Keyhole Necklace

 

      It has been a while since I have posted anything on my blog.  It has been a rough year but is close to ending and has not turned out so bad after all.  Kevin (spouse) is doing really well and has made it past his three surgeries for prostate cancer.  I am also finally feeling like I am going to have a good recovery from my spinal surgery that I had earlier this year.  I think sometimes life forces you to slow down and take a look at what is really important and what really matters.  I am in the process of simplifying my life. I think if I get rid of at least half of what I own then I will not have as much to clean and take care of.  I have been busy sending stuff to goodwill and giving things away.
     I made these little keyhole necklaces earlier in the year and have parted with a few of them.  I gave some to friends.  I am in the process of working on some new ideas and will try and post some before the new year.  I have a few days off and am looking forward to spending time with family.

Handmade Leather Journals

I received these cute little presents in the mail today.  I love the packaging, with handmade paper tags they are just adorable.  I did not want to open them until I took some pictures.  See the next picture for some of the most adorable little leather journals I have ever seen.  The artist is on Etsy and I met her earlier this summer at the Cache Valley Gardeners market here in Utah,  You can find her shop at www.etsy.com/shop/enbe.

I love the handmade papers.  They are all so different and beautiful.  It is hard to want to use them because they are so special.  I ordered one earlier this year and gave it to a dear friend.  I am going to keep one and give two away for presents.  I just can't decide which one I want, maybe I will have to keep them all.

Soldered Jewelry Class

 

I am looking forward to teaching classes on how to make soldered jewelry. The focus will be on creating square, round, and oval bezels for use in jewelry.  We will also be learning how to use resin  I will be teaching two classes on Saturday, October 9th &16th at Hobby Lobby in Layton from 9am-4pm.  I will be sending out an email to everyone who signed up, please register early as there is not going to be much space.   Just send me an email or call me to sign up (801) 560-1365.  Leave a message if you cannot get a hold of me and I will call you back.  I will not have access to the intranet for about a week so be patient and I will contact you.  To register please indicate your name, phone number, email address and  the date you want to take the class and  send your check for $75.00 to:

Denise Petersen

P.O Box 562

Bountiful, UT 84010

I look forward to meeting everyone for this fun event.

It has been a while since my last post.  I have been so busy mostly having fun.  I went to Los Gatos, CA for an art retreat called An Artful Journey.  I stayed with a really good friend, Carol and her sister Nancy.  We had such wonderful food since Carol is a really good cook.  I am still waiting for those cookie recipes (hint, hint).   We all took a class with Stephanie Lee who taught us some really fun jewelry techniques.  It was one of the best classes I have ever taken.  

 

This is the retreat center in Los Gatos, CA it is about 30 minutes from San Hose

 Carol, Nancy, and me hanging out at half Moon Bay.  We saw some really good looking surfers. I am sorry I did not have a picture of Richard who was such a good sport.

Carol and Nancy hanging out with Stephanie Lee

  

Three soldered boxes that we made in class

Nancy's box is so pretty and I love the ribbons

 

This is Carol's necklace. I love the design and religious symbolism

Tree Necklace

My 19 year old son had the idea to make a tree piece yesterday.  After I drew the tree he cut it out with a jewelers saw and punched all the little tree leaves by hand and the grass at the bottom.  He then drilled holes in the two pieces.  He gave me the cutout and I decided it was so cute that I wanted to make another piece with it.  I decided to solder it onto a piece of copper and then put a patina on it. I then had him cut out some vintage sterling tubing I took off an old necklace.  I wired wrapped the tubing with sterling for the top of both pieces.  It was really fun collaborating on a project together.  The only problem is I love these so much it will be hard to part with them.  This week is going to be busy as I will be going to Park City on Wed at the Canyons for the market from 12-6, and then the Ogden market opens on Sat from 8-3.  I will be at both places, so you can come and see our the jewelry.

Seahorse Dreams Necklace

The seahorse dreams necklace is in the July 2010 issue of Belle Armoire Artistic Clothing and Accessories.  The picture is more gray then the actual necklace which is done in verdigris green patina.  All the little links where made by hand and the resin filled bezel has tiny seashells inside.  The book like cover opens up to reveal vintage papers inside.  The sterling findings are from Bali beads (tiny fish and seashell).  I had lots of fun creating this necklace that reminds me of the days I spent at Agate beach in northern California.  I spent three days there collecting agates that washed up on shore.  I am sure my family had finally thought I had lost it, as I collected these little semiprecious stones.  I guess I looked a little silly as I did not want to leave.  Why should I have to when all of these stones where just ripe for the picking?  I hope to go back there someday, if I can get the family to take me.  Hopefully they don't remember how I acted.  I love to create jewelry and this is one of my favorite pieces.  I am waiting to get it back from the magazine so I can wear it.

Resin Bezels

I have had a busy week in Park city, but had a lot of fun.  The weather has been scary as the winds picked up a blew everything around.  It felt like we would be swept off the mountain again.  Please mother nature can you give us a break?   I met a lot of people from last year who came back to buy my jewelry.  It was really neat to see people from last year and they still wanted to buy my jewelry.  If you have not been to the market they have wonderful artisan bread created by Volker himself who is the market manager.  Homemade jams, goat cheese, metal sculptures, clothing, handmade feed sack aprons, and wonderful food.  The market is at the Canyons ski resort and is on Wed from 12-6pm.  We will be at the 25th street market in Ogden starting on July 10th at 8-1pm.  I hope to see some familiar faces.

These are some of the new listings I put on etsy this past week.  If you are interested in these or any others just click on my etsy shop on the bottom right side of the page.  The weather has been challenging this week with the high winds in Park City that we thought were going to sweep us away.  We left the Park City market early yesterday after a huge wind gust came up and knocked all the displays down and blew the jewelry off the tables. Several people had thier canopies bent or ripped.  I was glad that everyone go out of there in one piece.  I missed a couple of people who were supposed to be back for their custom orders, but will probably see them this Wednesday.  This past Saturday it rained for the Ogden Artist Festival and it was moved indoors at Union Station which turned out to be nice, since we stayed dry.  I would much rather be outside though and enjoying good weather.  Look for me at the Park City market on Wednesday from 12pm to 6pm.  it is held in the parking lot at the Canyons ski resort.  Hopefully the weather holds out.

Ogden Art Festival

 

 It is going to be a busy week with Park City Tomorrow and the Ogden Artist Festival on Saturday.  It is at Union Station courtyard and runs down 25th Street. This is going to be my first art festival so I am excited and a little nervous.  It opens on Saturday at 10-8pm and I am not sure the weather is going to hold up since there is a chance of showers.  It would be really bad to get rained on for my first festival.  There are going to be  lot of great artists, lots of really yummy food, kids craft booths, and two stages for music.  I will be on the courtyard South side in booth #4.  So much to get done and so little time.  I hope you like my new pieces on etsy.   Just scroll down to the bottom right side of the page and click on my etsy shop, if you would like to see them.

Park City Market

We did our first market this year at the Canyon's in Park City, Utah.  The weather was nice and stayed about 65 degrees all day.  It was cloudy and a little windy but we enjoyed seeing everyone.  We were next to some really great artists who make make huge bells out of scrap metal.  I will have to post a picture of there art next week for you guys to see.  It was a slow day as the market just opened for the season but we still had fun.  I wish some magic genie would set up and take down the booth for me because I don't enjoy it.  My daughter is in the first picture and looks so cute, she designed the banner you see in back of the booth and is really talented in graphic design.  I love the colors she used because it really stands out. I will be in Park City every Wed in June and the first week in July and the market is open 12-6pm.

I made this piece last summer while in the beautiful mountains of Sun Valley Idaho, one of my favorite places to camp, hike and hang out by the Salmon river.  I like to enjoy the outdoors and the beauty of nature.   I was watching the water and was thinking about how the salmon swim all the way from the ocean to spawn, and all the dams they have to pass just to get there.  They swim over 1000 miles of water just to lay eggs.  If you go in the late summer and look closely you can see what is called "reds"  or beds where the salmon have burrowed and  laid their eggs.  I love to hike these mountains but have had a hard time this past summer as my health has not been that good.  I am hoping that this summer I will get the opportunity to go back in late August and maybe even catch the Sun Valley Artist Festival which is one of the top festivals in the nation.  Last year I met an artist who was really inspirational and took old found objects to recreate new jewelry.  I felt an immediate bond with her and made a lasting connection.  I shared some of my pieces with her including this bracelet, it would be fun to get together with her and create jewelry.  She is only 4 hours from me, but I have not had time to visit. I had a neck fusion seven weeks ago for a herniated disk and during my recovery found out my husband has prostate cancer.  We had to cancel our June vacation because he is having surgery on Monday.  Someone said there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am waiting till times get brighter or I get to the end of that tunnel as this has been a hard year for my family.  I am doing much better as I progress through PT and am not giving up until I find the light.  I love how Jenny Doh says that "art saves" and I truly believe that.   Making jewelry or creating art takes your mind off the hard times and helps you cope with those difficult times in your life.

Key Necklace

I am so excited about this key necklace, it is one of my favorite pieces made with vintage finds including chandelier crystals, antique connectors and beads.  I wire wrapped the necklace using steel wire and a little key for the clasp.  This key necklace is scheduled to come out in the June issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.  In this issue you will find the directions for making this necklace and the key bracelet that goes with it.  If you want to see a picture of the bracelet go to this link to find the new issue.

http://www.stampington.com/html/ba_jewelry_summer10.html

I have just finished putting some of these little keys on ribbons and will be posting them on my etsy site.  Watch for the new June issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry and you will find some keys designs in that issue and directions on how to make them. I will also have them available in Park City on June 2nd at the Canyons from 12-6pm.  I will be there every Wed in June and the first week of July. Then it is off to Ogden for the opening of the market there on Saturday July 10th. Let me know if you guys like these? or you have any ideas for these little keys.

I decided to post another picture of the butterfly bracelets, so you guys could get a better look. This one has black vintage beads from and old 1950's necklace.  It has wire wrapped  freshwater pearls.  The chain is from another old necklace that I found at an antique store.  Inside the bezel is old text and a cutout of a vintage looking beautiful butterfly. I then poured resin inside the bezel.  I hand make these bezels for use in my jewelry creations.

 

It has been a busy week as I started back to work this past week and started physical therapy and even had the nerve to tell my PT that it should be called physical torture.  I am sure he just thought it was funny since he is always joking about something.  I finally had the time to take some pictures of my finished bracelets.  I made eight of them and this is a sample of six since I could not fit all of them in the same photo.  Let me know what you guys think, I value your opinions and appreciate your honesty. It was fun to come up with a new design but these took a long time to make.  Next, I am planning on doing some with an ocean theme.

I am posting some more of my bezels. I have been busy putting chains and ribbons on all of these bezels.  I have finished about 230 of them and will continue to post picture as I finish them.  I spent 16 hours the last two days making jewelry and still have so much to get done before June 2nd when I will be at the Canyon's in Park City.  It is an outdoor artist and farmers market where you can find all types of handmade items including purses, clothing, and jewelry.  I love the homemade jam, lemonade, and fresh flowers.  I think sometimes I spend more then I am making, but that's okay because I am doing what I love.

These little butterflies are some recent bezels that I made and filled with resin.   I used vintage paper and images.   I am going to use these for bracelets and plan using some thick oval chain and large natural stones for the sides.  I will try and post one as soon as they are finished.  Let me know what you think???

It has been a while since my last post but I have been recovering from surgery.  I am now doing better and am going to try and post more often. I have so much to do to get ready for the market this summer.  I have to fill about 100 bezels with pictures, charms, and resin.  I then need to put all of them on chains or ribbons.  I have some new stuff planned for this year.  I am going to work on some bracelets today and am excited because I have never made resin bracelets before but have had lots of requests last season.  I love keys and this is a picture of one of the necklaces I like to wear and will have all types of key necklaces for sale this year.  I am going to be in Ogden at the 25th street market on Sat 8-1pm starting July 8th and will be in Park City at the Canyons on Wed 12-7pm starting the first week of June. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing some of my customers from last year.  I will post some of the items I have been working on.

Sun Vally Idaho

I took this picture in beautiful Sun Valley Idaho in Sawtooth National Forest,  Last summer we (the family) spent the day hiking up to an old ghost town and gold mine.  After getting up there we were all tired and hungry so we stopped to eat and enjoy the scenery. I noticed that the window in this old building was the frame for the little pine on the other side.  So I took a lot of pictures. I love to go to the mountains and smell the fresh air.  There is something so calming about being out in nature and away from the hustle a bustle of the city.  We go camping here every year and have been hiking these mountains for the last twelve years.  I am hoping I am up to going this year.  I am so ready for summer to be here.  No more snow!!!

I created this design out of a vintage tin canister that was from the 1950's.  I loved the retro feel of the can and all the vibrant colors.  It would go great with a lot of different clothes and look cute with jeans, which is mostly what I wear.  I used vintage blue aurora borealis crystals from a broken necklace and plumbing pipe from the hardware store. The metal is all copper and will take on an aged look after it is worn a few times.  I am taking a poll.  Would you wear this?

I made this fun necklace out of a vintage Arm & Hammer bird card.  This one is from the 1930's when they used to put these little cards into baking soda boxes.  It is fun to imagine what is would have been like back then. I can picture grandma with her apron on and in the kitchen baking.  I can visualize her anticipation in opening a new box of baking soda to see what little treasure she was going to find.  I have about 30 of these little bird cards and they are so beautiful and really colorful.  I have been cleaning out my craft room and bought box type shelves to organize it all.  I have all kinds of fun vintage finds down there that I like to use to make jewelry the only problem is it has overtaken the room.  So I need to find away to organize it all so I can have more work space. If it turns out okay maybe I will post a picture.  I think it is going to take a while to get it all done. I want to hang some pretty lights above my workstation.  I am looking for an idea that will work for the tools, so I can hang them above my workbench.  I want to try and make it look creative.  If you have any ideas please forward them to me.

I received a copy in the mail of the premiere edition of a Jewelry Affaire.  I was looking through the magazine and to my surprise my jewelry was on page 16 &17.  I have not seen these necklaces for over a year and have been asking for them to be returned but no one seemed to know where the necklaces had gone.  I had sent the necklace to Belle Armoire Jewelry back in January of 2009.  I thought that they be missing and I would never see them again.  I tend to get attached to things I make.  It was a wonderful surprise to see them published and to know they have been located.  I am posting another one that I have made that was in my collection.  I have about 500 pieces of handmade jewelry just waiting to take with me to the Ogden market this summer and may do Park City but am not sure I will have time.  I have some other things going on right now and am waiting to see how it all plays out.  I hope my readers enjoy this necklace and please leave your comments.

Recycling Vintage Jewelry

My message today is about recycling.  I like to recycle vintage jewelry and came up with a few of these fun necklaces to share with the readers of my blog.  When I think about keys I wonder where they have been.  My imagination runs wild with pictures in my mind of  a time long ago where these people had much different lives then our own,  How did they dress, what kind of jewelry did they wear, what kind of house did they live in and what their lives where like?

        To me keys are symbolic.  I like to think of how keys open doors in our lives. What do you have to put into the door to get it to open? and what will come from putting in the effort?  What we do now to get the door to open is really important to our future as well as our children's.  How will we be perceived by people in the future and what will our lives represent to others? 

      Will be looked at as the big society of overuse and waste?  This reminds me of  one of my favorite books I used to read to my kids.  The book is called, The Wump World.  In this book people over consume everything around them and throw their garbage everywhere. The world becomes a big dumping ground, and is overtaken by waste and most living things die. Finally someone decides to take responsibility for what is going on around them.  The book has a great message for kids.

My Heart is Ticking

I love this heart necklace and may not be able to give it up.  Sometimes I make a piece and just cannot part with it.  I made this a while back along with about 12 others.  All the hearts turned out differently and one even had a compass.  Talk about finding your heart, it had a compass to help you find the way.  I hope it worked for the person who bought it. 

      I made this piece by cutting out a piece of copper with my jewelers saw and then aging the copper to look old.  I then took E6000 and glued all the pieces on one at a time.  It took about and hour to glue the watch parts onto each piece because trying to get all the parts to fit just right was a difficult process.  My son (Jordan) and I have been making some new pieces that I decided to call Broken Hearted.  He has been busy cutting lines and etching the metal to make the hearts look broken.  Some of the hearts have stiches and have been repaired.  I hope everyone enjoys these new pieces.  Watch for an upcoming post for the hearts.  In the meantime, please post your comments.

What you can do with an old canister

One day this past summer I decided to clean out some kitchen cupboards and then it hit me literally right in the face.  A tin canister fell out and hit my face.  Now this may sound like a stupid story but the can was red and had the cutest rooster designs on it.  I thought to myself, what could I do with this old thing?  I should just throw it out.  But that is not being very green, I could recycle it and use it in a cute piece of jewelry.  Then the light in my head went on, i could find old canisters at the thrift store and recycle them into jewelry.  So that is what I did.  I hate to say it but the obsession thing took over. I now have way to many of these canisters and need to start using them up or making jewelry from them. 
        My son Jordan who is very creative decided that he would make a bracelet out of these canisters and included 44 disks on one bracelet.  It jingled like the belly dancer jewelry and was very popular at the market.  Well it sold really quick so then he had to make another one and it sold too. I am going to have to put him to work to make some more of these.  I will post a picture in an upcoming blog.  For my necklaces I used plumbing pipe from the hardware store and cut it out for the base of these necklaces.  I then soldered a jump ring on top and bottom to hang the pendent and beads from.  I put the pipe through an aging process to make them look old.  Now the question is, how do I use up all these canisters?

Through the Keyhole

I had a lot of fun creating these pieces for my new line.  I will be selling these at the artists market this summer in Ogden, Utah.  The market is called: The Historic 25th Street Market.  I love working with antiques and finding new ways to incorporate found items into jewelry.  I have some new antique soldered  key pieces coming out in the June 2010 issue of Belle Armoire Magazine.  I hope to have some ready to sell this summer.  Lots of people have hobbies but this is not my hobby it is my passion.  Okay, this may sound a little strange or even crazy but I make jewelry because this is what I live to do.  I find inspiration in everything around me and am always looking for the next thing to use in my jewelry. I have a whole notebook full of new ideas. I probably will never have enough time to create all these things, but won't give up trying. It is like an obsession.  I hope you enjoy these and please feel free to leave a comment.

Deryn Mentock

I had so much fun and learned a lot about metal wire in Deryn Mentock's class in Las Vegas.  She taught us so many skills I just hope I can remember them.  She was so great to fill in for Glenny. Thanks for coming and teaching us so many fun and inspiring things.  Deryn has tons of work published in Belle Armoire Jewelry and it was a pleasure to take a class with her as she was so helpful in teaching all of us. She is so cute and wore the best jewelry.  I hope to see you again and take another class from you!!!  In the meantime keep sharing your talent with the readers.

 

I just took a class with Richard Salley at Art and Soul in Las Vegas.  I had so much fun and he is such a wonderful instructor.  He made all of us feel at ease in his class as he joked with us about our grades and giving me an incomplete as I did not have the bottom piece connected to the sides.  This is my project complete with me and grandma inside the locket.  This picture is old as grandma turned 90 this year.  We won't say how old I am, just that I was not the first grandchild.  Grandma will always hold a special place in my heart. She was put in a care center about a month ago and is having trouble adjusting.  It was hard to see her there as she has always been so independent.  My uncles just could not take care of her anymore as she was falling down to much and really hurting herself and the last time ended up in the hospital.  We love you grandma!!! Stay tough as always. You are in out prayers.

Belle Armoire Jewelry

 

I was so excited to see my jewelry published in the March issue.  This was an unexpected surprise.  I just got back from Art and Soul in Las Vegas.  I was thumbing through the magazine and saw a new section called:  "From the Boutique."  as I was looking I just about fell out of my chair when I saw my very own pieces in the magazine.  I was not notified of this but maybe that is the idea to surprise people.  I just love surprises. I am very happy to have this opportunity.  I may be in for another surprise as I wrote a how to article that is supposed to be in the June issue.  Wish me luck.  I will be selling jewelry at the Ogden market this summer on Saturdays and Park City on Wed at the Canyons Resort.  I am looking forward to this new season and meeting lots of new people.

Art and Soul

This is another little treasure from Art and Soul.  I took the class in Las Vegas and cannot wait to take another class from Lisa Kaus.  She is such a wonderful instructor with so much talent and was willing to share her techniques with all of us.  I was disappointed to learn that she will not be teaching again until 2011, but I will be waiting. Honestly this is the best class I have ever taken.  Who would have thought I could actually paint something? Sometimes we surprise ourselves.  I highly recommend this instructor and her art to anyone. You don't have to be a painter to make one of these cute little treasures.  Look for me to post some really great jewelry classes by Richard Salley and Deryn Mentock in an upcoming post.

Lisa Kaus

 

I love this picture of Lisa Kaus teaching at Art and Soul in Las Vegas. She is so talented and helpful with the students and even brought her husband David to help drill holes for the top and the legs of our pieces. He was so great to help us in this class.  I look forward to taking another class from Lisa as she is a great artist and all of us walked away with a cute little painted treasure.  Some of us even did two.  I was so inspired by her work that I had to paint two of these little gems.  I will post the other one on Thursday.

 

I made this in Lisa Kaus Winsome Treasures class at Art and Soul in Las Vegas.  I have to say this was one of the best classes I have ever taken.  Lisa is so talented and I absolutely love her work.  I feel I have left this class with a whole new medium to have fun with and explore.  These little boxes have old antique paper collages such as the little leafs on the front that were done with old german text.  Painted with Golden fluid acyrlics and coated with beeswax.  Topped off with and old doorknob and an old xmax tree find.  I will post a picture of Lisa teaching this class on Wed.

Susan Lenart Kazmer

This is Susan Lenart Kazmer in the enameling class.  She is helping a student drill a couple of holes and giving a demonstration. She is so full of energy.  She is dressed sophisticated as always, who can look this good with a drill in hand? Only Susan. I have learned a lot from Susan over the last four classes I have taken from her and highly recommend taking a class from her.  I don't think enameling is my thing though  because most of what I made did not turn out very good.  We did have some really good students in the class that has some really nice pieces.  I love Susan's book, so if you don't have it, you can find it on the Objects and Elements website.

LAS VEGAS ART AND SOUL

 

Las Vegas was so much fun and here we are at PF Chang's for dinner on Wednesday night. We missed Carol as she was not feeling good. We had Kim's favorite Honey Walnut Shrimp.  It is my favorite to good thing we know how to share. It was a very interesting night as we had the plate dropped on the table which broke.  We had some rude men cut in front of us, is there anyone out there with any manners or etique any more?  We had a really good time and the food was really good.  A thought we might have to stop Ann from beating up one of the other ladies.  She must be really tolerant of others. Out of kindness we won't mention any names but we all know who.

 

I had so much fun in Las Vegas at Art and Soul and met some really wonderful ladies who made the whole trip worthwhile.  We had so much fun and laughed until all hours of the night.  Thank you Ann, Anne, Carol, and Kim for welcoming me into your group, it was such a great experience. It would not have been the same with out you. I came home to find my new issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry and was flipping through the pages when I just about fell out of my chair. I finally had some jewelry pieces published in the March issue. It was nice to be home and see the family and the poor dog whom almost knocked me down with excitement.  You an always count on the k9 for love and attention.  Autumn (K9 extraordinaire)  is getting really old and a hate to leave her for fear it may be the last time I see her.  I hope to spend time with these great ladies at a future art event, you never know it is a small world. In the next few days I will be posting some pictures of the classes I took and some of the art work I made.

     I created this fun necklace for Valentine's Day. It is done in soldered metal and stamped with the words  'Journey', 'find', and 'love'. I used one of my handmade bezels behind the heart to enclose a place for the mini compass.  May your compass guide you this Valentine's Day! :)

The winner for the necklace is Ginny. I want to thank everyone for posting on my blog.  Continue to follow me as I will be having some more contests and giving away free jewelry. 

 

Don't worry be happy. I fun and inspiring 

necklace that reminds me of summer.  I am 

so sick of this cold weather I just had to 

post something bright and warm.

 

I just made these bezels and put in some images and charms. I will 

fill them with resin this week.  If you want to win a free resin necklace 

enter by posting a comment on this blog and give me feedback on 

whichone(s) you like.  The winner will be notified on Friday Feb 5th.

Large Bezels

 

Here I the new bezels I made for my upcoming designs.

These are the largest ones I make and are one inch in diameter.

I just made this new piece of jewelry. Do you

like it? post a comment.