Yet another reason I wish I were in London this weekend

Well, I wish I were in London almost EVERY weekend, but especially this weeked for the True Taste Welsh Food Market.

Celebrate St. David’s Day with artisan products from Wales, including traditional cakes, cheeses and meats. Why: Feast your eyes on that. When: Fri., 12:30-7 p.m.Where: St. Christopher’s Pl., W1U (020 7493 3294).

New Jewelry at RAG

Blue Ribbon Winner, mixed media necklace available at RAG SF

I got accepted into a local artist co-op gallery, RAG-Residents Apparel Gallery YAY! Today I went over today to drop off my stock. I took 20 pieces of jewelry - most are brand new, just for the boutique. Of course I don't have the right sort of displays, but the manager was a sweetie and helped me get it all in there. I need to get a tall/clear earring display ASAP.

I'm really excited to be in there, they have AMAZING work. I was having such a good time talking to the women working that I forget to buy the Egyptian print tshirt I wanted. Check out the store to see all the gorgeous goodies in there.

I got home to a package of GORGEOUS beads from Cindy Gimbrone. SWOON! I'll post pics of what I make with them soon. They are so fun!

Another high note today: I also got asked about teaching at another retreat! I'll have more details when it all gets ironed out.

Marketing Monday - Don't blame the economy

Because there is still a war going on in my sinuses and I am completely run down, today's Marketing Monday post is short.

I recently came across a blog called "The Fluent Self". It's an amazing blog, for helping you become "destuck", I highly recommend you add it to your bloglines, google reader or whatever rss feed you use. Her post today is something I wanted to write about, but she puts it more succinctly than I do so I'll just link to it HERE. I've always believed that just because the economy is bad, doesn't mean people stop spending money, they just spend it more carefully. Whether they spend it at your shop or the one next door, and WHY is the real thing to work on. Anyway-the post at The Fluent Self is really good and she writes "The point is this: TRY STUFF before assigning blame to the most convenient target. I know that the economy is scary. Just make your peace with the fact that hey, you haven’t tried everything yet."

amen to that!

Also, to help you out with marketing there is a free LIVE Teleclass : The Complete Idealist's Guide to Growing a Creative Business: 37 Ways to Really Make an Artsy Living, with Artella Founder Marney Makridakis. It's on Thursday, February 26, 8:30pm Eastern Time, you will need to reserve your spot so be sure to read the full details here.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Sunday night, ALREADY!!! Where did the weekend go?? I can't believe how quick it flew by. Tomorrow I need to UPS the assemblages up to Portland, and then concentrate on getting things together to take over to RAG on Weds. I did almost nothing this weekend because of the face pain. I literally spent 4 hours just shifting around beads and stuff on my worktable, couldn't find anything complete to go together. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day and the goal is to be alot more productive.

Here's the goings=on with the bead bloggers this week!

• The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton -Andrew shares six new earring designs, utilizing some of his favorite artisan made components.
• Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts - Barbe Reviews the fiber jewelry book "Elements of Style"
• Carmi's Art/Life - Carmi "repurposes" a belt into a new necklace.
• Art Bead Scene - It's cold outside! Get a clasp on things.
• Jewelry & Beading - Combine wirework and embroidery with stringing to make a beautiful one-of-a-kind necklace.
• BeadStyleMag.com - Tips on submitting your work to BeadStyle magazine
• Earthenwood Studio Chronicles - Melanie's finishes her Alchemical Glove costume project: an intricately articulated metal glove constructed of brass filigree and jump rings.
• About.com Jewelry Making - It's party time! Mix it up with your own beaded cocktail! Tammy shows you how and what to do with the mess afterwards.
• Strands of Beads -Melissa shows off an unusual stash acquisition - mammoth bone beads.
  
  

Featured Artist on A Bead A Day

I want to thank Lisa for making me and my "Gitane" earrings today's Star on her "Designer Friday" post at A Bead A Day Blog. She has up fantastic posts every day about beads, so you will want to add her to your bloglines or RSS feeds.

Thanks for the linky love, Lisa!

the world is going to end

Shakespeare in your Ear series: antique glass pearls, resin, glitter,swarovski crystal, chain, aluminum. SOLD

I'm out of resin!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have things to finish (like YESTERDAY) and I'm OUT OF RESIN!!!! AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH the last little bit of my Ice resin I poured on Tuesday didn't cure (too old I think, about 5 months since I opened) so I ripped that all out and realized I didn't have another unopened set.

Crap crap crap crap!!! I can't get jewelry resin in town, only envirotex or casting craft-neither which like me very much so I stick to Ice or Colores. Sadly there is no jewelry supply store in town anymore, it got shut out during the boom.

Must place emergency order today at Rio, I need sterling wire too.
Shoot-I see I'm also out of 2 part clear epoxy too, at least that I can get at the hardware store tomorrow.

Sneak Peek - Inhabitants of the Ley Lines

Inhabitants of the Ley Lines: The Scientist 11"x9" mixed media

For those of you who are curious, here are a couple of sneak peeks of my art for my show at Redux Gallery the month of March called "Inhabitants of the Ley Lines.

I've got 12 pieces for it all a bit different in various sizes. I would like to do maybe another 2 if I can find rusty things to finish them (a neverending search!). I'm not sure which to send for the press release and promo, but I'm leaning toward Sailor and Son. I just love the energy that comes off that old photo.

Inhabitants of the Ley Lines: "Sailor and Son" 5x7 mixed media

If you are in the Portland, Oregon area you can see the full show at Redux Gallery, 811 East Burnside Street in March.

Artist Barter

Remember my post from a couple of weeks ago about surviving as an artist/small business in this rocky economic times? I mentioned bartering as a well to help get supplies, gifts or services in exchange.

Well, it appears that its a growing trend and not just among artists. There's an article in the New York Times about artist bartering today. It's a good read, if you are interested the link is here.

Marketing Monday - Honesty

Today's Marketing Monday post is about being honest in your marketing. There's a REALLY fine line between talking something up or talking out that certain part of your anatomy.

How often do you see things like "selling fast!" or "only 3 left, get them NOW!!!!". When people do this, it often isn't the truth and makes them sound like some sleazy used car salesman from the 70's, what I call "Slick Rick Schtick" It turns people off, rather than makes them jump to buy your product. I think thats an old school method of marketing, people are too savvy today to buy into it (for the most part).

Don't say "We" when the company is just you. It's a lie and there's no reason to lie. Not a huge/giant lie but still a falsehood. I'm a big believer in Law of Attraction, the more little white lies you tell the more that come into your life, and I know you don't want that! Also, its more personal to know whether you are dealing with a stay at home single mom or a 3 person design team not the ambiguous "we".

Also, don't try to impress your customers by saying things like "I've selected these findings from my frequent trips to Europe", unless you are REALLY offering something unique that can ONLY be found in that country or city. You may have bought those swarovski crystals in London but they can be bought everywhere in the world and aren't unique. If you DO have something that can't be found in your country, by all means use that as a selling point. It will make your work stand out if you are using French souvenir charms or Dutch Blue china charms.

In business as in life, be honest not desperate. Honesty is always the best policy and people will know if something is selling like hotcakes or not.

Happy Valentines Day!

I love these vintage Valentine's Cards. I meant to make and send out V-Day cards to everyone this year but it slipped way down on the list. I should make them NOW and have them ready to go next January.

I woke up to a bunch of cards, a bunch of red tulips and a box of See's candy. I feel very blessed, no one (ie the cats) knocked over the flowers, threw up a hair ball on the cards or chewed thru the box LOL

Hope everyone has a wonderful day, knowing that you are all loved.

Felt burial shroud

Linda over at Feltmaking.CraftGossip.com recently put up a post about a gorgeous felt burial shroud. She is getting alot of positive responses to her post.

Made in England, these are probably the most gorgeous things I've ever seen to wrap a deceased loved one in. The website is Bellacouche, have a look-don't be afraid. Its really very beautiful.



The process of death is something most people avoid talking about. We spend thousands putting our deceased loved ones into airtight, non biodegradable containers which are then buried in land that can't be used for anything else. To me, thats such a waste of resources. I would prefer to be wrapped up in this gorgeous soft felt leaf, and allowed to become one with the earth - ashes to ashes, dust to dust. EDIT: I have found there are about 20 eco burial cemetaries in the US.

I think this would be appropriate for pets too. If I had land I could bury my pets one, I'd be doing it this way.

Book Review: Elements of Style

Elements of Style: Knit & Crochet Jewelry with Wire, Fiber, Felt & Beads

I was intrigued by the title of this book and couldn't wait to get it. Fiber jewelry is getting more popular but there aren't alot of books out on the subject. I wanted to see what projects this book offered and I was not disappointed. With pretty simple materials you'll be making modern wearable art pieces of fiber art.

The book contains seventeen projects that combine the writers 3 passions - beading, knitting and crocheting and she combines them perfectly. Elements of Style will appeal to jewelry makers of all levels as well as knitters/crocheters who never thought about using those skills to make jewelry. No matter what your experience with knitting or crochet, this book will get you familiar with the materials, tools, and techniques. This book is so well written with great illustrations and instructions that someone like me who can't knit, feels confident enough to make the knit jewelry projects. I think this is one of the strongest elements of this book. Most of these are basic wireworking, beading, knitting and crochet so a beginner won't feel overwhelmed. There are special technique sidebars and tip boxes throughout the book which will make sure you are successful with every project.

The book is in three sections: wire projects, fiber projects, then felting projects. There are so many pieces in here that I like its hard to narrow down a few. For the Wire section, my fave is the "Trio of Wire Earrings". It has instructions for beaded rectangles, beaded triangles or wire rounds. I really like the triangles the best. In the fiber section, the very first project is my favorite - a scarf cocktail necklace made with stainless steel/silk blend yarn. GORGEOUS!!!! In the felting section I am ga-ga over the "Circles Cuff" Another great thing I really like about this book is that because the projects are small its a great way to use up all those little bits of fiber, beads, and wire from we all hoard!

If you are looking for something a little different in your jewelry making or are curious about knit/crochet jewelry this is definately a book you will want to pick up. You can preview the book on the Interweave website and see a few of the projects.

Bead Bloggers Linky Love

Another week of great jewelry blog reads!

• About.com Jewelry Making Valentine's Day is a big jewelry day, or is it? For those who sell jewelry, you may find this poll interesting.
• Art Bead Scene It's cold outside. An art button suceeds as the finishing touch on a handmade neck warmer.
• Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Need to get your jewelry business office skills up to date? Check out this source.
• Bead&Button magazine A new design resource for beaders--check it out!
• Carmi's Art/Life Blog Carmi creates a broach using old fashioned rug hooking techniques.
• Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Inspiration comes to Melanie in an unusual form... an earworm and musical artist that she dislikes.
• Jewelry & Beading Seed bead mania hits Jewelry&Beading. Wanna play?
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is honored to have her jewelry design book, Links, by Jean Yates, get a jolly good review by a really cool beading magazine over in Great Britain!
• Strands of Beads Melissa is inspired by dream catchers to create a spring necklace
  

Book Review: The Jeweler's Studio Handbook

The Jeweler’s Studio Handbook: Traditional and Contemporary Techniques for Working with Metal and Mixed Media Materials (Paperback)
by Brandon Holschuh
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Quarry Books
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592534856
ISBN-13: 978-1592534852

I recently got “The Jeweler’s Studio Handbook” and have to say that I totally fell in love with it. I think I have looked thru it about 40 times already. I love this book so much that I got rid of 4 other jewelry studio books I had in my own collection. I am so in love with this book that I want turn my tiny area that is the kitchen/dining/studio I have now into a proper metalworking studio. We don't NEED to cook or eat at a table, we could live off of apples or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches couldn't we???

On to the book review: I think this is an exceptional metalworking book that should be in every jewelrymaking library. Artist/author Brandon Holschuh walks you through planning and setting up your studio space, selecting tools you need, working with various materials, shows you how to master fundamental metalwork techniques, and then has the reader practice their new skills with twenty jewelry projects. Also, the book is full of gorgeous and inspiring gallery quality jewelry from dozens of contributing artists. There are tons of photos as wells as lots of sidebar tips.

The book starts with planning your home studio. This is something that I haven’t seen in other books, and it makes complete sense as to why it should be included. Setting up your studio properly and safely is important and something one needs to think about before hand. The pictures of his studio are so inspiring. and make me long to have the space of living in the Midwest.

Chapter 2 is Jeweler's studio tools, he talks about everything from bench pins to rolling mills, from soldering station to casting equipment. He shows you how to set up the different areas and talks about why you should keep separte areas for different types of jewelry work that you do..
Chapter 3 is Metals and other materials. This chapter talks about the properties of various metals-silver, brass, gold, platinum, etc…then goes into work techniques. This chapter covers annealing, sawing, soldering, drilling, filing, finishing of metals. Gemstones and found object materials are also discussed.
Chapter 4 is all about Mechanics, Contraptions and Surface treatments and this is where the fun really begins. This chapter covers cold connections, various mechanisms such as caps, clasps, bails, and enclosures like cages, frames, boxes and hinges. It also talks a little bit about patina and texturing as well as finishing attachments for your flex shaft.

The second part of the book starts with “The Projects”. There are step by step instructions for creating twenty pieces of jewelry. The first project is a plain band ring, and includes projects like a tube rivet chunky ring, bezel set pendant, cage pendant and no solder bracelet. The gallery section has even more eye candy to inspire you to keep improving your bench skills. There is an appendix with tips on how to continue your jewelry career and a resource section.

If you only have one book on jewelry benchwork, this is the one to have.

If you'd like to know more about Brandon Holschuh, please visit his website. He has has been a jeweler for nearly twenty years and maintains an active jeweler’s studio in Concord Township, Ohio. He is a member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, The American Craft Council, and the Society of Arts and Crafts

Don't throw that away!

Cyberbaby Recycled Pez dispenser, 2006 Barbe Saint John

You can often hear that phrase coming out of my mouth, usually followed by "I can use that for something". Growing up poor, you didn't recycle, you re-used, and you got creative. Those empty 2 liter soda bottles would be turned into terrariums, egg cartons became seed starters, earrings holders or funky Christmas Trees. That is still ingrained in me.

Alot of that kind of thinking died in the 80's and 90's but its all coming mainstream now. We are realizing what an impact waste has on the planet and nearly everyone recycles now.

Since I "re-use" alot of stuff in my own artwork and jewelry, I thought it would be fun to see what other interesting recycled stuff out there.

Check out these newspaper pencils. LOVE THEM! They also have recycled denim and money pencils too.

This recycled skateboard deck tote is super cool too! By Beck(y). I love the clutches too, will be putting on on my wish list.

Speaking of bags, Tracie Lampe makes GREAT pouches, bags and totes from recycled frozen food bags, chip bags, etc... Her shop is Radical Recycks on etsy.

And if you want to be creative, here's a jewelry tutorial by Esprit Cabane . It uses aluminum cans and air dry clay. Looks fun! I dont' have any airdry clay but I do have polymer clay so I will give it a try.

What's your favorite recycled product??? Share the love.

Inspiration and work methods

Crime Machine Steampunk Earrings

People will look at my jewelry and always ask "where do you get your inspiration?"

I always answer "everywhere-from books, music, friends, myths, random people, fashion, history, garbage, colors, etc... There is always SOMETHING that catches my eye in everything I see, hear, taste and feel."

They often look at me like I'm just giving them a line or I'm insane. Truth is, I'm not. Well, I may be a bit insane but my reply is true, I can find a pattern or see a connection everywhere especially in chaos.

To show you how that is, let me show you how I work. This ladies and gentlemen is my work table.

I know, its scary to most people isn't it? Where do I work-well, I'll skoootch out a little 5 inch square of table top that is mostly clear and work. It was white at one time, now is stained with paints, inks, resin, and metal dust. I see you shaking your head, wonder how the heck I get ANYTHING made in this mess. Let me assure you-no matter if its cleaned off completely to the bare table top it will end up like this within 3 days time. And I'm ok with that. I use to hate it, now I just accept it.

I find order in chaos, I find patterns in chaos, I find color combinations in chaos. Even looking at the picture right now I'm seeing some things that will work together. Its sort of like looking at a microscope slide-if you don't know what you are looking it, it looks crazy. I can not work without seeing things together. Artists who can have everything in its proper place and only pull out the things they know they will be using is amazing to me. I can not do that, I've tried-its not me. And thats OK, I work this way someone else works another way. I have a friend who works best sitting on the floor, she doesn't like sitting at a table or desk. So don't be embarressed if you work this way, or need everything in pristine, labeled boxes or can only really work if you need to sit on a beanbag chair next to the fireplace. As long as you are creating and connecting with your creative self thats all the really matters. So work however or whereever you feel most comfortable and claim it, don't be ashamed of it.

RIP Lux

A little piece of my heart died with you.

Work it Wednesday - Online Computer Classes

One of my intentions for this year is to learn this BLEEPING Quickbooks Pro software I bought last year. I learned how to do accounting/bookkeeping on paper 20 odd years ago and my brain has had a horrible time trying to reconcile that with this computerized system.

After many frustrating attempts, the expensive software has sat here on the computer taking up space and not being used. I have been unable to find a QB class IN SF, but then remembered Lynda.com.

Lynda.com has been around a LONG time doing online training-why didn't I remember them last year? They have a huge list of programs (541 online courses!) you can learn-anything from Photoshop to Avid to Maya 3D to Quickbooks, Excel, or Filemaker Pro, etc.......And they are pretty cheap-you can pay $25 a month for unlimited use or $25o for a year. If you are looking to brush up on some skills or learn some new ones, this is a GREAT website to check out first.

So tonight; after Top Chef, I'll be spending some quality time with Quickbooks. I will probably take a look at the Excel and Filemaker classes too. Since I don't do admin anymore my computer office skills are really bad, and I should keep them up to date-JUST INCASE.

Lots to read on Beadbloggers tonight!

I've spent the weekend working on assemblages. I did the bases for 10 of them, and completely finished 3=woo hoo! A small miracle considering I'm a VERY slow worker LOL I'll post a sneak peek when I'm closer to being done.

Now I'm gong to wash the E6000 and Liquid Nails off my hands and crawl into bed with a pot of tea, the bead bloggers links and some downloaded books and spend the rest of the night reading.

• About.com Jewelry Making Check out our Show & Tell forum folder for some amazing jewelry eye candy.
• Jennifer Jangles Blog Jennifer highlights a few posts to help with your jewelry business.
• The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Amidst the preparations for the Tucson shows, Andrew whipped up a cute Baby Bird Necklace with a new Green Girl Studios fine pewter piece.
• Art Bead Scene Take a risk in your jewelry design. Why a risky color choice works.
• Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe reviews The Fabulous Fabric Beads book
• Jewelry & Beading How about improving your design skills in 2009?
• BeadStyle magazine Erin posted some great new stuff to tie in with the March 2009 issue of BeadStyle magazine
• Katie's Beading Blog Katie shares more DIY tips for stylish and fun beading. Check it out! Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi wishes she was going to the prom with her "Urban Corsage" project.
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean was interviewed by the fabulous and brilliant Barb Switzer! What an honor!