Mise-en-Place?

 

What is Mise-en-Place (meez en plas)?  It's a french cooking term that means "have everything in place".  You've seen those cooking shows where the chefs have all the little bowls with different, pre-measured ingredients in them ready to use when they start to cook, right?  It's not just for show.  It really makes sense to have all the elements of a recipe in place before you start.  How many times have you started to follow a recipe when you suddenly discover that you don't have one of the ingredients?  And this always happens when you have something disgusting on your hands like the turkey meatloaf you've already started to mix by hand.  The same thing goes for making jewelry.  A good execution of design is to have all your parts ready to go before you even start.  There are some students that like to work off of a spool of wire, rather than pre-cutting the wire ahead of time.  I like to start my projects with everything cut and ready to go.  It's not much different than prepping for a class ahead of time.  All of my classes at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show include everything a student needs to take a class, including the use of tools.  No need to lug all your tools when you attend the show.  My student Cathy Burton wanted to bring her own tools, but promised me she wouldn't be bringing a U-Haul or something to that effect!  The Climbing Vine Bronze Bangle (in the violets) is my newest addition to the class roster for the Pasadena show this July 26th through the 29th.  This twice a year show is one of the best local shows for classes and materials, as well as finished goods by an impressive roster of artisans and well known instructors.  Plenty to ogle, buy and have a great time in a great, air-conditioned venue.  I hope one of my classes is on your list of things to do this summer!

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.