SuzeBlogz

I'm Spellbound !

I got to spend the most delicious Friday morning at Scrappers Cove in Milltown, NJ. It's an incredible store and a one-stop shoppers paradise.

I stopped by just to say HI to my old pal Ken Oliver, educational director for Spellbinders and all 'round fabulous guy...and brought The Lenster with me so he could finally meet Ken too !

but Ken, being the gracious person he is, insisted I stay for the class and take part in it....and I wasn't going to say NO !

He was teaching a lot of talented ladies how to work with the new Media Mixage line from Spellbinders and jewelry designer  Susan Lenart Kazmer...and their beautiful and brilliant collaboration !

everyone was given bezels to create with. Some chose to fill theirs with personal items and photocopies of their family. Others used clip art or papers from the Media Mixage collage books.

It is important to seal the collage paper before pouring the resin and this can be done by brushing on a very light coat of any white glue, matte medium or even Ranger Glossy Accents, & letting it dry.

Ken showed us how to mix Ice Resin (2 full minutes !) and let it stand for another five (full minutes !) before pouring...slowly. Pour over the dry paper.

he explained how the resin becomes self-leveling, forming that beautiful dome if that is what you like. It does not have to be that high if you prefer it more flat.

Ken shared his own personal 'stash' of stuff for the class

as well as some of his own samples

here are some of the class examples

**************

I kinda cheated.....I had already played a bit with some of the bezels the night before and came in wearing this necklace

BUT THEN I BECAME OBSESSED !!!!

So...starting with this idea....

I used the Spellbinders die that fits the bezel exactly to cut the image precisely and placed the eyes in the bezel, added a gear and poured the resin.

and, when I got home I finished the whole project...

I WAS ECSTATIC....HAPPY AS A CLAM !!!

Had to make MORE !!!!

(the images below come from the Turn of the Century CD from twistedpapers.com)

well..needless to say I'm a crazy resin nut now..more than I ever was before...and I'm hot to trot for the whole Media Mixage Line !!

Thanks a million for a great adventure Scrappers Cove and Ken !

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE !!!

Fibers

Yesterday I got together with my friends Carol & Zelda who wanted to know how I made the fiber wall hanging that's in my living room.

 

and I have to tell you it is incredibly simple to do...it just takes patience and a lot of fibers....that I'm sure you all have just hanging around the ole craft room !!!

*************

The finials on the end came from Home Depot and the hanging trim was more stuff I had in the craft room !!

SO.....All you need is a nice long, heavy duty cardboard tube. It can come off a wrapping paper roll or roll of wallpaper, but you want a tube that has some decent weight to it. Not like the weight of a toilet paper roll!!

I'm even guessing that PVC pipe would work too.

*******************

now you need Wonder Tape. Your store may carry it under a different name (because lots of companies have it now), but you might remember it as the red line tape that I developed and Ranger now carries. Wonder Tape is a double sided Mylar tape that will not lift. Using double sided Scotch tape is not good...Scotch Tape is a gum tape and has no staying power.

You want RED LINE TAPE. Check your craft store.

*************

Begin by gathering up all the fibers and ribbons you think you want to work with. Lay them all out...make it a visual treat !

then we can begin wrapping the tube with the tape. I find that using the 1/2 inch tape is the easiest way to go.

you'll uncover one section of tape at a time and wrap the fibers around it.

 

 

this isn't about being neat...it's about being creative and free !

I also used decorative linen tape from Seven Gypsies..and I found decorative tape measures. All these things work. Rhinestone chain and wire works too !!

So, while my friends were busy making theirs I started one for my daughter who just bought a new house.

and tomorrow I'll get the finials for hers and add a few extra hangie things.

Meanwhile both Carol and Zelda were happy campers too !!

another happy art project !

 

************

now, I must share a funny Suze/Lenny story...

I love ordering from the online website FAB.com. Sometimes I order from Photojojo.com or OpenSky.com....let's just say that I love the happy little emails I get from these places...they arrive every day at 11 AM promptly.... and I can usually find something they are selling that I just must have !!

So...the running joke at our house is that there is always a box sitting at the front door when we get home....some exciting thing is going to be in it from one of these online places.

well...obviously I'm not ordering EVERY SINGLE DAY so when there are days that there are no boxes The Lenster laughs as I make the sad face and express my utter disappointment that I had nothing exciting to open today...

SO

This morning I find THIS on my kitchen counter....

OMG...a box....I am overjoyed....I open it...

The Lenster MADE ME A BOX !!!!

It included a little dino, a happy handwritten note, a bird cage element to hang and

this is the best part.....the grass we picked up, took home and dried out from New Orleans AND Lennys Five Dollar Jury Duty check for one day of service !!!!!!!

isn't he the best!!!

and yes...we are just that nuts !!!

xoxoxoxox

 

 

Craft Show hunting

I guess it's sort of like "Good Will Hunting"...LOL... I mean these little creatures sure look like happy hunting !!

anyway....it was time to stop by the annual Sugarloaf Juried Craft Show.

it travels the east coast and stops in Jersey usually this time of the year. I didn't have an agenda.....nothing I HAD to buy.....just wanted to say HI to some friends who take a booth there every year like Ricky Boscarino (Luna Parc)

and Victoria Tane who is doing some really wonderful things with old buttons

****************

and... to see if there was anything really new this year.

these shows are so visually stunning you can't help but get ideas that stimulate your creative juices..

a

I would have to say that jewelry is the largest category at this show.

and I did spot 2 new vendors who had wonderful things

*************

HEALY DESIGNS

hand crafted custom designed kaleidoscopes as jewelry. They were GORGEOUS

They are located in Lomoc, California and this was their first time at Sugarloaf. I hope they come again !! They not only had wonderful jewelry but they had a really visually stunning display.

*************

and 

KATHY D DESIGNS

Kathryn is a lampworker. Her work is AMAZING to say the very least. But, what's so really amazing is that each piece has a magnet in the FRONT so, as soon as you put it on it's locked on you.. closed.

and she uses beautiful silk for the neck ribbon AND her prices are practically giveaways...so..you must visit her ETSY page.

**************

As I walked around, here are some of the other delicious visual treats

Little zip cosmetic bags

This was a pretty funky cuff bracelet from Melanie Moore. The problem is that they don't show them on their website..they only show their hair related products....too bad, cause the far out jewelry they had in their booth was far more exciting !!

I enjoyed meeting Pam LeBlanc from Old Bagzz

like so many of us artisans..she crafts handbags from recycled fabric. All of her totes have fabric handles that are polypro webbing covered with coordinating fabric.  All the fabrics will have some sort of coordinating print, accent and button.   The interior of each bag is fully lined

*****************

but..if you want to know you what I enjoyed the most....I just adored meeting the author of these hilarious little books....Greg Stones

I stood there and laughed so hard...I bought this one and a second called

 which I gave to Jared (10) when I saw him later that afternoon and he thought was hysterical.

All I can tell you is for $10 you NEED to just own these silly books. Age has NOTHING to do with it.

I will leave you with a quote from Greg....

" when I say "wrote," I mean that I avoided using any actual sentences and stretched 68 individual words into a 64 page book.  Perhaps it is also worth mentioning that my editor thought of four of those words.  So, let's do the math: Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote 64 words.  The chances of my winning a Pulitzer Prize this year are fairly slim."

**********

They will leave you feeling really happy and smiling !!

Things were Flowering

at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia

The theme was Great Britain this year (last year was Hawaii)

and there were so many beautiful exhibits...they even included the yellow submarine/Beatles

(By the way....all photos courtesy of my IPhone !)

and if you looked inside the sub

hats made entirely of flowers, similar to those that the royal family would wear (only theirs woudn't be made of real flowers !)

replicas of other famous British landmarks

and beautiful English gardens

look at this way cool idea for an old stove placed on your patio

the show also has many vendors selling flowers, branches, jewelry...

I wanna know where to find those heads !!!!!

I already own one of these FABULOUS birds and after this show now I have a second...I want to build a collection, one a year!

now this was such a brilliant idea....a wall with cement blocks and books inbedded...

I mean..I LOVE this idea...here it is with little mirrors & other assorted glittery things !!

the show even had "Make it-Take it's"...no..I didn't do it, but check out these ladies heads.... (I have no idea who they are..just had to take their pix !)

and I have a passion for terrariums, especially the ones from TWIG

It was a fabulous, terrific show...can't wait for next year !

for sale

They are predicting snow for Wednesday and I'm all scheduled to go to the Philadelphia Flower Show....on a chartered bus....so..I am saying a little prayer right now cause I don't want to miss it. I went last year and it was OUTSTANDING !

This years theme is Great Britain !! Should be BRILLIANT !

************

In the meantime...just to bring you up to speed...I've been making a few things for my ETSY shop...and I just wanna keep my peeps up to date.

This one is called The Girl in the Ginza

I especially love the freeform brass shape that I etched with numbers. That's MY favorite part ! But of course if '7' is your lucky number, well then, you need to buy it !

 

Perhaps you need the Key to Everything

This Memory Frame is filled with UTEE...otherwise known as Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I poured the hot resin into the frame then pressed a rubber stamp into it to create the pattern. I colored it to resemble metal by using Perfect Pearls. Then I did a separate pouring on a non stick craft sheet, stamped into it and cut it up to use as dimensional elements over the initial pour.

The necklace has a fully finished back side ...so...quite honestly..you can wear it on either side.

then I've been very busy with earrings.

Using french ear wires I've made this pair called Flying

and, using some newly acquired bead clusters

Pearl of My Heart

and, the most fun Ive been having is using these 'made for beads' safety pins...right, the beads don't come off....and making them into dangle necklaces.

so, Pin Me Baby

by now I hope you've made the visit over to my ETSY shop...if not..here's the last one for tonight..

Rhinestone Sunset

there's more to see...just hop on over and get something

FancySchmancy from Suze

Summing Up

I didn't get to stay for the last day of Michael DeMengs class in NOLA...(we had to head home early)...but, thank goodness for our event coordinator Katherine Engen of Valley Ridge Art Studio who took pix so I can show you the INCREDIBLE class art.

Now...no shooting me because I can't remember whose is whose..., just know I love you all and I'm sharing your art with the world...

 

 Michaels class was called

The Mystic Marionette of Marigny.

and what is The Marigny you ask....? (often referred to as Faubourg Marigny) well...it's actually an area in NOLA made up of North Rampart Street, St. Claude Avenue, Franklin Avenue, the Mississippi River and Esplanade Avenue.

*************

and this was Michaels brilliant class example and our inspiration....

He uses products like Aves 2 part Apoxie Clay, White DAP caulking and various doll parts, frames and unusual findings from flea markets and antique shops to re-create something new..that could look old and even dead.... from things that once were and never will be again, Tra La  !!

***********

Here are some of the amazing things the class made

And now I know what you're all thinking...How do I get to take a class with Michael..?..I can't travel to where he is....well..follow his blog and get ready...cause he starts another of his  ONLINE classes May 4th...and you won't want to miss out on

The Morpheus Box.....it spins !!!

********************

Last night we joined some of our buds

for dinner at a neat Greenwich Village NY restaurant called  DeSantos at 139 West 10^th Street. It's in an old Brownstone that was once home to Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and Edward Albee.

and serves delicious American food. The Lenster discovered it on Urban Spoon. We didn't know anything about it ahead of time. The atmosphere was really lovely and they had quite a crowd coming in around 9 pm...just as we were exiting !

the back room must be great in warmer weather cause it's partially outdoors.

dimensional (not real) butterflies over the bar

then on to a NYC landmark...The Duplex: New York City's world famous cabaret and piano bar. It's located in the heart of West Greenwich Village

The ever popular DUPLEX boasts a piano bar with open mic every night of the week, an upstairs bar and an intimate
off-Broadway cabaret theatre, all hosted by New York's friendliest staff.

and we were there to see/hear Laurie Anne Gardner (click on her name to hear her) the delicious entertainer from our New Years Caribbean cruise on The Norwegian Gem.

We fell in love with her then and the crowd at The Duplex consisted of all her fans from various cruises....wonderful evening

you can catch Laurie on You Tube...just google her

or, here's another LINK

and always on The Norweigan Gem. Tell her you know me !!!

************

I'll leave you with a few nightime IPhone shots of NY architecturte

***************

This Wednesday I'll be going to The Flower Show in Philadelpha. You KNOW I'll have lots to blog about !