Final Count Down to Bead and Button

Tools for the Master Class (cat butt not included)....Check

But I do need to throw in vice grips.  I'm talking the forging class and I don't really need to bring anything...it's all being provided.  So I have a pair of gloves, magnifying lenses, and some scrap silver for pouring an ingot.



Supplies for teaching.....Check

Complete with snacks for the students....you can't make jewelry without chocolate and other various forms of suger.


Jewelry and supplies for Meet the Teachers....Check

A bunch of pieces parts that I will be selling as well as made jewelry.  

All the stuff for a table display at Meet the Teachers.   It's a good thing that I am driving as there is no way I could transport this stuff without a car

And Clothes......UGH.....I have been trying to find a pair of jeans that fit.  I ripped the backside out of my favorite pair (we won't say how) and it has been an ordeal finding a pair that fits.  Lou doesn't seem to know what the problem is....since I claim I invented pants....he tells me to just invent a new pair....smart ass.  Why is it so hard for companies to make jeans that fit women???.  There is a store that I usually get them from and they fit perfect...but they aren't selling jeans right now....they are selling capris since it's summer.  So I have tried on jeans and ordered jeans from just about every viable source.  There are 4 pair in my bedroom right now that I have to send back because they just don't fit right.  If they fit in the legs they don't fit it the waist and vice-versa.  I found a pair of Levi's that fit but I washed them once and the zipper won't stay up.  I can wear these as long as everyone is OK with me walking around with my fly open.  I really need to take them back to the store. 

I also have a very lovely satchel from Frye that I have to send back.  Lou bought it for me for my birthday and they sent it without the sholder strap.  Their customer service has been a bit wanting.  They don't really seem all that interested in helping me.  They told me to fill out a form and send it back to them.....and that I could use either UPS or FedEx....REALLY.  WOW....I get to send a defective product back to FRYE at my expense.  When I sent them an e-mail about this I was told they could print me a label but they have to wait for their mailroom to shut down at the end of the day and it may take 48 hours to get it to me.   WTF???  This has been dragging on since last Saturday.  I finally got the return label today.  I can have them send a replacement but I'm really not that happy with them right now so I don't know if I want to give them my money.  If I had ordered this through a store like Nordstom's....I would already have a replacement.  Every other company just sends return labels with your order....wake up FRYE!!

But I digress.....Tonight I ran to Costco to pick up snacks for the trip and chocolate for the students. And the rest of the night will be packing.  I need to run to the bank on Friday so I have some money for the cash box. 

And I am surprisingly calm through all this chaos...well....except for my rant about Frye....and the jeans

Later.
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More Irises...

The irises just keep blooming.  They must like the soil around here because they are really taking off this year.....which is surprising because we have a lot of clay.

This weekend I am doing a final pack for Bead and Button.  I have 6 containers filled with supplies for the classes.  I'm probably taking more than I need but I'd rather have more than find out I forgot something.  Lucky I'm driving. 

I also have to pack up the jewelry and table displays for Meet the Teachers.  I don't have as much jewelry made as I would like but I am taking pieces-parts to sell....after all.... this is a jewelry makers show.
And clothes....I have to pack up clothes....Tuesday I have an oil change....Wednesday I have a hair cut....it's going to be non-stop for the next few weeks .

Mom's Irises

Went home to see Mom today. Even though I told her we would go out she made a nice dinner for Lou and I.   A few years ago she gave me a number of  iris bulbs.  I planted them around my house. They are just starting to bloom.   

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Bead & Button Show....23 days to go!!!

Wow....It's only 23 days until Bead and Button.  THE show of the year.  This year will hold at least two "firsts".  The first of the "firsts" is a Master's Class.  Cris and I are taking Tim McCreight's Forging Class.  We are going to learn about metal structure, about different types of hammers and what they do, we will pour an ingot, and use chisels.  The class is 3 days and at the end we have a dinner with all the master classes, instructors, and some of the Bead and Button, Bead Style, and Art Jewelry editorial staff.  Cool!!

The second "first" is that Cris and I are teaching...which you probably know already.  We have 3 classes.  We are going to have a lot of fun!!! 

Metal Etching



Mixed Metal Pendant



Riveting

Hope to see you there!!!

All Girled Up

So this was my outfit for the party.  I went with black accessories since this was an evening gala.  It was really strange seeing co-workers....who normally wear lab coats....in evening wear.  Everybody looked great and we had a good time.  I'm just glad I don't have to be this dressed up everyday.  But occasionally it's fun.
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I'm getting all "girled" up

It's going to be a busy weekend coming up.  I have a work party Saturday night.  This is no small party.  It's our entire Division and it will be at the Great Lakes Science Center. 

We do pretty good parties....food, drinks, dancing.  And for some reason I have decided to be a girl for the party.  You might be wondering what I am the rest of the time....mostly a tomboy.  I like wearing jeans and boots.  My most favorite store is Eddie Bauer....they get me. 

But I've got some bug about dressing up for this party. When I get dressed up it is usually in black pant suits or a very tailored black dress.  Well I jumped into the deep end of the pool this time....I bought a girly dress.  Real girly and a tad retro.  The lining underneath the skirt has netting sewn into it so it poofs out like a dress from the 50's. 

And of course I had to get a pair of shoes............. 

And a small clutch would be nice.  I want something that will pop against the green and white....I found this one.  It's a Bottega Veneta....for $1700...HA. I really would need a fairy godmother to afford this one.  I love it but I think I'll keep looking.  I do like the idea of orange. 



So it should be quite the night.  At midnight my coach will turn back into a pumpkin and my drivers back into mice.  And I will turn back into ....a tomboy!!

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Metal Etching

Last Sunday Cris and I taught a metal etching class to the guild here in Cleveland.  It went really well.  It was a warm-up...at least for me....for our B&B class.  We had a room full...which is good because our first class at B&B is almost sold out. 

 

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Butin de Guerre from Bead Paradise

That's actually "spoils of war"...which might apply if you have to wrestle beads out of the hands of the woman next to you :))  Don't put it past me!! 
Last Saturday Cris and I went to see Ruth at Bead Paradise....absolutely the most fabulous bead store I have ever visited.  I keep asking Ruth if I can have a slumber party there.  If you ever get anywhere even close to Ohio you need to go to this store.  And if you can't make it you can always shop on-line. 

So here's the butin de guerre....

A bevy of Buddha's in bezels just ready to hang

A really cool old brass necklace with pods.  This is very dangerous looking.  Don't hug anyone when you are wearing this.  Someone's gonna get hurt.

Vintage Czech glass

Ethiopian brass pendants and beads

Monkeys....I couldn't help myself

Loving the design on the lid of this box.   

Ebony inlaid with silver from Mali

Ethiopian prayer boxes

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My weekend with Cris

Cris was here last weekend.  We had a great time.  We went to the art museum, we shopped at Bead Paradise, and we taught a metal etching class to the local metal clay guild on Sunday.  We stayed up all hours of the night and I am still exhausted.  We talk and talk and act like 12 year olds when we are together. 

On Friday we went to the Cleveland Museum of Art.  We went through the Rembrandt in America exhibit.  It was amazing just to see his work...let alone see them close up.  Rembrandt was a master at capturing light and detail.  The jewelry on his subjects glows and the lace on the clothing is so delicate it hard not to reach out and touch it....and I was approached to keep my hands back from the painting.  Not that I wold ever touch one...that would be sacrilege.  But there were sensors that would go off should you get too close. And I have been know to set those off.

This is Portrait of a Woman from the CMA website.  This piece is owned by the art museum.  They showed how they examined this piece with various methods and wavelenghts of light to see what was under the surface and where it had been repaired. 

We went through the African collection.  The picture below is a bow harp from the Northern Congo. 

This is a close-up of a repair area of the harp.  They used some type of cord or leather to patch the damaged area.  Sound familiar??  I use it in my jewelry.  I didn't invent it.  This and many other repair techniques have been around since the beginning to time.  BTW...I did invent pants (inside joke).

Another piece from the collection.  A Female Face Mask from the Ivory Coast.



Modigliani (one of my favorite artists) was influenced by African masks.  You can see this in Portrait of a Woman below.

  

We walked around the Egyptian and Near East collections and wanted to mold just about everything.  I had this idea of creating a distraction with the docents while Cris slapped molding material all over the room.  I don't think they would mind...much.

One really cool piece is this huge Assyrian piece called Saluting Protective Spirit. It's  from the 9th century.  It is about 9" tall and weights 900 lbs.  So much texture on this piece.  Below are some close-ups.

There is more to come...after I get some sleep.  I have a 7AM meeting tomorrow.  UGH.
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Kitty Pattycake

Book Review: Torch Fired Enamel Jewelry

Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry: A Workshop in Painting with Fire

I've only taken one class in torch fired enameling and it was nothing short of a disaster.  A sub-set of students were some of the most misbehaved group of adults (and I use that term loosely) that I have ever experienced.  They hogged the materials, the torches, and the teachers time.  By the end of the class the table with the enamels looked like a bomb went off.  The powder was everywhere and the colors were all contaminated. 

I enjoyed what little I did manage to do in class.  I liked the technique.  I loved the colors and it's something I've always wanted to get back to.  So I picked up this book by Barbara Lewis.  She teaches you to enameling in a different way.  You place your bead or piece on a stainless steel mandrel, heat it until it glows, and then dip the piece into the enamel.  You repeat this process a couple times until you get the effect that you want. 

Barbara shows you how to set up a workstation and goes over basic tools and then jumps right into projects. The projects include necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings and they all have that very funky, layered, organic look that I like. A number of them include ribbon, fiber, and wire wrapping.  One project I found particularly interesting involves copper pipe...both etching and enameling it. 

Amazon lets you take a peek inside the book if you are curious.

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