Wednesday, April 29, 2009

PMC Class

Last Saturday, my daughter and I took a class in Precious Metal Clay (PMC). PMC is made from silver which has been reclaimed from old film. It is mixed with a clay like binder material, making it easy to work with. When the PMC is fired in a kiln or sometimes with a torch, the binder burns away and fine silver is left. We were given a package of PMC3 and were told to let our imaginations run free. I loved working with the clay. Several years ago, I took thown pottery (on the wheel) classes. I miss playing with the mud so much. This gave me a chance to mold some clay. I decided to make a pendant and a pair of earrings. My daughter folded an origami crane out of PMC Sheet, a paper-like form of the clay. You can see the crane in the bottom right of the picture. We fired our pieces in the kiln, but I would also like to see how to fire the pieces with a torch. Our teacher, Laura Tarbutton of Trinity Art Design Studio, gave us wonderful instruction. I enjoyed every bit of the process and look forward to working with PMC again. Hopefully someday soon, I will offer PMC pieces for sale.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Joe the 4 Year Old Drummer

Ever since I read about this little boy on MetroDad's blog, I have had so much fun watching him play the drums. If you close your eyes, it is hard to believe he is only 4 years old. Of course once you open your eyes and watch him you can see he is young, but it is still hard to believe how incredible he is. He has been playing the drums for almost a year and has never taken lessons. He watches and listens to videos on YouTube and plays along. There is no video to embed on the blog, but here are a few links to his songs here, here, and here. I can't wait to see how he grows in his talent. Sit back and enjoy!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Amazing Artisan- Aimee Domash


In my excitement about my PMC (Precious Metal Clay) class tomorrow, I started looking around at different techniques and pieces made from PMC. Of all of the many sites I looked at, one really stuck with me, Aimee Domash of Salmon Rock Studio. Her pieces are so lovely and incorporate several different media. She creates pieces that are different and memorable. I wish there was a slideshow or video I could post so to show Ms. Domash's art. Here is a link to the gallery on her website, Salmon Rock Studio. My favorite pieces are in the "Modern Elegance" collection. I love the mix of fine silver, sterling silver, and gold.

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Pay It Forward Winner

The winner of the gift package in my Pay It Forward challenge is Lenox Knits. Thank you Paige for entering. I will be contacting you to get your mailing address. Since I still have 2 people to do something nice for...I'll do it in my community. I have been learning how to knit hats. I will make a bunch of hats to donate to Children's Hospital. I have really gotten a kick out of being able to make a hat. I am thrilled be to able to give them to kids who could use them.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I definitely did!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Amazing Artisan- Paula Nadelstern

This week's Amazing Artisan is Paula Nadelstern. Ms. Naderstern creates art in fiber, specifically in quilts. She makes incredible kaleidoscope quilts with unusual and gorgeous patterns. She has a wonderful eye for color. When you view her quilts, you feel as though you are looking through a kaleidoscope instead of looking at patterns created by fabric.

Ms. Naderstern's quilts have been exhibited nationally and abroad. She has written several books and designs fabric as well. She has an upcoming exhibition of her work at the American Folk Art Museum. A gallery of her quilts can be found on her website. You will enjoy looking at her creations and marvel about the amount of time she puts into each one.

She is truly an amazing artisan.
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Don't forget to check out my Pay It Forward challenge. Please leave a comment if your are interested in participating in the drawing.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Pay It Forward

A couple of days ago, a blog friend of mine, Lin at Duck and Wheel with String, had a Pay It Forward challenge. I was one of the lucky winners. The rules of the challenge was to bring a little joy and happiness into the lives of 3 people. Lin chose to Pay It Forward by asking people to leave a comment on her blog saying they wanted to enter the challenge. She planned to send a box of goodies to her 3 winners. I love the idea Lin had, so I am "borrowing" her wicked wisdom and doing the same.

If you are interested in participating in the challenge, leave a comment on my blog letting me know you want your name in the "hat". If chosen, you agree to do something nice for 3 people. You do not have to Pay It Forward in the same way Lin and I did. You can do something for someone in your community, if you choose. I will send my 3 winners a box of goodies, which will include some Louisiana items as well as some other fun stuff. So please comment and let me know if you want to participate. I will announce the winners Sunday evening. Good luck everyone and thanks Lin! I can't wait to see what comes in the mail.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Animoto



Animoto is a online company who creates personalized video slideshows. You upload your photos and choose your music. They will create a free 30 second video for you to share with family and friends, and can upload to blogs, facebook, etc. They also offer full length videos for a fee. I learned about this site by visiting a blog by Timothy Adam called Blogs (Critiques and Reviews). On this blog, Mr. Adam offers suggestions to help blog owners with their blog setup. He has tons of great ideas. One of them was Animoto.

I gave Animoto a try and it was very easy to create my slideshow. It was just upload the pics, choose the music and wait a couple of minutes for the slideshow to be complete. After the video is completed, they give you options on how you can share your video with others.

I thoroughly enjoyed using Animoto. I know my daughters will have fun creating their own videos to share with friends.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Amazing Artisan- Ralph Goings

This week's amazing artisan is Ralph Goings. Mr. Goings is one of the first painters to paint in a style called Photo-Realism. When one looks at his work, it is so hard to believe that it is a painting. One of his paintings is of a cup of coffee and a donut. I just want to reach through my monitor and get that donut. All of his paintings cause me to gaze in wonder. I would love to have a 100th of that ability. Until that happens, I am content to enjoy his work.

Unfortunately I was unable to find a video I could embed in this post, but I do have a link for a slide show of his art posted on YouTube. His website, Ralph Goings, shows more of his work and his many exhibitions. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Feeling Creative

I seem to go through phases of creativity. At times, I cannot think of anything else but a new design for a piece of jewelry. Other times, I don't think about it at all. This past weekend was one of my creative periods. I had a great time going through my beads and wire and deciding what I wanted to make with them. Some of my work is still in progress, but I completed several others. I listed my finished pieces in my Etsy shop. As you can tell, I am having a great time with pearls.

The girls are off next week for spring break. I plan to pull out the beads again and let the beads and wire take me where they will.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A Wonderful New Tool for Artisans- ByHand.me

This week I joined a wonderful new site which focuses on all things handmade. It is called ByHand.me. The creator of this site, Adam and his wife Rebecca, are artists who wanted a place where they could consolidate the information about themselves and their art. Many artisans sell their items on multiple sites, write blogs, and belong to numerous social networking venues. On ByHand.me, each individual artisan has his or her own page. On that page, the artisan can list the multiple places others can see his/her work, how to contact the artisan, and where to purchase items if they choose. ByHand.me also has a buyers section. The Artisan Directory is a listing where buyers can search within categories for items of interest. Members can create wishlists and spotlights of items they want to share or remember. I have touched on only a few of the many opportunities found on this site.

Bravo to Adam and brava to Rebecca. Your many talents have allowed others to benefit and grow in their art.

My page can be found at Cheese and Chocolate on ByHand.me.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Amazing Artisan- Peter Callesen

This week's Amazing Artisan is Peter Callesen. Mr. Callesen is a Danish artist who works in several different media. His current work focuses on sculptures cut from A4 sizes of paper (close to letter sized paper). It is hard to believe his intricate creations are made of paper and glue. Some of his art seems to rise out of the paper as if coming to life. Mr. Callesen has a website and his work in other media can be found there. Below is a video featuring several of his paper sculptures. Be prepared to take some time to watch the video several times or pause it to study his work. Even better...go to his website and see his work in detail.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Feeling Pearly


Lately I have been thinking about working with pearls. I am drawn to them when I am in bead shops and usually have at least one strand in my basket of goodies. Today I made a simple pair of earrings I have named Collette. They are listed in my Etsy shop. The Collette earrings are created from 8 mm Creamrose Swarovski pearls and sterling silver. The color of the pearls has the slightest bit of pink tint to them.

I have a couple other pieces I am working am working on. I plan to have them listed soon as well.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

My Top Droppers for March

March has come and gone.  April is now making an appearance. I would like to thank everyone who has visited my blog this past month. I hope you found something here a bit interesting. My top Entrecard droppers for March are:


Pat's Encaustics - Art in the Wax
Youniquely Chic
The Beadings and Buttons of Randomcreative
John Wright Art
Margie and Edna's Basement
Behind the Bit
Betty Mae Artistry
Gems by Jerri
Three Fates Design - Beaded Jewelry
Duck and Wheel With String

Check out their blogs. They are all wonderful.