"Memories Under Glass" Class

A few months ago Marilynne Lipschutz from Studio 34 emailed me through Etsy to ask if I would like to teach a class at her studio about microscope slide glass pendants. To be honest I was totally shocked. I had kind of stopped making them because I really do not enjoy one part of the finishing process very much. But I love to teach so I said yes!

Many conversations were had about supplies and how the whole teaching thing works at the studio. Marilynne is super nice to work with! We settled on how to go about this and scheduled a practice class so we could see how it would go.

Me, my mom, and my twin sister. Cannot tell we're related at all, can you?

I asked my buddies Augie, his very kind girlfriend, my artsy friend Stefani Tadio (see her pendant here), and my twin sister Valerie (and Marilynne sat in, too) to come to the class. I’ve known Augie for about 20 years. We met in high school in Fairport. He’s one of the funniest people I know so he spent the whole class being a smart ass and it was hilarious! We all had a ball! Lots of laughing to stave off my very serious case of the nerves. It took longer than I thought it was going to to teach five people how to put together soldered pendants. But that was one of the reasons we did the practice class so we could know how long to make the class. Everyone’s pendants came out really well.

So if you are in the Rochester, NY area and want to learn how to make a soldered pendant the classes are scheduled for Monday, April 12th from 2-5 pm and again on Tuesday, April 27th from 6-9 pm. Studio 34 is located at 34 Elton Street in the Neighborhood of the Arts. Cost: $35 + $15 for supplies. Call Studio 34 at 585-737-5858 to register.

I would love it if you joined us! It’s going to be really fun!

“Memories Under Glass” Class Description:

“This class will teach you how to create your very own photo or artwork keepsake Microscope Slide Glass Soldered Pendant. Learn about soldering iron safety and care, some basic stained glass techniques such as cutting glass, the use of copper tape and solder flux, and a little wire working. You will complete one double-sided pendant in this class. We will also discuss working with paper and photos for collage using the 1 inch by 1 inch canvas.

You will need to bring TWO photos or your own artworks that measure no bigger than 1 inch by 1 inch. The pendants are double sided so you need two images to use. Examples of things that can be put in pendants: pictures of your kids or pets, paper of any kind, real lace, and tiny pieces of original artwork. The two pieces of art or photos should not be thicker than 1/16th inch when sandwiched together back to back.”

Monday, April 12th from 2-5 pm
or
Tuesday, April 27th from 6-9 pm

Studio 34 is located at 34 Elton Street in the Neighborhood of the Arts.
Cost: $35 + $15 for supplies.
Call Studio 34 at 585-737-5858 to register
You will need to bring TWO photos or your own artworks that measure no bigger than 1 inch by 1 inch.

Photos for these photo pendants right here were taken by Teri Fisk at Pumpkin Patch Photos

Happy Mail Day!

I heart fun snail mail! And I got a double whammy of it last week when these goodies showed up.

My pal from Twitter, @LadyMissSusan, sent me a beautiful card and a white gel Signo pen. I didn’t know that Signo made a white pen. She was kind enough to inform me AND to send me one! Signos are my favorite black pens. And this one did not disappoint. It’s awesome!

You should check out her blog. She is an amazing scrapbooker! The layouts on this post are particularly stunning! So many layers! Such pretty papers!

I’ve been a long time fan of The Little Red Door and her shop on Etsy. She makes teeny tiny little clay houses. They are adorable!! I have a thing for little things like this. Maybe because I’m so tiny myself. So when she posted on Twitter that she was giving away free little houses just for signing a petition to save the TV show Heroes I was all game. That show is one of my favorites and I don’t want to see it end. So I signed and she sent me a mini house! I love it! I might have to order myself a little village to go with this one so it’s not lonely.

Graffiti Art Painting

I have not really made anything in weeks. So I was getting a hard core art jones going. Inspired by the class I’m taking from Traci Bautista I sat down in a few spare minutes yesterday to make this.

It is created on 8 1/2" by 11" ivory cardstock with gel medium, acrylic paint, and Sharpie paint pens. The yellow decoration down the left side is paper tape.

I will be sending this along with some paper goodies for a swap. I suppose it could be used like a collage sheet and torn up and used in other artwork. Or it could be framed as is.

It was really fun to make and I thing I’ll do some more work in this style. I seem to be getting caught up in a lot of planning and that's starting to stifle me a bit. This page was just a big, fun doodle. I need to let go more and trust the process!

Listen To Your Heart: Art Journal Page

This page started as a spot to lay down some leftover paint from another project. I glued down some random paper scraps with gel medium. Some stencils made nice shapes to draw with watercolor crayons. The crayons create a nice opaque color, even doing light drawing over a dark background. Very cool. Then I added the tag in the middle.

I wanted to lay down as much color on this page as I could. It’s a little busy but I think that’s my anxiety coming through from the other day. I really love using up my little paper scraps this way. I don’t like to see paper go to waste.

The watercolor crayons look so good to me that I think I’ll run out today and buy more colors at the art store, which, incidentally, is called "The Art Store". Need to pick up some more gel medium and either heavy body or fluid acrylic paint by Golden, too. They make the best paint. Right now I’m using the cheap craft paint, which is not very heavily pigmented and are a little dry. Oh, my art shopping list keeps getting longer. I want some different colored inks, too, for doing lettering with a brush. Maybe Erik will have to come with me to rein in my spending!

Postcard Swap 2010 Postcards

Long time no see, folks! I’ve been really ill with the migraines and we’re in the middle of trying something new for them. So far so good, I’m happy to report!

I finally got my 10 handmade postcards done for iHanna’s swap! Whew! So they are going out in the mail ASAP. But before I send them I made sure to scan and photograph them for you to enjoy! Here’s a peek:

The bases for the postcards are heavy watercolor papers. I cut them down to 4" x 6". Then I glued down random paper scraps with matte gel medium. After that dried I painted each card differently with craft acrylic paint. They still just needed something, you know? So I stamped the birds in black Archival Ink by Ranger. Great ink for stamping on things that are not porous. The little birdie above got her own crown as I added details with fine tip Sharpies markers.

I signed and dated the back of each card and wrote a special note to the mystery recipients. Some cards are going to Australia and Sweden! I've never sent mail there!

Click image above to go to flickr where you can see each postcard scanned individually. Tell me which is your favorite in the comments!

The postcard swap project was conceived at the Twitter party called #craftsocial. They have a website at CraftSocial.net. Read more about this Twitter party on their "About" page. It's a bunch of crafty tweeple chatting up artsy craftsy things on Twitter!

The next Craft Social will be on Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 3 – 5 PM, EST. The first hour of the event will be dedicated to craft #fails – they dare you to show your worst! See you on Twitter!