A Diversion from the Norm

This past weekend was supposed to be our Spring Barrel Tasting over in Eastern WA but hubby had a Gem & Mineral Federation meeting on Saturday over there and the family just couldn't work out all the details for this year....next year for sure.

We did have a good time visiting with my step-brother and attending the local gem and mineral show over there. Driving over the passes was interesting as they were still getting snow. There are some pictures at the end of this post that I took as we were driving through.

One of the items on my wish list to look for at a show this year was a dapping block and other metal working tools....well there was an Oregon business vending at the show and they had just the right things, so I spent money. Well my business spent money but I have been playing a bit today with some copper sheet metal, cutting it into disks, pounding them, doming them, putting words on pieces, punching holes and you name it just causing all kinds of noise. So much noise that I made the house alarm go off this morning....LOL, note to self, turn alarm off before pounding on metal. The business is FeelingStone Gifts. It was a mother-daughter team and they do some wonderful wire work. I highly recommend checking out their website.

Funny thing about attending some of these shows is that you never know who you will see or what you will see. The same woman (Jackie) of FeelingStone Gifts, that I bought my tools from just happened to have purchased one of my gem tree tutorials a couple of months ago....now how do you like that. She and her daughter made several trees that were for sale as well as on display in a case. It was really nice to be able to see what someone else was able to do with one of my tutorials who did not attend a class. She had purchased the Pine Tree tutorial. I think she did a great job both her and her daughter.

Before I even when into the show, I stopped in to the meeting with my husband and a woman from the West Seattle Gem Club asked if both hubby and I would demonstrate at their upcoming show. Yes, I think it was a very productive weekend even if we didn't get to go to a ton of wineries and drink lots of wine.

So if you are in the Seattle area April 30th - May 1st, you may want to check out the West Seattle's Gem and Mineral show at the Alki Masonic Temple, 4736 40th Ave. SW., (W Seattle), WA. The hours are 10-5 both days. We will be demonstrating gem tree design. I will also be signing copies of my book for sale as well as finished gem trees and gem tree supplies.

Today I'll leave you with some of these photos of Snoqualime Pass from our weekend trip. They aren't the best photos as I was inside of a moving car taking them at the time.

Yes, those are skiers.

In a Sea of Nothingness

Do you ever feel like you are just drifting in and out of life with no real direction? I've felt that way for the past couple of weeks. I have so much to do and don't know where to start first. Even now as I try to write this my mind is just blank. I know what I want to say but getting it out is becoming difficult.

If I haven't put more pressure on myself I joined a art charm swap that has an Asian paper theme. I still have to finish those up and get them mailed by the end of the month. I decided on folded paper fans but to make them 1" is difficult for me. I'm much more comfortable making charms using wire and beads but I am trying to challenge myself but feel as if I'm losing myself in the process. I think next time before I join a swap, I'll try to make a few charms in the theme to see how it goes first.

For those of you that have been following me for awhile, I joined another Bead Soup swap hosted by Lori Anderson and have my assigned partner. I haven't participated in a bead soup in several months and I'm really looking forward to it. The goal is to put together a grouping of beads, focal bead, clasp and any other items you think might look good and send it to your partner. They will then make a necklace or bracelet and post pictures on their blog. I had a lot of fun last year making my necklace out of beads that Cathryn of Chile Cats sent me. You can check out Lori's blog Pretty Things to keep up to date on all the activities.

Here is a picture of what my bead soup from Cathryn looked like and the finished product.

I have been trying to teach at least one or two classes each month and this month the Gem and Mineral club that I belong to hosted a Hands On class yesterday. I taught my Tree of Hope and Life and had 3 students and one 5 year old who wanted to make a tree and actually did make one. He was so proud of that tree. Here are a few pictures. They all did a wonderful job.

If you are interested in taking a gem tree class I have two scheduled at Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, WA. One on February 5th and the other March 6th.

I'm sure I'll get my s&*% together this week and have lots more fun, creativity and cute doggie photos to share. Have a good one.

Whew, Glad That is Over

Just finished up a 3 day show at the Puyallup Fair Grounds. My fingers are now tired of making gem trees but I did get a few done for a special order that needs to be mailed after the first of the year. This was a good time to get started on them with the holiday's fast approaching. I sold several books to folks wanting to make trees for holiday gifts which is a great idea. The picture above is just a portion of my table. By the time we started packing up we had a full forest of colorful trees. I should probably list some for sale on my Etsy or ArtFire studio in case someone wants one for a gift but does not want to make one.

Today was Create Day 14...I'm really not having any trouble creating every day especially when I do demonstrations or teach. This week we will be getting ready for an upcoming trip so not sure how much creating I'll be able to do....humm might be a good time to start writing again on the book, that qualifies.

I do have a question for all you crafty people out there. Do you craft or take your art with you when you travel? If you do, how and what do you take?

Don't forget to hop on over to visit the other bloggers who are participating in Create Every Day. Links are on the right.

Cheers

Almost There

Yes, the remodeling of the kitchen is almost finished. We are really tired of living with the dining room in our living room and having to eat in the motor home. Thank heavens we had the motor home to fix meals in or we probably would have had to move out. So, just a little bit more trim work to do and then he moves onto the dining room next week. He'll be replacing some of the hard wood flooring, then sanding it all down and refinishing it. I think we will be out of the house for most of that work.

This side of the kitchen used to have a breakfast bar which we never used except as a catch all for junk. Now a wonderful new pantry and a beverage fridge.

New cabinets, canned lights and granite counter tops, I can't wait until I can get in here and start cooking.

The Dining room that still needs a lot of help.

This week has been my week to get my Bellevue Teachers submission into the Bead Factory. After last weeks successful teaching gig at the Puget Sound Bead Festival, I decided to try for three classes at the Bellevue Bead show. I should know by the end of the week if I get in.

Here is a peak of my newest tree design. It is called the Tree of Hope and Life.

I had a lot of fun making these.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. 

Gem Tree Gone Wild

Today was just one of those days. I don't feel that I accomplished anything. I do have everything organized for the class I'm teaching later this week, but it isn't packed yet. I still have time. Oh wait, I think I said that yesterday. Okay tomorrow everything will get packed.

In my quest to get all the gem tree supplies and kits ready for the class I went to a major fabric store today....yes it is a bit of an obsession and I do go there more than once a week, but I just couldn't help myself. So, while I was waiting on my number to be called to get some interfacing cut, I wandered the store. 30 minutes later and my number wasn't even close to being called but I found myself in the scrapbook area. I love looking for unusual items to use in my jewelry or on my gem trees or in this case you could call it a wire tree sculpture. So to give my students a look at what they can create with something not a gemstone, I used these little metal tags. They were even on sale for .99 a pack so I bought several. It definitely makes a different little tree. A little black wire and some crystals and it has a little bling, just my kind of tree.

I've really started thinking about joining in on the monthly ABS (Art Bead Scene) Challenge. This month the challenge is to create a piece based on a sculpture by Alexander Calder called Blue Feather circa 1948.

Humm, do you see a resemblance between the swing arm and my tree branches? I'm thinking some beautiful teardrop briolettes dangling from one side and dark pearls or maybe some black onyx rondells at the top. Now I just have to figure out how to bring in the other elements of the structure into a necklace design. It's very futuristic with hard edges and geometric shapes.

Check out the ABS blog for some of the prizes that could be won and rules to joining.

Have a great week.

Getting Behind

For all my followers on Facebook, blog and Twitter, sorry that I am so behind in posting. We have been in Montana for my gem tree competition the past week. I finished obtaining my "Masters" at the National level and as a surprise I was voted into the American Federation Newsletter Editor Hall of Fame. It is a great honor as only 1 or 2 per year in the Nation are voted in.

I promise when I get home there will be a new featured artist and a jewelry how to. I have received several comments on my leather fringe necklace that I thought I would write a tutorial and post out here so everyone can make one.

Had car trouble yesterday and are stuck in Ellensburg for a day to see if they can fix. If now we will just rent a car and drive home today and come back and pick up the car this weekend. It's frustrating to be only a couple of hours away from home.

Hope all is well and will write more when we get home.

I'm so Finished

Okay, so finished is so final, but I can say that I am finished with competing with gem trees. I made my "Masters" at the Regional and National level and that was my goal. I updated my gem tree blog, so if you want to see the picture of me with my display and ribbon you can check it out HERE. I've included just a picture of my tree display on this blog. Several of the trees were some I competed with last year with 2 new ones. The palm tree I wanted to finish just wasn't up to competition standards, but I'll get the design down and include it in the next book.

This week has just been flying by. You wouldn't have known it the past couple of nights as I was stressing over my tree display and whether I would qualify. No more worries for now. I am selling books and teaching the next few afternoons here in Montana and that will be fun.

Next week I'll get back on my regular blog posting schedule so you'll see some new feature artists and fun new jewelry designs...hopefully.

Friday Wrap Up

Well I made my first sale on-line of my book today, yea, and I only had it listed now for a couple of days. This is a good sign. I'm hoping that more people will find the value of making these little gem trees for themselves and for gifts. So, I'm excited.

I spent the morning finishing a tutorial to put out on my Etsy and ArtFire shops of the Standard Gem tree, so it is complete and ready to go. Those not wanting to purchase the whole book with 8 tree designs can just purchase the tutorial and I'll e-mail them the .pdf file. Simple for me and great for them as it is the same instruction as what is in the book plus a few color photos vs. the B&W.

This afternoon my husband and I took the boy to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was good. It had been awhile since I read the book and it seemed that there were parts missing....maybe I need to re-read the book. After that it was back to the house, where the boy spend a good 30 minutes playing with our dog Buddy and the water hose....I kind of forgot to have him change into his swim trunks. Oh, well, both dog and boy dry well.

Speaking of the boy, we went to the waterfront a couple of days ago with the dogs and I snapped a couple of shots to share with you.

Hope you all had a great week and I look forward to what the future holds.

The Never Ending Journey

Back from fun at the Beach. We finally purchased an air bed for the trailer so now we can sleep better and also a more comfortable chair. We have been putting off going to the beach property because we haven't been comfortable sleeping. Problem solved. We had a great few days, made it back for the 4th here at home since the dogs don't like fireworks. The beach is just one giant bang on the 4th as we have witnessed the past several years, so to give the dogs a break we came home early. Hopefully everyone remained safe through the 4th of July holiday.

We've been relaxing today along with doing upteen loads of laundry and I finally started on one of my competition gem trees that needs to be completed by the end of this month. It's not going as planned as the briolettes holes are too small for the tree wire, so now I'm rethinking what to do. If I remake the tree using smaller gauge wire then it will be too droopy. My husband suggested making loops on the ends of the tree branches and then dangling the gems off by wrapping them with smaller gauge wire....hummm, this might work, but not what I had envisioned. I guess I'll give it some more thought.

I just found a message from my publisher of the BOOK that they have finished the 2nd version, now back available on their web site and now hopefully this will be the last version until I have some major edits. I also received an e-mail from FedEx that a package had been sent to me from Morriss Printing, so yea this may be my proof and I can finally get these dang things printed. The last proof I reviewed had printer errors, so sent it back. What a run around that was.....note to self publishers everywhere, be prepared to review everything at least 3 times and then have someone else review it for you.

On another note, I'm glad everyone liked my featured artist (Bedazzled of Oregon) last Thursday, she is an amazing artist. If you haven't read that post, be sure to check it out HERE.

Here are a couple of pics from our few days at the beach. Me with Leo and Paul walking on the foggy beach one morning with dogs.

Jewelry Line Updates - Wings of a Fairy

I've honestly been in a rut and have been trying to get my mind focused on creative energy to build my jewelry business. I have been inspired to create a couple of new categories within my jewelry line. I've worked on the first one more than the second at least concept wise, so here goes.


New line of jewelry items called "Wings of a Fairy". This will be a more inexpense option for those wanting fanciful jewelry to wear on special occassions or just for play. I'm also going to include some fanciful gem trees in this line. I'm sure that it will appeal to a younger audience teens to 30 year olds vs. old me, although my mother loved one of the rings I made and actually took my prototype booklet that will be shipped with each piece sold. Umm, so I may be wrong, but we will see. Here is what the first part of the booklet will look like. I'm still debating on the cover image, but this is one of the options.

Wings of a Fairy

The Fairy Wings line of jewelry and gem trees was inspired by the magical qualities found in all of us. We seek to have an air of mystery and can be a little mischievous. We are strong and independent in nature and love in abundance. Enter the realm of fairies when wearing your jewelry or by placing your fairy tree in your home and know that you now may be able to control the elements of the universe if not your destiny.

Fairies are mythological beings bestowed with magical powers. Usually, they have the appearance of humans. Their real characteristics can change depending upon the tales told about them.

Although in modern culture they are known as small creatures, they were depicted as tall, radiant and angelic beings.

According to their origin in folklore, they were elemental beings of the earth, air, fire and water. Each one of them has a particular power in nature.

The booklet goes on to detail out the different types of fairies and where to buy. If you are wondering what this jewelry looks like....stay tuned for tomorrow folks as we will have pictures and I will describe my other new jewelry line.