Something Sublime

Advanced Style

I once spotted an older woman and her husband, at a carnival, just stepping off a ferris wheel.  She was holding his arm, looking slim, relaxed and happy.  Her grey hair was stylishly cut, her clothes were put- together...tasteful, colorful, chic and perfectly accessorized with lovely jewelry. I remember turning to my mom and saying "That's how I want to grow old!" Now I've discovered a delightful spot in the blog world, Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style (thank you Tracey!) And what a wonderful discovery it is.  I've long valued the wisdom of those older than myself.  In a group of women, the older ones are almost always the wisest, kindest and gentlest. Ari shows us something that's frequently overlooked; older women are often some of the most creative and stylish among us. You won't see any lower back tattoos or eyebrow piercings here. What you will find is quiet chic, elegance and artistry with a dash of adventure tossed in here and there.

Yes indeed...there is life after 35.

Respect your elders.

Balance Bronze Bangles

This has become a favorite piece of mine to make and you all must like it, as well, because it's a sold out class at this year's Art Unraveled (thank you xxoo!!)  

Nevertheless, I'd like to say a few words about this class because I'm also teaching it at a few other venues...ArtBliss, this September...and Adorn Me, March 2012.

Ok, so what makes it so great?  Versatility, texture, variety, pounding metal, stones, found objects, bronze (or silver, or copper) tools, wire, dangly charmy thingies.  Did I mention pounding metal? That part is especially appealing.

These things are just so dang much fun to make...and to wear.  Of course, you don't wear just one at a time...you mix them up, like so...

I love the deceptively simple design of these.  There are a few twists and turns in the process of creating these and more techniques than you would think, at first glance.

Another great, dare I say...terrific, thing about these bangles: antique buttons.  These aren't the original antique buttons but some I had cast from originals by my talented friend, Lynn Davis.  (You can read my post about the incredible history of these buttons, here.)  

Lynn and I collaborated a bit and I'm beyond thrilled to say that I'll have some of her lovely cast buttons available at my Balance Bronze Bangles classes.  Alternatively, these bangles are very cool with other types of found objects added...

"29 and Holding..."

I'll tell you a little secret...these bangles are actually what inspired the hoops for my BoHo Bliss online class.  Once I got started pounding, it was hard to stop.  So...yeah...bring your bits and bobs to class and join me in my obsession!

Project Runway-Bring It

It's so unlike me to be hooked on a tv program but, dang it, I'm hooked. It's finally time to tune in to Project Runway once again and I can hardly stand the suspense.  I've got the movie butter popcorn ready to pop and the bean bag chair fluffed.  Oh, and I'm the worst kind of convert...pretty much existing as a tv atheist, I'm now a devoted and fanatical fan of PR.  An annoying zealot of an artsy fashion reality program in a household where testosterone is king.  Season 9...bring it on.

The Magic Concho

 

Believe me, I know how silly this is but my two guys grew up thinking Sponge Bob was hilarious and, much to my deep surprise, I grew to love S Bob, as well.  Call me simple minded but his innocent brand of humor tickles my funny bone. But then, I've been accused of being an easy laugher.  There you go.

Just what does this have to do with anything at all?  Nothing.  Except that S Bob's "Magic Conch" episode reminded me of this concho belt that I picked up while visiting family in Wyoming. Conch...concho...conch...concho.  There's definitely a connection there.

Yes....I believe in the magic concho.  Thank you my good friend, Deb, for encouraging me in this acquisition.  You're a good friend and a bad influence.  Oh, and thank you for this:

...gorgeous Coreen Cordova hunk of friend love. Love. Love!

But, back to the concho.  Each concho and butterfly is set with an incredible Carico Lake turquoise cabachon and, seriously, the effect really is magical.  

Update: At the gem and jewelry show, there is a turquoise booth that I studiously avoid.  I just couldn't resist it's powers any longer and was drawn in, only to find that it's run by the owner and operator of the Carico Lake mine.  What fun it was to chat with those guys!

This piece was made by Kirk Smith and is something I've always dreamed of having but never thought possible.  It was a big stretch for me...not feeling at all deserving of such a thing. 

I'm not sure where I'll be wearing this.  If the opportunity comes for me to ride in a parade or become a rodeo princess, I think this will fit the bill.  Until then, it's the perfect laundry-doing-dinner-making accessory.  Magic.

Beads Aplenty, Beads Galore

Have you ever read the children's book "Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore?"  It was a favorite of mine to read to my guys when they were little.  Just delightful.  And of course, they loved it too; it being a very personal narrative for them.  It's a story they related to oh, so easily...those devil-may-care pigs, reveling in their piggy glory. It was like that yesterday, when I met up with my friend Charlene, at the bead show.  Well, not for Charlene, of course.  She has more manners than that!  But you can see I made a complete pig of myself...I couldn't help it.

And, I don't feel bad, either.

Not a bit.

Snort.

These are my favorites.  Delicate little slabs of tourmaline. So sweet.  I have in mind to create something like this with them:

Lodestar Lanterns with brown sapphires and garnets

One little slab will dangle off the end of each lantern shaped hoop, suspended in air like a tinkly, miniature windchime and surrounded by.....what?  Some of the tiny faceted toumaline rondelles I picked up? Maybe the faceted hessonite garnet?  Or, the gorgeous little faceted rubies....

Again, I say...snort. 

xxoo

The Wild Wild West

I've been away....playing in the land of cowboys and Indians.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but Wife Whisperer is from there...Wyoming.  It's a rough and beautiful place of extremes....the land, the weather, the animals.  A wild place where nature is something to be respected.  Which explains WW's love of all things manly.  He grew up steeped in it.  Hunting, shooting, hiking, snow, hail (tennis ball size...really?) mountains, rivers, forests, grizzlies...  I'm in love with it all. Deeply.

spillway of the Buffalo Bill Dam

It feels like home to me, as much as my real home.  I never feel so immediately at peace as I do when I cross the Wyoming state line.

This is a place where you don't have to jostle for a little elbow room.  A place that hosts "urban deer herds" (doesn't that phrase amuse you?)  A place where the air smells so sweet and clear....

Big Horn Mountains

This year, we discovered lots of snow at the top of the world...

...and up there, in our secret spot, we discovered this guy:

I'm usually not afraid of moose but, see that horizontal line in the background?  That's a wimpy little wire fence that runs along the dirt road on which we parked our car.  In other words, Mr. Yearling was between us and our car...very near the only (very narrow!) opening in said wimpy fence.  The only direction for him to go was toward us.

You see how he's looking right at me? He's eyeing my feet and taking notice that I foolishly came to visit with only my flimsy flip flops on my silly feet.  Usually, when we stop here, I have something better on my feet...like running shoes.  Every year at this place, we see a moose.  Last time, we saw a mama and baby.  I think this guy might be that baby...grown a little older and wiser.  Still, he's not small and he's not slow. In fact, these guys can kick the beejeegums out of you, if they feel like it.

After a pretty ugly mad dash for that itty bitty opening in the wire fence, I was "safe" on the other side with WW snapping a few more quick shots.

This was my favorite.  Turns out he wasn't really interested in us at all, of course.

Wyoming gives me a chance to toss a few forkfuls of hay with a very dear bff.  She loves me exactly the way I am...an essential quality in bff's.  Notice our jewelry.  We have sort of a country mouse, city mouse thing going on.

About half of my family lives in Wyo.  This is my adorable niece.  Love her.

I like hanging out with her because she's majoring in something to do with fashion.  I'm hoping some little bit of her fashion mojo rubs off on me.

These monkeys are my nephews.  Love them too.  They're not majoring in fashion.  I think their area of expertise might have something to do with the nuances of beer marketing, production and/or consumption...or some such.

I have to pause, here because my mama's heart is starting to miss my guys...

Of course, they couldn't join us as they're working for the summer.  Sheesh...they want to grow up and live their own lives.  Imagine that.

The West was amazingly lush and green.  Greener than I've ever seen it.  And wet...

Shell Creek

...wetter than I've ever seen it.  Every river, stream, creek and mud puddle was overflowing.  It was a joy to see in a country that's typically pretty dry.  And their growing season was way, way late. Although, we did get to see the garden of our master gardener friend and, let me tell you, he has a lot more going on than my pathetic, wilty little salsa garden could ever aspire to:

So, while this photo essay may seem like a mish mash of this-and-that...it's my heart and soul.  I can almost smell the tangy scent of sagebrush in the air and feel the evening cool creeping in.  It's whispering to me...

Go. West.

Upcoming Attractions

My friend, Christine Damm, had the brilliant idea to do a series of blog posts about her upcoming class at ArtBliss (where I'll be teaching, as well.)  Snippets of what how the class came about...what will happen in class...tips and tidbits.  I've decided to follow her lead and do the same, as I have several in-person teaching venues coming up very fast!

First out of the gate is Art Unraveled...Aug.2-9.  If you haven't been to this Phoenix event...you need to go!  It's a wonderful venue with tons of classes offered by too many talented instructors to list here.  My Bronze Balance Bangles class is sold out there (I'll be teaching it again at Adorn Me) but there are spaces left in my Little Garden of the Soul class.

Included in this class is a technique I've been doing for years...chandelier crystal transfers.  What, at first, appears to be a simple technique, can be a bit tricky when it comes to working on a surface an inch square, or less! I've seen this technique done lots of ways since but, being a jewelry maker, my aim from the beginning was to perfect it for jewelry.  I wanted something that would be beautiful and yet hold up to any wear and tear that might occur.  That meant developing a method of making jewelry grade transfers, uniquely my own, which is what you'll learn in this class.

One of my very favorite things about these transfers is that they give you the opportunity to use your own images...a big plus, especially if you're a photographer or any sort.  My tip:  higher contrast photos, with not TOO much detail, make for the best transfers.

If you've ever taken a class with me, either in person or online, you may have noticed that I cram a lot of information into my classes...almost to a fault.  Of course, with this class, transfers weren't enough.  I had to combine two...or three...or twenty five...great tastes into one workshop.  So, we'll also be working with rosaries and found objects, which I love.  We'll do a lot of design talk and I'll show you how to work them into your pieces. Another love of mine...design talk.  What is it about design?  I could chat about it all day! And, yes, there are a multitude of tricks to design.  My tip for now:  sometimes less is more.  Throughout countless classes, one of the big mistakes I see students trying to make (of course, I don't let them!) is adding too much to their piece...too many colors, too many focals, too much "stuff."

I'm big on building skills so I'll be showing lots of technique...wrapping links, working with vintage clasps, drilling, reaming, wrapping briolette beads...all easier said than done!  For instance, there's a trick to wrapping briolette beads so they end up nice and tight.  I'll show you how I do it.  I promise...it's so much fun!

Ok...so I'm off to make airline reservations for Phoenix.  Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed and say our prayers to ward of any mondo dust storms in the making!