World longest beaded necklace...

This amazingly displayed necklace greeted us as we descended the stairs to the second floor of Beadfest. Of course we had to have pictures of it and quickly learned that it is a fund raiser for the Portable Playhouse which is a non-profit organization who brings specialized art programs to children in hospitals and out care programs. They are trying to make the worlds longest necklace for the Guinness Book of World Record's as they raise fund for these children. We were able to make a donation and add a bead to the necklace while we were there. But you can do it by going to their web site and do it on line. Check it out. What a great way to help children in need.

Home Sweet Home

I made it home last night after a long days drive. So nice to sleep in my own bed.

This morning we had breakfast while the crows surrounded our house. This guy is watching me as I'm watching his buddies! At our house this is a sign of fall. We have farmers fields on 2 sides of us, so when the harvest is ready the crows come for the feast. I know, I know, it's not fall yet but I'm afraid the signs of it coming are definitely here. As we drove North to come home we could see the slow yellowing of the leaves on the trees. And even a few orange and red as we got closer to home.
So get out there and enjoy what summer we have left. Fall is just around the corner.

The show is over.

Yes the Beadfest is over. What a great show. I learned so much. I'm anxious to get home and try all my new techniques out. Putting my own spin on them.Todays class was with Susan Lenart Kazmer. It was a little tough going in the morning. There was just so much information to absorb that I was overwhelmed. But after a long relaxing lunch I got back in there and got over my fear of her torches. My piece isn't quite finished yet and it's pretty rough. But it's a start in a new kind of jewelry making. I'll have to think a little longer on whether I want a larger torch than the micro torch that I have now, but it was a great experience.

Thanks for following along with me during the show. I hope you enjoyed the updates. I should be home again in a day or two.

Class projects

Here are my almost finished class projects from yesterdays class with Tracey Stanley.In this class we learned to make a bezel and then filled is with resin on top of beads, shells, etc.
Here we used a heavy gage wire to form a shape to contain the resin with beads, shells, etc.

I'm on my way back to the convention show to get a few more things so I can make some more creations that these classes have inspired in me. I've already purchased some amazing tools that are going to change my life! I just needed a little nap to keep up to Renee. But I'm ready to go now. Let's see if I can find her!

Busy with classes.

This is just a quick blog since I finished my class a little early. My 2 classes so far with Tracey Stanley have been great. She's a great teacher and I've learned so much. These are the components for a bracelet from my first class. Obviously not finished but well on their way, although I think I might turn them into a necklace. Haven't decided yet. Todays class used some resin so it's setting and the pictures didn't turn out very well. I'll try again tomorrow.

Here are the gargoyles as promised. They were inside a passage way through the town hall, so the lighting was a little difficult.

So it's off to the convention show now and then to meet the teacher night.

Philadelphia Architecture

As promised, here are some of the amazing buildings we saw while down town Philadelphia. The variety and enormity of them was wonderful.

This was one of the side walks we had to walk through.
This is City Hall. it was an enormous building. I couldn't get enough photos of it. I'll show you some gargoyles we came across while walking through the centre of this building tomorrow.

This building is home to the Philadelphia School of Art. How appropriate.
As you can see the variety of Architecture was amazing.

Well I'm off for some breakfast and then to my first class.

On tour.

Well I've left the country or entered the country I guess, depending on where you're reading this from. I'm with my friend Renee in King of Prussia Pennsylvania USA. We're here attending the Beadfest. Today we went into Philadelphia to check out the market and do some shopping. We had lunch in the market and then walked around down town doing some site seeing and shopping.

They have lost of fun and amazing sculptures down town that we enjoyed tremendously. Here are some of the ones we came across.

I also really enjoyed the architecture of the many buildings there. I'll share some photo's of them tomorrow.

Time to get some rest. Full day class tomorrow.

One foggy morning,,,

I love foggy, dewy mornings and that's just what I saw when I woke up today. So as the Tin man walked out the door to work, I followed behind with my camera. The dew changes the look of everything. It's like Mother Natures frosting.

This is what the Tin man noticed as we were eating our breakfast this morning. I am always amazed at the work and perfection in these kinds of cob webs and yet so delicate. As I sit here I can see the breeze start to break it apart already. It's mesmerizing.
Sweet Peas are on of my favourite flowers. They're so delicate and I love the tendrils.

The Tin man spotted this crazy cob web in an old milk jug. The work is this creation is awesome.
Here is my one lonely Dill plant that sprouted this year. I'm not a Dill fan. I grow it for the Tin man and his Salmon. I love the delicate nature of this plant though. It's worth growing just for it's beauty.
As most web. this one is already disintegrating. All that hard work and it lasts for such a short time.
This Borage is another favourite flower of mine. It's a tiny little flower only measuring about a half an inch but it's so detailed and delicate.

Oh what a great way to start the day. Hope you have a great one!

Gears, di's and jacks.

Here are a couple of necklaces I finished recently. You may have seen the discs on an earlier blog after they had been embossed, antiqued and were just coming out of the tumbler. I liked how they looked after coming out of the tumbler but it took me a while to figure out how to finish them off. So they sat on my work table until one day while working on something else it just came to me how to finish them. That is usually how I work. Don't force things, just let it happen as it will. The one above I call Gears and the one below is Di and Jacks

New work

I had a great time at the North Gower Market yesterday. Met some wonderful people and purchased some great food. We had an amazing homemade onion pizza for supper last night from Nina who was right behind me selling vegetable and baked goods. Looking forward to next weeks market.

As promised here is a piece I created this week. The background paper is 7 Gypsy and the images are from Graphic 45 Communique tag sheet. And then I added a few found objects like the domino piece and some embossed metal. To finish it off a few Tim Holtz additions like the ticket and film strip with unknown Southin's added.

Tomorrow I'll be showing you some of my new jewelry creations, finally.

Have a great day.

Busy but still creating.

Yes I'm still here! Again the last few weeks have just flown by. I've been busy but productive.

I've been bringing some of my other creations to the Market along with my jewelry this summer and have gotten a lot of positive feed back and sold a few too, so I decided to make a few more.

I had started the background for this one a while back and had intended to put flowers and such on like I did the others of this colour but when I got going at it again this is what happened. I tend to not worry about sticking to a plan when working on a creation. I like to just go with the flow and if it's not the idea I intended I can always try the original idea again another time. It felt a little simple just putting the hinges and key hole on but nothing else came to me so I left it alone.

What do you think, what else can I put on the frame or should I leave well enough alone?

I've got a few more things I've finished up this week. I promise it won't take me too long to get them posted this time.

I'm off to another Market tomorrow morning. Sheila and I are going to try the North Gower Farmers Market and see what it's like. It's a really nice market in an old barn. Very charming! Come on out and visit us. We're there from 8:30am to 1pm.