Bead Wishes from Humblebeads

Today is my birthday so wishes are allowed and sometimes granted!

Here are my current beady wishes for the following year:

1. I'd like to learn to electroform treasures from nature.

2. I want to figure out fold forming leaves.

3. I'd like to have a mid-winter bead retreat next February in New Orleans.

4. I'd like to travel to more awesome beads stores for events, like the super retreat Andrew and I are hosting at Allegory Gallery in September.

5. I'd like to work on a new line of jewelry inspired by my upcoming book.

I'm giving away two gifts today! 

1. Leave a comment sharing a beady wish that you have and I will draw one random winner on Saturday for a $42 Humblebeads Gift Certificate. (No, that's not a ranom number!)

2. Use code BDAY20 for 20% off your order today and tomorrow at Humblebeads.com. 

Looking forward to hearing your beady wishes!

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! 

Are You a Lover of Beaded Learning?

I am knee deep in making plans for my 2014 teaching schedule. As I create new samples and design projects that will demonstrate techniques, I'm always wondering to myself "what do students really want to be learning?"

I have never met a beader yet that wasn't interested in learning something new.

Be they students, random shoppers in a local bead store or commenters on a blog, everyone has something they are aspiring to know how to do someday. I hear/read excited "OH, I wanna learn that someday" sentiments all the time! We are all constantly evolving our styles, eagerly devouring new techniques, and seeking knowledge of how the next cool trick might make our beading lives even better.

Right? Right.

So, I thought that it would be great to open up the comments today to a discussion about LEARNING! I think it would be a great insight for instructors as they design their class proposals, and cool for students too. Maybe someone else is excited to learn something you didn't even know existed!

Here are a few questions to get you started commenting...

• What is your dream class... what would have you in your car or on a plane and into a classroom in a heartbeat? 
• Do you like learning techniques or would you rather leave your class with a finished project to show off?
• Retreats vs. Big Bead Shows... which do you prefer?
• What technique is on your list as a must-learn? Bead weaving, stringing, wire working, metalsmithing, lampworking, polymer clay, ceramics, etc... what's next on your list?
• What jewelry designer or bead artist do you wish would start teaching?

I look forward to reading your thoughts!! Start sharing!!

Win a Dream Jewelry Studio + a FREE Class Giveaway!

You all know that I am a class junkie. I love the experience of getting together with a group of like-minded individuals and exploring the limits of my creativity learning new tricks and soaking up the knowledge from a talented Master artist. If I could, I would travel all around the country seeking out those opportunities. But more often than not, my imagination is greater than my wallet and sometimes I forget how vast this country really is, so traveling great distances and footing the bill for all the expense that that entails is not reality for me, and it likely isn't for most of you.

But that doesn't mean the quest for knowledge has to end! Of course there are some wonderful books out there, and I have shelves of them, but it just isn't the same as seeing someone with your own eyes showing you the way. The internet has become my best friend if I want to learn something.

There are a lot of videos floating around out there. But not all videos are created equal. That is why I am excited to share with you a new (to me) service that taps into my need for creative play at a price, location and time that works for anyone on any budget, anywhere and at anytime.

I was just introduced to CraftArtEdu.com, an online portal and e-learning community filled with over 300 classes from renowned instructors that are hand selected for their high quality and commitment to excellence. The subjects range from jewelry, polymer clay and fiber to wood, mixed media and even fine art. Each class offered comes with step by step instructions, handouts and even feedback from the instructors. You can even watch a little teaser of the class which is helpful to know if you would like to invest your time and money into it.

I like that there is such a wide variety of subjects. I am not a one-note creative, and I am sure that most of you dabble in other inspiring pursuits. Obviously, I could learn a lot from the Jewelry section, but I am most intrigued by the Polymer Clay section. And I have my eye on the Carve Your Own Rubber Stamp class. You see, I work in polymer clay every day, but I am completely self-taught. And I have so many ideas for things I would like to do with my Simple Truths, if only I could carve it myself. It would be good to have some Polymer Clay classes under my belt if only to understand the wide ranges of this medium. And it would be awesome to come up with my own designs!

The website is very clean and easy to use. Each section has sub-sections that make it easy to find something you want to learn. I like that I can take the class at my leisure, and watch it again any time I want. The prices are reasonable as well. The average cost of a class is $28 but I found more intensive classes that were in the $70-125 range or as little as $10 or even FREE. Yes, I said FREE. They offer beginning level sample classes for free in all their sections. A great way to test out their service and get a taste of something new.

The generous folks at CraftArtEdu.com shared two things with me that I think you are going to love:

1::They would like to gift a class to one of our readers.
and
2::They are hosting a Dream Jewelry Studio sweepstakes with up to $4500 in prizes.

The grand prize is a custom CraftOptics Rx telescope valued at $475 (a must for my aging beader eyes!), a $150 gift certificate to RioGrande.com (sweet!) and $125 in CraftArtEdu.com classes (let the learning begin!). But that is not all! An additional nine winners will receive $150 Rio Grand give certiciates and $50 in classes at CraftArtEdu.com. Plus, twenty more winners will each receive a free class from CraftArtEdu.com. A total of 30 chances to win... Amazing!

Don't wait! The sweepstakes is open until September 30th! Follow this link to sign up:

My Dream Jewelry Studio sweepstakes

Okay! Now how about the FREE class from CraftArtEdu.com for one lucky random winner? Just answer the following question in the comments (must have an email to contact, please!):

If you could take a class in any subject other than jewelry, what would it be? Fine art like drawing or painting? Are you nuts about ceramics? Would you like to be able to knit or crochet? Or would you love to learn to sculpt? Just leave your answer in the comments.  

(It doesn't need to be something on the CraftArtEdu.com website, but what the heck! Go and check it out and let us know!)

Check back in one week from today for the random winner of the FREE class from CraftArtEdu.com. And don't forget to sign up for to win the My Dream Jewelry Studio sweepstakes!

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?