Leather Jewelry--A New Lark Love Story!

I usually don't review/share/blog about cool books herein, but now's as good a time as any to start!

You know how I love adding any new material or technique to my jewelry making arsenal? Well, I've got another arrow to drop in my quiver with Nathalie Mornu's new Leather Jewelry: 30 Contemporary Projects!

Now, I know what you may be thinking--this review is nepotism at best since I'm now a Lark author. You're right on one score in that I do have a newly heightened affinity for all things Lark. But, you're also wrong (wrong, WRONG!) since I can honestly say that "Lark had me at 'Hello'!" (When I became aware of the fact that 90% of my jewelry and craft books were published by the same company--yep! Lark!--I knew a love affair had already begun without me and I just had to catch up!)

But that's just the start of my Lark Love Story. What a fabulously tempting book Nathalie's put together! Leather Jewelry makes what I used to think was an out-of-reach medium (where do I get this stuff? what do I use to sew it? will I like having all-brown jewelry?) another enticing "pull (-me-in-another-direction)!"

Fave projects include: Big Zip (Joan K. Morris) (what a surprise that I'd like a zipper necklace); Link (Marina Massone) (can you say way-cool interlocking-ness?); and Gossip (Nathalie herself) (the dictionary defines this one as "pure flirt!"). The book's subtitle marks the projects as contemporary, and it tells no lie! The designs are clean, colorful, fun, and fresh!

And, the illustrations had my heart palpitating--they are heaven-on-paper! Nathalie tells me that the awesome Frenchman, Olivier Rollin, sketched these oh-so-pretty (and immaculate) step-by-steps which is another side love-story (and I haven't even seen him, nor heard him speak!). (Oh, PS! These illos actually show the "how-to" as well as dress things up!)

My love fest finale is all about the book's gallery. You see, when that green-with-envy feeling starts to well up inside, and I know "I wish I would have thought of that first," it's a good-sign-of-good-design!

Suffice it to say, that I'm about as green as I can get about Leather Jewelry--and that's a GREEN-LOVE-THING for sure!

The Fine Line Between Creativity and Clutter

There's a fine line between creativity and clutter -- and I walk it every day. Sometimes I'm on the creativity side, sometimes I'm on the clutter side -- mostly I straddle them both. 

Since I've recently had the excellent talents of my technical designer brother Jeremy at my disposal (he's since taken a full-time job in addition to his growing business and abandoned me, but that's another story), I took full advantage. I waved my arms around to explain my ideas of creating systems that would support my work, and he interpreted those dreams into realities of wood, hardware, and paint! (I'm so grateful to have his shaman-like ability tempering my creative visions with his engineering-ness -- and encouraging me in the process. I LOVE this guy to pieces!)

You saw the Wall-o-Jars that I posted a few blogs back. Well, here are two more ideas that have already boosted my ratio of creativity to wallowing-in-stuff-I-can't-get-to:

Precious Finds at a Glance: A set of shallow and narrow shelves that hold all my one-of-a-kind found bijoux. Since I work my found objects in jewelry sizes (smaller goodies than my assemblage buddies), I could afford to gather them in one area where I could see the whole collection at a glance. The shelves' placement in my studio also serves to engage my moodling mind with future projects each time I walk by.

 (Here's a close-up: noisemakers, vintage buttons, toy wheels, pipe-cleaner chicks and Eight Balls galore.)

 

On-Deck Works: I enjoy playing with a number of projects simultaneously. I group components for budding  jewelry pieces in these black trays where they audition (this is my friend and studio assistant Becky's term). They remain there until they "get the part"  to work on a portion of them at a time. Some never make the cut and their components go back on the narrow shelves or into beading inventory.

Note how the trays slope down from the wall (like the magazine racks at your local library), so that they, too, are in prime moodling position!

 

Am I more productive with these systems in place? Sure, if you agree that  freeing up my studio floor for little things like walking help! Now I'm ready(er) for loads of jewelry makin'!

Smiley Face Watch

I've shared this image with my Facebook friends along with a post something like, "this piece just makes me smile." It's true. I've seen some fabulous resin work that traps unexpected things inside (isn't that 90% of what makes us goofy about resin -- the trapping part?) like big, fancy pearls and even a mouse (ewww!). That's what inspired me to try my hand at my own version of freezing stuff in time!

My friend KaKO recently gave me a big box of goodies from her past -- kind of like a 3-D scrapbook of her life. I spied this 80s watch from the middle of the pile. It probably just needed a new battery, but I decided I'd rather not know so I could be fearless in trying this idea. I prepped a frozen food tray with some release and went to town positioning the watch and carefully pouring the resin.

After it cured enough to pop it out of the tray the following morning, I noticed a bubble at the 10 o'clock mark. Rather than ditching the project (I tend to try to save just about anything with even a little potential), I thought I'd enhance the even-numbered hour marks with chatons. (Just so happens my friend Debbi Simon has been working with these sparkly bits lately, so I gave her a jingle.)

Another little glitch worked out as well, after I hit an air pocket (that darn 2 o'clock mark this time) while drilling the chaton divots. After I carefully removed the drill dust, I filled the pocket with resin one drop at a time. Then I used the resin to not only set the other five chatons, but add a high polish to the face of the piece. (I waited until the resin at the 2 o'clock mark set and thickened a bit before adding the last little glitz-bit.)

I learned three things about resin during this work: that it has a longer pour-time before setting than I thought; that matte surfaces can be glossed up with an additional resin skimcoat; and that mistakes are easily repaired with some patience and precision.

All-in-all, this watch-let was a pretty quick project. It makes me smile and feel happy every time I look at it -- a new take on the smiley face watch from the 70s!

What's Your RL/EO Quotient?

Sometimes I astound myself (in a not-so-good way). You'd think after 47 years, I'd know me pretty well. And to be honest, most of the time I'm pretty astute about what makes me me and what I can and cannot do. But this last little task I took on just hammered home the point that I'm a little dense in the what-can-be-accomplished-in-real-time-and-space world (a.k.a. what you can get done in real life).

You see, this girl's an eternal optimist. And, she's a little slow on the uptake when it comes to committing to deadlines. She says "yes" automatically before weighing a project's actual doing-ness. I blame it on my analytical side -- the side that on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the largest) is a .5.

So, next time I nod my head to drawing 70-plus sketches of 30-plus projects (which guide readers through the process of making the jewelry in say a book called something like Steel Wire Jewelry), I'll say I need two months instead of one. And I'll really draw sketches instead of schematic models that look like they're from an engineer's drawing board. And I'll start the project before there are only two weeks left to deadline. Ahem ... did I say that my procrastination quotient of big projects is also a .5?

What's your Real Life (RL) vs. Eternal Optimist (EO) quotient?

What's in a Name Anyway?

Well, I'll tell 'ya -- more than one would think!

With today's emphasis on marketing and search engines, and -- well that's about the crux of it, marketing and search engines -- things (book titles, that is) need to be straightforward, simple, specific, and (yes, I'll say it) boring! That's okay though, 'cause a good, minimal title is weighty enough to counterbalance all of my uber-creative copy inside (which frankly, confuses even me at times!)

What am I droning on about (you analytics ask)?

I just received the formal title for my next book. It's moniker is Steel Wire Jewelry. The equally important and obviously encoded subtitle is: Stylish Designs, Simple Techniques, Artful Inspiration. You got it! All very good words to describe exactly what is inside the book -- style, design, simplicity, technique, art, and inspiration. There you go, and there you have it.

I'm not complaining. Or, am I? The early-career marketer in me says, "Yep! Get it out there, and get it far and wide." The creative-type in me says, "Good God, can't anyone think a little? Would it kill them? Do we have to spell out things at a fourth-grade level all the time?"

Then I pan back a little, take a few breaths, and envision my little book ... on the Barnes&Noble shelves ... among tens of other wire books ... hundreds of other jewelry books ... thousands of other craft books ... and millions of other books books ... and, that's just one store. And then I say:

"I LOVE simplicity. I LOVE the name Steel Wire Jewelry! And, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE search engines!

(And I'll "wow 'em" on the inside!)

Thank you, Title Team!

xoxox!

(Pssst! Next comes the fabulous cover art . . . !)

What's Tangled and Mangled and Colorful Throughout?

Peek of the Week No. 2, that's what! It's been a month since I shared Peek of the Week No. 1 on September 10th. Today I'd like to introduce Peek of the Week No. 2. In true Brenda form, you may have guessed it involves two of my favorite things -- Irish waxed linen and (of course) iron wire. But what gauge? How is it tangled? Is it a bracelet, an earring, a brooch? I'm such a trickster for keeping you guessing!

Smokin' Mirrors & Inquiring Minds

Not everything is as it seems. Sometimes it's better; sometimes it's worse. Sometimes it's both if we step back a bit.

We dig for answers when things seem picture perfect. We want to know that others are like us -- a little less than perfect. We spend money to know the truth about other people's lives (my husband Jim's Granny Aurelia was a longtime National Inquirer subscriber), we research and Google! any little curiosity, and we take back stage tours to get an inner sanctum glimpse at how things really work on the big stage.

I got my own little peek at the "better and the worse" of my work this week when I visited Deone Jahnke's photography studio. We (she worked, I "assisted") shot six of my better pieces for the gallery section of Iron Wire Jewelry (coming out Fall, 2010).

The shoot went like clockwork, but I got a chuckle when we prepped this necklace (Scrapyard No. 1) by dangling it from a pole with gray duct tape (see evidence, lower left). VERY classy! Check out the little mirror propped on a tiny box with paraffin wax (another photog trick to bounce light around) and the adorable Ms. Jahnke's left hand and camera zoom lens.

Funny how the before (what the camera shows us) and the after (the "bigger picture") vary a teeny, tiny bit! Just thought your inquiring minds would want to know!