Fuller Craft Museum. Tricia Harding

Last night some of the South Shore Beaders went to the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA for the "Come and Craft" group. The room to meet is in the Education Department wing and is often different each week depending on what else is going on that day.


So, we walked in, stuck our heads in the first door and asked if this was the "Come and Craft" Group. The answer was no, so we started on when someone spoke up and said it was a Jewelry demo. We quickly turned around and asked if we could join. Since the answer was "Yes" we pulled up chairs and were treated to a nice demonstration of metal smithing by Tricia Harding. Tricia has a web site at www.triciaharding.com You can check out her jewelry items and portfolio. Tricia also has a studio in Fall River and we plan on visiting her in the near future.

I was very impressed with her passion for her work and the joy she showed as she worked. She had just finished a twisted ring when we arrived and was showing how to add texture to another ring that had been rather plain. She made it look easy but I'm sure my attempt would not have been as nice.




Next, Tricia demonstrated how to make an "S" clasp. Not the kind you can buy but a real handcrafted one. She started out by cutting a 2-3 inch length of 12 (?) gauge wire and proceeded to make it look like a tooth pick. Not the flat variety but the round whittled at the ends tooth pick. Next she bent it and hammered and soldered one end close and more hammering. The result was beautiful.

The picture at the beginning of this post is a Brooch by Tricia entitled "Chrysanthemum, Brooch, 2001 Brass, pierced and fabricated, dia: 1 1/4" See what I mean about her pieces?

You can see more of her work at her web site www.triciaharding.com.

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Barrel Chain Maille variation

The Urban Maille instructions for the Barrel Chain Maille weave came with a variation. Got to try that, of course. I'm always wondering how pieces get their names. I noticed the Barrel weave does look like Barrel's when held vertically.





The variation, mixes the "Barrels", alternates them is a better word. At first I had some trouble remembering to alternate, after I got the way to make the pattern "backwards" Well, isn't that the fun of learning a new pattern?




Here is a picture of the regular Barrel and the variation (on top).





I'm glad I have both since I can not decide which pattern I prefer. What do you think?


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Orbital Chain Maille

I noticed that there are not many math enthusiasts as no one commented wanting to know about Aspect Ratio. ;-)

Here is the Orbital Chain Maille bracelet I promised yesterday. Can you tell the difference?

It is hard to see but all rings are doubled. The Barrel Chain Maille Bracelet from yesterday only has one connecting ring between the segments.

Any one have a choice?

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Barrel Chain Maille Bracelet

OK, can you tell that I've been playing with my camera again?

This is my latest Chain Maille creation. It is called the Barrel Weave. I learned the weave from instructions I purchased from www.urbanmaille.com

I really love the instructions that Aislyn from Urban Maille provides. Clear pictures, clear instructions and lots of tips. I ordered the kit thinking it was just another name for a pattern I've made before called "Orbital". Many weaves have several different names for the same pattern. Byzantine comes to mind. It is also called Bird Cage, Fool's Dilemma, Idiot's delight or Idiot's Box.

It turned out to be a different pattern. Not drastically different but different none the less. Instead of having two rings on the sides, it only has one. This allows you to use a smaller ring than the Orbital which uses double rings. Actually, it is a good lesson in aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is the ratio that compares the inside diameter (ID) and the thickness of the wire in the ring.

Getting back to playing with my camera. I was in a hurry (what else is new) to post the pictures. So, I quickly took pictures of the new Barrel bracelet. First on a black background and then on a white background. None of them came out very well. However, with Picasa my picture "fixer", I was able to make some adjustments. The one on the left is taken on a white background with a flash and obviously adjusted. Looks really fake, doesn't it? Yet you can see the detail of the bracelet. The second one is taken on a white background with out a flash. The picture looks more realistic but harder to see the details.

Next time, I'll spend more time with the set up and see if I can get a picture that is both realistic and easy to see the details.

Tomorrow, I'll show you the Orbital bracelet so you can see the difference.

If anyone is interested in a discussion or explanation of Aspect Ratio, let me know. Just remember, it will prove that you do need high school Arithmetic after you graduate.

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Running the Boston Marathon

I'm again quoting Alice Williams' Caring Bridge journal. Mostly because it is the only place I have been able to get - what happened? I could see on line that Melanie had a fantastic run but it didn't say if Lexie Williams was able to finish the last mile with her, as planned. Well, she did! Here is the account from www.caringbridge.org/visit/lexiewilliams.

“Toughness is in the soul and the spirit, not the muscles. " -Alex Karras

"And Run the last 1.2 miles she Did !!!! -In Ten minutes, as that was her runner's pace, and we didn't want to slow Melanie down in her last mile of glory with the crowd screaming, so Lexie dug deep, ran fast all the way, looked a bit peaked, and promptly Barfed into a vent !!!! Now that's true grit !!!! She recovered quickly and we walked back to the Copley with Melanie for the post race greeting area-

"Amazingly, she had a crowd of supporters from our school who cheered for her along the way, and later came back to the post race area to congratulate her and Melanie on their accomplishments !!!! We are So incredibly proud of both of them- Lexie for stepping up and running fast, and Melanie for posting a Great race time- 4 hours 33 minutes !!!!

"While we waited for Melanie to run the first 25 miles, we had the pleasure of sitting roadside with Hailey and her mother Lisa to cheer for the runners as they passed by, and got to greet and hug several other Jimmy Fund families at Mile 25 !!! We also were joined by Kristen, the Kristen of Team Lexie and Kristen, as she had the day off and took the T over to hang out with us for a few hours !!!! We have certainly had our share of glorious moments with great friends this past few days !!!!

"It has been a pretty special start to this vacation week, and now we are taking a breath, and Lexie will attend her swim team's swim camp for the next three days until we shove off for Phila. and the Atlantic Ten championship weekend !!! Emily has a couple dance events this week, and she will reunite with her Tufts Sisters next Saturday, on the way home from a dance competition !!!

"We are feeling very grateful for so many things this week, and the first one is having a week of vacation !!!!

PEACE, MY DEAR FRIENDS !!!!"

Hopefully I'll have some new pictures to post soon.

In the mean time. Congratulations, Melanie and Lexie on a great run for Cancer Research!

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Boston Marathon

Tomorrow is the Boston Marathon. Tonight Lexie Williams' Mom, Alice, wrote in her Caring Bridge journal:

"At the Pasta Party, we saw Hailey and her people, got to hug Jim and Michelle Roderick, which was a Huge gift, as beautiful Erin was among the honorees- Lexie and Melanie sat and ate pasta together to get themselves carbed up for the Big Day tomorrow-

Tomorrow, Lexie will run the final mile of the Boston Marathon with her DMFC runner, which has been Melanie's wish since last year, when Lexie just wasn't capable of running a mile- What a difference a year makes !!!
So it's been a Whirlwind weekend, filled with action, friendship, love and more love !!!! Devon would have Loved this weekend !!!!"

How exciting to hear that Lexie has made such progress.

Go Melanie and Lexie Go for the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge. Go to help defeat Cancer!

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South Shore Beaders Etsy site Part 2

I hope you enjoyed part 1 and here is part 2:





This necklace is made of Montana Moss Agate oval briolettes known for their dendrite and ribbon effect in the stone.
Designed by Judy T.













The Blue Lagoon Necklace shown here is
designed by Arlene Abramson.
Arlene used handmade glass beads in shades of blue, aqua,
and turquoise (beads are hand made by a local glass artist, not Arlene)
mixed together with blue resin beads on a blue cord.






This is one of my chain maille creations. The pattern is "Romanov" and contains cobalt blue stones in the middle of the Romanov circles.
Designer: Bev Carlson






I hope you have enjoyed these pieces and will visit our shop at:

www.southshorebeaders.etsy.com


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Southshore Beaders Etsy Part 1

Last night we had our monthly South Shore Beaders gathering. As usual, fun was had by all. For the first time we had what comes close to a meeting. That is we insisted that only one talk at a time, at least for the first 15-20 minutes. Do you know how hard that is to do???? After that we had our usual show and tell and "Where should we go for our next field trip?" Oh yes, we welcomed two new members. A growing group!

Some of us came with questions, some with announcements. We talked about our fledgling Etsy web site. It seems to be working well with more and more pieces being added. Then it hit me!

Feature some of our members items in a blog post. Duh! So, today's and tomorrow's posts will feature

The South Shore Beaders:


Here is a lovely piece by Marilyn Oliveri. Marilyn specializes in bead crochet. Her focals and endings are very special and unique to her style. This one she calls "Checkers"




This piece is designed by Eileen Lipkind.
Eileen loves to design summer and ocean themed pieces.
She calls this: Dreams of Summer Starfish Necklace








The third piece is designed by B'Jeweled (aka Donna)
This is called: Arizona Desert and Sky Bracelet
Magnesite chips surround an Amazonite Oval Centerpiece Stone.





Check out all of the designs at our web site: www.southshorebeaders.etsy.com

More featured tomorrow.

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Artists on 1000 Markets

I try, as a rule to post 5 times a week, Monday through Friday. Yesterday, try as I may, I could not come up with a idea. I even posted that fact on my Facebook page. (You can follow me on
Facebook as "Bev Carlson")

I received a comment from Ingrid Hobbs of One Meaning Couture. You may remember Ingrid as one of the founders of One Meaning Couture. They featured Friends of Jaclyn as one of their charities in January. Friends of Jaclyn matches young children with brain cancer with sports teams. The results are amazing for both for the patient and the teams. Check out their web sites or my post in January.

Her suggestion was "step away from it and come back in the morning....you can't force it."
Great idea. So, I did just that and here I am. Thanks Ingrid.

An idea came to me that if I'm not making anything worth sharing right now, many others are. So, I started looking over the web site where I have my shop on 1000 Markets. www.bevsjewelry.1000marklets.com I spent some time surfing some of the amazing things available.

It took me awhile to zero in on one person but I finally chose Glasstastic Treasures in Lake Nebagamon, WI. As you would expect from the name, she makes the most beautiful things from glass. A skill I have always admired. Here is one of my favorites from her collection:



You can find all of her items at her shop on 1000 Markets. Glasstistic Treasures

While you are there, browse around. I guarantee you'll find lots of things you will like.

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Spring Cleaning

Well, spring is finally here, I think. Though I still hear about snow flakes here and there. The sun is out more than not, our forsythia, outside, is showing lots of yellow. The crocus are up and some daffodils and tulips are showing green.

For me, as a Jewelry Designer, it means time to take stock and clean out from the winter "pile it here" until later. The taxes are finished. Every year, it seems I get frustrated all over again with getting my business information together. I figure, next year will be different. It just seems to take more time that I feel it should.

So, I have a big question for all of my readers. Do you get into the same "rut" and if so, do you plan to make changes? What changes do you plan to make? I really think we could come up with some great ideas to help each other.

I'll start.

With me, it isn't that I don't know what to do (mostly) but actually doing what I should is the hard part. For example, keeping good records. I have a great program to help with inventory. (Jewelry Designer Manager). However, I need to remember to enter new purchases. (I do that fairly well) BUT I need to remember to remove items as I use them and then add the finished piece to my inventory. That seems to be my down fall.

I noticed another problem as I started to clean up. I found about four pieces unfinished. Strange why things are not finished. Some how making new things is more fun.

So, let me know what your problems are and more importantly, what can we do to fix the problem. Waiting to hear.