All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth...

For a good portion of my childhood I did want my two front teeth (I got my 2 tooth implants finally when I was 19).  I don't need anything, but I don't go shopping as often as I used to and as I have been picking out things for people on my Christmas list I think of all the things I wouldn't mind getting myself because they are sooo cool (but I don't really need).

1)  Top on that list is one of Craig Mitchell Smith's amazing glass flowers.  One of the really really big ones that would stand out in my garden year round.  They are durable through the winter and glisten with color in the snow.  Actually, I want like 10 of them and I can quit planting flowers in the spring then.
Craig now has his own working studio space and gallery in the Meridian Mall so you can go pick out your favorite piece any time of the week! 

2) Addi Turbo Knitting Needles. Every knitter needs to at least try these.  Woven Art has amazing amazing yarns too, but I am best at purchasing yarn when I have a project in mind.  These knitting needles feel like butter in your hands and I really do feel that I knit faster with them.  I've been slowly replacing my old aluminum knitting needles with these guys as projects demand different sized needles.  I just bought the Click-it set which is 10 different sized needle tips that can click into 3 different lengths of circular wire. <3

3) October Moon has tons of cute gifts for the home (food-ie things, bath stuff, candles etc..) but they also have an amazing selection of my favorite purse brand: Hobo.  Beautiful, durable colored leather, yum!

4) Grace Boutique is right next door to October Moon.  I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with anything from there.  I love all of their clothing and accessories! (The majority of my cocktail dresses I get from there.)

5) Grove Gallery Co-op: Of course, I'm biased because I show my work here, but we have guest artists in for all of November and December so we have quite the mix.  This year we're even selling gift certificates so if you know someone who should come in and pick something out for themselves you can send them over with that as a gift!

Thank you Capital Area Women's Lifestyle!

I was pleasantly surprised while flipping through the December 2010 Issue of the Capital Area Women's Lifestyle Magazine.  The middle outfit on page 22 under "New Year, New Fashion" has one of my newer bangle designes that I am carrying over at Jeanologie in East Lansing.  The below image is just a scan (which is why it's not so sharp), but you can go to Capital Area Women's Lifestyle Magazine and see the outfit clearer HERE.

These bangles have been fun to play with different colors and I have been getting into swarovski crystals and pearls as their accent beads.  Please feel free to contact me if you need a certain design! I can put on together in a day or two.

Bamboozled Bangle

I love to get inspired by other artists, painting in particular is something I don't do very well myself and I really appreciate the work going into it.  This piece was specifically inspired by a watercolor painting that I saw hanging in the Lansing Art Gallery's upstairs main gallery themed "4 Seasons."  The piece is called "Bamboo I" and "Bamboo II" by Angelis Jackowski.

When I saw her paintings in this show I was absolutely taken.  The rich dark colors of the watercolor are amazing as well as her composition.  The first one I noticed was of waterlilies, but when I looked at the opposite wall I thought "that's how you do bamboo!"

I had attempted to create a bamboo bangle of a single bamboo branch a while back and felt that I failed miserably and that it was a bad design altogether.  So I figured that the inspiration of bamboo was dead in the water for me.  This painting though began to haunt me and I got inspired.  I looked up the Lansing Art Gallery website and to my luck the painting was right there on the front page!  I printed it, got out my bead graph paper and colored pencils and got to work.  Just the drawing of the pattern probably took me 4 or more hours, I wanted it to honor the inspiration.

As I began rifling through my beads, I realized that part of the reason I was so struck by this piece was it's in my colors.  I pulled 57 tubes of beads (all different colors) that could go with the theme for this piece I was creating.  57 bead colors gets overwhelming so I broke it down to 13 or 14 colors.

The bangle doesn't look exactly like the painting (as it shouldn't, it's beads), and I wasn't sure that it looked quite like bamboo as I made it, but I have worn it the past 2 days and a few people have said it looks like bamboo.  This will be one of the application pieces to Ann Arbor Art Fair. 

This piece measures approximatley 3 inches wide and is slightly larger circumference than my usual bangles.

Angelis Jackowski's work will be up for the 4 Seasons show upstairs in the Lansing Art Gallery until the 23rd of December, so stop in and go see it!  (And get in some of your holiday shopping with local artwork!)



Beadwork, new designs for 2011



This summer I got a kick in the pants from my favorite hat guys, Rod and Ignatius (Ignatius Hats) while I was wandering around the Ann Arbor Art Fair.  Since I did the fair as an Emerging Artist in 2004, I have only participated with the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild and renting street space from the pizza place I worked at in college, New York Pizza Depot. 

It seems that some people are sick of me not having my own booth space.

I have applied in the past (only to 1 of the 4 Fairs that go on at this time), but my work and slides were just ok. So I have come up with a plan. 

I'm going to apologize if my stock for Holiday this year is suffering, or you aren't seeing too many new items.  My beadwork is taking a major shift.  Instead of just working in graphing and peyote-stitching my bangles, I have begun integrating different beading techniques and more than just the delica-seed-bead-bangle that I am known for.

I think the bangle bracelet is still my favorite form, but I'm pushing it.  I also recently purchased a dress form to work on piecing beaded necklaces together on.  The goal is to have 5 amazing pieces that I can then get professionally photographed and entered into the Original Street Art Fair by January.  If you don't see much of me, or I have my beads out while you're around me, I'm not being rude, I just need to get this done.

I'm sure you have seen my recent "Leaves Between Bangles" which will be one (or two) of the pieces entered.  I am working on a larger bangle that is woven together with the stitch I  have been using for the lariat necklaces, here is it's almost-final stage (I am going to order some fun accent beads for it!).

The peacock bangle will be another piece, but in slightly different colors than before, with possibly some bugle bead accents.

I am in the midst of a new inspired graphed piece that is larger (in width and diameter) that I am also really excited about.  If you're following me on twitter, you got a sneak peek on Thanksgiving weekend.  It will be getting it's own blog, look for "Bamboozled" as the name of the piece (I think anyway).

The necklaces are still rolling around in my head and on paper so expect more to come when the bangles are done.  Since the bangles are solidified as what I am doing, then I will have a better idea of what colors and beads to use with the necklace designs so that the grouping looks cohesive.

This is a really fun project for me, it's just the deadline that's killing me, and trying to make the pieces look cohesive, the way in which I work and am inspired never bodes really well as a "set."  We shall see how I do.  Any comments, critiques, suggestions would be appreciated and taken into consideration!

Wintergrain Soup Recipe

So whenever the weather starts to turn here in Michigan I crave soups.  This week has been a specific craving for my mom's Wintergrain Soup Recipe.  I can't recall which of her recipe books its from but it is a hearty vegetarian recipe.  It's not a quick soup to make, but it is so worth taking the time, so here it is:

Wintergrain Soup
1/2 cup of whole wheat berries
water
2/3 cups lentils
1/4 cup barley
1/2 cup brown rice
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons of thyme
1 1/2 cups cubed potatoes
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups sliced celery
1 1/2 cups yellow onions
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 large cloves of garlic minced
1 tablespoon vegetable seasoning
1 tablespoon vegetable powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1/4 cup parsley flakes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup corn
1 cup peas
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1) Prepare wheat berries ahead of time according to package (bringing to a boil then simmer for a hour)
2) In a 6 quart+ pot combine berries, water, lentils, barley, brown rice, butter and thyme.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3) Add potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, celery seed, and garlic.  Bring again to a simmer and continue to cook covered until grains and veggies are tender.  Approx. 30 minutes.
4) Stir occasionally, add veg. seasoning, veg. powder, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, soy sauce, corn and peas.  Reduce heat.
5) Blend 1/2 cup of water and all cheeses and add to soup.
Heat through and its ready! Yum!

Holiday Events

As I slowly clean up my place from the aftermath of Halloween at the house I am attempting to get my brain in gear for the multiple Holiday Sales coming up.  I would rather be basking in the afterglow of costumes, glitter, candy, chili and Rocky Horror Picture Show.  But alas, it seems that the wreaths, snowmen, giftlists and christmas sales have been going since August so I better get to it!

Here is what's coming up for you holiday-shopping-handmade lovers:

This weekend! Greater Lansing Weaver's Guild Sale
Friday November 5th, 12:00 noon -9:00pm
Saturday November 6th, 9:00am-4:00pm

Holiday Opening and 1st Sunday Gallery Walk
Grove Gallery Co-op
Sunday, November 7th, 12pm-4pm

Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild Sale (1 Day only!)
Saturday November 13, 10:00am-4:00pm
(I will also be bead-demoing next to the jwewlry table all day)

Online charity auction in support of the Wounded Warrior Project
with fantabulouslyfrugal.com
Beaded Blob Earrings
Hosted by eBay, November 26th-December 6th

Art for the Soul hosted by MargaBeth Cibulka (at her fabulous home in Williamston)
Saturday, December 4th, 2010
10:00am-5:00pm

My First Zombie Prom

I saw Zombie Prom on Lori's facebook update last year and not only thought it looked fun, but was sad I missed it.  So this year when I heard on the radio (thank you 97.5 Now FM) that it was Friday night, and we were planning on doing something, I jumped on it! 

The thrift store didn't have much for an interesting dress to rip up, so Megan had the good idea to go with something sassy and cheap from Wet Seal.  I haven't been in that store since high school, but we definitely found sassy + cheap there.  I went with a loud animal print that Megan and a teenager in the dressing room helped convince me was a good idea.

In my google searching of zombie costumes I avoided anything that said to use Spirit Gum since I have had terrible skin reactions to it, there is a lot out there that talks about water soluble liquid latex.  I did an early tester on my hand and it didn't irritate me at all and was comfortable on my skin.  The only thing is you do have to have patience with layering it on since it takes time to dry.

I did a fast and loose job but I really wanted a gash or two so I tried this "cheap" way of making gashes with toilet paper and layering liquid latex.  http://www.wikihow.com/Look-Like-a-Zombie  (Scroll to the bottom of this link to see the video.  It makes a lot of sense!)  It worked pretty well, I would probably put some skin-toned foundation on the toilet paper when I do this again so that I don't have to slather as much white makeup on my skin to even the edges of the toilet paper. 

I got tons of compliments on my cheap "going out" zombie dress, we danced all night and a huge thanks to Sprial Dance Bar for putting on the zombie prom and having good DJs!

(Hopefully pictures to come soon!)