marker rendering

best birthday present ever!!

thanks to my friend carmi

back in January at the CHA convention

carmi introduced our friend Jennifer and I

to the crafter companion booth featuring

spectrum markers 

we sat and played for a while

( it reminded me of a course I took at george brown college some 30 years ago)

it got me thinking, i really enjoyed the class so i went digging through my old

portfolio and found my art and some old design markers)

 

 

with 168 colors to choose from it will be fun

to try my hand again

 

tropical punch

back in January at the CHA mega show i was excited to see the launch of a new product

from John Bead and Dazzle-it called TROPICAL PUNCH

finally I got a chance to work with the product

creative director Fernando DaSilva  asked my friend Carmi and I to create

a few pieces for the  Catwalk Show at the Craft Hobby & Stitch International in Birmingham-UK

I worked on a pendant incorporating soutache cord with some of the tropical punch components

and once that was finished I just  had to create the matching earings

 

 



Carmi worked on these fantastic flowers

(see how on her blog)

and together we worked on design, assembling and a few extra accessories

what a fun collaboration

see the fashion show details here 

decorative trim necklace

most of the time it starts with one item

this time it was some beautiful black and gold trim that I received as a sample

at the CHA show in January

I met Larry and Lorine at the Decorative Trimmings booth

and was asked to pick something
 

 

the first thing I do is get a basket, I add the item and

whenever I come across something I think might work well with it

I add it to the basket, eventually something sparks and inspires me to start the project

I've had this beautiful sequin and beaded applique from John Bead and was excited

to finally get to make something with it

together they look stunning

 

wooden beads and a little rit dye

 while wondering the CHA floor in January

i came across the Rit Studio booth

they where dying wooden bead

wow! why didn't i think of that?!

i picked 2 colors and a variety of sizes

and last week i finally got a chance to

create some fun necklaces

my friend carmi gave me some wax cotton cord by dazzle-it

which worked great for stringing the beads and as always lead me to thinking

what other ways can i use this cord?

so out came the clip board and using a basic square knot i created my first strand

it has been a long time since i worked on a macramé project and really enjoyed it

the second strand i repeated the the half square knot to get the spiral effect

and finally , after some inspiration from pinterest i found this double knot

 

 

 i can't wait to work on some more projects

back from the CHA show in Anaheim

 what a whirlwind!!

it was an amazing time at the craft and hobby show in California

 (more than 3,000 buyers and 400 exhibitors from 55 plus countries 

 for 5 days of education, networking and trade)

it was a mix of business, demoing soutache at the John Bead booth

and pleasure, taking classes and seminars plus meeting tons of people

 a visit from wendy russell and carmi cimicata

above my demo table and

below a sneak peek at some of the elements from

my showcase necklace

using dazzle-it soutache cord , metal complex fish leather

and a mix of new and vintage beads

all supplied by John Bead

i'm still trying to process it all

as soon as i can i will post more on the show and my necklace

this is the swag bag the delegates attending the CHA Canada Chapter meeting received

a special thank you to

CHA Canada Chapter Members Who Contributed

Amazenwords

BeadFX

Brother International Corporation (Canada)

Coats and Clark

Easy Peasy Patchs

H.A.Kidd

John Bead Corp

Eucalan

Northcott Fabrics

Westcott & C-Thru brands | Acme United Limited

Westminster Fabric

Designer Members:

Carmi Cimicata

Emma Ivemey

    Elizabeth Weait Glenday

extra thanks to Northcott for the fabric bag used to haul all the goodies home!

soutache tie, cuff and earings set

ive been busy getting ready for the CHA convention

one of my projects was this set of soutache

it started with the necklace, which turned into a tie

which lead to buying a men's white shirt

( perry ellis , on sale for $20)

which gave me the idea for the cuffs

( i substituted beads for the buttons)

  and the earing's just finished it off

although the earing's matched they seemed a bit formal for me

so I worked on a few alternatives (below)

pebeo paints with debbie cotton

a few weeks ago at the CHA retreat

one of our classes was with decorative paint artist

debbie cotton

an introduction to pebeo paints

 

debbie was wonderful to prepare our canvases with a butterfly design using "lead" paint

using three different types of paint vitrail, prisme and moon we were encouraged to

play with different combinations to see the reactions to each other

it took a few minutes but worth the wait

some took on a stained glass effect while others a marbled look

i loved the way everyone got such unique looks using the same supplies

 

class samples

CHA retreat part 2

i managed to arrive at kempenfelt  really early

i had a ton of unloading to do!

(I still don't know how i got all my supplies packed in my little bug)

with help from ava we got everything moved in and

 had a little time visiting and making some jewelry

--------------

after my demo everyone got right to work

the smiles told me that it was going great!

I love creating "wax addicts"

thanks again to purple cows for the wonderful supply kits

it made it so easy for the students to create their art

and will be able to continue melting wax at home

and special thanks to madame pickwick for suppling all the canvases



 

just a few of my students showing off their creations!!

more student samples

I love how everyone put their own spin on it!!

CHA retreat

all packed and ready to go!

tomorrow  i am heading to barrie for our second annual CHA retreat

i will be teaching an encaustic class

a special thanks to my sponsor

purple cows

each student will receive a melt craft iron and 10 cubes of wax

and madame pickwick  for supplying each student with a canvas

how many art supplies can you fit in a bug??

25 irons, 250 cubes of wax, 25 canvases , 25 frames

pamphlet's, instruction booklets and collage kits

3 hot plates, 3 larger irons, 2 heat tools

table cloths, wax paper, extension cords and power bars

tons of samples, artwork and demo work

tool kit and extra supplies (just incase)

everything except the kitchen sink

plus my clothes and camera

and i still have room to spare!!

after playing with my own kit from purple cows

 it reminded me of my first experience with wax

back in 2003 i took a class with Claudine Hellmuth

since then ive grown and evolved

and this weekend i hope to inspire everyone 

and maybe create a few wax addicts!!

i will post class samples in my next post

kumihimo and wire necklace

today I taught a class with my friend carmi

to a group of CHA members at john bead

first carmi showed us how to make the basic kumihimo braid

(4-6 inches of braid works great 

 and even the beginners got theirs made in less than an hour)

for the pendant I used 12 gauge aluminum wire  to make the heart

and 18 gauge to decorate

aluminum wire is easy to bend and is great to practice with before

moving on to more expensive wire

for more inspirations click here