Adventures of a Farm Girl in Vegas

Proud Auntie

2011-08-06T15:59:00.001-07:00

I'm so proud of the accomplishments of my little nieces and nephew. They continue to amaze and inspire me as they learn and grow. What an amazing experience being an aunt can be!

I'm proud of Clara's creativity. When I was home last we were playing a game where I would give the kids a word and they would come up with a random song using that word. She came up with the cutest songs ever. What an amazing gift. I'm proud of Raylin for her streak of independence. Even though not everyone appreciates this gift right now I know eventually this will serve her so well in her life as she learns to never take no for an answer. I'm proud of Bailey for her sense of responsibility. I watched her go on her own to check on her lifestock and report back to her dad on how they were doing.

I'm proud of Ethan for his sense of fearlessness. Even though he has gotten stepped on by the horse and bucked off before he just walks right up to them again and is not afraid.

We could all take some lessons from these little ones and hopefully one day if they look back at this blog and they have taken some hits by life they will realize what one of my all time favorite movies will always tell them....you had it all along sweethearts the power is in you!

Vintage Paper Flowers

2010-12-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Recently I attended a class at Mystic Paper where one of the ladies was kind enough to show us a simple trick for how she creates paper flowers. These paper flowers were created from sheet music that Mandy found in an antique store when I visited Arizona recently. The sheet music is from 1902. I then sewed buttons in the centers and attached them to the ring and pin back.

Lydia's Birthday

2010-08-17T18:10:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is Lydia's birthday and she is a gold girl. I rarely make anything with gold but decided since I've never seen her wear silver that now was as good a time as any. I made up some earrings for her birthday using some vintage crystal that I purchased a long time ago at a show that I went to at Alexis Park Hotel here in Vegas. They turned out really nice and when I gave them to her today she really seemed to enjoy them.

Kitchen Pixie

2010-08-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of taking another paper clay class with Jenny Hernandez a.k.a. the Polka Dot Pixie. I just love her classes. She is always so generous with her time and supplies and no matter what the project everyone's ends up looking very different. My pixie is posted on the Mystic Paper blog. My pixie is going to go in my kitchen as I am in the process of redoing my kitchen in vintage colors of red, green and yellow. The class was held at Mystic Paper in Mesa, AZ so I also got to drive down and visit Mandy. We always have so much fun together. I miss her so much. This time we went to a couple of antique stores and spent the day. We found a lot of treasures and I'm so excited to have some new creations to work on to update the look of my kitchen. More pictures will be coming soon!

Black Raspberry Jam

2010-07-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of the other things that we did when I was home was go and pick black raspberries. My dad has a woods that is over by my parents house. Along the edge of the woods is an entire patch of wild black raspberries that happened to be ripe and ready for picking the week I was home. Amanda, my sister in law, Bailey, Clara, Ethan and I all took the 3 wheelers over along with a gallon ice cream container and picked berries. We ended up filling about 3/4 of the container. My mom then turned our berries into delicious jam! I ended up coming home with a jar of jam and some poison ivy. It was so worth it though. Recently the blackberries have come into season and Amanda and the kids have picked those and made jam into those as well. I am so jealous and although not as sweet as black raspberries I wish I was there to enjoy that too!

Timbales

2010-07-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

Bailey, my niece, making timbales

One of my favorite treats growing up were timbales. When I went home this time I asked my mom about the timbale iron and the recipe for how to make them. They were just like I remembered. It was so funny because timbales are kind of touchy to make and my mom was just like I remembered. She is not known for her patience and she freely admits this fact. She gave up pretty freely and left me and my niece alone in the kitchen with the irons. We just let her enjoy the timbales we cooked which is what usually happened with my grandma and I. She really does hate making timbales but I love her for even trying. Here is the recipe if you want to try but you have to order the irons. Our irons are pretty old and are an old holiday making set. They are very light, flaky and delicious!

Pool Noodles

2010-07-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

This project really was a joke but turned out sort of cute. My friends Jenn and Dave just bought their first house and requested pool noodles as a house warming gift. Jenn is very artsy and she said wouldn't it be cool if the pool noodles had bling on them. I got to thinking about it and thought pool water and glue just won't mix. I got to thinking though that I could sew beads onto the pool noodles though and that would work out great. I brought the noodles over to their house for the 4th of July bbq and they did hold up in the water!

Love Birds with Jenny Hernandez

2010-07-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

My love birds are on the left and Mandy's are on the right.

In May I drove to see Mandy in Arizona. It was such a fun weekend driving around and going to all of the little cute boutique stores around town and the jewelry supply store that actually sells real metal working supplies. We had a great time! One of the fun things we did was take a class at Mystic Paper with Jenny Hernandez aka the Polka Dot Pixie. She teaches a class on working with paper clay where everyone made these cute little love birds. Jenny was so very generous with her time and supplies. I would recommend her class to anyone looking to learn more about paper clay. Downtown Mesa, AZ is also a blast. They have all of these cute sculptures and art around. Check out our pictures with Charlie the pig. We both fell in love with him! I also had my very first ever hot dog on a stick this weekend complete with lemonade and cheese on a stick. It was delicious. Mandy also showed me the trailer for the movie the Human Centipede which we later watched at my house when she came to Vegas to get her hair done. That movie is like a bad car accident. You really don't want to watch it but you just can't help yourself. Watch trailer at your own risk.

Studio

2010-07-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

One of my grandmother's old mason jar's with dog tax tags from the 1950's that my dad used to play with when he was a little boy

An old coffee can that I used to keep my crayons in when I was a little girl

It's official, I've been neglecting my blog for quite some time but it's not for lack of exciting things to post. I've decided to start with the most current bit and work my way back just a little and then keep moving forward. This last weekend Mandy came into town from Arizona to get her hair done and ended up staying with me. It was so good to see her and get a chance to visit with her I miss her so much! On Saturday before she left she helped me organize my studio room. For those of you who know Mandy she is a master organizer and decorator. I was so lucky to get her help. There were so many times when I just would've opened up a box and just quit organizing all together but she kept me going and I am so glad she did. I have an amazing studio room that makes me so happy. On Sunday morning I woke up bright and early to organize and decorate some more! Oh what fun, I look forward to going into my room every single day!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

It was that time of year again to visit home for the holidays. I had such a great time visiting with family and friends and really enjoyed my nieces and nephew. I spent most of my time playing old maid, barbies, candyland, life and phase 10. It was so much fun! I can't believe how much they have all grown. Ethan is talking now and his favorite word is "mama" and actually put a pretty good knot on his head from running around instead of walking. You can see it in the picture. Raylin just has the prettiest eyes. Clara will give you a run for you money and is so funny and Bailey is just the sweetest little girl ever! She saved up her points at school from being good and exchanged them in to get Christmas gifts for everyone. It just doesn't get any sweeter than that.

Keri's Wedding Weekend

2009-11-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

Katharine and I at the wedding

After much anticipation and planning Keri's wedding weekend finally arrived this last weekend at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. The weekend was full and started off with a rehearsal dinner on Friday night at Margaritaville. I started off with a guava margarita which was so yummy! The food was also great. On Saturday I went to get my hair and makeup done. Thanks Emily and Jackie! Then, I was off to the Flamingo to Keri's suite to help her get in her wedding dress. Why do they make wedding dresses so complicated? I swear you need a degree in engineering to get in and out of one! The ceremony was outdoors in the garden area at the Flamingo, which was beautiful. I can't believe how many weddings were going on at the same time. I must have seen at least 5 brides in their dresses. I need to own a vegas wedding chapel. After the wedding it was pictures and off to the Hofbrahaus for the wedding reception. It was quite the party for those of you familar with the Hofbrahaus. Then it was back to the Flamingo for a party in the hotel suite. Whew...I'm exhausted just writing all of this. The next moring I barely made it to the farewell brunch. I still had my hair in curls and Keri mentioned that it looked like my hair had just rolled out of bed. Probably because I literally did just that. Congratulations to Keri and Dave!

Los Angeles Bachelorette Party

2009-10-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago my friend Anne and I flew to LA for our friend Keri's bachelorette party. The day started off by boarding a chartered bus and driving up to the Santa Barbara area. The drive was gorgeous most of the way as you could see the ocean out of the left hand side bus windows. Bridlewood vineyards was our first stop followed by three other vineyards. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking! We ended the day with a trip to Butterfly Beach. What a great way to spend a Saturday. I would highly recommend it.

Birthday from Amanda, Chris, Bailey, Clara, Ethan and Raylin

2009-09-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today I received the most wonderful package in the mail. It was filled with homemade Amish peanut butter, yum yum and hand painted jars that I am going to use to hold my paint brushes in my craft room. In one of the jars there are little slips of paper that are folded up that are written by everyone in the family. I am only allowed to open up one slip of paper per week until they are all gone. The first one I opened up today was written by my brother Chris. It said "remember the time we tried to sneak a cat in the house and dad said nice tail boy". It has me cracking up. Seriously, this is the best gift ever and I will look forward to many weeks ahead of opening up the different messages. I can hardly wait!

Birthday Presents

2009-09-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to June and Jackie for the lovely handmade birthday presents. They disobeyed a strict order to not make me anything since I'm behind on making presents for the jewelry group. I still have June and Betty's to do from this summer not to mention the September b-days. Oh well! Jackie made the gorgeous wild necklace out of copper. I just LOVE it and like to think of myself as wild even though I'm probably really not in that category hehehe. June made the beautiful earrings that I just adore. Thank you so much ladies!

Wizard of Oz Birthday

2009-08-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

My mom knows how much I love the Wizard of Oz so she made me these pillows for my birthday. Thanks mom for all of your hard work on these. They are so cool and I love them. Dash seems to love the one with the tassels too so I had to put the one in my craft room for now.

My Dear Friend Angela

2009-08-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

I thought it only fitting to put a post on my blog for my dear creative friend Angela who so often commented on my blog posts. Angela passed away unexpectedly on Friday. She was a mentor, colleague, friend, confidante and huge supporter. I first met Angela at UNLV where she was a faculty member in the Hotel College. I went into her class to do a guest lecture and our friendship began. Angela saw a passion in me for teaching so the next thing I knew she had recommended me to the Hotel College for a part time teaching position. We started going to lunches and also realized that both of us had a creativity streak running through us. She introduced me to altered books and my creativity was sparked. She told me about ArtUnraveled and Las Vegas Art Stamps. My first "art" workshop Angela invited me to. It was the weekend with Julianna Coles. We also started an informal altered book group of our very own. Angela meant the world to me as so many of my friends do. I will miss her smile, her creative energy, warmth and love. May you find peace and comfort dear friend knowing that you will be missed and loved from afar.

Vegas Charm Exchange Baby!

2009-08-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Jackie was the "charm leader" for this exchange which had a vegas theme. The charms all came out very unique and cool. Great job ladies! I thought the pendant that Tanya made for all of us deserved a picture of its own since it was so cool. She took a vintage showgirl image from the Stardust and placed it in a vintage earring with resin. You rock girl! Next up Halloween charm exchange with nothing cutesy. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Ouch

2009-08-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Right Thumb

Left Thumb

So...one of the disadvantages of working with sheet metal and glass enamel is what it does to your thumbs. I really don't want to wear gloves because I can't feel through them but when I showed Mandy my thumbs she told me about these cute little thumb covers that you can get in leather. You don't realize how much you really use your thumbs until you injure them. They hurt but it was worth it. There is no better feeling than your arms being sore from working your hammer and jeweler's saw!

Exploration of Enameling with Susan Lenart Kazmer

2009-08-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

The ring

The back of the piece

The front of the piece

This piece was created in the enameling class with Susan. This was a wonderful class. We were responsible for cutting our pieces, filing and shaping them into whatever we wanted. I created a pendant and a ring in this class. Both pieces were fired in the kiln multiple times. This was the first time that I have ever tried enameling. I just love green and enameling! What I learned most from this class and the one yesterday is how much I really just love metal. Hammering, shaping and cutting are so much fun!

Resin with Susan Lenart Kazmer

2009-08-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Time for Art Unraveled!!!!! This piece was made with resin and brass. I made a mold of a rock that Susan had for us to use and cast this piece using a mold with resin. I then colored the piece to make it look more organic. The backing for the piece was hand cut with a jeweler's saw, sanded like crazy. I made everything on this piece including the clasp and attachments for the piece.

Trip To England

2009-08-04T10:57:00.001-07:00

Brighton Beachfront

The Royal Pavilion in Brighton

Stonehenge

Bath

Rutland Waters

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Ann in England. It was great fun and I really enjoyed my visit. I had been to London before but was only there for a few days. This time around I felt like I really saw the beautiful country that England is. I also got to know a couple of locals who are friends of Ann. It was really fun getting to know the culture and a few of the local phrases and sayings. I must admit that I don't see how my friend Ann has done it! It took me two days to flush the toilet on the first try at Ann's house because the plumbing was so different. I also couldn't operate the washing machine. Even though they speak somewhat the same language things are really quite different. I really enjoyed myself and am posting a few pictures of the trip for you to enjoy!

Trip to Illinois

2009-07-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

These past 10 days I have been traveling seeing family and friends in Illinois. I started off on the 4th of July weekend with a trip to Holiday World with my brother, sister-in-law and my two nieces Bailey and Clara. The trip was a lot of fun even though it rained the weekend we were there. There were hardly any lines for the rides and most of the time if we wanted to we could just stay on the ride and take another turn. It was great! Bailey was tall enough to ride all of the roller coasters. My personal favorite was a 13 story drop water ride. It was quite a rush. The rest of the week was spent with my mom, dad, brother, sis in law and kids. I got to hold my little niece Raylin for the first time and got to see how big Ethan has gotten. He is walking now. It was so much fun being in the country. This last weekend I went to Chicago to visit my friends Elizabeth and Amy. It was a blast and I realized just how much I missed the city.

Chemistry Lesson

2009-06-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today I was playing around with resin filling these tea/coffee cups that I got when I was in California. I thought to myself I wonder what would happen if I just added a little instant coffee to the mix to get that true coffee color. What I didn't know is that I would create a weird chemical reaction. I called my friend Elizabeth, a chemistry professor, who explained to me that it was the water that created the reaction. I think the bubble effect looks kind of cool though and it still hardened just fine.

After a Bad Day....

2009-06-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

...all you have to do is rock out to this song to feel better. Works every time.

Fun in LA

2009-05-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Malibu Beach

Recognize this house? Hint...here's a story

Estrella sure hope you're right

On the Santa Monica Beach

Oh what a weekend. I can't believe how much fun I had visiting my friend Keri in Los Angeles. My friend Anne and I took off from Vegas on Friday and drove to NOHO where Keri lives. The first thing we did was go to the Chinese Theatre and to see the Hollywood sign. The munchkins have their own star who knew. This one is for you ladies.... Then on Saturday we went to the Fashion District and Santee alley. That place is crazy but I loved it! They have fabric everywhere and bead stores plus tons of other stuff. On Sunday we headed to the beach in Malibu and then drove down to Santa Monica pier. Of course we rode the Ferris Wheel and I had to ride the carousel and we all got our 25 cent fortunes from the machine that looks like the one in the movie Big. Then we rented bikes and rode them down the coast. How fun was that!!! Then it was on to 3rd street promenade. Oh, we also went to Olvera Street.

Wizard of Oz Charm Exchange

2009-05-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Wizard of Oz charm exchange. I was very impressed by everyone's creativity for these charms. I love and cherish every single one of them! I can't wait to make my bracelet. Jackie also gave me a hostess gift. She covered the tin herself and even drilled a hole in the back to turn it into a music box that plays Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Thank you so much ladies and Jackie especially for the wonderful hostess gift!

Board Book

2009-04-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Recently I had the pleasure of joining 3 other ladies over at Linda Trenholm's studio to learn how to create a board book. Linda has some wonderful creations! My favorite were the ping pong paddles that she had picked up at a yard sale and turned into hand mirrors. How cool is that. Linda is actually on the board of Somerset Studio Magazine. She has a beautiful home and teaches out of her casita. Fresh air, wonderful company and an open environment. Everything just roams in and out of her studio including her cat, which was incredibly freeing and inspiring. This is my board book, which took me all day to create just these two pages. I was inspired to do flowers since her yard is full of them. I used images, stamps, acrylics, colored pencils, charcoal pencil, gesso and oil pastels.

Studio Chairs

2009-04-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

The old
The new!

I finally managed to get the four chairs covered in what I'm calling my "studio" which is actually a spare bedroom. You should've heard the delivery men when I got the table a month ago. You want us to put the table in the bedroom? Are you sure? Yes....I'm sure! I am including a picture of what the chairs originally looked like. They had a brown seat cover. Now they have something vibrant and bright that just makes you want to create, well hopefully. A big thank you to my friend Mandy who came over with her staple gun and covering expertise.

Welcome Raylynn Ann

2009-04-17T09:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law Amanda had a new baby girl Raylynn Ann. I think she has the most beautiful middle name in the world, which happens to be her Aunt Mandi's middle name. She weighed 8lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long. There is no stronger love than the love you feel for a child so I welcome her into my heart. She is in good company along with her sisters Bailey and Clara and her brother Ethan.

Peace for Jackie's Birthday

2009-04-13T15:55:00.001-07:00

I finally get to put up this post because I've finally given Jackie her birthday present. Jackie's birthday was actually March 13th but since I hadn't given her this painting yet I couldn't post it. So here it is. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I used molding paste, gotta love that stuff, wire mesh and a peace stencil and painted over with various colors. Then...I added glitter. I couldn't resist I love shiny!

Sober

2009-04-10T07:01:00.001-07:00

This video is dedicated to all of my friends and family who battle addiction. "The quiet scares me cause it screams the truth".

Weekend with My Mom!

2009-04-08T14:03:00.001-07:00

This last weekend my mom came to town for a visit. We had the pleasure of seeing "O" by Cirque Du Soleil. Right outside of the theater for the show is an exhibit by Richard Macdonald. He has a studio in Monterey where he creates his beautiful sculptures. I fell in love with this one titled "Blind Faith". It spoke to me and made me think for a moment is there really any other kind? Isn't all faith blind? Each one of his pieces is carved from an actual performers physique. Amazing!

Empty Bowls Event

2009-03-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

This Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a charity event called empty bowls. It is held every year at Green Valley High School and all of the money raised from the event goes to feed the homeless. When you first enter the event you are immediately overwhelmed by the number of bowls created by local members of the Nevada Clay Guild and Green Valley High School students. Everyone donates 12 dollars, picks out a bowl and gets soup in the bowl for lunch. You can purchase extra bowls for 10 dollars and of course I had to get more than one. They were all so beautiful how can a girl choose just one. They also have a silent auction and live auction of various artwork. Those GVHS students are so talented. They knit, photograph, paint, draw and do ceramics. Who knew?! It made me want to go back to high school just so I could take art classes. I also ran into a couple of people who I had not seen in a really long time, who happen to be members of the clay guild. They said last year this event raised 24,000 dollars to feed the homeless. They also had a huge assembly line and fired 400 bowls in one day. How crazy is that! I had to post a picture of my empty bowl, which was made by Donna Potter the GVHS art teacher. As you can see I enjoyed my chili con carne. The other picture is of all of the bowls that I purchased while I was at the event.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

In honor of St. Patrick's Day here's some U2.
I loved this live performance for Obama's inaguration!
I should add that it still gives me chills.

The Killers Human

2009-03-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Love this new song by the killers!

B. Original Bangle

2009-03-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I was watching B. Original with Michele Beschen and she had a great idea of taking an old bangle and reinventing it. The first thing you do is cut strips of paper from a magazine and glue them down. I started with matte gel medium and then put varnish on the top for shine. I used an unfinished wooden bangle that I got for really cheap, I think 25 cents, at Michael's. When I saw the show I thought to myself I can make that. So..I got up off of the couch and did it!

The Cutest Kids in the World

2009-03-05T16:13:00.001-08:00

Ethan

Bailey

Clara

Pretty Little Felt Ring

2009-03-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

Mandy and I both made one of these rings at our last jewelry crafting day. It is from the book Pretty Little Felts. I brought the ring bases and Mandy had the felt, craft wire and antique buttons. Thanks, Mandy. They turned out so cute and every time I wear it someone wants to buy it. I need to make more of these!

Joyce's Ephemera

2009-03-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to have lunch with my friend Joyce the other day. I hadn't seen her in such a long time. We met when Linda still had Las Vegas Art Stamps in a Julianna Coles class. Imagine my surprise when we found out we both were from within miles of each other in small town Illinois. She even lived in my little hometown for a awhile. At lunch she brought me this bag of ephemera for altered art making. It was filled with such fun, cool stuff. Thanks, Joyce!

Angela's Valentine

2009-03-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

A big thank you to my crafty friend Angela, who mailed me this cute as a button Valentine canister for Valentine's Day (just behind on posting). It was wonderfully decorated and contained many, many Valentine Day themed things to use in altered art. Hooray for Valentine's!

Valentine Charm Exchange

2009-02-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I spent some time putting together my charm bracelet from our group's most recent exchange. I had a blast really looking at what everyone had put together with each and every charm. I put the bracelet on some of the cards that people had their charms on to give you some idea as to how cool these really all were. Thank you fellow charmers!

Valentine Charm Exchange

2009-02-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the valentine charm exchange with the jewelry group. I'm very excited to see what everyone has created. I was inspired by the conversation hearts that have been around for years in the candy isle come Valentine season. I had the "regular" conversation hearts then Mandy brought me some from Fredrick's of Hollywood so I couldn't resist making a few with those as well. This charm is from that collection and was dropped in ice resin. The red heart necklace is made with ice resin as well but I just added a little bit of red colorant to it.

A Prompt a Day - Hero

2009-02-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

Last month I joined a prompt a day led by Kelly Kilmer and I didn't complete a single prompt. I printed them all out for what it's worth. So this month I decided to try again and am really making an effort to try to do some of the prompts. This is the journal prompt for February 1st.

Christmas in Illinois

2009-01-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures taken over Christmastime in Illinois. I couldn't resist posting them and showing off my little nieces and nephew!

Me and my mom and dad on Christmas.

My brother, Chris a.k.a proud dad, with Ethan 8 months old.

The girls Clara (3) Bailey (7) trying to look mean with their new pink cap guns.

Nothing compares to growing up on a farm!

My sister-in-law Amanda with my brother and Ethan

Felting Fun

2008-12-22T12:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to Maurine's house for the first time to learn how to felt. I had a great time meeting Maurine and enjoyed all of her wonderful hospitality. She also has some amazing looms one of which is computer manipulated. This is a felt bead that I made that day that I glued onto a ring base. I haven't strung the necklace or bracelet yet but isn't this ring too cute! What was so funny about this whole process was that Maurine had cards to use on the wool for another project. They looked just like the cards that you use on actual sheep. For those of you who don't know I showed sheep from age 8-18 in 4-H. Then we washed the wool in Ivory soap which is exactly what you wash sheep in to make them really white and pretty for the fair. It really made me chuckle.

Charm Bracelet

2008-12-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

I finally got my charm bracelet together from the charm exchange. As you can see everyone did something really different. I LOVE my new bracelet and will wear it proudly. Thanks fellow charmers!

Vegas Snow!

2008-12-17T16:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas Jewelry Exchange

2008-12-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

It was that time of year again to draw a person's name from the stack and gift them with an original handmade item. The party was held at Margaret and Peter Jung's house which was amazing. They should've charged admission just to see all of their beautiful artwork they have collected over the years. Thank you so much for being such wonderful hosts. Margaret drew my name this year and made me the most beautiful necklace and earrings. The necklace is a 15 strand weave.
I drew Chelsea's name this year and she had on her profile that she loves junk jewelry so that is what I made her. I took an old keyboard apart, filled the back of the keys with black resin (thanks for the tip Mandy) and drilled through to create a hole for stringing. She loved it and plans on going salvaging soon to continue making her own keyboard jewelry. I couldn't pass up the chance to make a delete key into a ring. Everyone should have one of those!

Chelsea opening up her keyboard jewelry!

You Know Who You Are

2008-12-15T09:42:00.001-08:00

A special friend made me this. I couldn't resist posting it because I LOVE it so very much. Thanks a million and by the way I think you're a true artist too.

Pierre Le Chat

2008-12-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

My friend Jean is very crafty and when she told me she was going to start making sock dolls, I couldn't wait to see the results. Last week her and her boyfriend Coy were sewing away making the cutest sock dolls you have every seen. I was gifted with Pierre. I named him that because of his beret. The got their inspiration from the book Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel.

Jean, Jean The Dancing Machine

2008-12-08T09:18:00.000-08:00

Jean, a student who works in the office, is always creating. For two years now she has made the entire staff awards at the end of the year. This year I only thought it fitting to make something for her too, so check it out.Jean's creation last year, the paper plate awards. I was voted "Most likely to wear handmade accessories".

Jean's creation this year, buddy pokes. Doesn't my buddy poke look just like me? Thanks, Jean!

Jean sporting her pendant that I made her with paper that I collected in Chinatown when I was in San Francisco.

The other side of the pendant pictured on my lovely wire lady that I found at Ross. Can you believe it? Yes, I said Ross.

Charm Exchange

2008-12-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

Oh what fun we had last night at the charm exchange! A special thank you to Debbie for making all of us feel welcome in her home and preparing such a yummy meal for us. Here are a few pictures. I will post a picture of my charm bracelet when I get it finished.

Debbie had place cards for all of us with very pretty table settings.

I couldn't resist posting a picture of the lovely toilet paper in the bathroom. Everything was in the holiday spirit.

Jerry and Tanya with their birthday purses that Mandy handcrafted for them.

Jackie putting together her charm bracelet before we even left Debbie's house. We are so jealous. She's got mad skills.

Charm Exchange

2008-12-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

The monthly ladies jewelry group, ok sometimes more than monthly, decided to do a charm exchange for the holidays. We each were responsible for making 11 charms and will each come home with 11 different charms that we are going to trade with each other tonight at Debbie's house. I decided to use soldering for mine, since it's my new favorite thing! I took little glass blobs and put homemade paper behind them and cut words out of an old book that I found at a local library sale. This one says voice but all of them are different. These are the words I chose: vogue, hope, queen, heart, luck, chic, she-wolf, sweet, star and wink. It truly is amazing what words you can find in books. I do have to share though that it is very difficult to solder glass blobs (insert one burnt up soldering iron, cursing, frustration and an emergency trip to the Glass Art Studio for a new iron here). It was a great learning experience though and even though they have a few imperfections I'm very proud of these little charms. Like my friend Angela says "It's handmade girl, if you want something perfect get it made in China". I can't wait to see what the other ladies all came up with for their charms!

Anne's Birthday

2008-11-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

This weekend I celebrated a friends' birthday and have to tell everyone about it because of the delicious restaurant that we went to. Anne chose to go to the new Aliante Station to the Pips restaurant. It was so yummy! I had eggplant stuffed salmon with butternut squash risotto with shall I say a few glasses of white wine. It was a great atmosphere and the food and service were amazing. We got seated by the owner who used to be a chef at Cesar's Palace and got a tour of the wine vault. I would highly recommend it!

The picture is of the earrings that I made for Anne. They are from the Dixie Young collection and are vintage crystal. Elegant just like Anne.

Welcome Home Dice

2008-11-24T11:55:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I couldn't resist adopting Dice. She was available through the Heaven Can Wait Animal Sanctuary. I had kind of been looking around for a friend for Dash for awhile and finally found one. She is 8 months old and is very playful. I asked the people to find me a playful boy or girl about the same age as Dash. After petting her for a few minutes she rolled over on her belly and started to bite me. As everyone knows this is exactly how Dash acts. Dash was so excited when I brought her home and never even hissed or growled at her. He follows her around everywhere. I tried to tell him he was coming on too strong but he wouldn't listen. After about 5 days they became good friends and are cleaning each other and playing like you wouldn't believe! So now I have the perfect match of Dice and Dash.

Pincushion Cupcake

2008-11-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

This weekend I made this pincushion cupcake at Carole, the ribbon lady's house. I can't believe that I actually made this because I can't sew. I don't even know how to sew on a button! I learned how to back stitch and knot off and sewed this by hand. Much thanks to Tanya and Carole for explaining all of the techniques to me.

Collage Pendants

2008-11-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

I made these two double sided pendants for birthday gifts for Tanya and Jerry. I took my own layered collage work and put it behind glass and soldered it into these pendants. I am very pleased with the collage work and the soldering. I'm getting better and better at it! I actually finished the pieces with blue ribbon instead of chain to hang them from. I forgot to take pictures of the finished pieces before I gave them away.

Kumihimo Anklet

2008-11-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, I haven't posted in so very long but I'm back and I have things to post! I made this bracelet in October using the Kumihimo technique. Well it was supposed to be a bracelet but it was so big it turned into an anklet.

She Learns How to Solder

2008-09-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Mandy and I took a road trip to a class instructed by Beth Quinn at the Blissful Living Studio in Phoenix. It was a whirlwind trip as we left on Friday and came back on Saturday night but it was so much fun. Beth Quinn made soldering seem easy and I loved the class and the studio. Check out the two pendants that I made in class. I enjoyed it so much check back for more soldering projects soon!

Ann's Here..

2008-09-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

..From England. I had not seen her in such a long time, I had to make something to give her. She has red hair so I thought that green stones with copper would be perfect for her. Plus, I've been really into copper lately. She brought me jewelry too. So we literally exchanged. She brought me these beautiful silver earrings that had the Keltic symbol on them. They are so pretty. They came all the way from Leicester England where my friend Ann lives now. Wish you were closer, I love you!

More Birthday Art

2008-09-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

A couple more bday presents that I thought I would share. Thank you to everyone. You can't see the back of the ATC but it says: "While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads are descended from cats." Mark Twain. I love that quote!

What a Birthday!

2008-09-05T09:23:00.001-07:00

A big THANK YOU to all of the ladies in the jewelry group for all of their wonderful gifts. I am putting up a group shot of all of my presents but it really doesn't do them justice. They all deserve pictures of their own but you can zoom in and look at most of them pretty well. I feel so lucky to have such creative and talented friends.

I also have to thank all of my non-jewelry making friends for their lunches, dinners, well wishes and gifts too. My students that I supervise at work even got me flowers. They are so sweet. The arrangement has this really cool vine in it!

I know I just said this yesterday but I feel so lucky. Thanks again everybody.

Blessings

2008-09-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to imagine but last year at this same time I felt lost and confused and when asking myself and when others asked me too I couldn't even tell you where my confidence was or who I really was anymore. When literally pushed into the jewelry arena I wasn't really sure I was creative or doubted that I would even fit in...Wow what a difference a year can make! Now not only do I feel like I fit in I feel like it is a home that I never even knew was possible. See, I still believe that everything happens for a reason and had this person not pushed me towards this creative outlet I never would've found the thing that is truly healing my life. So this birthday I am truly thankful and feel incredibly blessed. Not only do I have my tried and true loving friends that have always seen me through the good the bad and the ugly, I have a whole host of new friends who are enriching my life in ways I didn't even know were possible. So thank you to the friends who held me when I cried this year, to friends who aren't afraid to shake their thing line dancing at Stoney's, to friends who like to take creative road trips, to friends who make me laugh so hard I cry and to all of you who listened, encouraged and supported me this year. I love you all!

Wire Weave Bracelet

2008-08-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

I started this bracelet in Susan Lenart Kazmer's class at ArtUnraveled and didn't get it finished until this last weekend. In the class I was really frustrated that my annealed wire kept flipping when I was trying to weave. I was ready to give up on the whole project but I kept continuing on. I finished the weaving later that night in the hotel room. When I took the piece home I went out and bought a propane torch so that I could ball the wire and finish the piece. I could not get my wire to ball for anything. This last weekend Mandy taught me how to ball wire, as it turns out I was holding my torch towards the top of the wire and not further down on the piece. Thanks, Mandy! I left my piece in a bangle and spent Saturday and Sunday completing the bracelet with fibers in black and hunter green. I wore this piece to work today and when anyone asks me about it I tell them that it is my baby. It truly feels like a piece of art and I planned my whole outfit out just so I could wear it ;)

ArtUnraveled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

2008-08-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

I am just now getting the chance to put the rest of my pictures up from ArtUnraveled. I had a wonderful time and having all of the creative energy around me really made me happy. Every night before I went to bed Mandy and I would be going back and forth about all of the things that we learned throughout the day. We would frequently be saying "well what about this and what about that". It was so much fun and location was beautiful too. The hotel sat on a golf course and one night I looked out from our balcony and saw the most beautiful sunset over the course. I just had to take a picture.
I took a Sherri Haab class called resin bangles. In this class we used the EasyCast resin for the clear bangle with the add in's. The other bangle is made out of Alumilite resin which sets up in about 3 minutes. Working with resin is a lot like working with Silver Art Clay because most of the work is in the finishing of the piece. The black and beige piece is actually finished and sanded. You start with a heavier sand paper out of the water and then finish the piece immersed in the water with finer sandpaper.

The next class that I took was the little carved beaded journal with Doris Arndt. She is an amazing teacher. I learned in this class that I didn't know how to read a ruler as well as I thought so when I got back to the room that evening Mandy gave me a ruler lesson. Thanks, Mandy! This journal literally took all day to make. The first thing we did was watercolor our pages with diluted acrylics. Then we took book board and carved out an image which we covered with black paper and then painted using rub in buff paints. We then colored our leather and punched holes through the book board and leather. We then sewed everything together. My hands we so sore the next day. I am not used to sewing let along sewing through leather and book board.
I also took a Zine Machine class from Traci Bunkers. This class was so much fun. We practiced the art of letting go by creating a journal page and then passing it to five other people to finish. Then Traci took all of our completed journal pages and scanned them into her computer. She is going to put together a book and mail it to all of us along with some of her work. I can't wait to get it. The other cool thing about this class it that we all brought some copies of our own artwork and pictures. Everyone had to create some journal pages with other peoples artwork. It was so cool to see other people's pages with my work in it at the end of the day.

The last class that I took was a Susan Lenart Kazmer class on wire weaving. It was so much fun. Mandy took several of her classes during the week and we begged to get into this closed class on Friday night. We both got in and I was so thankful. Just being in her presence gives you so much inspiration. She is actually going to be published in a fine art magazine for all of her amazing metal work. At first I have to admit that I was really frustrated with this class but after I got up to the room that night I finished weaving my piece and was happier with my result. I weaved a bracelet which is not finished yet. I have to go to Home Depot and get some propane so that I can ball up the ends of my piece and get it off of the glass bottle. I will post it when I do. So here I am sitting back at my desk at work but I have to admit with a much better attitude and smile on my face thinking about all the fun I had.

ArtUnraveled Monday and Tuesday

2008-08-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

The adventure began on Monday evening when Mandy and I went to the make and takes. Lisa Pavelka instructed the make and take session that we went to. We picked out a picture and then made layers with UV resin. The front of the image is the actual print, which becomes transparent when set with a UV light. The back of the image is the second layer which has glitter. It was a lot of fun and didn't take very much time at all.

On Tuesday I took an all day workshop which was taught by Carla Sonheim titled Voice Lessons. In this class we explored four different mediums to discover which one represented our voice the best. This class was a real challenge because I don't draw at all but I ended up doing two series in charcoal one of animals and one of flowers.

On Tuesday night I took a class called Obsessive Paint Brush with Anne Grgich. I wasn't very happy with my outcome but I am being brave and posting it anyway.

Keep checking back for more updates from Phoenix!

Fearless

2008-07-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

I just got back from visiting my family in Illinois. The last day of my visit we all went to the Coles County Fair. My little niece Bailey (7) really wanted to climb a rock wall, clearly made for adults. My brother at first told her no but on the way back we passed it again and he agreed to let her do it. She was really too small only weighing in at 45 pounds but the guy felt sorry for her and let her do it anyway. She made it all the way to the top of the wall within minutes. All of us including myself didn't think she would be able to do it but as she got about halfway up we were all cheering her on. I couldn't believe it when she reached the top. Her arms were shaking at one point when she couldn't reach the foot holds. This single event of the trip brought so many life lessons to mind. The fact that she wasn't afraid at all, that she didn't take no for an answer and that it didn't matter if any of us believed in her at all because she knew she could do it! My wish for her is that she never loses the incredible spirit that she has and that she enjoys her medal for reaching the top =)

Incomplete

2008-07-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

This is for all of us who miss out on the rapture of being incomplete. Love this song and album by Alanis Morissette.

Hearts for Betty

2008-07-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

If someone reads this before our dinner tonight don't let the cat out of the bag but I made these earrings and bracelet for Betty's birthday. I found these heart glass beads at the Whole Bead Shop booth that was at the bead show at the Alexis Park Hotel a few months ago. I found a lot of very fun beads there. Everything is sterling silver and the red heart beads are glass with a few black seed beads. Her favorite color is red so I'm sure she will love them!

Embossing

2008-07-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

I tried embossing by myself for the first time last night while making a birthday card for my glass making friend Betty. It turned out alright but I forgot to shake off the excess embossing powder before turning on the heat gun. I have a very shiny kitchen as a result and a shiny outfit.

Gym Class Heroes

2008-06-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

People who know me well know that I am a closet hip hop fan. I love it. I had the pleasure of going to see the Gym Class Heroes Friday night at the Joint inside the Hard Rock. They were awesome. My friend Katharine and I were shaking our thing and pumping our fists through every song. If you haven't heard of them you should check them out.

Ring of Fire

2008-06-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to create this piece by the Johnny Cash song Ring of Fire. The basic foundation for this piece was created by putting paper on the canvas with gesso to create texture. Then I used acrylics in red, blue and yellow mixed with gel medium in a semi gloss to give it a little bit of shine. This additive does not change the color of the acrylics.

So here's to everyone who is currently in the ring of fire and to those who have gotten burnt beyond recognition by the fire and finally for those of us who are hoping we can carefully jump back in one day with a new love.

Live

2008-06-10T10:38:00.001-07:00

I sent this bracelet with my friend Keri as she starts a new adventure with her move to LA. I thought it was very important that she lives life to the fullest. Just live, girl!

Welcome Home Dash

2008-05-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. This last week I adopted a furry friend named Dash. He is a 5 month old Bengal kitten. He has beautiful leopard spots and certainly lives up to his name as he dashes around the apartment all of the time, unless of course he's sleeping. I love him and best of all he seems to love me too.

Something Sweet

2008-05-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

My best friend Cheryl has been wanting to go to the Color Me Mine studio for a long time. She is graduating in one week with her Master's Degree so to celebrate we finally went. Color Me Mine is a pottery studio where you get to choose your piece and then paint it. It was so much fun. I picked a cupcake to paint which actually opens up.

Welcome Ethan

2008-04-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

I finally recieved some highly anticipated photos today of my new nephew Ethan Lewis. He was born on April 21st and weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 22 inches long. He is a great addition to my little nieces Bailey (6) and Clara (3).

Fun with Polymer Clay

2008-04-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend all of the usual Silver Art Clay people took on a new challenge of creating with Polymer Clay. We went to Sophia's house, the one in the blue t-shirt, to learn the basics of making a circle box that you can wear as a pendant. It was a lot of fun, I never realized that Polymer Clay could be so beautiful. I must admit that I had kind of a play dough attitude towards it. She created a green and yellow pattern with a chocolate brown background (amazing!). The technique she used is called Mokumé Gané. Sophia also works with what she calls "mud clay". It was so much fun walking around her house and looking at all of her pieces which consisted of pottery, jewelry, etc. Even though the clay conditioning, running it through the pasta machine, was hard work I plan on doing it again sometime soon!

Kiss

2008-04-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

I made this bracelet for my friend Katharine. I have been in a bracelet making frenzy . I actually decided to take a picture of it on her arm so that everyone could get some perspective of what it looks like on. Thanks Katharine for being kind enough to pose for the camera.

Dream

2008-04-15T08:59:00.001-07:00

I just realized that I haven't posted in over a month. Opps! I recently made a bunch of silver art clay tags for the leather cuffs. This one is for my friend Stacey for her birthday. Hope she likes it, I'm giving it to her today at lunch!

Face Locket

2008-03-10T14:03:00.001-07:00

I made a locket this weekend and learned several new techniques. The locket was made in two pieces with the front of the piece stamped with a face. I dried the piece on Rizzo's, the cat's, ping pong ball to get the curved look for the front piece. The hardest part of this piece was making the little pieces to hang the piece from. I tried and tried to get these looking right. When I took the piece home, I silver blacked it to get it an old look and add depth to the piece. You can't really tell in this picture because of the flash on my camera. I also added a mirror,that Colleen gave me (thanks, Colleen) to the inside of the piece. It turned out great and I love how the front piece is open for interpretation. I'm wearing it today and when people see it they all have their own idea of what it is supposed to be. Sun goddess, mother nature, Anne Klein lion, you name it!

Shrinky Dinks Day

2008-03-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the altered book group met up this weekend and all of us were sitting there wondering what project to take on next. Much to our delight and suprise Lateka had brought with her sheets that you can draw your own Shrinky Dinks on. It was great fun for those of us who remembered our younger Shrinking and Dinking days and also a great time for those of us who never had these lovely days. For the first time Angela watched as her creation shrank in the oven before her very eyes. Oh what fun! We also got to see Diane's pictures from Africa and a few homemade videos. They were beautiful.

Grape Street Cafe

2008-03-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the pleasure of going to dinner at Grape Street Cafe with Betty, Jerry and June. We have started a new tradition of going to dinner once a month on the first Tuesday of the month. The more the merrier so if you would ever like to join us please let one of us know. We are meeting at different restaurants across Las Vegas to eat, drink and be merry! We share crafty ideas and learn more about life and each other. It is so much fun, especially with Jerry telling her exciting "love" stories. You go girl! We all ordered different dishes but by far my favorite was Jerry's dish of Eggplant Parmesan which was out of this world. The first time I ever went to this cafe was for a my friend Stacey's wedding reception. It was great fun, but had to much yummy wine to really remember it well, opps. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. It is so romantic and the food is great.

Going in Circles

2008-02-25T09:53:00.000-08:00

I made this piece on Saturday and was not at all happy with it. My circles were misshaped. Colleen just kept saying just wait until you get it all put together. Well on my way to get my hair done I stopped at Discount Beads and got the rest of the materials to finish the project (chain, beads and clasp). On Sunday I put the whole thing together and was suprised at how much I actually liked it. I did enjoy learing how to put metal circles together while still in the clay form and firing them in a way that they don't stick together. I am wearing it today. It has that abstract look to it. Sometimes you just have to accept a little imprefection, which is a hard lesson for me to learn.

General Bead

2008-02-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

When I looked up bead stores to go to in San Francisco General Bead came up. They have an on-line store and everyone knows them for their wholesale prices. The store is very interesting to say the least. You walk in and are greeted by bright colored walls that are filled with interesting movie posters, pictures and of course items for sale. The downstairs area is filled with crystals, chain and beading supplies. Upstairs is where I found the action. They literally have everything! It is filled with beads and weird pictures of two cats holding each other everywhere. On the way down the stairs you can even read a sign that says Bootsy says pay for your items that you purchased upstairs before going downstairs. Bootsy is one of their cats. Overall, it is a very magical store and that of course includes the people. The guy who waited on me was straight from the 60's complete with long gray hair and green army jacket. He also frequently used the words "cool" and "dude". He was really nice and even rounded the price of my items down for me. I wish I lived in San Fran so that I could take classes here as they offer many. If you enjoy chatting with interesting people and looking at a huge selection of beads and bling this is the place for you. It's not in the best neighborhood though so it's better to go during the day. Check out their website at genbead.com!

Flowers in Bloom and Skies So Blue...

2008-02-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

The trip to San Francisco was fun, even if it was for work. I was able to travel to many of the cities locations. This picture was taken in the Botanical Garden next to Golden Gate Bridge State Park next to the Japanese Tea Garden. I was able to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown, Cow Hollow home of the Octagon House (don't ask), the Exploratorium, the Bush Man, Ghiradelli Square,Flax Art Store (thanks Cody), eat at Blondie's Pizza, sip Jasmine tea in the Japanese Tea Garden, and ride a trolley car. The weirdest experience I had was at the Bead Store called General Bead. Check back later to hear all about it as it truly deserves a post of it's own. In case my boss is reading this I promise I went to the conference sessions too =)

Rhonda Rocks!

2008-02-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! Last night I had the privelege of teaching my class over at CSN. A few students brought in V-Day treats but this one really stood out. Rhonda is a culinary arts major who is trying to overcome her fear of decorating wedding cakes. She made everyone in the entire class (20) their own individual cupcake or should I just say mini cake. Each one was unique and decorated differently. I thought it was such a work of art that I decided to take it home and take pictures of it before digging in. The cake was moist with fresh strawberries and bannans inside. How could it possibly get any better, oh yeah the frosting, Yum Yum. Thanks so much Rhonda and just so you know she does catering ;-)

All Wired Up Earrings

2008-02-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

So I've never claimed to be great at taking photos especially of jewelry. For some reason I can never seem to get the pictures without some kind of glare. These were two pairs of earrings that I made at Colleen's house in the All Wired Up class. It was a lot of fun to make these. The pearl pair, which I made second, match my pearl bracelet that I made a while ago so I now have a set! I was very pleased at how both of these turned out. I got to practice my wire wrapping technique and learn how to bend 14 gauge wire.

Altered Book Divas At It Again

2008-02-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

We are still going strong and will be meeting again on Sunday, March 9th at my house this time if anyone new would like to join in on the fun. The nuts page is the page that I did in Angela's "Food for Thought" altered book. I was so pleased that you could read the GO NUTS from left to right and up and down. I know I'm a total geek. It's the small things in life...The arms race page is the one that Diane did in my ity bity book. To see Angela's pages that she did in Diane's book visist her blog at http://love2learn.typepad.com/

Valentine Fun

2008-02-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

Last night we met up at Angela's house for another round of the Altered Book Divas group. Much to my suprise and delight, Angela had Valentine baskets made up of everything you need to make Valentine Day cards. These are the cards that were crafted by Angela, Diane and myself. Diane's ladybug card was so very fun and cute too. I know her sister will love it!

Bling It On!

2008-02-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

This was the class that Mandy taught for us at Colleen's House. We used Swarovski crystals and each made two keychains. The first one I made was the green one where we learned how to glue and set the crystals on an object. The second keychain was the heart one. It was really hard to make this heart pattern on the keychain. I don't think my crystals were quite small enough to make a good design but oh well, I still love them. I even got a couple of the perfect positioners the other day at Bead Haven just to have on hand in case I feel the need to bling some more. Thanks Mandy,you were a great teacher!

Magical Cuff

2008-01-15T08:52:00.001-08:00

I made this cuff yesterday at Colleen's house. We learned so much in this class! First of all we worked with the silver art clay and made the piece on the top of the cuff. I chose the word Magic for mine. After we were done shaping and creating our art clay piece for our bracelet we fired them up in the kiln and learned about the leather cuff. We cut the leather and installed the snaps. Once that was finished we took our art clay pieces and used silver black on them to make the letters stand out. Then we used crystal rivets to attach them to the leather cuff. It was so much fun! I plan on making many more of these bracelets. They will make great gifts for friends and family.

Altered Book Divas Take 2

2008-01-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

We did it. We actually managed to meet over the holidays given all of our crazy schedules and travel plans. We each completed a spread in each other's books and traded again for another spread due in February. Angela did the spread in my book titled Overkill. Diane did the spread in Angela's book title Road Trip Con Queso. I did the spread in Diane's book titled Safari.

Christmas in Illinois

2008-01-03T14:21:00.001-08:00

The trip home for Christmas was a great one! The girls were so happy to celebrate Christmas and could hardly wait to open up their packages. It was all I could do to get them to take this picture before they opened their presents. Notice the chocolate cookie all over Clara's face, too cute.

Feeling the Love

2007-12-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of sharing the weekend with about 20 of the most creative women I have ever met! Mandy, aka vegas bling girl, shared her beautiful home with all of us for what I hope will become our annual holiday party. We each drew a name back in November and were responsible for the gift for that person and of course it was a secret. The only catch-we each had to handmake our gifts. I have never seen so many beautiful pieces of jewelry, art, dolls, fabrics and what I'll call thing-a-ma-bobs. These are the pieces of jewelry that I was lucky enough to recieve from Betty. I'm wearing all three pieces as I type away right now. They really put me in the holiday spirit, thanks Betty! I had a terrific time.

Altered Book Divas

2007-11-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we began on an Altered Book Journey. I termed the group Divas because of the original definition of the word. The term was originally used to describe a woman of rare, outstanding talent, which all of the lovely ladies who joined me demonstrate on a daily basis! We exchanged our books and are on our way. My book is titled Overkill. I got this tiny book at ArtUnraveled this year. The reason why I picked it up is because the last name of the guy who wrote it is Cox. I learned courtesy of Angela that you make an entry page for all of the people who contribute to your book sign and usually at least one spread. If anyone would like to join us our next arting is on Saturday, December 30th at 3:00p.m.

I feel like a Pumpkin

2007-11-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

I love pumpkins and wish we could have them around all year long. Now I can! I used the same technique that I did for the sunflowers that I completed last Spring. Boy does time sure fly.

Not just anyone can do resin!

2007-11-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Oh, my goodness. Last weekend and this weekend I played around with resin at Colleen's house tyring to do color on the silver art clay. My goodness it was so hard. The first thing I did were the little charms. The ones on the left I didn't touch. Notice the one on the right, I touched it,opps. By the next weekend I was ready to go with the silver art clay, or so I thought. Look how many little bubbles I have in my little heart. Oh well, better luck next time.

Handsome Family

2007-11-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

This is my mom and dad and my brother Chris. Rarely do you see all of them dressed up so I had to show everybody this pic.

Chris and Amanda's Wedding

2007-11-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

I recently traveled to Illinois for my brother's wedding. His two little girls Bailey and Clara were in the wedding. They are truly pieces of my heart. And yes for those of you who noticed there is officially another Amanda Cox in the family!

Pearl Netted Bracelet

2007-09-16T19:14:00.001-07:00

This is the 1st beading class that I took that was more than just a single strand. I wanted to finish this project so bad because I just knew left to my own devices without Colleen I would never finish it! Luckily Jeri had a button that I could use to finish it up as mine ended up being to big. I love it and I think next time I'll make my button out of Silver Art Clay.