JoAnna Pierotti Classes

I had such a wonderful time this past week at the inaugural west coast art-is-you retreat in Petaluma, CA.  I took two workshops from JoAnna Pierotti.  Her work is so impressive that it sells out within a few minutes after it is listed on etsy.  She is very talented and one of the most creative artists I have ever met.  Her work is inspirational and she is so willling to share it with others.  All of the students did amazing work with the help of JoAnna.   You can find JoAnna's work on her blog which is at: http://mosshill.blogs.com/joannas_journal/   She is also the latest member of susanlenartkazmer design team. Congratulations JoAnna!  I know you will be a great addition to their team of inpirational artists.  Our class had so many wonderful artists that mostly work in jewelry design and are also teachers. Some of the students are: Riki Shumacher at:  http://rikijewelry.blogspot.com/,  Diana Frey at: http://www.dianafrey.blogspot.com/ , and Debby Anderson at: http://romancingthebling.blogspot.com/p/press.html  I was surrounded by so much talent all week and cannot wait to attend this event next year.
 

Dog Designs

I love dogs and this little one is no exception. I had a black Chihuahua when I was a kid so when a saw Buster I was drawn to him. He is so friendly and loves people.  I met him at the SLC artist market last week and he was sporting his own handmade jewelry.  I thought this was a neat idea.  His owner decided that Buster needed to have a name necklace and ordered a custom one from me.  I brought it to the market yesterday and had so much fun measuring his neck and fitting him for his own necklace.   Everyone at the booth was admiring little Buster in his new necklace. His owner says he only weights 4.5 pounds. I never thought that I would ever design an order for doggie jewelry but this was so much fun that I want to create doggie designs.  His owner snapped this cute photo of Buster all decked out in his new design and sent it to me.  I have all kinds of ideas and am looking forward to creating more designs for dogs.

Skeleton Key Bracelets

I have been busy making a few extra pieces to take with me to Art-is-You.  These key bracelets were originally in Belle Armoire Jewelry 2010 spring issue.  There is a how to article in the magazine if you want to make one.  I made 4 bracelets this week but still have to solder the jump rings closed.   My studio is a huge mess and there is about 5 inches of working space. It looks like a tornado hit it and I am not kidding.  I seem to create the biggest messes when I am creating things.  I really get  into what I am making and supplies just seems to land everywhere.  Who has time to clean it up? I just close the door and then next time I go in there I make another mess and it piles up.  When I need to find something, then start cleaning it up, but it never really gets very clean.  There are priorities after all and designing and creating jewelry is a lot more important then cleaning the studio.  I like to tell myself that the problem is the space is to small and if it was bigger then it would be organized.  The truth is if it were bigger than I would have a bigger mess and even more supplies.