My Creative Space

I got my supplies to make my Artbeads.com Design Partner challenge yesterday...I am so excited! I plan on toiling over this piece over the weekend...hubby is in Oklahoma till Sunday visiting his daughter.

I was planning on a Miriam Haskell-type design...her work is so exquisite!

The frosted acrylic flowers look good enough to eat...

and the frosty fire polish beads are just too sweet in this light baby pink...although in this picture they have a grey cast I could not get rid of!

Unfortunately, I'm on the bottom of the list for emails with the design challenge, so by the time I get to pick out my parts, many in the theme are sold out :( I wanted to go for vintage type accent beads in pink, blue and green. They needed to be oval shape and about 8mm to fit with the design. This was the best I could do with what was not sold out in their inventory...

There was no plain pink or green. The blue beads in the back are about the best choice. I liked the vintage shape of the pink/green beads, but the green throws it all off. I just may have to search my vintage bead stash to see if I can substitute. If you go back to the top picture, you can see how they just don't blend well. Perhaps I can use them to work up some earrings.

I'll get the pictures of the final piece up when it is done. Maybe I will even do a giveaway with the earrings!

Stay tuned.....

What Did You Craft When You Were a Kid?

I come from a long line of crafter's and artisans. I have an ancestor that has one of his sculptures in the collection at the Louvre, another that was an artisan basket weaver in Germany, my great-great Grandfather and great Grandfather were both artists at Shea's Buffalo Theater. I come from artists, photographers, milliners, seamstresses, stain glass makers, wood workers and quilters. Even my mother worked at a craft shop in the 1980's when they started getting big, so it is no surprise that I fell into the same line of work.

In looking back, my first independent crafting venture came one Christmas long, long ago...I was maybe 8. I wanted so badly to give my family presents, so I made pillows for everyone. Who cares if they were made of paper and stuffed with crumpled paper so they were completely non-functional...it was my love I was giving them! After that, I toyed with sewing, crocheting and beading; of course, all was supported by Mother. I think I mentioned it a long time ago, but I even designed and sewed by hand a ball gown out of my mother's ugly green fiberglass curtains. Of course, I had no clue what fiberglass was and couldn't understand why I itched so bad when I wore it! Oh, and I had to wear it in the privacy of my room...Mom would have kicked my butt if she found out I used her curtains. Well, she eventually did!

I honestly can't remember a time in my life I wasn't sewing, painting, beading or whatever. It has always been a part of my life and I hope it always will.

What crafts did you do as a child?

A Peek Into the Creative Process...

I awoke to 3 degrees Fahrenheit below zero this morning, so therefore, I am chained to the fireplace trying to warm the house up.  It was 63 degrees when I got out of bed and I have been running the fireplace since 7am.  Now at 11 am, it is only up to 65 degrees!  No studio work today, so I thought I would bring you a special blog post:  A look into the creative process!

When I begin a design, I don't really go into it with any ideas in mind.  I retreat to the old button storage and pick out a button/buttons that suit my fancy for the day.

This drawer so happens to be mostly metals, but I have everything from mother of pearl to fabric to vegetable ivory in this storage box.  After I choose the buttons I will use for the piece, I set to gently restore them.

As you will see, this is a multiple stage process, and probably more time consuming that the actual creating of the piece.  And, yes, I did knit those fingerless gloves.  I have been a knitting fool every night and weekend since I learned how!

My main goal is to restore the original beauty of the buttons while retaining the aged patina.  One must remember that most of the buttons in my stash are from the mid to late 1800's, so there are many problems that have to be dealt with such as rust and the "green meanies" (the unsightly green oxidation on brass that is more suitable aesthetically to garden fixtures and outdoor decorations).  These issues are dealt with and removed with museum approved techniques and products.

 
For the final stage, a museum wax is applied to protect from further rusting and oxidation as well as water damage and retains a smooth, clean shine.  *Please note that this button looks the same from the first picture to the last as it was not actually restored, it was only used to demonstration purposes*.  While I am restoring the button/buttons, I run through ideas of how the button will be converted into a piece of jewelry, all the while running through techniques that allow me to create a piece of jewelry without harming or altering the button in any way.

By the time I am completed with the cleaning process,   I have a good idea of how to design the piece.  I retreat to my bead boxes (my red vintage bead box is shown above)...

and my brass filigree boxes and choose pieces that would be most suitable for the design I have in mind.

As you can see above, the actual piece begins to take form.  This piece is still a work in progress.  I guess I will not get to it again today...I just hate having to take all the supplies I need out of the studio to bring downstairs simply because I have to cart them all back upstairs when I am done.  These are the days that I catch up on computer work and maybe do a little tatting for chokers and bracelets.

As you can see, creating button jewelry is so much more than just making the piece.

What are YOUR Plans? Here are some of mine...

You know, I really hate New Years Resolutions, but it does provide a good time to sit back and evaluate where your at and where your going. So here's some of the things I've been planning and thinking!

1. I want to continue to learn new things. Both in the fiber arts that I've been learning, but definitely in the jewelry world as well! Maybe one new technique a month? Or something that stretches me? We'll see how doable that is :)

2. I'd really like to work on creating more bridal jewelry. I have lots of ideas, now to get them made!

3. In conjunction with number 2, I'd like to get my work on consignment in a bridal store in the next few months if at all possible.

Other than that - I'm going to keep working on everything I've been working on :P

Now......what are you planning?

Amelia

Over the last few weeks I've been doing lots of research into promotion techniques and other things that take up a LOT of time on-line.  Most recently, obviously, I've been working on my time management series.  It's made me realize a few things.

1. I'm good at being organized - but I've gotten out of the habit.
2. I've been thinking for a long time that I want to get more woven items in my shop - but I haven't spent much time at it lately!

The result? I'm working hard on getting on top of my personal time management skills - which I'll talk about more in my next post on the subject :P I'm also setting a goal to create and post one woven item a week. It can be in any of the styles that I know, earrings, necklace, or bracelet, but one a week! That really should be doable if I make sure to spend sometime weaving every day :) This weeks woven piece? A little something in pink and brown...I've named her Amelia. Go to the listing to read more of her story!

I'm also feeling the love this week! My friend at TiLT Creations has me as the featured seller on her treasury blog! Make sure you go and check it out :) I was also given the Uber Amazing Blog Award by Kat at Candles and Crafts and the Butterfly award by Kay at Kay's K9's! Thanks you guys, I feel very honored :)

Now technically, I'm supposed to pass these on, but I've participated in away to many of these recently so I'm not going to this time, but I do appreciate receiving them!

Morning World!

Sadly, I didn't blog yesterday, but I'm not going to apologize for it! Why? Well, I had a rather busy day yesterday and my plan was to come home from running errands and blog then. Instead, I came home and my hubby and I watched a movie, and Chuck, and cuddled all evening! We needed that snuggle time so I don't feel guilty for abandoning the etsy/blogging/internet world for awhile!

My treasury closes just before 10, my time, this morning, and I'm pretty much figuring that there won't be any more sales in it at this point - so here's my closing picture of it!

I didn't get much crafting done yesterday. I spent maybe an hour weaving on a pink and brown bracelet that I hope to have finished and listed in the next day or two depending on how the rest of life is going. I'm also hoping to finally have the time to write my blog on time management :P Go check out this thread that I've started on the topic and give me your two cents! Who knows, YOU might make it into my next blog post!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5879690

Last, but not least, here's my newest creation that I posted up Sunday night:

Busy days!

Life has been rather crazy lately. I just moved across the state and my hubby and I are house-sitting for the next two months while we look for our own place. It's been a crazy whirlwind! I did manage to get my beads set up this morning though :) I still need to do some more organizing, but I can create again! I was getting itchy fingers. I've been weaving during the transition period, but I had so many ideas that weren't weaving related at the same time! Plus I've been wanting to get ready for Breast Cancer Awareness Month - more on that tomorrow :)

This is just a short post tonight - I'm tired! And my asthma is acting up again *sigh*