Easter Pretties

By Leslie Brier, Brier Design

The weather here has been crazy. It was 70 degrees last week, and yesterday we had a two-hour delayed school opening because of ice. I decided that I'm going to ignore the weather outside, and pretend it is springtime inside. I made a new batch of Easter Pretties.

I molded a batch of bunnies and lambs, and set them out to dry.

Next, they got a coat of paint, and a box to sit on. After that, I added more color to the boxes with colored pencils, vintage trims and flowers.

And a sprinkling of glitter was the finishing touch.

This batch of Easter Pretties was delivered to Chicks Picks by Hillary. We tried them out in one of her fabulous shadow boxes. I've decided that I definitely need one!

In the meantime, I've made a little more progress on my cuff bracelet.

And now, both dogs are wondering what I'm up to! That is Miss Marilyn Merlot on the left, and Miss Brigitte Bordeaux on the right.

Works in Progress

by Leslie Brier, Mixed Media Artist

Since I got my studio cleaned up, I've been getting into all kinds of new projects. I signed up for Elizabeth Woodford's Beaded Cuff Bracelet Class at FCCA (Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts). I spent a fun afternoon last Sunday sorting through my bead boxes and boxes of smalls to assemble a litte grouping of items I wanted to use for my bracelet. They were so pretty that I decided to photograph them. They might end up as the back of my new business cards.

I put them on the floor in front of the sliding glass door to take the photos. Miss Bordeaux was very puzzled.

 On Tuesday, I took the first part of the class. This is how far I'd gotten by the end of the class.

And this is Bordeaux, wondering why I am taking pictures when I could be playing with her.

I started this piece to hang in my living room. This is the first time I've made a piece specifically to go in my house.

This is how it loos now that I've added the background in. It's kind of in an ugly duckling phase at the moment. I'm going to go in and lighten it up. I'm not thrilled with the way the colors are working with each other. Most of my pieces go through a phase like this, so I've learned not to get too concerned about it.

I like the way this particular section is working, but it is a little too bright. I'm debating about whether to go over it with watered down paint or watered down gesso. I'm also trying to decide what color the 3-D birds will be. There an awful plastic faux woodgrain at the moment. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Inspired Ideas!

By Leslie Brier, Brier Design

It's here, it's here! The latest issue of Amy Powers' Inspired Ideas magazine. This magazine is a mixture of artful ideas and eye candy that you have to see to believe.

I was so excited when Amy invited me to share a project with her readers.  My article, Shake It Up appears on page 122 of this issue. It describes how to make salt shaker pendants like the one shown  above.  Would you like to see a preview of the magazine?

You can click the link above to enjoy a 12-page peek, courtesy of Amy.

Sylvan's work is in this issue, too. Our bracelets are part of an artists' collaboration project - Off the Cuff. Each artist made a bracelet from the repurposed cuff of a dress shirt. I love classes and collaborations. It's always so interesting to me to see how each artist starts with the same basic materials and creates something that is uniquely their own.

Reality Check

We've had a lot of ice here resulting in lots of snow days. Which gave plenty of time to work on cleaning and organizing my studio. I was shocked at how much time it took to get it back on track. I spent more than forty hours to get the studio to the place I wanted it to be.  Ultimately, I'm glad it took that long, because it gave me a lot of time to think.

I spent the first few days feeling frustrated that my space was too small for all of the projects that I wanted to do. Now, I feel grateful for the space that I do have.

I was overwhelmed becaue I had so many projects that I wanted to get to. Now, I am feeling more focused.

The picture above shows how many bins of stuff I was able to donate, share with art friends, or rehome in my studio. That's a lot of stuff. Nobody needs that much stuff! I am concentrating on feeling grateful for the time, and space and ability that I have. And I can't thank the Amazing Alice enough.  She is the best organizer and most encouraging cheerleader ever! I'll post pictures of my "new" space next week.

One of the first projects that I worked on was new jewelry for the emporium at LibertyTown. This bracelet reminds me of the saying "as the crow flies". Okay, they're swallows, but you know what I mean.

These copper earrings are now at LibertyTown, too. I've been in a very birdy mood lately.

I also got a chance to do another pouring of Susan Lenart Kazmer's Ice Resin between bouts of tossing and sorting. The more I use this product, the more I like it. I have big plans. And now, I'll even have some elbow room when I'm putting pieces together. It doesn't get any better than that.

I am so ready to get back into the studio and make some art! The  Amazing Alice is coming this week to help me get  my studio organized. Again.

I did it on my own last year, but I didn't keep up with it. I guess I enjoy having a certain amount of disarray around me when I work. It feels like I'm actually doing something. Of course, when I spend twenty minutes searching for sa tool that should be right at hand, I get really frustrated. Hopefully the Amazing Alice will be able to help me balance my two sides.

In the meantime, I have been playing around with some Photoshop filters and doing a little junkin'.The results of both are in the photo above. (That's the poster edges filter. I love the texture that it adds.)

I fell in love with this piece when I saw it. It's a Victorian-era sweetheart pin. A coin was smoothed out on one side, and engraved with the name "Annie". There are two little holes at the bottom of the coin. I'm thinking of draping a chain between the two holes. The pin back isn't functional, so I'll probably add a top hole and incorporate it into a necklace at some point.

In the meantime, I'll daydream about Annie, and how thrilled she must have been to recieve such a beautiful gift.

I'm very excited to use these. They are number stamps in a really old wooden box. Each number is about 1/2" tall. I've never seen them this large before. I'm tempted to use the stamps themselves in a piece. I think they're just gorgeous.

Here is a closeup of some of the other bits that I found. These little things make me so happy!

Warning: creepy baby alert! Scroll no further if you don't want to see a closeup of my new baby.

Oh, I'm glad you decided to look at her. She's very sweet, really. She doesn't have the scary little teeth that some of the babies have. I use most of my composition dolls in my art pieces, but this little doll was a birthday gift, and so she isn't in danger of being put in precarious positions, like most of my other compo babies. Take a look at the Bates numbering machine next to her, too. My heart skipped a beat when I found this thing.
I'm already wondering where the homes should be for these objects, so I'll be able to find them when I'm ready for them. Hopefully the Amazing Alice has some of the answers!

It's a Spring Thing

 I am still in "glitter mode" but I've shifted seasons. When I put away my Christmas art supplies, I decided to take a peek into the "spring" bin. I found a project that I started last year, but never had time to finish. I made paper clay forms using chocolate candy molds. This is fairly easy to do. Just be sure to dust the mold with some cornstarch to make removal of the form easier.

I used tiny little tacks and brads for the eyes and noses on my figures. Then, I painted them with Claudine Hellmuth's paints diluted with water. After that dried, I added a coating of clear irisdescent glitter. Aren't they sweet? I am going to work on some Valentine-themed ones as soon a I get a chance. Also, it keeps my mind off of the snow falling outside. Spring is coming!

Glitter is Forever!

There are two materials that I love the use at Christmas time -- felt and glitter. Felt is one of the first materials that I remember using as a child. My mom and I would make felt christmas ornaments and tiny little dolls. You could glue or sew right onto the felt and it wouldn't fray. It has to be the most child-friendly art supply out there. I was allowed to cut and glue to my heart's content.

Glitter was another story. Glitter made everything sparkly and really, really, Christmas-y. Glitter made crusty, crunchy little piles of shiny goodness on top of an ordinary drop of Elmer's white glue. Glitter looked the way your tummy felt on Christmas Eve.

But glitter made a mess. Mom would say: "Be very careful!" "Don't use too much!" "You're getting it everywhere!" And she was right. Glitter would sift down into the cracks of our parquet floors, waiting to be discovered months later bathed in a summer sunbeam. Glitter was magical, but glitter was forever.

I still love to get out glitter at christmastime, and I was thrilled to find this wreath project at http://www.mosaictipsandtricks.blogspot.com/. Enchanted Rose Studio has a great tutorial that shows exactly how to make the wreath. My daughter and I made it together, and we had a great time doing it.

I only changed two thing from the Enchanted Rose directions. I used a slightly smaller paper circle, and I put a drop of hot glue right in the place where I pinched the circle together. I also went back in with tiny straight pins, and pinned the circles to the wreath after they were glued. I knew this was going to be mailed to Ohio, and I wasn't sure how the hot glue would hold up to the cold temperatures. (You can double-click the second photo to get a better view.)

We mailed the wreath last week. And guess what? We are still finding tiny bits of sparkly glitter all over the place. Glitter is still magical for me, but glitter is forever!