My First Bead Cruise

I (Michelle from Firefly Design Studio) returned a few days ago from my first Bead Cruise.  Our own Heather Powers says she plans her dream vacation and invites 65 friends to join her!  Heather keeps us busy, but there is plenty of time to enjoy the ship and ports.  For me, it was the top notch classes that got me excited.  This is what I took and learned:

Kerry Bogert is a wire worker expert.  She has written 3 books and has so many tips and tricks that she is willing to share.  My first class with Kerry was an earring class.  We received sheets of copper and brass, 24 g and 18g wire.  We punched circles and cut rectangles as well as punched small circles around the edges of our shapes.  It was fun texturing the metal with fancy hammers.  Here they are!

Next I learned chain making from Kerry.  She also showed us how to make a few kinds of clasps, which I was excited to learn.  We made 1 chain each hour.  We used dowels, pliers, punches, and made jump rings.  Which is your favorite?  Mine is the circle one, third from left.  I plan on dangling a ceramic bead at the end of the extender chains I made to make these bracelets and 1 necklace "me."

This necklace that Kerry taught us is so cool!  We used a coil machine, or hand coiling, as well as wrapping 16g wire around different sized dowels.  We connected our links together for this statement piece design!

Beverly Herman is a very talented, patient and fun seed bead instructor.  This is only my third time doing bead embroidery.  Time Traveler used multiple sizes of seed bead, pearls and a ceramic disc that I had the honor of making for the student kits!  I am about half finished at this point.  Isn't it going to be gorgeous?

Bead Cruise 2017 is already more than half booked.  I know the ship departs from Texas and is going to the Western Caribbean next year in February.  I am already going on a cruise in February with my friends, so I didn't think 2 cruises in 1 month would work with my schedule.  If you'd like to learn more, go to www.beadcruise.com and check it out.

Bead & Button Show: Taking Classes

A few weeks back on my Inside the Studio I posed the following question in regards to the Bead and Button Show....

Would you rather....

...spend your money on BEADS?

OR

...invest in taking classes with MASTERS?

It seemed pretty evenly split, with many 'cheating' and choosing both! ;-)

When I first got myself together to go to the Bead and Button Show in 2008, I asked myself that same question. And I came up with the answer: take classes. I reasoned that I could always buy beads online (that is what I had been doing up to that point, but little did I know what treasures were awaiting me!), plus the time factor (it always falls the last week of school), and I also knew that I am not one to follow directions in a tutorial or book. The opportunity to meet an instructor and artist that I admired was just too great a pull.

My very first class there was with Susan Lenart Kazmer. Talk about an incredible way to kickstart my love of learning! She was kind and gracious, gentle with her criticisms and lavish with her enthusiasm. Ever other class has been compared to that very first one, some rising right to the top with Miss Susan, and some falling short, but all with something to teach me.

It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I was scheduled to co-teach a class for a necklace with Brenda Schweder on the Now That's a Jig! tool. Unfortunately, that class was cancelled due to no enrollment. That was a disappointment. But I did get to teach with the NTaJ! tool in Brenda's booth on Saturday. I taught my O Christmas Tree ornament to 16 lovely students in a make-and-take. I even have my design as a template on velum for the jig with my name on it. I have to say it was a pretty cool moment to see that!

The good thing that came out of being listed as an instructor was that I got to register for my classes a whole month early. That was too great a temptation to ignore, specifically because last year I didn't take one class. I really felt the absence of learning in 2014. I was envious of every single person that took classes. I knew that I had to find a way to take something this year.

Because I got to register to early, I knew that I should try for a class with a Master. Usually these classes fill up fast! So this was my chance to learn from Thomas Mann. If you don't know who he is, you must live under a rock, because he is world-renowned and a highly sought-after instructor. He is an innovative designer with a style he refers to as "techno-romantic."

I signed up for his Containers To Wear course. This is a concept that he has pioneered and it really is quite brilliant. He has engineered a sort of shadow-box container that is chemically etched in an industrial process that makes a sort of 'punch out' template of the three pieces needed to construct this magical box.

While it looks like a simple put-tab-A-into-slot-B sort of thing, it really is much more complex than that. The entire construction took me most of the day to get it right (it took a long time, and a tiny wood baseball bat - how clever is that? - to get the perfect round shape so everything would line up perfectly), and while I had enough to make a second one (and some of the others actually did), I knew that I wanted to wait until I had a plan for it. Maybe I will never complete it, but that would be okay too. You might be asking... could I just make it from the kit he sells on his site? Maybe, but it was pretty involved and there was nothing better than having the inventor working along side you!

Did I mention that there were only four of us in the class? I was so surprised it wasn't full! So it was like getting a one-on-one with the Master himself! We listened to his Pandora music station, we shared some of his bits and pieces, he even offered me a snack at lunch time. He is a true artist and a master of the craft. It was a thrill to be sharing this space with him.

The back and sides were textured using a flex shaft to resemble tree bark. I have wanted one of those since my very first class in 2006 with Kay Raschka. And guess what? I now own of of Thomas Mann's flex shaft stations! I am working on re-organizing my studio so I can actually set it up to use it. (Hold me to it, okay?)

I could have put anything in there - cogs and gears, pictures, game pieces, words, found objects - but in the end I decided to make mine a nature inspired peephole, as if spying on a little bit of the natural world. I used my favorite special little speckled egg-shaped bead and fashioned a little steel nest for it. I had these two amazing little feathers that I found a long time ago. Time to stop hoarding them! I even went outside and found a tiny branch to add to the box. I 'frosted' the edges of the plexiglas cover with a very fancy file that one very generous participant let me use.

In the end I made something that was all me... a tiny nature treasure box hand-etched with a tree bark pattern, featuring a tiny wire nest with one of my special matte marble-ish egg beads (I simply cannot find any more of these! If you recognize and can tell me a source, I would be eternally grateful!), a tiny twig and two tiny precious feathers under a plexiglas window pane. I even carved my initials in the back of the 'tree' pattern. The only regret that I have is that I listened to Thomas when he insisted that I put the pin back on, even when I said I would never wear it that way. I should have listened to my gut, as it doesn't lay flat and is a bit pokey. I think I can still get it off without any trouble, as it is all cold-connected. But this piece is more of a treasured artwork and something that might grace my studio space as a reminder of the experience. It will always be in a place of honor.

Fun Fact: When I was hammering a little piece of wire near the end of the day so that I could fashion a quick hook to wear my container out of the class, he hopped right up hurried over to me. With an impish grin he took the hammer from my hands and smiled over his glasses, like any good wizard would do, and told me that I was doing it wrong. Simply from the sound of my blows, it was clear I was holding my hammer wrong! Now I could have been embarrassed or even offended, but in three hits he was able to accomplish what I was feverishly doing, and not very well. Lesson learned! [In case you want to know, I was holding the bulb of the chasing hammer, as I have instructed countless students to do, but was unconsciously turning my wrist and bracing the top of the hammer with my index finger. Nah-uh. I knew it was wrong, yet I didn't even know I was doing that! That bit of info right there, my friends, was worth the price of admission!]

I had about an hour before I had to be at my next class with the oh-so-talented Eva Sherman. I had a chance meeting with Miss Eva in December when I was filming an episode for Beads, Baubles and Jewels (that I believe is coming up next month! Oh, and if you want to see an earlier episode that I was in that aired last fall, here is the link: http://www.beadsbaublesandjewels.com/ - just scroll down and you can view it until June 19th!) I knew I had to take a class with her after spending a delightful evening having dinner.

Miss Eva has a book coming out sometime later this year from Kalmbach called Cool Copper Cuffs, which was coincidentally the name of the class that I took. Can't wait for that! I love that every single tool that we needed - right down to the hammers - was provided by her for the class. That made it really easy to just breeze on in and not worry if I brought the right thing, or have to borrow it from someone. It was great to test out tools that I might not be able to afford to see if I want to get them. In fact, I went out and bought an oval steel bracelet mandrel inspired by this class!  

We hammered and heated, annealed and textured, corrugated and patinated. Fun stuff! This allowed us to create two distinctly different cuff bracelets in just about 3 hours! We used the 'poor man's rolling mill' (aka, Sizzix Big Kick) to emboss some patterns on dead soft metal. We learned that we can anneal as many times as you like for limitless possibilities. I wove metal, made a ripple, added an eyelet effect (I just had to be different!) and used a really cool tool called a Microfold Brake. (Adding that to my tool-drool list!)

Hey, look! As I was cruising through the lobby, I spotted the Bead Dreams competition and my friend StaciLouise Smith's amazing polymer clay creations that took 2nd and 3rd (truly I didn't even notice what was 1st.. I just know it couldn't be any more amazing than these two!). So cool!

On Sunday I got up a bit earlier to take a class with Andrew Thornton and Cynthia Thornton. Cynthia is known for her whimsical Green Girl Studios world and Andrew is just.... so very cool. Both are completely fine artists, so it was a no-brainer to take a class with them. I knew that whatever we did would have a magical quality and I was not disappointed. It was a treat to actually bump into them right after I got done with the Thomas Mann class - I just find them delightful!

This class was called Modern Alchemy: Jeweled Windows. We used soldering irons to make these fantastic bubbles out of painted glass to hold the tiniest of items. It made me want to go out and get a soldering iron again to replace the one I threw out years ago. (More tool-drool!) 

This was a very cool class with a lot of room for your own personality to come through. I loved that these two wonderful people were teaching it together. I felt like I was getting double my money's worth! They have such an ease about them, and a very genuine interest in every single person. Such generous souls they are! On more than one occasion, either Andrew or Cynthia asked me if my heart was full. What a nice thought! Yes. This class was everything I thought it would be. 

We used glass paint to create texture on these glass to create a transparent pocket to hold whatever you want - a picture, sand and seashells, or tiny glass beads for a shimmering suncatcher effect. This project has a lot of potential for fun expression.

Of course, I did buy beads. But it as more a year of tools and techniques for me. I picked up a bunch of great tools to add to my working studio space, some that have me rethinking things that I do, and have added more to my tool-drool list that I can hopefully afford sooner rather than later (and find more room to house them!). 

What it comes down to for me with classes is that I would rather pick my classes based on who the teachers are, rather than to learn a technique or finish a project. I choose based on who I would like to spend time with, to bask in their glow and soak up the experience. This year was a banner year for me in that I learned so much, I plan to use quite a lot of it, and I got to experience these amazing artists up close and personal. And now I know that if I ever get the chance to actually teach in a venue like this (that would be awesome!) I have some great role models to look up to!

If you take classes, are you more interested in the techniques, the tools, the finished product or the instructors?

Inside the Studio: Erin Prais-Hintz, Tesori Trovati

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive, we offer a prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard and tell us what you think. The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries.

Congratulations to Katherine Thompson!

You have won a $20.00 gift certificate to spend in Mary Harding's Etsy shop.

Send Mary an email to claim your prize. 

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Hello bead tribe!

I don't know about you, but I feel a bit like I am barely treading water right now. Spring is always a bit frenzied for me. I am having a hard time keeping up!

Dance was over in April (but starting up again) and now travel softball (first tournament next weekend) and rec league are about to start for my daughter. Today is the last day of school for my son. Tomorrow he will officially be a senior for the 2015-2016 school year (wait...what?!!!?). Next Wednesday his baseball team takes on a regional semi-final baseball game on their march to State (they made it past the regionals only to fall in the last game - sectionals - two years in a row. Feeling hopeful that this is the year we can make it!). My daughter will be graduating from 8th grade next Thursday and I have been up around the clock working on the big through-the-years slideshow celebrating all 64 graduates. Add into that the fact that the grand-daddy of all bead shows is coming to Milwaukee (about 3 hours away - how could I miss it?!), and of course back in December I signed up to take classes on Wednesday  with Thomas Mann, Eva Sherman (yes, I will be missing the baseball game...and the weekend softball tournament), and on Sunday with the Thorntons (Andrew and Cynthia) all of which I am SOOOO not ready for. Needless to say, I am going a bit out of my mind!

Examples from past Thomas Mann classes - can't wait!

I didn't sign up for classes last year and I really missed it. I typically set aside a few hundred dollars for classes/workshops each year and last year I didn't really do anything that wasn't virtual. I miss the face-to-face. So I was excited to get in a class with Thomas Mann. Sometimes I take classes with artists that I admire, not really caring about what I am learning, just to soak up their genius. That would sum up my feeling about Thomas Mann. I had the good fortune to meet Miss Eva Sherman when I filmed a episode of Beads, Baubles & Jewels in December (which will go live in July! Woot!). She is dynamite and so sweet, so I knew that I had to take a class with her. And what more can be said about Andrew Thornton and his sister Cynthia of Green Girl Studios fame? They are absolutely delightful, so I know that I will be captivated by their magical class. 

Lisa Peters Art beads from 2011... I know I still have one of those tubes in my stash!

Of course, I love to shop at the bead show, but I have been on a self-imposed bead diet for over a year (that really hasn't stopped me so much as slowed me down - thanks to Miss Heather Millican of Swoondimples for helping me cheat recently!). I have stacks, bins and boxes of beads that I have purchased over the past few years at B&B that I have been hoarding. So I really don't NEED any more beads (but I know that won't stop me). I am actually hoping to put together some kits that I was asked to design, so that might be the only way that I will get my shopping fix.

Best beady friends!

So I will be heading to the classes I am taking with Thomas Mann and Eva Sherman on Tuesday night. And I will be coming back on Wednesday night as soon as my last class ends so that I can be present for the graduation festivities on Thursday. Then back to Bead & Button on Friday-Sunday, meeting up with my best friend and ABS Editor, Heather Powers and her Aunt Rosanne. It is something I look forward to every year. We really never get enough time to be together as friends and bead shoppers, it is always a whirlwind, more so this year than ever. 

I was honored that a necklace design I made last year was selected as a class for this year's Bead & Button co-teaching with Miss Brenda Schweder using her Now That's A Jig tool. Unfortunately, the world of Bead & Button Show classes is pretty competitive and my class ended up being cancelled due to low enrollment. Bummer! But I do believe everything happens for a reason, and it would have added to my stress level to teach on that large a scale. Plus, this won't be the last you will see of this necklace idea.... ;-)

And when one door closes, another opens... I am delighted to say that I will be teaching two make-and-take mini-classes on Saturday, June 6th at the Now That's A Jig booth #901/903. I think that space is limited, so if you are interested, be sure to sign up! I just saw the template of my original holiday ornament design that I will be teaching, and I am so looking forward to it!

Since I will be at the Bead & Button show next week, my prize for you will be to have me be your personal shopper at the Bead & Button Show. I am a really good shopper (just ask Heather!), and I need an excuse to go and fondle... er.... buy some beads, so it will be fun for me to pick out some things special for one lucky random winner. I will be sure to pick out some nice things for a surprise bead stew! Here is my question for you....

Would you rather....

...spend your money on BEADS? If so, what would you be looking for at Bead & Button?

OR

...invest in taking classes with MASTERS? If so, what would you most like to learn or who would you like to learn from?

A random winner will be selected at the next Inside the Studio

and in the meantime, I will be shopping for something special just for one of you!

Inside the Studio with Erin Prais-Hintz

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner. 

Congratulations Debra Gibson!

You have won one of Mary's new metal toggles.

Please send Mary an email with your information. 

This week we check in with Erin Prais-Hintz to see what is going on Inside the Studio.

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I have been riding a whirlwind the last few months.

If you have been following me, you know that in September, quite out of the blue, I was offered an opportunity that I just couldn't refuse: film four hour-long videos for Interweave (F+W Media).

Since my creating time is relegated to the 9p-midnight hours for me, and September weekends were filled with football games, Homecoming plus a full three-day school fundraiser, I really had to work hard and fast to come up with the content. Not only did I have to come up with four completely different ideas, but I had to make prototypes... write outlines, intros and scripts... gather supplies and materials... make travel arrangements... create jewelry with the techniques... and practice, practice, practice. Needless to say, I had a lot of sleepless nights!

I told Jean Cox that I was not a technique based artist. Rather, I have wide breadth of knowledge. I didn't mean that to sound like I don't know anything, it is just that I feel like I would be hard-pressed to have any one technique something that I am known for. I work in metals and wire... I string and assemble... I create with clay and resin and mixed media. I consider myself more of a bricolage artist, a bricoleur.

bri·co·lage /brēkōˈläZH,ˌbrikə-/ noun

     : something constructed or created from a diverse range of available things.

     : origin : French "to tinker, to do odd jobs" 

So constructing from the diverse range of available things in my own studio and life, I ended up with these four ideas that evolved into these four videos:

Shimmering Garden: wire wrapped petal shaped beads form a sparkling garden of blooms to give your pieces a fresh take on a retro look.

Fabulous Facets: polymer clay, inks and patinas combine to make rough faceted handmade beads in an ombre color effect.

Flashes of Brilliance: paint, mica, glitter, stones and resin combine for truly unique faux gemstones and include a new on the scene UV resin that gives almost instant gratification!

Wire Doodles: create freeform links and connectors in dark annealed steel wire that can be used in a variety of ways in your jewelry using both the Now That's a Jig and your hand tools

Filming was everything you would imagine it to be... overwhelming... nerve-wracking... hard work... and even fun! Putting something on like this is definitely a challenge and there is a lot that has to be prepared and thought out. It certainly makes me appreciate those that take the time to teach and share their knowledge, whether in written tutorials, slideshow webinars or workshop settings. I think that there has become such an expectation that content is delivered free for the taking and people find it so easy to criticize the work without any regard for the person behind the class. After going through this, I will certainly remember how much time and effort goes into the classes and tutorials that I take and truly appreciate it. I can remember how great it felt to be done with the filming and have some time to drive into the surrounding mountains near Fort Collins, CO to take in the breathtaking views. It was just what I needed to decompress and reflect on all that transpired.

And then you wait.

Luckily, they are really on top of pushing the content to the website as soon as possible. Did you know that Interweave offers over 500 videos on their site CraftDaily.com? They are completely professional and efficient and I feel so grateful for this experience. Plus, I really didn't have to wait all that long before the videos were starting to show up on their site. Ready in just about three weeks!

I wasn't sure if I would be able to deliver content that was worth flying me out to Colorado for the subscription service on CraftDaily.com. The good news is that they liked my content so much that they decided to also offer them as either downloads or DVDs through the InterweaveStore.com. Now that is a true 'something good!'

There is also something new that I am finishing up...can you keep a secret? It's a kit! F+W Media asked me to be the first featured artist in the month of January and they asked me to make up a kit to go along with the Fabulous Facets video. Right now my dining room looks like the elves have taken over! Next week I will be sending off limited edition kits to Interweave/F+W Media in time for the January blitz. I am calling them Creativity To Go Kits and I think they will really enhance the learning experience of the DVD.

Can I let you in on another secret? I will be co-teaching a class at the Bead & Button Show in June 2015 with Brenda Schweder (inventor of the Now That's a Jig that I used in the Wire Doodles video) based on my AlphabetiQ necklace. So you know what I will be busy preparing in January!

December and January seem to be the time that I gobble up videos and make arrangements to take classes. This is the time that I start thinking of new techniques I would like to try, teachers I admire that I would like to meet, skills that I would like to develop. I actively set aside funds each year to take classes and buy resources that will help me learn something new. For myself, I have already bought a bunch of polymer clay tutorials (like this and this and this) and I am looking at taking some new wire and metal working classes (like this and this and this and this). So my question to you is this...

What new skill/technique are you looking to learn in 2015?

Please feel free to share links to those tutorials, classes and retreats that you are looking into
(I am always looking for more ways to learn!)

A random winner will have their choice of either the Shimmering Garden or Fabulous Facets video to kick start your creativity for the New Year! 

Bead Events Hosted by Heather Powers

Hello dear ABS readers! Heather here, your bead-obsessed editor with news of two events that I'm hosting that I just had to share with you today.

First up is that general registration for Bead Cruise 2015 is opening up on May 8th. This is our 10th anniversary sailing.  This is a dream vacation filled with bead classes, bead parties, make-and-takes, design contests, a costume cocktail party and much more!

Our 2015 sailing is February 15th from Ft. Lauderdale, FL heading to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan and a private island called Labadee.  Yeah, a day on a private island.  It's paradise!

Pictured above is one of the classes that I'm teaching. Classes include metalwork, wirework, beading, stringing, bead embroidery, felting and polymer clay - something for everyone! Instructors include myself, Tracy Stanley, Beki Haley, Shelley Nybakke, Beverly Herman and Erin Siegel.

Beverly Herman is teaching the Star of the Sea necklace that features a ceramic cabochon from from Suburban Girl Beads.

Erin Siegel, co-author of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry and former ABS contributor, is a guest instructor and will be teaching this fun and trendy tribal inspired knotting class.

We sold half our spaces yesterday during our early bird registration (for past cruisers) so head on over to the website and see if this is something you need to add to your travel plans for next year. If this has been on your bucket list, 2015 is the year to go! 

www.beadcruise.com

The next event is a little closer to home, in fact - right on your computer screen. I'm hosting my first online workshop on June 16th - July 7th. We'll explore color and polymer clay to make amazing beads. 

It's a four week class to learn color theory and how to create simple to complex cane designs, leading up to making this spectacular Van Gogh's Sunflower cane. You can read the details and sign up here.

Bead Cruise 2014

It's that time of year again! Registration for Bead Cruise 2014 is now open.

Bead Cruise 2014 will set sail from Miami, Floridia for 7 nights of beads, friends and fun!  We'll sail on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of Seas to St. Maarten, Puerto Rico and Royal Caribbean's very own private island Labadee in Haiti.
 

Instructors include Kerry Bogert, Beverly Herman, Heather Powers and Leslie Frazier!  All the fun of a luxury cruise combined with a great bead retreat.  Join us for a week of bead classes, workshops, open beading sessions, a costume cocktail party, gift bags, door prizes, a bead bazaar and more! 

Visit www.beadcruise.com for all the details and sign up at www.memorycruisin.com.

The best thing I did in 2012 for my jewelry business...

Last year I discovered an amazing resource that I've shared several times here on the Art Bead Scene - the Flourish & Thrive Academy.  Their informative blog and conference calls were some of the first places I turned to when I started to seriously work on the wholesale line of my jewelry business.  I always clicked on Tracy and Robin's emails because I knew every time I'm going to learn something valuable.  So last fall when they opened up registration to their Flourish and & Thrive Academy course, I signed up right away. 

It is hands-down the best thing I've done for my business.  I started the course, knowing I would be in the middle of a move during part of it.  But with the lifetime access to the course, I knew I would be able to pick up where I left off and later enjoy listening in on the calls, learning from what others were struggling with each week.  Tracy and Robin also offer encouragement and support in a Facebook group for the course, so I knew if I had a burning question about the course they would be there to help.

From an in-depth discovery of who my ideal client was, to creating a collection of jewelry that appeals to buyers, to finding places to market my work and lots of tips for promotions, this 4-week course was jammed packed with just the information I had been searching for.  You know how you just wish someone would come along and tell you exactly what you need to do to make your business a success - yeah, that was Tracy and Robin!  The bonus material for the class is like getting a big Christmas present at the end of the course.  Sort of like, here are all the tools - go make your dreams happen.  Along with Tracy and Robins' wisdom during weekly conference calls we were introduced to other great coaches and resources that offered invaluable insights into our clients and our businesses.  Along with the big, lofty questions of branding and advice on rounding out your collection, there were practical tips like putting together a successful line-sheet, ways to merchandise your work and improve customer service. 

The designers taking the course ranged from high-end goldsmiths to those who string beads.  Each of us learned to tell our own unique story and were given the tools to find the customers who will fall in love with our work.  If you have been struggling with your business, whether you want to sell wholesale or retail, I can't recommend the Flourish & Thrive Academy enough.

Click here for more information on registration. 

(Disclosure: I'm a proud affiliate partner with Flourish & Thrive Academy, but even it wasn't, I'd send you there - they know what they are taking about and I love sharing a good thing!)

Learning Something New

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. 
~Vernon Howard

I am lucky that I only live about 3 hours away from the Bead & Button show with the over 600 classes offered there. I go to shop, of course, but learning something new is always more fun to me. I actually set aside a sizable budget to take classes, and it would be my goal to jet off to art retreats I have never done online classes, and I am sure that they are great, but I know that I learn best hands on. Being able to meet a teacher or author that I admire and spend concentrated time with them soaking up all that they can give is a magical experience. 

Since I first started taking classes in 2007, I have realized that they have all been about metal in some fashion. Oddly enough, I rarely make my own metal bits but I keep being pulled to these instructors and techniques. Maybe it is because I am so fascinated by the process, or perhaps it is with a hope that one of these days all the stars will align and I will be able to take all this knowledge that I have gleaned from these master teachers over the years and put them to use.

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Here is a list of some of my favorite teachers and their pivotal classes that I have taken and what I have learned:

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2007 - Kay Rashka - Jewelry Metals Fabrication: Start to Finish
This was my introduction to metals. I used a jewelers saw for the first time, a Flex Shaft and created a pair of earrings that I am still proud to wear. What was supposed to be a class of 12 ended up being just 2 so it was a marvelous way to spend the day pretty much one on one!

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2008 - Susan Lenart Kazmer - Exploration of Resins: An Emerging Voice in Metals
This was the first year that I went to Bead & Button. I knew how much time I could take and how much money I could spend. I decided that my time and money would be best used in a two-day intensive class. I had no idea who Susan was (!). In that class I met Carter Seibels Singh of Bead Trust and had the dumb luck to sit next to Jennifer Heynen of Jangles before I knew who she was, too! Susan is an incredible gift of a teacher, so enthusiastic and giving of her ideas. And this was right when her book came out and the ICE Resin was hitting the streets. I think we were one of the first classes to work with it. This opened up a whole new world of mixed media to me and I am still experimenting with the techniques I learned here.

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My first attempts at riveting and stamping

2009 - Tracy Stanley  - Riveting and metal work

Miss Tracy Stanley is a bundle of fun. She introduced me to riveting. On my first try I actually did it not only right, but surprisingly well. Unfortunately, I have never been able to reproduce that success with riveting since. I think that because I didn't struggle with it, so I never learned how to correct myself. We made these fun pendants with sawn frames, applied texture and used metal stamps for messages on the back panel. I have Tracy to thank for my addiction to metal letter stamp sets (I think I am up to 8 now!) and for introducing me to Fretz hammers which led to my purchase of a $70 raw silk texturing hammer that I have used less than a dozen times! But it is the best! Tracy has co-authored a new book with Janice Berkebile called Making Wire & Bead Jewelry. I simply must make this part of my library!

That year I also took classes with John Fetvedt in chain maille where I learned to make a Byzantine pattern and where I found my love of the love knot as a way to add a simple detail to most of my designs; Gina Crow introduced me to chemical etching where I found that although I loved the look of etched metal, I hated feeling like I had to wear a toxic suit to use it; and Maria Martinez who tried to share some secrets of PMC with me, where my project was the one that was the example of what not to do and where I learned that this was not the medium for me (and I sadly never completed my PMC ring project despite going back for another hour). This was also the year that I realized that taking a 3 hour class, like all three of these were, is not conducive to me learning anything. It has to be at least a full day, preferably more.

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E3 Etching with Sherri Haab

2010 - Sherri Haab - E3 Electro Etching & Faux Bone w/ PMC frames
Not one to give up easily, I jumped at the chance to take another etching class, this time using the E3 Etching system pioneered by the prolific author and artist Sherri Haab. I loved it! It may take a bit longer, but I love that it is not nearly as toxic as ferric chloride. The fact that I was able to sign up for two classes with Sherri on back to back days was awesome. The Faux Bone was an interesting substance but it was hard to get consistent results. I recall that my pendant was the only one in the class that seemed to turn out and again, I realized that PMC is not for me. But I did get to meet someone I admired in that class, Miss Molly Schaller who amazes me with her way with beads and has become a true friend.

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Pipe bezels in progress

2011 - Stephanie Lee - Homesteaders Metalsmithing, Found Object and Pipe Bezels - ArtBliss
I couldn't get into the class that I wanted at Bead & Button but I had already set aside a specific amount of money to take a class. Rather than settle for a class that I wasn't jazzed up about, I went looking elsewhere. I am so glad I did! For about the same amount of money, I flew to DC and got to meet longtime online friends like Cindy Wimmer and Jeannette Blix Ryan and Lori Anderson all while taking a full weekend of classes with Stephanie Lee of Semiprecious Salvage fame. I loved it! Not only was it the first time I actually traveled anyplace by myself, but I learned to love the flame and how cool it is to create using items that are readily available at the hardware store. 

My bezel shrines and wonky links!

We made bezel shrines and free form chain links as well as cool pipe bezels. My local Frank's Hardware saw a boom in sales after that class as I stocked up on all the things you would need to solder and hammer and otherwise transform metal. And I have heard that Stephanie's online classes are just as engaging as her live ones, something to think about when I need a class fix in the future.

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Me with Barabara Lewis and her husband Jim

 2012 - Barbara Lewis - Painting with Fire enameling

This year I traveled down early to the Bead & Button just to take a full day class with Barbara Lewis learning the Painting With Fire method of enamel. I was on Barbara's book tour last fall, and I bought the kit, but truthfully haven't taken it out of the box! I know! What a shame! I found out that I was surprisingly good at this and it was a lot of fun. It was easy to do, but I am so glad I had some other experiences with flame before this, because this was a BIG flame! Barbara and her husband were so accommodating and kind, so giving with their knowledge and very supportive. 

A sampling of some of my best enamel beads

My only sadness is that I don't have the proper studio set up to continue to enamel in this way unless I want to take over the garage. But I will find a way to make more of these beads, especially since I own all the supplies and almost all the colors!

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2012 - Richard Salley - Alchemy & Relics  
I have always wanted to meet Richard Salley. I recall reading an article about him in Belle Armoire Jewelry that fascinated me. His rustic style and his love of found objects had me hooked. I couldn't get into his B&B class in 2011, nor in 2012, so when I saw that he would be at the Valley Ridge Art Studio in southern Wisconsin, I knew that I couldn't pass that up. I think I may have been the first to sign up! I had always wanted to go to Valley Ridge. 

The view from the Valley Ridge Art Studio

It is a quaint little converted farm in a rolling hillside populated by more cows than people. Katherine Engen the owner told me that this year would be the last season she will have it open. That made my trip bittersweet. Because I finally felt like I found my place and would love to return for more creative fun.

Richard Salley is one of the warmest and wittiest and wisest instructors I have experienced yet!

Richard was absolutely one of the best teachers I have had the pleasure to learn from. He was warm, wise, witty. He treated us all as if we were old friends. All my experiences up to now really prepared me well for this. 

One of my completed necklaces - silver riveted to copper, bezel set garnet cab

We etched copper using a method that might turn me back on to ferric chloride, we created stamps from those etchings, then using torches we flooded metal with silver bearing solder (something that he and I both learned from Stephanie Lee) and made really cool relics. I also learned to set a small stone in a bezel cup and practiced my riveting. This is something that I am making space in my studio to practice. 

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While most of these classes have been right in my own state, I have traveled a fair distance by car and plane to get to the places where I want to learn. And I realize that I would be willing to fly almost anywhere to take a class. It is that important to me to keep on learning. All of these classes are leading me someplace with metal and wire and etching and enameling and patinas. Someplace special I would very much like to explore and someplace that I would very much like my art to live in. I am on the hunt for new classes that will keep me moving forward in this journey and allow me to bring the jigsaw puzzle of my past experiences together into one fully focused picture. 

I think the picture is starting to take shape for me.

What classes do you dream of taking? Which instructors would you love to learn from? How far would you be willing to travel to take those classes?