Eye Candy!

  

I love to post work from my students.  The ring pictured above is from Cathy Burton.  The best testament to my teaching ability is the work my students accomplish.  The Sea Anemone Ring class is no exception.  Class was held on February 16th with a full slate of very eager ladies in attendance.  Every ring looked different due to all the colors each student selected and we ended up with a room of eye candy for the fingers.  After all was said and done, pretty much everyone left with a very pretty ring on their finger with the pledge that they were going to make more.  This particular ring design is addicting after you've done a few.  Once you master the wrapping technique (it's a good way to master it because you do it 45 times!) you'll want to make one in every color of the rainbow.  The first one I ever made (circa 2009), I used small fresh water pearls in addition to Swarovski crystals.  Hence, it became the Sea Anemone ring because it looked like I could have plucked it out of a tide pool.  Here, Cathy used Sterling Silver for the ring armature along with gorgeous Bronze Shade, Verde, and Crystal Copper Swarovski.  If you know Cathy, it looked like she was born wearing it.  It's so her!  Great job, Cath!  It's important to note that the ring design is not my original design.  The original design came from the very talented Irina Miech.  She gave me permission to teach the ring back in '09, but I've redesigned it a bit and added more structure.  Look for the class this summer at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show in July.



A Real Basket Case!

Ever have one of those days?  You know what I'm talking about.  When you think you are going to have a melt down of epic proportion?  I have an instant cure.  Just say two words.  BASKET WEAVING.  It's purported to be a very therapeutic activity.  And guess what?  You can do it in wire and make a pretty cool ring.  Nothing beats sitting down with a pile of beads, or in this case, a bead and some wire.  Ring Pop! is my last class offering of the first quarter at Brea Bead Works.  The ring showcases an awesome lamp work bead (we all have a stash of those) and some cool wire moves that make an architectural wire structure to hold that bead in place.  Except, the bead does something really amazing.  It spins.  So, if you have a bead that has different design aspects to it, you can spin it into place and showcase that gorgeous orb.  Ring Pop! is being held on Monday, March 26th from 6 to 9 p.m. at BBW.  If you've been wanting to learn basket weave, then this class is for you.  And if you can't make it to this class, I've got some new designs coming up in the next few months.  Hope to see you there!

Pantone Fall 2012 Color Report

French Roast, Honey Gold, Pink Flambe, Tangerine Tango, Ultramarine Green, Bright Chartreuse, Olympian Blue, Titanium, Rhapsody and Rose Smoke.  These are some of the yummiest colors for Fall in a long time.  I know it's hard to believe, but Pantone announced today their Fall Color Report for 2012!  These are awesome colors, and many of you grasp the importance of working these colors into your jewelry designs since fall fashion apparel will arrive in stores in the summer in these very colors.  But for those that don't, this is what I learned when I worked at a craft store. I finally understood why stores would put out fall and winter crafting materials in the summer.  For crafters hoping to sell in shows in the fall, they had to have access to materials months before the actual season so they could make their stuff in time to merchandize it!  For any of you that sell, you know that making the jewelry isn't enough.  The other big side of merchandising successfully is all the collateral material involved in selling.  Business cards, packaging, tagging, etc.  Now is the time to get a jump or at least get your brain wrapped around the idea of things coming down the pike.  Believe me, it comes a lot faster than you can ever imagine.  And that other thing we call LIFE, always happens, but especially when we're not looking!  Go to www.pantone.com/fall2012 for more information on what's happening in the world of color.  It's an excellent resource to add to your repetoire.

Hearts Desire

Happy February!  The beautiful image above is from my student Linda Stern.  She attended the first Filigree Heart Pendant Necklace class at Brea Bead Works in January.  Linda was one of the students where I literally tortured everyone in that class.  So much so, that I created an easier way to make the heart pendant.  I even blogged about it in "Torture or Wrapture".  I was really concerned that the students wouldn't get to completion with this somewhat daunting project, but I have truly been "heartened" (pun intended) by the response of the students and the pictures of their finished work!  After all their hard work, everyone loves the necklace and it's a source of pride.  Mission accomplished!  I've got another offering of this class on Sunday, February 19th from 12 to 4 at Brea Bead Works.  You'll get the benefit of the re-design without all the pain!  And, as always, I'd love to see you there.