Thread & Paper Grand Opening

There is a new store in Salmon Arm, BC called Thread & Paper.  It was formerly known as The Sewing Basket but is now under new ownership and has relocated to a larger building (the old Honda building on the Trans Canada Hwy).  They will still be selling the usual quilt and yarn supplies but have also added a large scrap booking section.

We will be at the store for their grand opening day this Saturday and will be set up in the new classroom area where we will be demonstrating our clay and promoting our "Introduction to Polymer Clay" Beginner workshop coming up in November.  We will also be promoting our buttons and wearable art pieces that are for sale in the store.

If you are in the area, pop in and say hi.  We would love to see you.  For more information you can check their facebook page here.

Here are a few pictures I took when we were there the other day:

Carol, new owner/manager of Thread & Paper

Thread & Paper Store almost ready for their grand opening!

Follow-up on the Jewelry Party

Dave and I had a nice time at The Sewing Basket with the Jewelry Party last Saturday.  It was a different sort of class where we provided a selection of beads and some patterns and each participant made their own bracelet.

It was a lot more relaxed type of class where each person could work at their own pace.  Some enjoyed making their first one so much they decided to make another.  I remembered to take a photo this time (with a few bracelets missing but could at least show off a few of the finished pieces.

 It was a little snowy that day but we had a nice drive home after where the highway follows along the Shuswap Lake.  Even though it was cloudy, the water looked like glass.

Jewel-tone Double-sided Textured Beads

We just finished off a bunch of double-sided texture beads and matching rondelle spacers in some jewel-tone colors for the Jewelry Party this Saturday at the Sewing Basket where everyone will make a memory wire bracelet.

Everyone will get to pick their own beads out in their favorite colors and textures to design their own bracelet.

I noticed that Pearl Ex has come out with some new colors that are suppose to be more bright and vibrant.  I am always looking for new colors and so these should be fun to play with.  You can read more about them here on Wendy's blog who now has them for sale at Shades of Clay.

We work with mica powder pigments quite a bit and in my tutorials, Double-sided Textured Beads, Textured Tubes and More and Make Your Own Rondelle Spacer Beads, I share some tips on working with them.

One thing I do differently now is I have actually mixed some of the colors to create new colors and save them in small jars with the recipe written on in case I need to make more.

Jewelry Party at The Sewing Basket

I am doing a different type of jewelry making class this time at The Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm.  It is a short one hour "make and take" Jewelry Party.  The class is free and you only pay for the materials.  The project is quite simple and not much in tools is required.  For parts that are needed, Dave and I will have enough tools available for use and we will be both on hand to assist with your project.

We will have a variety of our handcrafted art beads to make a stylish and fun to wear memory wire bracelet.  These bracelets are very comfortable and fit any wrist size.  There is no clasp so are easy to put on and take off as they just wrap around the wrist.

The class is in 2 weeks so there is still plenty of time to sign up.  It is a party so the more the merrier! 

Concave Textured Buttons

These are some new buttons with a deep texture and concave shape.  They are quite large (2-1/4") and go great on a quilted or felted bag.  Both the round and the leaf design were created using a texture plate designed by my friend. Helen Breil, called Fandango which is one of my absolute favorites.  Mica and paint pigment powders are then applied to the raw textured clay before baking.

These buttons are our a few of our new styles for fall and are already making their way into many of the stores that sell our work.  We created some in custom colors to go with a new fabric line at The Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm.

More Scarf Jewelry Delivered

With the BC Quilt show over with, I thought I was going to catch a little free time in between preparing for the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts coming up in July but I thought wrong.  I didn't mind really when one of the stores had called to tell us they were in need of more scarf jewelry and we had a few more stores waiting as well.  The scarf jewelry has been keeping us busier than ever which is a good thing.  Don't worry though -- I am still working on that tutorial -- it is just taking a little longer than planned.

So I am happy to announce that there is a nice supply of scarf necklaces now available at A Twist of Yarn in Vernon as well as at The Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm.  To see all of the stores that sell our scarf jewelry you can check them out on our website here.

Overview of Our Time at the BC "Everybody Loves Quilts" Show 2013

The BC "Everybody Loves Quilts" Show went by so quick and we cannot believe it is already over.  It was a great show that was well run and organized and a pleasure to be in.  It was fun to see a lot of familiar faces and meet many new ones.  We were really happy with our booth set-up and was nice to hear so many comments from others how much they liked it.

Since we started selling wholesale, we have been doing less shows but it is so nice to do some every so often  so we can meet face to face with the public and the actual customers that purchase our work from the local stores.  It is the best way to get some honest feedback and see what types of items get ooohed and aaaahed over the most.  To be quite truthful, it gives you a real lift at the end of the day after getting your ego stroked so many times!

So here are some photos and highlights of our past weekend event:

We did our initial booth set-up the day before minus our product.  It made it go much easier the next morning to get everything ready.

Here is an assortment of the wide range of buttons we make with our newer designs featured in the center.

Our jewelry was on the opposite side of the booth featuring our quilt patterns and interchangeable earring system.  We found these shutters and spruced them up with some paint and fabric for a fun display for pendants on cards.

Our shawl pin display showing off the different styles.  I had a table set up next to it (on the right) for demoing but there was so much talking that I really didn't get much claying done.

We had a mannequin display set-up in front on each side.  I show how you can make these using a simple sweater and hanger on a previous blog post (click here).

This is the display on the other side.  We had the posters made up at Staples in their print department and couldn't believe how gorgeous they came out and how affordable they were.

We try to use photos and props whenever possible.  This is a favorite photo of our niece modelling one of our Bargello style necklaces.  She just had a new baby (girl Emma) over the weekend so she was on our minds.

Our scarf jewelry was front and center and of course one of the main attractions.  We had a wide range of styles and colors available and were a big hit.

This is one of our new Crackle Medallion styles with the matching earring beads shown.

  

Jan, the owner of The Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm was there with a large booth as well.  Here she is trying to decide which color of scarf jewelry she would like.

She decided to go with the Bargello style in turquoise and blue.  It is one of my favorites and looks really elegant on her, doesn't it?  The Sewing Basket has some of our scarf jewelry available for sale and will have more of our new styles within the next week or so.

And at a quilt show, there are of course, ... quilts ... more than 300 of them!  This is my friend Sharon with the quilt she created for a button challenge and received an award for (came in first).

She also made this cool bangle using vintage buttons.

What made this quilt show even more interesting is that along with the local quilters guilds, other types of  fibre groups were invited to take part such as The Spinners and Weavers, Embroidery and Needlework Guilds.  This  is my friend Kathy Kinsella.  She was invited to be the featured fibre artist and was given a space to display samples of her work.  

I blogged about Kathy before (here and here) where I shared a bit about her work and how we collaborated with making some buttons for her to use on her gorgeous felted cuffs (shown above).  You can see more of her beautiful art in her Etsy shop.

More Spring Flowers

The earring demo at The Sewing Basket went really well today and I am scheduled to teach another Beginner's Jewelry Making Class in July.

The weather has been nice and warm here lately and we not only have flowers in our garden but they are sprouting up in our studio as well.  These two necklaces are 24" long excluding the 4" chain tassel.  I created these in the Pantone Spring colors of Sodalite Blue and Cockatoo shown here.  The one below is a combo of Tangerine Tango, Cabaret and Solar Power.

Easy Hoop Earring Demo

Tomorrow I will be giving a free demo at The Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm on how to make some easy hoop style earrings.  Here are some of the  designs I created all using my rondelle spacer beads.

Another jewelry making class

I just finished teaching another beginner's jewelry making class at the Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm this morning.   It was a repeat of my last series of classes which were completely filled up and so I was asked to teach it again.

I put together jewelry kits for a different design this time using my tie dye beads in summer type colors.  This necklace is a continuous "chain or rope" style that is about 34" long so there was a lot of wire work  involved.

Here are a couple of the necklaces the students' finished in class: 

The tie dye beads shown above are in the Pantone Spring 2012 colors of Sodalite Blue and Cockatoo.  The beads shown below are in the Pantone Spring 2012 colors of Tangerine Tango, Cabaret and Solar Power.  I show how to make these using my "Mini Mokume" cane in my Clay Color System tutorial.

Give me a hand

I taught part 2 of the beginner jewelry making class at the Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm yesterday.  We had a fun time and all the ladies went home wearing their new bracelet and earrings to match the pendants they made in the first class.

The ladies in the class are eager to learn more so we decided to set up another class (part 3) in March where I will teach them some more jewelry making techniques that they can build on.

Jewelry Making Classes

I'm teaching basic jewelry making at The Sewing Basket in Salmon Arm.  My first class was yesterday filled with 10 excited ladies learning how to hard wire their first necklace.


These are some of the many beads and pendants I created for the class.

At the end of the class, everyone went home with their own finished Necklace in the colors of their choice.

Part 2 of the class is in two weeks where my students will learn how to make earrings and a bracelet to match their necklace.