Friday, May 18, 2012

Spring Shows Galore

I've been a little crazy prepping for 4 upcoming shows I have on my schedule.

First up THIS SUNDAY is the wonderful Patchwork Indie Arts and Craft Festival.



This is followed a week later by the Patchwork Santa Ana in their NEW location is a really cool area of Santa Ana.

Then on June 1st and 2nd is the Uptown Village Market.


This is a show I am Presenting and Coordinating with the Expo Arts Center and Bella Cosa Boutique.  We did our first show in December and it was jam packed!  We've got a LOT of really great vendors this year and we've already got some wonderful press rolling in.

I just hope I have enough jewelry and accessories to last through 4 shows!  Finding studio time has been a challenge lately.  PreFurred Pet Care (my other company) is doing quite well, but that means it is taking up a great deal of time.  I can't complain about success, though.

So, if you're local to Southern California, come out and see me at one of these shows!  I've got a whole new bunch of lovelies that are just waiting to find homes with people who appreciate one-of-a-kind art jewelry.

See you soon!

Lisa

Monday, April 23, 2012

Bracelet Challenge

Tracy over at Making Bracelets Blog put together an idea for a great blog hop. Bracelet stacks are super trendy at the moment and it's a trend that keeps going. We were challenged to create a bracelet stack using bracelets we made combined with bracelets we already had (not necessarily our own designs).

There are 80 participants in this hop! This time I'm presenting it to you semi low tech. I'm out in Joshua Tree (again) and am almost completely off the grid. I have no wifi but a few bars of coverage on my phone, so please pardon the iPhone photos and short descriptions (and the photos that I can't place in the appropriate location).  [Edit - I'm back home so I fixed things.]



My starting point for the challenge was 3 fabulous bakelite bracelets my wonderful husband got me for my birthday. Scrumptious colors, aren't they?



From there it was just pilfering my stash for beads and components to modernize the look. There are several styles here and I've been quite bracelet addicted recently, so I keep coming up with new styles to make.



But, I couldn't stop there. I had to get a blue/teal collection going as well. An amazing vintage beetle bracelet was my starting point.




Please visit the other bloggers who participated in this challenge:













Friday, April 6, 2012

Glass Headpin Challenge Reveal!


Remember these lovely glass headpins?  I won a set during a giveaway over on Lorelei's Blog last month.  



The glass headpins were made by Anne of Gardanne Beads.   The headpins not only have a beautiful glass piece on one end, but a bead has been drawn on the other end of the pin.  What does "Drawing a Bead" mean?  Well, I've actually done this in my limited experience with torch firing enamel.  Basically, you torch the end of the metal, which melts into a lovely ball.  Here's a better picture that shows the ends of the headpins.



Normally, I would use a headpin to string beads on, but with the ball on one end, only large beads can fit.  But, I took one look at the head pins I got a decided I wasn't going to use them the traditional way.  

But, first, I needed to get out my torch, and draw some more beads on the end of a wire.  I was experimenting with some Blue Steel colored Parawire since the headpins I got were the blue one's on the left.  But Parawire doesn't seem to react to the flame the same way an uncoated wire does.

So, I went back to an uncoated copper wire and torched that.  That wire responded just like I thought it would and some lovely bead balls appeared on the ends.  (It is a bonus that the wire gets a beautiful charred patina on it as well.)

I have had flowers on the brain lately.  I'm getting ready to landscape my front yard (I've ONLY lived here 12 years!) and I remembered I had purchased some Vintage Meadow Artworks hand painted lucite trumpet flowers a while back.  These babies are hard to come by and I have been hoarding the 4 sets I bought, waiting for the perfect project or two.  Well, the blue flowers were a dream match to the headpins.  I used both ends of the headpin, added a few tendrils of the copper wire I had torched, mixed in a few findings (bead caps from Vintaj and copper ear wire I made) and Voila!




I really love these.  I'm a sucker for Fuchsia and these remind me of those beautiful blossoms.  I also loved that I had an "excuse" to get out the torch and play a bit.  I haven't had nearly enough time to just experiment with techniques I have learned but not mastered.  

Visit Anne's Etsy Shop and pick up some headpins of your own to play with.  She updates her shop every Wednesday and there are lots of great goodies to choose from.

And, Thank You Lorelei for hosting another great challenge!  It's always a pleasure to participate.

Now, go see what other lovelies were created by the other blog hop participants.

Lisa






Sunday, April 1, 2012

ABS Challenge - My Window in Montmartre

This has been a ROUGH week (or 2).  I have a very sick kitty with a dire prognosis and I've had gobs of work keeping me very busy (no complaints about the work part - it's a nice problem to have for a new business).  Needless to say, my ABS Challenge piece sat on my desk with a whopping 2 things to finish before I could photograph it!  Well, I'm not going to make the cut for the challenge, but I can at least show you my final piece and dream about Paris for a bit.

Here is the inspiration piece by the wonderful Vincent Van Gogh.


Ahhhhh, Paris and my favorite place in Paris - Montmartre. I've gone there in my mind MANY times this week and it has been good for my soul.

We've traveled to Paris twice.  The first trip we stayed in Montmartre, just off the little square where the Guimard-designed Abbessess Metro station entrance is.


Our room in our hotel - the charming Hotel Regyn Montmartre - look out over the city towards the Eifel Tower.  Buskers were always playing in the square, so the sounds of French music being played on the accordion always wafted into our room.  There was always a cat or two sitting in the window sills of the apartments and, just around the corner, one of the last of the 2 remaining windmills sat halfway up the hillside.



I would do anything to transport myself to Montmartre right this very second, but photos, memories and this necklace will have to do for now.

My Window in Montmartre:






The artist beads used in this piece are:
Red Enamel Pinwheel - Jade Scott
Ceramic Dot and Lentil Beads - Elaine Ray via Ornamentea
Glass Flower - Mermaid Glass

BTW, I have watched 2 wonderful films lately that take places in Paris.
Midnight in Paris - the charming Woody Allen film that has an amazing love letter to Paris set to music.
Hugo - Martin Scorsese's 2011 Oscar Nom that I LOVED.

Of course, if I really want a Montmartre fix, I watch Amelie.

What's your favorite Paris film?

Monday, March 19, 2012

Giveaway Alert!

One of my favorite Clay Artists is giving away a bundle of beads TOMORROW!  Rebekah at Tree Wing Studio has these goodies up for grabs for some lucky winners.





Here's a couple of piece I've made using her lovely beads.








Monday, March 12, 2012

Glass Headpin Challenge - Part 2

I can't believe I'm writing anything at the moment.  I've been writing and editing copy for my PreFurred Pet Care website.  ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  We are INCHES away from launching and we were pushing our way to the finish line...and then the server went down.  We finished the copy but, by the time the server was back up, it was late...much too late to completely finish.  But, I can see the end and it is near!!!

Meanwhile, I received my package from Lorelei yesterday for the Gardanne Beads Glass Headpin challenge.


See those blue beauties on the far left?  Those are mine!  I'm thrilled and I have a concept I want to play with.  My idea involves getting out the torch - which always scares me a little.  I'm slightly afraid of fire (which I'm not sure is something allowed for a fire sign).  I jokingly blame Disney for my uncomfortable feelings around fire.  Growing up in Huntington Beach, Disneyland was close by and we visited often.  I remember riding Pirates of the Caribbean at a very young age (I was 4 when the attraction first opened).  The last scene before you go "up the waterfall" is the burning prison.  It both fascinated me and scared me enough to produce some fire nightmares.  Around the same time, Bambi was re-released in theaters and that story has a monumental fire scene as well.  I am not one to be afraid of much.  I really have no major phobias to speak of, but, there's just something about fire......

Anyways, I have a torch.  I've used it for enameling on and off and I also use it for annealing wire and drawing a bead on a strand of wire, but, I'm certainly no torch master.  So, wish me luck and pray I don't burn the house down.

Meanwhile, the Art Bead Scene challenge this month uses this Van Gogh piece for inspiration.



Well, Montmartre is one of very FAVORITE places in the world.  It doesn't take much for me to transport myself back to that lovely place.  Inspiration is something I have in spades.  My problem is going to be more one of editing and focus.  If I used every thought that this scene brings to mind, I would have one royal mess on my hands.  I drew out a concept last night to try to start the editing process.  We'll see where it takes me.

I hope you all have a lovely week.  I hope to get some quality studio time into my week.  The messy closet can wait, right?

Lisa

Friday, March 9, 2012

What do you think?

New Blog Look!!!  I'm so happy I could cry.  The wonderful Sunny Bae who I found on Etsy made this for me.  I loved the floral design the minute I saw it.  It is a bit vintage, has those Bakelite colors I love so much but is a bit modern too.  Just the mix I love!!!  (Well, one of them anyways.)

I could go into a VERY long discussion on the topic of style here - but I'll save that for later.  It is a fascinating subject to me since I tend to march to my own inner beat in that realm.

Meanwhile, I will just sit back and love my new blog look.  And I'll pretend I'm here - because, any day now, the wildflowers will appear and I WILL be in a place like this.



Lisa