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

     

Photos that were promised.....

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.....

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!

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