Small works of art

Before I went to the flea market on Sunday, I was reading a blog on inchies. I love the idea of such lovely art created on a small canvas - duh - isn't that what beadmakers do? Yes! But paper artists love small canvases too. So while I was at the flea market, a couple of vintage stamp collector books caught my eye.


I'm not a stamp collector. Never have been. I don't know what caused me to open up these books but I did. When I did, I found small works of art like these....


...graphic representations of the stamps in black and white. Two books full of them! I thought they'd be wonderfully reproducible for mixed media jewelry.

There were even some real stamps in excellent condition....



In one of the books, a piece of newspaper fell out revealing a small collection of stamps that hadn't made it into the album yet.

The newspaper was a local paper gone out of business now. Christmas 1958 - before I was born but such colorful stamps!



I spent a few hours going through the stamp books after I got home on Sunday - dreaming of which I would reproduce first and what kind of mixed media jewelry I could make.

If you had been with me, would you have bought these books or set them back down again and gone on to the next thing?

Calaveraz and Cool Jewelry Designer Barbe Saint John

Last fall, I introduced Calaveraz,and
Skele'Bowz an addition to the Heartz n Skullz series.



I love the Skele'Bowz and Calaveraz. Not everyone loves Glam Punk and Punkesque style like I do. BUT I thought if seen in a the right design, my customers would love them like I do. They just needed to see them used in jewelry. Jewelry you could wear all year round and not just during Halloween.

Since they're not your everyday bead, I knew these beads needed a jewelry designer whose work is edgey and eclectic. I love edgey and I knew just the girl for them.

Barbe Saint John.

So, I sent her an email and told her I love her work and thought she was just the gal who could work magic with the Calaveraz. I was thrilled when she said she'd love to!

Barbe finished the pieces and sent me a picture before they arrived. I squealed with delight - literally! The Calaveraz are highlighted so perfectly in her designs, I can't help but gush over them! And the Skele'Bowz just sing!

So today, I unveil the amazing work of Barbe Saint John - a multi-talented, mixed media artist who has created these wonderful works of wearable art using my Calaveraz and Heartz n Skullz beads!


(Above photo courtesy of Barbe Saint John.)

I urge you to go check out Barbe's work. Her rings are Steampunk cool - another edge she interprets in her unique Barbe way! Her blog is full of awesome info! Barbe's Blog

Good Investments for Technique and Inspiration

I got good suggestions on copper foil yesterday from Lynn and Angie. Thanks, guys! (BTW, Angie, I too started in stained glass and couldn't cut glass very well so I decided I'd rather burn with hot glass than bleed with stained glass!)

I'm putting the twist tie on the roll as I write this (hmmm, how am I able to type and tie at the same time? wink!). I like the copper foil part, there's something meditative about burnishing it onto the glass and making sure that all the bubbles are out. But that's where my zen like state ends.

If I'm to be honest part of my problem is impatience.
Sally Jean Alexander's book Pretty Little Things has ruined me forever - I want to live in this book! N...O..W!


So I'm trying to solder round glass nuggets before I master the square and rectangular shapes.(Boy, do THEY look like crap - that is, the ones I'm able to actually solder!)

Damn that Sally Jean, why does she make it look so enticing and easy?!

If you need to back up a bit like me and slow down - buy Lisa Bluhm's Simple Soldered Jewelry and Accessories. It's THE book to teach you how to solder jewelry using stained glass technique.


Use Lisa's book in combination with Sally's and you'll have the perfect mix of how to and inspiration!

Pieces of my Heart

Here's a piece of my heart. The left overs of a played with and accidently broken by a little one, a wedding present from my husband, a music box in the form of a bride. I kept the pieces being the saver and recycler that I am, but saving it more because of the sentimental reason.

She wants to be a piece of multi-media jewelry. What would you do with this piece of my heart?