10 Days To Go, Kate's Bracelet & Christmas Lights?

Well my 7th Annual Holiday Trunk Show is now 10 days away and nothing seems to be getting accomplished in terms of my readiness. This event is held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving every year in my home, which has to be totally rearranged furniture wise to make room for all of the great handcrafted items and their wonderful creators. Needless to say, there is way more stuff in my house than there should be right now. So instead of me trying to figure out what to do with it all I am getting myself and my jewelry ready to take a trip to Pheonixville, PA tonight for a 3 hour Holiday event! I am hoping this will be worth the trip there because I have never done this event before. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

On another note....I wanted to post some pictures of one of my students very first pieces of jewelry. Kate is relatively new to jewelry class (this is only her second session) and she finally finished her very first project which was a malachite and sterling silver bracelet. Kate made the settings, set the stones and then attached the whole thing together. It turned out beautifully and she did a great job! I took these pictures the day she finished her bracelet and I told her I would post them here but then I totally slacked off. I have had these images in my camera for over 2 weeks now! Sorry, Kate!

Kate's bracelet

Kate modeling her very first creation (and hey, that's one of my necklaces too)

And finally ( I just had to add this in).... since when does Christmas come right after Halloween? Why are people putting up Christmas lights on their houses right after they take down the Halloween decorations? And why are the radio stations playing Holiday music all day long in November? Doesn't anyone celebrate Thanksgiving anymore!?!

Handcrafted Women of the Web

Today womenpreneures.info posted their "Handcrafted Women of the Web" winter 2008 edition on their website today. And it just so happens that I am one of the women listed in their guide! The guide is a listing of all handcrafted shops that you can find on the web. The shops sell everything from clothing, jewelry, candles, bath and body, gourmet foods, children items, pet items and other misc handcrafted things! Handcrafted Women of the Web is a great reference if you are looking for any kind of handcrafted items whether it be gifts for the upcoming holidays or custom items you can't find anywhere else. Check it out if you get a chance and support these women owned businesses. You might find something new and different that might just make the perfect holiday gift for someone on your list or even yourself!

SheFinds.com is Featuring My Necklace!

I just found out the other day that SheFinds.com is now featuring my new Custom Name Charms in their "Custom Made Buyers Guide" which is up on their website now! This is the same necklace that I made for sister for her birthday in June. (I only added it to my website and wrote about it on my blog a month ago.) You can wear one or many on the same chain and they can be customized with names, words, stones, etc and they make great gifts for the holidays!

New Jewelry Making Workshops

Sabina's "girls night out" was such a hit with all the women that participated that I thought others might enjoy it too. That's how I came up with the new "Memories of Summer" workshop that I added to my 2009 workshop schedule. Not only can sea glass, river rocks or sea shells be used for this project, but any found object from a summer vacation can be turned into a piece of jewelry!

samples of sea glass jewelry that can be made in the new workshop

I also added a few new PMC workshops. PMC (or Precious Metal Clay) is a clay like material made of silver particles, water and a binder that holds everything together. It works like clay until it is fired in a kiln. After firing, it then is worked like metal. During the firing process the binder burns away and you are left with a piece of fine silver. I have had a few requests for different kinds of PMC workshops so I am adding a PMC Rings and PMC Beads workshop to the schedule.

Some rings made from PMC

Hollow beads made from PMC

The other thing I thought would be fun is to teach a workshop that would be perfect for people who like to work with metal but might be a little intimidated by using a torch. This is how I came up with a cold connections workshop. Cold connections is a term used to describe any way of connecting metal without the use of fire. Rivets, nuts & bolts, jump rings, etc are all examples of cold connections. My small reversible heart necklace is a piece that I made and attached together using cold connections. It's also a way to add more detail and decoration to a piece. My friend (and previous student) Holly Priester from Blue Fish Moon Studio uses cold connections for a lot of her work. Below is one of her "Peace Key" necklaces. Check out her website to see more of her work. It's really great!

Peace Key necklace by Holly Priester of Blue Fish Moon Studio

My Annual Holiday Trunk Show

The post cards are finally finished and now they are off to the printer! I am working on organizing my annual holiday trunk show that I hold every November. This is the 7th year I am having the event and it gets better and better every time! This year we have 10 artists exhibiting and there will be fine art & fine crafts galore! So if you are on my mailing list, mark your calendars and keep an eye out in the mail and/or email for your invitation! If you are not on the mailing list and would like to be, contact me and I'll add you to the list!

Beaded Wire Cuff Workshop

I taught another workshop yesterday and this time it was in my teaching studio space at Creative Genius Art Gallery in Medford, NJ. It was a small group of women, one whom was celebrating her 78th birthday by coming to the workshop with her daughter who signed her up as a gift. What a great idea for a gift!

They each created 2 cuff bracelets out of brass, copper and semi precious beads. Each bracelet came out great and everyone had a fun time as well!

We run this workshop at least once every month or so and if you are interested in making these great bracelets you can check out the next workshop date here!

PS.... the workshop photos were taken by Julie Basello-Holt

"Ladies Night Out" Workshop at Sabina's

Last night I taught another "Ladies Night Out" workshop. This time it was at Sabina's house in Medford Lakes. Her and her family have collected LOTS of beach glass over the years and she wanted to learn how to wire wrap it and turn it into jewelry. After contacting me and working out the details she invited 12 of her friends over for a jewelry making party. She served food and wine and all the women sat around her dining room table and worked on their pieces while enjoying Sabina's hospitality. I showed the women, none of whom had ever made jewelry before, how to make wire wrapped pendants, earrings and rings. They all did a great job! Some made Holiday gifts while others made pieces for themselves. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves (including me) and all went home with new jewelry and new skills that they can use to create more wonderful items in the future. I posted some of the pictures I took below....