Thursday, February 28, 2013

We may be late to the party but it was worth waiting for!!!

I'm slamming out the door for a potentially difficult weekend - but not without a skip in my step!  Lori Bergmann's soup arrived today and I can't wait to stir it up!  

So, this is a preview.  Aren't the ingredients gorgeous?  The heart, all the lampwork, and the lovely clasp were all made by Lori!  How cool is that?

 The timing is perfect. . .I needed a lift to my day.  This really gave my heart wings!  Thank you, Lori!

Here are Lori's links:
 
Stay tuned as the soup simmers!

 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Bead Soup is simmering. . .



I'm finally blogging about the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party . . .This party is what finally got me off my duff to start a blog in the first place!  I wanted to get out of the shadows and go to the Party!  Woo Hoo! 

I lurked in those shadows for years and hopped along at each reveal but I'm in the shadows NO MORE!!!  My lovely and talented partner Lori Bergmann and I put our exchange date on hold while she fostered a new pup and Steve and I cleaned out our "other" home on the Eastern Shore (auction of contents is next month and will probably warrant another blog!).  But we will exchange our soups next week!  Until then, I wanted to say a few words about my new friend and BSBP partner.



Meet Lori! 

She lives near Seattle, WA (yes, the other side of the U.S.A. from me), with hubby and two daughters and two pups.  She's a graphic artist turned lampworker and jewelry artist.

Her list of lifetime accomplishments, 400 published craft, art and jewelry projects, workshops, etc., boggles my mind.  She also is author of a book on Creative Painting.  Busy lady!

Lori's Etsy site
Lori's Blog 
Lori's FB Fan Page



I finially got all the beads together that I'm sending Lori and will put them in a soup bowl to mail when we get back to Frederick.  Lots of enamels, of course!  It is a lovely soup - if I do say so.


See. . .


and here is one focal and the lovely Bali silver clasp. . .


What do you mean. . .you can't see it clearly?  You wouldn't want me to spoil Lori's surprise, would you?  One clue is that it's blue. . .

I'll post again with better pictures when Lori's arrives next week. Our reveal is March 30!
Till then, soup's on!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Gelli Good Intentions

Yes, I intended to have all the Gelli Arts printing plates paints, stencils, bubble wraps, paper of all types, tools, textures etc., etc. cleaned up and the dining room returned to it's purpose - dining!  TWO WEEKS AGO!  Well, I waited for the new Crafter's Workshop stencils to arrive, ordered more stencils from iStencils.com and waited for them to arrive (conducting several Gelli sessions in between the waits).  Last night I was fully DONE, packed up all of the supplies, tools, textures, and paper into two large plastic totes. We carted them off to the storage unit until the next urge or the next visit from paper painting friends.




Here are some of the additions I made to my rather plain muslin painter's smock.  The smock had managed to go thru three days of paint slinging on the Gelli plate with nothing more than a one inch smear on the right arm cuff to show for all the messing.  The Gelli plate worked great on the fabric using the same acrylic craft paints from the paper projects.  The belt (just a one inch woven ribbon from JoAnn's) was particularly fun to Gelli print and stamp.  Not sure how I will use the belt or how I will attach it.  To the sides, tie in back?  At the front and wrap around to tie in back or around again to tie in front?  Just another project on the list.


This is what my very talented husband was doing in his basement workshop those three days.  Bowls.  Gorgeous bowls.  From cherry, box elder, soft maple.  Some with natural edges, one with burned grooves.  The bottom right is a larger bowl from an unknown wood.  It's my favorite so far!  But I do love the vase.  I hear him down there now.  I think he's gone on to making "band saw boxes."






Here is a collage of some of my papers.  I am ordering some fresh Ice Resin and plan on making another mess when it arrives.  Resin papers.  More on that mess, later!

and



And now to start gathering some bead soup for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party!  Will keep you posted.  That's what blogs are for, eh?