Shadowboxer/ Queen Without a Crown

I consider myself very blessed to have made such good friends in the art community. This past weekend I was fortunate enough to receive the ultimate birthday gift from my friend Rita Reade (www.mammabellarte.blogspot.com). Anyone who celebrates my December birthday in February is automatically a good friend, and Rita knows how to keep a party going. She wired me full with DELICIOUS cappucinos! So good! And cupcakes of course.

We made shadowboxes and crowns. My box is of Countess de Provence. I have to say I was most excited about making the crown. I love these as displays. Right now mine is in my office, but I will be taking it home and hanging jewelry from it. Lisa Loria (www.lisaloria.blogspot.com) recommends putting a candle inside and allowing the light to shine outward. I really dont think you can go wrong with this beauty, if I say so myself. My favorite part of the artistic process? Patinaing everything! The patina made the crown and shadow box look old, dark, and rich. These pieces would have been almost too shiny and bright without it.

My favorite part of the day? Eating Rita's delicious food! The best French onion soup, olive bread, mozarella, tomatoes, and homegrown and seasoned olives. Olives just might be my favorite food. I think I ate a whole tree!

Oh and check out Rita's refrigerator: it's full of aprons, fabrics, magazines, and art supplies. Literally, very cool! My sincerest thanks to my friends Rita and Lisa (and my new friend Jeanine) for helping me continue to celebrate my birthday and more importantly, the art of friendship. It was a perfect day : )

You too can indulge and walk away with some beauties of your own. Visit www.ritareadeclasses.blogspot.com to learn more.

Chantal, Colette & Coffee

Some little pieces that have come in lately that brought me great joy: this necklace from Chantal (www.chantaljohnson.blogspot.com), reminding me to spread my wings and Soar; then there's this stitched card from the lovely Colette (www.a-bird-in-the-hand.blogspot.com) depicting a French press. If you've ever had coffee from a French press you know how much better it tastes. These gifts really woke me up and stirred my senses. Thank you Colette and Chantal, for your excellent taste : )

Walk This Way

If you get a chance, you should really spend the first Friday of the month wandering down the Fullerton Art Walk. It's a great opportunity to see art, enjoy food and drink, and not drive.

February's show was particularly important to me, since my good friend Virginia (www.stuckonheads.blogspot.com) had her work in the Fullerton Museum, premiering on the Friday of Art Walk. Head down there if you get a chance!

The other pictures are from some additional stops along the Art Walk. As you can see, it's all completely different. Something for everyone : )

All Wrapped Up

We are currently wrapping production on Jewelry Affaire. Every time I go to proofread it I realize how blessed I am to have such lovely peices and pages come together to celebrate the art of jewelry making. This is another issue that I put my whole heart into. And now as I am beginning to pack pieces for return, I finger each piece and remember how extraordinary of an art form this is. My sincerest thanks to all who contributed, you AMAZE me.

Since I am already thinking of the next issue, and how it could possibly compare, I have begun my scouting on the Web. I realized that my tastes in jewelry have been changing. While I will always love lots of sparkle and bling, I am becoming more entranced with wire wrapped jewelry. Above are some of my most recent faves.

Earrings, necklace and bangles are by www.ravitschwartz.etsy.com. Simple wire wrapped fireballs are all it takes to make these pieces simply lovely.

And one of my new absolute favorite artists (who was in the last Jewelry Affaire, but has a full-blown article in the upcoming spring issue) is www.ahteesdesigns.etsy.com. Rose's work is inspired by India right now, and I just love her wrapping.

Although I am wrapping an issue up, I hope you are open to ideas for the next one. Please feel free to submit your lovelies (wrapped or sparkly or otherwise) by 5/15/11.

Another week wrapped up. Happy Friday

The Art of Convention

There is much to learn from traveling to a place to work and network. For my last post on CHA I wanted to share not some of my observations, but some of the things I learned from attending for the third year.

1. Start off with breakfast. While this should be a no-brainer, I have to admit I am one to rarely eat breakfast. I never manage to skip coffee though : ). Better yet: have breakfast with friends. I met up with Debi (http://www.debisdesigndiary.blogspot.com/) at Paulette's house (http://www.summerlandcottagestudio.blogspot.com/) for a lovely meal prior to the first day of the convention. We discussed work, our personal lives, and accomplished a lot of idea swapping and networking before even walking the convention floor. Any time you can get together with colleagues and mentors outside of a business (especially over food) you can be even more productive.

2. Get to know your surroundings. CHA usually takes place in Anaheim (which I prefer). But this year it was in L.A. While it is a long and painful drive, it offered new sights to see, new corners to take in, a new culture to absorb, and soemthing to talk about with fellow attendees. I discussed basketball games at the Staples Center over a lunch meeting and got out to explore L.A. Live in my spare time to clear my head. And the statue of the Great One? I had to get a picture of Wayne Gretzky because my dad loves him and the sport of hockey. It reminded me that we can all strive for greatness on even the most small (and seemingly mundane) of scales. The true art of conventioning is the aspirations formed.

3. Have fun. I loved these fun displays of feathers, boas, masks, and yarn. Although this is business, we needn't all take it so seriously all the time. We have to break things up, keep people interested, keep people entertained, happy, and wanting more and more.

4. Say Thank You. My mum always told me to say this, and it has never been more necessary than at a convention. By thanking those who contribute to your success in person, you are making yourself, your employer, (and your parents) look good. I ran into one of my favorite people who was high on my list of thank-yous, Chery Waters (www.theluckythirteen.blogspot.com). Cheryl's contribution to the current Altered Couture (which we are holding up) is a must-read (www.stampington.com/alteredcouture). I also want to say a thank you here to the amazing June Beach (www.beachhausdesigns.com) for allowing me to wear her necklace that I (and several convention-goers) adore.

5. Reconnect. Besides "thank you", sometimes the best thing to say is "hi" at a convention. Whether introducing yourself or getting re-acquainted, it's good to see familiar and friendly faces, and acknowledge them. I stole this pic from J (www.jennydoh.typepad.com) but hopefully she won't mind since we enjoyed reconnecting. I just want to say another Thank You to Trish (www.bejewelledbespoke.blogspot.com). I reconnected with one of my favorite pieces of jewelry, her necklace (featured here, www.stampington.com/html/jewelry_affaire_spring10.html). Looking stylish, is after all, the art behind the convention. I love wearing things that our artists have made to show off to possible contributors and advertisers that our magazines possess the BEST possible work.

Happy Conventioning!