Back from Soldering Boot Camp...Next stop Daytona Beach

Hi everybody. I have to keep this short because I am getting married in 4 days! Bead Fest was great. I did notice that it was about half the size of the one I went to last August. Kate Richbourg was a great teacher. She had a lot to teach us in a short amount of time, but she was well organized and I got to try a lot of different soldering techniques.  I really enjoyed her personality as well. Positive, friendly, and funny.  I can't wait to get back home and into my studio to practice what I learned.  Below is a pic of my bead show stash. I bought lots of solid copper because now that it's spring and I can open a window (for the all important "proper" ventilation while using MAPP gas) I am going to start enameling. Enamel is colored powdered glass that you use to coat molten glowing hot metal. When the metal cools, the glass hardens on to it.  I bought some gorgeous hand made glass beads to use as focal for pendants and earrings, beads I need to make my "bead people" to sell at the fall craft show, pink opal beads for my breast cancer awareness bracelets, and lots of copper chain. While I was there I ordered some new tools as well. This is a tool intensive hobby folks! Frank has asked me many times...  "How many pliers/hammers do you NEED?!" And I always say "just one more."

Bead Fest Stash

My next class will be at ArtBliss.  I'll be taking another one of Stacie Florer's metals classes. Check out her blog/shop. She is fabulous! She makes gorgeous jewelry, she is a talented writer, and has a lovely perspective on life.

The ring pillow I made for my upcoming nuptials.

Below are some of my bead people. Kids love them! I sold a lot of them to co-workers over Christmas. Going to make them to sell at the Bay Country Craft Show this fall.

Signing off for a few days! Next time I post I will be Leslie Angiolelli. My goodness that's a lot of syllables!

Philadelphia....Here I come!

Tomorrow at the crack of dawn I am off to Philly for the Spring Bead Fest where I will find over 150 jewelry making supply vendors selling their wares. Beads of course! But also tools, metals, findings, cords, leathers, silks..... treasures!  This spring they offered over 100 in-depth workshops presented by well know jewelry designers and teachers. I am signed up for the soldering boot camp Saturday with Kate Richbourg author of Simple Soldering. A Beginner's Guide to Jewelry Making.  Check out her blog spot We Can Make That at Home.  So....shop shop shop tomorrow and Saturday I'll  be firing up the torch playing with fire and manipulating metals for nearly 8 hours.   Yahoo! If anyone is interested the Philadelphia Bead Fest in August is even bigger!

This is kind of a boho/hippie set I made recently. I found the lovely, artist signed, handmade flower pendant focal at the D.C. Big Flea.  It was in a big box of estate jewelry and the woman selling told me to pick out anything I wanted that she would give me a great deal. She did!  I came out with a pile of beads and baubles for 15 dollars. This pendant alone was worth it to me. Anyway I attached some leather cord and with adjustable sliding knots so it can be worn as a long pendant or as short as a choker. 

Can you believe I had all of these beads that match the pendant so well in my stash!  I made the clasp out of the same leather cord.

Matching dangling earrings. This was my first attempt at enameling. I made the headpins myself using copper wire and blue opaque enamel.

A Recent Chan Luu Style Wrap Bracelet and some comments about Fleetwood Mac

We went to see Fleetwood Mac in concert at the Verizon Center in Washington D. C. last night. I paid A LOT of money for good seats because they are my all time favorite band. The last time I saw them in concert was the late 1970s. I was a little disappointed after the first 3 songs they played.  They seemed bored! Imagine these people have been singing these songs together.... the same fabulous songs we have come to know by heart and love....for 35-40 years! I guess I can understand how it would become boring to them. I was getting a little concerned about the lack of energy and enthusiasm but after their dull performance of Dreams,  Lindsay Buckingham started talking to us about how in the music business it pays to take a good thing and run with it....take it as far as it can go...run it into the ground....and then move on.  But as ARTISTS it not a good thing.  What he was about to say was that they were going to play NEW music. Groan. The arena full of mid-lifers came to hear them play their old stuff.  But when they played their new song called Sad Angel they changed. You could see it in their faces (if you had binoculars like me.) They were getting into it. Their energy level rose. And rose. And rose. They were "creating." And it made them happy. After they played that song they did not disappoint. They played all of our favorites with a few new twists.....but they were on fire from there on out! They played and sang the "heck" out of every performance. I don't see how Lindsay Buckingham has any skin left on his fingers by the way he played his guitar. By far it was the best concert I have been to since I saw Billy Joel at the Celebrity Theatre in 1977! They played for 2 1/2 hours and came back for two encores!  And too bad for all of those people who left for their cars to beat the traffic.... they saved the best for last. World Turning, Don't Stop, Silver Springs and especially Say Goodbye.....so sweet I got teary eyed. Stevie Nicks as beautiful as ever. And Lindsay B. is a sexy 60 something! GO TO THIS CONCERT!

And speaking of creating...... here is a bracelet I made recently in the Chan Luu wrap style. If you like it, you can learn to make it yourself by going to The Bead Shop Tutorials page.  Or you can buy it from me at GreenBirdStudios my Etsy shop.

5 wrap leather, pearls, silk, hand made/forged copper beads.

Today it all hit the fan!

Today it hit the fan because everyone found out by way of Facebook that Frank and I are getting married.  It's not exactly the way we were going to tell our friends and family about our nuptials, but I wrote about in my new blog because I had just made the bracelet and I was excited to share it. I was playing around with with the google blogger buttons.....hit the one that said share your new blog with your FB  friends...and voila!  Big announcement!  Hey! I'm new to this! Needless to say that my fiancé....Frank.... was none too happy when all of his family started calling around asking why we had been keeping this a secret.  So, if my future in-laws are reading....please forgive me. We were not trying to keep it a secret from you, we just wanted to get married without all the hoopla of a big wedding.  It was kind of a spur-of-the moment decision to do this while we were down visiting with his/your mom/grand mom. And.....if you want to join in you are invited to attend.  April 18th. 6pm. Daytona Beach. Lighthouse park.  Or if you can't make the trip...there will be photos!

Now about this blog thing.... I never thought anyone would even be interested but apparently 4 people in Germany looked at my site at least one time!  Cool!

PHYLLIS
An early digital painting created on my iPad using the app Brushes.

Today I made a wristlet/corsage/bracelet for my upcoming beach wedding.

My wedding outfit will be white linen baggy, beachy pants with a drawstring waist. I found a 3/4 sleeve tee type shirt with a draped neckline also in white.  I intend to color it up with flowers. First the wrist bracelet shown below.... and possibly a head band/crown/halo made of flowers as well.  We'll probably be barefoot on the beach.  My fiancé, Frank is going to wear some off white linen shorts and a beachy/tropical/ Tommy Bahama kind of shirt that we haven't found yet. His colors will set the tone for the flowers in my hair.  So here it is! I'm making progress. Wedding is in about 2 weeks.

Silk flowers. Peonies I think. 6 strands of pearls. Starfish and shells

Hi. If there is anyone out there actually reading this crazy totally unexpected idea of mine to start a blog and you are interested in knowing more about the Bead Soup Blog Parties....which is why I started blogging... here is a link to explore further. Thanks to Lori Anderson for such a fun idea! Unfortunately I missed the deadline to enter the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party by 2 days!  But you can bet I will be up and ready for the next one.    Bead Soup Blog Party

Here is an image of a copper disc I etched using a rubber stamp and ink resist and ferric chloride. Then I used a little liver of sulphur followed by verdigris guilder's paste to give it an aged looked. Attached a few "dingle bobs" and a length of soft leather and it made a beautiful pendant. There were matching earrings made of three etched discs linked together with copper jump rings each descending in size but I forgot to get a picture before giving the set away as a Christmas gift.