Soldered Class @ Piecemakers

Early last Saturday morning, a couple of new artiest friends and I, got together and drove down to Piecemakers in Costa Mesa, Ca;  We took a class by Robin Dudley-Howes "Treasure Necklace and Soldered Glass Charms". "As described by the Instructor: We will explore various techniques to encapsulate and preserve precious treasures by learning to cut glass and solder it into charms and explore uncommon objects like miniature vials, dice, dominos, small china or bisque items, small pieces of a plate you couldn't throw out..you get the picture."

Sounds like fun, would you agree? Yes.

Irene Sanchez, owner/operator of "The Garden of Beaden" and Dana Primavera, local instructor/artiest and me, cloth doll maker/artiest, departed from "The Garden Of Beaden" in Upland, Ca. around 8:00am; loaded up with coffee and lots of chatting to make the hour road trip, seem like a 10min ride.

First time for the girls at "Piecemakers", I wanted to make sure they saw as much as possible, in the short amount of time, before our 10am class time. Our first stop was upstairs to the various xmas rooms, class project rooms, candling room, vintage hats/clothing room, bead lounge, and a walk thru the other various rooms that that hold a barrage of mix match assessments of fun merchandise, and goes on and on.  Then we, headed down stairs to see, fabrics, tons of embellishments for every type of mix media craft project imaginable, felt, ribbons, patterns, ceramics, paints, threads, feathers, and to much to continue naming. I have a feeling that the seed has been planted for many more returns to Piecemakers for Irene and Dana.

We had a productive creative day, got to work along side other talented artiest. We got to work with the soldering iron, flux, copper tape, microscope glass slides, glass cutter, grinder, jump rings, bales, small bottles, etc. And of course, there was never a dull moment to hear creative conversation on new ideas and techniques.  These ladies consisted of Janae, mother, Stephanie, her daughter, Liz, corporate executive turned artiest, Carol, long time artiest blessed us with her unique style and ideas, and shared some wonderful stories of her artiest life and beyond. And of course my new friends Irene, and Dana, with their witty humor interjected into the fun.

Instructor jewelry display ~ Bon couture!

Class Instructor ~ Robin Dudley-Howes

Talented Artiest

Charms I created that day ~

"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.

Make the Now the primary focus of your life"

~ Eckhart Tolle

Much Love to you ~

Andrea

Seaside Doll Club ~ Annual Doll Challenge

Wow, I was burning the midnight oil last night, to the tune of 3:40am. Can you say "O'lay". My first doll challenge, it's exciting and nerve racking, both at the same time. Yikes!

So, I've been working on this doll for about the last 6 months, in between various art classes and home life of course. This pattern started out as a draft pattern for the Pattie Medaris Culea class, that I'm taking in Nov. at Piecemakers in Costa Mesa. However, this pattern turned out to be so much more, once I learned to properly use the cutting line verse the tracing line, things got much more clear.

I worked on the techniques, again and again, until I was able, not to tier, or poke thru the material, free hand her facial features, eyes, mouth, nose, and sculpting the face features.  I made a couple of them. Ya know.  To get the pattern right. Ya know. Perfection, if you will. So I made this pattern about eight to ten times. Arms, legs, body, head, hands, ect. Yes, that's right,  eight to ten times. I'm very humbled by this process.

Moving on ~

The doll club that I am a member of "Seaside Doll Club" is holding it's 4th Annual Doll Challenge. The theme of the challenge is "Eccentric Old Broad".  In our club meeting today, members unveiled all the hard work and success of this doll challenge. Each doll maker got to chat about the details of there doll and how she evolved. Lots of great tips and trade secret were exchanged.  We have such talented doll makers in our club, all the dolls are crafted with love and detailed, and of course humor.

On with the show, the dolls will be on display from Nov. 2 thru Dec. 5, 2009. During this period customers and employees of SewVac are welcome to vote, all the dolls will be prominently displayed with ballots and a ballot box to catch your votes.

SewVac Ltd.
1762 Clark Ave
LongBeach, CA 90815
562-498-6684

Without further adue, here are the dolls ~

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." 

~ Mary Lou Cook 

"Treasures & Junk" The Affordable Antiques Mall

 "Treasures & Junk"

Located at 215 S. San Antonio Ave.

Ontario, CA 91762

Space # 55

This day will be unlike any day that ever was or will be. Every moment is an invitation to live; to live it up, to live like it matters, to live life to its fullest, to live the life you dream about, to embrace life. Not just to get a life, but to create your life. 

Much Love ~

Andrea

Glitterfest Fall 2009

Wow, Glitterfest Fall 2009 has come and gone in a blink of an bats eye.  So, what is Glitterfest, you ask?


Glitterfest is a juried show that strives to offer collectors the highest quality Halloween art in an unexpected variety of styles and mediums.

Inspired by the antique, the magical, and the whimsical, the artists' display and interpretations of this spirited holiday create a contagious excitement among the attendees and participants.

Passionate collectors, seeking limited and one-of-a-kind offerings, line up early for this one day event for the best selection.

As you can see..... Glitterfest Fall 2009 what a hoot! Hope to see you next year.

Happy Halloween to all ~  Much Love Andrea

Getting Older

It's a great Sunday afternoon today, a bit over cast, which has not been seen in a while, but today, Isabelle and Grizzly, are enjoying the shade together. The Labrador and Chihuahua are the same age believe it or not, they've been together for 10 years, giving us humans, love and devotion daily.

Clock Image ~ pretty neat

Route 66 thru Upland, CA.

As some of you may know, I moved last year (2008) from Anaheim, Ca. to a quaint little town called Upland, CA. Well, being in south county most of the time, I didn't make it out to the Inland Empire much, so didn't think much went on here, until almost, exactly, one year later. The first time was about three months ago when I got to meet a mentor of mine by the name of "Cesar Millan" the famous Dog Whisper, on the National Geographic Channel, here in Upland, at the Pet Expo.  Huge surprise.

I started thinking, maybe this town has a bit of history or something that made it somewhat historical.
So,  I looked it up and found that George and W.B. Chaffey were brothers with a purpose. The year was 1882 and they arrived in California from Canada seeking a new place for a colony. The wide stretch of green against the foothills was lush and fertile and they knew they had found what they were looking for.  Knowing that one of the streets I drive on, every day, established in 1882, and carried pioneers, settlers, and rustlers in covered wagons, makes me stop and take a closer look at where I live. 
Likewise, this mountain behind my house, it's called Mt. Baldy, it's top drawer in the ski season.
Surprise appreciation, came knocking on my door through the "Belle Armoire Jewelry" art magazine. This quarterly publication post articles in beadwork, mixed-media, claywork, and wirework.   In the Autumn 2009 publication story "Fragments" by Melanie L. Doerman;  awareness of new mixed-media approaches, design aspect, as well as products, beads, fabric, and other various materials.

Continuing to read, then smack-dab in the middle of the 2nd paragraph listed "The Garden of Beaden", in Upland, California. I was in shock. I had to read it two more times to make sure it was really in Upland, CA. The very same Upland, CA that I was living in.   The next day I visited "The Garden of Beaden", got to meet Irene Sanchez, the talented owner of this wonderful bead shop of eleven years and shared my story with her. We chatted for quite a while, she shared lots of facts, and techniques' with me. She mentioned how surprised she was, when the article was published, the customer who has been coming to her shop for years was the featured artist in the magazine. New customers like me have been keeping  "The Garden of Beaden" front doors revolving more then usual lately. Irene likes to share her techniques, and encourages everyone to try new things, when every you get the chance. 
I signed up for the soldering pendent class. What I knew about soldering, you got to use a torch, that's awesome. Guaranteed fun with metals and a flame, couldn't go wrong here. 

Our class was small and intimate with very talented ladies all empowering each other with there own pendent technique. Our instructor "Dana Hudson Primavera" inspired us to go beyond what we originally had in mind to create.  The pendent consisted of picking a image, using nickel/copper sheet, resin, torch, and metal stamps. Finishing up the pendent project was pouring "resin" over the image to make it appear shiny, and magnified, then it needs to sit for a couple of days to dry.  We get to pick up are pendents, on Monday. 

I'm happy to say, this little town of Upland, California is growing on me,  I look forward to more opportunities, Upland has to teach me.


Much Love ~
Andrea 

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

~ Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)