Asian art jewelry - Harn museum of art

Spring is in the air!  Part of what I've been working on for the past few weeks have been more than just scrabble tile jewelry.  I've been working on custom scrabble tile jewelry for the Harn Museum of Art's Asian art exhibit (with its own wing!) which will be opening this weekend.









These images were supplied to me by the curators at the Harn and I digitally enhanced them to reproduce onto scrabble tiles finished with a dome of resin.

The pendants will be available for purchase beginning this Friday (March 30, 2012), in the museum's gift store. 

See the buddha pendants in the bottom of the picture of left?  There was a neat little story about him and his recent 'medical procedures'. 

To learn more about the Harn Museum of Art and their new Asian Art Exhibit, become a fan of the Harn Museum on Facebook.

Studio kitty napping on the job

I went to ship out an order the other day and found studio kitty Karma guarding the pile of boxes.  How kind of her.  The problem is that she was napping on the job.

I have the proof.

She looks like she is dutifully pulling off "occupy shipping boxes".

Yes, firmly entranced in her job.













Wait....wait....reposition.

Yes, better view.  Now I can see those who want to break up the "occupy shipping boxes" movement.








Hmm.  Will have to ship out tomorrow I guess.

Valentine's Day treats

So I decided not to be slacker 'wait until the last minute' mom this year and helped my kids make Valentine's Day goodie bags.  (I was just trying to show up the other moms, but I digress....LOL)

First, I started with an Avery label template.  This uses a page template, NOT the label function on word.











Go by your local craft store and get the small bubbles.  (I was lucky they had them in pink and red.)  The Avery labels size 5160 fit perfectly on these bottles.

I found a printable template for bag toppers (sandwich size bags to be exact).  They came two to a sheet and I cut them nice and straight with my paper trimmer.










Add in the aforementioned bubbles and a couple of pieces of candy into a sandwich bag.  (I used the cheap, non zippered ones.)  Fold the printables in half lengthwise and staple to the bags.

Instant cuteness!

In case you want the links to the printables, you can find them in my e-news from last week.  I don't know how long the link will work (my emails only archive for so long), so get them now!

ACRE Orlando jewelry booth

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days in Orlando, Florida, meeting other gallery and boutique owners interested in my jewelry.  Here are a few pictures from the event with my booth and jewelry:

My plan of pink, purple and green came out just like I wanted it to.  My jewelry and style is all about color, fun and whimsy!

I displayed the scrabble tile pendants on what else, but scrabble tile racks!  Who knew they would be a great fit for the pendants??

This is my new line of recycled plastic jewelry.

On closeup, you might be able to recognize where they came from:

These are recycled from plastic gift cards, credit cards and hotel room keys.  Both the pendants and earrings are cut into perfect circles and finished with a splash of extra color where the jump ring or ear wire enters the piece.  As you can guess, these are very light and easy to wear.  (and no two pieces are alike!)

I also had the resin and pewter pendant and earring sets at ACRE Orlando.  I think store buyers and owners enjoyed getting a chance to see in person just how colorful these pieces are!


I won't be going to ACRE Las Vegas this year, but am looking forward to next year's ACRE Orlando!

Making fabric covered pedestals

Boy this post has been a long time in the making....

Once upon a time, there was a jewelry artist.  A jewelry artist who needed to create something splash for a booth at a wholesale art show.  She played around with some ideas and eventually came up with a booth involving pink, purple and green.  (Yes, those colors, but not necessarily in that order).  With the pink and green done, the last thing to accomplish was the purple.


I chose a rich purple fabric in bengaline.  I ended up spending more on the fabric than I wanted to, but I wanted to make sure I had something heavy enough to cover the pedestals and wrinkle resistant as well.













The cardboard pedestals I had already made out of cardboard boxes.  The white stripe around the top is a velcro strip.
















Don't tell my home ec teacher mother, but I just eyeballed the edge and pressed down the seam with the iron.

I sewed down the edge.














Then I sewed down the edge with the other half of the velcro tape.














The velcro along the top sticks to the velcro on the box and presto! -- instant cover for the pedestal.  (And by the way, the boxes collapse and travel flat as well.)


Part two of this post will show you what they looked like at the ACRE Orlando show!

Resin jewelry and my new Resin Obsession

Seriously.  I'm not making that up.  My new resin obsession is the business, Resin Obsession.

Hmm.  Like didn't you have enough to do lady?  Why would you want to do this??

I would counter that statement with why wouldn't I want to do this.

I've been making jewelry since 2001 and started making resin jewelry in 2006.  I found that working with resin allowed me to take care of my 'color' obsession with jewelry.  I no longer had to find stones and minerals with colors I liked, I could make my own.  After doing some experimenting, I found a way to make jewelry I liked (and customers liked too). 

Along the way, you meet other resin artists.  Cindy Carter happened to be one of them.  I always enjoyed reading her blog and had bought a few of the Resin Obsession products.  She was incredibly helpful and very easy to work with.

As luck would have it, when she posted that she was looking to sell the business, I was ready to do "something else".  Now mind you, I didn't have my mind made up that this was the perfect opportunity for me, but it was the perfect opportunity to explore.

I'm a big believer in Karma.  (Yes, that's where my cat's name came from)  Cindy sent me information and we started talking.  It was a good talk.  A good, we must have been friends in another life, honest sharing, immediate good feeling talk. Once the business side of me got done analyzing the business and decided it would work, the personal side of me already knew it would.  That was mid October 2011.

We started the transfer of the business in mid November.  The thing I remember the most was when the 30 or so boxes showed up and I immediately thought, "What was I thinking????  Like seriously, where am I going to put all these resin materials????"  (Pause the business for a few days while I tell hubby that we have to move all three boys into one bedroom so I can have the other.)

Trying to reopen a business during my normal busy time (art shows and holiday gifts anyone?) would not have been my first choice, but it's the way it happened.  Since there were only so many hours in the day, the blog got put on hold.  (Now you know why I didn't post for 6 weeks.)

Things are going well and I am touched by how many people have sent well wishes.  Cindy truly built a resin community and I will do everything I can to love and nurture it the way she has. 

(And by the way, you can stop and see the newly reopened Resin Obsession at www.resinobsession.com)

Happy Birthday Karma

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted (that will get discussed in tomorrow's post), but I wanted to share what I got for Christmas. This year, I put something on my list that I would never buy myself, but thought maybe my Secret Santa would. Luckily, I guessed right.

I wanted a cake pan in the shape of a bread slice.

Uh, really? Like why would you want something like that? 

Maybe because my kids have taught me that you can never have too much fun with your food.

Every January 1, we celebrate Kitty Karma's birthday.  What better than to use the new cake pan to make a pumpernickel and mayonnaise look alike sandwich?


 I completely cheated and used a box cake mix.  (and remembered why I quit using them to begin with -- they taste like the box they came in)












The finished cake will come out looking like a slice of bread.












Finished chocolate cake:  very poofy in the middle.  It also took about twice as long to cook as a regular round or sheet cake pan.









I used a long serrated edge knife to cut off the poof and slice the cake in half.











And here's the best part:  the cream cheese icing.  (I did make that.  My icing beats anything in a can.)

So three little boys sang Kitty Karma 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' and I think she thought she was going to get whacked with a beater.  I tried to tell her she had nothing to worry about as long as there was still icing on them.  (No little boys were going to waste icing.)

In case you're curious, Karma turned six.  She asks that you do not send gifts, but instead make a donation to your favorite charity (or buy some of her mom's jewelry)

Thanksgiving Centerpieces

*This is post was originally shared in November 2010 and is reposted as a reminder to myself on how to make the table look pretty.*

I was browsing You Tube this week looking for Thanksgiving crafts to do with my kids. In the process, I found this 4 minute video that not only gives you ideas for Thanksgiving centerpieces, but it also shows you how to fold the napkins. Hooray! (However I fully expect I'm going to need to fold the napkins while I'm in front of the computer screen with the video on slow motion.)

What do you usually do for your Thanksgiving table?

Gainesville Art festival pictures

It was a beautiful and busy time last weekend at the Downtown Festival and Art show!  I enjoyed talking with so many people and getting the opportunity to help people with their holiday gift giving needs.  Here are a few random pictures from the event:

I painted bulletin boards to be used as display pieces for the jewelry.  I used those this time because I could load them with jewelry the days before the show then just hang them in my tent once I got there.

This time, I included a table out front for people to easily sign up for my mailing list.   I also had a basket of jewelry for people to peruse.

Once again, I went without glass over the jewelry.  It felt like I was 'nekkid' as I had used it for so long, but I think customers really enjoyed being able to see the jewelry without waiting for assistance.

This show also marked the debut of the recycled bottle caps with resin.  These cute little caps are the perfect refrigerator accessory.

I had more colors of the resin and silver pewter jewelry to show off.  I've been going a bit crazy with the colors lately.

While the earrings looked great on the colored flower trees, I displayed the pendants on the table. The displays looked a bit too crowded hanging on the displays.

I'm working on a video of the event too, to give you the 'full effect' of the weekend.  Thanks to everyone who stopped and shopped! 

P.S.  I'll be a Linda Blondheim's loft studio at Paddiwhack this Friday evening, 5:30 PM to 9 PM and Saturday noon to 4 PM.  Come and enjoy art, jewelry and Christmas cake!!

From bulletin boards to jewelry displays

I'm trying something new for my art jewelry booth this weekend at the Downtown Gainesville Festival and Art show.  Since I will be doing everything by myself this weekend (no hubby to help), I wanted something that I could easily set up myself.  Part of the plan involves repurposing bulletin boards that could become jewelry displays that I could prepare before the show and hang that morning.


I started with buying 4 el-cheapo bulletin boards.  These are 36 inches by 24 inches. I bought them online and got all four for under $100.












I got a garden variety off-white paint to coat the corkboard portion.  (Notice the small paintbrush in the lower left?  It is attached to a hand of a baby T-Rex dinosaur that insisted on helping me.)









This is what the board looked like after the first coat of paint.  When I came to check on it in a couple of hours though, the paint had soaked into the corkboard pretty well, so I needed a second coat.

You can see the difference here with a second coat of paint.  The lower left quadrant has had its second coat.










Once I let the paint dry, I put painters tape around the inside edge.  I sanded the frame so that it would soak up the paint better.









This is the orange frame after the second coat.

Unfortunately, when I removed the tape, it pulled a bit of the corkboard with it on one of the bulletin boards.  A little spackling compound and some more paint hopefully will keep anyone from noticing. 

This is a finished board.  I randomly put some squiggles on the board to give it more artistic interest.  The hardware will get applied tomorrow and I will take jewelry up Friday.  Then, all I have to do Saturday is to put up the boards.  This will save me a lot of time!

Random jewelry making pictures

It's a little hodge podge of everything going on in the studio right now. I snapped some random pictures yesterday.

These bottle caps have had their magnets glued and are drying.  The magnets do look tiny, but these rare earth magnets can hold three pounds of weight.

(Future) resin scrabble tile pendants are drying.  I've applied the images and the glue sealant.  These are for a wholesale order.

Same wholesale customer, but these are finished pendants. 

These resin and pewter earrings and pendants are halfway through sanding.  They have three more grits of sandpaper to go.

These are some of the new pendants and earrings made from recycled gift cards.  I need to make earwires and jump rings for them.

I'm anxious to see how these do next weekend at the Downtown Festival and Art show.  That will be their first time available to the public.  (Hope to see you there!)

Twitter, DVR, soap operas and snark

We all have a guilty little seemingly insignificant pleasure.  I am no different.  Curious as to what it is?

It involves twitter, my DVR, and the afternoon soap "Bold and the Beautiful". 

I have to tell you that I have been a fan of the show since my college days, but since it was in the middle of the day, I didn't get to watch it much.  I still don't have time in the middle of the day to watch, but since the invention of the DVR, I can set the machine to automatically record it and watch it later.  Now throw in Twitter and some snarky remarks, and the entire combination makes for good entertainment.

Before I can watch a new episode I have to search twitter for the #BoldandBeautiful tag to see what people are saying.  People send out tweets describing the episode (and of course their opinions and interpretations).  It's like having the cheat sheet version on what to watch out for while I watch the episode.  My favorite so far have been the tweets exclaiming the confusion over what the character Ridge was wearing in Wednesday's show this week.  It was pure joy, entertainment and guilty pleasure all in of itself.  (By the way, what was up with him wearing the purple man scarf???)

Who knew I was that easy to entertain?