FREE CINDY LIETZ TUTORIAL VIDEO--Available for a Few Days Only, Starts May 2

Let me start out by saying that I don't receive any benefit for telling you about this.

For the past 18 months I've been following Cindy Lietz's polymer clay blog, which is a goldmine of information.  Cindy is known as the "Polymer Clay Tutor."  Four times each month those of us who are paid members get to view a new polymer clay beading tutorial.  These are extremely high-quality videos--and as long as we continue our memberships, we have unlimited access to those tutorials--for an amazing price of less than $3.50 per month.  Oh, let me not forget the two color recipes that are included with each tutorial!  If you like to work with polymer clay, you're crazy not to become a member.

Recently, Cindy did a tutorial called the "Lietz Teardrop Blend Shift Technique." If you've ever struggled with the Skinner Blend, or just felt that the Skinner Blend is too time-consuming, you've got to see Cindy's video!  It's her own technique and it's brilliant!

Starting on May 2 Cindy is allowing free access to this tutorial. Read about it and access the tutorial here.  Hurry up and view the video because it may only be free for a few days.

ONE MORE THING...be sure to sign up for Cindy's free newsletter at http://www.beadsandbeading.com/ and you'll receive a free color recipe four times a month (these are different from the color recipes that come with the paid membership), along with free access to three polymer clay tutorials.

Don't miss these great free opportunities!

                                                                                                 

ADDED ON JUNE 9, 2011: 

Readers, please note that you can STILL get Cindy's free polymer clay newsletter, even though the "Lietz Teardrop Blend Shift Technique" video is no longer free.

Along with Cindy's free newsletter you get unlimited free access to three tutorials. You also get four free color recipes each month.

MY JEWELRY CLASS SCHEDULE

A few weeks ago I posted that I've been certified as a Bead Cornerä Design Academy Instructor at Michael's.  I'll be teaching classes at the Rutland,VT, Michael's Arts & Crafts store starting on May 10.  Here is my schedule:

• Tuesday, May 10, 6-8 PM:  Fundamentals of Wire Wrapping
• Tuesday, May 17, 6-8 PM:  Fundamentals of Bead Stringing
• Tuesday, May 24, 6-8 PM:  Fundamentals of Crimping Techniques

To see detailed descriptions of these classes, click here.

New Record on Gold Prices

OK, my jewelry-making friends...take a deep breath. 

Gold hit a new record today, so I thought I'd quickly post the latest gold, silver, and copper prices.  As of today, April 18, 2011 those prices are:

• Gold....... $1495.00 per ounce--record high
• Silver...... $43.31 per ounce
• Copper....$4.26 per pound--that's only $ .27 per ounce!

If you recall, I blogged about the prices of these metals back in August of this year. 

Yikes!  Silver has more than doubled in price since August, with an increase of almost $25 since then, and is approaching the record high price of $48 from January of 1980. 

Gold has increased by $299 since August 11, and today's price is an all-time high.

I didn't record the copper price last August, but if you're using copper to make jewelry, it's still a bargain compared to gold and silver.

Of course, if you're a plumber or electrician, both of whom use large amounts of copper, this price is painful because it, too, has increased.

Good thing we don't need to use oil in jewelry-making--but I'm not going to get into that!

My New Job: Jewelry Instructor at Michaels in Rutland, Vermont

Gee, it's been a long time since I've posted a new blog.  I've been working hard to lose weight since early November including lots of exercise, which is taking up quite a bit of my time.  I ski two to three times a week and play tennis three times each week--I hate to do traditional exercise, but playing sports that I love works for me.  I need to find a flat place (I live in the mountains) to roller blade when the snow is finally gone.  I'm also following Weight Watchers, more or less--I've tweaked it so that I'm eating lots of fiber and NO white carbs.  Sort of a combination of Weight Watchers and South Beach.  Thanks, Dr. Goulding for making the suggestion!  So far, I've lost 23 pounds, but I still have more to go.  My goal is to be thin for my 60th birthday this July.  But this is not what I'm writing about today...


I recently received my Bead Cornerä  Design Academy Instructor Certification, and will be teaching Jewelry classes at the Rutland, VT, Michaels store.  Today I'm doing a four-hour demo at the store.  I used to teach One-Stroke Painting there, but Michael's took a break from offfering all classes except for Wilton about 2 years ago.  I've really missed teaching classes there and I'm excited to be back.


On Tuesday, March 22 I'll be holding a Bead Night.  It's an informal setting where people can bring their unfinished projects and work on them at the store.  I'll be there to help them when they need it. 


Once the store receives all of the Instructor supplies, I'll be scheduling regular classes.


UPDATE, JULY 8, 2012: 

• Click here to see my current class schedule.
• Click here for class descriptions.

Choosing Wire for Jewelry Part 2

It's been awhile since I posted Choosing Wire for Jewelry Part 1, where I talked about solid wire.  This post is Choosing Wire for Jewelry Part 2 and is about craft wire.  In the future I'll write Choosing Wire for Jewelry Part 3, which will be about flexible beading wire.

• Solid wire refers to gold, silver, copper, and brass wire.
• Craft wire can be copper, brass, aluminum, and colored copper wire.
• Flexible beading wire, such as Tiger Tail, Beadalon, Soft Flex and others are most often used for bead stringing.

 CRAFT WIRE:  is a type of solid wire which is used for wire-wrapping, jump rings, and coiled wire beads.  It's usually made from a base of copper or aluminum with a colored coating.  The coatings can be silvertone, goldtone, or a variety of other colors.  The coating on most of those wires is a bit more delicate than the plating on gold-plate or silver-plate wire.  Hammering and handling with pliers must be done carefully so that the coating isn't damaged.  The thickness of craft wire is measured by gauge, the same as solid wire. 
  

Typically craft wire does not come in different tempers.  It's usually somewhere between dead-soft and half-hard, but closer to dead-soft.  Of course, the larger the gauge (the smaller the number), the more difficult it becomes to work with the wire because of its thickness.  Craft wire will work harden with bending and hammering.  Be cautious, because too much bending will harden the wire to the point that it becomes brittle and it will break. 
  

A week ago I would have said that craft wire only comes in a round shape, but in this month's beading magazines I've been seeing advertisements for wire that comes in other shapes.  It's a bit hard to research all the wires available because some manufacturers only sell large-quantity wholesale and require registration to access their websites (which I didn't bother with because I can't buy those big quantities).  Here is some manufacturer-based information that I was able to find.  I'm sure that there are other manufacturers of colored craft wire.  These are the ones that I'm most familiar with:

• Beadalon is known for the manufacture of Artistic wire, which is round, copper wire, colored with an enamel coating.  It is dead-soft and comes in 55 colors and 13 different gauges.                                                       http://www.beadalon.com/artisticwire.asp
• Beadalon has a "German-style" silvertone wire, made from copper and brass with an anti-tarnish coating.  This wire comes in four gages, "medium" temper (half-hard), and five shapes.  They categorize this wire for wire-wrapping.  http://www.beadalon.com/germanstyleplatedwire.asp
• Beadalon makes a stainless-steel wire for wire-wrapping that is about half-way between half-hard and full-hard.  It comes in round, half-round, and square.  It's available in 20 through 26 gauge sizes, depending upon the shape.  It is already more difficult to bend than half-hard wire and will work-harden more quickly than other wires.  http://www.beadalon.com/stainlesssteelwire.asp
• BeadSmith manufactures round craft wire.  I found one website that sells 22 gauge in silvertone, goldtone, and copper, as well as 18 gauge in a variety of colors.  Because their website requires registration, I did not find out exactly what they have available.
• BeadSmith is now advertising "pro quality...non-tarnish copper craft wire."  It comes in 18 and 21 gauge and comes in half-round and square shapes.  The four available colors are Silver-plated, Gold Color, Pure Copper, and Vintage Bronze Color. 
• Darice is another manufacturer that makes colored wire, in a variety of colors and gauges, but only comes in a round shape.                        http://www.darice.com/ecom/Products.aspx?ct=CRAFT%20BASICS-CRAFT%20WIRE%20AND%20WIRE%20SHAPES-2013&oid=99
• Parawire manufactures round, permanently-colored copper wire, with a non-tarnish coating.  They have a large selection of colors (I counted 36), which come in various gauges.  It appears that some colors come in 12 gauge through 32 gauge, while others come in limited gauges.                                              http://www.parawire.com/craftstore.html
• Soft Flex Craft Wire is a new product.  It's another permanently-colored copper wire, which comes in 18 through 28 gauge, round, and 23 colors.  Not all colors come in all gauges.                                        http://www.softflexcompany.com/CategoryProductList.jsp?cat=Soft+Flex+Craft+Wire

If you know of any other reliable manufacturers of colored craft wire, let us know.

To see "Choosing Wire for Jewelry Part 1" click here.

© Copyright 2011 Linda's Art Barn. All rights reserved.

SLIDESHOW OF MY WORK

This slideshow is a collection of some of the jewelry I've made.  Included here are:  hand-knotted pearls and lapis lazuli necklaces; chain maille bracelet and earrings; beadwoven bracelets; and a variety of other pieces.

   
JUNE 1, 2012 UPDATE:

It has recently come to my attention that the website providing my slideshow has closed down.  Because of that my slideshow no longer exists. :(

I'm looking for another source for slideshows.  If I'm unable to create a new slide show, I'll be posting my work in still shots in the near future.

September 11 Beaded Tribute

On Friday night, as I watched a 9/11 documentary, I finished my first square-stitch cuff bracelet, a design showing the Manhattan skyline with the Twin Towers still intact. 

I first saw the pattern, by a wonderful designer named Irene Landaw, in the June 2008 issue of Bead & Button magazine.  When I saw the Twin Towers in this pattern, I immediately knew that I had to make it--even though I had no idea at the time what the square stitch was.  Irene told me that she finished stitching her bracelet a month before the Towers came down.  The pattern was so popular that it will be included in a book that Bead & Button is publishing in 2011.  Irene has another pattern being published in the upcoming December/January issue of Beadworks.

In June of 2008 I had just begun to learn about bead weaving and all of the stitches seemed incredibly complicated to me.  Nevertheless, I was determined to learn how to make this bracelet, so I went to a bead shop and asked one of the clerks to help me choose the beads.  For whatever reason, she picked out iridescent beads for me.  If I had been a little more knowledgeable I might have held out for plain beads.  I'm so glad I didn't because I love the shimmering colors that I see in the bracelet now when the light hits it certain ways.

I put the beads and the pattern aside, waiting for a time when I knew how to do the illusive square stitch.  This past June my husband, the dog, and I went to our summer cottage for a long weekend and there was no room in the car for my usual trunk of beading or painting supplies.  But there was room for the Manhattan skyline bracelet supplies.

After two years of bead weaving, I was no longer so intimidated.  I went to the back of the magazine and tried out the generic square stitch instructions.  It was surprisingly easy!  I started the bracelet. 

Three months, about 25 hours of work, and almost 3000 beads later, I've completed the bracelet.  The first photo above is how the bracelet looks when the light is flat.  The second photo shows the shimmering pinks, purples, and blues that appear when the light hits it a certain way.

This bracelet is the most special piece of jewelry that I have ever made. 

God bless the souls who were lost on September 11, 2001 and the people who worked so hard to rescue them.