transform

so i thought i'd post about my word for this year. it is:

transform



i'm so excited about this word.

trans·form

   /v. trænsˈfɔrm; n. ˈtrænsfɔrm/ Show Spelled

verb (used with object)

1.

to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose.

2.

to change in condition, nature, or character; convert.

3.

to change into another substance; transmute.

4.

 

Synonyms:

alter, commute, convert, cook, denature, doctor, make over, metamorphose, mold, mutate, reconstruct, remodel, renew, revamp, revolutionize, shift gears, sing different tune, switch, switch over, transfer, transfigure, translate, transmogrify, transmute, transpose, turn around, turn over new leaf, turn the corner, turn the tables

the words i'm most interested in are renew, transfigure, and to turn over a new leaf. to change in character. to metamorphosize. exciting! and i've begun this year with a redo of my room. it is the basement of my mother's house, so i have the whole floor. i'm going to clean it up and turn half of it into a studio for my beading, polymer clay, and metalsmithing. i'm soooo excited! it's a lot of work. i'm a bit of a hoarder and i've basically just let it go, but i really want this, so i'm totally dedicated to it.  wish me luck!

 

and now onto some eye candy. here's a piece i did for the last BeadSoupBlogParty. Sign-ups for the latest one just happened over the weekend and i'm really hoping i get in. keeping my fingers crossed!

 

hope this year is filled with beautiful things for you and your families! happy beading!

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

 

 

 

HUGE Bazaar

Truth time:


We are freaking out. Beth & I are signed up to do the really big Carlson Holiday bazaar this weekend. It lasts 3 days- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And we are in way over our heads.

This bazaar costs more than the other three combined for us to get in, and we are really hoping we not only "make table" (our language for recouping the amount we spent to have a table), but increase our fan base, and sell lots of pretty things.

I sold all but one of my pearl necklaces (go me!) at Monroe, so I've been working like crazy to make more. Which means no blogging, and very little sleeping.

Hoping it all works out, and thankful that God blesses the work of his children's hands.

OH, yes. And by the way, if you're in Fairbanks this weekend, November 11, 12, or 13 we'd love to see you over at the Holiday Marketplace at the Carlson Center!

Just 2 Days Away!

If you're in Fairbanks this Saturday, stop by and see us!

Becca's Fun Day- Collage Necklaces

I love building these collage necklaces. I love selecting each bead and piece and carefully balancing them just so with the other elements.  Here's the gold one on my bead board all ready to be wired together.

I enjoy wearing them, and imagining the person who might prefer the all copper one, or the all silver one.

I love choosing surprising elements- a bit of shell, a hand-made wire bead, 3 wood beads together...

In fact, they are as fun to make as they are to wear. A bit of elegance mixed with a big of whimsy and tied together with carefully twisted and worked wire.

Still loving my beads- Becca

summer magic

i made this necklace with andrew thornton's august reader's challenge kit. you buy a kit which has all these fantastic elements and create a piece using as much or as little as you want from the kit, and add whatever elements you want from your own stash. i added the great c-koop toggle clasp, the leaf chain, and the green girl studios' pewter bird.

this was my first challenge ever, and i absolutely loved it! i bought the kit for the september challenge as well, which will be revealed on september 30th on my blog. i also entered the bead soup blog party challenge, which was revealed on september 17th. totally loved it! as you can see, i'm now addicted to challenges. will have to try out art bead scenes monthly challenge.

ta ta for now!

So LONG!!!

I can't believe we haven't posted since March!  Wow.  That is definitely too long.
We've been busy with Farmer's Market and work and school...

However, Beth and I are going to try and do something different with this blog.  Our hope is to post once a week and trade off who bears responsibility for posting.  For example:  I am posting now, which means Beth will be next, in about a week.  Then I'll follow with a post in about a week.  Clear as mud?

The sum up: We will be posting more regularly. =)
****

Today was our final Farmer's Market day for 2011, which is an ambivilent sort of day...  Our feelings are rather mixed up.
-Yes, we are ready for the constant pressure to 'produce, produce, produce' to let up. 
-However, we both like going to FM, and we will miss our friends and our regular customers.  We like what we do. 
-At the same time, it's going to start getting COLD very soon, and neither one of us likes to sit outside at 30 or 40 degrees with a cold breeze blowing through our tent.  Two years ago we got snowed on during the final week, and I will never forget how miserable we were. 
-But we like selling pretty things to people who like to buy pretty things.  We like earning money from our creative endeavors.

So, we go back and forth.  Yes, we want to keep going, but there is no way we're doing Farmer's Market into the winter.

THANK YOU for making our 2011 Farmer's Market a success!  Thank you for coming and looking.  Thank you for talking and sharing stories.  Thank you for buying our jewelry and talking to us about what you like and don't like.  Fairbanks, we love you!

Have a wonderful fall, winter, and spring.  See you next summer at the Market!

Workbench Wednesday

It's Wednesday, so it's time to look at my two workbenches!

Here's my school workbench- The picture shows three projects:

1) In the center is a little bird's nest I wire-wrapped to go with the cast branch from last week. I placed a white pearl egg in the center.

Oh! The trauma of trying to attach the thing on the branch!!!
First I cut out & shaped a small copper cup with holes around the sides to be the base. And then I drilled a hole in the branch for a wire to thread through the nest and into the branch. After that, I epoxied the nest on by placing a head pin through the nest and into the hole in the branch. It worked great!
Until I was half-way through wire wrapping the nest and had just attached the egg... Then the nest fell off because of the pressure I was putting it under as I pulled and tugged on the wire.
Arrgh. And then I couldn't hold onto the head-pin UNDERNEATH the pearl as I tried to reattach the nest... I got very frustrated. But I finally achieved success! It's on there. And I'm happy with it.

2) Below and to the right of the nest is a clasp I'm in the middle of creating to go with the branch & nest necklace.

3) Above and to the left are four ovals I'm working with.... I really don't know what they are going to be, but it is always wise to have at least 2 projects, if not more, going in the shop. Then if Jack can't help you immediately when you run into a problem on one project you can jump over to the other while you're waiting. Or you can pop something into the pickle while you work on something else.

This is my home table.

I've got three projects on there right now (Hmmmm.  I must like threes.):

1) In the upper left corner is the completed purple and crystal wire necklace I was half-way through last week. I thought I was done, but the middle flower is missing a crystal petal. I don't know when it happened, but I'm gonna have to fix it before I sell it this summer. I might as well get it done now rather than later. (Farmer's Market opens in 60 days!!!)

2) In the center wells I have spread out the crystals I'm going to use to create the fabulous dangle for the necklace on the right. I'm looking forward to this project! It has taken me a long time to pull together the different elements I wanted to use.

3) And on the far left I have finished the bracelets a customer asked me to make for her. They are to match two necklaces she bought over Christmas- one for herself and one for a friend. She also asked for some earring to match and I need to complete those before I can deliver her necklace and bracelets.
 
Still in love with beads- Becca

Workbench Wednesday

I have found a large community of beading/jewelry/metal-smithing blogs who participate in this really cool project called "Workbench Wednesday". They post pics of their workbench, even if it's a mess, and explain what projects they are working on at the time.

I was delighted with the idea, and wanted to participate too!

Of course, a problem immediately presented itself. I have two workbenches. My traveling table at home, and the one in my metal-smithing class. But I have solved the problem by presenting both workbenches!

Here is my work station at home. I am lucky enough to live with 6 people, so I don't have a stationary work-bench all to myself. Instead I have two shelves in the living room and half a closet.

I bead on my little work station at night while watching TV. We rent through whatever series we're currently watching and have a couple of series on TV we (me, mom, Beth, and my husband) all like: CSI works really well, 'cuz I can look down at my beads during any of the really gory scenes that are too much for me.

Currently I have 4 projects on my work-bench:
1) At the center-top of the pic is a pearl and crystal bronze necklace with large crystal beads in a plastic bag- I need to complete an extravagant crystal dangle for this necklace.
2) Continuing clockwise, in the center three longest wells I have purple and crystal seed beads and round beads transforming themselves into a wire-work necklace with flowers.
3) At the top left corner, I have 4 large metal focal pieces I made in metal-smithing waiting to become bracelets.
4) And in the center of all those busy beads, there is a large orange flower I am turning into a wire ring.

And in the metal-smithing shop up at UAF, I am in the process of creating components out of molds. We are making molds by carving cuttlefish bones. (For a really cool article about cuttlefish, go here: http://www.doublepluscool.com/blog/travelling )

On the far left is an example of one side of a carved cuttlefish bone, with my pattern. In the center is a wrapped cuttlefish bone waiting for me to pour liquid metal into the carved shape. Next to that are three carving tools I used on the bones (And I MADE the two tools on the right- one is a scribe and the other is a very sharp little knife). And at the top right is my first completed cast! A cute little tree branch next to the pattern I used. I don't know what I'll do with it, but I'm looking forward to using it.

Here is a jeweler's saw, my little branch again, and the carved and wrapped cuttle fish. I'll show a picture of my next completed casting soon...

From the work bench of Becca

Fun Day!

Here are some wired earrings I've been working on:

I was leery about working with the flowers and wire; however, I am delighted with the end result.

You can find a few more pictures at my blog: http://www.godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/

Keeping it creative- Becca

Friday is my Fun Day BONUS: Butterfly Crystals And Sunset over Snow

No, it's not Friday, but I got a chance to blog about these two pieces over at my own blog: http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/ and ran out of time to share here. 
I definitely wanted to go ahead and share these pieces before moving on to other projects.  I completed these two projects the week before last, and finally got a lovely sunny day to photograph them.


Butterfly Crystals

My butterfly piece is wire work wrapped with freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals and Quartz.

I love the sparkle and elegance, and wish that my photos could give a clear picture of just how dazzling the piece is to the naked eye.

I think what pleases me the most about this piece is the asymmetry.  I enjoy working both symmetrically and asymmetrically, but I definitely like this best. I feel like this piece has stretched me creatively, and I love that!  I rarely use large crystals like the three in this piece.  I tend toward tiny work, but tiny beads wouldn't have been bold enough for what I was thinking. 

Sunset Over Snow

My snow piece is wire-wrapped seed beads and Swarovski crystals.  7 Strands of aurora borealis, clear, white, and silver seed beads have been wrapped together to create the snow, then a strand of crystals has been wrapped around the rest.

My favorite part of this piece is that I had the idea, and then I did it...  Kind of rare, really.  Most of the time I have the idea then run into some road-blocks and make changes.  Sometimes those changes make the piece way better, and sometimes they don't.  However, this time, it worked!

I saw the vision of a necklace depicting an Alaskan sunset on snow, and then I found the beads and put them together.  I wish it looked exactly like I imagined it...  It's still not exactly what I was thinking.  So I may not be completely done.  However, at this point I am satisfied.

 
Again, I wish my photos could show the true dazzle and sparkle of the piece.

Friday is My Fun Day- Bead Soup Party

I have had a marvelous week participating in Lori's Bead Soup Party!
http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/


I hope you have had an opportunity to check in with her blog and see all the amazing completed projects. I am pleased to be part of something so cool.
Here's the wonderful collection of beads my partner Lyn Foley sent me. http://www.lynfoley.com/

Look at the amazing green beads she made! Aren't they great? She made the nine beads across the center.
The small green beads are chalk turquoise and the white strand is made up of lovely freshwater pearls.
I fell in love with the little bird clasp.

I am very pleased with my completed project, but let me tell you- It took a LOT to get there.

I originally had an entirely different concept, and was working with a very specific idea of what I wanted. I rarely work toward a goal like this, but I also rarely work with large glass beads such as Lyn's so I wanted a goal.

My concept drawing reflects a delicate and graceful vine with the focus entirely on Lyn's bead.

But here is where my lack of experience with large glass focal beads torpedoes my design.... Her bead was MUCH too heavy for the delicate vine. It literally pulled the vine right off my neck.... So I fought with that for a bit, and tried a couple of other ideas... Tried to rig a chain across the front, tried a different bead, tried finding beads for the vine end that would balance with her bead...

And got frustrated.
Very frustrated.
I didn't like any of the other ideas as much as my original vision...

And then it happened!
 

I had a new vision. A good one... Maybe not as unique as my original concept, but I'm pleased with the final project. I still have other beads from Lyn's goodie bag to use, and I am looking forward to the challenge. =)


*Update*
I was able to finish the bracelet tonight!  I spent so much time fighting with myself over the necklace that I wasn't sure if I would get it done in time.  But I did, and I wanted to share it. 

Still beading-

Becca

Bead Soup Party- Coming Soon!!!

Pretty soon I'll be sharing the addresses for all the other participants in the Bead Soup Party.

Right now I just want to let you know when the unveiling will be- June 19th through June 26th.

Stay Tuned!!! (As you can tell, I'm a little excited to be part of this!)

For all the latest info, check out Lori Anderson's blog:  http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/06/bead-soup-blog-party-sneak-peek.html

Still Beading- Rebecca

Friday is My Fun Day! - ???

What to do???

The weather has been horrible this entire week, so I haven't been able to take pics outside of any of my jewelry! I don't have any creative new pieces to share!
I've been creating lovely jewelry, I just don't have any good photos!

Our sweet lovely wonderful friend Valette left us with a stupendous light box and we've been using it inside during the winter, but it is a process to set up... Maybe I can do all that tomorrow, but I was just not up to the task today.

I have a solution!

Instead of sharing MY work, I am going to share some of the pieces that have truly inspired me lately.
These two pieces by Sylvia Jewelry at Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sylviajewelry ) have absolutely blown me away.. The first is called "Bloom Necklace in gold", and the second is called "Harvest Necklace".

I am in love with her style! I love the delicate vine nature of her work, and I enjoy the bold color choices.

She has caused me to look at my own wire-work in a different way. I'm mulling it over and dreaming, but soon I expect to have my work go in a slightly different way. I'm looking forward to the changes ahead!

Sylvia has MANY other lovely jewelry pieces at her website, some like these, and some completely different.

Go enjoy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sylviajewelry

Fun Earrings- Pearl flowers

The sweetest lady called me last night. She had gone to Pioneer Park, found my jewelry and purchased several pieces.

She hoped I could make earrings to match the necklace she had bought so that she could wear them to her son's wedding. I had never made any like it, but I gave it a try... I was nervous about the ends of the wires and where I'd hide them.  I was also nervous about them definitely hanging the right way.  But both of my concerns worked out!  I was able to tuck the wires away, and make the loop at the top at the perfect angle to keep the flowers facing the right way.  YAY! =)

I like them. I was very nervous, but they turned out quite cute. Now that I've figured out how to do it I will probably make something like these again.

In the picture, I am showing one of the flowers from the back and one from the front.

Thank you, Nancy! I probably wouldn't have tried if you hadn't requested.
From Rebecca

Friday is My Fun Day!- Leafy Copper Bracelets

I am delighted to show these bracelets off!

They were fun to make...

First and most importantly, I chose metal that had already been worked with and aged. Each of these pieces had been worked with and then discarded. I loved the texture and images already embedded in the metal.

Then I heated the copper to make it malleable. I chose leaves and ran the metal and the leaves through the rolling mill.

(A rolling mill is the tool I covet the most from our shop at school. Yes, I want a torch, but I WANT a rolling mill in a really bad way. The cheapest good one I've found was around $500. It's gonna be a while before I have one...)

Next, I soaked the pieces in liver of sulphur to age and darken the leaf impressions.
After the liver of sulphur bath, I sanded the surface to lighten the raised metal.

Then I drilled holes on the sides. After speaking to an artist on Etsy I used clear finger-nail polish to coat the backs of the bracelets. Copper has a tendency to turn skin green when worn repeatedly, but the clear nail polish will prevent the copper from touching skin.

Finally, I took them home and beaded them, which was a blast! I wanted a heavy, rich appearance so I mixed chain in with vibrant glass beads and luscious stones.

I created the green bracelet specifically for me, but the red and blue one are both for sale!

Take a peak down at Farmer's Market on College Rd. in Fairbanks or on Etsy.
Also, for more shots of these bracelets look over here: http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-is-my-fun-day-leafy-bronze.html

Something BIG!

We have been invited to share part of the Art Association's cabin in Pioneer Park (AKA Alaskaland)!!!!!

We will have our jewelry on display in the FAA cabin seven days a week from Memorial Day (this weekend) til Labor Day (early September)!

Our consignment fee will only be 20% which is excellent. And we will have to staff the cabin one day a week. Beth and I are going to split Mondays, so that each of us only has to staff the cabin for about four hours a week!!!

We are so excited. =)

I hope to see you at Pioneer Park!

Friday is My FUN Day!- Dichroic Glass Pendants

More Metal-smithing projects-

I got to work with Dichroic glass in Metalsmithing. Not something I ever expected to do.

These two pendants are my first projects working with bits of glass and melting it into one piece with a kiln.
They are not bad for the first glass projects I've ever done, however, my later glass pendants are much more attractive and interesting. It's definitely a learning curve, and I've just begun.

I wish this was something I could do regularly, but both the glass and the kiln are EXPENSIVE. I'd love to get better at it. I know that these are not fantastically cool pendants, but I like 'em. =)
My intention is to bead these into necklaces and sell them. I'll post again, when I have them beaded and ready to sell.

Look forward to seeing you at Farmer's Market!
Becca

Bead Soup Blog Party

I am getting excited about the package of beads I am sending to my partner! =)
To learn more about it, go here:  http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/04/bead-soup-blog-party-is-here.html

I get to create a special package of beads and send them to my partner, and she sends me a package!  And then we get to create. =)
To see some photos of past bead soup entries, go here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1290276@N25/pool/page6/

Farmer's Market- First Day!

We made it to Farmer's Market today!

YAY!

And it was a lovely day! The forecast was for rain, but it was sunny and pretty through most of the day.
We saw friends, sold stuff, ate yummy food, and had fun. =)

Until the end of the day.
About an hour before closing clouds started rolling in.
And then, Five minutes before closing huge gusts of wind started hitting the Market.

We were so lucky. Really, we were incredibly blessed- every time one of the really bad gusts would hit our tent someone was standing right there who could help us by holding it down.
Two other venders lost tents- their legs got bent and messed up. One of the tents actually flipped over and fell on top of another one. Scarey stuff!

The pottery guild lost several pieces- the wind blew them right off their shelves. And another friend lost some of her fabric pins. Another friend's daughter had a really bad asthma attack- I'm hoping to hear that she is okay soon. I had eye problems from the dirt and dust off the parking lot, but no asthma.

Our earring rack flew right off the table, but we didn't lose any earrings or the rack... Again, we were incredibly blessed, 'cuz we could have lost many things. A couple of our boards went over, but neither the boards or the pieces on them were damged.

Plus I'm thankful we forgot our new sign. It would have been hanging pretty loosely, kind of jury-rigged, 'cuz we don't have it completely hang-ready. One of us or somebody walking by probably would have gotten conked.

Also, last minute decision- we decided not to put up our walls. Thank you, God! It would have turned our tent into a sail...

So many bad things could have happened, and they didn't. Overall, it was a wonderful day, even with the last crazy half-hour. I am so glad we got to go!!!

Hope to see you at the Market!

Friday is My Fun Day!- Pendants

YAY! I'm done with my Metal-smithing final! I did good!

Boo! I'm done with Metal-smithing... That makes me sad. I'm going to miss all the wonderful tools. I will miss the drill press, the torch, the rolling mill, the sander, the polisher, the flex shaft, the saws, the files... I could go on and on. However, I have become convinced that I will continue working with metal. I am quite solidly addicted.

Here's my Creative Project for the day:
Beth's Pendant

I made this one for Beth's birthday, and I'm delighted with it.
I like the assymetry and the layers.
I created this one like I created mine.  http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/2010/05/friday-is-my-fun-day-butterfly-pendant.html

Part 1-
First I annealed the metal with the torch to make it soft so that it would take the leaf impression. Then I chose a fern leaf and ran them through the rolling mill.

Part 2-
I drew the flowers & the butterfly and cut them out with a jeweler's saw. Then I soldered them onto the pendant. Then I created the little silver balls and soldered them into the center of the flowers.

Part 3-
I applied several layers of liver of sulphur on the fern frond using a toothpick. Then I washed it and pickled it. Finally I sanded and sanded and sanded.

And after seeing the results, I chose to solder the little tiny silver balls to the center of these flowers, too. I'm more pleased with the appearance now than I was before. I like the 3 layers now- the impression, the butterflies and flowers, and then the little centers of the flowers.

http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/2010/05/friday-is-my-fun-day-butterfly-pendant.html

From Becca

BONUS Fun Day! - My Garden Bracelet

Yesterday was the Bead Star submission date, so I ran around like CRAZY... Trying to get my pics taken before metal-smithing and while the sun was shining.


I didn't want to wait til after class, 'cuz of the time difference. Alaska time is an hour after Pacific coast time, and I wasn't sure when they'd shut down the entries.

So, I've got extra photos of the work I've been doing, and I wanted to share!!!

I made this bracelet about a month ago. I love the way the seed beads wind around the rose quartz and the center frame. I fought with that strand of seed beads! It would not do what I wanted it to do at first, but I finally won the battle.

I think my favorite bit is the butterfly charm
It's hard to see, but there's also a strand of fluorite with with the strand of green pearls.

I'm calling this one 'My Garden', because it reminds me of soft pink flowers and fluttering butterflies.
 
Becca

Friday WAS my Fun Day

Every Friday I post about whatever I'm creatively up to on my own blog http://www.godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/ .  After talking it over with Beth we thought it might be fun for me to share over here, too.

This Friday I want to share this lovely ice prince bib necklace.  It's on sale at our Etsy shop! 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/twosistersbeadwork