helping out a friend

The member's of the O&E design team are holding a little auction of some of our designed pieces for one of our own. She is going through a life change and we are hoping to raise a few dollars for her to begin again. If you go to the O&E blog, you can see what is for sale (great holiday gifts!) I donated one of my pieces using O&E products for their blog auction and then decided to also to sell one of my own Lemoncholy's pieces here on my blog as well. (fyi, shipping is FREE!) here is the blog post about our friend:

There are times in all of our lives when we have needed a helping hand to get through a rough place we might be. Sadly one of our fellow Design Team Members has been faced with a tremendously difficult situation. As many of you know we here at O&E are much more than a group of Artist's creating jewelry and art - we are friends; friends who support, cheer on and help one another no matter what the situation might be.

That said we have decided to provide you, our readers and cheerleaders the opportunity to purchase your very own exclusive O&E Design Team Piece. All funds will go to our fellow designer in need.

To purchase an item simply click on the Buy It Now Button and you will be directed to Paypal where the transaction will be finalized and your item will be shipped.

It is our hope that you will understand the desire to keep our Designer's name private as the circumstances of the situation are not only extremely personal but very difficult. We thank you all for your support in this and wish you happy creative days

this piece is about 16" long (not including the length of the heart). The heart was sculpted, distressed, stamped, hand painted, embellished with vintage costume jewelry and then soldered. Finally, ICE Resin® was added on the top of the heart. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me at : keeshagirl4@aol.com

$110 -

don't forget to take a peek at the other items also up as part of the auction. Yesterday someone asked me if they could make a private donation instead of purchasing something and yes, that is a wonderful idea, so if that's something you would prefer to do, you may contact me about that as well. any help is much appreciated.

guest blogging today

hi all! i'm guest blogging over at Objects and Elements today, so stop by to see my latest project!

guest blogging today

today i am guest blogging over at Objects and Elements. stop by to see my latest projects!

i'm over at Objects and Elements today

Happy Thursday. I'm guest blogging over at ObjectsandElements.com today, so stop by to see what i did with one of their new hobnail bezels, some ICE resin and some vintage ice cream spoons.

**don't forget, we aren't playing flea market friday tomorrow. it will be the first Friday of every month. so the next one is Friday, Sept. 3rd.

quick update

my first guest blogging post is up on Objects and Elements. stop by to see the project i did for the end of the school year!

Q&A, jr. prom,and other such stuff

this is an interesting photo i took on the back deck. i have a potting bench that has old metal spoons hanging from it. they are getting rusty and looking cool. when i was back there the other day, i noticed the Japanese honeysuckle, which is blooming right now, was reflecting in the spoon. i loved the effect and mood it created.




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if you are interested in reading my Q & A from Object and Elements, you can read it here. it was just a little "get to know ya" type of questionnaire as part of my intro as the newest design team member.

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here's a couple of photos of Dillon and Alana from Jr. Prom. Dillon is wearing the jacket and vest that Alana's dad was married in. her brother also wore them to one of his high school events. He looked very James Bond-ish. love the color of Alana's dress. And Alana's mom had the florist make the corsage and boutonniere out of her own orchids; which i thought was pretty cool.

Extra Exciting News!

this is news i have been sitting on since February . do you know how hard it is to sit on fun and exciting news? it's hard to do!

So what's the news? i am excited to announce that i was asked to be the newest design team member of Objects and Elements (tool and supplies for the mixed media artist). it all started in late January when i was at CHA, "walking the show" as Suze Weinberg encouraged me to do (thank you Suze for the encouragement!) I didn't go there with any agenda, but to meet people, wear my jewelry, find jewelry resources, meet up with friends, see family and per the usual, have fun and enjoy the moment! and i did have a lovely time. it was overwhelming how much talking i did, how many people stopped me to look at my jewelry or to tell me that they loved my pigtails (Melody!), run into Jenny Doh and taking the incentive to introduce myself. It was a busy, whirlwind few days and worth every second of time i took to be there. I still consider myself very green to the art world and their enthusiasm and praise for my jewelry is so encouraging and amazing. it has lead me to teaching opportunities and now this. i am grateful for friends like, Barbe and others, who believe in me. So after spending some time at the O&E booth, speaking with Susan, Linda, Jen (our den mother), Kristen and Barbe ( Deryn and Jane weren't there) and then also having the confidence to take out my portfolio and say, "want to see more"? (remember the previous post about this whole topic of learning to self promote?)- i feel that i have EARNED this and that my friends, is a very satisfying feeling.
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here is my first piece of jewelry that i created using items that can be found at Objects and Elements.com. I really wanted to create a piece with this darling "french baby" charm. i love dolls and use them a lot in my art, so i couldn't wait to "play doll" with her. She was laid in a open back bezel and then secured with ice resin. all of these items can be found on the website.

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Now for the fun stuff! i've decided to do a giveaway for the first piece that i designed for Objects and Elements. In my eyes, it is the perfect way to celebrate my introduction. So, all you need to do is leave a comment here on the Object and Elements blog.

the next product i look forward to playing with their new staple bezel. i see alot of potential with these and my use of vintage found objects.

stayed tune for some cool things happening at Objects and Elements. this rapidly growing company has a lot up their sleeves and i'm happy to be along for the ride!

FREE etching tutorial

ever wanted to try etching, but have no idea on how to do it? check out Objects and Elements blog with guest artist, Jane Salley, doing a wonderful tutorial on how to etch in 10 easy steps.

Ice Resin

Objects and Elements is holding an ice resin blog hop. Ice Resin is a jeweler's grade resin that doesn't yellow, fade or become brittle over time. There was a lot of hoopla over the product at CHA at the Objects and Elements booth. I know those girls spent many a minute talking to consumers about the product ( i spent a lot of time at their booth, since my good friend, Barbe St. John, is one of their design team members.) Having used the product a lot, i actually found myself in conversation with a few potential customers telling them about it, how it differs from what they've previously used, explaining how i use it in my work and then directing them to Barbe, Jen, Susan, Linda - whoever i could grab at the moment. one thing rings true about product review - people will not buy it until they know its uses and also understand how they can apply it to their own work.

So for the ice resin blog hop, the requirments were to show a piece of your work (any medium) where you used ice resin. let me tell you a little bit about my piece. i was actually working on making an altered doll using one of my vintage Charlotte doll heads. i was using my dremel to even out her torso, remove sharp edges, etc. when her head broke in half. at first i was quite dismayed having most of the doll completed except adding the head. i put the doll head down; thinking, "what a shame, i hate to waste this broken piece". i had some soldering supplies nearby and also putty medium leftover from the altered doll. so i decided to see how i like the doll head smushed into the putty medium. it was so so, but i could see how i might salvage it. so i took the putty medium and let it dry onto one of my glass pieces. then did some soldering to it. i didn't like looking at the putty medium, so i collaged vintage song music over it, added the wings via soldering and then let it sit for a few days to see what i thought. i liked her, but thought she needed something else. a few days later as i was working on a commission order and using ice resin when i thought i'd add some to the broken doll head(around the collaged text) and viola - i loved it! the resin dries perfectly clear, no yellowing and just added that bit of sparkle needed to make me really "love" the piece. from there i just started playing; adding old charms from a necklace no longer worn and then completing it with deconstructed chain and wire wrapping. i also feel that i don't have to worry about the collage paper peeling up from the putty medium given the fact that it is sealed under the ice resin.

So the date is set: The first ever ObjectsandElements.com ICE Resin® Blog Hop is set for next week. The beginning date will be Monday, Feb. 15th and continue through Friday, Feb. 19th. stop by to see what the design team members, other consumers and bloggers, like me, have tried with ice resin.

here are all the participants in the ice resin blog hop:

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Ro Bhrun http://robruhn.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html

kecia deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd -- Mary Jane http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com
Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/ and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

Amy Purdes http://www.spritecreations.blogspot.com/

Jenny Barnett Rohrs http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html
Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/

And then also the Objects and Elements Design Team and Susan Lenart Kazmer

Jen cushman http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/