on some polymer beads....the kind I used to do about 5-6 years ago. It has been nice to work with some of my old bits and pieces and make them into something new. I took some photos to show you....surprise, surprise!

I hope you like the photos....I found out that I did take some while I was at the conference...no people, just building bits and a few flowers...but I did find out where the hotels wash the guests from 6 to 12, and then where they store them afterwards....maybe to dry???.....it was a pretty fancy hotel! Have fun in your studios.....Kelly

the beads are in the middle stages of being finished...some need the fancy border and then some need to be antiqued....I like that there is a image on both sides....K

same title, actual words to read....

2010-08-11T15:15:00.002-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, you see what happens to me when I am away too long....forget which buttons to push. A lot has happened since I last wrote....so, here goes...hope you don't get too bored. Last time I wrote, I was getting ready for my adventure with Carol Hamilton and Debbie Taylor....riding in a car for 12 hours to go to Purdue for the PMC Conference. I started on Monday and we left together on Tuesday (Carol and I), to pick up Debbie in West Virginia for the rest of the ride. As we got close to Debbie's, we passed a "lovely", "gentleman's club"...you know, the kind where they do lap dancing....and under the sign for the club, they were offering a lunch special of....CRAB LEGS! Too funny! I almost wet my pants laughing! What a way to start a road trip!

We had a fun time laughing and talking and took a break in Columbus, Ohio for the night. Carol gets some really great upgrades at Hilton and we lucked out with a suite to work in to finish the "Charms for Charity" for the raffle. The next day as we were finishing the drive, we swung into a small town to go antiquing as a break....we did some damage as I taught Carol what to look for in antiques. Debbie bought a beautiful little Santos and Carol got some fun texture bits and bobs and I got some great pieces to make molds from. Once we had spent our money and made alot of strangers laugh, we continued on to Purdue.

We started by setting up the display booth and Carol was selling more tickets for the raffle and then around 2, the keynote speech was delivered by Linda Darty. I had the good fortune to take a three day class with Linda a couple of years ago....very good teacher and nice person. It was interesting to see how she took her inspiration of a tree house and her children's drawings and transform them into enameled little jewels. Then it was on...three days of going, going, going! I only got to one of the early morning lectures...early morning is hard on night owls! But I did make it to my own demo in time...whew! I think it went well...I heard a couple of comments later by people in the audience who said they are going to try my antiquing with paint idea....didn't get to show all that I wanted too, but it was a start. I went to Mary and Chris's demo...that was fun...Mary is a no holds barred kind of girl...probably why I like her. I have known her since the 90's when we were both into fiber....and she is still the same girl...nice! I got to a couple of the lectures...Patrik's was fun...I love it when the person doing the talk starts by throwing chocolate around the room! How can you go wrong? And a talk about thinking outside the box! Perfect!

We had a fun time at the raffle drawing. Tim and Nettie had arranged for a room with cocktails and nibbles for before hand like a big social. Too bad only about 10 people won anything...everyone else who won, wasn't there! 39 bracelets and one necklace....but they all got shipped out...alot of people pitched in for the postage since all the money raised for the bracelets went to the charities. Thanks to all of you would did!

Then it was time for the dinner that Rio put on...Carmen on stilts was the headliner! The food was pretty good and the company was great! A group of us ended up closing the place down...Tim politely kicked us out (and you should have seen them trying to get those huge balloons onto the shuttle bus! They wouldn't fit thru the door and they were beating up the poor bus driver with the bounce back!) and then some of the girls wanted to go bar hopping....we could hear the bar a block away! That was when my friend Gloria and I gave up! I was so happy to be going back to the hotel to put my feet up! You should have seen Gloria with her balloon though...two or more could have flown her back to Baltimore with a good wind behind her! Wish I had a photo of that!

Then it was time to go....we left Sunday after the brunch....and went back to our suite in Columbus for the nite. We ate at Spageddies and you should have seen the meal they brought out! Huge! Three people could have dined out on what they brought just to me! Of course, the next day, on the way home...we stopped at another antiques shop and stayed for a couple of hours! and we only got halfway through! did pretty good there too! They had a huge bin of antique silverware for a dollar a piece....good thing I have studied silver....I went through it one piece at a time till I had about 50 really great designs. Alot of Art Nouveau and Victorian designs....to go with all the fab stones I got at the Conference!

And I got some nice drusy's and faceted stones....non-fireable, so we will see how good I can get at stone setting! I also got the kits for enameling that Yolanda had made up. She did a lot of research on the copper clays and it looks like fun! Debbie also got the kits and we are going to take a couple of days to work with them and see what we get....should be fun! Yolanda's examples were beautiful!

Everyone who went to the Conference got a package of Bill's new FastFire Bronze clay....I am looking forward to trying it out.

We were doing good by then although I had hit my hand on the car door and it was so swollen by the time we got to Carols that I thought I had broken something! Can you believe by the next day, it wasn't swollen and I didn't even get a bruise?!

We had some fun as we were nearing the end of our ride...right on the border of West Virginia, a car passed us...three guys and a blow up doll...who waved to us! You should have seen Carol and Debbie scrambling for their I-phone cameras! Debbie got a photo of them...and then a van passed us with two guys and a plastic owl! The owl looked out the window as they passed and then as we passed them again, it was doing a little dance....I bet those guys (all of them) were having great trips...can you imagine the stories? Then as we were waiting for the light to turn, four guys got out of their car and played musical chairs...twice...it was a long light! Although, I do worry about the guys in Maryland and West Virginia! I spent the night at Carol's again and went home on Tuesday! What a long week! And I have only told you a little bit.....

So, after I got home from all that excitement...I wanted to get to work on some proposals for teaching at Bead and Button for next year...but you know Murphy's Law...what ever can go wrong, will...and it did...maybe I will write them up as step by steps.

I have been working on some fun polymer and metal clay beads for the BeadFest show in PA...August 18-22...I am sharing a booth with Darlene...hope you will come by and say hi! I am revisiting some of my older designs and combining the two mediums helps keep the cost of the beads down...and hopefully, you will like them. I am having fun working in the studio on them....may have to keep a couple for myself! I will try to post some photos tomorrow since it is too dark outside to get a good photo right now....talk to you tomorrow...or the next day...I just got invited to go to dinner with Gloria, Joyce Scott and Kate Fowle Meleny....a night of polymer, lampworked glass and beads...should be fun! Have fun in your studios til then, Kelly

Back in the land of the living.....

2010-08-11T15:15:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it!

2010-07-23T15:24:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone...

I can't believe I just did that again! I thought I was doing so good with the computer.....maybe I should stick to metal and polymer clay! Anyway, I was going to show you what I have been up to before I pack it all up to go to Purdue and the PMC Conference.

I have been good about cleaning the studio, so I thought I would reward myself and play with my DREAM Machine.....yeah! To just sit down and actually play without having to make anything for anybody....just the best thing in the world! I started by making some tearaways and then experimenting with the plates and some things I have had on my mind lately. I think they have possibilities!

The plates have been inlaid with a number of different things and then the BIG "jewel" is a tearaway that I hand colored and poured resin on and then embellished with copper foil. I think I may have to break down and get that electro-forming set up to do fun things to the tape. Easier than painting on the design. I like doing experiments so I can see what works and what doesn't. I found out that I need to use a heavier hand with the color pencils so they don't disappear when the resin is poured onto the surface. And to maybe make the "jewels" a bit smaller...if I put this "jewel" into a necklace, that would be something else...not sure what. Although, maybe a necklace of a bunch of huge jewels...that may work too....may have to try it out and see...sometimes you don't know until it is all sitting right there in front of you!

The other thing I have been working on is the display for the "Charms for Charity" bracelets and my demo for "surface techniques"....I am going to demo some fun techniques on all the metals ....bronze, copper and silver....(well, maybe not all the metals....not gold or steel or white bronze...). I hope to see you there....come say hi, travel safe, Kelly

Something new.....

2010-07-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Where have I been????

2010-07-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I didn't realize how long it has been since I last wrote a post....sorry about that! I went to Pa. with Carol Hamilton, Debbie and Terresa to make up the bracelets for "Charms for Charity" at Holly Gage's house. Carol has gotten a new RV so she and Debbie can travel around and teach classes, so we were the trail run! She and the girls drove up to Baltimore and picked me up and then we drove up to Pa. (4 hours) for bracelet making and dinner! Carol got us all traveling sunglasses that she made us wear when we rang the bell at Holly's! Too funny! We had a fun time. We got to meet Holly's daughter, Megan and her son Ryan, and some of us had already met Chris. Chris was cooking a great pork and tomato sauce to go over the pasta and it smelled (and tasted!) great! Then it was done to business....Carol started passing out charms and paper for the names of the artists who sent in their charms, and we all set to working....and talking, and laughing. There were some grapes involved...red and white....then Holly called in a substitute and then sat back and watched. We made about 25 to 30 bracelets...I will be taking photos. I am also in charge of making up the display for the conference for them. Have to get some fat black foam core to hang them on....want them to look stunning! I was amazed at the variety and quality of the charms! Really nice!

Then I had a private class with my friend, Darlene,....all polymer and resin! Did some fun designs with Robert Dancik's Faux Bone ring blanks. We also played with some special techniques in polymer. I have talked about polymer for years to Darlene while we have shared booths at bead shows....now she knows why I like it so much! She said her brain is still swimming with all the possibilities. She was in the studio for 10 hours...and we didn't get half done! Her resin piece came out great, considering that she kept sticking her finger in the resin to "check and see if it was done?" I finally had to make her step away from the resin!

It was the first time I had been in the studio with "new eyes" and I realized how much I needed to clean it up....so that is what I have been doing since then...and, boy, does it feel good! I was smart this time and I bought storage boxes that are clear so I can see were I will have hid everything. I normally hate cleaning since I can't find what I have put away! Now, I will be able to find most everything! Yeah! Labels are going on everything else.... 5 tables clean and 4 to go....Morgan has been helping and keeping me company, last night we went down to the studio at 11:30 and then came back up around 2:00....not a bad night's work....

So, there is your update....I am going back down to the studio to do a couple of tables and then I have to start working on my presentation pieces for the conference. Barbara is probably done with hers....maybe I will wait and work on mine on the drive out to Perdue....don't want to do anything to soon! (That's a joke, Barbara!) I hope everyone is having a good time in their studios and keeping cool....Kelly

The photos....the first one is one of the pieces for the Conference presentation and the second is the girls and I.....with our funny sunglasses....mine are chili peppers, Terresa's are "princess" glasses (bling included!), Carol's have a purple flocked cheetah pattern, and Debbie's are cactus, since she wants to move to the wild, wild, west! I have a feeling Carol will make us wear them all the way to Perdue! Lots of fun travel with the "girls".....see some of you soon, K

The lull before the storm....

2010-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I have taken a couple of days to do nothing....and it felt so good!! I actually bought some new novels by Elizabeth Peters (I think they were suggested by Barbara Becker Simon at the last conference) and they are nice little holidays for me as a armchair traveler! No airports, no shots, just relaxing.....

In between reading, I have been working on a new set of classes that when all the classes are strung together, they make a great necklace/bracelet set! I need to track down some strange supplies but I think it will be worth it.I am excited about making up the prototypes. I may offer up a couple of practice classes for the pieces to see how many days they each take. I think they will be great classes!

I have been also thinking about moving the studio around ....I thought I had a system that worked but it doesn't....so it may be going back to what it was before.....damn, it is a lot of work to move everything around.....but it does help to find things I have lost in there...I know I have a bag of rings somewhere in there that I haven't found in the two years I have been looking. I know it is in there somewhere! I have some new ideas for a series of rings that I have been thinking about since B&B, and it would be nice to see them against the older rings. I guess that is a new goal to reach for!

So, I am off to Target for boxes to store stuff in....maybe I will get organized before I die.....although I doubt it! and maybe I will stop by Lowe's for a torch or two.....woohoo! I hope you days in the studio are as fun for you as mine are.....or better..send some photos of your studios....maybe I will see something that would work for me! Have fun, Kelly

P.S. One of these photos is the inspiration for one of the new bead classes....can you guess which one??? and how??? and don't you love the storm cloud from the other night? the color was just beautiful!......have a great day! K.

Sketching and planning....

2010-06-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I have been trying to get all of my ideas from Bead and Button down on paper and deciding what I am doing next.... I know I have to clean the studio and make room for my little photo studio and my Dream Machine (actually I have some new experiments I want to try).....in polymer and PMC. I am also wanting to get back to working on my Master's registry projects.

I will be writing a couple of articles for Art Jewelry...another cool ring project and one on surface decorations. I will let everyone know when they go to press. Probably next year sometime....it always takes so long....

So, since you have been waiting...I thought I would post the rest of the photos from my Bead and Button trip. On Sunday night I had taken a class with Leslee Frumin and wasn't feeling up to snuff, so I got the class kit and the instructions and left early ( I have never done that in a class and luckily, I had two other classes with Leslee later that week so she forgave me!). Then jumping forward to Wednesday, I had a class with Vickie Hallmark....learning how to paint on glass and then to fire it into a pmc box bead/pendant. We learned to paint in the morning...and I think we all would have been happy doing that all day. We made our box like surrounds after the glass had been fired to secure the paint to the glass. It was too bad there were problems with the kiln...some pieces fired fine and some didn't....mine was one of the ones that didn't! That will teach me to concentrate on trying to finish a project! I usually just concentrate on the process! Lesson learned! My box got crystallized but not fired completely to size. Time for some design opportunities! The little paintings came out well though and I got to sit next to Mr. Gordon Uyehara and not out in the hall! And he snuck in a photo of me...(maybe it makes up for the sleeping photo I got of him)....although, he hints that it isn't! It was a fun class! Vickie is a very good teacher!

On Thursday, I took a class on fusing fine silver with the fun Anne Mitchell....with this class and the torch firing class of Susan, I may be over my fear of torches! I made a really fun bracelet...I was just concentrating on the process and ended up with a bunch of fused rings and just started to join them together. Voila! A bracelet! Then I made a "J" hook...the first one I melted (I think I was the only person to swear out loud in class) but I tried again and made one with no melted bits. It sounds like a belly dancers bracelet...like that part a lot. I bought some sweet little lampworked roses from Dolly Ares to hang off the bracelet. I think it will be quite fun to wear.

On Friday, I took I took Sherri Haab's class on putting images on metal clay and faux bone. It was a fun class even though I just watched. Sherri was nice and excused me from class until after lunch so I could shop. The class was working on making their bracelet parts out of metal clay and firing them. I came back for the important bit. The process works really well. She also had her books there and it was nice to see my photos in them. A little bit of "oh, wow" is always nice to hear from people who don't know what you do. Then a quick bit of dinner and then it was off to a another evening class...this one with Donna Kallnor and we did transfers on to fabric. We got to actually color photos with crayons...best fun on a Friday night! and a ice cream for dinner before and a Brie LT afterwards. Donna was a fun teacher and very informative. I can see ways to use this technique.

Saturday and Sunday were classes with Leslee Frumin....Saturday was a necklace class, very smart technique and both days projects were so lovely, that I bought all of her instruction books. Trying to catch up on all these techniques is tiring. Anyway, I hope you like the photos of what I made....I haven't done much of the bead work but I am looking forward to it. Evening work...

Well, the photos are backwards again....Leslee's class from Saturday is first, then Vickie's class and then the bracelet from Anne's class....enjoy and have fun in your studios, Kelly

Photos that were promised.....

2010-06-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hi again everyone,

Here are some of the photos of the pieces I made at the Bead and Button show....starting with the beginning of the week...we have the glass casting with Susan and Shari (or is it Cheri?) Kazmer.....the pink heart petite four was done by caring our design into/out of a plaster mold and then learning how to break a billet of glass to fit. These were then all fired and while they were being fired, we made a shape out of polymer or earth clay and then poured our plaster over it and when it hardened, we removed the shape and filled the plaster mold with glass powder and frit. While everything was being fired, we worked on our metal backings for our cast billets. That was a fun two day class.....then I got to take another one day class with the girls...torch firing on copper. I did some pink flowers and some wrapped wires covered with liquid enamel. Tooo Much Fun! There were a couple of women who didn't understanding the concept of sharing and keep the enamel areas clean but a few words and they still didn't get it.....oh, well...what are you going to do?? I have decided that I am going to have to get myself a torch and tank....anyway, hope you like this set of photos....I will post the rest later on.....Kelly

PS...of course, with my great computer skills, I posted the photos backwards.....just flip them around as you read the descriptions.....K

Back from the big show.....

2010-06-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I am back from the big show....and my brain still feels full! I am in love with what I learned and now I have to figure out how to incorporate it all into my own work. The glass casting is definitely going to be used. I learned how to make my own molds and fill it with glass....think of the faces and bodies I can make and use in my PMC frames....or into my Angels in the Architecture series.....and with electroforming to look like it was been underwater for ages....with pearls and coral, "nuff said!".

I also took a class to learn torch firing enamel...wow, now I have to buy a torch! Too much fun!!! I will take some photos of those pieces after my camera re-charges and show them on the next posting. They were too much fun!

I then learned how to fuse fine silver with Anne Mitchell...I may finally have overcome my fear of fire! Between the enamels and fusing, I had a great time and realized that fire doesn't to slow me down. Yeah!

I took 3 classes with Leslee Frumin to learn some of those beading stitches that I have neglected over the years. I got a few inches done on a necklaces and then learned how to do all those lovely crystal rings and bezel settings. I have some necklaces planned for all those little lovelies. Now I understand why all those ladies go crazy with all those crystals and rivoli's.....Bling, bling, bling!

One of my classes was with the nice Vickie Hallmark...we learned how to paint enamel on glass and then to fire it into a PMC pendant. Pretty fun and the famous Gordon Uyehara (god, I hope I spelled his name right!) was sitting next to me! He's quiet but he's funny!

And I finished it all up with transfers onto metal clay and fabric...two different classes...one with Sherri Haab and one with Donna Kallnor....both were great fun! I loved the part where I got to color with crayons as part of one class! How can you beat that as a class requirement? Then adding beads to it! Perfect! All in all, a great week!

I also got to see some of my long distance friends....Heidi and Jodie, Nikki, Andrew Thorton, Ann Mitchell, Susan Kazmer, Barbara Simon, Barbara McQuire, Kathy Hoppe, Lisa Kan, Christie Friesen, Gigi....my sweetie, Virginia Blakelock and Carol Perround, my first bead teachers, Cynthia Rutledge and her hubby, Mark, Mary Hettsenberger, and the list goes on and on...I even made some new friends....Gail Lanuam (hope I spelt that right) and Cris Leonard, Shari Kazmer, Susan's sister and Linda Larsen...Vicki Hallmark and Sherri Haab.....I was glad to re-meet them and get to know them all better.

Well, enough of me rambling on....I will post the photos of what I made tomorrow or the next day, but I will leave you with some of the girls.....have fun in your studios.....Kelly

PS....here are some of the girls...in no particular order, Barbara, Nikki and Christie.....all great gals!!! I am proud to be a friend to all of them! K..

Off to Bead and Button!

2010-06-04T23:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, it is finally here! The largest bead show and this year it should be fun since I am taking classes and not having to worry about bringing beads and a booth set-up in my bags...it is a lot of work, setting up and taking down...good luck to all the vendors....I am hoping to learn enough that my head wants to explode...not a pretty sight, but then I will know I have learned alot!

I got to celebrate my son's birthday on Thursday...Morgan is 20 years old! Boy, does time fly! I actually got a photo of both my sweeties and Alex, Brandon's partner. Brandon and Alex came up from D.C. to join us for dinner. We had a very nice time. We are going down for a weekend visit after B&B and are planning on going to the Smithsonian...we have never been. I am planning on taking the sketchbook!

I hope everyone will have a fun week while I am busy stuffing my brain.....I am planning on taking photos while I am there and will post them when I get back...after I catch up on my sleep!...maybe Tuesday! Have fun, Kelly

So, here are my guys....everyone has heard of them but no one has seen them....here is proof that they really exist! Morgan is on the left and Brandon is in the middle and Alex is on the right. Alex is new to the family and a really nice guy....I couldn't be happier for Brandon! Morgan has been my saving grace this year and beneath all that facial fuzz is one of the sweetest guys you will ever meet! Take care til Tuesday....Kelly

Charging up for Bead and Button....

2010-05-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I just realized how lone it was been since I last wrote....weeks are just flying by. Kind of wish I could make time run a little more slowly or backwards even! I went to a bead show this weekend to see my good friend Darlene Mansue.....she is one of my booth-mates. We have shared booths in Tucson and at Bead and Button. It is going to be strange this year, going to Bead and Button without either Darlene or Marsha...my first booth-mate....she is at home being a momma! Two kids and counting! And I am going for classes...I think I am doing 9 or 10 classes....if I am not bald by the end of the week, it will be a miracle! I know I could slow down and take a lesser amount of classes but I figured, once I am spending the money for the hotel, air fare and all those extra little bits, I might as well take as many classes as I could. This week I have to start gathering up my tools and supplies. I am starting to get excited about all the possibilities for the future! Who will I see there from the metal clay world? Let me know and maybe we can get together...I am having dinner with Gordon one night and am looking forward to catching up. I will be having some of my beads for sale at Nikki Thornburg's booth, so if you just have to have something of mine....I hope everyone who is going has a great time! Have fun in your studios....Kelly

The photos are some close-ups of a iris in my neighbor's yard...I love the colors and the last photo is my good friend, Darlene....some of you may recognize her from some of the shows we do together....enjoy! Kelly

Back Again.....

2010-05-22T10:29:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I am finally back in the land of the living....things have been crazy busy! Went to Va to "play" with the girls at the prison...we were supposed to play with glass clay but it didn't come in so we played with polymer....and then the next day we went to the National Harbour to celebrate Carol's birthday....it was a fun day with the girls.....then I came home to find out I was late doing my Master Muse project! So, I got a week extension, whew! You can see the finished necklace on Tonya's site. It was a fun project but it was time consuming.....all that time for the resin layers to cure!

Then I needed to work on the bracelets for the Metal Clay Artist Magazine...which had its own problems....working with new mediums on a deadline is not the smartest thing I have ever done! And I did it two times in a row....should I try for three? No!

Then I had the three day class at Carol's....we had a good time! We started out making tearaways and everyones came out great, first time out! Yeah! It was nice that the tearaways all worked smoothly and the girls all made more later on....we then moved on to decals, mokume gane and resin plates. We played with glitter and colored pencils and acrylic paint. We also did copper and bronze clay sheets with our new tearaway texture plates to include in our frames. On day two, we started on the PMC+ frames.....there was a wide range of designs and some changed while we were building them. I was hoping to get in some more polymer done in the afternoon but everyones frames were complicated.....way to go girls!...pushing the envelope! I was really proud of the way they went for what they wanted to do...complicated or not! I was trying to keep up with them on my demo piece by they blew by me! The third day we assembled all the polymer, glass and copper sheets into the fired frames. Once that part was done, we added the resins. Whew! What a busy three days! On the fourth day I had to do a make-up class for two students who missed part of the weekend and then I had to fix the bracelets for the Metal Clay article....the next day I drove home....got stuck behind traffic for miles, waiting for the state of Maryland to sweep the streets....crazy! You would think they could do that at night.....

So, I finally finished up the article for Metal Clay Artist Magazine....antiqued the bracelets in a fun way....you will have to get the magazine to see what was done! Hope you like them!

Now I have to get ready for Bead and Button....my friend, Nikki Thornburg, has offered me a space for my beads for sale. So, if you are looking for me and my beads, that's where you will find the beads. I will be in class. This year I am a student! I am taking a glass casting class, some enamel classes, a painting enamels on glass with Vicki Hallmark and a couple of crystal beaded element classes with Leslee Frumin. Should be a fun and tiring week. I am looking forward to seeing a lot of my friends that I haven't seen in a while.

When I get back from Bead and Button, I will be getting ready for the PMC Conference....I am doing a talk about surface techniques with Barbara Becker Simon. Should be fun to watch! Hope to see you there! Until then, have fun in your studios! Kelly

The photos are as follows....a cool plant in Carol and George's backyard with a "pearl" of a raindrop.....the second photo is the resin project for the Master Muse....and last, but not least, the demo piece I made in class..."Time's up"....my son Morgan thought that name would work well. Hope you like them....K

Getting ready for class!

2010-05-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I have been having fun making things this last week and a half! I went to Carol Hamilton's studio and we were hoping to play with glass clay but it hadn't come in yet, so....that is for another day! But we did try out fused glass with pre-fired metal clay to see what would happen! I am thinking they will look better once I take a big hammer to them! The clear glass fractured all the way around the fine silver piece (I think the silver was too thick and held too much heat) and the copper turned a dark cherry red and was kind of pretty but the bronze was downright ugly! With a capital U!! Like I said, A Big Hammer!

Tomorrow I have to work on my Master Muse piece for Whole Lotta Whimsy....I thought it was due next week but it is due tomorrow....doing resins! and I might include some antique glass glitter a friend gave me.

And after that, I need to work on the article for Metal Clay Magazine....doing some fun bracelets! maybe I will put some resins in those, too!

Then I am going to make some cool polymer slabs for my class down in Va. I am looking forward to three days of fun and laughing with the girls at the prison! And, yes, chocolate and skittles will be on the tables for pick-me-ups! There are a couple of spots left in the class, so let Carol or me know if you are interested.

I will try to take some photos of some of the things I will be making...need to re-charge the battery for the camera. Anyway, have to go draw some designs for Tonya's piece....send me some photos of what you are doing....would love to see....have fun, Kelly

These photos are some of the kinds of frames and fillers we will be doing in class.....the first is polymer, fused glass with resin and glass glitter and hot rocks. The second photo is a piece I am thinking about demonstrating for class with tearaways and molded pieces of polymer. The third photo is a design using silver metal clay and bronze clay and polymer clay decals with glitter and image transfers. These are just a few of the techniques we will be doing.....hope to see you....

WooHoo! Big Class Announcement! 3 Fun Days of Clay!

2010-04-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I have had a lot of people asking when I am going to teach again....So...Ta -Daaa! Here it is....

I am teaching a fun filled 3 day class at Carol Hamilton's studio in Lorton, Va. I hope some of you will be able to join us!

The Great Frame-up! May 15th, 16th and 17th (Sat., Sun., and Mon.)

$275 for the whole kit and kaboodle!

On the first morning, Carol Hamilton will be teaching how to use the bronze and copper clays. You will be making small pieces to use in the frames. Then, in the afternoon, while the bronze and copper clays are being fired, you will be learning how to make mokume gane slabs and tearaways and liquid polymer decals....the fun stuff.....

On the second day, you will be learning how to make a silver frame for all your inserts. In the afternoon, you can continue to play with polymer clay while the silver frames are firing....

Then on day three, you will be assembling everything in one nice neat little frame. If there is time, we will also cover resins.

If you have any special stones or little treasures that you would like to include, please bring them. We will have tea and coffee for everyone, along with directions for the local Starbucks, for those of you who need a fix, ( I know I am going to be finding out where the Dunkin Donuts and Burger King are). We will be ordering lunch for delivery or you may bring your own as there is a fridge and microwave.

I will send you a supply list when you sign up. There may be a small materials fee to cover some of the group supplies. I will be bringing a lot of fun things to be included if you want to use them.

If you have any questions about the class, please post them here or at my e-mail (KellyRussell@cablespeed.com) or give me a call, 410-609-0346. If you have any questions about the local hotels, restaurants or the bronze or copper clays, please contact Carol at CHamiltonDesigns@yahoo.com or call her at 703-585-5640.

I hope some of you will be able to join us....tell your family you would like it as a Mother's Day gift....or early birthday, or late.....See you soon, Kelly

The photos show some of the techniques we will be covering.....mokume gane, brocade, resin and bronze with a stone is in the first one. The second one includes, tearways, both inlaid and plain, liquid polymer decals, molded polymer, carved flowers with stones in their centers. The third includes liquid polymer decals, resin, molded polymer, mokume gane and tearaways.

Just a couple more....

2010-04-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

I just have to show you all a few more...some of the photos came out amazing! Kelly I don't know what the first two are, but doesn't the first one kind of look like a tiny orchid? In real life, it is only the size of a quarter. The third flower is the center of a pink gerber daisy....K

Flowers everywhere!!!

2010-04-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I should drop everyone a line in between my going wither and yon for photos of flowers! I didn't get any great ones last year when I got my new camera but this year, I am having too much fun to stop! So, instead of being in the studio, I have been buzzing around town, camera in hand. I had to go to the store today to pick up some wine to make dinner with and it took me three hours!...of course, I wasn't planning on stopping at the old folks home, a local school, some ladies driveway, the local cemetery (the one I fell at last year) and Lowe's! I got some beautiful photos of cherry blossoms, columbine, clematis, wisteria, fuchsias, tulips, lilacs, iris's, dandelions (the wishing stage), pink dogwood, and a lot that I didn't even know the names of! I even found some wallflowers! and strawberries! I love to use flowers in the collages that I do and I used to draw flowers all the time. I am now in the stage where the seed pods are the thing....some of them would make the coolest beads! And yes, today is more flower photos! This weekend, I got some pretty shower curtains to hang out on the porch so Morgan and I can sit out there after 3:30 in the afternoon. The porch faces the setting sun, so something had to be done. My across the street neighbor thinks it is very Beverly Hillbillies....but it works very well and looks nice...I don't think he knows what he is talking about!

I have been working in a way....I am working on a bracelet step-by-step for MetalClay Artist Magazine. I posted a photo of the bracelet a few posts back. And I got my new EZ Cube set-up to take better photos of the steps so I am excited! I have also submitted a couple of ring designs to Art Jewelry to get on their schedule for a article or three....

And hopefully, next week I am going down to Va. again to play with the inmates....and all the cool stuff that Carol got from the Vegas show. One of the things that she got was glass clay! I can't wait! I have been wanting to try it since I heard about it at the last PMC Conference. And I am taking a glass casting class at Bead and Button, so you think Fate is trying to tell me something?? OK, I get the hint! Well, I am going to sign off....need to go plug in my camera battery before I forget and since it is 1:30...I am going to try to get to bed early for a early start on those flowers! Have fun in your studios....Kelly So, for the photos...the iris is from a ladies front yard and the second is the clematis from Lowe's and the cherry blossoms are from the old folks home. I took about 150 photos so picking only 3 is harder than you would think!

2010-04-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I haven't been as busy with my artwork as I would like but I did get the taxes done! Yeah! We actually made money this year! $40, but it is better than paying out the $5000 that we paid last year!

So, in between getting ready to do the taxes, I have been taking photos of all the different flowers in the neighborhood. I wasn't able to take photos last year because all the flowers were gone by the time I had gotten my new camera. I am loving the lilacs and lentil roses and little bleeding hearts - thought they would be a cool charm for a bracelet or a pair of sweet earrings. The lentil roses have some of the most interesting seed pods and the petals are so cool....and since we haven't had to mow the lawn yet, all sorts of little johnny jump ups are sprouting up all over! How can you go wrong with a purple and green lawn?

Since the weather has been so nice and we got the great chairs from Pier 1 last Labor day, Morgan and I have been spending a lot of time out on our porch. It is 8x10 if we are lucky, but big enough....the only problem is when it is about 4:00, the sun starts shining in out eyes. So yesterday, I went and bought some water resistant shower curtains to use on the porch and I am going to make it into a outdoor living room....I even got a cute little "pot" for a plant....a ladies head with seashells. Have to pick up a cool plant to put in her head! I even got a glass wind chime. My grandmother used to have a little glass pagoda wind chime when I was growing up and I like the sound better than the metal ones...

On a work note, I ordered my E-Z cube this week to be able to do better photos for my step-by-steps. Now I have to clear off a couple of big spaces to set everything up...I feel like I am moving forward....I have also been looking at all those photos of Art Nouveau on Flickr....just awe-inspiring! Next week I am going back down to Va. to play with all the new products that Carol Hamilton got at the show out in Vegas...she even got some glass clay! How cool does that sound? I can't wait! Well, enough chatting, as much as I enjoy it, time to go to "work" (really it is a combo of work and play!) ....have fun this week, Kelly

Spring has sprung!

2010-04-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, it has been a stressful time since I was last here....a friend of mine passed away and he was only 63! That is younger than my dad! And then I found out a couple of my friends from high school passed away and granted, I haven't talked to any of them since high school, but you know. It is hard to believe that they have passed on and they were into sports and all that, big strong guys. Hard to believe!

But, spring has sprung and it is just beautiful once again! I must say that I love my digital camera...this is the first spring that I can take photos in focus...which makes it easier for everyone to see! I hope you like them!

I also want to tell you that my friend, Kim Otterbein (I hope I have the i and the e in the right place!), has written a book on polymer clay. Knowing Kim, it is an excellent book and will cover all the basics....I have already ordered one. In the book department, Kate McKinnon wrote to ask for my info for a piece of mine that she got several years ago and she wants to put in a book that she is working on....I am still working on my step-by-steps and am excited about my new Master's Muses project, resin and silver, that's all I will say!

And last, but not least, speaking of the Masters Muse project takes us around to Whole Lotta Whimsy...Sharon, who is mother and partner to Tonya, is very ill and if you get a chance to send a note, I am sure they will appreciate it! I know it is a very difficult time for them all. And for those in the lampworking arena, please send your condolences to Bev McCarthy of MacArts. Mike passed away two weeks ago. My love goes out to all of my friends in their time of need....it has been a hard time for a lot of my friends this year. I wish them all the best!

On an more upbeat note, I got to have dinner with my good friend, Nikki Thornburg, she makes great lampworked frog beads and other assorted lovelies! She lives in NC but was finishing a show in Delaware so we met at the top of Baltimore for dinner! Great food and a lot of laughs! I am looking forward to seeing her at Bead and Button for dinner once again! Can't laugh too much, can you?? Well, time to go...I hope you all have a nice holiday weekend, Kelly

the first photo is of the weeping cherry tree next door and the daffodil is also from there...the lovely magnolia is the tree down the street, there must be 1000 flowers on the tree! Incredible!

Catching up....

2010-03-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I finally got the ok to show you all what I made when I went down to Carol Hamilton's studio to try out some polymer products with metal clay. We got these bracelet blanks from Melanie West and we wondered if they would be ok in the kiln at 1650. And they were! Yeah! I love round bangle bracelets and didn't want to make sterling supports and then cover them with the metal clay and fire at a lower temp. This way of doing bracelets is going to be great! I am way excited! (Can you tell?) I used one of the wider bracelets and laid in the textured PMC and then wrapped additional clay around the joins to help hold everything in place. It was fired at 1650 for the 10 minutes and no distortion in the bangle. The PMC didn't fare as well. You can see the shrinkage in the photos. The ends under the wraps held well and I didn't want to add more clay and re-fire, so I thought about what I could do to make it work. I still had all me bronze and copper pieces in my purse(completely forgot I had them in there and had been lugging them around for a week) and so I pulled out the little angel that I had made out of the copper and riveted him on and riveted down the loose ends. I also have a hole drilled behind the angel for a little stone drop....just haven't gotten around to adding it on yet! I love wearing it! It is comfortable and has a nice weight and the angel is small enough that the bracelet doesn't spin and put the angel underneath. I am planning on making a whole bunch of them! Just think how nice that will sound!

And just a little note...I will be teaching at Coral Hamilton's studio, May 14th - 16th. I will be teaching the metal clay frames filled with with the polymer clay. The first day, we will play with copper, bronze and polymer clays to make little bits to go into our multi-bezel frames and then on the second day, we will design the frames, make and fire them and on the third day, we will assemble the frames with all the little lovelies we made on the first day. Our bronze and copper pieces will be fired on the first night so we can include them in our designs. If you have any questions, drop me a line. We will be figuring out the price as soon as Carol is done re-vamping her studio. She had a leak and then Terresa and Debbie are helping her re-organize the whole kit and kaboodle....maybe I will see it they want to come visit me for a week or three and do mine! The pirate and the princess! What more could you want?

I have also started thinking about the surface techniques for the seminar for the PMC Conference. Barbara Becker Simon and I are doing a hour long demo, so it should be exciting! I am thinking up some fun things to try before so I have examples to show everyone. I hope some of you will come and cheer us on! So, off to play...I have been in a weird mood and I think it is because I have been doing a couple of step-by-steps and I just need to play....so I am going to! PMC or polymer? We shall see....or rather, you will when you come back....have fun till then, Kelly

Master's Muse....

2010-03-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone saw my bead on Tonya Davidson's website? I would have posted the photo that Drew took of it, but I don't know how to get it off her website, so, you will have to go and see it there. I think it ended up being a funny little bead! I hadn't worked in metal clay for a while and forgot to allow for the shrinkage, so during firing, I had the movable object hitting the movable wall and everything moved! That was on top of having my one saw blade break while sawing out the numbers for the piece! So I only had the number 5 to work with.....thought I would make it into a piece I could wear next year when I turn 50....too bad I will turn 50 this year! My ex-brother-in-law was nice enough to point out that I was a year behind! Thanks, Joey! Guess what he's not getting for his birthday! I think I saved the bead with my surprise patina.....well, I like it anyway! Let me know what you think!

On a sad note, one of my fellow muses mother passed away, so if you get a chance, please drop a note to our Vicki Hallmark to help her through.

Remember that I told you that I was going to down to Carol Hamilton's studio to experiment with some polymer products and see if they could be adapted to be used with metal clay? Well, I did and we had a great time....the other inmates and I (since her studio is in the old prison, that's what we are calling ourselves!) had a great time! The head cell block leader, Debbie, told us a lot of stories and a one point, I gave myself a headache, laughing so hard! Can you imagine if we had added wine or chocolate? You would be now visiting us in the hospital! Anyway, I can't show you what we made until we get the ok from Jeanette since it is for the magazine, Metalclay....I think it is going to be in issue four...we were too late for this next issue! I will say that I had fun with Maureen Carlson's and Melanie West's supplies. I think they will like what I made with them. I got to go to the local group meeting and had a good time there...missed all the traffic for the way home. I am glad I don't like Mexican food, since they had dinner there before the meeting and quite a few of the girls got food poisoning! I think the only thing that saved me was the fact that I am picky! I had chicken fajitas with only the tomatoes and the chicken.....whew! I think I am eating at the Chinese place down the road next time, just to be safe!

So, now I am home and wanting to play with polymer and metal clay, fingers are itching! I will take some new photos over the weekend and let you see....have a fun time in your own studios! Take care, Kelly I thought I would show you the kinds of bead/pendants we will be making in the class we will have at Carol Hamilton's studio....I will let you know when the date is set in stone....hope to see you there. The first piece is "The Hairstylist", the second one is "Robin's Secret Garden" and last is "Pan's Playground". Hope you like them. Kelly

Time to check in....

2010-03-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I have finally recovered from all the craziness of the last couple of weeks....I had a great time and now all I want to do is play with some new ideas...as if I didn't have enough to be going on with already! I am trying to settle down to one or two main projects and the other bits will just have to happen when I get some time. I talked with the editors of Art Jewelry this past week and may have three step-by-step articles to write for them...two rings and a brooch with polymer and metal clay....I am still working on my own step-by-steps for myself and am looking into setting up a sale page or getting an Etsy site. Any advice would be welcome!

Tomorrow, I am going back to VA. to play at Carol Hamilton's studio, at The Workhouse (it used to be an old prison, nuff said...) and we are going to try out some of the goodies she got at Synergy to see if they work well with metal clay. It is going to be a long day! (while I was writing this, my trip just got extended to two days! I will be hanging out with Terresa and the Moth! Yeah! Always fun!) Debbie (my pirate girl) and Terresa are joining us! We are in trouble if any wine shows up!

Well, have to get to work, since tomorrow is for playing....hope everyone is having fun in their own studios (I am tempted to go and sit outside, since it is so nice out) and I will talk with you later this week and show you some photos of what we are playing with tomorrow.....have fun til then...Kelly

Comments for the photos...The first is our lovely Christi Friesen, being her playful self....next is the lovely Melaine Muir from Scotland (her work was written up today on Polymer Clay Daily....go see!) and last is the brooch idea I will be writing a version of for the step-by-step for Art Jewelry, which now belongs to Carol Hamilton and was commented on by Wendy Rosen. Thought is was beautiful....I must say, I agree! The bottom corner is bronze clay! Enjoy!

yes, I know....

2010-03-02T13:32:00.002-08:00

Ok, no comments about that last post of one line! I said I was shattered, maybe now you will believe it! I have been in learning mode since two Thursdays ago....12 days running.....I came home last night from the last day of class and slept until 3:30 today.....feeling a little better but I don't trust myself to handle big machinery or drive anywhere....yesterday I tried to go forward by putting the car in reverse! Lucky I made it home!

I started out this crazy two weeks with Gordon's class in VA. and had a great time...then had a day off before starting in with the Synergy Conference....The seminars were fun and the hotel had great food and coffee (which was needed more and more as time went on) but the up and down was a bit much on us old ladies....yes, I am almost 49 and this week I felt at least 30 years older on some days....but there was sooooo much eye candy that it was worth it! Some really beautiful polymer work. I got a small pendant bead from one of my good friends, Barbara McGuire...mokume gane and in pinks, reds, peach and 22kt gold....just beautiful. I met a lot of new people and met some that are on my Facebook page that I didn't know before....I was lucky enough to be included in Cynthia Tinapple's slide show about new trends for polymer clay....mixed media section (and then I realized that I have also been in slide shows for lectures at SNAG and the PMC Conferences, and now the polymer conference, so maybe I am not doing as badly as I thought!)... mixed media indeed! Love it!

I also got to hang out with Gordon some more since he came up to the conference with Carol Hamilton and the Pirate...Debbie, as we call her! And Tonya Davidson from Whole Lotta Whimsy and Robert Dancik (we missed Mr. Tim McCrieght, god, I hope I spelled his name right!) hung out with us and all the meeting and smooshing and making new friends and new deals...my brain may explode if I think too much on this! I know I have forgotten someone! I also got inducted into the Tabernacle of Clay with a secret handshake. Although, on the last night of the conference, so did everyone else....and I did get a sneaky photo or two of Miss Libzoid! and my dear friend Melanie Muir from Scotland (she even gave me a credit in the British version of American Craft magazine...woo hoo!)

I was so tired that for the first day of Dan's class, I just took notes but brought all my stuff for the second day and Libby let me use her pasta machine (no, my Dream Machine didn't come in in time)...and played with some of the techniques that he taught. Can't show you all the photos, that would be naughty but when I get my silly pieces baked, I will show you what I made...right now, the pieces and the toaster oven are in the car, were they will stay until someone (Ed...), brings then back in.

And in the last, but not least division, I have been talking with Carol Hamilton about teaching a polymer class combined with metal clay in her studio at the Workhouse sometime this spring and for those of you who live or just want to go to Florida, I may be teaching there also...things are in the wind. Also, my crazy piece for the Master's Muse (Whole Lotta Whimsy) should be up sometime in the beginning of March! A step-by-step in don't do as I do, do as I say! My dad used to always say that to us kids and now I have gone and made something of it....who knows what he will say of that??? Anyway, that is way more than enough for now...might be time for a nap and maybe some meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner, yum! Have fun, Kelly well, here we are being let in by the fancy doorman and then, there is Miss Libby and Gordon, doing what we all should be doing, taking a small nap! So, goodnight, sweet reader!

Shattered but alive!

2010-03-02T13:32:00.001-08:00

Just a couple of fun photos....

2010-02-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I am going to get some sleep in a bit but thought I would post a couple of fun photos...and, Libby, tomorrow you better watch out! There may be this redhead sneaking up behind you....!

I am at the Synergy Conference this week and Ford and Forlano started it off with a nice slide show and it was topped off with a cake from Ace of Cakes. There is supposed to be a photo of the cake on PolymerClayDaily in the next day or two....I will take more photos tomorrow...the hotel is fab! Just stunning! Anyway, have fun this week ad I will try to be good and post everynight! You can see other photos on Libby Mills blog...Libzoid.com. Hope you like mine, Kelly

P.S. The first is my good friend, Gloria, in a huge chair! (Gloria's feet really couldn't touch the floor!) and the second is the mural in one of the ladies room's ....talk about a fancy restroom!

Last but not least, even though it is first...

2010-02-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

A little peek of some of the characters in the class and the head character himself!!

A little bit more...

2010-02-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hi again,

First, the photos in the last post are in a backwards order.....Sorry, Roxanne and Terresa.... and I forgot to post the photo of the first funny image I saw on the way to the workshop....should have been a clue! and then I am going to show you some of the pieces I made....and last, but not least, the project from the class...abit different from Gordon's but that is ok....have fun this week,Kelly

And now, halftime!!!!

2010-02-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I almost hit the enter button after the title but stopped myself just in time! Yeah! I had a great time in Virginia at the prison! I went down on Thursday for the guild meeting and had Chinese dinner before we went to the Mexican restaurant. We got to see a bunch of Gordon's pieces before class and talked a few girls into coming to the class and join in the fun! Hopefully, Heidi didn't regret not going snowboarding! I am going to post the little pig she made and hopefully she won't mind! I am also going to show you what I had to look at for three days every time I looked up from what I was doing! I made a lot of copper and bronze sheets to use in my polymer/pmc pendants. Gordon was a very patient teacher considering we had 20 loud, chatty women! That man has hidden talents! I am looking forward to talking with him this week at the Synergy Conference here in Baltimore!

We also had a great time at Carol Hamilton's house for dinner and drinks on Saturday night! I haven't laughed that hard in years....my side actually hurt! Thanks everyone! I must have needed it! Jeanette LeBlanc (hope I spelled her name right or she will probably write something in the magazine about me that isn't nice!) not really, but she is quiet and quick! I thought I was going to wet my pants a couple of times after she had just zinged someone.....we are tight like that! Right, Carol? And for all this I was lucky enough to stay with my good friend Terresa Leopold and her hubby, Cory.... he was a pretty good sport! I wasn't even afraid f her dog, Miko....although, I have never been dissed by a pooch! And Kim Joy, what more can I say, another quiet but quick zinger!

Gordon and Carol had a contest for us within the class context that was fun. The basis was that you had to combine two different clays in the same piece. Denise, Debbie (the young lady in red and white prison garb!) Roxanne and Susan won the prizes of packs of bronze and copper clay! Lucky girls! We also had breakfast and lunch made for us all three days....not bad, right! Great way to take a class....eat when you have a break while something is drying and making the most of the time! Like I said, great class!

So, I won't be posting between now and next Tuesday at the earliest....I am going to Synergy and then a two day class on Sunday and Monday! I am hoping to pick up my DREAM machine at the conference...way excited!

Hope you like these photos....first is Roxanne's, next is Heidi's, and third...what can I say...a room with a view! Enjoy! Kelly

More action....

2010-02-18T08:32:00.002-08:00

Hi everyone,

Like Brittany says, "Whoops. I did it again!" really, you would think I would stop hitting the enter button to go to the next line after typing in my title....and shouldn't it go to the next line....like when you are in Word or writing a letter? Oh, well.. I hope everyone is doing well while I have been hiding behind the snow...and for those following the snow stories, you will love that my husband was so tired after riding his lawn mower/conversion snow plow that after 10 years up here, he finally bought a snow blower and tried to take out the windows in the front of the house before realizing he had to turn down the funnel part! And to top it all off...the storm that was supposed to drop another 12-15 inches on us, Didn't!! I think he should take back the blower! That is a lot of money for a garage ornament!

Anyway, I have been working on some projects....you see my bead on Master Muses sometime in the near future. It has been a love-hate relationship and everything that could go wrong, did! But in the end, it worked out alright. I haven't worked in clay since last year and had to think some things out that I had forgotten....wild! Just remember that mistakes can become positives! and paint is your friend! You will have to go peek at my bead once Tonya puts it on the site....(hope she likes it!).

So, now I am getting ready to go to Carol Hamilton's studio in Va. to take a class with Gordon Uyehara for copper and bronze clay and maybe some silver....getting ready to experiment! I will be rooming at my friend Terresa'a house for the net four days...and to top it off, she is a great cook! I will be cooking for her and her hubby, Cory, too, to do a little showing off, after all, fair's fair! and then when I get back, I have a couple of days before the ACC show and the Synergy Conference (both here in Baltimore) the Conference starts Wednesday and goes until Saturday or Sunday and I am taking a class with Dan Corimer at the end of the conference for two days! And to top it off, my good friend Mel is coming in from Scotland (she actually started her trip to get here last night) and we are going to squeeze in as much time as we can together....too much fun to be had! The Tuesday after that, I should be collapsing for a couple of days! Shattered, as Mel says! I can't wait to see some of my polymer friends that I didn't get to see in Tucson, since I didn't go. One of my friends from here got stuck in Tucson for an extra six days....crazy! Kind of glad I didn't go, as we normally rent a house for a week and we would have had no place to stay....maybe Karma was working with me on that one! Yeah, Karma!

Karma has also been working with me on other things, but that will have to wait until the project is more fleshed out! But a big surprise is coming! I hope you will like it, I am so excited about it! Anyway, I hope everyone has a great time for the next week and a half....I will try to post some photos of all my peeps and maybe show what everyone is making and doing! But no promises! Oh, and to top it off, Duff from "Ace of Cakes" is making a cake for Synergy....planning on photos of that! It's a cooking thing! Trying to be creative in all parts of my life.....have fun in your studio, Kelly thought I would show some of my first beads to you....sometimes it is good to look back!

Action packed week ahead.....

2010-02-18T08:32:00.001-08:00

Just a couple more photos...

2010-02-06T14:29:00.001-08:00

Thought you would like to see these photos also....Kelly The first photo was taken about 2:30 last night and got even bigger as the night went on! The county had to send out the Cat excavator to move the snow....the plows weren't strong enough...and didn't the guys love that! All that testosterone! And the third is my little metal flamingo with a little frostbite! Hello to my friends in Florida! I am thinking I may have to go out and make some snowmen! Have fun, Kelly

Snow, snow and more snow...

2010-02-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I am still working on my ideas for the coming year, so not a lot to show....except snow! For all my friends in Tucson, who are trying to come home after the bead show and my dad, who is laughing at the small amount we got....these images are for you....and everyone else, too! I find it really funny that on our street that once the snow stops falling, the men come out in droves...driving their little snow plow lawn mower conversions! My husband even bought chains for the tires of his...but he has to shovel all the snow out of the way to be able to get the "plow" out of the garage! And of course, he left the shovel at the other end of the property for ease of clearing a path but then he had to clear a path with his body to get to the shovel! One of the guys two doors down (our local cop) actually got a clear plastic shower curtain ensemble to go on top of his plow so he could stay warm! I told Ed if he got one of those, I was going to add hot pink beaded fringe to the "roof line" and give it some style! Anyway, for those of you snowed in, enjoy yourselves and for those of you in the sunshine, sorry! Hope you enjoy the photos....Kelly

The first photo is Ed taking a break....and the next is my little VW Bug hiding under a blanket of snow and then the third is Ed....giving in to his "Need for Speed!"....

and last but not least....

2010-02-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

I thought I would round out the snow by including two more shots for an even half dozen...enjoy...

and two more.....

2010-02-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

thought I would add two more....too much info in the photos to do more than that....K the second photo is Morgan breathing while taking the shot...I think it looks pretty cool. I tried it but my breath never showed up....wonder what that means?

Lovely Snow....

2010-02-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I haven't been doing much to show you...mostly paperwork and trying to come up with new ways to enhance my business. I have decided to take off the whole year from shows and not worry about the economy too much. Although, I am missing Tucson...which is happening as I write....but the last couple of years while I was there, I missed the snow here, and I LOVE snow! So, it has been really nice for me to have had two snow storms already and a couple of more on the way...I would have missed them if I had gone to Tucson. Morgan and I took some great photos early this morning, right after the snow stopped falling, around 4:30. And now, it is 3:45 in the afternoon and the snow is almost gone! Glad we took the photos, even if it was dark! I love the way the snow was outlining the branches and you can see how delicate they look. Then later when the sun tried to come out, the light made the branches even more delicate but you can see all the detail. Morgan and I are hoping for more snow this weekend so we can play with the camera some more.....don't know what I will do with the photos..maybe a wall mural? Anyway, I hope you are having fun in the snow or the sun, depending on where you are and don't forget to play in the studio, Kelly

Third times the charm...?

2010-01-28T13:06:00.002-08:00

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....

2010-01-28T13:06:00.001-08:00

All sorts of interesting goings on.....

2010-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

After all this time....

2010-01-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

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.....

2010-01-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

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....?

2010-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-01-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

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

Some journal pages....

2009-12-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I have been busy ripping up magazines and have now started to cut and paste!! I went and got two big journals and thought I would have them filled in no time! I now know that I really don't have a good grasp on time management! It took two days and one swollen hand to cut up half of my pages! I thought I would just breeze through that part! Wrong! I filled half a shoebox with the cut images and so I thought I would start pasting....and two days later, I have about 10 pages done.....man, is this going to take a long time! I do like the pages that I have done so far. I have made some that represent an idea for a bead or a series of beads and then some of them are just colors put together for me to use when I am working with the polymer or resin. I have a page for interesting ideas on setting stones and some with ideas on different bead shapes inspired by ceramic and wood items. Since I am not going to Tucson, I am planning on experimenting in a big way!! I hope everyone has a great holiday....I will try to write after the big day and before the other one. I know I am getting some books, I bought them, but didn't peek inside, so I am looking forward to that.....my brain may explode by New Year's with all the ideas rattling around now! I tried to take a nap today and found myself constructing a beaded bezel in hot pink beads with a PMC center! Looked pretty good, so I may have to make it! I am posting 3 pages that deal with color....I think they look good enough to eat! Have fun with your journal pages, Kelly

Photos of my upside down tree....

2009-12-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Since I have had requests for photos of my upside down Christmas tree, I thought I would take some....it isn't decorated as heavily as I normally do but you will get the idea. It looks great when I put on the expandable tinsel....it looks like a waterfall of silver. Hope you like it. The first photo is the whole tree and the second is one of the little vellum lampshades that I put around the bulbs and the last is one set of the little glass birds that hang around the tips of the branches. I may even take it down this year and redo it next year. One year we had it up for 4 years....the boys loved bringing home their friends to see it! Need to make some new lampshades though....maybe in a color! Purple sounds good! Happy Holidays everyone! Kelly

Nutcrackers and more magazines....

2009-12-15T14:52:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, as the title said, I am still working on my magazines, ripping them apart and throwing out the parts I don't need. I now have a box full that I have to start cutting up so I can start sticking them down in my journals and the instruction pieces can go in the filing cabinet!! Watching the "Nutcracker" with the Royal Ballet on tv while working on the magazines....great music! There are some really weird "Nutcracker" ballets out there....my favorite is still the one designed by Maurice Sendak (the guy who wrote "Where the Wild Things Are"). He did some great designs for the sets. I would like to say that I put up my Christmas tree but as it has been up all year, that would be a lie. It still looks nice though. It hangs upside down from the ceiling and has little light shades that I made out of vellum on the little light bulbs. Lots of icicles hanging down, a bunch of Chris Radko ornaments and little glass birds and bells. I will try to get a good photo and post it this week. I hope everyone has had a good time in the studio making gifts for family and friends....so, since I haven't played (just filling the well)..I will post some of my other photos...hope you like them, Kelly The first and second photos are of beads I did about three years ago and the second one was the front cover of the PMC Guilds magazine. The third is the inside view of the ring I posted last time. The watch glass on the top is a magnifying lens so the "diamonds" look bigger than they were....great engagement ring! K

WOW! Time flies.....

2009-12-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

So sorry that I haven't posted in a bit. Ed offered to help me put the "library" in order and get all my books up off the floor and onto the bookshelves. I actually ran out of room and so I decided to go through 8 years of magazines to pull out the bits that I want to keep. So far, I have cleaned off 2 1/2 shelves and only filled one box with the saved bits. Now I have to go and buy some blank journals to fill....maybe I can put books on my Christmas list!!! For those of you who see me in Tucson, I have to tell you that I am sorry that I won't be coming out this season. I am planning on putting my time to good use and experiment with some things I have had cooking in the back of my mind. I am also working with a wonderful bead artist to make some kits featuring my centerpieces. Hopefully I will be able to get back on track with the Master's Registry pieces....have some catching up to do! Well, back to ripping up magazines, filling the well, as Christie Friesen says....gonna have to get some more glue sticks too! Have fun playing, Kelly Thought I would post some of my rings, I ran across some of my old ads that showed the pearl ring and I had forgotten how pretty it is. Hope you like them. K.

Recovering from the holidays....

2009-11-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I figured everyone would too be busy doing other things to have time to check in with me, so I put off posting. I hope everyone had a nice holiday, wherever you were. We decided to do something different this year....Morgan and I thought we would be by ourselves so we choose a Moroccan recipe to experiment with. The recipe we chose was chicken with apricots, prunes and pomegranates with cous-cous. And then we threw on some potatoes....YUMMMM! It is a keeper recipe for regular meals now and it was way easy to make! We did have apple cobbler though! Morgan may not care for turkey, hence the chicken but he does like apple pie and apple crisp. I also got to watch a series of architectural shows that I had recorded and got to draw a lot of ideas based on parts of the buildings. I have had a urge to re-visit some of my older designs that combined the angel photos I took with the assembled pillars and arches. I may even re-design some of my "Peep Show" beads. I always liked them. I am planning on stringing up some necklace and bracelets to show how some of my beads can be used (for all those wonderful people who have purchased beads from me in the past and still don't know what to do...maybe this will be a good jumping off point for them). So, not much to show in the new work arena..but some photos to hopefully inspire.....Have fun playing, Kelly

The photos are from (in order) The Walters Museum, San Francisco farmer's market and then finally, my front yard....some kind of crazy weedie type bush whose berries turned blue and purple after the first frost and they now continue to grow in these colors and even turn white with blue dots on them...crazy beautiful....I am thinking they will be great looking beads! Hope you like them....Kelly

went to the show....

2009-11-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I was going to say that I was going to the show, like that old song but then thought..."but I have already been, hence the title change. Anyway, I met up with my friend Gloria at the Walter's Art Museum yesterday to go to their annual jewelry show. I loved most of the jewelers there but was disappointed by it at the same time. Most of them are jewelers that you would see at any ACC show and have seen for years in the magazines, and yes, their pieces are beautiful, but it would have been great if it had been jewelers that are not seen so much and are exciting and new. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the pieces I saw but it really would be nice to see some new artists! I know there is a lot of great art and artists out there but when will we get to see them and their work? Well, enough said....we did have a nice lunch in the little cafe and then we went upstairs into the Asian and Japanese wings....so, have to go back with a sketch and a camera....I am going to post some of the statues and doors and a lentil of marble.... wait til you see what I missed 'cause my camera battery died! I can't wait to go back..and it is a free museum! Fab! I hope you are all going to have a great holiday week/weekend and don't get hurt if you go out on Friday! Me, I am staying home and playing in the studio and Morgan and I are going to be experimenting with Moroccan food for Thankgiving since it is just the two of us....wish us luck! Have fun, Kelly

San Francisco....

2009-11-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I brought my computer to San Francisco thinking I would be able to write about the show and all....but I couldn't quite figure out the hotels ethernet stuff so I am doing it now that I am home. My luck I would have had to pay for the internet service on top of everything else and I would have been done in! I forgot that Oakland is it's own entity and not part of San Francisco and flew into the wrong airport! It cost me 65$ to get to the hotel and 90$ to get back to the airport 4 days later and on top of that, the fee for a overweight bag went up in June from 25$ to 50$.....and I could have spent that money on beads! I did luck out and had a fun group of girls in my class. We went out to the farmer's market for lunch and I am going to post the photos of the orchids that I found there. Saturday and Sunday were the show days and I had a fun time seeing all my friends....I was next to Andrew Thornton from Green Girls, which was great fun! Andrew has to be one of the nicest guys on the planet! We finally had dinner together on Sunday night at the "Silver Dragon" (what a great name,huh?) and it was the best Chinese food I have had in over 10 years! I has hoping to be able to eat at the Moroccan restaurant but I didn't have another 130$ for the taxi ride plus whatever the dinner would have been, so, maybe next year I will eat there before I go to the hotel! I got some great beads and sequins and antique lace and buttons to come home with and am planning some great beads to play around with! I really enjoy the time between this show and the beginning of the year...it is experiment time in the studio....and who knows what will happen! I will tell you that I got some eucalyptus electroformed pods with eyeballs in them and some antique glass glitter from France (that was a gift from a friend) and then add some resin in the mix and then you have something fun to work with....I will post photos when they are done! So, I am going to play in the studio now and hope you will too! For everyone that I didn't know before and had the pleasure of meeting, it was fun getting to know you and thanks for stopping by.....and to all my friends who stopped by, thanks for all your lovely comments! Have fun, Kelly Do you think I love the color purple?

Class with Gwen Gibson....

2009-11-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

In between getting ready for my class and show in San Francisco, the BABE show, I got to spend a day playing at a friends taking a collage class with Gwen Gibson. It was great hanging out with some of my friends that I haven't seen in a long time and playing cut and paste. There was a lot of wine (and milk!) and even some fortune telling....and then dinner at the Thai restaurant. I leave in the morning (5 a.m.) for San Fran and am packing and making sure I have all my stuff for class...don't know how I will fit it all in my new, smaller luggage. Wish me luck! I hope if you are in the area this weekend, you will come by and check out all the great beads....the show is at the Marriott Convention Center in Oakland. Trarie always does a great job of selecting artists for the show. Some of them, I only see at BABE. Stop and say hello if you come....Have fun this weekend, whatever you do and I will post when I get back, Kelly

Finally Patina'ed....

2009-11-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I finally went and patina'ed the bead that I made in the class of Barbara Becker Simon's. I had a great time making it...it was so nice just to sit back and enjoy the process of learning something new and not have to worry if it would sell or if anyone likes it. I like it and I think it has lots of potential! I was going to just spray paint it a flat black and then sand the highlights but when I saw all the different colors of spray paint, I had to break down and get the purple tones! It was really too cold for the spray paint to dry quickly so after it was mostly set, I brought it in and put it on my TV to dry....you know how hot a TV can get in a enclosed space! Almost better than an oven! I then sanded down the highlights to bring up the design. I really like the way the two different lace designs merged on this bead to look like it was wrapped in a single bit of fabric. I also like the way the edges and part of the overall design look worn away and banged up. I think I may put this on a strand of rubies and some amethyst beads and maybe some tiny silver beads or tiny pearls to look like something from the late 1800's. Anyway, I had fun with it and I think I will be experimenting with it a lot more...so, go into your studios and play with your art! Have fun, Kelly

Polymer polygon.....

2009-11-02T15:11:00.001-08:00

Back again, since we know that I can't load more than three photos, I decided to do this small post.....here you go with some of the sides of the polymer bead I made yesterday...sanded and buffed, no polish at all....enjoy, Kelly

What's new and exciting....

2009-11-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, since I didn't have photos to show of the class with Barbara, I thought I would post the photo of the bead before I spray paint it. I was excited about the polygon bead itself and all the possibilities and was writing down ideas all this week and yesterday, I finally had time to go into the studio to play. I decided to use a polymer mokume gane plate I had experimented with this past winter and stored as a record. I have all these wonderful polymer plates that have been baked and placed on index cards with the paint, ink or color samples and notes for what I did to the clay to get that certain look. Not all the experiments worked as well as I had hoped but a lot of them turned out better than I hoped. I made a big polygon bead with a beautiful blue , green and transparent pearl mokume gane. I used super glue to do the whole thing and while I was photographing it today, it fell onto the porch and held up great! It is also super lightweight, so I think they will mix well with the metal clay ones.....lots of ideas....so a HUGE Thank You to Barbara! I think I will be experimenting a lot in the near future.

On a side note, for those of you who have been asking about my classes, I am teaching at the BABE show in San Francisco, Nov 14th and 15th (may need to check the dates....). I hope to see some of you even if you aren't taking a class.....please stop by and say hi! I am looking forward to going out to eat at a Moroccan restaurant that I researched online. Seeing all my friends is fab too, but hopefully, they all know that! It is so nice to talk with anyone who "gets it", whether it is beads, stones, or creating.....most times, the family thinks I am out in left field by myself, but really, it is quite crowded out here! Anyway, I hope you like the beads I made and I hope to see you soon, Kelly these photos are of the metal clay polygon bead...before paint...

and last but not least....

2009-10-31T17:08:00.001-07:00

as the heading says....last but not least, I got my copy of Cynthia Thornton's book, "Enchanted Adornments" and my embroidered cuffs are in the gallery section. I wish the photo was right side up so the mermaids are not upside down but Jean Yates did a necklace with a bead of mine as the focal point so I don't mind about the cuffs. I am going to show you a photo of the cuffs and Florida...hope you like them...I mean, who else posts three times on one day...Trick or Treat? Have fun in the studio this weekend, Kelly I tried to post the photo of the stag horn fern three different times and am so glad it finally got posted.....I now know that I can't post more than 3 photos at a time.....so many photos, so little space!

and 3 more....

2009-10-31T16:31:00.001-07:00

I hope you like these....I had forgotten how plush the South is...in Maryland, everything is pretty well done for the season...but down South, it seems like it is the middle of summer...guess they didn't get the note about the change of seasons....Kelly

more eye candy...

2009-10-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

More treats....sorry the last group had a blurry one....hope you like these....Kelly

Happy Halloween.....

2009-10-31T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I just realized that it is Halloween! So, I hope everyone has a nice one and no eggs or toilet paper in sight! I think I will just post some "Treats" and leave it at that.....I am looking forward to getting into the studio and playing tomorrow with the ideas of beads I had after taking Barbara Simon's class.....and I have to get some spray paint so I can antique the beads I made in her class....Have a great weekend and don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight! Extra hour of sleep...how nice is that??! I hope you enjoy the photos...going to post several sets since you have all been so good...Kelly

Birthday Weekend.....

2009-10-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I am still in Florida...enjoying my birthday week....came in on Thursday and played with metal clay (we had homework for Barbara's class) and then on Friday, we went to Marie's to play with polymer clay. I taught Wendy and Marie how to do mokume gane. They were quite happy with the process. Then on Saturday, we drove to Bradenton and saw some rosey spoonbills and egrets on the way there. We had a great time in class and made some fab beads! The girls surprised me with a fancy birthday cake and a song! and a card! I have gotten some great photos of flowers and the beach, so I am going to post those for you. I forgot to take photos of the class....this is the first time I took a camera on a trip, so just flowers and seafoam....hope you have had a great week. I will post photos of the beads I made next week after I antique them. Have fun playing, Kelly

I tried to put up 5 photos but it didn't want to load that many....so, the photos are a hibicus flower, a decaying leaf on a stag horn fern and then a shot of the seafoam around my toes...hope you like them, K

and time passes....

2009-10-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I can't believe how fast time just zips along.....I have been losing myself on the computer trying to find out the answers to all my questions.....trying to find some items for some models I want to have made and planning out some kits to go with them. I am talking to a couple of big seed bead/crystal bead babes about doing some kits with my polymer and pmc cabs as the centerpieces. I am excited about all the possibilities! This weekend I am going to be slaving away under the eyes of Barbara Becker Simon in Florida....hope the weather is nice! I am still enjoying the weather up here, although Morgan is now sporting a jacket when he sits outside with me! I have been working on some purse designs and of course, my Master's Registry project. This one is the resin piece. I am going to take my camera with me to Florida and will post a note or three about the class and my shelling trip on Honeymoon Island...way excited about that! Well, off to pack up my supplies for the class and make some copies for the homework....going to do the rest of the homework when I get to Florida. I hope you enjoy this weekend playing in your studios, Kelly P.S. The first image is my MR piece and the second is some of my ideas for my purses.....K

Classes galore....

2009-10-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I am sorry I haven't written in over two weeks...it has been different around here...I was working on Hattie's polymer cabs and got so excited about them that I started designing necklaces and new beads to go with them. So, I have been sitting on the porch for the last two weeks instead of going down into the studio. The weather has been beautiful...not too hot, not too cold, not too breezy....just perfect! So, I did alot of research and bought some bead kits from Marcia Decoster and Beads East to get me back into beading and catch up on all these new bead stitches. I won't be going to RI for my ring class though since it was cancelled. It is a shame as I was really looking forward to seeing Kate, Kim and Jeff and enjoying my time in one of my hometowns....maybe next year....so, instead, I am going in the opposite direction and going to Florida and taking a class with Barbara Becker Simon....we are also going to talk about what we are teaching at the conference next summer. Tim has asked us to show surface techniques for metal clay,(thought I would tell you since no one guessed!). We will be on a big screen and all so everyone will be able to see everything without breathing on someone's neck! While I am in Florida, I will also get to go to Honeymoon Island to do a bit of "shelling"...I have some plans for those shells...they just don't know it yet! Hoping to find a few crab claws, too! So, I hope everyone is having fun in the studio...making plans, playing with materials, losing yourself in your work, etc.....I am off to post some photos for my second master's registry piece(show you next post) and to spend some more time in my head....planning.....have fun, Kelly I thought I would show you some of my planning without the pen and paper....when I am just fooling around....enjoy!

Polymer cabs....

2009-09-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I thought I was going to be able to post before this but I have been working on a polymer cab order for a friend of mine. We were in Dave Chatt's master beading class way back in '96 or '97 up in Split Rock, Minn. We had a great time but lost touch over the years and she moved to Santa Fe and I moved here to Baltimore. She saw my work in Lisa Kan's beading book and gave me a call! So, I am in the process of making some cabs for her...just a few...30! to start...I hope she likes them. I am antiquing them a bit differently than before and sanding the highlights with 600 grits sandpaper to bring out the little details. I am planning on making some for me when I am done with Hattie's and putting them in PMC bezels and doing some of my own beadwork. I must be in a creative mood this week because I signed up for Synergy2 in Baltimore in Feb. I ordered a dvd from Sarah Shriver on her Kaleidoscope canes and also signed up for a class with Dan Cormier after Synergy2 for 2 days and even ordered some bead kits from Marcia DeCoster and got some beading books and some polymer books....I think my brain may explode sometime soon! At least I will be having fun at the same time....and who knows what will come of it all? So, I will post the photos for Hatties work and if you look closely at the photos, you may see my reflection...don't fall on the floor when you do!! Have fun playing...Kelly

Lots of ideas..

2009-09-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, this week has been a lot of ideas and the writing down of said ideas...sitting on the porch with a cuppa while doing it, so not anything new to show you. I have to get my first piece for the master's registry done by the end of the month so I will be working on that this weekend...or should I say playing? I decided to look over the registry program and work up the sets that I think go together so I could then decide what themes to use. For example, there are some that are well suited for a industrial look so I put them together while making sure that I had all the requirements covered...2 from A, 2 from B, etc. It was harder than I thought. I feel good about how I divided them up and now when our masters registry group decides what is our next project, I will have an idea of what to do. we are going to try to get our first group in and juried by the conference in July.

Speaking of the conference...I have been asked by the powers that be to do a demo with Miss Barbara Becker Simon... we will be demoing 3 techniques each in the span of an hour's time...I am excited about being asked and then the fun of planning and doing the demo! I will tell you later about what we are doing...need to keep you all on the edge of your seats!! There will be a video cam and everything! I will give you a hint with the photos that I am posting....can you guess what we are going to be showing?? Anyway, have a great weekend, playing, of course...Kelly

A couple more photos...

2009-09-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

I just looked at the photos to see if they were in focus and the second wasn't so I am sending out another one for those of you who are interested....if you click on the photos, you can see everything up close and personal....imagine my surprise....ok, let's keep the laughing down to a dull roar, please!!!! Anyway, hope you like this one too. I also thought I would throw in one of the construction photos for "The Gilded Cage".....not all the components but you get the idea...k

New Week, New Work....

2009-09-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I did it again...hey, isn't that a song?? I really have to stop hitting the enter button after I put in the title.....so, just ignore that last post! Anyway, I didn't do much of anything this past weekend but think about my Master's registry projects and and getting some of them down on paper. I am in a group with 5 other ladies who are also doing their Master's Registry and we have decided what projects we are doing so we can work out any problems that may come up and to just be support for each other. We are starting with the brooch with the stilt rivets and I showed you my drawing, but I am going to change it a bit and take out the long pearl and put in one of the long porcelain nails I made. I think it will make more of a statement. Since you have already seen the drawing of my piece, I will leave you with some plain old eye candy....hope you enjoy it...have fun playing in the studio...which is where I am going...I think...it is awfully nice on the porch right now.....Kelly

I thought you might like to see some of my bigger pieces....the top two are fabric cuffs with antique lace and metal lace and pearls and tiny 15 charolettes appliqued onto micro suede with a PMC centerpiece of a mermaid. One cuff has white pearls and the other has dark pearls and they are meant to be worn over long sleeves that haven't any cuffs. They tie on. The last piece is a pendant that combines metal and polymer clay and I made it for the Master's registry as one of the candidate's choices. The image behind the bars is a nude bride and the keyhole covers all the important bits. The name of this is" The Gilded Cage". I may still use it...I may re-make it...I see room for improvement with it. It is almost 4 inches long and is quite heavy....oh, well....time to go to play....Kelly

New Week, New Work....

2009-09-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

feeling bad about those photos....

2009-09-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hi again....

well, I am feeling bad about messing up those photos and when I blew them up, I saw that you couldn't really see Billy's urn bead....so, a smaller post to correct my mistakes...(guess that makes me my own gremlin!) I hope these are better...enjoy, Kelly

More photos....

2009-09-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Today it was nice enough to take some photos of the ceramic and porcelain beads that I covered with my scrap pieces of PMC. The other day the only photo that looked good enough to post was Joan Tucker's of Off-Center Productions. So today you will get to see what I did to Marsha Minutella's, Joan Miller's and Billy Batt's. I hope I put them in order. I will be teaching the stenciling technique that is on Marsha's pendants at the BABE Show in San Fran in November. I hope you can join us. It is really fun just to play with the clay and not have to worry about the sub-structure. And, yes, you can combine the stenciling with your scrap pieces.....and then you can do beaded bezels around the edges of the flat coin pieces so that both sides show....I am going to use the small coins of Ms. Tucker's in a beaded bracelet...little enough to finish quickly and fun to wear....anyway, I hope you like them and that you all have a great weekend....Kelly well, I remembered them in order but the blog gremlin but them in the opposite order...so it is Billy's first, Joan's second(and upside down....sorry about that, Joan) and Marsha's last....but not least....

Fired and finished....

2009-09-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I fired my ceramic and porcelain beads made by all my friends...Marsha Neal Minutella, Joan Miller, Joan Tucker and Billy Batts. I stenciled, painted paste on, wrapped and spliced and built up my old scrap pieces that I have been saving (just in case!) to cover the beads with. In my last post, I showed the beads with the scraps I was planning on using with the beads I had. So, I finally fired the beads last night and nothing exploded! Yeah! This afternoon I took them all out and cleaned them and then did a bit of the stinky stuff....you know, liver of sulphur....then I also layered on some inks to the surface to make everything work together a little bit better. Some of them worked out better than I thought it would and some not as well as I hoped. I won't tell you which is which....the photos are not so great...getting ready to pour and the sky was too dark...so I will show only one photo that came out ok....hope you like it. Have fun playing, Kelly These are the ceramic beads made by Joan Tucker of Off-Center Productions....you should take a look at her website.....

playing with scraps....

2009-09-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I had a fun weekend playing in the studio! I needed to do my last assignment for the PMC Voice workshop and it needed to be opposite of what I normally do. Since all my work is over the top with little swirls and frou-frou-... the only way to go was with a flat, square pendant with nothing on it. I had a really hard time deciding what to make...think about your own work and think about its opposite....what would yours look like? I also started playing around with all the scraps I have had laying around for I don't know how long! I am layering them over porcelain and ceramic beads made by Joan Miller and Joan Tucker and Billy Batts. I will show you the before and afters (the afters in a couple of days....after they are fired and patina-ed). One of the pieces I designed with all my scraps may turn into on of my Masters Registry pieces. My son has even named it for me..."Fallen Angel"...I will post the before photo. I am going to mount it on a piece of golden mica sheet (maybe!)...or flame patina-ed copper sheet that I did years ago in a Marilyn Moore class. Have fun playing and I hope you like these....comments welcome...Kelly

Wicker and new work...

2009-09-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

well, it is now time to get working on my Masters Registry piece..the first one of the fifty! I am in a small group of ladies who are working together for support and problem solving. The first project is the brooch with stilt rivets. I also have to work on my last assignment for the PMC Voice group. I think it will be the hardest yet...I am supposed to define myself, my work and then do the opposite. How do I describe myself or my work? Any hints would be great!!! When I am descibing my work, I think dainty and frou-frou and then there are all those pod things....what is the opposite of all those different subjects? I have to say, my son Morgan always laughs when I say dainty and frou-frou.....and my husband just smiles, shakes his head and leaves the room...what does that mean? I think they are confusing me with my work!

And since I mentioned wicker, I should say that I got my wicker chair and can relax in that this weekend. My husband is thinking that we will need to attach them to the porch floor so no-one comes in the middle of the night to steal them. Too funny! Well, have fun this weekend....Kelly

From my demo....

2009-09-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, last night I went to the Howard County Art Center to give a demo to the Baltimore Bead Society ladies. Thought I remembered how to get there....I didn't! Almost went to the next town....no wonder my friends give me compasses to drive with! Just call me Gilligan! Anyway, got there and had a nice time. I demo'ed how to do Kuem-bo and enamel on PMC on the UltraLite kiln. And a lot of people showed up! I was afraid that I would be by myself....not really...but you know how it is! Anyway, the ladies were very nice and were so quiet, just watching the screen that I was thinking I wasn't doing well. But everyone said they enjoyed it, so, yeah! I thought I would show you what I did since some of you couldn't make it...silly reasons, like you don't live in Maryland and things like that....I started with doing the Kuem-bo to parts of each bead and I wasn't too pickie about the placement and then I let them cool and did a couple of layers of transparent enamel. I really got excited with the yellow gold one, I love the blushie-pink in the center! I am planning on sanding them both down with a diamond file to matte the surface and then I will antique them with liver of sulphur. I will show you the photos when I am done. I hope you like them. Have fun playing, Kelly

Latest assignment...

2009-09-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I was planning on posting a page on Saturday, but my internet server went down. I was going to show you my assignment piece before it went into the kiln in case it fired all weird. I had really thick areas on top of super skinny areas so I thought a lot of distortion would happen. But, it didn't....so I will show you both photos...and a couple extra...you lucky people, you!!!! Anyway, the assignment was to meld two or three shapes together into one bead. I went overboard after that, but what's new???

In between all this, I went to Pier One and got some beautiful wicker chairs to enjoy the weekend and the upcoming season...I love sitting outside in the fall and winter. I thought my husband was going to faint when he paid for them though!!! I tried spending less than 100$ but he went crazy....800$! No wonder he is grumpy today! We are going to see Harry Potter finally! Yeah! Anyway, have to go get ready...hope you like the new pieces....have fun today, Kelly

Trying again....

2009-09-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, you can see what happens when you hit the wrong button! It is the second time I have done it that you know about!!! I have caught myself more time than I can say! Anyway, I got a call from the Baltimore Bead Society about a talk I am going to give on Tuesday night....good thing they called to remind me....I thought I was doing it in October! I will be doing a demo on Kuem-bo and enameling PMC. I am thinking I am going to also bring my PMC Voice pieces so everyone can see them in person. I am hoping there will be someone to listen. Wouldn't that be awful if I showed up for the talk and demo and no-one else did? I hope that doesn't happen. So, this weekend, I have to make some pieces to Kuem-bo...no brass brushing and then get some pieces tumbled for the enameling part....

I also have to work on my latest PMC Voice piece...I will tell you more about that on Saturday or Sunday. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend (and, yes, the only reason I knew it was a holiday weekend was because of the phone call! Maybe I should get a calendar!) Have fun playing, Kelly Thought I would show you some Kuem-bo-ed pieces for those of you who can't come to the talk.....

Got a Call....

2009-09-03T14:18:00.001-07:00

Look at what I made....

2009-08-31T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, you were patient and waited while I struggled with my last assignment for PMC Voice. I started by making a polymer mold that I wanted my flower petal to look like. After I baked the mold, I rolled out my PMC at a 2 card thickness and draped it over the mold and let it dry. It takes some time to make three pieces that way...I then took the scrapes of PMC paper and made the base design and I even made a bell cap with a similar design on it. After it was fired and cooled, I started trying to assemble it and after a couple of hours of that and nothing working right or looking good, I almost threw it all away! I don't remember ever being ready to do that, so I took a couple of deep breaths and started deleting my design. Anyway, I hope you like it....the pod has dyed silk roving and a great bead that was made by Stuart Abelman.

By the way, I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blog and I really love it when you leave comments...makes me think I am not out here by myself!! Thanks again, Kelly

Still Working....

2009-08-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I am still working on my PMC Voice piece. Our assignment was to use a illustration from a children's book for inspiration. I used to collect children's books because I wanted to become a book illustrator. So, my inspiration piece comes from the book "The Forbidden Door" by Marilee Heyer. The illustrations are great and detailed....things I love! I decided to make one of the "flowers" since I also have a soft spot for them. I have made three semi-half pod shapes and a ornate cap that hopefully, when put together, will look like a real pod. Well, I can only hope! I made a mold out of polymer clay and draped the PMC into it to get the shape and then let it dry before removing it from the form...worked out pretty well. They are being fired as we write and read and tonight I will string them together. I just need to decide what to put in the pod. I have silk roving and huge green pearls and gold colored sheet mica and all sorts of other things....any suggestions?

Since my PMC Voice piece isn't finished, I will let you see some pods I did in the past. I hope you have a great day playing, Kelly

Well, I have gone and done it!!!

2009-08-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, like the title says...."I have gone and done it"! And what might that be, you ask??? I have signed up to do the Master's Registry course! Now, I have to make all those things....I have hooked up with some of the girls on Facebook and we are helping each other in the support area....which means giving each other a kick in the pants if needed and helping in the advice area. Great for when you are stuck or need some technical questions answered. Since I am still doing my experimental workshop with Sylvie Landsdowne (we are on assignment 6) I will continue to show you what I make for that and as I finish my MR pieces, I may show them...don't know if I should before they are juried. Have to check that out. So, I am going to go down to the studio and make my workshop piece and work on my drawing for my MR piece...we are doing the brooch with stilt rivets as our first piece. I will at least show you my drawing....I know, you are waiting with bated breath!!!

Since I don't have photos of those yet, I will show you some of the porcelain pieces I did that have been antiqued with fine silver. I am going to use them instead of stone cabs and bead around them, kind of like my good friend Sheri Serafini...she is teaching at another friend of mines'...Kim Otterbein's 'The Bead House' up in Bristol, Rhode Island. Kim and Jeff have a great lineup of teachers and classes every year...check them out! I will be teaching there in November...making rings! So, go play in your studios and enjoy your day, Kelly

My latest assignment project...

2009-08-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Here is my latest assignment....a song you like or one that inspires you....I chose "Money, Money". I have a lot of antique coins that I love the designs of. I use them every once in a while and I went through all my coins to find one I wanted to use. I was going to use a bull (from Spain) but since I don't play in the stock market, it didn't really call to me. The birds, though....I also used a tearaway with a leaf type pattern in it for the "tree" (as in...do you think money grows on trees) and then behind the coin is a layer of Tiffany glass shards set in resin. I wanted the golden color (to symbolize gold) and the Tiffany is for the idea of expensive. and, yes, the Tiffany glass is real. On the back is my little blue bird of happiness since most people think they will be happy if they have enough money....enough said. At the bottom are facetted citrine which is a stone that is supposed to bring wealth to you. I think I may have over thought this one, but I like it none the less. Hope you like it...my next assignment looks like fun...I will show you next week. Have fun playing, Kelly

New Beads...

2009-08-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I would show you some of the beads I gave new life to for the Bead and Button show. I made these polymer beads about 8 years ago and have always loved the color and I always wanted to do glass beads that looked like these but I don't work with glass....(when I took a class with Leah Fairbanks back in '96; one of my friends almost torched off all my hair and that was that....it was the class I met Sylvie Landsdowne in...so that was a good thing). Anyway, I figured out how to make these look like glass and then added my PMC disks at each end....They remind me of bright fruit. Now I have to make something to go with them....any suggestions?? I hope you like them...have fun playing today, Kelly

New workshop piece....

2009-08-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I got my HUGE bead out of the kiln and it is still HUGE!!!! It will be a centerpiece for sure and I may use the beads of Joan Miller's that I experimented on as the side beads. This bead was inspired by the rust and the rumpled metal of a car. I found out after firing that I should have used a solid piece for the back but felt like pushing the boundaries and the bead was really wonky when it was finished firing. I had to do a bit of moving around and flattening to get it to sit flat like it did before it went into the kiln. The bead of Joan's was fired in place around one of the posts. It was a bit of a pain to get it in place since I decided to put it around the post after all the posts were in place and dry. I cut out the post, added the ring and then re-attached the post. I am thinking of having swags of small beads attached to it and then attached to the main necklace....I hope you like it...It was way fun to make....have a great day playing, Kelly

You know....looking at my bead and the inspiration photo makes me think I got a little carried away with the rumples....too funny! K

what to make??

2009-08-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I would be better about writing this blog but I guess I don't do enough that is interesting to write about....I did go to a great remainder book store this weekend and got some fab books on clockworks and Russian gold jewelry and Venice and India....most of the books would normally be around 60 to 100$ marked down to crazy prices like 15 - 25$....love that store!!! You can go to their website if you love books...www.salebooks.com. They have a great selection of art books and even jewelry books...I got one years ago that was about Faberge and it was covered in pink silk with gold embossed letting and gold on the sides of the pages for 15$....I saw it in Barnes and Noble the following week for 125$!!! I Love getting books to look at the pictures so I can be inspired!! I didn't think I had a lot of books until I started counting bookcases in the house....15 at last count....whew!!! So today I am going to work on my workshop assignment and I will show you the photos I took to inspire me from around my house....now to decide which one...and tomorrow I will show you what I made....because our new assignment has been posted and I have to get to work!!! So, enjoy your day playing!!! Kelly

What to write???

2009-08-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, today I really have no idea of what to write that would be inspiring or even witty (I hope some of my past posts have been....). My son is making random remarks that he is hoping will end up in my post be accident...("Where is your magical chicken of doom?" is one) try a whole afternoon of that!!! Anyway, he suggested (after the chicken question) that I put up some photos that inspire me and hopefully you will be too. Next week I will put up some photos of the library that I have been working on. I hope you have a great day today, Kelly

The first photo is lichen growing on a tombstone of marble...reminds me of a cool patina for metal....the second is a carved hand...wouldn't that be cool as a hand in a shadowbox bead? and third is the word we should all be living by....enough said...K

Working on the Library..

2009-08-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I am working on the library again, so I thought I would show you one of my sculptures that will live in the Library. I made her about 10 years ago and I still love her. I did a series of found object angels and mixed media collages around that time. It is a nice break from small jewelry pieces. All that glue and paint and crackle medium....colored pencils and ribbons and yarn....might have to start doing some more angels....maybe smaller...as beads or brooches!!! Hhhmmmmm.....might be a bit tricky drawing the faces that tiny, but it would be worth a try....anyway....here are a couple of photos of "The Holy Roller". Look close and you will see all sorts of playing cards and dice, dominos and pennies...inside of her are bingo cards and money changers. Gambling was coming into the Gulf Coast area when I made her and she was my comment on the times....hope you like her....have fun today, Kelly

Sunday, already??

2009-08-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I looked at my last posting and I can't believe that has been 5 days since the last one....Sorry about that! I have been reading a series of books and I guess time ran away with me! I did work on my assignment for the online workshop so I thought I would show you what I made. I was supposed to represent myself with this bead and I covered all the bases but I don't think it is too much. I used a antiqued polymer base and riveted some PMC molded panels to the surface to make a background for the woman's face and wings. There is another polymer panel on the back with a butterfly on it over some swirlie vines. I may make a shadowbox type frame to go around it later with a cut out in the back so the polymer shows through but I haven't decided. Anyway, I hope you like it and I will try to be better about posting regularly. Have a great time playing in the studio, Kelly