Etsy Shop Grand Opening

Finally after having an Esty shop for several months with nothing listed, I have filled my shop with an assortment of jewelry and my "Queen Bee" bags. I invite you to come in and window shop and perhaps you might find something you just can't live without.

These wonderful totes all feature a vintage image printed with archival inks, designer fabrics, vintage trims and embellishments....each complete with a vintage bee brooch.

I love to play with metal, glass, vintage found objects, fabrics and wonderful semi-precious stones.

This is just a sampling of what you might find in my Etsy shop. I am, of course, open for any

custom order you might have in mind. Let me know what you think. I will continue to list items over the next few days.

Thank you all for being so supportive in my creative endeavors. The last 2 weeks have been very heartbreaking for me as my son 's father passed away last week and I have not been in the place where I even wanted to go into my studio even though I know that it is where I find my comfort, my joy, my peace. Losing someone who had been so very special to me at one point in my life and to see my son in so much pain and grief just tears at a mother's heartstrings. It has been good for me to focus my energies on my Etsy shop and to move on. Wishing you all a joyous day! I'm off to a playdate with a friend....a walk.....lunch....and a movie....sounds like a great day!

Tootles

Diana

Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine

Today I received the June issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine and guess who is one of the featured artists??? Yes, me. This issue includes the work of some amazing mixed media artists and I am so proud and honored to have been selected to be one of them.

I would like to thank and acknowledge Sally Jean Alexander for teaching me the soldering skills I used to create these projects. My Sleeping Beauty pendant necklace was inspired by the techniques learned in Sally Jean's "Le Divine Shrine" class taught at Art and Soul in Portland last fall. Due to editorial changes, Sally Jean's acknowledgement was omitted. Hugs to Sally Jean!

Over the next few weeks, I will be listing jewelry for sale in my Etsy store. Thank you all for your support and kind words.

Diana

Happy Mother's Day

This is my sweet mom, Margaret. I lost my mom about 9 years ago and still miss her so. Mother's Day always brings a flood of memories, smiles, and tears. I know so many who have recently lost their mothers and wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you today and embracing you with my supporting intentions. Treasure the memories. For those of you who still have your moms, treasure each moment. For those of you who are mothers yourselves, treasure your children and know you are blessed.

Diana

Art and Soul Asilomar - Part II

The Old St. Angela Inn

I wanted to share with you the beautiful bed and breakfast I stayed in while attending Art and Soul in Asilomar....The Old St. Angela Inn. This is a lovely B & B and in an ideal location just 5 minutes away from the Asilomar conference grounds.

Just outside of my room were these wonderful gardens and waterfall. It was so peaceful listening to the waterfall in the evening.

This is my room complete with teddy bear. Breakfast was superb! and the innkeepers such a delight. They even prepared breakfast early for me so I could make it to my classes on time.

The first day of class at A & S I took Romona Ashman's PMC Bezel class and designed these two silver bezels. This class was packed with tips about using PMC and alternate ways of firing your clay. Romona used both the SpeedCone and standard kiln for firing our clay. After witnessing both methods, I will say that if I do decide to persue PMC in my jewelry design, I will purchase a kiln instead of the SpeedCone. While the SpeedCone is much cheaper to purchase, I think a kiln is much safer and provides a constant temperature for firing PMC without having to babysit the temperature gauge like you have to do on the SpeedCone. I did really enjoy this class. I thought Romona was a great teacher and good inspiration. Her approach to PMC was very easy and fun. I love these rustic bezels. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the backside of the pendants which were full of interesting textures.

After returning to my studio, I completed my bezels by adding the photos of the beautiful little girls which I got from Paper Whimsy, filled them with resin, and added beads and chain.

That fills you in on Art and Soul. Now I must get ready to meet a group of my art friends for lunch! Wish you were here to join me.

Art and Soul, Asilomar - Part I

First of all I need to apologize for not posting for an entire month. Time has just gotten away from me with such a full calendar of events, family illnesses and company. I now have some time to breathe and will post several posts to catch you up on what has been happening in my life. Mid-April I had the pleasure of attending Art and Soul in Asilomar, Ca. (a three-day mini mixed media art retreat). Asilomar, in Pacific Grove, is near Carmel and Monterey and is such a beautiful area. The conference grounds are so peaceful....you say "hello" to the grazing deer as you walk to lunch, or take a nature walk along the Pacific Ocean, or just sit and listen to the many different birds seranade you. I needed the break as my design schedule has been very hectic for the last three months getting ready for the Remnants of the Past Antique Faire which took place last weekend.....a recap on that to follow in the next few days. I enjoyed the smaller retreat atmosphere, meeting up with art friends, and learning new techniques.

I took two classes from Stephanie Lee - Art Excavation and Junkdrawer Metalsmithing. I loved both classes. Stephanie is such an excellent teacher and artist. In Art Excavation we created assemblage collages by pouring plaster onto canvas boards or into boxes, carving into the dried plaster, embedding found objects, casting with plaster and attaching an assortment of collage elements onto the plaster with beeswax.

The top two photos are of the two pieces I completed in class. I had never worked with plaster as an art form before or beeswax so the class was both challenging and so enjoyable. Creating dimension in this way was eye-opening for me.

Stephanie's "Family Nest Egg"

The next day, I took Stephanie's Junkdrawer Metalsmithing class. Stephanie has so much to share ....this class was rich with all kinds of metalsmithing techniques ranging from making bezels out of a variety of metals, copper pipe, and other materials found at local hardware stores to engraving and etching into metal. Stephanie uses all things "unearthed, discovered, salvaged, reclaimed". I purchased her new book "Semiprecious Salvage" which has a wealth of information and projects I can't wait to start. A definite suggested read to anyone who is interested in creating found-art jewelry.

Here is Stephanie's new book with the four bezels I completed in her class (the house shape, heart and two round bezels).

The "Family Nest Egg" (a name I gave to this lovely art piece) was a gift to me from Stephanie. It holds a special place in my studio and reminds me of the lovely person who so graciously gave it to me. I really want to take more classes from Stephanie, I love her teaching style, her approach to art, her great personality, her loving nature and willingness to share so much of what she knows about mixed media art.

Now I must get ready for work at Old Edna. Hopefully I will have a chance tomorrow to write the next chapter in my "getting caught up" posts. Have a great weekend!