Next Experiment....

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!!

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!!!!

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!

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.....

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....

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!

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