Woo Hoo !! Getting ready for the "Chica Boutiqua"

http://www.indystar.com/article/20101028/LIVING17/10280316/A-variety-of-gifts-all-in-one-place?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|IndyStar.com|s
Getting ready for the "Chica Boutiqua"  It's the first year I'll be doing this show. It benefits the Zionsville Food Pantry , which is a great cause. My bracelet was featured in the Indianapolis Star- a little blurb about the show.
It put a smile on my face.

OH MY GOODNESS !!!!!

I am throwing out to the universe the thought of NO RAIN TOMORROW. I just know it's going to get it all out of it's system tonight, and be a beautiful, clear sky-ed awesome day tomorrow. I am really prepared, every i has been dotted, every t crossed. NOW, if I can get rid of the poison ivy breakout I'm having, life would be fabulous !!  I will be in Booth # Green area 41. Stop on by !!
PS- Penrod Art Fair- on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Saturday September 11th 9-5

Countdown............. 7 FREAKING days !!!

Wow, I remember when I got the notification that I was accepted to the Penrod Arts Fair that I had 4 months to prepare. No sweat, right ? YIKES, did those 4 months go by quickly ! I'm now in countdown mode. Cleaning pieces, assembling pieces, and still making beads ! I had a friend tell me that for this Fair, if you think you have enough inventory, you probably DON'T ! Luckily, with Labor Day on Monday, I'm only working 2 days this week,  Tuesday and Wednesday. I took Thursday off "just because" ! :)
Since this is my first year doing this show, I don't know what to expect other than huge crowds ! My wonderful niece will be helping me on Saturday, and I get to go the day before to set up my tent, and take my tables, so all of the big stuff will be out of the way.
I'm excited, nervous and a little bit overwhelmed~ It's all good though !

Best birthday present EVER !

I was talking with my sister Jan the other day, and she asked how things were coming for Penrod. I told her that all was well, and that I hadn't talked to anyone to ask them if they would want to help me. I also told her how great would it be if  my niece (her daughter)  Liz could help me that day. She lives in Kansas City, and is an artist herself and has done smaller shows in the past. The next thing I know, Liz is calling me to tell me that she will be flying in on Friday night before the show to help me !!!
My sister had purchased a flight for Liz to come. I told her this could be my birthday, Christmas gift for the next few years !! I'm truly blessed to have family that is so supportive. Even though my sister doesn't "get" lampwork beads, she still supports my passion.
LOVE YOU JAN !

I can vacuum anytime !

I had the day off today, and I had tons of things on my honey-do list (me, being my own honey)  I decided that Penrod is going to be here before I know it, and I needed to come up with some cool, knock your socks off designs .  When I'm designing, I "don't do" FAST. Pieces get put together and then taken apart multiple times before they're considered ready ! Here's a couple of things I came up with. I can't take credit for the bracelet design (Melissa Muir), but I changed up the design of the clasp closure, and added my own type of dangle.
The Wishbone pendant started out as a "ladder", but morphed into a wishbone. I just love the color combination of the peridot colored bead with the shiny silver. Yum ! Lemme know whatch think !

And this is what it looks like after completion !

I'll be making more of these !

Yesterday was "prototype day".  I dug out my PMC supplies and went to town ! I REALLY enjoy working with PMC (precious metal clay)  For those that don't know what PMC is, I'll explain it in a nutshell (or an acorn cap !!LOL)  You start with "clay" that is made up of fine silver and a "binder" that keeps the clay together. You roll it, texture it, then shape it into anything that you want. After it is dried completely, you pop it into the kiln at 1650 degrees for 2 hours. The "binder" is burned out and you're left with a piece of pure (.999) silver. VERY COOL !!
 This is what your pieces look like out of the kiln.         

HUGE NEWS !!

Oh my gosh....this has been a goal of mine for about as long as I can remember. Even when I wasn't making beads or jewelry, I would attend the Penrod Arts Fair and I would say to myself  "I want to be in this show someday" Well, guess what ???? I got the notice on Saturday that I was accepted !!! I'm stunned, excited and nervous ! I have a show in Zionsville on May 15th, then am open till the Penrod in September. I"ll keep my blog more up to date as I get ready for this show !! Woooohoooo !!

Almost ready !

Ever since after Christmas I have been preparing for my first "real Art" show.
Cathy (www.cathybrowndesigns.com) and I have been wanting to branch out and away from the shows where people say "you want how much for a bracelet"? lol  Bottom line....they don't appreciate Art. I've been making beads like nobody's business, mainly BIG beads for Kaleidoscope bodies and bottle opener handles. Now I have to hunker down for jewelry beads.
I want to create a picture of some of my work to hang behind our booth space that depicts some of my favorite pieces. Here is what I have so far. Not quite sure about the text. I'll tweak it till I get what I want.
I kinda like it :

TaDa !!

Here is the picture of the pendant that I made on Sunday @ Cathy's.

                                                                        
                                                                             

                                 

Gosh, I work slowly !!

I spent my whole afternoon playing at Cathy Brown's house. I had such huge expectations of getting so much done, but only ended up making ONE (yes, 1) pendant. Granted, it was a two layer hand sawed copper/brass sheet that I riveted in multiple places.  I guess it's ok to work for 4 hours on a project, but try to explain that to your customers. They'll look at a piece and can't figure out why it costs so much ! TIME !!!
Now, 4 hours for just the pendant part (not including the time it took to etch the metals, we'll just call that a wash), 15 minutes to make the acorn bead, another 8 hours electroforming the top, then another hour or so figuring out how to "string it up"  No pictures yet, it's still tumbling, but it'll be coming soon !