same title, actual words to read....

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.....

I can't believe it!

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.....

Where have I been????

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....

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....

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