Jun 20, 20121 min read
Playing with color...
Although I tend to wear black almost all the time, I really do love to play with color! There is something almost zen-like in blending...
Jun 18, 20121 min read
“Zipper Teeth and Freeform Beading”…
This is another class I signed up for at the Bead&Button Show. Jeanne Barta-Craine, a wonderfully patient teacher and all-around...
Jun 11, 20122 min read
Metamorphosis...
I like to travel light, so when taking a class, I tend to pare down the supplies and tools I bring from my studio. So when as ked to...
Jun 9, 20121 min read
Farewell Milwaukee...adieu Bead & Button Show!
After a pleasant and thankfully uneventful drive home, I'm back in my studio and ready to get to work! You can bet I'll be putting the...
Jun 1, 20121 min read
My seed beads have been woefully neglected of late...
Bags and tubes of sparkly little treasures ensconced in their respective trays and categorized by color and materials, are patiently...
May 18, 20121 min read
Like putting the cart before the horse…
Perhaps because I’m so eager for the end results, I often tend to do things backwards! I’m lucky to have an innate feel for color, so...
May 16, 20121 min read
Like practicing yoga and listening to soothing music…
For me, carving polymer clay is so relaxing and such a meditative process. With my work situated at the proper height on the carving...
May 11, 20121 min read
More fun clay covered tools...
One just can’t have too many jewelry making tools! These polymer clay-covered tools are some of my favorites. A little green lizard...
May 9, 20121 min read
One of my favorite mediums is…
Polymer clay – I’ve been working with it for the past few days. I admit that I'd like to spend more time playing with this very...
Apr 11, 20121 min read
Have you tried carving clay?
This is something you can do with both metal clay and polymer clay. You can create original designs by rolling out and curing small...
Apr 9, 20121 min read
If you’re a pastry chef…
You may recognize these as helpful gadgets used to cut out puff pastry, but they are also marvelous for cutting out metal and polymer...
Mar 29, 20121 min read
Ready for the kiln...
These bronze metal clay embellishments are almost ready to be fired. I've dried them thoroughly on a thin sponge in a hydrator. The...
Mar 20, 20121 min read
There are a ton of projects on my workbench...
However, they will just have to wait. We've been graced with many days of unusual summer-like temperatures for this time of the year and...
Feb 13, 20122 min read
The Honeymoon is over...
Yes, I had a torrid, albeit brief affair with torch firing enamel. I spent several weeks doing just that and created a collection of...
Jan 21, 20121 min read
Perfect weather for beading!
We have nine degrees and plenty of snow in our little corner of the world. By this time of winter, most folks wou ld be experiencing...
Jan 3, 20121 min read
New jewelry pieces...
That's what I'd like to be working on! However, after switching web servers and finding that almost half my photos did not upload to the...
Dec 28, 20111 min read
I've embarked on torch firing enamel!
Another present I received is a book by Barbara Lewis titled “Torch-fired Enamel Jewelry: a workshop in painting with fire”. In the past...
Nov 10, 20111 min read
Creating the "Exotic Blossoms" bracelet in Chain Maille...
Has whetted my appetite to make more projects that will combine beading, polymer and metal clays, and chain maille techniques. I love...
Sep 13, 20111 min read
Fibulas are part of my "Antiquities" collection...
and I've made several this past week. Most people think of a leg bone when the word fibula is mentioned, but in Ancient Greece and Rome,...
Sep 4, 20111 min read
Talismans...
have always intrigued me. The definition of a talisman is "An object marked with magic signs and believed to confer on its bearer...
