Another Jewelry Class

Yesterday I had such fun in Tracey Stanley's Stamped and Riveted Charms class at Fusion Beads in Seattle!  She showed us lots of techniques and I learned to add texture to metals and attach metal pieces together with rivets and a riveting hammer.  When class was over, I had one finished and another almost finished, but today I was able to complete a few more:-)

Always the Student - Jewelry

You know I can't resist playing in different medias.  A couple weeks ago I took a basic fusing class with Allison Thompson to learn how to take fine silver wire and fuse it into rings, which we learned to shape into rings, squares, etc., and I made this bracelet.

Today was my second fusing class, this time making fused rings with Janice Berkebile, and what fun we had!  I made these 5, making one of each style, but I heard another student managed to make 7!  You probably can't see it in the photo, but the finger with three rings has an octagonal ring closest to the tip of my finger.

In case you're in the Seattle area, the classes were at Fusion Beads in Seattle, WA.

Another Bracelet!

This bracelet is not my design, but was a fun, learning experience and I love it!  It took about 2 hours for me to make it, although it could have been finished much quicker if I had not made so many mistakes and had to find the right size mandrels for the curves.  As it was, I tried various pliers until I found the one that worked with the length of wire that the pattern called for, because they come in so many different sizes and the pattern didn't have a size specified!  If the designer had measured their pliers, I would have been able to measure mine and not waste as much wire - or time. 

Some of the pieces that didn't come out right were able to be made into charms, or saved to possibly be used in another project, but I also created a pile of scrap wire, so I'm really happy I'm working in copper instead of silver!

Jewelry and Quilting

The second Figs and Ginger panel has been pieced!  After doubling my calculations and tallying up the squares needing to be cut, I looked at the cutting for one of the panels and found the number of pieces I need to cut are exactly the same as if I was making another panel from the book!  Of course, I won't be using all the blocks in the quilts, but still need to stack, cut and re-sort the decks in order to make the additional blocks I need.  I'm hoping I'll be able to make a coordinating pillow or two with the extra blocks.

On the jewelry side of things, I've been wire wrapping beads and made this set from copper wire and stone beads.

I'v

New Necklace

These beads have been in my stash for a while now, waiting for inspiration.   They could have become a bracelet with small jump rings between them, but I decided I'd rather have a necklace.  I made S links and a clasp, and then joined the links with pairs of twisted jump rings. 

Featured Artist at Gallery 113!

Don't forget, tonight is the gallery opening! Karin, the other featured artist was kind enough to write the press release for the Woodinville Weekly newspaper, and also create this beautiful flyer that showcases our current favorites. We're not sure why they only printed the photo of her watercolor, but I'm guessing it's because my quilt was printed in color with the press release of it's acceptance in the APNQ Quiltfest quilt show, earlier this year.

Please plan to stop by and say hi, we'd love to meet you!

Featured Artist at Gallery 113!

I wanted to let you all know that next month I will be sharing the Featured Artist spotlight at Gallery 113, here in Woodinville, with another artist, Karin Strauss Quinn. The show opening is Saturday, December 6, from 6 to 9pm, and you can come meet us and other gallery members. Along with my quilts, I will also have other items like quilted postcards, hand dyed silk scarves and jewelry. Yes, I have been working on the display, and should have taken a picture of the scarves, and I'll try to do that asap so I can add it to this post

Jewelry and Stone Donuts

Teri asked where I found the stone donuts - I found them at Fusion Beads in Seattle. They also have a website, and the website has newer products that are available before they arrive in the brick and mortar shop (I had gone there looking for beads in their newsletter, but they weren't there yet). You can find the donuts starting on this page of their site (in the New Products area of their site - near the bottom of the navigation menu).

Jewelry making

As you can tell, I've been busy making jewelry......

I love stone donuts, and here are just a couple things that can be done with them.

Green is one of my favorite colors to wear, goes with so much!

My bead version of a charm bracelet.

And a silver watch that can go with just about everything.

Watches with beaded bands

It seems we are always busy in our house, many things to do, places to go, and since the kids are older, most of us are on different schedules, running in different directions.

I'm working on another challenge quilt, so can't post photos of that, but I did manage to take a little time to do a little jewelry making, and can share that with you. The watch I wear every day needed a little repair, as the jump ring that attaches the band to the watch had separated, and as I was getting out the tools, I noticed some watch faces that were waiting for bands. After a bit more digging, I found everything I needed not only to repair my every day watch, but to finish these watches, as well as some bracelets. I just couldn't resist posting a quick picture of these now - instant gratification, you know.