Mr. Big Stuff

 

There is always a little part of me that wants to try to take the tiny things that I normally make and make them BIGGER!  Even 8 inches tall, rather than 4 or 5 inches tall would make the creations the giants of the studio.  A few years ago, I pulled off a set of bigger figures.  I don't think I have ever shared this before and the reason that it is coming up is because I am revisiting the idea currently.  I made a series of children playing.  They are made to be hung on a wall.  They are about 16 inches tall (GIANTS!)   I absolutely love them and have kept them in order to someday get them displayed properly in my home.   My apologies for the terrible pics.  They are in storage now and so I am just using the hastily taken pics from when they were made. 

 

 Last year I made the Woodland Santa figure (about 8 inches tall.) I sold them wholesale but they were an incredible amount of work for batch work so I am no longer carrying them in my holiday line but I like the idea of one of a kind creations that I can fuss and fiddle and put in lots of details and sell in my Etsy shop or at the Country Market. Right now I am working on a little witch that will (hopefully) be riding a broom. It is my hope that I can figure out how to display her so that she hangs and looks like she is zooming around on her broom. We shall see. No pics of that yet as she is just a nudey wire body and a big funny looking bald head!

Heavy Metals

This past weekend, I did something that I have wanted to do for years and years!  I took a class at Touchstone Center for Craft in Farmington PA.  If you have never been, please check out their website.  It is really incredible.  I don't even know where to begin!  The facility itself is really like a summer camp for creative folks - in the woods, cabin-like studio with tiny sleeping cabins.  Really beautiful and I can't wait to go back!  The class that I took was entitled "Imagery in Jewelry"  Totally out of my comfort zone!  (Hence the hilarious and totally TRUE map that a friend sent me.)

We learned etching, decals on enamel, using epoxy and various other ways to finish and add color to metals.  For someone who LOVES metalwork and jewelry but no absolutely NOTHING about making or working with metal.  I was in heaven.  I was so jazzed (like over the top jazzed) to be learning how to cut and drill and manipulate materials that are very very different than the ones that I just everyday (felt, thread to be exact!)  Now I just have to take photos of what I made to show and tell here.

Now I just have to figure out what course I want to take next!!!!