McCutcheon Sale and Stuido on Sunday

Mom and I had a craft show at the McCutcheon High School on Saturday. This is the first time we have ever done this craft show and maybe our last time. We sold enough inventory to make our booth fee and a little bit extra. The one good thing about the show was that a vendor was walking by our booth and she really liked our enameled bowls. We didn't have a bowl in the color she wanted, but I told her we could make up a couple of bowls and she could see if there was one she liked.

Sunday mom and I went to the VPA to work on making up a couple of the bowls. I got mom set up in the metals studio and I ran downstairs to the ceramics studio to glaze a couple of things for our mid-term critique on Thursday. When I got that done I ran back upstairs to help mom with the bowls.

Mom had cut out four bowls, two of which we would make for the woman in the colors she wanted. The shape she liked was our abstract, clam shaped bowl. One bowl I enameled in miscellaneous blues and the other bowl I enameled with black and turquoise. The blue bowl turned out alright but the mini-cosmos bowl didn't quite turn out the way I wanted, though mom really likes it.
Blue Bowl
Mini-Cosmos Bowl

While I was enameling bowls I was enameling the Viking Knit that mom has been making. Both mom and I wanted to see what would happen when we enameled the Viking knit. I enameled two bangle bracelets and three sets of earrings. I think the experiment turned out really well.
Mauve Purple Bangle Water Blue/Rose Pink Bangle

Mauve Purple Earrings
Orange/Red Earrings

Transparent Turquoise Earrings

We finally finished enameling the bowls and then we went home to work on the inventory for the PAJAMA sale this coming week. We got all the stuff sorted out that we wanted in the show. Mom then started to put the pieces on the PAJAMA cards and I started to work on the labeling and the inventory. I think this is the worse part of doing jewelry and metals, the labeling and inventorying, YUCK!

Eighteen Years Ago Today

Eighteen years ago today, I was on my way to Fort Jackson, SC for basic training. Who would have thought then I would be involved in the world of fine arts. I figured I would put in my 20 years, retire, and come home and do whatever. If you had asked me in basic training, if I would do anything remotely related to the arts, I would have thought you were crazy.

The last time I had done anything with art was in a junior high drawing class. I didn't have anything to do with art through high school, and I don't even think I could tell you where the art department was in the school. It is funny how things work out. Today, I don't think I could do anything else with my life. I am seriously looking forward to Spring semester being over with, and I can focus my time and energy on our business EB Bead and Metal Works.

Mom and I are changing our direction, instead of going to craft shows, we will start entering juried art shows. We have been told at several of our craft shows that we were in the wrong venues. So we are going to take the leap and see what happens.

Over Christmas break, I will spend a lot of time updating photos for our portfolio and start submitting them to see if we will be accepted for fine art shows. This is exciting, but scary at the same time. You have butterflies in your stomach because you are afraid of what people will say about your stuff, but you are excited because you are going in a new direction with your art work.

Of course, this means we, which really means me, have to buckle down and start making up enough inventory for the shows. Mom really wants to make up a lot of our enameled copper bowls. We both have a lot of ideas for the bowls that we want to try. We both want to incorporate the Viking Knit (copper or silver wire, 24g or 26g, which we weave around a dowel rod)into the bowls and enamel them and see what happens.

So, lots of ideas. We both just need the time to work on those ideas.

Second Annual Sleepy Creek Craft Show

Mom and I participated in the second annual Sleepy Creek Salt Fork River Art Festival (a juried show) and it was awesome! We were a little worried on Saturday because it was foggy and overcast as we were driving to the winery. The day was pretty overcast, but that didn’t stop people coming out and enjoying the day. This year Joe and Dawn had more vendors set up. There was a blacksmith this year, and it was so much fun watching him work; I know mom really enjoyed watching him work since she wanted to be a blacksmith when she was younger. There was diversity of arts for the customers to enjoy. Mom and I had the same spot that we did last year. We sat and looked over the pond; it was very peaceful watching the water, hearing the wind through the trees, and photographing hummingbirds right behind our shelter.

Saturday was a nice day until about an hour and half before the end of the day; a large storm came through. Mom and I had decided to go ahead and close up the tent and take off. It is a good thing we did because right when we finished tying down the tent, there was a downpour and lightening. What fun! Sunday, Mom and I kept our fingers crossed for good weather because it was again overcast and foggy as we drove to winery. But the weather was surprisingly nice the rest of the day; the sun came out and it just gorgeous.

Both Mom and I love Sleepy Creek because the customers really appreciate the work an artist puts into creating their pieces. We usually do really well at this art show, and this year was not an exception. We sold three of our enameled bowls and a few of our more expensive necklaces. I had one gentleman come in and look at our stuff and made the comment it was a good thing his daughter was not here with him. He stopped and looked at a grey and pink flameworked glass necklace and then left the booth. Later, I left to go into the winery (for another wine slushie) and Mom said the gentleman came back and bought the pink and grey necklace for his daughter. I was so excited because that is one of the best flameworked necklaces I have made, and I love it when someone shows appreciation for my work.

I am including pictures of our booth, photos of the vendors, and customers walking around on a gorgeous Sunday. Both Mom and I are looking forward to next year’s art festival!
The winery through the trees

People waiting at the bar for wine tasting or slushies

People enjoying the sun and looking out on the pond

People walking around the various vendors

Vendors located around the pond

Our Booth

Mom working

Hummingbird behind our booth

V-J-J Necklace and Cosmos Bowl

I have been pretty lax on posting photos of stuff that mom and I have been making. With school and work it sometimes feels like that there aren’t enough hours in the day.

I made up another V-J-J necklace, and I am very happy with the way the necklace came out. Mom had made up earrings to go with them, but that pair sold at the Sleepy Creek show, and I didn’t have a chance to take photographs of them.

For the V-J-J necklace Mom sawed small copper circles, I folded the circles in half, unfolded them and then put crinkles in the copper to give the circles an abstract leaf look. I then decided what colors I wanted to use, and I enameled the copper circles with those colors. This time I wanted to use blue.

I then made the glass beads to incorporate and complement the colors of the enameled abstract leafs. This time I used a base color of dark blue, green to make vines and the design was flowers.

Mom was nice enough to make the sterling silver links for me, because I seriously hate doing that part of the necklace. Mom also made the clasp out of sterling silver for me.

I usually don’t name my pieces, though there are a few exceptions; the V-J-J necklace and the Hot-Cut-Buns and ThumBowLina bowls. The bowl mom and I made together reminds me so much of space, and I call it the Cosmos. Mom designed an abstract bowl and then sawed it out of a sheet of copper. Mom then took a hammer and shaped the bowl. Then it was up to me to decide what colors to use on the bowl.

For some reason, I decided to use black enamel as the base color. I fired it and I really loved how the black turned out, but I thought it needed some more color, so I decided to use transparent turquoise and mauve purple. When it fired it came out FABOULOUS!!! Those colors gave the bowl so much more definition; it really looked like the cosmos, hence the name “Cosmos Bowl”. I am still working taking a photograph of the bowl that does it justice.

Knitted Baby Caps and Chemo Caps

Mom and I are ready to donate the baby caps and some of the chemo caps that we have done. I wanted to knit 50 baby caps, but we reached 45. Mom is going to contact March of Dimes and see if we can donate the caps to them. If they won't take the baby caps we will then try the hospitals.
All 45 baby caps
The top six caps are from yarn donated by Julie Hutchison

I forget who mom was going to contact about donating the chemo caps to. We have 17 chemo caps knitted of various types of yarn. I really like the soft, fuzzy yarn. Those caps were fun to knit up.

Vacation - Worked on Enameling and Beads

I took Friday, 21 August off and Monday, 24 August off to veg before classes started and to work on making beads for various things.

On Friday I worked on making beads for a new rosary. I used a handmade light green glass, which mom and I just love, and silver ivory stringers to make designs on the beads. I am really happy with how the beads and the cross turned out.

I also started making up gold and black beads for Julie Hendon. Julie wanted a new set of "Purdue" earrings to go with her other gold and black items. I got five beads done and I started working on another bead when the bead release on the mandrel released and I burnt myself with hot glass. Needless to say I was done after that. But I am happy with the five beads that I did get made.


On Saturday I worked on making more beads for another rosary and spacer beads for a necklace I am making. The spacer beads I am making are floral beads. The base bead is dark transparent blue, with a twisted green stringer for vines and then light blue for the flowers.


The beads I made for the one decade rosary are a base bead of dark transparent blue, with Rubio Red dots with silver foil melted on top of the dots, then frit is melted on the bead and finally I draw designs on the bead with a silver ivory stringer. I did this for the cross also. I am really happy with how the cross and beads turned out.

While I was making beads mom was teaching herself how to make a Viking Knit bracelet. We bought a book on how to make wire jewelry and that was one of the things we both wanted to learn how to make. Mom and some challenges but she finally prevailed in making a necklace. I really like how it turned out. Now mom just needs to sit down and show me how to do it.

On Sunday mom and I went over to campus to work in the metals studio. I worked on enameling mom's circles to make a bib necklace. I got 12 of the circles enameled and I have seven more that I need to enamel.

I also was able to fix the enamel on a bowl, a set of earrings, and I also enameled two pendants : a leaf pendant (that has a nice texture to it) and a Gengko leaf pendant. Mom worked on cutting out a large bowl and then she pounded the bowl into shape. I need to order some more clear enamel before I can work on this bowl. I really like how the shape turned out and I can't wait to figure out what colors I am going to make this bowl.

On Monday, I started making more floral spacer beads for my necklace. I finished off about six beads before the oxygen ran out. While I waited for more oxygen to be delivered I started taking photographs of jewelry that we hadn't taken photographs of yet. I also put together a necklace of beads that I have had done since May.

Stretchy Bracelets

Mom and I decided to tear apart some of our macrame bracelets and make the beads into stretchy bracelets. For some reason the macrame bracelets don't sell here, but they sell really well down in Oklahoma. It is funny how different regions like different types of jewelry.
Here are some examples of the stretchy bracelets that mom has made from our beads.

Enameled Bowl and Necklace Pieces

This past Sunday mom and I went to campus to work in the metals studio in the PAO building. We were working there for over 5 hours. It takes about an hour for the small kiln to heat up and about two hours for the large kiln to heat up. While we were waiting for the kilns to heat up, I made my shapes for the necklace and bracelet and mom worked on cutting out circles for her "Bib" necklace.

I have to say that this was the best enameling day that I have had in a long time. Lately, almost all the pieces I enameled I have messed up in some way so that I would have to start over enameling. Of course this would make me mad. I finally found my enameling book, in the junk room, and re-read how to enamel. I followed the instructions and everything started to work. I guess I just need a refresher on how to enamel.

In a previous studio session, mom had cut out and formed an abstract bowl that needed to be enameled. Mom let me choose the colors, but she wanted something that had "fall colors". I mixed up the following opaque colors: orient red, black, jungle green, mocha brown, sunset orange and the following transparent colors: peacock green, and two different browns for enameling the bowl. I am really happy with how the color turned out. I would never in a million years think this was the color that would come from the eight colors I mixed together.

I also enameled 12 abstract leaf shapes for a necklace and bracelet. I still have two more shapes that I need to enamel. I also need to make the glass beads that I want to put in between the leaf shapes. I also need to cut out sterling silver wire to connect the shapes and the glass beads, but at least the enameling portion is done! I really like how the blues turned out. On the back side, which I did not take a photograph of, I really like how the clear creates different colors. The necklace will be reversible if the customer likes the back side color and not the blue on the front side.