Wonderful Montreal

Just got back from a week in Montreal. Went there to take a glass working class - and I have to say - I was utterly charmed by the city.

I haven't actually been to Montreal before, sad to say - as I am very intimidated by the language barrier. Despite having taken years of French in school, I remain utterly mono-lingual. Actually - I have taken French, Japanese, and spent a year in a Spanish-speaking country with a private tutor, and still remain stubbornly unable to string together a sentence in any language other than English. Seriously - a year - immersed. I have to conclude that I am second-language challenged.


But - I was absolutely delighted that I met with no prejudice, no ill feeling and was treated with respect and dignity everywhere I went, anyway! I had absolutely no problems with the language barrier - from gas station attendants to fast food cashiers - all spoke perfectly passable English for the purposes of the transaction at hand.

Service at restaurants and the hotel was excellent - waiters and everyone shifting linguist gears as soon as you responded with "Good Morning" to their cheery "Bonjour." (Tip - yeah, even I can say Bonjour, but saying "Good Morning" clues them in right away so that the next sentence isn't a Niagara of uninterpretable sound.)

Montreal - or the area known as Old Montreal - truly has an old-world European feel to it. And I have to admit that while probably every city is at it's prettiest at this time of the year - it really was particularly charming. There are a lot of trees and greenery and flower pots.

Food was unflaggingly excellent - from nice restaurants down to - I swear - my sausage egg Mcmuffin was a cut above normal. And the Montreal Smoked Meat - to die for!

While hotels in the downtown/Old Montreal district are frighteningly expensive - I would suggest ponying up for them anyway - as the roads are so seriously congested that commuting is easily as bad as Toronto - and the roads were laid out by crazy people. The highways are a woven series of elevated roads, overpasses and bridges that resemble a drunken spider's attempt at basketry. Take a small, nimble car and a strong sense of fearlessness if you want to drive more than into the city and out again.

Oh, an a GPS is a must - lots of one-way streets and weird exits and on-ramps that you have to do crazy things to get to. Set it to optimize for shortest route instead of fastest time, unless you have a traffic avoidance option - otherwise, you'll spend a lot of time sitting in traffic.

Big thumbs-up for Montreal! I would definitely go again and plan more time for sightseeing.

Oh, and the city is fairly stylish and dressy too - so pack a few nice things so you don't feel quite so out of place. Or - buy some there!

Thick Juicy Metal Clay Chains.....

Recently, I decided to make something decadent just for me. All too often I make custom orders or things that will not end up costing too much money so that I can price and sell them easily. Last week I decided to sit down and make myself something that I have wanted to do for a while. Well here it is a big, thick, juicy fine silver metal clay chain. It is not necessarily a complicated metal clay project but it can end up taking a lot of clay. I manged to make this one with just over 100 grams of Art Clay Silver.

If you have the basics to metal clay it is relatively straight forward technique where you cut open every other ring while it is partially dry and slip a ring on and seal the pieces back together. I offer a class in doing this technique using copper clay but the technique is essentially the same each type of metal clay. (I just noticed it is not scheduled this summer...I will check in and see if we can schedule one for this summer).

Here it is in Art Clay Copper.

The other reason I love these necklaces is that in using the small links at the end of the chain one can overlap them the toggle and shorten the necklace. So essentially you have a two in one necklace. Not bad, eh?

Don't forget to stop and take time to make something you love!

Sneek Peek at Next Week

What's coming up next week? No idea. I just got back from week-long glass-working workshop, and I am still trying to figure out which end is up.

Might be pearls - I seem to have a few boxes of them around here.

In the meantime - you can check out the work of the instructor of the workshop I just took: Lucio Bubacco. His work is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Look out, Bead and Button, here I come!

Now that the renovations on our newly expanded store are almost complete, I'm off for a little R&R at the B&B. My idea of a relaxing time is to spend the day playing with teeny-tiny seed beads, so I'm taking some classes at the Bead & Button show before the market opens.

First one will be on 3-D shapes with peyote with Diane Fitzgerald, based on her book Shaped Beadwork:






The second one will be a loomwork course, and finally I'm hoping to take a course on doing Pave type jewelry using Crystallized Swarovski chatons and a new resin material.

After that, the Market begins and I'll be checking out what's new and hot in the bead business. Because Bead & Button is the largest show of it's type in North America, a lot of the big manufacturers will be there as well, showing off their newest stuff.

Oh, almost forgot. If you are going to be at Bead & Button, the folks at John Bead have asked me to tell you that they will be hosting a "Canadians and friends" reception at the Hilton Hotel after the show floor closes on Saturday night. You can find out more by visiting their booths (935/937).

Happy Friday

I don't have much for you today - I just remembered late last night that today is a PA day, so I have both my monkeys standing over my shoulder bugging me for one thing or another. ;-)  I'm off to find them something constructive to do while I attempt to clean up the disaster zone that my house has become.

Maybe I'll set them up making some stretchy bracelets, However - not quite as fancy as Dwyn's. :-)

Do you have any favourite kid friendly jewelry projects or links to share? Feel free to post below!

Enjoy your weekend!

Bead & Button

So who's going? I noticed with my facebook friends, is post after post of folks getting ready to go! Alas, this year yet again I'll be missing out...maybe next year (although I keep saying that) :-)

Marg is going, and I believe she has signed up for a few classes. 

For those of you who have to live vicariously through others - like myself, I found some video's on youtube to share the experience.

Keven O'grady - charming the ladies and selling his awesome bracelets :-)



This one - featuring a walk through of parts of the show for Tatiana Van Iten



This one from Softflex - Shows partially the scope of this show (huge!)

Glass Headpins!

Coming a little bit later today (as soon as I figure out how to use imovie - or when I give up and send it my sis in law) a little demo on how to make lampwork glass headpins. You can make these on pretty much any type of wire - so long as it's not coated. The ones below are made with copper wire. I'll polish them up later with a steel pad.

Ok, I'm back - The video is awful - truly. I had to completely remove the sound as the noise from my vent hood was unbearable, and I still need to spend time learning how to use imovie. I don't however have time for that today :-)

I think you can get a pretty good idea though of how to make them.  Newbie lampworkers - this is a fun project to try out!  Please be aware though that metals can give off noxious fumes when melted. Please be careful, and ensure that you have adequate ventilation.

I've used a transparent base coloured glass, along with some frit mixes. I have a huge selection of val cox, and glass diversions frits. The blue frit mix that I used in this video was made by spiral dance glass - I don't believe she is in business any longer.

And check out the mess of my lampworking table! Yes, that is actually how I work most of the time. I only clean it when it starts to interfere with my productivity. I cannot work on a completely clean table. I lose all inspiration. I need everything out and on the table to be truly inspired. Colours that I wouldn't think to put together look great when you see shattered masses of glass fallen on the table. :-)

I will be hosting the lampworking happy hour tomorrow as Dwyn is away studying with Lucio - I'll demo these then if anyone is interested.

The Viking Knit Class is finally here!

I know that some of you folks have been awaiting the Viking Knit class. Well, here it is! Laurie-Anne Clinton is an amazing instructor, and a gifted Toronto jewellery designer.
It's on June 24th.



If you're looking for an introductory beading class, Marilyn Gardiner's Basic Bead Stringing class, coming up this weekend, is a good place to start.



Beginners and expert beaders alike can learn how to make this Chinese Knot Necklace (in copper or silver).



Here is a peak into what's coming up next week:

Metalworking for Beaders: Creating your own Production Line

In this class, students will learn how to design and create their own limited production line of silver jewellery. Basic wax sculpting techniques are introduced and metal finishing skills are refined. Students will have the opportunity to complete three projects incorporating a consistent design element within each. And as an added bonus there will be a field trip to a jewellery casting house to get an insiders view on the process!

Just as a side note: there is a prerequisite for this course. It's Metal Smithing 101.







Cheers!

Triple Treat Donuts

I've had this little project kicking around for a bit - it's really more of a technique than a specific project - so I decided to blog it here instead of listing it with the InspirationFXs.

This works best, so far that I have found, with Firepolish donuts, the 8 mm size - but there's naught to say that it won't work with some other sizes and shapes too. It would look cool with some other shapes too, I think, like some of the drop beads.

It's a super easy project, fairly quick and fun - good cottage project with the kids, as the supplies required are limited.

You'll be stringing this on stretchy stuff. - you will need a wire needle to get it through the holes. You can purchase these, or make your own. I used the Opelon to string it.

• To make a wire needle, take a piece of wire, light gauge, i.e. 24 gauge, about 4 - 6 inches long.
• Fold it in half, around a pencil or pen, and holding the two loose ends in one hand, rotate the pencil so that it starts to twist the wire.
  
• Hold those ends tight, and twist until the wire is twisted most all the way to the ends.
  
• Slip the pencil out, and you have a loop (the eye of the needle). Put your stringy stuff through the loop - which currently looks way too large to get through the bead hole. You may need to trim where the ends were if they didn't come together too neatly.
  
• Proceed to use it as a needle - the first bead you go through - you may have to tug it through - but the eye will squash to fit and, bonus, it will be flat enough to hang onto the stuff you are stringing with - so the needle doesn't keep unthreading itself.
• If that seems like too much work, you can just buy a pack of them!
  

Start by stringing enough donuts as if you were making a single strand bracelet. I used a couple of different colours to make a blend, actually.

I used 40. Then, tie a knot to secure.


Now, you are going to go around again,

• add two more beads,
  
• skip over three, and
  
• go through a bead from the first, original course,
  
• and continue the same way all around. Looking at the picture is probably clearer than anything I can write.

Ok, once you have done that, you are going to go around again, doing the same thing, adding two and skipping three and going through the fourth.

So ultimately, you will have one bead with 3 strands through it, that separates out into 1 strand with 3 beads, another strand with 2 beads, and a third strand with 2 beads.

So

• 1 bead
• 7 beads
• 1 bead
• 7 beads, etc

Here's some more pics, to either clarify or confuse. ;-P






I did try it with stone donuts and the holes are too small for 3 strands through the one bead in the pattern that needs 3 strands through it. However, if you changed this bead to something with a larger hole, then it could work. And you would have a new look too!

Overall - I used about 80 beads per bracelet. They are fun to make and easy to wear!

An ounce of prevention: Tips to preventing dry

OK, OK, I know I spoke about clay drying last week but. Dry clay is something I feel strongly about helping people prevent and deal with so...here I go again. I am going to give you a long list of tips that I find handy in handling your clay.

Preventing dry clay:

• Plan out your design before you open your clay.
• If you are like me and like to work out your design with you hands. Try out a different type of clay to test out textures and designs. When I teach I have students use playdoh or polymer clay. I actually prefer the "playdoh" as it is easy to find, cheap and it will burn out safely if you accidently get it in your clay.
  
• Have all your tools and textures on hand and ready to go before you open your clay
• Use a moisture barrier on you hands. Otherwise the clay will stick and your hands will suck the moiture out of the clay. I use olive oil, but there are many products people use. (I use a product called "Gloves in a Bottle" as well especially when I work with copper or bronze.)
• Put oil on your textures and tools. A very light coat is all you need. Too much oil will get into your clay changing its texture (Art Clay Copper - especially reacts to too much oil by becoming crummy.) I find an old toothbrush works well to get oil into textures and having a paper towel on hand if to wipe away excess oil
• Have an airtight container for your clay and use it!!! My favorite containers are "Buddy Cups"; they can be purchased at Micheals or at www.ShadesofClay.com
• Work quickly while your clay is exposed to the air. Any bits from rolling out clay should be gathered up and put in away immediatly.
  
• Have a damp paper towel and piece of plastic wrap on hand they can be used to cover your work if you need to stop briefly.
• Minimize overhandling of your clay. Everytime you handle your clay it dries a bit. (you can rehydrate as I showed in last weeks post but the less overworking the better).

Hopefully these tips will help. Have fun!!!

Sneek Peek at Next Week

Arrr matey - there be treasure - gold pirate treasure, and silver too.

Beads, Baubles, and Jewels

I just noticed that the TV show Beads, Baubles, and Jewels is now (or almost - preorder) available on DVD.  For those of you who have missed the episodes, or would like to keep a copy of them - You can preorder your dvd here through Interweave Press. We may be able to get them in as well if there is enough demand.

Here is a preview of the season

Ultra low tech patinas

Just in case you missed the inspiration I posted last night - you can see it here. I mentioned that my plan was to paint the filigree with acrylic paint to give it a washed shabby chic kind of look. Of course, I couldn't leave it until later. I had to start working on it right away. Many hours, and 3 buffy reruns later - here's what we have. I actually worked on a few other things, as I got distracted when I saw all of the unfinished projects on my work bench :-)

First things first, I use the term patina here very, very loosely. A true patina (heat, and/or chemical) will  hold up to wear and tear, and will continue to develop and age over time. This is just paint. I have protected it with a coating of renaissance wax, which will help it keep it's colour for a time, but do not expect this to last over the long term.  - That said I'll tell you how it's done.

First off, you'll need some metal you wish to paint. The metal needs to have some detail. The trick is to get the paint in the little crevices. The paint will not stick very well to a smooth surface.

Some acrylic paint, and a somewhat firm bristled very small paintbrush.

An old t-shirt, or paper towel

A palette tray, or margarine lid (for mixing your paints)

Set aside a few pieces of inexpensive stampings (use something other than vintaj for your practice pieces)

Squeeze out a few tiny blobs of various colours of paint. For example, I had a tray, and in each section I would use a blob or two of a colour, and a blob of white. Mix your colours, but don't necessarily mix them thoroughly. I found those pieces that showed multiple colours were quite interesting.

Using your paintbrush, pick up a small amount of paint, and stab it into the metal. Continue stabbing a very small section. Get it into all of the crevices! Once you've painted about a centimeter or so in diameter, take your t-shirt or paper towel, and quickly, and firmly wipe off the paint. Repeat this process until your piece is completely painted front and back.

You will find that the painted metal looks much better if it's not completely covered. You're going for the mottled patina look, not a straight colour.

Let this set aside for a few minutes to dry completely, then using the old t-shirt again, apply a very small amount of Renaissance Wax to seal.

Here are some closeups -

This one was primarily burnt umber, white and crimson.

Blues, greens, and white

White only.

It was a fun little project to try out, and I'm surprised at just how well the paint under the renaissance wax holds up!

Wednesday thoughts and ramblings

I finally had a chance to visit the store in person for the first time in two weeks (long story), I knew of course that the reno's were happing, and saw the pics on the blog. However, you really need to see the new space in person.

First off, the store. Technically, it only gained about 300-400 square feet or so. However, the 300 square feet is no longer broken up by a half wall, which makes all the difference! The store looks huge!  The electrician was hopefully in last night to fix the lighting at the back of the store.

Next off is the classroom - WOW, really wow. Once all of the setup is done, this room is a dream for both students and instructors. It's  more spacious than the last classroom, with it's own (working) sink, there will be a fridge, and plenty of extra counter space to display the instructors goods, or extra working space if required. Plus, there is room to add another table or two for those more popular out of town instructors...Generally, more people means lower class fees....

We had a metal clay playday yesterday, and the extra room to spread out was quite nice!

The studio is still a bit of a mess, and everything is still going back and forth between the admin offices, and the rest of the store. The studio will probably be a few weeks, but there are plans to reorganize everything in that room as well.

If you get a chance, we'd love for you to come down and have a peek. Marg is already putting in the orders for stock to fill in some of the empty spots! :-)

What is new and what is coming up!

June is just around the corner and we have some great classes booked for the month. If this weekend is any indication of the weather we are in for this summer it looks like a hot one, what better to cool down for a bit but to swing by for a class or two!

Nadine Foskin is a fabulous designer. Her unique approach to jewelry making has been influenced by her background in Fine Arts and her love of fashion. She received a BA in Fine Arts with an Honours in Studio from Bishops University in QC, followed by a Diploma in Design from George Brown College in Toronto. After working as a Graphic Designer she found herself in the Bead World applying color and composition techniques to a whole new palette. With a youthful outlook and a keen sense of style - Nadine has her finger on the pulse of today's trends. She has taught various classes at BeadFX and for the Toronto Bead Society.

Nadine has 4 different classes coming up in the next month or so. All of them are beautifully designed and perfect for the season.

Thursday May 27th Double Strand Dangle Bracelet. Students should have a some experience with wrapped loops, it is an advanced beginner to intermediate level class.


Saturday June 19th is the Wild Flower Pendant. This is open to all levels


Thursday July 8th is the Dangle Drop Earring. Open to all levels.


Saturday July 17th is the Dancing Dahlia Pendant. Open to all levels.


What's new you may ask? We have started the summer and fall schedules and new classes will be going up every week for the next little bit. We encourage you to check regularly for updates.

Rae Huggins has also got a number of new classes coming up.

Tuesday June 8th is Fringe Me Strings



Saturday June 19th is the Right Angle Weave Lariat. This class will prepare you for Marica DeCoster's upcoming classes if you are unfamiliar with the right angle weave stitch.


Sunday July 11th Make it and Take it Earrings and Pendants. Open to all levels.


Don't forget to check the calender for new additions!

Happy Beading

Competitive Jewelry Wearing - or - Ohmigawd u look fahhhhbulous dahlink

When you go to big shows and conventions, like Tucson or Bead and Button, you are going to the one event where you can wear your most fabulous jewellery and have it be really appreciated. There is no such thing as wearing too much jewelry at these events!

Oh, sure, you might trot out that piece that you spent 1200 hours making and wear it to the office - and maybe someone will say - "Nice Jewellery" but the odds are - that bunch of philistines are never going to really truly understand what a labour of love it was. ;-)

But - when you wear it to an event like the upcoming Bead and Button show - well - you WILL be stopped in the street by admirers. Not just people who think it's an attractive personal adornment - but by folks who appreciate that amount of time and effort, the care spent selecting just the right beads and the skill in the execution of your fabulous piece. They may well be wearing something equally fabulous that you also can admire, and yes, even envy.

So, if you've never been to a show - you should try it at least one time for the experience of feeling like a minor celebrity. It's a pretty cool sensation.

Of course, you can always come into beadFX if you need an appreciation fix - we're never too shy to stop in the middle of a conversation and admire your jewellery.

So, if fabulous jools are de rigueur for shows, what does Marg - bead store owner and buyer wear? Because she HAS to look fabulous - and she needs something new for each show. Can't wear the same jewels two years in a row. People would talk. ;-)

And what is the well-dressed bead buyer wearing this season? Why - this fabulous little number made by her fave designer - the inestimable DragonJools - Dwyn Tomlinson.

This stunning creation features one of Dwyn's fabulous new-this-season focal lampwork beads called "The Sundered Heart." Representing both the strength and the fragility of love, the Sundered Heart appears to be torn apart but still "hanging in there, baby!" Matching handmade beads are accented perfectly with Swarovski Crystal Elements in Crystal Moonlight and Indian Sapphire. A gorgeous Sterling Silver cat-themed clasp is a nod to Marg's love of cats. Overall, the piece is 18 inches and contains 18 6mm Indian Sapphire Swarovski Bicones and the same number of 6 mm bicones in Crystal Moonlight - the extra sparkle of the Crystal Moonlight being a perfect complete to the water-clear lampwork beads. The handmade glass beads feature Creation is Messy's deep transparent inky blue called Leaky Pen and Lauscha Clear - famous for it's perfect clarity.

Ciao dahlink! See you on the runway!

My metal clay is cracking, HELP!!!!!

One of the biggest problems that plagues newcomers to metal clay is drying clay. Silver metal clay and some of the other metal clays can dry extremely quickly resulting in cracks in your designs. Sometimes the cracks can be a welcomed organic look at other times it can be quite frustrating. Good news though with preparations and tricks these problems can be overcome.

Here are some examples of what I mean and a solution.

First, here is an idea of how the clay dries. I rolled two pieces of fresh low fire silver clay then wrapped them over a small dowel. The piece on the LEFT was shaped 1 minute after rolling fresh regular low fire clay. The piece on the RIGHT was rolled at the same time but left to sit on my work surface for 3 minutes before I shaped it. You can see there are cracks forming on the bail shape on the left.

This demonstrates the speed at which metal clay can dry. Air humidity can affect this as well as the freshness of your clay so your results may be different.

Above are examples of over worked clay. The cracks and flaws are evident and would require quite a bit of work to fix.

If you do not let this clay dry completely but roll it up and rework it, you can bring your clay back to life. The following only works for clay that has not dried up but is just cracking. (Rehydrating dry clay is a different process, also do not mix dry bits with your cracking clay)

REVIVING YOUR CLAY:

If your clay is cracking but has not really hardened you can rehyrdrate it with this trick. There are several tricks but here is the one I find the easiest.

1. Roll out your clay and paint with a coating of water. (Sometimes I will do this between sheets of very lightly oiled plastic, so that I don't make a "muddy mess")

2. Fold the edges in over the water and roll again. Repeat this several time until the clay begins to feel smoother/wetter. Ideally if you can allow the clay to rest for an hour or overnight the clay will be much better to work with but this can work in a pinch.

3. A good test to see if the clay is in a good texture is to roll into a tight ball, if the ball has not cracks then it is good to go.

Re roll the clay and VOILA, a nice smooth piece. (Yes this from the cracked clay pictured above, just rehydrated and rerolled!)

Being prepared and working quickly to avoid dry clay is ideal but doesn't always happen!

There is a learning curve in mastering metal clay.

Having this trick in your bag should help you on your way of being a master of metal clay.

Cheers Heather.