Crazy Weather Weekend and Beady Bloggers!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I made it through the rain to Rubberbuggy in the lovely Lancaster, PA area with owner and friend, Kris and her niece, Evy and I had so much fun! I also got to spend some time with Kriss Cramer, who is also quite talented and a great teacher, with a surprise visit from Inky-Rebecca Peck. Unfortunately the rain only got worse, followed by some hellacious wind (I was looking for a small house or the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz to go flying by!) and then colder temperatures. Now we lost an hour with the "Spring Ahead" daylight savings, although I love it when it's light in the early evening! I'm getting ready for another busy week. In the meantime, enjoy the beady links from the talented group of ladies! Have a great week! (Photo Credit: Amish Buggy)

• About.com Thinking of diving into the Etsy pool? Then you may want to take some of this excellent advice first.
• Art Bead Scene Inspired ways to finish your designs - think of the claspossibilities!
• Jewelry & Beading Cyndi's stuck on V-pendants, and has decided to share another way to turn them into wonderful wearable necklaces!
• Naughty Secretary Club Think you have an amazing idea for a piece of laser cut acrylic or wood jewelry? Well Jen will be the judge of that, literally. Jen is the guest judge at the Ponoko 10 day jewelry challenge. Did we mention the $10,000 worth of prizes?
• PearlEsq. Check out where Robin's going to be this weekend and what comes back to you from the love of making jewelry.
• Savvy Crafter Candie shows a sweet little charm bracelet featuring, Tassels, Blossoms, and Beads, Oh Deer!
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! This lovely cover is a good example of teamwork. Teamwork has been on Jean's mind lot lately. Check out the necklace Jean made for Simply Beads Magazine with a little help from her friends Lisa Kan and Green Girl Studios. Friends are truly gifts. Jean feels lucky every time she thinks about her wonderful, amazing friends!
• The Impatient Beader (is going to Paris) Madge shows a jaunty little necklace she's sporting on her trip to the City of Lights. Yes, she's going to Paris and she's rubbing it in. Thanks a lot, Madge.

Bandanna Madness and Jewelry Hugs!

Happy Thursday...I know, I know, I say it all the time, but where the &#$%&*@ did the week go?

Anyway, I'm furiously getting ready for the next go round of education, both for Ranger and for myself at stores!

I'm doing a last-minute, surprise(!) demo at my buddy Kris' store, Rubberbuggy on this Saturday. I'm going to show everything Bandanna! We're going pigment it, wrinkle free it, crackle it, grunge it, you name it, I'm doing it, with a little more emphasis on the new pigment inks. They're the focus of Ranger's home page this month, with a bunch of samples with instructions that are, by chance, ones I made! The plan is to get there in the morning, set up and be ready to demo by noon. If you've got nothing else to do, why not come by the "'Buggy"...it will be fun, with some surprises to boot! (photo credit: Bandanna)

I also wanted to share a sad, but neat story. One of the things I love about CHA is getting to catch up with my friends that I've made over the years. I always like to make bunches of jewelry to give to vendors that have worked with me through the year as my way of saying "thank you" as well as just giving some to friends, "just because."


I had a breakfast meeting with one of the industry "people" that I can clearly call a friend. I happened to be wearing one of my newer soldered pieces, complete with a flying bird on one side and a butterfly on the other. (Photo Credit: Timothy K. Hamilton) She remarked how she liked it and I took it off of me and gave it to her. Little did I know, until an email that I had received from her on Monday, how my little gift was one of comfort. She suddenly lost her brother to illness right after the show. She brought the necklace with her and wore it during the funeral mass, stating:

Part in part because I love it but also, because of the butterfly and bird on each side. The butterfly is the symbol of new life and so it was important to me that I have this for [my brother's] funeral. The bird, a symbol to me of spring and rebirth so again, most appropriate. The day of the funeral mass, I wore your necklace and Robin, in some very strange but real way, as I would hold it and play with it in my hands during the mass, I found some comfort in it. I know when you gave it to me, neither of us could have imagined that it would bring comfort during a very hard time but, I wanted you to know this. And, I wanted to thank you again. Strange to look back at moments at a later date and see how very important they are. I remember you taking it off during breakfast and asking me if I would wear it. Little did I know where I would wear it and what it would mean.


Needless to say, I was floored, and it also put so many things in perspective. Life is too short, do what you love, enjoy the time you have with your friends, family and other loves in your life and don't sweat the small stuff. All of the things that many times I don't do. What it did do was confirm my love of taking the time I do to make these little soldered pieces to share. Remember that your love of what you do and make is also appreciated by others. Not that others' attention is always needed, but it's nice to know that they "see" what you "see", right? (Photo Credits: Butterfly, Swans)

Enjoy the rest of your day! Robin

It's Finally Fallen Fall!

Hello Everyone! Just a quick post. Boy, does it feel like the season already. I'm already running late making my way up (finally) to my friend Nadine's. Soldering fun and playing with her pup Moxie's foofie toes!

Here's the frame I created last weekend when I was at Rubberbuggy last weekend. I demonstrated the Tim Holtz(tm) Distress Crackle Paint(tm) using Maya Road's Chipboard. Who'd a thunk that her store's name would fit perfectly with the addition of the #5 for her store's anniversary?! As you can tell, I love teaching the Bandanna technique!

Everyone have a great weekend. I'm off to NY...keep on posting your comments and I'll let ya know the winner of the stamps by Monday!

Inky Hugs,
Robin

TOTW #5-"Dab it, Dab it Good!" (Think DEVO)

Hello, my painty friends! Onward and upward with the world of Ranger Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers and some fun ways to work with them. Here's a picture of Minnie...I've not yet shown a picture of her, but doesn't she look like a Holstein? The background is painted Watermelon (Brights), and what is better to do with a dabber shaped in a circle? Make circles!!! "Load" the dabber with paint and then just press...don't worry if the circles are not exact...they're not supposed to be! Again, I've used Maya Road Chipboard Book and Letters. They've been painted with Pitch Black and the spots were from Teresa Collin's foam stamps from Junkitz loaded with Snow Cap White. See how great it works and pops? I absolutely love using the Black and White dabbers because of the contrast it provides. I also like to cut out the detail of at least one image, as the background really allows the image to stand out!


This next page is really one of my favorites, as it shows how great the paint dabbers are with any type of stamps, whether clear, foam or rubber! I worked with Stream as the background, highlighted with

Brights Pool and edged with Lights Aqua...can't beat it. The "window" is created with Maya Road's Foundations chipboard and the flowers from Technique Tuesday. When working with a detailed stamp, dab on the paint, then just lightly swipe to evenly distribute the paint on the stamp so it's not blobby...some images have been loaded with one color and edged with darker tones...it all works!

Last, but not least for the evening are the cats...the best! These are FUN stamps from Movable Parts...there's a head, body, tail, legs...you use them in different ways and can have the front or back of a cat in unlimited numbers of positions. I loaded the "Minnie" cat with White, then created her moo-ey splotches in Pitch Black. Don't worry about messing up the dabber...it's okay! You can just dab or wipe it off. For the "Oliver" cat, I used Pebble, then swiped with the matching tones of Mushroom and Lake Mist. I love this one so much because not a picture was used, but it's still a "picture" of two of the cats!

This weekend is going to be busy. I'm have fun with my friend Kris Hoffer at her store Rubberbuggy and help her with demos to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of her store. She's also going to have the wonderfully talented MaryJo McGraw there! I also have a bunch of stained glass frames to do! So much to do, not enough time, but still aways fun!

Have a wonderful Friday! Robin