Guilty!

Okay, I admit it.  I’m an enabler.  What better way to share your love in a guilty pleasure than to get your friends hooked, right?  That way, the guilt can be a collective effort.  Chocolate is a good one.  So is a really great bottle of Cabernet.  But beads are altogether another story!  Suddenly you have a shared interest other than tossing back margaritas and nachos, while complaining about the latest thing your kids, dog, or significant other did.  All women can relate.  It’s a necessary part of being a woman, but even that gets old!  Of course you could combine the nacho & margie swilling with beading and knock out two necessary and useful activities at the same time.  Now there’s a concept!

When you’ve got the urge to bead with friends and want to explore a new technique, have a Chicks & Hens event!  My slogan, “Have Tools, Will Travel” means I bring everything including the materials, tools and design of choice.  I did a Sea Anemone Ring C & H event and all the ladies went home with gorgeous rings and learned how to wire work.  It was a first for all of them.  Babies got nursed, rings got made, champagne was slurped and everyone was happy.  If you’re interested, give me a jingle.  Chicks & Hens events are fun, fun, fun!

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.

Kat-isms

Today's blog is all about what it is that makes you step back, laugh, ponder or mentally wax poetic about life in general.  For some, a good mantra works wonders.  I don't have a mantra, but in class you've heard me say many times, "This is art....not science".  Everyone usually giggles when I say it, but it is really how I view the learning process when it comes to jewelry making.  It's really an axiom and is meant to serve as a way to remind you to be forgiving of yourself.  Everyone wants to be a pro, even if it's your first class.  Anyone who has ever moved wire knows that learning to control it is a very humbling experience.  But remember the first time you got it to do what you wanted?  Hallelujah!  You felt really good and probably thought for the first time, "I can do this"!  And you can.  I promise you.  "Practice makes perfect" is another axiom or adage that is so true when it comes to wire working.  One great way to learn how to work wire is to do a simple line drawing.  Put the point of your pencil or pen on a piece of paper, look away, make a simple doodle, and then lift your pen.  Look at what you've drawn and then with your tools, try to turn a piece of wire into that doodle.  Knowing what your tools will do is half the battle.  "Practice on copper, perfect on silver" is a prescient piece of advice, especially in times like these.  Some students try to start a design with silver thinking that they may want to do it only once, especially if it's a lot of work.  I say, bah hum bug!  "Any great design worth doing once, deserves a repeat performance"!  Hopefully I've given you some food for thought, and as always, let me know what you think.  Oh yeah, that's Jax and Lola at the top, pondering the meaning of life.  It's important to appear indifferent when you're a cat!

Hoop-de-Duo

In case you haven't noticed, hoops are hot!  The Wire Hoop Duo is class debuting on Thursday, February 2nd from 6 to 9 at Brea Bead Works.  These earrings are an exercise in basket weave and wrapping.  One design concept, yields two different earrings.  Of course I think Swarovski crystals are the perfect foil for these earrings, but they look really good with fresh water pearls too!  If you want to learn basket weave, this is the class for you.  You'll also learn how to make custom ear wires to match your earrings.  Go to www.breabeadworks.com to find the class listing under workshops.  A repeat of this class will be on March 14th.  I would love to see you at either class!