Flights of Fancy

Flower and shell earrings

2011-08-04T22:17:00.003+09:00

Anybody else LOVING project runway? I know I do! Ever since that season, a couple ago, with Seth Aaron (my FAVORITE designer yet), i'm totally hooked.

I also love watching it because every week, Etsy Metal does a challenge related to the episode! Usually I sort of lurk, but this week i decided to get into the spirit! The challenge: Make something from the materials on your bench!

So, to start with, I wandered over and took a picture of my desk! I'd done a big clean the day before so there wasn't oodles of stuff there, very little 'creative clutter' (really! this is what it looked like that day! it's highly out of the ordinary for it to be so clean. how unfortunate for the challenge!)

Here's my desk last friday:

at the back, you may see an overflowing green bin... this bin is 'pieces to use'. Experimental bits and bobs that have been created but not yet put into one creation... including some pieces of copper i'd etched. Grabbed the etched copper, grabbed a little pot of shell beads, the pot of chains, some brass wire, and another piece of sheet copper. The only thing not currently on my desk there was the plain sheet copper (the bail) and the brass wire (the rivet). Here's what came out of it!

If you want to see what other people made, go over to the etsy metal website: http://etsymetal.blogspot.com/

Searching Necklace

2011-08-02T20:00:00.006+09:00

Recently, Objects and Elements website posted a tutorial about riveting domed metal to a flat surface. How serendipitous, I was just starting up a piece where I'd be doing this! Here is my submission to this challenge. The larger found metal piece was somewhat domes already. I used the method discussed to refine the curve, and riveted using a wire rivet strengthened by a brass tube.

This piece, 'Searching' was made with lots of found metal pieces. I think the top one is from some kind of audio equipment? No idea what the bottom once was... any ideas out there? Other found pieces include a round piece, and also a lens from a friend's broken camera. It works pretty cool as both a necklace and a mini magnifying lens.

Sundries and Plunder Guest Giveaway

2010-10-16T14:09:00.000+09:00

Sundries and Plunder Guest Giveaway

These animal masks are so lovely, absolutely gorgeous stuff.

Webtangle Earings

2010-10-16T11:04:00.004+09:00

A couple posts ago, I gave a teaser showing bits of jewelry i'd photographed, and also a pair of earings nestled in my hands. Here is a closer shot of these little pretties, that I call my Webtangle earings. This is one of the projects from Stephanie Lee's lovely book, Semi-precioius salvage, that i've slowly been working my way through, project by project :).

Teaser shot again, of more things to come...

Lapis neck piece

2010-10-09T15:55:00.004+09:00

A couple months ago, I was browsing flickr and came accross a piece by Cindiesmithdesigns. I was totally inspired by the lovely, lovely shapes created the necklace, and knew I wanted to make something similar in some ways (with my own flare of course!). See inspiration point here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyndiesmithdesigns/3076304372/in/faves-meisterdalediane/

And here's the finished product! I added many design points of my own, including the entire pendant area and the rivets along the copper.

Here's the back part of the necklace. After rolling over the copper, I hooked in a link and linked it to some chunky chain. It then has a nice toggle closure.

This is the best photo for seeing the pendant. You can see the huge lapis lazuli cab i used on the copper. You can also see the rivet i did to close the filigree together (i later glued a small blue crystal on top, as this rivet was a little messy). You can also see the work i did linking together many jump rings to connect the pendant to the necklace.

Speaking of lapis, I really like the piece I picked up for this project. As you can see in the photo, it has lovely shine and sparkle to it... I can even kinda see my shadow on the surface! I got a pretty good deal on it (i think) from my favorite jewelry salesman. Only 3000 won! (about 3$). I didn't really get into buying stones until after I came here to Korea, but i think the prices are significantly lower here. Anyone else know about how much a 2 inch diameter cab of lapis lazuli would cost elsewhere?

Final photo! This total piece photo shows the work I did on the copper (all cut, filed, and textured by me). You can also see the rivets I put into the copper.

In all, this does not make a 'run out to the grocery store' necklace, but it does make an interesting statement piece. Nice with my little black dress, where it can really gobble up all the attention :)

Wordless post: a look at jewelry to be posted

2010-09-03T22:21:00.002+09:00

Ticket to Ride

2010-08-20T15:34:00.004+09:00

Have you tried the board game 'Ticket to Ride'? I absolutely love the game, and have wasted WAY too many hours playing this game online.

This necklace i call my 'Ticket to Ride' necklace. When i saw this train picture in an old encyclopedia available for clippings, it immediately reminded me of the game. I knew I needed to use it for something.

After time, i had these large bezels mailed to me, a collection of purple ribbons and beads, a metal corner shape, and this train picture. They all came together with some wire, chain, and resin to make this fab necklace.

Star pendant

2010-07-21T17:24:00.003+09:00

Today I'll show my lovely 'star pendant' necklace. The necklace is made from copper sheet, with a cut star of brass on top. The two were soldered together using 'sweat soldering'. This means that i put the two pieces together with the solder and flux sandwiched between. As the two pieces got hot with the torch, it melted the solder between them to put them together. A simple concept, but a good one :).

Here underneath, you can see where i stamped 'Tu lui sais depuis toujours'. This is a quote from my favorite movie ever, Amélie. It means 'You've known them forever'. A lovely quote from a lovely movie.

2010-07-11T17:14:00.002+09:00

I have another piece to show here today. I call this 'peekaboo' due to the peekaboo polkadots on the pendant and the fabric poking out the sides of the 'tube beads'. Also, the green beads peek through the resin that covers them on the circular disks.

A couple special features on this one... I used eyelets to hold together three layers on the pendant, being the mesh, the fabric, and the copper. It was difficult to drill all three with a perfect large hole, but on my second try i got it :).

Another feature: the 'tube beads' along the sides. I used a thin gauge of copper and made a tube shape. After, i stuffed the ends with fabric scraps, with some crazyglue to hold them in.

There are the two circular disks on the sides. They are domed circles, and i filled them both with ice resin. I then dropped one little green bead in each one.

Lastly, there is the closure on the back. It's hard to see in this picture, but one side is like a 'p' and the other side has a squigly line for the toggle. I was inspired by the Art Bead Scene challenge a couple months ago and made the clasp, but didn't finish a necklace in time. The shapes are both directly from the rather geometric painting.

Hope you like what you see :)

Bead soup blog party numero deux!!!

2010-06-21T17:29:00.005+09:00

It's time for the second bead soup blog party! I had a lovely time swapping beads with my lovely partener, Karyn, of Releases by Rufydoof.

Karyn sent me a completely lovely set of glass beads she made herself, including a lovely pendant. This one was a stretch for me, as there were no holes in the bead! Time to figure out what to do with a hole-less bead... why not glue it like a cabochon to a nice piece of copper?

Here are the results of what I came up with.

Ingredients from Karyn: Beautiful raku black and swirled pendant, Black angular beads, Brown and tan bead, Silver closure

Ingredients from myself: Hand cut, filed, forged, and polished copper rectangle, Copper chain, Copper wire (one piece with bead drawn on both ends), green fabric, amber colored beads.

To do this, I first prepared the copper pendant from a sheet of copper. I then crazy-glued the raku and small amber-color beads. The attachment of the pendant to the mail necklace is a hammered copper circle, wrapped around a wire-formed and fabric wrapped ending. The wire shaping is an idea of Lorelei's I gave a try for myself I created my own 'beads' by using Deryn Mentock's wrapped fabric link technique (thanks again Deryn!)

So, again, i'd like to thank my inspirationLorelei's and Deryn Mentock, my swap partener Karyn, and Lori for hosting this. Why not click on the link to Lori's blog and check out some other bead soup chefs?

star ring

2010-06-20T11:36:00.006+09:00

Last post, i put up the copper cuff i made. Here is a mostly picture post of the ring i made to match it. I call it my star ring :)

Ingredients: Glued together stack of scrapbooking paper, ring blank, washer, small star, WIRE RIVET!!! (i was pleased with how this rivet turned out. I'm getting better!)

Tomorrow is my day for the reveal of the bead soup party necklace i made... tune in tomorrow!

Copper Cuff

2010-06-19T21:42:00.003+09:00

This is a piece i had a lot of fun making. It was a lot of work but I will be making more of these type of copper cuffs.

I was reading Suzan Lenart Kazmer's book, looking through the chapter about hinges. I decided it was time to make a small bezel, with a hinged lid on top. Why not make this into a cuff? So very fun!
After cutting, filing, and soldering the bezel, it was time for the lid. I decided to use metal with a special kind of patina. After searching through my stash, i found a scrap that had once been part of an old broken doorknob.

The doorknob was cheap for about a dollar at a local scrap place! After MUCH fighting with it, i managed to tear it apart and flatten piece by piece of the pretty pretty metal it was from. It was quite 'damaged' (ie beautiful texture!) by the time i was done... not sure i'd reccomend this to another as it was a lot of work for little gain. Still, this was one of the pieces i'd gained here, and i do enjoy the texture and patina it lends to the piece.

After hinging the lid to the bezel, it was time to form the cuff. First i textured the copper by banging on it with the round end of a hammer, leaving it with almost a rough polka dot pattern i enjoyed. After forming it around my wrist (wow a wrist manderel would be nice... that was a hard job) I curled the two ends under.

Soldering time again! I soldered the bezel to the cuff... but the solder went everywhere! I think i heated it too long so the solder spread past the flux. Unfortunate, but i do still love it.

The closure on the back is a piece of brass, hinged again with a hinge from Kazmer's book Cold Connections. Very very fun, instructive book!

Finally, time to fill the bezel. A pretty little star and some resin, and it's finished! The resin did sadly spill out from the bezel as it clumsily got bumped and
knocked over while curing. I got most of it off, but there are some oddly shiny spots left still. Still... part of the charm?

Hope you enjoy my runthrough of what i did to create this favorite piece of mine... trials and errors included :)

Puffy Clouds

2010-06-13T16:47:00.004+09:00

I have been seriously thinking of setting up my own etsy shop. I love the idea of my pieces going all around the world, and it would give a reason for the existance of all these earrings I make, since I myself lack pierced ears. (I know I know. I am a jewelry lover who does not have pierced ears. I guess i just never got around to it.) Also, the money would come in handy for buying new supplies online, as I usually hold off since shipping to south korea can be so expensive.

This is a piece I would have liked to sell online, but the fabric is not holding up to snuff. It has now even further deteriorated and strung apart than in the picture. I will have to repeat these, perhaps using crinolin instead.

Puffy Clouds

Leaf earings

2010-05-31T21:13:00.003+09:00

Time for a new post!

I have a huge backlog of jewelry pieces i've made, finally photographed, and now ready to be blogged and posted. Not to be a tease, but i'd rather show them bit by bit, one at a time :).

Next little piece i made.... last fall :S. I had made one pair for a lovely friend of mine, but I had the materials on hand so i made a second pair as well! Here's a photo of the lovely 'Leaf' earings I made last fall.

All components used here were picked up here in Seoul, South Korea. This picture was taken on the pretty rooftop garden on my old appartement.

Thorny Rose

2010-05-23T17:00:00.005+09:00

Looking at my blog here, it looks like I haven't been doing much at all! Really though, i've been keeping pretty regular with my jewelry making, just hadn't been taking any pictures. The camera was slowly dying, so we decided to get a new one.

Much better...

I'll be honest... I made this cuff months ago, back in March. However, the pictures have now finally been taken, propperly cropped and photoshopped, and it's time to start showing things here on my blog again!

This piece was made using Stephanie Lee's book, Semiprecious Salvage. This was the first jewelry book i ever made, and i am slowly but surely working my way through every project in the book. I'm about halfway through, as i have a bunch of other books i am interspersing the projects with. This is the project for her wire-wrapped bangle.

The focal here is a paper rose, held in with tabs, discussed in Suzan Lenart Kazmer's Cold Connections book. Techniques from both Kazmer and Lee blended into one piece... wow do they play well together :).

Other things happening: I got my first jewelry saw last week. So far, just practicing how to make straight lines, curved lines, and turn corners. No blades snapped... (yet!). Found an excellent tutorial on the Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist site. I have been enjoying their newsletters so much that i just subscribed to the magazine today... hoping to love it as much as the tutorials on the site! Def worth checking them out, for both the tutorial and the rest of the site as well.

Things I saw today

2010-04-10T22:47:00.004+09:00

So, I was surfing my blogs, and Michael DeMeng mentioned that his fab book was being sold with Jenny Doh (previous editor of the Summerset Studios magazines). I thought, 'Hey, i haven't seen anything with her recently', so i went off to check out how her new website of her own, 'Crescendoh' is comming along. I was a bit confused, but generally impressed, with what i saw.

I liked a lot of the little links they had on the front page. It seemed they were putting up daily links to 'things they like on the internet'. Some of the links were to their own stuff in the store, but others were to things outside their site.

I liked the cones that they have happening there. They're pretty materials. While i don't find i need the kit, and would prefer to find my own materials, the inspiration is so lovely! I do so enjoy the idea.... It would be great to have a nice string of these in my 'studio'. They could be neat storage for odd objects. A cone full of all the short dowels i've accumulated (more than you think), a cone for pliars, a cone for.... whatever small, strange objects i have many of that need a home. I could definately go for this.

I also really liked the link they put up to the book, shown on flickr (click picture to see). I love the idea of this. The simple nature appeals to me... it's like an outdoor studio, but you could even work through the rain. Beautiful. As a cold-winter saskatchewan girl, i'm not sure how practical, but they are beautiful.

Still figuring out exactly how the site works, and what their layout is, but i like the inspiration links for sure. I think i'll be comming back time to time to see those.

Hey Americans, or other swapers!

2010-03-24T21:12:00.003+09:00

Just letting you guys know that Heather at humblebeads is hosting a bead swap that looks really cool. Sorry fellow canadians, or even fellow people here in south korea, this swap is for people in the states for shipping reasons. Still.... there is an international giveaway.

You only have till march 26th! Hurry and check it out!

http://humblebeads.blogspot.com/2010/03/sisterhood-of-traveling-beads-giveaway_15.html

I myself just love swapping and trading things internationally for one on one trades. I live in Seoul, and so have access to many asian things (JADE), and other interesting things you can only find here in Korea. Anyone want to do a one on one swap instead, let me know :).

Bead Soup

2010-02-09T23:36:00.007+09:00

After simmering for almost a month, the Bead Soup Party has begun! As I was a bit of a late signer-upper, I was partnered with the lovely Lori Anderson, the host of the swap. I mailed off a lovely package of mixed beads that worked together well, with a hand-forged metal pendant and clasp. In return, i received such a lovely box of beauties! This is what arrived at my doorstep a couple weeks ago.

In this box were so many little lovelies! I received lovely two tone 'artistic stone', a pendant and lovely beads of adventurine, a sterling silver clasp, and some great silver beads from Bali. I was so overwhelmed with all the pretty little rocks here! I have to admit, when buying beads for myself I am usually buying fairly cheap ones, so I was awed at the chance to work with so many special beauties!

After much deliberation and hard work, here's the final product! I had not too long ago visited a history museum with an impressively inspiring collection of ancient Peruvian relics, including a lot of gold jewelry. I picked up the middle gold piece there, knowing I'd find a use for it and it's many, many holes. I used all the different varieties of lovely beads Lori sent me and am so excited to still have leftovers of some for later use!!!

Here's some more detailed shots to finish the post off. I would highly recommend joining in on our blog party day today, and checking out what all the other bloggers have to offer! Just check out Lori's post here to see all of our many, many participants in this great swap, and what they created.

Saskatchewan Necklace

2009-12-12T22:29:00.004+09:00

I've been trying lately to create necklaces that mean something to me, something that tells a store, rather than simply something that is beautiful. While i want it to also be beautiful, i find that the extra thought and the meaning within the necklace only increase it's beauty.

This necklace was created when cutting a piece of metal, and realizing that i'd inadvenrtantly cut it in exactly the shape of my home Canadian province, Saskatchewan. Now, saskatchewan isn't exactly a difficult shape to cut, but still, it was right on the money. I set that piece asside before continuing with my regular cutting.

The necklace has references all over to what Saskatchewan means to me. From the easily recognizeable reference with the canadian flag peeking through (taken from a Canadian stamp) to the less harder reference of 306 (saskatchewan's phone area code) to the color choices of blue, green and golden brown for the beads and fibers, everything was done with a reason.

Basic technique used: I first fired the pieces of metal, till they were nice and patinated. After, i rolled up the longer piece to create a loop and created a window in the top piece with a screwdriver (who'd have thought?). I glued a stamp in the window, and drilled the two pieces together. Underneath I put a tassel made with Saskatchewan grass field colours. Later on the chain are two brass links, one with some grass from my grandparent's backyard in Saskatchewan, and the other with the numbers 306 rubbed on. Last features include a suede neck cord embellished with six green and blue beads.

This piece was created (late) for a challenge to go through Mary Hetmansperger's 'Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet'. This is the 4th project, Layers Necklace, with my own spin to it.

I made my own nails

2009-11-25T21:45:00.003+09:00

I feel kinda proud about this one. See those four pieces of metal? That used to be simple 16 gage copper wire. I annealed and patinated it, hammered on the top to form a head, and used my metal file to sharpen the bottom part. I may still use my metal files to clean up the groves left by the C-clamp (i don't have a vise). I got the general technique from Kazmer's book 'Cold Connections'... again. I really do love that book.

But here is the dilemma... now that i've made them what on earth will i do with them? An assemblage project of some kind? I dunno... I guess i'll just wait for the inspiration to strike. I really like the mint-tin style assemblage with the nails sticking out on the edges. Maybe a strange, strange christmas ornament? hahah.

I have also created the start of four bezels. Still unsure what to put in them too. They have been cut and filed, and are ready for me to torch solder them this weekend. Can't wait. The one of them is really deep... need to find something with more weight and presence to put in that one. They will also be a chance for me to try out my new ice resin!

Looking for nail-y inspiration...

Christmas present arrived!

2009-11-23T22:04:00.004+09:00

Colour me impressed.... Objects and Elements was able to ship a box of stuff to me out in South Korea in only 1 week. I was so excited to come home and see a box waiting for me on the kitchen counter.... At first I assumed it was the presents my friend Tasha had sent me (she made me an awesome corset/arm-band/hair piece set that i can't wait to recieve), but it turned out to be my christmas present from my honey!

Ryan and I sat down last monday and picked out our christmas presents from each other online last monday. He picked a load of books off amazon, I picked a litter of interesting stuff off the Objects and Elements blog. Check out my loot in the picture above!!!!

First, I picked the Liver of Sulfer. I knew i wanted taht going in, as i have been experimenting with patinating metals, especially copper. I love the feel and working with copper, but i am not wild about always having that same bright red colour that just doesn't always seem to match everything. It's nice to work with some new colours in the metal mix sometimes. I have been working with my blow torch, now it is the time to step this up to the next level. I know i need to be very careful with this stuff... Don't worry i'll be carefully reading up on this all over before attempting use.

On a less chemical scale, but no less exciting for me, i then immediately picked up the metal punch alphabet. I have been wanting one of these for so long.... I couldn't resist trying it out immediately. The punched piece was just made earlier this evening. So easy!!! I just love the level of personalization available here. Can't wait to create my first piece with a great quote.

I also picked up a sheet of bronze, as seen on the bottom of the picture. The gage is so wonderfully thick. I was expecting it to have a more rusty kind of colour, but find the colouring to be fairly similar to that of copper. Still, it doesn't have as intense of that red tone.... this could be very interesting. Can't wait to play with it and my blow torch this weekend!

I picked up some of the cog wheel shaped pendants here, seemed like fun things to use for a steampunk style piece. I do love the idea of creating in the steampunk style. Just need to really jump in with that one.

Last, but not least, maybe if you squint really hard and use a bit of imagination you'll be able to see the Ice resin i also purchased. After hearing so much raving about it, I thought i'd give it a try. I then promptly forgot to put the bottles in the photograph! Sigh. Typical of me lol. Still, that i think will be more intersting once i start creating with it.

I now have the makings of some great bronze bezels.... and good resin to put in it too! Very exciting.... stay tuned for eventual pictures :)

All things said and done, i would call my shopping experience with Objects and Elements a total success! I really love my metal punch set, and all that remains is to check out their 'signature product', the ice resin! Very exciting...

Day of the dead hand chain

2009-10-22T22:29:00.004+09:00

I have decided to enter a piece into the fantastic challenge on the Objects and Elements blog. This round, the challenge is to put something unusual in a bezel. I had a couple cool hand-carved skulls, so i was ready with some ideas. I really love reading and seeing all the challenges, and this time I decided not to sit idly on the sidelines.

I was currently making a piece of jewelry for a friend back home in Canada's belated birthday, and i was going on a 'Day of the Dead' theme after seeing how awesome these carved bone skulls looked with metal roses.

The bezel form was from a stuff-swap with the lovely Amber Dawn. In the bezel i put a handcarved korean skull surounded by three metal roses(echoed later in the wrist part of the chain, more pics to come). The background is simple scrapbooking paper, and after aranging everything i filled the bezel with resin. I then drilled four holes through the resin and bezel to fit it into the formation as needed.

I really encourage any of you to pop on over to the Objects and Elements blog challenge, as the voting starts tomorrow October 23rd. Good luck to all the participants!

Etsy Metal Challenge

2009-10-10T12:13:00.003+09:00

There is a challenge blog I've found that is from various metal artists on Etsy. An amazingly talented group of jewelry artists joined as participants for a challenge that follows Project Runway's weekly challenges. Each week, they challenge themselves to create something following the theme of the week's show.

I was intrigued last week, where the challenge was to create a piece of movie jewelry in a movie genre. I chose Science Fiction for myself, and started to work on a piece in more of a narrative jewelry in a narrative with industrial (dare i say steampunk?) style. However, the piece was big and i didn't even get halfway done before the week's limit.

Luckily, the next week's challenge was to create something in blue. As i hadn't yet added any color and had just been working with metal, the change of all colored pieces to blue was an easy one. So, the plan was to have this as a guest submission to go with the others.

This plan very sadly didn't work out as i was 3 HOURS LATE!!! for the submission deadline. I had planned to work on it friday night (korea time) in order to finish by the deadline but then went to a jazz festival instead of finishing the piece(still worth it). sigh. Maybe next week i'll be on time? I'll be leaving a quick comment on the post saying that I finished the challenge but was too late.

I thought i'd post this piece anyways, as it is finished and photographed. Also, it's been a LONG while (almost a month!) since I last updated and I knew I needed to get on posting this or it would be just set aside.

As I mentioned, this is a narrative piece of jewelry. When I was designing for the movie challenge, I decided that this would be for a girl who had been part of a royal family. Her family were murdered by her evil aunt, but the girl managed to escape (kind of like Anastasia?). The girl ran off, and pretended to be a boy. She lived with a blacksmith family for a while, but was found out. She managed to escape again, but the blacksmith family was sadly killed. The girl, who has grown into a woman, swears revenge on her aunt.

I'm not sure this is really a sci-fi movie, but it isn't really historical fiction either.... It almost has some elements of an adult fairy tale type movie?? I don't know where it really fits. Still, each element of the necklace has an element of the movie within. The two tear shaped blue dangles are for her parents. The key was to her old bedroom. The picture is of her mother. The three iron pieces are for the blacksmith family. Lastly, the scraps of blue fabric are from her aunt's dress, to remind her of her purpose.

I had a lot of fun making this piece, and definately learned a lot too! Not quite sure what I will do with it, as it isn't exactly the standard type of piece people wear out on the street or to work, but I'm not your usual korean on the street here anyways! Maybe I'll wear it out and about anyways, and love the looks that it draws.

CocoaDreams Aprons Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-09-19T10:30:00.000+09:00

CocoaDreams Aprons Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Bead Shelf

2009-08-22T13:10:00.006+09:00

I continue to work my way through Mary Hettmansperger's book Wrap Stitch Rivet. This is my next piece for the challenge, the bead shelf. I find i really practiced a lot of new techniques for this one. Not only was this my first time working with self-annealed metal, it was also the first time i had succesfully drawn beads on a wire. The top of each dangle there has a bead on the wire.

Now i need to get my butt in gear, and get pictures taken before Deryn Mentock's challenge to work through the book is over, for i've also finished the mixed metal pendant that comes next, and also the pea pod project.

Burried treasure collaboration

2009-07-18T09:55:00.004+09:00

*** This post is my submission for the 'Buried Treasure' collaborative project posted by Seth at The Altered Page. I am sorry that it is a day late :s. The object of this is to look back and re:post one of your favourite old entries. I really liked this one because not only did I show pictures of projects i was working on, i discussed two books i had been reading as well. Hope everyone has a fantastic day!***

Books! (the title of the post)

For Christmas, my boyfriend and I each picked out out own presents off amazon. He himself is quite the bibliophile, and I really wanted a couple of books. I got myself Mary Hettmansperger's book 'Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet' and Susan Lenart Kazmer's 'Making Connections: A Handbook of Cold Joins for Jewlers and Mixed-Media Artists'.

I would highly recomend either one of these books, as I am immensely enjoying the both of them. I am loving the ideas and style of Susan's book. It is very found-object focused with STUNNING pictures of projects she has created. Turning bottle caps into bezels, how to create funky trapezes to dangle objects from, pictures of mini-lightbulbs with little paper messages inside... what's not to love? I just wish I had been able to take my 'found object' art supplies with me here to Seoul. I have a whole bunch of stuff sitting in Canada that would be great for this kind of thing but i had to leave my stash behind (but safely tucked away in storage!).

I also am loving the project based aproach in Mary's book. There are many techniques discussed at the beginning of the book and then it turns to project creation. I unfortunately lack many of the tools needed for both books. I sadly still don't have an anvil, a dapping block, or a torch :(. Give me time... and a good hardware store... Mary seems to have a strong following for her book, as I have seen many of these projects being discussed on blogs and such. I am looking forward to getting started, but am still in the material and idea gathering phase for her first project of a 'spinner necklace'.

However, I have created a couple necklaces that use ideas discussed in the technique sections. Mary's book discusses how to create these swirls and pound them flat. Lacking an anvil, i am ashamed to admit i have been using a hard ruler and a towel.... sigh. However, the wire was fairly soft and it worked fairly well for this! This necklace was created while practicing how to make these fun swirls discussed in her book.

ATCs for trading!

2009-07-11T23:37:00.003+09:00

I've been working, and created a couple atcs for trading. I have a trade for a couple of them pending, but if anyone else wants to trade these are some that are available right now. Just leave me a quick comment saying which you'd be interested in, or that you're looking to trade :)

Gathering ideas...

2009-07-07T21:56:00.002+09:00

I say to my honey... "I say ethereal, you say..." He answers "Elves". Hunh. I guess it should be expected when i ask someone who plays D & D?

I'm thinking about a weekly fun challenge i am entereing with the theme word of 'ethereal'. Deciding on some ideas of what to do for this. I don't think I will go the 'elves' direction, as it is not quite what i'm looking for. More of a 'moonlight', selene style i think. Thin looping chain and white stone? We will see.

What do you think of when you think of ethereal?

Giveaway!!! Earings for 4000 posts!

2009-06-26T21:21:00.004+09:00

Hey there everybody.

So, I took a peek at my blog ticker, and I see that i'm almost at 4000 hits! When'd that happen??? Wow. Very exciting :).

I had posted these earings previously, as part of my entry to Derryn Mentock's challenge to do Mary Hattmansperger's book, but i myself do not have pierced ears. It's strage, i'm a jewelry artist who can't wear some of the jewelry she makes hahha. It's just something i never got around to doing i guess?

I decided to celebrate the 4000 hits with a giveaway. Leave me a quick comment here, and i'll pick a number for the winner... standard blog giveaway style. Don't forget to make sure there is a way I can contact you!

By the way, speaking of giveaways, i just discovered a new blog that has some rather pretty stuff... Sweet Bead Studios had a web redesign, and is giving away some jewelry with some pretty sweet embossed metal, and a embossing hammer. My fingers are so crossed for the hammer!! Check it out here http://www.sweetbeadstudio.com/.

Hand chain

2009-06-21T15:56:00.004+09:00

Inspired by the lovely steampunk jewelry of Melanie Brooks, i have created a 'slave chain'. A slave chain is both a bracelet and a ring combined into one, with chains across the back of the hand. I really am pleased with how this came out.

The challenge at Green Pepper Press right now is to "Make it Your Own'. I really liked this idea for a challenge, as i feel it is so accessible to everyone and open for interpretation. This is my submission for the challenge. I was inspired by the basic shape of Melanie's Clockwork Scarab Slave Chain (seen here) and created a slave chain of my own. While both of these are in the general steampunk style (hers especially), hers goes deeper into the genre while mine is more of a feminine style.

It was relatively simple to create the basic shape. Chain around the wrist with a closure, brass filigree on the wrist, piece on the middle of the hand, thin long filigree wrapped around the middle finger... the concept is very open. It is then open for you to create the theme, colours, and style that you want using the basic ideas.

Anyone else made some of these before? I'd love to see other ideas.

April showers... in June?

2009-06-02T22:26:00.003+09:00

I am still catching up slowly on the necklaces i have created but not yet photographed or put up on the blog here. This i created for the Creativity Challenge way back in april but am finally getting around to posting... i am a lazy blogger it is true lol. Still i thought i'd share it, throw it out there. Better late than never...... right....?

The prompt for this was 'april showers'. I really liked the idea of having more of a choker for this necklace. This is the first time i have created the form of the necklace, as a choker, myself. Hanging from it are links i created with fake turquoize, glass blown hearts, 'raindrop' charms, metal leaf dangles, and a frame. The frame contains a picture of a lake with lilypads, that came from a US stamp i recieved some time ago. I cut the picture and put it in the frame.

What has anyone else been up to lately?

Vintage Wedding Refashioned Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-05-30T00:03:00.000+09:00

Vintage Wedding Refashioned Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Mary Hettmansperger Challenge

2009-05-24T17:47:00.008+09:00

Deryn Mentock is hosting a challenge on her lovely blog, Something Sublime, where she challenges us to create projects with Marry Hettmansperger's lovely book, Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet. I created the first project a while back, but have definately been neglectful and fallen behind on my blog here. Today I finished my second project from the book, and wanted to get this up before i fall further behind. At the rate i was going, the contest would be over before I put my projects up!

This i call my 'Tree of all Seasons', based on the first project in the book 'Stacked Spinner Necklace'. It took me a bit to get started on this necklace, as i was unsure of how i wanted to procede. The idea of creating the stacked necklace is so open... there were so many different directions i could go! However, i eventually made a stac starting with a flat tree pendant, followed by etched copper, then a leaf form, ending with a textured rectangular piece of copper. My kindergarten students looked at it and told me it was my seasons necklace. The bare tree was spring, the flowered copper for winter, the falling leaf for fall and the blank sheet for winter. Sometimes the words of children are the ones that mean the most.

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This second piece I call 'Blue Folds', loosely based on her 'folded earings' project number two. I liked the idea of working with copper, but i don't yet have a blowtorch so i was unable to do the project quite as she discussed. Instead of focusing on my torching skills, i focused more on riveting skills that' i've been learning from my Kazmer book. I liked the way the metal was wrapped around the beads, but i went a different direction after the initial inspiration. As opposed to drawing a bead on the wire, i riveted the end of the wire. I then strung the beads on, and then created the loop on top of the brass. I am quite pleased with how these turned out.

My only dilema now is what to do with these. I love jewelry, but i don't have pierced ears! I can't wear these myself, as i do with all the necklaces and bracelets i make. Maybe i'll have a giveaway later? Maybe these will help celebrate 4000 views to my blog later on? Or maybe i'll use it for a birthday present later? I am still deciding on this one. Any suggestions?

Fabric and Lace

2009-05-15T21:41:00.005+09:00

My jury is still out on this piece, but i thought i'd post it anyways. This necklace i called 'fabric and lace'... for rather obvious reasons i think lol. I was inspired, as usual, by the lovely work of Nina Bagley, as seen in this post. I just loved the homespum feel created here by the lovely buttons. What a wonderful way to attach fabric to chain! I createda similar type of thing, but then went in a bit of a different direction with my piece here.

I feel that this necklace has the most rustic feel of all my pieces. It has fraying edges, chunky knots and visible hand stitching on the fabric everywehre. I think i am still getting used to it?

GPP Street Team's theme this month for their monthly challenge is 'make it your own'. In their discussions of how to do this, they talk about taking manufactured (and also non-manufactured) materials and infusing them with your artistic signature through methods such as sanding, painting, etc. In this it reminded me a LOT of what i'm reading inn Suzan Lennart Kazmer's book. Also, they talk about using the inspiration of others, yet 'making it your own'. I could enter this into this, but as i find pretty much all my pieces start inspired by others, i think i'll enter one i like a bit better... I feel like i just missed the mark a little on this one. Any suggestions?

Bussan Beauty

2009-05-04T09:35:00.003+09:00

Last month, I finally had a chance to go on a weekend trip and get out of Seoul for a short time. A couple other teachers organized a trip to the lovely costal city of Bussan. I spent the entire weekend laying on the beach, frolicking on the edge of the frigid water, hiking around the rocks and beachcombing. The results of this beachcombing was a variety of little pieces of sea glass and a couple handfulls of fascinating little shells. I loaded up my little treasures into my pockets, and brought them home. (If you want to see more pictures of my vacation to Bussan, check out my other blog http://www.daleskoreanadventures.blogspot.com/.

To this point, one month later, i have created one piece with any of these things. The first piece I tried was drilling a hole in a shell with my drill, but that ended disasterously when the beautiful shell just cracked in half and broke. Does anyone know how to make holes in shells? Any technique to this, or special tool i need?

My second piece went far better. It already had a perfectly placed natural hole at the top of the shell. It was rather small, but it was an easy thing to simply sand the hole bigger. Once the hole is started i am fine, but i am unsure how to create new holes without destroying the shell. Again, any help would be great on this one.

I kept the design of this piece rather simple. I started with beaded chain, which matched the hues of the shell nicely. It was easy enough to simply create my own jump ring to attach it to the chain. After that came the harder part. I fanangled another piece of chain to loop back and forth a couple times underneath the shell, but still look smooth from the front part. In the end, i got that too. (The problem there was that the chain was too thin to fit jump rings of any wire i have through the hole... it's quite fine). After tying them all together with wire in the back, it worked out okay. I had two nice dangling bits of chain, and one middle loop holding a jump ringed blue flatback bead.

I do so love using natural elements in my pieces. I am trying to work on doing this more often, but the sparkles of pretty pretty beads are often very distracting haha. What a happy conundrum.

Music Leaves Necklace

2009-04-26T17:59:00.002+09:00

I was playing with resin while creating this one. I resinated some musical score paper... lots of fun. I would highly reccomend to anyone trying putting resin on paper. It gives it such a glassy sheen on top. It also gives the leaves almost a seethrough quality. This necklace is inspired by the pretty, pretty leaves i often see popping up in Deryn Mentock's work. She truly has a lovely website, which you should definatly go check out
here

Fabric Nest, and questions about inspiration.

2009-04-18T23:56:00.004+09:00

I have really been enjoying the posts on the blog of Nina Bagley lately, on her blog
Ornamental. In this crazy city i live in, it is nice to see that there is a bit of peace out there in the world. As well, Nina makes some of the most beautiful nature inspired jewelry i've ever seen.

Is it bad that when i saw her lovely lovely nest necklace, and couldn't resist trying to make a fabric nest of my own? I was simply so inspired by her that i couldn't help it... the fingers just started reaching for the lace, needle and thread of their own volition. What is the protocol on this exactly? I will definately list her as the inspiration for the necklace, and let her know. I am slightly torn on this, and am wondering what you think out there. On the one hand, I did not copy the entire necklace, just the general idea and then pieced together something of my own ideas from hers. On the other hand, she is a professional artist who earns her living by these designs. I love how genereous she is sharing her lovely designs on her blog. It would be different if this was published in a book (which she is more than talented enough to write!), or in a magazine where she is putting it out there for public inspiration. On the other hand, a blog can be something like this as well... when we put things out here they are officially out in public and anyone can see them. Hmmm.... it is a question i am mulling over in my mind. Any ideas you guys have about this would be greatly appreciated, pro or con.

To be perfectly clear, this necklace is only for my own personal usage (i love it too much to give it away and i am not at the level where i'm ready to sell on etsy just yet). I'll also be sending her a note letting her know how inspiring her blog really is to me, especially that necklace. If i were selling things, this would be a different story altogether.

Without further ado, this is what i created.

I created this fabric nest by first sewing together a long line of different laces, then wrapping them around the wired beads so the different layers show. This is a necklace that BEGS to be touched... the next is very textural. Some of the lace, and also the lace i tied in a knot on the side, is a beautiful gift from one of the street sellers in Dongdaemun. The store specializes in handmade lace for wedding dresses, and when i tried to buy a half meter of it, she said that was too short and gave it to me for free instead. I loved it, and bought a couple other laces there too. Although they did not fit, I have been thinking of making a lacy Marie Antoinette-style choker with varied laces... could be fun.

The acorn was a gift from my mother when i last saw her in canada, which she'd found on the ground. How special, to have an acorn my mother found me in my grandmother's garden... it just adds to the specialness of the necklace for me. The join is a 'trapeeze join', which i learned in Kazmer's book Making Connections.... (i swear the book is amazing). It allows the acorn to spin around it's wire, and swing freely. The chain is from Dongdaemun, as usual.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-04-15T22:29:00.000+09:00

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

Such a beautiful tank top... it gets me excited as i am hoping to see the cherry blossoms myself on saturday.

Teal Night

2009-04-14T10:49:00.004+09:00

Here's a new necklace I'd made a bit ago. I was inspired while poking around the Art Bead Scene blog about a month ago... they showed a necklace where they took a bird and wrapped it around flat bead, like a hug. I loved the idea of it and had these pretty flat pieces i'd picked up earlier. After experimenting wrapping a pretty blue bead in a flat copper piece, i was delighted with the results. The necklace simply took off from there.

I created many of the parts of this myself. The star was a simple woodcut from michaels, which i painted blue and wrapped in wire. The circles i put star beads within and filled partly with clear resin. I also used a couple blue stone beads, a strange structural piece i picked up earlier, some shell buttons, and a moon pendant. I was trying to keep with an 'ocean at night' theme... i am so happy with how it all came together.

Green Lightbulbs

2009-03-29T20:02:00.005+09:00

I've been reading Suzan Lennart Kazmer's book 'Making Connections' and have just been loving it. I love looking at the pictures of pieces she has created. I was especially fascinated by her use of mini lightbulbs with messages inside. However, i am still not familliar enough with Seoul to find these on my own, as hardware stores are seeming to be especially elusive.

Still, what did i find on my walk to the cab from the flower market, a couple weeks ago, but a discarded strand of beautiful green mini-lights! I was so stoked. I swear, after starting to make art i find that i've been watching the ground as i walk to not miss any 'treasures'. My man just sort of shakes his head, but i get so excited each time i find something interesting. I was so excited about these little green lightbulbs.

I had made a trip to Dongdaemun (the GIGANTIC market here in Seoul where you can buy pretty much anything... if you know where to look ... which i don't). I picked up a lovely varied selection of green beads, chain, and these cool long stick looking beads too. I wrapped the lightbulb bases in the wire and then attached them to the wire and wired on all the beads. The finished result is quite a long necklace... i am really pleased with how it tured out. The lightbulbs are such an interesting touch, i find.

I had initially planned to 'Kazmerize' them (as i believe the phrase has been coined), and give them some rust, or a collaged message, or just a little extra 'something', but then decided i liked them there just the way they were.

My kindergarten are baffled seeing lightbulbs on my necklace, but they are now getting used to seeing so much odd stuff on my necklaces that are not 'korean' that they've chalked it up to me being canadian. I think they think all Canadians wear necklaces like this hahahha.

roses necklace

2009-03-08T12:59:00.003+09:00

I've been having so much fun going through Kazmer's book 'Making Connections. One of the techniques discussed is how to make your own prongs for holding objects that don't have a hole in it. I couldn't wait to try it out, and i decided to use it on these pretty paper roses that my mom picked me up from germany. It took me a couple tries, but I eventually figured out the cutting of the tabs and how to correctly bend them to perfectly cradle the roses.

It was also my first time using both ribbon and 'chain' together as the necklace. I am pleased with how this one turned out, with a button added on the bottom to pull it down. Hope you like the little necklace i wanted to show you guys :).

In this lower picture, you can see the backs to the rose-holders.

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-03-06T22:32:00.000+09:00

Wow. I've discovered this fabulous blog. I just love the beautiful clothing she is creating! Who wouldn't love a beautiful dress like this :). I'd highly recomend giving this site a good perusing.

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Books!

2009-02-26T22:38:00.004+09:00

For Christmas, my boyfriend and I each picked out out own presents off amazon. He himself is quite the bibliophile, and I really wanted a couple of books. I got myself Mary Hettmansperger's book 'Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet' and Susan Lenart Kazmer's 'Making Connections: A Handbook of Cold Joins for Jewlers and Mixed-Media Artists'.

OWOH winners!

2009-02-14T10:22:00.003+09:00

Congratulations to the two winners of my OWOH giveaway! I am pleased to announce that the winner of my bracelet was 'Unique Commodities' and the winner of my miscelanious jewelry supplies is MarieNeige. Thank you to everyone who participated. I had the most wonderful time, and i was so excited to see that over 160 people commented on my post! If one out of every 20 people who stopped by come back again... that means another 8 people reading my blog! I find that so very exciting, as i love getting the comments.

Thanks for the fun :).

Music book necklace: project number 5!

2009-02-07T22:55:00.004+09:00

I've finished the next post in Stephanie Lee's fabulous book "Semi-precious Salvage". I have been having so much fun with this book. The descriptions are fairly detailed, and i have been learning many techniques through this book.

I made a couple small changes to the bracelet as i went along. While Stephanie discussed and displayed more of a rustic style, i decided to go for a cleaner, more 'sterling silver' type look. As opposed to having burnt edge text, i went with clean edged sheet music. I really had a great time making this project, especially creating the little 'book'. It is such a neat idea to me that the bent metal provides such a perfect spine and binding for the papers. So much fun. As well i like the orriginality of the idea of putting little 'books' onto necklaces... how wonderful!

The white links you can see are posted from a tutorial by the wonderful Deryn Mentock on her blog. I made the links here for this necklace and also for my nest necklace (see previous post). So great.

Speaking of having fun, I have been having so much fun with my OWOH giveaway (see three posts down. I am amazed at all the wonderful people that have been entering the draw. Good luck to everyone!

Nest Necklace: Project number 4!

2009-01-28T22:46:00.005+09:00

A couple posts back, i posted a teaser post with a glass jar of beads and wire. At that time, this necklace had been pretty much finished... only lacking a drill. After much searching, i finally found and bought a drill over the weekend. A couple quick holes and jump rings and voila! I really did have quite a productive long weekend, finishing off 3 necklaces! One i showed in the previous post, one is in this post here, and one i will be posting next. This one here is project number 4 from Stephanie Lee's book 'Semiprecious Salvage'. I have really been loving this book, and i am so pleased to have finished this piece. Stephanie's book is lovely, as her her fabulous blog, and you should check her out here.

I did stray somewhat from the design layed out by Stephanie, but my main goal was to learn the skills offered in the creation of the necklace. In her piece in the book, she used one of the fabulous porcelain doll arms. It reminded me so of the porcelain bisque dolls from germany. I would love to have something like this, as they speak to me so strongly, but as of yet it is not in the cards. Instead, i created the bird nest similar to one discussed later in the book (ok... yes... i peeked ahead hahah). I also decided to add the links i created, linked from a tutorial posted by the lovely Derryn Mentock (I had so much fun creating these links... you should go check out her easy to use tutorial on how to creat them :) here.

So, for those of you who have not seen stephanie's book, the square part of this piece was created using a square of copper sheet metal. I then did a simple transfer of a reversed book image, of a bird in a tree. After thus creating a resist, i put the square in Ferric Chloride (an acid) which etched away, creating a nice bird pattern. If you have any questions about this, post me a quick note in teh comments and i will help you out :).

Good luck to all who are entering my 'One World One Heart' draw.

Challenge entry

2009-01-26T20:33:00.005+09:00

I stumbled upon the Art Bead Scene blog not too long ago... i was intrigued by their idea of having a monthly challenge. This month, the challenge was to create a necklace based on Van Gogh's 'Irises'. I have always found this to be a beautiful painting... I decided to enter.

The point of the 'Art Bead Scene' blog seems to be to promote using hand-made beads (they call 'art beads') in jewelry as opposed to using the factory created beads. I do see where they are comming from, but i am glad they are not so hardcore about it that it feels limiting. MANY different mediums for creating the beads (including wood carving as i used in mine) are accepted, glasswork and polymer clay seeming to be the most common. This is my submission to the challenge.

I was inspired in a variety of ways for this piece. My first point of inspiration here came from the blog of the lovely Daryn Mentock, from one of her lovely curled wire journal pages. I saw it and i just knew i had to make one myself. The idea for the beads with the wrapped wire came from a flickr picture i'd seen while surfing around, but i forgot to write down who it was or a link (too bad, as hers were gorgeous). The ideas for the pendant bead was all my own. I had stumbled upon a super cheap wood carving kit at a local stationairy/art store, and even though i have ZERO experience or training with wood carving i decided I couldn't resist. I had a lot of fun, keeping it simple, carving the 'leaves' into the wood here. I then painted it up with a mix of paint and pearlescent medium.

I finally bought a drill this weekend and, as it was a four day weekend here in Seoul, i have been having so much fun drilling to my hearts content and finally finishing a couple of projects that were just waiting for the drill. More necklace posts to come!

In conclusion, wish me luck having my name drawn from the contest, as i would win a wackload of handmade beads if they pull my name. I am so excited to see what the theme will be next month!

One World One Heart

2009-01-25T17:34:00.006+09:00

Well, i'm a week after the official beginning, but i guess people still have close to a month to come visit my blog and comment... I have decided this year to participate in the 'One World One Heart' blogging event.

For those of you who are not familliar with this event, it is where a bunch of bloggers all have giveaways on their blogs. In order to be eligable for this giveaway on my blog, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. In order to participate in my giveaway, you must have a blog of your own that you keep, but you do not have to do a giveaway of your own. Please make sure to leave some way to contact you if you are the lucky winner! The point of this event is to increase traffic to artist blogs, discover new blogs and to generate more of a 'togetherness' feeling among artist bloggers. If you want more details, please visit the 'One World One Heart' main site here.

For my giveaway, I am offering two things. The first person who wins will get a bracelet i created myself. It uses links and swirls from wire that i wraped myself, and nice green beads that spin around on the swirls.

For a larger picture, you can click here on the picture.

The second winner will get a selection of jewelry supplies such as chain or beads, scrabooking papers, ribbons and other such miscellanious stuff useful to a jewelry artist, or to a mixed media artist.

Good luck everyone! Remember, post a comment on this post (only this post) to be eligible to win. You must post before February 11th, as I will be posting the winner on February 12th.

One World One Heart

2009-01-19T21:14:00.002+09:00

Oh no! The One World One Heart contest has started and i don't yet have something to give away!! I knew i wanted to sign up this year. I checked it out last year and looked at a couple blogs. Even if i did not win anything, i enjoyed seeing all the giveaways, and looking at all the new blogs. Give me time, and i will get something up for this soon! I just need to finish off a project to give away. I feel like i have about 3 projects but they aren't done yet.

If you haven't heard of the 'One World One Heart' event yet, you should check out the website here

Of things to come...

2009-01-11T22:33:00.002+09:00

A teaser of things to come... all i lack is a drill to finally put all the pieces together. I'll post more details once i finish it.

Would it be bad of me to ask one of the many many construction guys i pass on the way to work if i could borrow their drill?? hhahahahha

Deryn's tutorial!

2009-01-03T21:18:00.009+09:00

Did anyone follow the link I posted to Deryn's fabulous tutorial yesterday? You really should. I checked it out, and decided to create the links she showed myself. I really had a lot of fun making these, and i was quite pleased with the results. I also have a couple suggestions if you try this yourself.

Check out the totally sweet links i made from the tutorial! I find myself quite proud of how they turned out. I made the white ones first, and they are slightly smaller. I used silver wire, musical score paper, yellow transparent beads, and one pearl for this one. For the second one, i used shiny brown/brassy wire, blue scrapbooking paper, thin gold wire and pearls for the beads. I am really quite pleased with how these turned out.

This is a good tutorial to follow, as the pictures are clear and the instructions are sufficiently explicit. I did learn a couple things/change a couple things while doing it myself:

1) Use good quality wire. I have not yet found good wire here in Seoul, and therefor have had to make do with cheap stuff. The hammering and twisting puts a fair amount of strain on the wire. Three of mine that i was making snapped from stress midway through.

2) You can use a variety of things instead of the fabric she used. I used paper on both of mine. For one of the sheet music, i made the triangle as she suggested. However, i find that if you have a pattern on your paper (or music notes) it becomes quite difficult to read after the layering with the triangle. I prefer myself to have more of a long rectangle, and just wrap it straight like that. It doesn't create the pleasing bump as you see in hers, but it does keep the pattern on your paper visible and makes for a tidier look.

3)I was forced to make small modifications as i lacked some of the supplies Deryn had access to. I only had needle nosed and round tipped pliers, with wire cutters built in, I had no bench block or pillow, and i had no sanding block. I found that i worked this out okay, using the pliers on hand, the floor as a bench block and skipping the sanding. I can see how these would all be useful things once we get to have the mad skills Deryn does, but it is still possible for us who lack the supplies to create these links.

All in all, this is a really wonderful tutorial that i would highly recommend checking out :). I don't yet know what exactly I will use them for, but i suspect the brown ones will look very nice in this necklace i've been working on. I've been slowly working my way through Stephanie Lee's Semiprecious Salvage. For those of you who have this great book, I am currently working on the 4th necklace in the book (the one with the doll arm). I think these links will match in nicely.

Fabulous Tutorial

2009-01-02T22:16:00.003+09:00

This picture is from one of my favourite blogs. The incredibly talented Deryn Mentock has put up a tutorial on her blog, Something Sublime. The fabulous jewelry she shows on there is beyond sublime, it is absolutely stunning. I adore her style, and the beautiful necklaces she creates. It is often tempting to just go wild and buy out her etsy shop... and i totally would if i had the money to spend (about 200$).

Just today, Deryn has put up a really wonderful tutorial for her 'wrapped beads'. You should really go check this out. Here is the link directly to the tutorial. I will definately be making something for this, and i will show them in a post when i get them finished.

Johan Hangaman, and a request for etsy jewlery suggestions

2008-12-31T08:40:00.009+09:00

I've been keeping so busy here with doing some sightseeing around Seoul and shopping for things for my new place, and still buying christmas presents for shipping back home. However, i have had some time for doing other things too.

I have finished off another ATC. The background was created about a year ago, when i was experimenting with newspaper and inks. I really liked how it turned out, but didn't have a use for it at that time. I tucked it away for later use (as i do so many other backgrounds). I then was inspired flipping through an old issue of Cloth Paper Scissors (see 2 paragraphs down) and knew it was time to use that background. I sketched the main body with pencil, and then painted it in with acrylic. I cut a square hole in the torso, and then gel medium'd on a small metal frame i'd found at a dollar store. After, i used a packing tape transfer with a picture of a nest i'd digitally altered to make into blue tones and had upped the contrast.

I love using packing tape transfers because they're interesting to look at, simple and very cost efficient. If you have never tried one, they are the simplest thing. Take a laser printed/photocopied picture and burnish on a piece of tape. Put the picture in warm water for 30 minutes and then rub the paper off the tape. The ink will stay on the tape... you now have a transparant copy of your picture to stick wherever you like! I learned this at a mini-workshop, put on by one of my fellow ATC group people back home.

I was inspired on this one by Johan Hangaman's fabulous sculptures shown in the July/August issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, especially 'Ajar'. You can find her main page here or you can skip right to her fabulous gallery (Ajar is the second one)here. I would highly recomend checking otu johan's studio. Her work is so very beautiful, and i find it speaks very strongly to me. I am fascinated by the varied medias she uses to create her sculptures, including cement, wire, beeswax, fabric, and the list goes on. The very idea of working with all those fabulous media makes me drool, but not so much as the idea of seeing one of these in person! If you're in L.A. (or the area surrounding it), she has a spot in the Los Angeles Art Show. Wish i was closer myself. It is not only the media that i find beautiful, but the stunning simplicity to her lovely, lovely sculptures speaks very strongly to me. This is worth checking out!

I also finished off a bracelet. I've worn it a couple times now, and am wishing i owned a blowtorch to 'draw a bead on the wire' like they talk about in the book (i had to leave mine at home, as i don't think they wanted those on the plane hahaha).

Lastly, i've been poking around etsy for a bit... my book loving boyfriend and i have a deal... for our christmas presents (which are late this year as a result of the move) we are to make a wish list of 5 things online, and then the other will ship one of the five things. I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the etsy site... there is SO MUCH fabulous stuff! Unless you know really the type of thing you are looking for, it is a big thing to pick something special! One helpful way is to have a favorite artist or two on there. I know i want to pick up a necklace... but which one? Do you guys have any favorite jewelry artists on etsy? I like things that have a touch of 'steampunk' to them... something with a hint of lovely rust?

Anyone here trade atcs?

2008-12-28T08:24:00.004+09:00

So, i have a couple atcs that are available, and was just wondering if there was anyone out there that wanted to trade? I just finished 'Ralph Waldo Emerson' yesterday!

Quilted

Water is Life

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fly

New blog link

2008-12-25T10:07:00.004+09:00

I have created another blog for my talk about my life here in korea. I find that i may have two fairly different audiences for the two topics, and have decided to create a second blog for that reason. On it, i will show pictures of my life here in korea, and talk about how things are going. Here, i will continue to show my art. If any of my blogfriends here want to come visit my new blog, you are more than welcome! I may even have a giveaway or something there soon... we will see.

The link to my new blog is http://daleskoreanadventure.blogspot.com/

I'm here!

2008-12-25T09:14:00.004+09:00

After a long flight, i have finally arrived here in Korea!! Ryan (my boyfriend) and myself are settling in nicely to our fabulous apartment. I am quite pleased with the place. Unfortunately, we do not have Internet yet! I will be posting pictures of here around Seoul, once the Internet gets hooked up on Friday. For now, i am getting my 'fix' here at the 'pc-bong' (Internet cafe).

So, i am still debating whether i should set up another blog, but i think i will be. I will set one up for everything about my life in Korea. This will be mostly for my friends and family back home, and for any of you that are interested. I will continue to put my art stuff up on this blog. Once the new blog is set up, i will put the address up here.

Leaving date!

2008-12-12T11:36:00.007+09:00

Those of you who might have been following my blog know i have been talking about my impending trip to korea... i finally have a date for my flights!!! After 2 months of waiting, i move to Seoul, Korea next wednesday! Wish me luck with my flights :).

Also, i went to send a friend a link to the mint tin present i'd been creating, and discovered i never did post the final product! Silly me. This is my presnet to my friend Erin. It includes a hand made bracelet and the tin case. The hanging charm is etched and rusted copper and the framed charm is resin. I discussed the process i went through (and it WAS a process) in previous posts.

I wrapped it up all nice for Erin. I hope she likes it :).

Lastly, i had been recently linked to a book giveaway on a new blog... Ilka's Attic. She is giving away her book Exhibition 36: Mixed media demonstrations + explorations. I myself am intrigued by the idea of getting a mixed media book... i'll have to keep an eye out for it next time i'm at the bookstore.

Window Garland

2008-12-06T11:08:00.003+09:00

We put up the tree here at my boyfriend's parents place ( who have been ever so kind in allowing us to stay with them until i leave). We had these beautiful butterflies, but there wasn't really room for them on the tree (and they weren't 'christmasy' enough for ryan). We decided to make a really nice window garland with them and their matching ornaments. What a cheap, fun way to make the windows look nice :).

ATCs finished

2008-12-05T11:51:00.006+09:00

I finished up an ATC before moving out that i hadn't posted yet. Thought i'd show it here. Maybe that will help fulfil some of my art fix? My fingers are just itching to work with some resin, but everything is packed up and probably will be till i hit korea. I think it would be great to create a resin bezel or something like that for the most recent Creative Construction challenge, which has 'fire' for it's theme.

This card i think will be going to Collette. She made some gorgeous atcs, and i am really looking forward to trading with her. I created the background with gesso and texturing, and scratched the word 'fly' into it. I then painted it. The first part of the nest is painted on, and then i glued on feathers. Three beads were wired up and then attached to the card.

I wish i could start a countdown to the time when i go to korea, but i don't know my leaving date yet! Sometime in the next two week, at latest. I'm so very excited!

Ode to my art table

2008-12-02T09:51:00.004+09:00

Well, table, i guess this is goodbye. I'm moving out of this basement suite and you aren't comming with me.

From when I first saw you at Ikea i knew you were the table for me (and not just because you were only 10$). You started out as my table for holding my stereo, but when i moved into the basement here you became my art table.

We had some good times as a table. You were a good drying surface for my myriad of projects. I could splash paint/resin/rust/glue/whatever all over your surface ithout any great concern. When i started jewelry making, i even accidentaly drilled holes in you! You took it all with your stoic, blue ways. I loved being inspired by the splashes of all the different media i worked with.

Things weren't always great. I appologize for the times when I cursed you for your lack of height. It isn't your fault that you are only about 2 feet high, thereby forcing me to sit on the floor and get stiff knees. Nor is it your fault that you were all sticky in the top corner after i spilled some resin there that didn't cure propperly.

Hope it isn't too cold out there...

Dale

So, i am now officially moved out of the basement suite. After 5 days of intensive moving, packing, hauling, and cleaning, I am finally moved in with my boyfriend and his family. This is all only temporary, until my visa is finally processed and i am off to KOREA! Should be gone on only about 2 weeks :).

As for my art table, it was with great sadness that i tossed it in the dumpster. It was sticky and kinda destroyed... too bad. Couldn't resist a silly little 'ode to my table' here.

Hope your week is off to a great start :).

Resin tips and a fabulous link

2008-11-24T05:56:00.009+09:00

First i'd like to put out a thanks to the lovely Carmi. She really came through for me last post, when I asked about what to do when your resin does not cure propperly.

I thought I'd throw out there what I have learned myself so far about working with resin, as I didn't really find a sastisfactory answer on the internet before Carmi came along.

1)The humidity of the air affects the curing of the resin. I had done work with resin before, but it dried outside on a hot, dry summer day. This time, it cured in my basement. I found large differences with results between the two (the dry air being the better result).

2)In order to remove the bubbles forming in the resin, use a bbq lighter and wave the flame back and forth over the surface. The heat causes the bubbles to go away.

3)The amount of hardening agent in relation to the amount of resin is very important. If there is not enough hardening agent, the resin will not cure propperly.

4)Be very careful when working with resin. It is extreemely difficult (impossible?) to clean off if your resin drips on your a) table, b) hands, c) jeans, d) mistaken parts of your project. (Unfortunately, resin dripped on all four for me. Luckily, the jeans were old and already ruined when dripped India Ink).

5)Resin makes a really neat coating on top of paper. I used the leftover resin from remaking my charm and coated two backgrounds for ATCs that i'd made... it dried really neat and shiny, as if the piece was made from plastic. Well worth trying :).

6)Sometimes, after you mix resin, it goes CLOUDY! I don't know why this happened. Any commenters out there that can answer this, i will edit the answer in here.

7)Don't glue resin charms onto the main piece until you are CERTAIN that they have cured properly.

8)If there are small scratches on the surface of your resin, you can sand it or add another coat of resin to smooth it out. ( I haven't tried this one myself yet, but this is what i read on a blog)

So, as you can see, I definately learned some positive things and some negative things about working with resin. I decided to follow Carmi's advice with the previous embelishment i had been working on, and just add another layer of resin that would hopefully cure propperly. It was clear when i mixed it, but when i looked at it again about 5 minutes later, it had gone quite cloudy! I tried washing it out, hoping it would get out the resin (where i learned lesson #4 lol). This did not work at all. I had to pull off the charm, which wrecked the paint. I therefor had to re-prime, re-paint and make a new charm for the piece. I have created a new charm now that I think I like even better, and all that remains is for me to screw it onto the main piece. I'll post this once it's finished. Good think Erin isn't around to pick it up yet!

I'd like to mention a fabulous project that I was linked to at Amber Dawn's blog. They are selling this beautiful necklace, done as a collaborative project, to raise funds for breast cancer. WAY TO GO, LADIES! Not only is the necklace absolutely stunning, I love how the money goes to such a great cause.

Edited afterwards:

Thank you so much to Amber Dawn for her fabulous comment she left! She left a comment on the post two previous to this one, with her tips about working with resin. Her advice here is fabulous, and I just had to add it to the post here so everyone could else noticed it too! It was too good to just sit in the comment section...

Here it is:

"Always mix the resin and hardener 1:1
or 2:2
Always the same of each not more hardener.
As for the cloudiness, your image could be bleeding into the resin.
A way to prevent this is to seal the print outs and art work with package tape. Place package tape on BOTH sides of your paper burnish it.
OR you can seal it with clear sealer stuff.
I personally find that rubbing alcohol works VERY well at getting resin off of my hands and work surfaces.
Just work on wax paper over more paper, like old newspapers and you are good to go!
When mixing your resin, stir slowly. Don't use a paint brush or painted stick.
You can use wooden or plastic swizzel sticks.
I use a flat surface to mix my resin and scrape the resin back and forth to mix it. Credit card offers or old credit cards snipped into smaller sections are PERFECT for doing this!

Doing it fast causes cloudiness or big bubbles.
ALWAYS use good ventilation.
I damaged my organs/kidneys years back because I didn't know that an open window wasn't good enough. I also got a lot on my skin!
Now I use a fan which pulls the air out of the window, and I have another window open to create cross ventilation. ALWAYS ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES!
Dale, I am sorry your project didn't work out.
But the learnig process is FUN!
Best wishes!
Amber Dawn (Think Pink) "

What gems of information! Thanks Amber for all of that. I know for myself, I think it answered the question of why my resin went cloudy. While i did use a clean bamboo skewer for stirring, i stirred it quite quickly, and in a 'stirring' motion, definately not a pushing motion. I think that was my problem. Good to know... i'd have done that the next time too!

Resin problem. Any help out there/

2008-11-21T01:28:00.002+09:00

So, it's been four days, and the resin from the present i prepared still hasn't hardened completely (see previous post)! I searched the net for help on this, and found causes for this varying from changes in humidity to cheaper resin to insufficient hardening agent. What i did not find was an answer to how to fix this problem. Should i just add another layer of resin that will (hopefully) harden propperly this time? Is there some kind of 'hardener' or technique i can use to help it harden? Just putting this out there, i know some of you are so skilled at working with resin!

By the way, i just noticed that i am here my 2000th viewer to my blog! Wow! Thanks for all the hits guys. This is really great. I will have to do a giveaway or something someime soon.

As for how things are going with my looming move to Seoul, things are progressing fairly nicely. There have been a number of hitches and holdups along the way, but at this moment things seem to be going well :). Wish me luck for a speedy delivery and procesessing!

Present finished

2008-11-17T05:04:00.005+09:00

I've been having a highly enjoyable weekend. Friday night, I went out with a friend i don't get to see very often, and we watched 'Burn After Reading'. Wow... i would highly recomend this movie to pretty much anyone, as long as you can handle movies with rather mysterious endings (this one didn't really have an ending at all, but it was perfect that way). I also saw Zach and Miri Make a Porno... it was unexpectadly endeering and cute.

I finished a nice case for the bracelet i made for my friend Erin. Here are some pics. I just felt like the bracelet was so tiny it made a little fragile puddle... it needed a case to hold it in (you can see the bracelet on it's own in the previous post. The case was created with a matchbox tin. I gessoed and painted it, drilled holes, wired it to a rusty washer on the top and a etched copper butterfly on the bottom. Glued onto it is a bottle cap, with a picture of a butterfly and the stamped word 'fly'. I really like how this piece turned out :). I hope Erin likes it.

I have a dilema... There is a workshop here in regina on wednesday evening about altering photos for artistic purposes, but wednesdays are also jazz band practices... I am so torn! Should i be off playing my trombone at practice, being responsible and such, or should i play hooky and go to the workshop??? hmmmm... i will see how i am feeling on wednesday.

Gesso and new bracelet

2008-11-14T10:36:00.009+09:00

I occasionally pop in at the GPP Street Team website... this time i decided i would try out what they were talking about. The theme this time is gesso. I myself was specifically interested in the idea of stamping with gesso... that kinda blew my mind haha. Apparantly, the gesso acts as a resist when you stamp it, so that if you paint overtop of it with another colour after it dried, and then wipe off some of that colour the white (or whatever colour you used) of the gesso will show through. Fascinated by this, i thought i'd give it a shot.

I had previously stamped this card with the mask shape, as I found an irresistibly gorgeous hand carved stamp at an Artist Trading Card meeting (no one seemed to know who carved it...?). I got a couple stamps in while i could :). I then stamped the word 'masque' (french for mask) and used the resist technique... voila!

I have also been working on a bracelet for a friend of mine, Erin. I missed giving her a present on her birthday, so this is going to be a belated birthday present. I figure that late is better than none? This is a rather simple bracelet, made with twisted wire and these gorgeous beads I picked up while in the Rockies. Their frosted green colour reminded me of the ICY COLD glacial rivers where I went white water rafting. I want to finish of a nice case for it to go in. I am thinking something similar to the mint tin i made a while back for my friend Tasha's birthday... but with the bracelet inside instead of a unicorn.

I still don't have a date yet for when i leave for Korea... I am hoping that it will be soon. I kinda get the feeling like I am sitting here waiting for things to get started. That feeling you get when there is something totally exciting looming in the future, but it is uncertain when it will actually happen. Wish me luck that the immigration office processes our papers quickly :).

Candy Drops finished

2008-11-11T12:23:00.004+09:00

Finished off another piece today... i was so very inspired by Sarah Ahearn's 'Falling fruit'. I created my own piece, 'Candy Drops' that was inspired by this.

I am not pleased with the quality of the photo here. Usually, i take a photo and then if it is giving me problems i adjust the lighting and sharpness in photoshop. However, I have bought a new laptop (woo!) but it does not have Adobe Photoshop. I would love to have it here on my laptop but it is sooooo expensive!! I cannot even upload my pics of my atcs on the ATCSforall website as they are too big. With photoshop, i could re-save it as a smaller file. I'm putting a question out to you guys... what program do you use? I do not need the immensity of power that is in photoshop, just something where i can edit photos brightness/contrast, crop, and most importantly shrink the size of the pictures (as in sort of compress or something). Any suggestions out there????

Finally back!

2008-11-10T03:40:00.016+09:00

Things got a little crazy in the past couple months, and i had to let a couple things slip just a bit to get my bearings... blogging was one of those things. However, i am back and now ready to go again! I feel like i have so much to talk about, in relation to art and just my life in general! Many things are happening here. Sorry for the really long post here.... just getting all caught up.

I will be moving to Seoul, Korea to go teach overseas sometime late November to early December. I have been sooo busy lately with preparations to go... packing, preparing paperwork, working out storage etc. However, lately i have still been finding some time for art. I am very pleased about this.

I had signed up for an awesome swap on ATCs for all. I was very pleased with how my cards turned out. I experimented with acrylics on the pear card, with beading on the corn card, and with "stitching" (loosely termed) on the strawberry card. All cards turned out great.

I also have been working on a new atc with a kind of christmasy theme. This is the card so far... but it is not done yet. I started by hand stitching together two pieces of canvas, and then stitching on two fabric pieces and an image of holly. Now, i feel that it needed a kind of stitching or something around the edges, more of a decorative type of stitch. I was originally inspired on this piece by Collette's blog piece here and i couldn't resist the blanket stitch around the edge... but i had never done one before. I found a fabulous tutorial on the web, and decided it was time to learn how... (tutorial here).

After many many MANY mistakes, a couple words coming out of my mouth I'm not quite proud of (oops) and a couple tries, i finally figured it out. Here is an edited version of my practice stitching... by the end i think i pretty much got it!

I also picked up the new issue of cloth paper scissors! How exciting. I really enjoyed this issue. I was especially inspired by the art of Sarah Ahearn, in her 'artist profile'. I really liked her colour palettes she used, especially her use of gorgeous pastel colours. The pic here is a piece i was particularly inspired by. She called it Falling Fruit.

I couldn't resist making my own impression of what she did here. I started with mixing watercolours and iridescent medium (my favorite thing to give things that bit of sparkle) and painted the background with nice pastel colours of blues, greens, yellows, and browns. I then covered it with a thin blotchy coat of white, and next added some drops of colour. It is still a work in progress, but this is what i have so far...

Just wanted to put out a little thank you out there to the bloggers who were so supportive of me while i was gone for a bit... thanks for thinking of me ladies! You are truly wonderful.

Another ATC for New York

2008-08-04T01:58:00.001+09:00

I have finished another ATC for the New York swap i talked about earlier. The theme is domestic things and such... it doesn't get much more domestic than strings. I like the multiple meanings and symbols behind the idea of 'mom's apron strings', with both good and bad connotations.

It didn't scan great because of the bump where the knot and ties are, but it is good enough to see what it is :).

This one was fun to make. I used both hand stitching and machine stitching on fabric.

Two down, seven more to go to be ready for the exhibition in New York.

Life Changes

2008-08-02T01:17:00.002+09:00

I know i haven't been posting much lately. I have been sort of thinking about things and doing my best to stay as busy as possible. Last week, i ended my relationship with Ray, after having been together for 9 years. This had been coming for some time and wasn't a shock or anything, but still is a little unsettling and sad. However, i am doing surprisingly okay.

I just got back from a visit with my grandparents. My grandmother gave me some lovely art supplies that i am very excited to give a go. Most exciting is a lovely set of gouache paints. I remember there once being a challenge on Jen Worden's blog that used gouache that looked great but i didn't have any.,... maybe now is the time lol.

I have finished off a couple more atcs that i need to post. I will get to doing that soon :)

Back to ATCs

2008-07-22T14:09:00.006+09:00

So, I received an e-mail saying that a gallery in Vancouver is holding an ATC exhibition, and they are calling for submissions. Although i will not be able to attend, it still seems pretty neat. I love trading in new ways. I will be sending 9 ATCs to the Richmond art gallery by August 22nd. They are asking for the submissions to be along the themes of things like domestic life and such. You can find more info about it here.

So, i've been creating more atc's lately. There is a swap on saturday in a nearby town that i'll be going to... this should be fun. I have to buckle down and create some cards for trading before saturday. I really like how Secret Glen turned out.

Here's two i've finished. The first is for the exhibition, and the second is for the swap on sunday.

I have finished the second jewelry project from Stephanie Lee's book Semi-Precious Salvage. I'll be posting it tomorrow, or soon. Time to move on to the third :). However, i think my ATC making may take precedence over it for this week.

Tash's birthday present

2008-07-20T09:13:00.003+09:00

Yesterday, I finally finished my other friend's birthday present. My friend tasha, the seamstress discussed in a previous post, is having her birthday get together tonight, although her actual birthday was about a month ago. So, essentially this gift is about a month late... but so is her party so that's ok hahaha.

Tasha really likes unicorns, and i have had a facination for some time with the beautiful tin art shrines that i have been seeing on flickr. I especially like the ones i saw on Teresa's flickr here. I figured it was time for me to try making one myself.

So, i started with this super cute tin that my mom gave me. It had a lid, and i started using the lid, but it just scratched up the paint to put it on later so i tossed the lid. I painted the tin up, and while the effect of the tin showing through was cool on the inside i wanted thicker paint on the outside so i guessoed it (haha new word) and then re-painted the outside a delicious purple.

I went to the dollar store, and bought a cheap unicorn. I cut the head and front hooves off, and glued them inside the tin. My boyfriend is working at a heavy equipment construction company. As i was there for a picnic, i noticed this sparkly, shaved thin metal strips beside the dumpster..... and totally took them lol. (my boyfriend and his co-workers thought i was crazy and that i'd never use it... well who's laughing now? lol). I broke the metal into pieces and glued it around the head and hooves, as the colour was just too perfect. Found a cute pair of earings with skulls (haha) on them, and added them in on the little shelf inside. Voila, a couple final touches with flowers, painted horn and jewels and the inside was done.

I drilled holes in the top and bottom. I threaded wire through the top and bottom, and added a chain with a large soldered charm nameplate for the horse.

I really hope tasha likes her present! The shrine is in the green package :).

Judy's fabulous tutorial

2008-07-15T04:41:00.003+09:00

I stumbled across a fabulous felting tutorial for an absolutely stunning project on Judy Scott-Kinross' blog. I absolutely adore the project she made and she has a wonderful tutorial laying it all out. Fabulous! Go check it out!

As for myself, i now have all the supplies i need for the next jewelry project, except nickel. Where on earth do you get nickel?????? Could i use copper instead, or are there certain special properties nickel has for etching and jewelry making?

New Challenge... for myself :)

2008-07-10T14:04:00.006+09:00

It's here! It's here! I just got a call a couple days ago from my local bookstore, saying that my copy i'd ordered in of Semi-Precious Salvage, by Stephanie Lee had arrived. As soon as i picked it up and flipped through, i knew it was the next step for me. I already fell in love with Stephanie's sense of style and beautiful art jewelry on her blog... now it was time to start following some of her projects. I immediately flipped to the first project and checked it out... gorgeous as expected. I scanned through the list of things i would need to create this, and saw that all i was missing was 24 gauge wire, a brayer (which i ended up not buying.... just couldn't find one i really liked! I need to find a brayer at some store that i can bond with...haha) and metal files... that is very reasonable for price! Everything else, i already had. I love it when things work out that way... :)

So here are the pictures of the first piece i created from this book. I deviated slightly from the instructions... prefering the hammered copper look over a stamp of white acrylic paint and only able (and prefering?) the gold wire over black. I skimped on the pearls and used these gorgeously smooth green beads i had instead. As well, instead of making this a brooch (in which i'd probably never wear it) i made this into a necklace pendant instead. Other than that i stuck pretty much to the instructions. Jewelry creation is rather new to me, but i am so very pleased on how this turned out.

I am creating a new potential challenge for myself... i want to try working my way through the projects in this book. This is very similar to Jen's challenge of last month, but i am not happy with teh book i picked... it was way too many techniques and lacked specific projects to work on. My other book is still a valuable book to have about photo altering techniques, and i did create two projects (i loved the lilac one, and the keyboard one turned out okay), but it is not quite the 'start from the start and work to the end' type of book. I am giving myself a personal challenge to work on this one.

I am also working on another birthday present. I have a friend who adores unicorns, and i'm making her an art shrine. I had the perfect little matchbox, and found an adorable plastic unicorn at the dollar store. I'll post you some pictures when it's done.

Flickr Mosaic Meme

2008-07-09T03:31:00.017+09:00

1. Dale Chihuly in Iceland, 2. Tarako spaghetti lunch, 3. Angkor Thom #1, 4. Autumn walk, 5. Juno, 6. El pez en el espejo / The fish in the mirror, 7. Boat, 8. vintage tea set with cupcake, 9. Young At Heart, 10. Always Marry An April Girl, 11. Last day in Paris, 12. A WINTER'S DALE

I decided to participate in a Flickr meme that looked like a lot of fun. I find myself enjoying flickr more and more lately... it really is a great social photo sharing site. Here's the challenge, as i saw over at Leah's blog. The instructions here were copied from her blog.

Anyways, here's the idea behind the meme:

* Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search.
* Using only the first page, choose an image.
* Copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker over at FD's image maker.

The questions:
What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you attend?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you.
Your Flickr name

Present for fletcher

2008-07-08T01:07:00.003+09:00

You may have notices a glass box i was working on earlier. Well, it was my friend Fletcher's birthday last saturday. I finished the box just in time. Inside the box, i placed an anime keychain of this crazy sword guy. I think he's from a show called Bleach or something? Either way, fletcher seemed very pleased with it.

Recently, i picked up Sommerset Workshop magazine. I am kind of in the middle of nowhere, workshop wise. I have often wistfully looked at a map that shows the distance between here and saskatchewan and portland.... it would be a 19 hour drive. Sigh. No Artfest for me.... yet. Give me time to work a little more and then i'll have the money/airmiles to fly :). For now i appease myself by buying fabulous magazines and such.

In the Sommerset Workshop magazine, they had a section by Hanne Matthiesen. I also checked out her blog, and loved it. In the magazine, she discussed and demonstrated how to create waxed paper. I just loved it! I find beeswax to be a wonderful medium. I had played with it previously on my 8X8 lilac piece, and figured it was time to smell up the basement of beeswax again lol. I used an electric fry pan thing to melt the wax... the same one i use for dying felt. However, i guess that i did not wash it out very well since i last dyed, so the wax all turned purple! It was such a pretty purple though that i didn't mind. I waxed vintage sheet music, brown packing paper, scrapbooking papers, white paper, white satiny fabric and canvas. All came out with a softly purple hue. Wonderful.

So, i used this paper as wrapping for fletcher's birthday present, and a piece of the sheet music for the tag. Here are some pics of how they turned out :).

And last of all, here is fletcher before he opened his present.

My pretty birthday skirt!

2008-07-07T04:40:00.008+09:00

A friend of mine, Tasha, is an incredibly talented seamstress. I was so very pleased when she said that she would create me a dress. We scoured flickr and many other online photos for ideas, and finally got an idea of what we were looking for. Here is our first inspiration picture. It is not exactly what we would create, but it was our starting point. Isn't it just fabulous?

We decided create a corset top and a separate layered skirt bottom. As i am quite short (5'2) we decided to make a shorter type of skirt, not the full length pooffy dress as the photo (although hers is sooooo gorgeous). We selected four different black materials and then got started.

After some time working on this, we finished the skirt! We put a final push in at the end, to finish the skirt piece in time for my birthday. I am just so excited to have this done :). We went out to a nice restaurant for my birthday and i loved being able to wear my new skirt. I wish I'd have gotten some pictures on my birthday to show you! Oh well. Here's some pics of me modeling it with a different, more casual shirt.

Now we just need to work on the corset top. Being rather 'top heavy' with a pair of FF's, it will be my first corset as stores don't carry my size. How exciting!

Glass box and a dilema

2008-06-28T08:12:00.003+09:00

I don't think my friend Fletcher reads this blog, but you can never be too careful. It is Fletcher's birthday coming up, and i wanted to try making him something. I've been playing around with the idea of working with soldering and glass. (Collette, I truly appreciated your comment on the previous post. It got me thinking that it was time to try again). I have yet to feel 100% successful on any of my soldering and glass projects. I was happy with the last one until the solder around the jump ring snapped. I need a way to make that stronger. However, i decided it was time to try again, as this is a rather difficult technique that takes practice to perfect.

I was looking again through Sally Jean Alexander's 'Pretty Little Things' (my ultimate source of ideas for glass) and was intrigued by her glass box. I decided to try making one myself.

Fletcher, if you are reading this... please stop here.

So, here is my box i made. I carefully measured 5 squares of glass and one of mirror 1.5 inch square. I notice that Sally says in her book to use 2mm thick glass. Mine is at least 5. However, i will just work with what i have (the 2mm prob would have been better for this though). I cut the copper tape so it wasn't so wide, so that the visible glass would have a larger surface area. I then taped the edges of each piece, and then taped the pieces together in the shape. I left the lid off for now. Last, i soldered it all together.

Now i have a dilemma. What will i put in this box? Any suggestions of what i could put in here for a present for my male friend? Hmmmm...

Posting second project

2008-06-21T11:43:00.003+09:00

Here are some pics of the second project here. I am pleased with how some parts came out, especially the photo manipulation, but not so pleased with other parts such as the stencil and stamping.

So, i used a variety of techniques on this piece, that i crossed off on the previous quote. I really liked the way it turned out with the different inks on the piano keys. Sparkle sparke :)

I'm not so pleased with how it turned out with the stencils. I made stencils myself. I liked the way that it turned out on paper, but it turned out sort of messy on the photo and the gel medium. Sigh.

So, two projects down, i'm not sure how many more to go. We will see i guess :). I still have 10 days to go... that's one third of the month.

Status of the challenge

2008-06-18T06:08:00.003+09:00

The challenge is going pretty good so far. I am working on the finishing touches on the second piece. I find that this is more difficult to create my own projects using the techniques discusses, rather than following more of a recipe book type formula, where you create the projects they discuss.

So, we're at about half way through the month and i'm no where near done... but i guess you could say i'm close to half way :) The bolded techniques are the ones i've already done in the first two projects. I will post the second project when it is done, as i am still putting on some finishing touches.

1. Oil paint*
2. Finger painting
3. Impasto*
4. Soft Tones
5. Acrylics
6. Pigment Paint*
7. Stamp in oil
8. Watercolour crayons *
9. Oil Pastels
10. Markers
11. Walnut ink * (anyone know where to find this?
12. Gesso
13. Ink
14. Notch Tool *
15. Crackle Paste *
16. Molding Paste *
17. Gel Medium
18. Sanding
19. Crumple
20. Wax
21. Emboss
22. Velum
23. Transparency
24. Stucco *
25. Hand Carved Stamping
26. Milk Stamp
27. Bleach stamp
28. Bubble Wrap
29. Stencil
30. Fabric
31. Handmade Paper
32. Embossed Paper
33. Cardboard
34. Tape
35. Salt or Sand
36. Tissue/Newspaper
37. Rust/Patina *
38. Mosaic
39. Organza
40. Transfer
41. Text
42. Rub on
43. Draw/Sketch

Two finished things

2008-06-06T09:53:00.003+09:00

So far, the challenge to complete every technique in 'Mixed Emulsions' goes well. I have decided the best way of doing this is to create a series of pieces using photographs, each one using a variety of the techniques discussed. I have finished my first piece, Lilacs.

In Lilacs, I tried out many of the techniques discussed in the book. I used: soft tones, watercolour paints, wax, decorative paper, text, finger painting and corrugated cardboard. Seven down, thirty six more to go.

I really like how this turned out. I like the ties between the warm beeswax smell and the smell the lilacs would have. I picked up a piece of beeswax at the farmer's market, and dripped it around the altered photo, melting it with my soldering iron. This was my first time working with wax. I am generally happy with how it turned out considering that it was a first effort, but i know that i still have a long way to go before i become proficient with wax.

The second project i finished off today is the collage house created for Hannah, for the give-away as the 1000th viewer of my blog. Thanks again to everyone that has been visiting me here... i love seeing all the comments that you all leave me.

I created this house with cardboard as a base. The cardboard was gessoed and then painted. After scratching up the paint, I nailed the two pieces together with small golden nails. The 12 (Hannah's house number) was rubbed onto the top. I glued a piece of word art 'Keys to the past' to the metal door piece i picked up at a restoration store in town, and glued on a small key. And voila! C'est tout fini! All done, I will mail it to Hannah in Sweden tomorrow.

Huge challenge... accepted? I'll try my best :)

2008-06-03T12:12:00.006+09:00

So, Jen Worden does a challenge on her blog once a month. This one is a doosy! The challenge is to get a book (one of those project art books) and do EVERY project in the book! I am so excited! You aren't really supposed to buy a new book on this one, but i just couldn't resist the excuse of buying myself another... this is now my third I've bought, though i have borrowed many of them from the library.

The book i chose isn't really a true project book, although it is a how-to art book. It more teaches techniques rather than specific projects, although it sort of has some of those too. I chose Angela Cartwright's book 'Mixed Emulsions'.

So as i already said, this book does not have a list of projects per say, it is more a list of techniques. So,my plan is to make projects, trying out EVERY technique that is listed in the book. I am hoping that this is close enough to the challenge... but the challenge seems pretty loose. It's more about trying things out. I think the spirit of the challenge is to sit down and really try out everything there is do do in one of the books, to use it to it's fullest. Without further ado, this is the list of techniques discussed in the book, and i am going to try to use all these photo altering techniques within the next month! (Wish me luck!)

*I will need to buy some supplies, the stars indicate the ones i need to go shopping for

1. Oil paint*
2. Finger painting
3. Impasto*
4. Soft Tones
5. Acrylics
6. Pigment Paint*
7. Stamp in oil
8. Watercolour crayons *
9. Oil Pastels
10. Markers
11. Walnut ink * (anyone know where to find this?
12. Gesso
13. Ink
14. Notch Tool *
15. Crackle Paste *
16. Molding Paste *
17. Gel Medium
18. Sanding
19. Crumple
20. Wax
21. Emboss
22. Velum
23. Transparency
24. Stucco *
25. Hand Carved Stamping
26. Milk Stamp
27. Bleach stamp
28. Bubble Wrap
29. Stencil
30. Fabric
31. Handmade Paper
32. Embossed Paper
33. Cardboard
34. Tape
35. Salt or Sand
36. Tissue/Newspaper
37. Rust/Patina *
38. Mosaic
39. Organza
40. Transfer
41. Text
42. Rub on
43. Draw/Sketch

While it is true that there are 43 different techniques here, more than one technique can be combined in one project. All of these techniques are smaller parts of a bigger project... some cannot even stand on their own.

Wish me luck! I'll be editing this post as i go, showing my progress by putting x's beside each one :).

Soldered Necklace Charm, music notes

2008-05-30T05:29:00.004+09:00

I finished another soldered necklace charm. If you look back to previous posts, you'll see that i made my list of things i've learned about soldering. I like to think i'm somewhat better now than i was then: lets review that list:

1. It is important to burnish down the copper tape or it will just peel back and crispify and such I still have some problems with the tape not being completely smooth and having some small divets and such, but it never peels and crispifies anymore :)

2. The blow torch is too strong. It turns the tape into a burnt, discoloured crisp and makes the glass smoky. My soldering iron is working MUCH better. Far better controlled.

3. It is important to not only wrap the two pieces with copper tape individually, but to also wrap them together with another layer. Otherwise they are too difficult to hold with pliers, they move when you don't want them to and the image inside gets burnt to a crisp. This is working so much better, and i can easily hold it with pliers now. I have also discovered that if you want to add a jump ring, it is MUCH easier to tape it on BEFORE soldering, not after. Previous projects went wrong from insufficiently planning ahead for this, but with this one's planning it went well.

4. 'Soldering irons' that cost 2.50 are not sufficient. A glue gun gets hotter than that piece of crap :p The soldering iron gets maybe a little too hot, but generally pretty good.

I am pleased with how this is progressing.

New Sommerset Studios issue and new felted bracelet

2008-05-27T07:34:00.007+09:00

I bought the new Sommerset Studios issue in May. However, Cloth Paper Scissors is released at that exact same time, and both are bi-monthly. So i have to wait TWO LONG MONTHS before i can get another magazine of either one! So i try to space them out and make each last as long as possible. I read the Cloth Paper Scissors issue back when i first got it, and I really did try to save the Sommerset Studios issue till June, but it just didn't work... last night i was sitting around and simply HAD to start it. I'm still trying to stretch it out and make it last as long as possible, since the new one isn't out till July :(

I was so pleased to see that one of my favorite bloggers, Stephanie Lee, at Semiprecious Salvage had an article in there. She made a fabulous mixed media birdcage that was just wonderful :). I loved the fun, rustic feel to it. If you haven't checked out her website yet, you totally should :).

As well, i recently finally finished off a felted bracelet (actually, because of it's width it's called a 'cuff'). I really liked the way it turned out with the deep green dye. I used the fancy Jaquard dyes and it worked really well. Boiled it in vinegar and dye for half an hour and voila!

I win!

2008-05-22T13:14:00.001+09:00

So, that contest i entered my 8 by 8 inch piece? I totally tied for winning! I got a 10$ gift certificate for amazon.com. How exciting! What to buy.... any recommendations out there?

Little black dress

2008-05-19T04:23:00.003+09:00

There was a weekly prompt at Creative Constructionthat said to create something along the theme of 'little black dress'. I decided to participate this week, and i have created an 8" by 8" piece of art.

I originally created the background with acrylics and pencil crayons. but i was displeased with the way the pencil crayons don't completely cover the white with watercolour paper. I do wish in situations like that that i had watercolour pencils. Either way, it just wasn't working. I took spraypaint and covered the whole thing with gold. Which made for an interesting effect, as the swirls from the acrylic paint were still textured but everything was gold. I liked the way that turned out. I then created a stencil of a dress, cut out the center part and painted it black. Added the sign 'p'tit robe noir' (french for little black dress) and then added the rhinestones all over. Voila!

So, apparantly this is a contest. The winner gets a 10$ certificate to amazon.com. How wonderful that would be! Wish me luck :)

Fabulous shopping!

2008-05-18T02:38:00.003+09:00

I recently read a post by Judy at her blog Red Velvet. Her and a bunch of her friends went shopping in New York. This was not the type of shopping most people do. We are not talking 'Neiman Marcus' or other such clothing shopping (although she may have also done that and not blogged it). Her post showed pictures of her and her friends shopping at fabulous stores filled with altered art supplies :). I was especially fascinated by the metal pieces from Metalifferous. I wonder if they were expensive? They looked so good, such a plethora of fabulous twists and turns of various metals. How fun! You should definately check out Judy's site.... she has fabulous things there such as her altered book The Twelve Tribes of Israel and discussions of beautiful retreats in Bali. How wonderful!

In short, go check out Judy's fabulous blog, and while you're at it buy me a plane ticket to New York so i can go see those great stores for myself :) hahha.... one day i'll go.

1000 views!!!

2008-05-16T03:10:00.002+09:00

Hey out there :)

I came here to put in a quick post, and i saw that my visitor numbers have already reached 997 when i did this! How awesome :). I wonder who will be my 1000th viewer? I am thinking that i should commemorate this moment somehow. A small give-away maybe? With my visitor counter, i can see the location city of my viewers. So, if you are the 1000th viewer, (look at the counter along the top of the website) please leave a short comment.

I have been working, creating collage houses. I am thinking that i will give one of the collage houses to the 1000th viewer. If they don't notice, or happen to be a bot or something like that, i will just give it to the first person that comments. That will be my backup :).

Here's a quick peek at how the 'houses' are coming along so far.

Trombone Sketch

2008-05-11T06:13:00.003+09:00

I was listening to some ska music off youtube earlier today, and it inspired me to sketch a trombone. I would highly recommend checking out Alpha Boy School. I was thinking about a conditiom/skill that some have, where they see music as colours. Each tone represents a different colour. I even know someone who has this. It is called synesthesia. I wondered to myself... if i had to associate a colour with this ska music what colour would i use? I think i'd have given it a nice golden yellow... warm with touches of brown within it. This line of thought led me on until i decided it was time to try sketching my trombone.

I love the way a brass instrument hits and reflects the light. I find trombones to be especially beautiful, with their simple lines and smooth flow. Of coarse, this has nothing to do with the fact that i am biased towards trombones, being a player myself :).

I am so pleased with how this came out. I love the smoothness and the shading here. Very proud of this :). I am very happy that my sketching is progressing.

Inspirations aboud!

2008-05-09T09:00:00.003+09:00

This is my third post of three today. So much to say... easier to digest for myself, and you guys too, in smaller chunks.

I have had no lack of inspiration lately. I find that i am being challenged and pulled in so many directions. I love all the challenges and projects i am finding!

One highly inspiring thing is the release of this bi-monthly period of Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset Studios. I haven't had a chance to actually look through either yet propperly, but from a quick flip through i saw awesome articles, from projects with alcohol ink painted vintage spoons to advice about keeping an interesting blog (which i obviously have not read yet... jj). I can't wait to really get into them. While at chapters picking them up, i also came across this fabulous new beading book in their craft/art section. They made such fabulous jewelry pieces, mostly necklaces, like fiber wrapped wood beads, fabric wrapped beads, ribbon and linen based necklaces... they had so much! I was fascinated. If only i could remember it's title or author for you. Oh well. I will eventually buy it, it is inevitable. I'll post it when i buy it, so you can see it's awesomeness for yourself lol.

I am also loving the challenges i am seeing on blogs. I was a regular viewer, and occasional participant, of the weekly challenges on Jen Worden's blog. She has now changed it to a monthly challenge, but has made it geared to somewhat more intricate, thought out, larger projects. I love the first monthly challenge she has created, which is to create a triptych using found text, a type of tape and a found object... how great! I am definitely interested in trying out such a fun, cool project! It is totally worth checking it out on her blog here.

I also just recently found another blog that had a weekly 'creativity challenge'. While the main focus seems to be to writing and literary arts, she seems supportive of visual artists popping in as well. She has a weekly challenge where she gives a prompt and the winner judged from this prompt recieves a 10$ gift certificate! I am not sure how much chance visual artists are given for winning there, as it seems pretty heavily literary there, but it is worth a try and is fun. Worst case scenario, i have a new piece of art created! (or... worse case scenario i don't participate at all..). The prompt for this week is something about a 'cup of coffee'. I may try this one... we'll see. Maybe i'll wait till next week. I'm not really feeling this one, being a non-coffee drinker.

So, i am pleased with the challenges abound. I find them so inspiring. No lack of ideas now. Just choosing which to try. Do i want to try making fabric covered beads? Or maybe a ribbon based necklace? Or try another felted piece, maybe a fabulous wrist piece type of thing like Gillian has been creating in her etsy shop... or something new from the magazines just picked up! I love this...

Collage Houses

2008-05-09T08:45:00.003+09:00

This is my second post of three, all from the same day. I figured i'd separate them by topic instead of having one long, overwhelming post for my readers haha.

I decided it may be fun to open a cloth paper scissors magazine to a random page and see what it turns up. Well, i was in luck and my random magazine opening fell upon Sue Pelletier's fabulous collage houses project (in the jan/feb 2008 magazine). I really loved the houses that she created. I was facinated by the odd pieces that she used, such as rusty metal door pieces, odd nuts and bolts, vintage game pieces and much more. I would highly recommend checking out Sue Pelletier's collage houses if you have this year's jan/feb issue of cloth paper scissors. It is worth another look!

So, i started by finding some thick cardboard. Cut it into rectangles and triangles, and then gessoed them on one side. (Is gessoed even a word? My spell check tells me no... i guess it is for now hahaha.) I then painted one a patchy variety of greens, and the other with red-brown-coppers. I love monochromatic pieces. I'm not sure what colour i would call the theme for the second one... brown probably. However, it is loosely monocromatic for the second one. I gel mediumed them together, and the pic features where they are at for the moment.

I still need to add a coloured glaze over each piece to unify the colours, and then scrape, scratch and sand up the surface. After that i will solidify their bond and decorate them with small rusty nails and who knows where it will go from there? Bring on the odd pieces! I just picked up a bunch of stuff from a garage sale today (see prev. post) but i think they're all too big.

Rusty haul

2008-05-09T08:20:00.009+09:00

Hey all!

Wow! It's been so long since i last posted! And now that i finally sit down to blog, i find i have a million and one things to talk about. Things I've done that i take pics and tell myself i need to blog about this, but just don't get to the 'sitting down and doing it' part. So much happening with life that this just hasn't been happening. So, the plan is to split this up into three posts. This is the first one (which'll end up at the bottom), and I'll blog here about the haul i just got.

So, gas hit 1.40 here yesterday. This is the highest it has ever been here. As someone who is concerned about both the environment and their back account, I realize it is most definitely past time to start rethinking the idea of constantly using your car. I took a good first step today and walked to work :). The weather was so beautiful, i just couldn't keep the grin off my face on the walk home. The wildflowers growing secretly in the middle of the neighbor's lawn, the first bursts of tulips here .... it has been far too long of a winter (here in saskatchewan, the first blooms are just starting to peek out, not like you lucky temperate readers out there).

On the way home, i ran into a garage sale sign. How exciting! I love garage sales. There's something about wandering through, picking out treasures from other people's stuff that just appeals to me. Cheap, social and friendly... what is there not to love :).

I hit a bit of a gold mine here at this one for a mixed media artist. The seller was an old farmer (?) who was selling oodles of old tools, odd hardware bits and pieces and random rusty bits and pieces. While they would be junk to some, i loved every bit of it. From the rusted horse card hitches, to the old door knocker, to the dinner bell... there was so much there that i wanted but simply don't have room for.

I did score a lot of stuff there that i did have room for. One of my two favorites is a pair of rusted, old style tin snips. They may not look like much, but they are strong. They make me think fondly of my grandmother and the day her and i spend together playing with art stuff. I still say she is the tin snips queen. I am thinking if i can find a really neat, even older and rustier style of tin snips i may make her a shrine using the tool as a feature... maybe with some cool crown attached to them or something?

My other favorite piece was this very cool, beautiful leather clasp. Two thick straps of leather, roughened by weather and time... you just can't get this kind of cool in stores. I hope to one day create an altered book worthy of this clasp for holding it closed.

so, as you saw in the top pics, i also got a bunch of other random metal stuff. Two round metal balls that were once part of a horse-cart harness, a strange door hinge, a horseshoe, an odd spinning electrical piece and some strips of metal now reside within my art cabinet drawers. How fabulous :)

Sketching

2008-04-23T08:04:00.003+09:00

I bought myself a sketchbook a couple days ago. I bought a fairly nice one, with watercolour paper (just in case i feel the need). I like the thickness of the paper, and the smoothness. SO much better for drawing than in my altered book... essentially on pages in a book, glued together. The glue left bumps, they weren't thick enough, they had text on them... it just wasn't working for me. As fun as my altered book is, i think i am ready to step things up a bit :).

The skull was drawn yesterday, looking at a skull sticker i had. It was practice for the skulls on yesterday's 'Styx' ATC's. Today, i was at Kelly's blog, Soul Humming (which i adore) and saw a post of a fabulous piece someone created from recycled junk mail (by the way, happy earth day all!) I loved the lines of her face, and decided to try sketching it. I am still not at a point where i can sit and draw without looking at something and sort of drawing it in a VERY similar way, but i think this was good for me, as it was in a different incompatible media, and i was not able to simple replicate what was already done. I am quite pleased with how these sketches turned out :).

A touch of darkness...

2008-04-22T11:14:00.003+09:00

I just finished my 'Styx' ATC today. I had finished the acrylic, gesso and India ink background a couple weeks ago and knew i wanted a 'river styx' themed ATC, but wasn't sure what to put on top of the background. After doing some sketching in my new sketchbook today, i created a fabulous sketch of a skull with flames (inspired by a sticker i picked up). Although i liked my pencil sketch of the skull FAR more than the painted one on these ATCs, i am still pleased with how these turned out.

I realize that there is a touch of darkness to these cards... sporting skulls on them and whatnot... I usually do not have darkness in my art but i sometimes wonder why. Art is about SO MUCH MORE than just bright, happy shiny things. Don't get me wrong, i love a good cupcake card ( i was drooling over a gorgeous rolo earlier) but i find that people don't focus enough on the darker things. I would love to trade with someone for a card that had a little bit of gothic influence to it. Some major shadows... or maybe even just a touch of something evil. Not a lot... just a little. I'm still a fairly happy go lucky type of person, just have a hidden bit of goth deep within haha. Just a tiny bit...

Vintage pillows

2008-04-21T03:42:00.002+09:00

I decided to have some fun with my sewing machine yesterday. Unfortunately my sewing machine was not completely receptive to this idea hahaha. I had decided to create two vintage style pillows, with the lace that i had just picked up the day before. The first one, i was able to sew without a hitch. However, when it came time for the second, i was plagued with problems with the tension on my sewing machine... as in there was no tension.

I took my sewing machine out of storage a couple years ago. It had been my mother's when she was younger, and when they moved it became mine. When i took it out of storage, it was in working condition, except for one small problem. The metal rod that the thread roll sits on and spins on top of the machine was missing. Who knows what happened to it? Either way, it wasn't there with the rest of the machine and hasn't turned up in the couple of years. However, i have up until now simply set the thread on the table beside the machine and it worked fine from there. It worked fine doing that on the first pillow. However, all of the sudden, on the second pillow, it didn't work anymore like that. There was no tension on the line anymore. I don't know what changed between the two. However, if you have 2 people and one hold the thread on top of the machine as the rod would have, it works fine. Which means that i have to suck it up, and take the machine to a sewing repair store to hopefully get that piece replaced. Sigh... Hopefully they can replace it easily, and cheap haha. It is an older machine, so i guess i'll have to wait and see.

Bluegirl

2008-04-19T02:51:00.003+09:00

I have been looking around, checking my blogs, and i saw that Bluegirlxo has a new post. She has created this thing of beauty with her 'Uplifted Voices' book. I would totally recommend going and checking out her beautiful art. I find it so very inspiring that i want to try out some of the things she does there. The next of rocks? Fabulous. If i actually do some of these type of projects, i'll post pics here on my blog for all of you :)

Buddha Sketch

2008-04-18T14:34:00.003+09:00

I have been getting braver... I have always been avoiding sketching and drawing. I often feel dissatisfied with results, and feel nervous whenever i am drawing. However, i know that sketching and drawing skills are an important part to making art. So, a good way to get over this is to just jump into it, and keep trying.

I was so pleased with the Tribute card i created, i have stepped up and tried another project using sketching. I found a beautiful pic of a buddha statue online, and so i'm trying my hand at making my own sketch.

So, this is my sketch here in my 'practice book'. I bought a book at the second-hand store. I have made pages with painting, sketching, collage and much more. For many of these ATC's and other projects, if i want to practice a technique before putting it with the more expensive materials etc. Maybe i'll post more pics later? I am thinking of going and buying a sketchbook instead of this book here though, i find the text in the background can occasionally be a welcome texture, but often is distracting of clean, clear lines. I could always add the pages i've created so far into the sketchbook. I really like Mary
Ann's hand made sketchbook that she has posted on her blog. Maybe something like that could be cool?

I could wait and see what the journal i get from the swap i did a couple months ago on swap-bot turns up. I am beginning to think i got burned on that one, as it has been over 2 months since the due date for the swap and i still have not received my journal as part of the swap. Sigh. I put so much time and effort into the one i sent away (as you may have seen in posts from about a month ago) that it really sucks to get burned, and have nothing sent back to me in return. I really hope the person i sent mine to (which is a different person than the person sending to me) likes the one i gave them, because that would make it better. Sigh. THen again... the one to me is coming from Singapore. Maybe it's still on it's way?? I am hoping against hope for that.

Skavenjah last night

2008-04-13T07:48:00.004+09:00

So, last night was a great night. My friend Mike and I got together and we went out to see one of my favorite bands, Skavenjah. It doesn't hurt that the trombone player in the band is my instructor, and that I played with the sax player in jazz band a number of years ago. However, i think i'd love them even if i didn't know a couple of them personally. The energy to their ska is overwhelming. Looking down at the dance floor from our balcony seats, it was a pure mass of energy. I just love going to see bands that are obviously loving what they are doing. The energy was not only in their music, it was flying off of the band members themselves. What fun! You should definately check out their music :) Here is a link to their website.

I have been doing some art and such. I have a project with these copper 'birds' that i am getting very excited about. I think i already talked about the copper houses and wings, I now have digital copies of pictures of bird heads. Just need to get them printed... but i'm out of ink!

I am so pleased with the enormous response that my previous card, 'Tribute', got at ATCS For All. A whopping 14 comments! I never get this many comments, they usually just get maybe 1 or 2 and it is not unusual for them to be none at all. However, i am just so happy with the lovely comments there on this one. It seems to be rather popular and i so enjoyed making it that i am using a similar technique again. This time i am making a 4" by 4" piece. I have one for keeping and one for trading started. Don't know how i am going to trade a 4" by 4" piece, since it is not ATC size, but maybe i'll just use it as a gift instead? Maybe a blog gift or something, if i actually ever win one of those Heart it forward''contests? I decided to go with a blue theme rather than a green theme for this one. I wonder what i will use for the picture? Another woman? Still don't know. If it ends up being for heart it forward, i will probably make a stylized heart type of thing. I guess i will wait and see what mood strikes me :)

Tribute to Kelly Rae Robertson

2008-04-07T07:53:00.003+09:00

I was flipping through old issues of Cloth Paper Scissors, and i saw the beautiful art of Kelly Rae Robertson. I love reading her blog and i find her art style absolutely inspiring. I am drawn to the softness/strength of her women. I also love her use of colour and layered paper (in some paintings). Looking at the magazine, i made a version of her beautiful work.

I started this months ago, when i glued a collage of green papers down onto cardboard and cut it to ATC size. I always knew i would create a Robertson-style painting on top of it, but i just wasn't ready yet. Today, after looking in the magazine, i finally felt ready. I drew a sample sketch in my art book/journal. I was so pleased with the results that i felt ready to make this art :). After drawing the woman with pencil, I traced the lines with black gel pen (note to self... get better gel pens. This one was kinda crappy and didn't work so good. Myabe because it's old?)

After the lines were down, i mixed a variety of acrylic colours, mixing all of them with pearlescent medium. I was going to make just the wings shimmery, but then i liked the colour so much that i made them all like that. After all, who doesn't need a little extra shimmer in their life! Haha. I know i do :)

I wonder where this fabulous card will find a home? Will the artists on ATCsforall love it, or ignore it? I hope there will be someone that feels about it the same way i do :). I do find that the comments at the atc site are rather lacking lately, since the move of sites. Hopefully it will pick up later??

ATC's ready to go!

2008-04-06T09:05:00.008+09:00

Wow, it's been a while since my last post! Hunh. I hadn't realized i'd left it for so long till a friend of mine ryan mentioned that the last time i'd updated it had been a music related post. I guess life gets in the way sometimes. I've been very busy with teaching, friends coming in to visit from out of town and my many music activities i am signed up for. I play trombone in the University of Regina Jazz band, and we are just winding up for the semester. Our semester concert is on this wednesday... and i'm not sure i am completely ready on a couple small parts. Sometimes life gets in the way of practicing (and blogging lol).

So, this month, on April 25th i believe, is the birthday of Artist Trading Cards. So, the MacKenzie Art Gallery here is having a celebration, as i believe i mentioned in previous posts. In order to participate, they are asking people to submit 6 artist trading cards, which will go on display at the gallery. So... i guess you could say... in a small way... my art is going to be part of an exhibit at the art gallery! I know for some of you supremely talented, experienced art bloggers this is a regular thing, but this is a first for a newb hobbyist like me. Here are the six cards i am going to submit:

This first one i created using some really cool dollar store finds. When i went to the local Dollerama, i found they had this really cool meshy/plasticy/straw like stuff. It was such a cool texture that i had to have some :). I also found these really cool painted feathers there too, and some stringy fiber/yarn. I sewed the fiber all around the edges of the mesh, sewed feathers on and created a stylized stencil of the letter f. I then spray painted the f onto the mesh. I have always felt rather inspired by the way i see the way so many artists using spray paint with hand-made stencils in their journals, especially at this blog, Dispatch from LA. In the end, i am fair pleased with how it turned out. However, i think i needed to use more spray paint on the edges of the thin stencil, or buy better quality spray paint or something. It didn't seem to work too clearly, i would have liked a clearer edge. Maybe the stencil needs to be taped down more securely? I will be trying this spray painting method again, as i now have a couple stencils made.

This one i had talked about in a previous post. It is createdon foam board, with iridescent ink, music paper and stamping.

I had also previously discussed this marylin atc. I created it with photoshop the colours into the picture, and then photoshoping a second pic that just had the high points of her lips, her eyes, her hair and her shadow. I then used a packing tape transfer to put the second layer on top of the first. I found this one appropriate as they currently have a warhol exhibit on at the gallery.

I have been playing around with felting. I created this card with my grandmother last weekend. I went up for a visit, and we had a WONDERFUL time, art-ing (is that really a verb? haha it is now) up a storm. She is the tin-snips queen. We prepped the pieces for a really neat soldered copper piece that i will be eventually completing. So far, we have the shape of bird wings and a house cut out of a sheet of copper with the tin snips she so expertly wielded. Maybe i should make her something, a plaque or something, with her new title of the tin snips queen? haha.

Other than working with copper, we also hand fun experimenting with ways to dye the wool i had previously picked up, and doing some felting. This pic, called 'stripes' is my first felted piece. I also created a second piece of a felted scene using sheet and grass and sky, but i seem to have forgotten to scan taht one *embarassed*. I'll have to scan and post taht one later.

Lastly, i created one with a copper base. I was rather unsure what i wanted to do with this one at first. I knew i wanted to do something that featured the copper, and also wanted to feature my new intrest and 'skills' (haha) with the soldering iron. However, i just couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be too thick to fit in the atc sleeve (they are quite thin... not meant for taking anything bulky unfortunately. I wish they could take more thickness!). I wanted to maybe make it with a copper base, and the solder a piece of glass to cover the collage within, but then i decided it still wouldn't fit in the sleeve. I liked the collage so much, i decided to just leave it the way it is. I like the texture of the copper as the background. I will have to play more with that as a base in the future... when ihave more ideas of things that will fit? Or maybe when i am creating a 4x4 piece or something? or maybe something entirely different? I like the swapping aspect of ATCs, but i am finding them limiting in some ways. I guess i will just explore and see what's up :)

So, there my cards are, all ready for submission! I will go drop them off tommorrow, and let you all know how the birthday celebration goes later on. It should be a blast!

Catherine Feeny

2008-03-27T03:53:00.003+09:00

OMG... a non art-related post! *gasp*

I've been haunted by a musical artist. Catherine Feeny's voice has been haunting my thoughts, and i feel a pull every time i hear her song 'Mr. Blue.' This is my shout out to all of you that you should totally check out her myspace page here. Her songs 'Mr. Blue' (from the soundtrack to the amazing movie 'Running with Scissors') and 'The Shape You're In' are fabulous :). Here is the link to her youtube video.

A soft, fuzzy purchase :)

2008-03-26T08:19:00.005+09:00

So, on a whim, i went to a store here called Golden Willow Natural Fiber. I saw from their window display they had bright bright colours of dyed fuzzy fibery soft stuff... how could i resist? I swear, i love picking up supplies as much (maybe more?) than i love using them! I am building up quite the collection!

So, i wandered in. What do i see but fiber arts magazine, with back issues? I have seen others discussing this magazine, or tooting being published within, and i simply had to pick up a copy :).

After wandering around some, i saw that the majority of what they had was yarn. Now, yarn is all very nice and whatnot, and theirs did look to be of VERY high quality, but it just didn't call to me (i have tried knitting... it wasn't pretty). However, the bins, bags and jars of the soft fluffy unspun wool immediately shouted my name. After going for a fabulous tactile experience of burying my hand in many different bins of unspun wool, i knew i had to have some. The lady there showed me around, and talked to me about dyes and such. In the end, i walked out with a bunch of unspun wool, emerald green dye and a fabric arts magazine. I thought i was also walking out with a felting needle, but apparently i was mistaken and that was left at the store. I think i will try out dying the wool, and maybe do a bit of research into felting before i go back to buy the needle, since i can see me needing other things from there in the future anyways.

So, to end off this post, here are pictures of me 'voguing' with my new wool, and other purchases from the store. Thanks to Ray for taking the shots :) I do believe this is the first pic i have posted here (since making it an art blog) that is of more than just my hands, so this may help you to put a face to the blog lol.