Keys to the City and New Robot Assemblages

Scarlett Pons and I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop to a group of travel writers who were visiting Fredericksburg. The students made a "key to the city" with me, and a pottery box with Scarlett.

 Each bezel was collaged and then filled with ICE resin.

 

Here are the finished projects. I think they turned out beautifully!

 

I took a new group of assemblages to the PonShop last week.
Sprocket, the dog, looked a little worried!

 

 

This piece was the first one to sell:

 

These two are still waiting to be adopted:

 This is Sprocket, looking much happier.

Uniquely Spotsylvania

 This piece is part of the Uniquely Spotsylvania show that is currently at the Salem Church Library. It is titled Spotsylvania 22553 -- one of the Spotsylvania zip codes.

I spent a fun day with my daughter shooting photos of some of my favorite weathered and worn places in the area. Then, I printed the photos on the fabric, and incorporated them into the assemblage which also includes zinc stencils, a vintage level and an old spark plug. The quilt remnant is from a quilt that was sewn in 1874.

 

I was delighted that this piece was awarded first place in the mixed media category.

After we left the Uniquely Spotsylvania reception, we went outside to find that Mother Nature was putting on her own art show. I don't think I've ever seen these cloud formations before.

 

   In jewelry land, I have been combining lots of my favorite things: gears, keys, buttons, filigree and ICE resin. This series includes pendants and earrings and is currently available at LibertyTown.

Adventures in ICE Resin

I've been working with ICE Resin a lot lately. I like the idea of creating custom focal pieces for my jewelry.  I colorized the metal in the top piece.

 

Vintage stamps were used for the background of this piece.

I offset the gear in this piece. For some reason, that makes it look like it's in motion to me.

 

The little fawn in this piece is resting on a background of Chinese silk.

To add a little depth, I  poured two layers of resin on this piece. The octopus is in the first layer. The gears are in the second layer.

This camera piece has a snippet of an old tintype in it.  

I'm also working on some pieces with Susan Lenart Kazmer's new bezels that are available through Spellbinders. They're beautiful and affordable, and Spellbinders has cutting dies that match the shapes. It makes cutting the background images so easy!

Newest Robot Assemblages

By Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio.

 

This is Elephant Joke, one of my newest robots. His body is made from a vintage wasp trap.

His eyes reflect how I feel lately. An appliance malfunction flooded part of our house, and the resulting damage was a little overwhelming!

Samovar the owl is made from a Russian tea samovar that is more than 100 years old. He carries a rusy pistol adorned with rabbit bones.

 This is The Jacobean. He's a very proper fellow. Possibly a distant cousin of C3P0.

 

 Hygenica is a little old-fashioned. She  never goes out without her Franco-American Standard Complexion Powder, and a nice red lipstick. She was purchased from the PonShop (www.ponshopstudio.com) by actress Sally Struthers.

Flash has also gone to a new home via the PonShop as well. When I drilled into the magicubes that make up Flash's legs, the flash actually went off!

Little Things from the Big Flea

This past weekend was the Big Flea at the Fredericksburg Expo Center. Friends Suzanne and Janet and I got there right when it opened and worked our way through the entire show.
I noticed a few trends. Linens are huge - vintage printed table cloths, hand crocheted doilies and embroidered anything are all the rage. Luckily, I have a nice stash at home because the prices were, well, pricey.

Ceramic dog figurines are also hot, as well as vintage books. I didn't see a lot of furniture moving out. Maybe we got there too early, or maybe people are shifting toward smalls. I know I am.

This was my haul from Saturday.

The piece in the back is a cup holder made of an old spool and spoon handles. I think I'll use it to display bracelets. I made a classic rookie mistake, though. Always buy heavy things at the end of the day so you don't have to haul them through the entire show.

I couldn't resist this sweet little bride and groom, or the cute little boy in the aviator suit. Buttons are another one of my weaknesses, but I was very frugal. I managed to get a nice handful of them for just $3.

Paper Mosaic Necklaces in GreenCraft Magazine

by Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio

 

The February 2013 Issue of GreenCraft Magazine will be in stores February 1. My paper mosaic necklaces are one of the projects featured  (page 64).

The project features recycled milk caps, lace, and magazine pages.

The paisley piece, below, is the first one that I did. I wanted to create the look of a vintage micro-mosaic piece. I have a small collection of micromosaic pins, but I don't often wear pins, so I was looking for a modern alternative.

In other news, the office cleanup and organization continues. I'm very happy with the progress I've made so far, but I want to get it finished, so I can go back to spending time creating!

Getting real in the new year.

I resolved in 2013 to get my housework, calendar, paperwork and antique booth back on track before going back to full-time creating. I am sticking with my resolution, but have discovered that everything takes about three times longer than I think it does. Or maybe it just feels that way!

th; text-align: center;"> I moved into a shiny new booth of my own. I was sharing the last space and we all had found so many wonderful treasures, that we just didn't have enough room for everything. I still have a lot more to price and bring in, including large pieces, but I'm very happy with the process. My parents and husband have been a big help every step of the way.

Because I've been so busy "being good" I am more excited than ever to teach some classes!

Kids can join me on Sunday Januray 13 and January 20 at the PonShop to make Recycled Robots.

Shown are some examples from the class that I taught this summer.

On Thursday, January17 I'll be teaching a resin class at Artistic Artifacts Annex in Alexandria, Virginia. We'll be repurposing costume jewelry into beautiful resin pendants. This class is a wonderful opportunity to turn an unwearable piece of jewelry into  a new, wearable piece.

Thr little bug on this piece was a broken pin. Now it is a new, wearable necklace.

I'll be posting more about classes soon. I hope you can join me!