Checkitout! Look who made this month's online issue of Jewelry Making Journal!!!

http://jewelrymakingjournal.com/landing/issue-224/

Wow, I'm really stoked! Whether you're a beginner, intermediate or experienced jewellery-maker, Rena Klingenberg's Jewelry Making Journal is by far one of the best, most useful and user-friendly jewellery sites. I also added some more booth tweaks to my page, if any of you are planning to do shows this summer, whether indoors or outdoors for the first time or you've been doing it for a while. Or you can scroll back in my blog here and take a look at the pictures of the different table layouts I played with at the shows in July and November 2013 and March 2014. My absolute favourite is the March 2014 layout.

While you're on Rena's site, definitely read Dawn Kruchoski's article, http://jewelrymakingjournal.com/pegboard-tin-display-with-my-company-logo/ that inspired my ideas. I am still boggled by how compactly Dawn's displays are packed. But take heart, it's for absotively sure not something that can be accomplished overnight or even in a single season's worth of shows.

Here's my current sorting of short and affordable strings of beads. I can't believe it's taken me this long to do this: put all my beads up in one place. I can see at a glance what I have and, more importantly, what colours, shapes and sizes I'm missing... OR, that I already have. I'm forever buying the same string(s) over and over and over, not remembering that I already have plenty. On the grid along the back wall for now are my turquoise and lapis beads. I've also got all my wire hanging up, as well. Yes, the copper will eventually oxidise, but that's what Heinz ketchup is for.

I look at these and think to myself, gee, you know, I don't reeeeeally have that many beads. Nah. However, as my friends here will attest, I have bins and bins of beads that have never been strung... or used. Yet. But I'd better get motorvating at stringing more: we're at just over two months until the July Gem Expo in Toronto.

This morning I watched through the French doors a pair of cardinals flitting around in the lilac bush. Just yesterday, my bead-supplier pal Joanne down south of the lake in Erie captured this gorgeous blast of colour in her garden.

Thanks for looking!

March 2014 GEM EXPO Photos... finally

I've had to take my computer in to have XP wiped and 2007 installed, and forgot to transfer all my edited photos to a thumb drive so I could load them onto my new backup laptop, a refurbished and fully loaded Dell Inspiron that I got for a real deal from Anibal at PC Farm in Toronto. Personally, except for the all-important portability, I've never seen the point of laptops. To see the screen, the computer has to be elevated so high I can't type on it, I have to add a keyboard so I can achieve some blistering speed, not to mention a mouse, which equals even greater speed and accuracy. And there's my footpedal and head phones, and by the end of it, I seriously don't see the point. To lug all this around would require a suitcase on wheels at least.

Blech. But it works.

In the meantime, here are the pictures from the March 2014 iteration of The Gem Expo, which was a total hoot. Many vendors predicted a slow Friday, but attendance was way up and continued all through the weekend. I saw many familiar faces and made new friends and I hope customers for life. I got the sense that we all did well in terms of sales -- I sold out of several styles of beads and quite a few pieces of my jewellery which was truly gratifying.

I stayed again at the Strathcona Hotel on York Street (across the street from the Royal York, which is itself across Front Street from Union Station) and walking distance to the main tourist and sports venues, if anyone is planning a home game weekend). The Strath Pub grub hit the spot each night after a full day on my feet.

To me there is nothing in the world like an icy Alexander Keith's...

Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Thai dipping sauce...

Neither of which lasted long... These are soooooooooooo good!

The shrimp were Friday night. Saturday night I was debating whether to have the lobster quesadilla again, but I finally decided to try out the Strath Hamburger. It was very, very good, with a profound grilled flavour. Yes, I ate the whole thing, I was that hungry.

Also good enough to eat are my beads... On the left is Ruth's mother's homemade chicken and rice soup with cilantro, and shredded vegetables. I ate so healthily at this show thanks to her mom and for which I am profoundly grateful. Anyone who does away shows knows how difficult it is to eat properly. Those luscious blue beauties are ginormous chunks of raw lapis with very clean 2mm holes. Imagine blue chocolate... that's how delicious these look.

I was given the loan of a magazine with an article documenting the lapis lazuli mining process as it is still conducted today. Absolutely mind-boggling. The photo shows a man about to hike a day or more down the mountain with a 100 kilo chunk of lapis on his back. And we complain about how tired we are after a day sitting in front of a computer. Us and our first world problems, eh?

The sense I got when I received these chunky lapis beads from Nelson Gemstones was that I was holding the mountain in my hands. They really are something.

Shots of the table as you would see it coming from three different directions. I was kind of up at the top of the T when you come in the ballroom door...

The layout of the grids was perfect. This is definitely the way to do it. People can get right up to the beads, and there was sufficient lighting, as well. I also used the bed risers on the tables, as well. It also helps to be situated near another vendor who has really good floodlighting -- that glow of light you see on the table coming out from the wall is actually from Rainbow Beads, who in terms of lighting were still a considerable distance along the wall, but that's how powerful their floodlights were.

Shots of some of the beads... this is my loose bead table.

Detailed photos. If there's anything that looks intriguing to you, email me for availability/price.

Thank you again to all my returning and new customers. You really do make the show for me and I look forward to seeing you all again. Email me with any questions and comments.

Thanks for looking and see you at the July 2014 GEM EXPO!

My First Attempt at Lisa Yang's Horseshoe Link Bracelet...

This morning I found Lisa's latest post on how to make horseshoe links... and p-i-i-i-ng went my heart. Many, many years ago I'd found a choker made of fine gold-coloured links in a junque shop that was my favourite necklace until I lost it one day, but it looked exactly like Lisa's bracelet. Funny how that is -- there was that necklace, plus a genuine '20s or '30s bakelite pin that fell off my sweater while out riding my bike home from work late one night. Even though these losses happened you don't want to know how many years ago, I still regret their loss to this day. When I do repairs for people, I understand completely how they can cherish something that has virtually zero monetary value, but is priceless all the same. 

Anyway, I thought I'd try this design before I went back to making more "bones". Love those bone necklaces that I'm putting together. (See below.) Meanwhile, go check out the horseshoe tutorial on Lisa Yang's Jewelry Blog first. This is Lisa's finished bracelet. Biiiiig difference from what I ended up mangling.

Lisa Yang's finished bracelet

Yikes... My horseshoes are not very pretty. I used the same gauge of wire and cut them to two inches, but I used a Bic pen as a mandrel rather than a Sharpie.

As you can see, my horseshoes came out heavier and clunkier rather than light and airy like Lisa's links. I also had difficulty getting the links through the loops as the curve is too sharp and I hammered the wire too flat. I ended up having to squidge the looped ends in closer, plus the loops themselves should have been a titch larger.

I also closed bracelet a different way. However, I much prefer Lisa's version as it will lock the bracelet securely together and won't tend to get caught on clothing.

Back to the bench block for me where I'll follow the directions a little more closely ;-).

These are the bone necklaces I finished putting together on Saturday at the market (after I finally found the lost first batch of bones). Sitting right there in front of me all that time. Hope I can find my package of black flocked earring cards the same way. They've completely disappeared off the face of the planet.

These blue crystals are kinda sorta a little more aqua-ish than they appear here. Fire-polished Chinese crystals. The two brass, enamel and crystal connectors are from Michael's. They have pretty cool stuff like that that I can't find anywhere else around here out in the boonies, so for me it's worth the almost 60-minute drive when they have their 1/2 price sales.

Matching earrings. Again, using sterling silver earwires, although now that they're put together, I think slightly larger handmade copper earwires will look better.

All three bone necklaces. I'll be making more earrings, as soon as I make more bones. Copper bone necklace with clear crystals, 24" $45; plain copper bone necklace, 21", $25; asymmetrical copper bones with blue AB crystals, 38-1/2", plus earrings, $79.

Lookit what showed up in my mailbox yesterday from Joanne Nelson's trip to Tucson. It's like holding the mountain in your hands they're so large and raw and gloriously blue! Or... Chicken Little was correct, and the sky has indeed fallen upon us.

Rough lapis lazuli beads from Nelson Gemstones

I'd love to see what people are doing with their hammering and I'd be happy to post any pictures.

REMINDER!!! Only 16 days until I leave for The Gem Expo in Toronto at the Hyatt Regency on King Street. See you March 14, 15 and 16!!!

Thanks for looking!

Memory of Max & Getting Hammered...

Yeah, it was around 1:00 a.m. in the morning, one year ago today, that Max started to die. The day itself, like today, was sunny, Max's favourite kind of day to go running around burrowing and playing in the snow.

Still cannot believe how much I miss my little fuzzy boy every single day.

Wire-wrap chain:
On other fronts, I got a commission on Saturday at the market and put it together yesterday. I had made the chain during one of my Netflix marathons back in the fall and Winter brought me the pendant. Since the pendant is provided, I figure this length of chain (about 44 inches) would cost $50. These are vintage 100-year-old greasy blue Venetian glass seed beads that I got from Naomi at Black Tulip Designs wrapped in hard temper copper wire which I buy by the pound from The Ring Lord. Using the hard temper wire is murder on my fingers, but I find I have a lot more control over the shape of the loops. Soft copper is really mushy for this type of chain. In the closeup photo you can appreciate the depth and lustre. These beads are wonderful. New beads don't hold a candle to them.

Getting hammered:
I'm subscribed to Lisa Yang's jewellery blog and lately Lisa's been posting a series of tuts on basic jewellery-making. I'm always a fan of going back to the basics, if only to find out about new tools and new materials to play with, not to mention the chance that someone somewhere has come up with a new and improved way of doing some simple thing.

I haven't done any hammering for at least two years -- mostly because I was doing other things, but also this past year I'd been living where hammering wasn't feasible. If you've ever lived on a river, especially bounded by cliffs on either side, you'll understand how all sounds are magnified like crazy up and down the river. But now I'm out in the country again and, while I have neighbours on either side of me, we're also bounded on three sides by gravel pits and manufacturing facilities all making their own assorted noises, and a vast golf course to the west. Therefore, I feel free to whack away... although maybe not in the middle of the night.

Lisa has been demoing so-called "bone" connectors, and I made two batches yesterday, trying to beat her time. I'm down to about 2 minutes per "bone". I've said this before: I'm no jewellery designer; I'm a technician. I love to figure out ways to do things easier, faster and more efficiently. Since I would like to sell my stuff, the more efficiently I work the less time it takes me to make things and the greater my profit margin; the less I can sell an item for the better my chances of selling something. Plus I get bored really quickly and like to do repetitive stuff fast.

I used to work in newspaper and printing binderies and know about optimising papers and envelopes on a table in order to stuff envelopes and newspapers. It's no different when one is hammering wire. And I get a production line going.

The first thing I became aware of yesterday was the height at which I was sitting at my folding table. I have a wicker chair I sit at. There was a HUGE difference in ease of hammering when I put the cushion back on the chair as it raised me up 3 inches. I've found I like to sit lower and hunched over with my nose closer to the table top when I'm stringing or wire-wrapping. I found the hammering went much easier, more efficiently (and therefore faster) and I had better control over the effect because I had more arm control when I was sitting up higher in particular because I was using hard-tempered 14 gauge copper wire. I also found I could only hammer three or four "bones" at a time and had to take a couple of minutes' break in between each batch. Even though I'm ambidextrous most of the time, I'm not good at hammering using my left hand. I'm going to look like a lopsided Popeye when I'm finished this. Muskles on top of muskles.

Remove anything you don't need from the table. In mid-whack, a big bin of beads sitting on the corner landed upside down on the floor... absolutely everything jumps around when hammering. Using a doubled over beading mat keeps the noise level and the bouncing down, but I'm still working on figuring out how to keep the bench block itself as well as the mat from moving. The bead mat helps, and I noticed if I hammer wire in the middle of the block, it tends to stay in one place, but when holding short wire "bones" I'd be forever hammering my fingers to a pulp so this time I was stuck hammering closer to the edge of the block. I'm wondering, since I've seen other people use it in tutorials, if using a piece of leather would keep the bench block in place. I'd love to hear from someone if that is true. Makes me wish I hadn't been so hasty throwing out an old purse that I could have cut up.

Note that I use memory wire cutters for the thicker, harder wire gauges and always when I'll be hammering any wire as it cuts off truly square and 45 degrees to the length of the wire, rather than angled as with the regular cutters. I really appreciated the pure efficiency of this punch that I bought a while back and used for the first time. I also have one of those gizmos that you screw down to punch a hole with, but this is way, way faster. Note also the diamond file. I used that to clean off the burrs from the punch, as well as cleaned up any sharp edges around the hammered ends. I thought the pack of diamond files to be really expensive when I first bought them, but I use them all the time for so many different things.

Lacking a tumbler (and having to live with the fine scratches from the file), I opted to use ketchup to clean my finished bones.

Smooshing the pieces around. Takes only seconds to clean them.

Finish with some dish detergent and rinse. A scrubbie and soap got rid of any Sharpie marks. I have filtered well water with unknown mineral content so I'll need to get some distilled water. 

A New Toy for Ruth & Me:
Every show I do I try to upgrade and/or buy one item to make life easier in an away venue. For the March 14th, 15th & 16th Gem Expo in Toronto I bought a dolly. Since hotel luggage carts are at a premium (let alone unavailable in some venues) waiting for half an hour or more to unload and load up my truck is not what I want to be doing especially at the end of the show when I'm looking forward to a two-hour drive home.

Even though this dolly is all-metal, it is still about the same weight as the mostly plastic one that cost $10-$15 more, and is less bulky/bulbous. Plus this one can be used both vertically and horizontally. My trick will be to keep track of those cotter pins that lock the handlebar in place. Since I'm basically hauling bins of rocks, I need the sturdier all-metal construction and the big wheels, essential when moving heavy loads on dirt paths, grass, snow, uneven road surfaces and humping up and down steps which, if a dolly is going to collapse on you, these are the exact places.

I also bought some half-size bins with the flip-flop locking lids -- I'm forever misplacing lids -- so that everything not only stacks, the smaller sizes will hold more-reasonably-easy-to-heave-around quantities of beads and jewellery. My goal is to get everything into two sizes of bins, ditch the open top liquor store cardboard boxes, and anything else will fit into Tyvek shopping bags, still stackable and portable/easy to heave around.

Hammered Tinned Copper Earrings:
I promptly lost the first batch of copper bones I made. Zero idea where they got to. Made a second batch. Then I made these using 14 gauge tinned copper. Very soft wire. See how wiggly and bendy these got compared to the hard temper copper wire that really held its shape, but the tinned copper does goosh out a lot easier.

This morning I was contemplating them and wondered if the "waterfall" effect looks better (the earring on the right). I think it does. My online pal Joanne over at Nelson Gemstones agreed, but also suggested these would look better with the large jump rings in a silver colour. She just got back from Tucson: go check out the new beads she scored on her Facebook page. I'm so jealous!!! Next year!

Now to get off this computer and go make a chain out of the "bone" connectors and make more of these earrings and figure out a necklace variation.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing Family Day here in Canada and President's Day down in the US.

Went to Bulk Barn for the first time in over a year, and since they renovated.
This poster made me laugh. Yummy!!!

Thanks for looking!

My Heart is Pounding...

Whoo hoo! What a rush!!!

What happened? I booked my hotel for The Gem Expo in November. Yeah, I know, I know, I don't get out much. THREEEEEE nights!!!!!!!!!! Be still, oh beating heart.

The Strathcona on York Street. I get the cheapest room possible, and it's verrrrry small, but I'm only sleeping there, right? Next to the elevator shaft, still, it's quiet enough. I think it used to be a utility/housekeeping room. In fact, the room is smaller than the freight elevator at the Hyatt Regency where the show is. But who cares, right? It's super cheap for right downtown, and you can't beat the location: across the street from the Royal York and the train station, a mere six or seven block walk from the Hyatt, and their pub grub is super-good and not so terribly expensive with an open kitchen just as you hit the bottom of the stairs. To me, open kitchens rule. I was talking about the Strath Pub a while back with my sister the Toronto health inspector and she was saying that all the pubs in Toronto have had to really up the quality of their food in order to keep patrons coming. All the meals I had there in July were just great -- and the Alexander Keith's on tap was icy cold. That's all I care about -- good food and cold beer.

Just got some typing in, so I gotta get at that shortly. I was making chain jewellery all last night (I'd used up all my Internet bandwidth for the month, but had finished watching Dexter anyway) and this morning, finally finished one long necklace off. I was in the midst of stringing another necklace with handmade zinc and hammered tinned copper dangles when the typing arrived. I'll post the finished jewellery later tonight, but here's a sneak peek. The preponderance of pink is only because someone wants a pink seed bead bracelet with a hot pink enamel breast cancer ribbon charm, so I figured I'd make a bunch of chains with different pinks to see what they'll look like, one thing leading to another, and this long two-strand necklace was the result. Plus there was this long neglected but lovely string of blue chalcedony from Nelson Gemstones that has been popping up for at least a year whenever I reach for something -- pick me! pick me! -- so I finally broke the string up and committed myself.

Those dark blue beads are anyone's guess. Dyed something or other, probably quartz, and super cheap, but holy moley, do they look nice, kind of a cross between blueberries and lapis lazuli, if lapis were translucent. The two sizes of pink and peachish beads came out of the same bargain bin at Robert Hall Originals (who will be in Ancaster on September 27, 28, 29, as well as at the Grand River Bead Society show October 5th & 6th). The light blue beads are the 8mm blue chalcedony from Joanne at Nelson Gemstones. 

There's a part of me that wouldn't mind moving back to Toronto -- the 6 a.m. to 2:30 pm part of me, if that makes any sense. But once rush hour hits, not to mention the much cheaper rents, I'm just as happy to be living out here in the sticks... for now, at any rate. But man, oh, man, it's nice to be there during the show, at least until I have to get into my truck to go anywhere and taking 20 minutes to drive five blocks...

BTW, does anyone recognise this little guy? He and his zillions of brothers and sisters are just over an inch long, extremely fuzzy and considerably whiter than this one looks in the picture and motors around quite quickly. No idea what he'll become in the spring. I don't remember seeing quite as many of these other years. 

Thanks for looking!

Open House "Classes" & Acquaterra Necklace & Bracelet...

I can't really have people in and out like a store nor have a truly open studio on any regular basis because of my real job as I never know from hour to hour whether or when I will have work in or when I will have to start typing.

My current thought is to have an open studio by appointment only, which so far has been on Sundays, although occasionally during the week, with the caveat that I could end up typing while people are absorbed in choosing beads. The idea is that I give someone an overview of where all my beads and findings are and, as in a "real" bead store, they pick and choose the beads they want to make their own necklace. Once they're happy, they string the necklace and choose a clasp, and I do the final crimping and finishing off. What's interesting is how amazed newbies are at how long the whole process takes and how difficult it is to choose the beads that, A, they like (and/or can afford) and, B, that are truly "right" in order to express what they have in their mind's eye.

My buddy Lynn of Fashion Your Space (who is forever helping get me organised) was here a few weeks ago to finally put together her turquoise necklace using the string of Kingman chips I'd given her for her birthday back in January. I'd made those hammered copper hearts a couple of years ago.

This is what Lynn had to say about the experience:

August 2013

Dear Barbara,

I am thrilled with my necklace and earrings!  I just love them!

What an enjoyable experience at your home choosing from an extensive collection of genuine stones, ornate beads and wire work creations. To my delight, I found your unique handmade ‘copper wire hearts’ to add to my jewellery pieces. I never thought I'd be wearing real turquoise. I love the color and I am so proud to wear them. Thank you so much for helping create my jewellery.

Many thanks,

Lynn

This past Sunday, Lynn and Claudia came for a potluck lunch on the deck (when it was still lovely weather; it's going to be really chilly this weekend!) and Claudia was finally able to start working with the teardrop lapis lazuli that she bought last year from the Grand River Bead Society Bead Show in Guelph (which is coming up again in a few short weeks: Claudia told me she will be going again to buy more beads and findings).

These are the designs that Claudia is now mulling over.

Hi Barbara and Lynn,

Thanks for inviting me on Sunday! I enjoyed playing with my beads at your studio and having lunch. Those cheesecakes were delicious!  I found out in a jewelry store a pearls necklace with the same design that I did for my lapis lazuli and the sparkling rounds. So, I'm going to keep it for me and look for a another one, more modern for my niece. I got an email with the invitation for the show on October, so I'm going to wait to see what can I get there.
Thanks again and see you soon,
Claudia

That raw lapis lazuli you see in the last example is new and gorgeous with lots of pyrite. Every single piece is full of character and possibilities. I will have lots at both the Grand River Bead Society Bead Show in Guelph the weekend of October 5th and 6th, as well as The Gem Expo Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 22nd-24th in Toronto at the Hyatt on King Street -- or email me and I'll be happy to send you more pictures with prices.

And... I was busy this afternoon. It only took about 3 hours, but I managed to put together a necklace and bracelet with some beautiful blue acqua terra (aka imperial and/or impression) jasper that I got a while back from Nelson Gemstones. I really should have gotten more strings of this particular colour. It is so very, very pretty and goes with so many things. The fill in the necklace is a lovely warm putty pearlescent colour of 6/0 Japanese seed beads that I got from Beads of Colour in Dundas.

The necklace has aqua terra jasper rounds, pewter and silver-plated beads with a silver-plated rose & wing pendant and finished with Japanese seed beads, about 22" in length; $49 plus shipping.

The bracelet is made with aqua terra jasper rounds and silver-plated and pewter beads; 7.5" long; $15 plus shipping.

As always, please email me for availability or to discuss a commission, and I do take PayPal.

Thanks for looking!