So this is me....

And yes, I have been know to wear my headgear to the grocery store.... :-)

YOJ Week 11 - The Fold Formed, Textured, Layered, Riveted and Flame Painted Cuff

AND......you just might be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound while wearing! :-)

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YOJ Week 10 - Composite Opal Ring

I came across this piece of composite opal at the Tucson Gem Show and have been admiring it daily, while waiting for the muse to give me some direction. We have been in a ring making rut for quite some time now, she and I, she's a stubborn thing and feels we're no where near exhausting all the wire/stone ring design options.

But this one gave me fits! There's no hole in the stone, so getting it stabilized, centered and laying flat was somewhat of a challenge. I restarted it approx 5 times, getting 2 out of 3 cooperating, then realizing there was no way to get all 3. Flung it more than once...

It did finally come together and I am fairly pleased with the outcome. Photographing the piece to get a nice shot of it's "opal-ness" was yet another challenge. Proud of myself for resisting the urge to fling my camera.....

YOJ Week 9 - 5th Bead Soup Blog Party

Aaaack, the midnight deadline is almost here and I'm still tweaking! My creative muse seems to thrive on pressure; we fight about it all the time....sometimes I lock her in the basement but then I have to let her out cuz she has all the good idea's....

But I digress....

My bead soup partner Elizabeth Auld, who writes the blog Beads for Busy Gals, sent me some great beads, wire and THE most beautiful clasp! She seems to be aware of my penchant for putting metal on everything.  :-) The last time I participated in a blog hop, I was not aware that I was allowed to make more than one piece, but I have since been liberated of that misconception.

So here ya go....

 What I Started With

My Focal & Clasp Piece

Close up of Focal

My Lariat

My Bracelet

And you can check out the rest of the Bead Soup Blog Hoppers here.....

Ethiopian Opals Ring

I've never worked with opals before, but happened to see these on Magpie Gemstones Website, thought I might order a few and see what the muse could do with them. We played around with sterling silver coiled wire and came up with a sweet little ring. The wire was somewhat tarnished, so I threw the whole piece in the tumbler and let it run a few hours before it occurred to me that opals, being somewhat of a soft stone, might not fare too well rolling around with all that steel shot. Upon checking with my "opal expert" face book friends who concurred, I removed the piece....

oooops...

On the plus side, the silver was gleaming like the sun, but the experts were right, not a good idea, the opals had turned into little glassy globs, no opacity, no lovely flashes of blue and green....

sigh....

I was ready to write off the whole exercise as a learning experience when I noticed a few hours later that the opals were beginning to look a bit cloudy..... hmmmmm......perhaps they just absorbed some water.....maybe after thoroughly drying out??? So I let the piece dry over night, came in this afternoon and...

tadaaaaa!!!

YOJ Week 8 - The Tres Chic Cuff

On Wednesday, I was able to get away for the day and join the Great Lakes Bead Workers Guild for their annual Bead Daze. I took this class with Tracy Stanley and can I just say? Taking classes is a sure fire way to get that illusive muse to start whispering sweet new design idea's in your ear...

Plus bonus; getting to hang out with a fun and talented group of beaders. Wish I could've stayed for the full 4 days....

YOJ Week 7 - Jangle Bangles

On the plane ride home I sat next to a kindred spirit and we had a nice chat about jewelry design. She was wearing this gorgeous stack of 12 bangles, similar to the ones show above and shared with me that as a breast cancer survivor, she makes one every year when she gets her mammogram. I love the idea, the inspiration and the motivation, and as a cancer survivor myself, decided to co-opt the idea. I have been cancer free for 23 years...guess I better make a few more.... :-)

YOJ Week 6 - Reclaimed & Repurposed 17th Century Ring

I found this 17th century reclaimed ring amongst a pile of old brass & bronze pieces a dealer was selling at the Tucson Gem Show. The dealer claimed all his pieces were found in the fields of Russia. No certificate of authenticity was available but one of the other shoppers who had bought previously assured me they were genuine. So I took a chance and bought this sweet little ring, I'm imagining it being worn by a hard working farmer wife who probably owned one piece of jewelry her entire life. The stone was missing so after some trepidation, I decided to glue a garnet cab into the bezel setting. It would only fit upside down, but I think it's kinda cool. What do you think?

WireKnitZ Video - Live from Tucson!

This video by Gina Galli of the Jewelry Making Professor was shot at our booth at the 'To Bead True Blue' show in Tucson...yes we are a couple of camera hams.... :-)

Au Revoir Tucson!

I had the best time and can't wait to see you again next year! I could've done without the camera enforced speeding ticket, but otherwise super enjoyed my 10 days here. Oh, and I only lost my wallet once and my keys twice, some kind of a record for me, usually I loose the cell phone a couple times too.  :-)

Here are a few more high lights from the past week and a half....

Teaching the WireKnitZ Crossover Cuff at To Bead True Blue.

Shopping at Motel Row where I always find the coolest stuff, check out this stash of roman glass!

 My new gemmy friend, Szarka of Magpie Gemstones.

Meeting tool guy Kevin Potter and ordering a custom made hydraulic press with a purple powder coat finish....I swear I almost swooned....

Heading home sweet home, always one of my favorite parts of a trip! :-)

Classes at Tucson Electric Park

I love teaching! For the past 2 days I've been teaching and demoing for jewelrytools.com at Tucson Electric Park. So. Much. Fun.  One of the greatest things about teaching, aside from the creative interaction and the passion that sparks back and forth between students, is that I always seem to learn something too. During the textured copper cuff class, we accidentally dropped a piece of hot metal on the plastic tablecloth, I said uh oh, my student said, why don't we just burn it off. When we did, we got the most unbelievable beautiful colors on the metal. Not sure the pic does it justice....

Several of the students also opted to leave there pieces un-pickled as the oxidization colors were so darn cool! Here are some more pix, what do you think?

 

YOJ Week 5 - Students Work

Tucson 2012

Going to Tucson is a bit like Christmas morning. I can hardly wait for it to get here, don't sleep much the night before and am never disappointed when it finally arrives. To be in the same town with beautiful beads, cool tools, plus catching up with gemmy friends.....it's looking like it's gonna be a great week!!!

Most of my first day was spent at the JOGS show; which is an interesting combination of high end designer jewelry, serious gemstones and some of what we in the biz affectionately refer to as cheap crap.  I've always been enamored of gemstones, but this year I was on the hunt for raw, unpolished stones and beads. I was not disappointed...blew my daily budget by 2 pm.

I also met Lana May, a wonderful weaving artist who heads up classes and the "One of a Kind" exhibition at the JOGS show. One of my pieces is on exhibit there and I'm tickled pink because someone actually wants to buy it!

 

After spending my daily allowance, I headed to Tucson Electric Park which is where all the rock hounds and tool geeks meet. Met more gemmy friends, checked out the jewelrytools.com booth (where I will be teaching Thurs & Friday) and resisted the urge to by every cabochon I saw.

A beautiful sunset as I was leaving made the 20 minute parking lot search for my car a teeny bit less aggravating ....

The best way to grow your business......

• Make your customers love you.
• Give until it hurts.
• Say yes to everything you possibly can.   Don't say yes to things completely outside your comfort zone, beyond your talent or capabilities.  Be a modest artist: if you truly can't, freely admit it.   But where it is possible to say yes, say yes as often as you can. 
• If you are able to share a technique with a fellow artist or offer some really savvy advice, please do it!   But, do it in a humble, gentle way..........no looking down your nose at a neophyte. 
• Don't be jealous of others' successes.  They have worked hard, too.  
• Don't disrespect your competition.  They are banging their heads against the wall too....     
• Develop an attitude of respect; always have integrity in your work and business ethics.  Worry about what's in front of you, what YOU can do to make people smile, and let others worry about what they are doing.
• Be sure to SMILE, yourself.
• It's NOT about you,  it's about the CUSTOMER!
• May you all enjoy success in what you do, and joy in doing it, this year--and for many years to come.
 

Reprinted from Jewelry Making Outside the Box

YOJ Week 4 - Scrapbox Ring

I'm heading to Tucson in 2 days for a week and a half of teaching, working and of coarse; shopping. As per usual, I have a million and one things to do before leaving, but I absolutely, positively had to get this ring done. I have one of those slightly anal personalities that won't let me move to step 3 until step 2 is complete. It makes meeting deadlines somewhat challenging but I've learned to roll with it.... :-)

5th Bead Soup Blog Party

I am participating in the 5th Bead Soup Blog Party as sponsored by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things. The last one gave me a much needed creative kick in the pants, so I am really looking forward to this next challenge. My delightful partner Elisabeth Auld writes the blog Beads for Busy Gals and I'm already a fan! Elisabeth, I hope you like my bead soup....here's a quick snap for you.... :-)

YOJ Week 3 - Pinky Ring

Are you tired of rings yet?  Me neither....

Hardware Store Jewelry

Recently I came across a call from Art Jewelry Magazine for jewelry designs using hardware store items. Which reminds me...a few months back, I made these pieces using copper washers while experimenting with enamels. Guess it wouldn't hurt to send 'em in.....

The submittal deadline is Feb. 8, 2012 in case you're interested.

I won!

Sylvie over at Beaded Laughter has one of the funniest blogs around. The concept involves finding a pic of a hunky guy and putting your best girlfriends slightly sarcastic words in his mouth, using inside jokes that beaders, jewelry makers and mixed media artists can all relate to.

So last week she had a guest blogger contest and I won!!! I never win anything so this made my day!!!

So you want to be a serious artist?

I believe everyone is creative. If you're fortunate, you find your medium while you're young and have a lifetime to pursue and perfect it, but it's never too late to start. I was well in my middle years when I began playing with beads as a way to spend time with my daughters.  But those tiny wearable works of art, handmade by me, bought so much creative satisfaction, I became infatuated! Within a year, I traded in my architectural career and opened a bead shop. Don't tell anyone, but the shop was just an excuse to surround myself with jewelry making materials, creative friends, and build a serious studio.

Early on I received great advice from a talented and established artist that has served me well in my evolution as a jewelry artist. For the past 2 years, I have consistently put these principles in practice and can now testify to their validity. Whatever your medium, apply these principals and I guarantee you will be taken seriously as an artist!

1) Build a body of work.
2) Put it out there.
3) Never stop learning.
4) Start teaching.

YOJ Week 2 - Emerald City Rings

Two different versions of a coiled copper ring with emerald swarovski insets...I call that a productive day! :-)

First Post for Year of Jewelry 2012 - Birds Nest Ring

"The Year of Jewelry Project  (YOJ) was conceived in 2004 by the Creative Wire Jewelry Forum as a personal challenge for members of the forum.  The challenge was to create one piece of jewelry per week, photograph it, and post it to both a personal and group blog.  Each week had a different “theme” which the participants could choose to use for inspiration; alternatively, they could follow their own goals and creative impulses."



This is my 4th year of participation and I can honestly say it has been one of the most creatively stimulating and enjoyable challenges and I look forward to doing it again in 2012!

Stand provided by Premiere Prop Co.

Buy her a cup of coffee and she'll write one for you too...

From Sylvie at Beaded Laughter
For Eva....

It's Official!

My good friend Beth Martin and I are writing a book about designing jewelry using beach glass! We have been working on this project for the better part of a year and have a finalized contract as of Jan 1. Now to get serious about checking, double checking and in some cases rewriting tutorials. Yikes!!!

Eva                                                  Beth
Can you tell we're excited?

I'm a Free-Wheeling Architect

According to this personality profile; my preference for concrete, visually pleasing things, combined with a sense of confidence and respect for order make me an ARCHITECT.  My charismatic nature, liveliness, and independence make me FREE-WHEELING. 

Interesting assessment, as I was an architect in my former life. Designing jewelry came about quite accidentally, as a way to spend time with my daughters. But once I began creating small works of art by hand I became bored with the static nature of working drawings. It was also the mid 90's when CAD software became available and we all went from hand drawing and sketching to drafting with a computer, thus removing the physical and differentiating aspect of design drawings.

I'm not quite as sure free-wheeling is an accurate label, I am anything but spontaneous and I don't think my kids would exactly put me in the charismatic category...  ;-)

Here is the link if you would like to take the test, it's about 11 pages long and will take approx 20 minutes. Ready? Go!

Ringing in the New Year!

Lately I have a thing for rings. Maybe it's the challenge of designing within a limited space. Or maybe it's the unlimited possibilities created by the combination of wire, metals and beads; which just happen to be three of my favorite artistic mediums.  Or maybe it's cuz they're relatively quick to make and that meshes perfectly with my limited attention span. Whatever the reason, here are a few more....

 

 

Happy New Year Everyone!

I finished!

Yes I did, I finished the 2011 Year of Jewelry Challenge! I made one piece of jewelry a week for the entire year. The last project was created yesterday afternoon when several instructors got together to create riveted rings under the tutelage of the charming and talented Kristina Malcolm. Bless her heart, Kristina put up with us like a real pro. Have you ever tried to teach a group of teachers? It's kind of like herding cats....

My ring has a piece of "crackled" beach glass as the focal, which is a shard that was probably burned in a bonfire before it got washed into the lake and mother nature did her job of tumbling and smoothing.

Some of my 2011 projects were epic failures, a few were created in classes I took, several became prototypes for classes I teach and to my great delight, quite a few of them sold. Feel free to check out my facebook album. All in all, I have to say the exercise was hugely inspiring and I can't wait to do it again in 2012.

Care to join me?

Sterling vs. Silver Filled Wire

Silver-filled wire is similar in construction to gold-filled. It has a layer of .925 sterling silver bonded to a white brass core consisting of a copper and zinc alloy. The sterling silver layer is 1.20th or 5% of the material. It is a great low cost alternative to sterling and can be soldered and oxidized just like sterling.

That's the official buzz is but I wanted to check it out myself so I made two Swarovski pearl rings using 24ga wire for the coil and 20 ga wire for the core. The one on the left is made with sterling silver wire and the other is silver filled. Can you tell the difference? No?  Neither can I and I took a good close look thru my optivsors. They both took a patina like pro's, held up to 4 hours in the tumbler no worse for the wear, and came out all bright and shiney, just like I like my silver.

But my wallet sure noticed the difference. Silver filled wire is running approx 30% the cost of sterling. Thirty percent! Wow, I feel like I just traveled back in time when I was buying sterling for 30 cents a gram. Doing the happy dance!!!!

Tune in next time when I do a comparison of silver filled vs, sterling on a soldering project. Oh, and Happy Holidays to you and yours!!!!

My New Rolling Mill

....has not arrived yet, but I just know Santa is bringing me one!

So I'm spending the intervening days educating myself. I have only used the rolling mill a handful of times and always under supervision, so I needed a comprehensive "Rolling Mills for Dummies" version. Here is one of the best free tuts on the web provided by Wired Lotus.

And here's a video by Rio Grande and one more by Melissa Muir.

Oh and Santa, apologies in advance for the heavy package, but I promise there will be some extra cookies in it for you.....  :-)