An Expert Guide by Elaine Luther

Here’s a round up of various good reading to get you thinking, designing, or re-organizing:

Luann Udell’s article in The Crafts Report, Best Booth Awards I Could Win.

Plan your summer classes at Bead & Button.

If you’re feeling winter-ish and blocked, try iHanna’s 100 Ideas to Spark you into Creative Action.

From Men with Pens, Why You Should Travel Back in Time, specifically for you bloggers out there.

And, I’ve been remiss in not mentioning the new Master Muse series over at Tonya Davidson’s blog, though I have tweated it.

Be sure to read them all. Start with the first one, from Anne Mitchell.

{ 0 comments }

…and has some lovely boxes to show for it, check out the collaboration between Pam and woodturner Frank Penta here:

http://blog.folkschool.org

{ 0 comments }

Cynthia at Polymer Clay Daily has a post up with her take away points from Synergy — very interesting observations about the state of polymer.

http://polymerclaydaily.com

{ 0 comments }

You can use anything, spices, eyeshadow, paints… the challenge is that with some of those things may not be stable long term. Dr. Martins watercolors have been recommended to me.

I’ve used tumeric and it changes color! From yellow to red when you mix it with epoxy!

And I suspect pigments would work well, you can buy them here:

http://naturalpigments.com
http://www.earthpigments.com

What do you use?

{ 0 comments }

This month we ask ourselves –

What is the most difficult piece you’ve ever made, from a technical perspective?

Hmm. Which one to choose? The technical part is what makes jewelry making interesting to me — the piece has to work, it has to function properly — you have to make the design work, and the piece work.

Helping students work out their engineering challenges and order of operations is one of the things I enjoy about teaching metalsmithing.

I’ve raised a few bowls, those are fun, but not really that challenging. I’ve made some hollow containers (salt and pepper shakers) by forming the halves in the hydraulic press and then soldering the parts together. But that’s not hard either.

In metal clay, my piece (from my series of medals), “The Society of Mothers…” was a technical challenge because the sterling silver baby was in the center of a piece of fine silver mesh, and the mesh had to be attached somehow to the outer edge of the medal. That was fun to figure out how to do.

Another medal in the series, the Anti-war Medal, was easier, because a) I’d already worked out how to attach the mesh, and b) the leg (yes, that’s a leg, symbolizing the many lost limbs in the Iraq war) spans the medal.

The tiny spoon I made in PMC was a bit of a pain in terms of getting the bowl shaped just right.

After experimenting with firing the bowl of a spoon (just a bowl I did, no handle) over a combustible core, and not being happy with that, I fired the whole spoon flat and shaped it after it was fired.

I used steel stakes in the hydraulic press to get it shaped just right.

Wondering what the other blog carnival-ites have to say on the subject? Here are their links:

Andes Cruz

Tamra Gentry

Tonya Davidson

Vickie Hallmark

Angela Crispin

{ 0 comments }

My studio is in a small room, 60 square feet, that it shares with this very computer and its desk. And, oh, it’s kind of cold in the winter.

The other day, my dear husband had the clever idea of moving my studio (and rather heavy jeweler’s bench) down to the basement, where I’d have more elbow room.

More importantly, it would be quiet and I’d be further away from potential interruptions.

I like this idea. A lot. Now I just have to make the time to pack, call the electrician to have some outlets installed, and schedule a moving day!

How about you? Do you like being far away from everyone else? or in the hustle and bustle?

{ 0 comments }

Do you follow the Polymer Clay Daily blog? Short, daily posts of good work in the poly clay world. A recent posting highlighted the work of Patricia Kilme, combining metal clay and polymer clay.

Most of the combination work I’ve seen shows the polymer framed by the metal clay. Patricia reverses that, to great effect.

See her work, and a link to her forthcoming book, here:
http://polymerclaydaily.com

{ 0 comments }

I love this post from Kirsten Skiles where she shares her metalworking flops, wonderful of her to share everything, and not just the good!

See it here: http://www.kaskiles.com

{ 0 comments }

Katherine at Blue Moon Designs is selling these stylish utility belts over at Makers Market, here’s the link:

http://makersmarket.com/products

{ 0 comments }