Magical Monday! Sharing Stories and Shinies!

Hello Everyone!!

Welcome to Magical Monday!!  I hope your weekend was superb!

Mine was and I have stories and shinies to share!

This past weekend saw me and Sprite Creations returning to the Bean Factory Artist Market! It was much fun as we saw old friends and made new ones! Thank you to everyone who stopped by!! We also had a chance to try out a new tent/table layout as we set up in the soaking rain on Sunday morning! I'm sharing this with you because of the serendipity(and thus magic) of the circumstance! We were happy to use the two day show as an excuse to catch up with good friends. The visit was long overdue. They had a rainbow umbrella languishing amongst other unclaimed garage sale items and asked if we had a use for such a thing. My response was, "How could I not have a use for a Rainbow Umbrella"?!!!  A photo of it is below!

Isn't it so cheerful and bright?

This wonderful addition to our lives helped us tremendously the next day as we set-up our tent and sidewalls in the pouring rain.  As many of you with tents know, it is really difficult to have a completely waterproof tent canopy and the rain started to seep in around the seams.  We erected the umbrella inside and underneath the canopy, clustered the tables, displays and creations underneath it's bright colours and hung creations and a banner from it's support spokes and structure!  YAY!! Now it's a festive feature to draw folks in on a rainy day!  Fortunately, the rain cleared out in only a few hours and the rest of the day was filled with sun!  We received many compliments on our set-up and now we are plotting more uses for our fabulous accoutrement!  Yay! for good friends and magical timing!

This next story is of the necklace pictures below, A Mermaid's Tale. You can find the story and details of it's growth here!  We were paid an absolutely delightful visit by someone who was cheerful, fun and was a delight to have in our space! As it turns out, she adopted a this very special mermaid-themed necklace!  I think there must have been some magic afoot, as she reminds me a bit of a mermaid herself!  It is such a gift to an artist when someone immediately groks an intricate piece of art that you've created and so it was with she and this creation!    YAY!!!!

So!  Now you know a little of the magic that happens at the shows, perhaps you'll join us next time you're in the area?!  

That would be fun!

My next event is August 11t!

Saturday only!  10am to 6pm

The Coffee Grounds!

 1579 Hamline Avenue North
Saint Paul, MN 55108

See you on Wednesday!

Ciao!

Fini Friday! A Peek into Preparations!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I've been busy preparing both for the Bean Factory Artist Market this weekend and creating new shinies!

I'm excited about all of this, so let's get right to what you'll see this weekend if you stop by for a visit!

First, a little project...

The white sign that you see to the left in the photo below is my current earring price sign.  The beginnings of the new sign are to the right in the same photo.  The current sign has weathered the shows well, but now looks a little the worse for wear. I've also wanted to try something more in keeping with the Faerie feel of the booth.  And Lo! The idea for a sign that looked like an old scroll was born!

And this second photo is the new sign all rolled up, secured and with the dots filled in! I'm pleased with this first prototype and look forward to seeing how well it works this weekend! 

I just received more Mood Beads in the mail and so will have a nifty selection of them for adoption this weekend! Take a gander! I love creating with Mood Beads, they are so much fun! 

And finally! A pendant that is still growing! My current idea is to wire-wrap or otherwise suspend or secure these beads to the bicycle finding. The rest of the creation will grow from there. 

I'm interested to see what you, the audience, think of which beads to include and where (and perhaps, how)! Leave a comment with opinions, if you like! 

 And onward to the weekend!!! 

This is where I'll be! Maybe you can join me!!!

Bean Factory Artist Market

July 28th and 29th
Saturday 10am to 7pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

It would be grand to see you there!

Also! Coming Up In August!!!
August 11th
Saturday only!  10am to 6pm
The Coffee Grounds!

 1579 Hamline Avenue North
Saint Paul, MN 55108

See you soon!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! A Key, A Heart and A Ring!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

It was a stormy night and a bit of a rainy day for me today.  This always encourages me to be a little sluggish, but I did create some new goodies!

Let me show you! 

The first creation is an experiment with smaller diameter memory wire to create a wrapped ring! I'm pleased with how it came out and excited to share it with you!

Title: Forest Magic

Ingredients: Swarovski crystals, Czech glass, memory wire

I hadn't had much chance to work with this diameter of memory wire and I love playing with material that allows simple, multiple layers that give a lush look! I love the greens and the focal of the iridescent leaf. I hope this shines through in the photo! 

Title: As Yet Unkown 

Ingredients: Carnelian, vintage chain, lead-free pewter, metal. 

This key has been languishing for a while, waiting for the rest of the elements to fall into place. I originally paired the key with another chain, yet as I played with the vintage chain of gold and copper tones with the key, I fell in love with how the rich, warmth of the copper accented the fire in the carnelian. The perfect idea for the clasp was the copper-toned heart charm clasped with the gold-toned hook, continuing the metallic theme through from the chain. Simple, yet elegant! YAY! 

These will be available in my Etsy shoppe no later than Friday and I will certainly have them available for adoption this weekend at the Bean Factory Artist Market! Details are below!

Bean Factory Artist Market

July 28th and 29th
Saturday 10am to 7pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

It would be grand to see you there!

Also! Coming Up In August!!!
August 11th
Saturday only!  10am to 6pm
The Coffee Grounds!

 1579 Hamline Avenue North
Saint Paul, MN 55108

See you soon!

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Art in Life!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Magical Monday!

I hope your summer weekend was beautiful and not too taxing!

I'm going to dive right into sharing the nifties I've found for you today!

I love everything about this beautiful bridge!! I love the green space, and the little spaces that seem to spiral off as a person travels over the roads and the graceful, organic lines of the entire design! YAY! I'd love to see more bridges like this!

 

This next photo is of an incredible paper castle!!! Take a look!  

Isn't that just breath-taking?! 

And finally... a Chemistry Class that I wish I had been in.. with an Instructor who really knows his stuff! Clicky! 

How is that Art in Life, you might ask? Any teacher who teaches with such knowledge, certainty and with a knack for keeping their students attention certainly demonstrates the Art of Teaching (and Chemistry!)! 

And to wrap-up this post, let me send out a quick reminder of my rescheduled BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton TOMORROW!!

July 24th from 3pm to 4pm (CST, USA)! 
We'll be chatting about  Messages From the Faeries #9!

Coming up this weekend.....

July 28th and 29th
Saturday 10am to 7pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

It would be grand to see you there!

See you soon!

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Changes and New Ideas!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Fini Friday!!

I hope this is an excellent end of the work week for (many of) you and the start of your weekend!!

The sorting, organizing and reorganizing continues around my studio and my life! I'm actively seeking to finish, lay to rest or stage to donate things that no longer serve me. I'm finding that I can only do so much of it in one stretch of time and then need to revisit it later. Good to know!That's part of the change referenced in the title.. but wait, there's more!!

While doing all of that, I came upon these creations, still growing...two of which have been languishing for a while and one that is newer!

I'll show you the two older ideas first...

Working Title: Ocean at Sunset

 

Working Title: Ocean at Midnight

 

You can see that both of these have a fabulous hand-made sea-shell focal of Lampworked Borosilicate Glass (from Unicorne Beads)! I've matched them both with hand-dyed silk ribbons, and included Swarovski Crystal yarn and a sparkly copper-coloured ribbon with the "Sunset" design and am playing with various types, textures and shapes of blue beads for the "Midnight" idea.

More changes are afoot and I wanted to draw your attention to another that I am proud of!  As many of you know, I have an Internet Studio (Store) on Etsy.  This is an Internet Marketplace of Hand-crafted Goodies!  They've introduced a new "About" feature to our studios and I've had fun playing with the Portrait and Studio Photos they've encouraged us to upload, as well as telling a bit of my "story".  Click here to take a go take a look!

And now, that last and newer idea I mentioned earlier!  

Working Title:  Book of Dreams

  

A while ago, I did a series of three necklaces, all with small books similar to this (Yes!! You *CAN* actually write in them!!!) and they grew into The Book of Love, The Book of Mysteries and The Book of Life.  The Book of Mysteries and Life have found their people and been adopted and the Book of Love is still with me!

(Not a bad thing, says I!) It seems that the time has come to finish The Book of Dreams!  Stay tuned to see what all of these grow into!

Here is a look ahead at what I'm up to in July!

My BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton!

Messages From the Faeries #9!
PLEASE NOTE!  Due to severe weather and other events, this has been rescheduled to NEXT Tuesday, July 24th from 3pm to 4pm (CST, USA)!  So! You have another opportunity to tune in and listen up!

And my next event is.....

July 28th and 29th
Saturday 10am to 7pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

It would be grand to see you there!

See you on Friday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Branching Out!

Hello Hello!

I hope the middle of the week is treating you well!

I've been busy doing cleaning and reorganizing things this week, both in the studio and around the house!  I always like how that feels afterwards, but it can be a bit of a whirlwind while I'm doing it!

I've a few new things to show you today and a bit of news!

Let's start with the news! I received word today from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts letting me know that I was not selected for this year's Art Perchance program. I am disappointed to not have been selected this year as it was such fun last year! I challenged myself with this year's creation, as I was determined to create a fabulous focal myself, and thus have as much of the creation as possible be my own design. I was very pleased with the results, which I shared in the post about Treasure Bottles here!

Ah well!  Rejection and acceptance are part and parcel of jurying and being an artist, so I'll wrap this up with a photo of the creation I submitted and my gratitude to all I met via the MIA's Art PerChance last year and a hearty CONGRATULATIONS! to those who were selected for this honor this year!

Title: Under Wrench and Stone

Ingredients: Hand-crafted Treasure Bottle, Sterling and Bali silver, Swarovski Crystal four-leaf clover, Secret Garden mood bead, Czech glass.

  And continuing on the topic of branching out, I've a portion of a Custom Creation to show! This metal leaf pendant was given to me to make into a necklace for a young man. The pendant was something dear to his Father and would be handed down to the Son. I've yet to find a chain that suits my standards, but I've very pleased with how the resin work came out! Take a look!

I've also been capturing a few more images with my camera and wanted to show you a companion piece of sorts to this image I took a few winters ago...

And yet more news to finish off this post!

My BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton!

Messages From the Faeries #9!
PLEASE NOTE!  Due to severe weather and other events, this has been rescheduled to NEXT Tuesday, July 24th from 3pm to 4pm (CST, USA)!  So! You have another opportunity to tune in and listen up!

And my next event is.....

July 28th and 29th
Saturday 10am to 7pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

It would be grand to see you there!

See you on Friday!

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Stone Age, Stonehenge and the Olympics!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Magical Monday! 

I hope your weekend was simply smashing! 

Mine was fairly mellow and included a date with my husband, a motorcycle, a movie and dinner! Just what I needed! 

I've some nifty cool things to show you today, so let's get started! 

First up! The Stone Age (or perhaps slightly before)... A sandbox a very ambitious and awesome Dad made for his children!  

Isn't that awesome??!!  Let's head on over to the Olympics now and this exquisite photo of the Olympic Torch at Stonehenge!

This is Micheal Johnson, former American Olympic Gold Medal sprinter, holding the Olympic Torch up at Stonehenge before starting his leg of the Olympic Torch journey! (Photo courtesy of ABC News.) Isn't that an absolutely marvelous sight?

Let's end our journey at the Olympics, themselves!...

Or, at least, an Olympics of sorts! Allow me to introduce you to "The Chap Olympics".... The Chap Olympics are described as 'a celebration of eccentricity and athletic ineptitude with the emphasis on panache and style over sporting prowess' and this is umbrella jousting! For more details about and photos of the sports that make up Chap Olympics, click here! 

Don't forget my BlogTalk Radio Interview tomorrow at 3pm (CST, USA)!!!

BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton!

Messages From the Faeries #9!

And my only show in July.....

July 28th and 29th     Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

Fini Friday! Momentos and Forging Ahead!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I hope your week was fabulous and that your weekend looks to be even better! I've a few souvenirs from CONvergence to show and tell and a creation still growing to share with you today! 

First! The momentos!! 

  On the right, you'll find a paper Tardis!This was left in one of the room parties and I happily gave it a new home!  I have also now discovered a nifty new website!!! 

The pattern for this is free and downloadable at Cubeecraft.com! All of the patterns are created for the standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, so these are ready to be cut out and assembled and Voila! Your very own Tardis!! Or Yoda! Or....well just go take a look! 

The other two bits will be incorporated into jewelry or a creation of some sort.. I'm just not certain what yet.... 

The guitar pick was actually used by Prince and was given to me by the gentleman the musician gifted it to. I was given the honor of hearing the story behind this guitar pik and will use that as part of the inspiration for weaving it into a creation! YAY! 

On to a creation in mid-growth! This is part of a "Pay It Forward" challenge on Facebook that artists chose to take up a while back. The first five folks that responded to the artists' status declaring their intent to create and send out free art into the world are supposed to receive that free art. I'm a bit late on the creation of these and I thought I'd show you this first creation-in-process...

It is to be a bookmark/necklace combination and has the fairy as the clasp. I'll be certain to show you what it looks like completed! 

That's it for this Fini Friday post! 

Have a lovely weekend! 

Ciao!

P.S. Wondering where to find me in July?  

Check out my event schedule below!

Tuesday, July 17th from 3-4pm (CST, USA)

BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton!

Messages From the Faeries #9!

July 28th and 29th     Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J and S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

Whimsy Wednesday! Summer and the Sea!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

I have a bit of a potpourri of nifty things to show you on this beautiful summer day!

These two lovely photos are of summer flowers that bloomed or were given to me over the last few weeks!  I love the vibrant orange of the hibiscus and indian paint brush and the daisies have always held a simple , vibrant beauty for me.  I hope you enjoy them, too!

 The next news is a bit of promotion!  An Etsy Treasury titled Sunny Must Haves featured a Sprite Creation!  You can see it here!

My Gifts From the Ocean creation is the third from the left and top! Isn't that a gorgeous, summery collection?!

I've included a close-up of that featured Faerie Flower Barrette!

Let's continue and conclude our summer and sea-sational theme with a photo of a newly-grown creation!

Title: Mermaid Finery

Ingredients: non-toxic, hand-coloured resin, upcycled brass bracelet. This was created with several layers of hand-coloured resin that I poured myself and I'm so pleased with the multi-dimensional texture and colour of it!

Wondering where to find me in July?  

Check out my event schedule below!

Tuesday, July 17th from 3-4pm (CST, USA)

BlogTalk Radio Interview with Cheryl Patton!

Messages From the Faeries #9!

July 28th & 29th     Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm

Bean Factory Artist Market

J&S Bean Factory

1518 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN (USA)

See you soon!
Ciao!

Transition Tuesday...Music to Ease Back into the Everyday...

Hello Everyone! 

You may have noticed that I was on vacation for about a week and so there was no Magical Monday post! 

I'm back from participating in CONvergence and it was a blast!!! I am one of many who help organize this convention throughout the year and it is always fun, heart-warming and a bit nerve-wracking to see it all come together. And then it does, in wonderful ways and becomes is simply fun! 

Sleep, as with most awesome events, is in short supply... mostly because no one wants to miss a single moment of such interesting stuff and so I'm easing into my everyday world with a post full of beauty and music and the awesome-ness that people can create, if they are of a mind to. 

But first! A very important date in Geek History (Future?) that slipped by unnoticed as I was  prepping for CONvergence!

From the Back to the Future movies... 

I'm sad to say that I don't see any hoverboards around just yet... Boo!!

And now, for the music! I have one photo and two videos for you! 

First, the photo!

  

This is a project in Paris where pianos are placed all over the city so as to encourage citizens to play music more often!  Nifty!!!! 

And then the videos! Fun with Your Cello! 

I love the look of joy on this musicians face!!! 

And finally.... Ode to a Flashmob!

 Clicky! 

This flashmob orchestra was orchestrated by the Banco Sabadell of Spain in celebration of their 130th anniversary. 

Very cool. 

And with that, I bid you Adieu and will see you on the morrow for Whimsy Wednesday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday & Fini Friday! Heart and Play!

Hello Everyone! Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday and Fini Friday!!!

I have a fun batch of creation-goodies that I am pleased to show you today! 

I finished a deceptively simple creation at my last show and wanted to present it to you-all now!

 Title: Brilliant Heart I

ngredients: Swarovski crystal heart, ribbon trim (with sequins), lead-free pewter, metal, Fray-Check.

This is the perfect creation for a bride, to complete a costume, a shiny gift for a Faerie and all of those who dream the fantastic!  This is up for adoption in my Etsy shoppe now!

This next bunch of photos is a collection of creations that I created with hand-coloured resin and other found objects...

The collection of creations is in the photo on the left and includes tie tacks, a dragon button, a cross pendant and, again, a camera-shaped tie tack!

I used a few different techniques to embellish these objects.  I hand-painted the hand-coloured resin on all of this, but there are a few more layers of things happening on some of these.... I dotted opaque red pigment on the round tie-tack on the left, then wiped it off and then sealed that in with a golden glitter-tinted resin.  This same tinted resin was used to seal the old watch parts (in 2 layers!) on the black cuff links shown in the middle of the group photograph.  I love how the Emerald Green colour filled in all the detail of the Dragon button! And, a final bit of whimsy is the camera-shaped tie tack, included in a more detailed shot on the side....  This, too, was hand-painted resin with the golden glitter resin.  It is a beautiful detail that adds a subtle elegance and bit of play to this creation! 

I hope you had as much fun perusing these creations as I did in creating them!

Just a little FYI: I'll be on vacation at CONvergence the rest of week! 

(Maybe I'l see some of you there?!)

One last little note...Magical Monday will likely be on Tuesday of next week! Ciao!

Magical Monday! Beautiful Moments!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Magical Monday!

I hope your weekend was fun of magic and joy!  I'm pleased to say that mine was!

I have three beautiful moments to share with you today!

The first I have to share with you is really a series of moments, as it was taken with time-lapse photography...

Isn't that gorgeous?!

The second beautiful photo to share is all about a lovely moment of kindness!

 

Isn't that awesome?!!!

 

And the third and final beautiful moment is this...  

There is so much to love about this photo and this moment in time! 

And that's it for this Magical Monday post! 

Have an excellent first part of the week and I'll see you on Wednesday! 

Ciao!