If you are looking for the Bead Soup Party post, click HERE.

Guess what Peg comes today and I finally get to meet her and talk to her in person vs. just on the computer or phone. Now you are wondering who is Peg. Well she is the one and only co-author of the book Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry. I started making these little works of art last year and fell in love with them. They are addictive. If you have read my blog before then I'm sure you have seen some pictures that I've posted. Here is one from last year.

If you are interested in checking out Peg's book, it is available on Amazon.com. Peg also teaches at various art retreats around the country and soon she'll announce a new teaching venue for her and it might be in international waters. I'm seriously thinking about going to that one.

Speaking of art retreats, I did submit teaching proposals to three for 2012. Maybe I'll hear back from at least one of them. Just to give you a clue as to what I would be teaching....it would be gem trees or a form of gem trees as some of them don't have gemstones on them at all. More about that coming.

Have a great weekend.

It's a Struggle

We all have our ups and downs and now more than ever with the holidays coming up we need to be focused....okay maybe not you but I do. This is day 3 of the Create Every Day and it seems all I did in my craft room was create a mess today. I don't think that qualifies, but I did fix 3 bracelets for a customer and make a necklace for me, so I guess I did get some creative time in there. I have all these ideas for things to make but just can't seem to get it out. I think I really need to clean up my craft room so that I can find those things I want to make. Maybe that will be my focus tomorrow is to create a cleaner craft room.

Here is my new necklace (the blue is AAA grade Kyanite that I had been saving that I purchased at the Tucson Gem Show...I don't know what I was saving it for and the other two briolettes are pink amethyst). 

This photo is of some more charms for a charm swap. I'm especially liking the mini tree of life charm and the long glass tube is a glass fuse. 

I seem to pull this piece out every once in a while. It is a concept piece that I call Imagination. I have created a button tree and mounted it on a base of collage. Truly mixed media. What I did yesterday was add the fabric around the outside edges.

Here are a couple of holiday themed Artist Trading Cards. I'll probably be posting these on my ATC group for a swap.

I did have time yesterday to go through one of my new books I had ordered. This one is called A Charming Exchange by Kelly Snelling and Ruth Rae. I was really looking forward to getting this book as I love my Mixed Media Art Charm book. If you need ideas then this book has it. There are several tutorials throughout the book which are very well written and appear to be easy to follow. I love how there are several artists featured in the book as it does give you a variety of styles and different points of view. If you are looking for a new book to give you inspiration or maybe to take your jewelry design in a new direction then the book is well worth checking out.

Well besides cleaning up my craft room tomorrow I should probably do some laundry, then we will see what I have time to create. If you haven't had a chance to visit the blogs of folks that are creating every day, take a moment and check them out. The links are on the right hand side of this blog.

Path of Discovery

Have you ever gone on a journey and not known where it would take you? Well, I am classifying my life these past several months as my path of discovery. We all know that I make and sell jewelry and gem trees but did you know that I also paint. I started painting some 13 years ago when I was laid off work with nothing to do. I did several things during that time but painting stayed with me if not in my active life then always in my mind and on my walls so there was no hiding it, not that family would ever let me forget it.

My path the past few months has been on how can I get back to that place where art is important and I make an effort to create art if not daily then more often than not at all. My first thought was to take up acrylic painting vs. the watercolor I was used to and try a new medium and that was fun but just didn't spark anything in me. Then I found I really like mixed media works which combine painting, collage, wire work, beading, sewing and everything else you can think of. So I started buying magazines like Cloth Paper Scissors and some of the Somerset Studio and Memories. At this point my husband is amused and wondering what in the world I am doing but as long as I'm entertained he doesn't care.

I'm really loving some of the activities and things they do in the magazines and want to try them all but I need more stuff...now hubby starts to get nervous. Obviously, I need more paper and things like different tools but not only that I have to have a second set of stuff for the motor home in my art box. Wow, this could get expensive. So, I start with essentials like good paper and pens, some fun chipboard images, old magazines from the antique stores, and other bits and pieces from around the house which I call found objects. Even my husband looks for them now instead of throwing them away.

So I have all this stuff the tools and supplies ready but what to make. I decided to make an art journal but after I start I realized that was probably a much larger project than what I could do for my first time. Then I found Artist Trading Cards. These are little (2.5 x 3.5) works of art that you make and trade with other people. Perfect size that I could paint, collage, stamp, sew and experiment my way through all those new techniques in the magazines. I've mentioned them before here on my blog but you also might know them as ACEO's (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) which are the ones sold vs. traded.

I made a few cards and then didn't know what to do with them, so I joined a group. For those of you new to any art medium or hobby, groups are a good way to get started and the members help you answer some of those questions that arise such as how do I use a Crop-a-dile. The Yahoo group I belong to also does swaps so I've started participating in about 2 swaps a month. Here are my latest ones mailed off just yesterday. The first one is called best friends and the other is brown, orange and yellow.

The dilemma now is what to do with all these cards that I make and get back. I want to be able to look at them and enjoy them. Now I know this post is getting long but here is where more discovery starts. I'm in a paper store getting some card stock and they have all these cool kits and one of them was book making. I never really considered making my own book but was intrigued. No, I did not buy the kit but it did get me thinking that I could put my cards together in some sort of book that I could add to. Here is my first attempt.

I didn't want to glue the cards down on the pages so instead used eyelet to secure them and yes I did get to use my new Crop-a-dile to set the eyelets.

There is so much more to do and explore in this new found world of art. Gel medium, encaustic, metal embossing, I want to try them all. Have I gone a little crazy in this world of discovery or is this passion for art? Will I find myself in here eventually? I certainly hope so but I'm going to enjoy getting there.