You can fool the fans - but not the players.... John Cage

Going to gocco this weekend

What is this you say? What is this gocco thing? Well, if all works out it is the solution to the rest of the invitation dilemma. I spent last evening googling gocco invitations since a. I have one, and b. I have already taken a little workshop and know the basics of gocco printing. Oh, and at only 65 or so invitations it isn't an impossible task.

We live in a small town and for procrastinators like me it isn't easy to run out and find last minute supplies. As you know, the images for the invitations were printed by the very talented Lori Michelon last weekend. Since then I've been pondering the best way to include the text of the invitation, along with the response card and an info card. I haven't ordered paper so there was that, too. And we're on a budget.

Google gocco and you'll find a lot of information, including a priceless video tutorial on YouTube with some rockin' music and incredible acting (oh, and valuable how-to). You'll also find testimonials from other crazy DIYer brides who elected to go this route, like this one here.

 

One of my favorites, and one with THE most helpful hints, is here.

 

This is what a gocco setup looks like and I don't think this particular model is being made anymore (and mine looks a bit different)... like polaroids it has gone the way of the dinosaurs and there are just a few dedicated gocco-lovers out there keepin' it alive. I understand supplies are hard to find and so my gocco printing experience may be limited, but there are websites like this one - Save Gocco -working to keep users in touch and able to find the last of the special flash bulbs on ebay and etsy.

Although I'm not an avid gocco user (yet), nor do I follow the blogs about the difficulty in finding supplies, I've read enough to realize that there is a new player out there in the world of personal printing, and that is the Yudu. The gocco uses a flash system and heat to react with carbon-based masters to produce a screen, and the Yudu uses light to create the screens, much like traditional silk-screening. It might the the way to go in the future if I decide that I just have to keep printing out invitations. Unlikely, since after this wedding we'll go back to our old ways of just calling people on the phone to invite them over.

So... Photoshop is open and the drafts of the invitation text, response card and info card are up. Paper needs to be torn. I think I'm going to use hot-press watercolor paper and tear it down myself, again because I have a stash of paper, I don't have time to order and this needs to get done NOW. This weekend. I'll take lots of photos and you can share my printing experience - whoo hoo!

 

One more nice image to get me fired up (and it has a mountain on it!) from here.

Weekend - gone in a new york minute

Just what is a New York minute anyway? It must not be so much different than an eastern Sierra weekend, which goes by almost faster than you can enjoy it. This was one of those weekends with glorious weather, projects and outings, friends and good food, horses and dogs. Just what a weekend should be.

It started Friday afternoon when I went up the hill to print wedding invitations. One of my very favorite artists, Lori Michelon, agreed to create a print for us to use. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to do the rest of it but I'm getting some ideas and it all has to come together very quickly now, anyway.

Something is going out by the end of the month. This is Lori, in her wonderful garage/printing studio. I just get lost at Lori's because she has inspiration everywhere. Work in progress, old work, new work, art books and magazines... and Lori's own amazing artistic touch on everything.

Our invitation is a lino cut of Mt Tom, which towers above the north end of our town. We printed it in the rusty red that is so much a color of winter here in the high desert on thick gray paper that reminds me of the sagebrush. JC and I have tried to keep the elements of our wedding very connected to our lives, especially here on the east side.

 

I had a great afternoon with Lori - talking art jobs, enjoying a glass of wine after printing, and being inspired by an artist who keeps art uppermost in her life. I've known Lori for over 20 years and she really is one of the most talented, creative, wonderful people I am blessed to live near.

 

Saturday night I spent in the studio and I now have a pile of bezels ready to go. The next studio time will be the fun of choosing images to collage into these. That is always both difficult and exhilarating - to see the metal transformed with the addition of color, text, images.

 

I also finished up the knit flowers I had in progress and counted them up - seventeen. I need about ten more if I'm going to use them on the tables. My fingertips are sore from pushing the needle through thick cotten knit rolls but I'm going to press on... I think I might actually make it!

We got a new dryer this weekend - propane - and managed to fit in a beautiful Sunday afternoon ride with friends. My mare is doing wonderfully well. And now, now it is Monday morning somehow. Time to kick back into gear!

A flame, a little brass and copper... bezel and book-making

I am busy this week juggling work, a stack of projects, a monthly commitment, and a one-week online class taught by Stephanie Lee. The class is about non-traditional book-making using soldered metal (brass or nickel) for the covers and creating pages from plaster and binding them all together into thick, palm-sized treasures. I try not to miss an opportunity to take a class from Stephanie as she is a favorite artist and a fabulous instructor. Last year she started offering classes online and although live is always better there is nothing like the flexibility of an video based class that you can view and work on whenever it fits your schedule.

You just never know what you'll learn in a class that will contribute to your own art - it might be the whole kit and kaboodle, or it might just be one or two elements. I am interested in these books, of course, being the journal fanatic and handmade book enthusiast that I am, but I am also interested in where I might apply it to the jewelry I'm making and how it can improve my soldering, spur my creativity, and push me off into new directions.

 

This has kept me up too late a few nights this week already - because night time is the only free time. I pay for it in the mornings, but it is oh, so great when the music is going and I am in my studio feeling in the creative groove. Makes me think back to college days when I would spend hours in my painting nook in the big school studio.

 

These are the two book covers I've started - cut, smoothed, flooded with solder and bezels attached. I've also dragged out bits of old jewelry from the stash to experiment with.

 

This one was very straightforward. I incorporated an old earring of sterling silver.

 

This one was more interesting. The butterfly had abalone shell in the wings and when I went to imbed it into the solder the abalone burned, smelled awful, and then just flaked out. Which was okay with me as I like the empty wings better anyway. I haven't started my plaster pages yet, since we are going through a bit of a cold snap right now and have had a cold north wind blowing the last two days, but will as soon as it warms up a tad.

 

While I'm at the bench it seems a shame not to be creating new work of my own, and I wanted to work with ball chain on these bezels.

 

It is more of a challenge than I thought it would be and I set off the smoke detector more than once! But I love the look of the ball chain around the bezels.

 

These are far from finished but already I can see that adding the ball chain will give the whole piece more shine. I can't wait to patina, collage, drill, resin, and hang pearls, crystal beads and bits of frayed silk from these...

 

I just love what I am doing these days. These will be joining the others in my etsy shop before too long.

Studio time! When "Ride & Shine" takes off.

It is closing in on a year since I finally got the hang of making bezels with a butane torch and some solder and brass without completely cooking the metal... and my skill level has come right  along (although there are plenty more hours to put in). The last batch, the batch I took to Art & Soul, was well received and I'm ready to dive into making and selling handbag charms and pendants. I've even got some new ideas I'm ready to develop.

 

This holiday season I'll be setting up shop at some shows and developing more of a web presence. Etsy is a great marketplace but it is also a crowded marketplace and I'm not sure how to break through the noise. Having a website of one's own is probably the way to go, especially if ordering right from the website is an option.

 

We spent quite a lot of time in Portland talking small business - how to keep your focus, how to find your market, how to manage your time- and Southern Charm gave me lots of good, solid advice. On the plane home I played with words, brainstorming a better name for my line, and came up with "Ride & Shine" with the tagline "Jewelry for your inner cowgirl".

I'm keeping the western theme, which happily can include initials, and will certainly do custom orders.

 

And I'm so excited to have the beginnings of a "look" to my virtual and physical shops - leather, old traincases and suitcases, bits of vintage ribbon, pearls and crystals.

Southern Charm and I are both signed up for Stephanie Lee's Handbook of Elements online course starting next week and she will be loading us up with more techniques and inspiration that will only add to "Ride & Shine".  

If you are reading this and you want something special for the holidays - let me know and I'll happily pull out the torch and the resin and the wire and get to it.

Making choices, choosing time and back to projects

It is good to know I'll be home for awhile. Last night I was in the studio, putting things away from Art & Soul, cutting and bending brass for another round of bezels, and really truely enjoying it. Staying up too late. Planning. Making. Listening to music.

I'm to assessing projects and wedding plans since there is no time to waste now. There is more time to work on things, so if I don't squander it away on the computer I should be able to spend time each day working on a project or two. These are the acorn caps collected along the way home. I've see the cutest little ornaments made with felt balls and these caps - so I'm going to make some this year before Christmas. Easy - peasy, just gluing the felt balls into the caps and adding a bit of ribbon. Here is one tutorial.

Note the Copenhagen tins too - those will be recycled into something jewelry related.

See? Little tan caps and larger, yellow caps that turn dark when they dry. And a couple of bits of moss. All things we don't have on the east side.

 

This huge bag of lavender is from my amazing mom II. She grew, cut, and dried this and then carted it all the way from Washington to contribute it to the wedding stock. Since the color has faded but the lavender scent is still there, and since so much of the lavender is in the bottom of this bag, that what I'll use this for is filling for the sachets Southern Charm and I are making to give as favors.

 

Which was the reason I was up too late two nights ago on ebay browing through pages of linen and then, oh yes, French textiles. Thankfully I did not bid on anything - simply filled up my watch list - and in the morning it hit me, "What was I thinking? Buy pricey french linen to cut up for sachets that will live in an underwear drawer?" Sorry, guests, I'm going to Mill Ends for the fabric.

 

Now these, these also came all the way from Mom II's place. These, however, have maintained their color and will be used for some arrangement at the wedding. Aren't they gorgeous? And sturdy, as they went from Washington to San Diego, then up to the resort and back down and around the the Owens Valley. Well-traveled hydrangeas.

 

The colors are perfect, a range of gray-blues.

 

A couple of months ago, JC and I were in southern California for a wedding and we spent a morning at the swap meet. For $10 this rusty chandelier frame and a bunch of rusty crystals came home with us. At last there was time to pull it out and start looking at the pieces. I removed the old light fixture and tried this single bulb fixture from the hardware store - and it fit!

 

The crystals were put into a solution of white vinegar and water and soaked for awhile, then I came back with a nail brush and scrubbed them one by one.

 

Ta-da! It worked! Just a hint of reddish-brown on some of them.

 

It is ready to be reassembled and hung somewhere.

 

Rust + shiny sparkly....

 

Can you go wrong?

This is a glorious time of year for projects, for being outside with dogs and horses, and for being thankful for a wonderful life, an incredible man, and no end of satisfying work of all kind - paid, not paid, in the studio, on the computer, on the end of a manure rake.

"All things are coming".

Letterpress day - oodles of printed paper to play with

This year I've got a wedding to plan, so my trip to Portland for Art & Soul was restrained. I went mainly to visit with Southern Charm and to be in Portland, and I only took one class. But what a good class it was.

Letterpress.

This is what I managed to print in the one day class. Although the class included making this cute little book I've made plenty of books and I know how to find the instructions I need to make books - what I don't have and don't see myself having access to much - is a press and lots and lots of lead type. I wanted to leave with a plenty of printing under my belt.

 

 

The instructor, Sharyn Sowell was very accomodating and really supportive of those of us who just wanted to print and print and print. She packed up so much type that her tires were bulging and gave us the basics, then let us go.

She had typefaces that were custom-made for her, typefaces dating back to the Civil War, and a variety of decorative elements and typefaces from the glory days of type-setting and printing. Now that newspapers and other publications aren't printed by hand, artists have snapped up the remaining type and presses to use in a their creative endeavors. It is addicting and fun and messy.

Don't you just love the ice-skating bear? I wish I'd printed more of him.

These were some of the last things I printed and some of the best. It takes awhile to get the hang of the ink and actually I switched from the printing ink to the faster-drying stamping ink so that I could get these home without smearing them.

My theme was our wedding, of course, and although I'm not sure just what I'll do with all these, I'll figure it out before January.

 

Sharyn had big type and small and it was so fun to experiment with each. All kinds of paper and card-stock, and one lovely classmate handed out sheets of thick watercolor paper to tear to size. I took in a handful of handmade paper to share since I have so much left over from my days of teaching high school.

These little pigs are pretty cute. Some of the decorative plates were just too sweet for my taste so I gravitated towards the farm animals. I did fall for that bear, though.

 

I love the act of printing, the "kiss" of the type on the paper. It was fun to experiment with how much embossing took place - just a sheet of paper on the bed of the press can make all the difference.

 

One of my favorites.

 

A cow to join the pig on the page.

 

The book we made is a simple, accordian fold book.

 

Mine is not bound yet because I wanted to focus on printing.

 

I plan to bind it with ribbon.

 

It was a great class and I left wishing I lived near a print studio. Maybe someday.

Anthopologie Fresno is looking for a design intern

 

Anthropologie Fresno has a little sign in the front entrance: "Design Intern Wanted. Must be able to receive college credit". If I lived there, I'd apply. I think it would be a great opportunity to work with very talented, creative, resourceful artists.

 

I rarely pass up an chance to visit an Anthropologie. And it isn't always to buy stuff although it is pretty hard to resist once you get in the door. The big reward is getting inspired.

Of course, I do want this mirror.

 

From big to little there are color combinations, fresh ideas, simple to complicated, most of them using very ordinary materials. It is the one of the best things to come along in retail. What better than to be inspired by the ordinary taken to the extraordinary? Who wouldn't want to be a part of that brand? I never mind spending money at Anthropologie since I most of the time feel like I am getting something huge for free everytime I walk in the door. And when I ask if I can photograph it is always "yes, of course".

 

There just aren't many brands out there like Anthropologie. It seems that the corporate philosophy embraces design and creativity as an intregal part of each and every storefront. It isn't cookie-cutter either. Each location is given freedom to explore the use of the current materials and concept. I'd jump at the opportunity to work in an environment like that. I'm sure there are egos to work around, but the benefits would be huge.

 

I'm on my way to Portland soon and it occurred to me that I haven't visited a Portland Anthropologie. We'll have to find one! We did visit a pretty neat antique mall last year that I'd like to get back to - and I recall some splendid displays there. I'm on such a budget this year I'm only taking one class, a letterpress class, and the rest of the time I'm going to be visiting with my sister, selling jewelry, and soaking up Portland.

 

Isn't this fabulous? T-shirt fabric. I absolutely love this and want to try it. Again, I'm thinking wedding. Do I have time? Can I pull it off? There's no sewing involved here - it is only a matter of cutting and pulling the strips to get them to curl. Cake.

Mill End Fabrics - here I come.

 

So many ideas, so little time.

 

If you live in Fresno, or you know someone living in Fresno, pass the word. I don't know what it is like to work for Anthropologie but how could you not give it a try if you are an artist? Of course the downside is trying to navigate the awful parking in that mall every day that you have to work.... I'd think that taking the bus might be the best option. And then we could go on and on about working in a mall - I worked one year for a Crate and Barrel.... what do you do for your lunch hour? There's no where to go but more retail.

 

Maybe Anthropologie offers a cool little break room for employees with as much care put into the vibe of that as the rest of the store. That'd be nice, eh?

No excuses now

I had this post almost finished when Firefox suddenly crashed. And I lost it all. So it might be better this time around or it might not... sometimes when you are in the groove and in the moment it is hard to recapture one's thoughts.

Here goes....

 

I have no excuses for not being in the studio now. After months of thinking, waffling, discussing, procrastinating.... I am down to half-time at my full-time job. Still teaching, but at least 20 hours a week just appeared. And the studio waits patiently.

 

Bezels already made, just waiting to be filled with collages and resin...

 

The small and mighty butane torch waiting to melt metal...

 

This beloved gift containing western and cowgirl elements to incorporate into new pieces...

 

Pearls, ribbons, bits of rusty metal, beads, chain, silver, brass and copper...

 

The possibilities are endless and I can't wait to get into it.

But first, I ride, because I also have a beautiful mare ready and waiting for attention and a steadfast gelding that patiently endured summer while I spun in circles around my computer. Priorities, please.

Time to straighten those priorities out and also motivation to make the jewelry work as a business - a new beginning to the making part.

East side / West side

I am back on the east side after a lovely long time at the lake and re-adjusting to the heat of the the valley and the solitude of our house sans man and dogs.  The cat was happy to see me as our cat-sitter did not show up for a few days - what can I say? Youth. JC came home and varied my routine of door locking.... she came over and found the dead bolt locked and did not realize (and indeed, I guess, never even thought to try) that the same key unlocks both the door knob lock AND the dead bolt. I haven't seen her yet - I'm sure she feels bad - and poor Mel. He depends on her for his routine of being out during the day, inside at night, petting and attention, canned food to supplement his dry..... his whole world was turned upside down for a few days. So he's being extra-special affectionate and I am being extra-special attentive.

He's spent a summer at the cabin and he loved it but it is a long drive getting him there and neither of us enjoy that much. Frankly, if I can find good cat care I'd rather pay someone to help maintain his normal life here than to try and pack him up again and drive with him for 10 hours. No, thanks. I'm on the hunt for a really good house and cat sitter - one who'll keep and eye out on the plants (and water when needed), pet and feed the cat, and keep the place lived in while I'm gone.

The Fourth of July weekend wiped us out in the store and I spent much of Tuesday helping JC shop before heading home. Fresno was muggy and hot but the shopping was surprisingly painless, maybe because we split up instead of trying to do it together. Keeping the store stocked is a major effort and I'm always keeping my eye out for interesting things we might try selling there.

Somehow I squeezed in a visit to Anthropologie. (How'd I manage that? Lunch at BJ's Brewhouse!) The display was light but there were two areas of the store I liked. This one was fabulous - this pale blue fabric with the bottoms of plastic soda bottles attached. It had a real beachy feel to it.

 

I like the Fresno store - it is airy, spacious, and the staff is friendly. Of course I didn't have much time to spend in there but I did a quick tour and managed to find a couple of things to spend my money on... there was a LARGE sale area that drew me in like a fish on a line.

 

Handbag - mine. This photo, taken with an Instagram filter, doesn't do the color justice. It is a beautiful dusty blue canvas with bluish gray chiffon and bluish cream leather straps. Love it, love it, love it. I'm not that much of a handbag purchaser - I prefer to find vintage Coach and other classic leather bags in thrift stores - but this one was my color, my style, and on sale, my price point. It came home with me along with a new apron and some solid perfume.

 

The other display I liked was one I could easily duplicate at home - I have plenty of empty wine bottles out in the recycling bins. It has a great nautical feel that complements that soda bottom display, and would look great out on the fence by the spa.

 

Dip the green bottles in white paint and hang them from twine. It looks great. I'll file it along with the fifty other great ideas Anthropologie has given me over the last few years. And someday, someday I might have the time to take some of them on.

Home to July thunderstorms, my horses, the tomatoes coming up strong, and pollywogs in the water feature. I think I'm even going to add some fish this year. Just to see how it goes. I picked off six tomato worms (little ones, not those monsters from last year) and placed them out for the birds to find.... hoping that the birds will be lured into checking more often and I won't have to do so much picking....

The fridge is stocked with fresh veggies from the CSA and my carry-home from Trader Joes and I'm here for at least a week. It's good to be home.

It has been a long time....

Since I have blogged. And it is because I took a vacation. Yes, that strange, foreign concept of time off and away. I did take my computer but wonder of wonders there was no internet access at our lodging. No. Internet. Access. Astounding. It threw the lot of us, let me tell you. The kids were speechless, JC and I felt the floor slip out from underneath us, and all of us to varying degrees felt slightly derailed. We have become a connected world. There was cell service so the smart phone crowd could still access email, weather, mapquest. And you know... it was kind of restful.

We went to Colorado for a family reunion - one side of the family and even that incomplete - but there were enough of us there and from far enough away that the time spent together was precious and rare and good. When I was young we used to have frequent family reunions in Oklahoma but then the generation of my grandparents began to pass and the reunions ended. There really isn't anything like getting a bunch of family together.... bonded by blood and marriages we have to search for the threads of common interests or at least enjoy our differences.

 

Two houses, four days. Days were left unstructured and we set out each day to explore nearby towns. Dillon, Frisco, Breckenridge, Vail, Leadville, Georgetown. We met each evening at the big house for dinner. Everyone in the group did one dinner. I got to cook with JC, my beautiful niece, my handsome & funny great-nephew, and one of my gorgeous sisters.

 

I took many photos during our days - mostly of old buildings. Colorado has a rich mining history and many of the old buildings have been maintained. Some of the towns have built up a different identity - particularly the ski towns - but even in those quasi-Scandinavian burbs you will find remnants of old Colorado.

 

I could have this chandelier.... I really liked the combination of bent ash, rawhide, and the antlers. This is a mountain chandelier.

 

Lots of bikes around. Plenty of road bikes but of course I like the cruisers. This one was for rent in Breckenridge and we regretted not renting bikes for a day and just riding around the back streets and bike paths.

 

There were plenty of bronze statues around but this caught my eye (along with the moose I posted above) in Frisco.

 

The blue reminds me of high, alpine lakes or tarns - the ones up above tree line. With the ice just breaking up.

 

Or - tailing ponds. I'll never forget riding down from above Pine Creek and looking down on the tailing ponds of the tungsten mine. The color of the water in those ponds blew my mind.

 

I saw enough peeling paint, wavy glass, and old rusty metal to last me for a little while.

 

Thank you Colorado for not tearing down your old hotels and storefronts - for encouraging people to live in and keep up the historical buildings. Thank you for having history and uniqueness and not turning your mountain towns into cookie-cutter ski resorts. Of course, you could have left the outlet malls down in Denver.

 

Strange isn't it? I complain about not having wireless in our rented condo but all I want to take photos of is a world that predated electricity.

 

But ok, how about this? Breckenridge has a distillery! It was closed on Sunday so I couldn't check it out beyond their great logo - but I do really like the idea of a mountain distillery. Small lots, locally grown grains (one would hope, anyway) and an artisan distiller. (Is there such a thing?)

Leadville is the next post. I loved Leadville. I could move to Leadville tomorrow.

We're home now and climbing back into the saddle of work and home. Came home to sparkling clean windows and suddenly, summer. Filled to the brim with warm memories of cousins and aunts and sisters and parents and nieces and nephews.