Sweet Bead Studio — Handcrafted jewelry by Cindy Wimmer

ArtBLISS 2011

by Cindy on September 30, 2011

ArtBLISS 2011…. it came and went in a flash. After months of planning, Jeanette and I were so excited when the big weekend arrived – and that is where I left off here on my blog. This picture was snapped while I packed the car to head to the venue – on the brink of such a memorable weekend.

If you’ve ever attended a retreat, you know the amazing feeling of excitement….. reuniting with friends, meeting online friends in person for the first time, and the anticipation of learning new techniques from rock stars of the art jewelry world. And boy was there ever a fantastic line-up of instructors this year at ArtBLISS. We were so thankful that they traveled all the way to VA from NM, TX, NY, CT and VT!

In this shot, you’ll some of the ladies that attended the Inaugural Event last year – (along with me ‘n Jeanette) Carol, Betty, Laura, and Sally. It is really great to have a history and share stories with attendees that have returned this year for Round 2!

You know I love taking pictures, and surprisingly I only took around 150. I think I was too busy enjoying the presence of greatness. I’ve grouped some pictures in to collages in an effort to pack as many in to this post as I could. You’ll see scenes of laughing and learning, right along with our fabulous instructors: Robert Dancik, Deryn Mentock, Jane Salley, Richard Salley, Kerry Bogert, Diane Cook, and Christine Damm.

Robert Dancik taught amazing projects working with Faux Bone…

We were thrilled that Deryn Mentock returned this year and taught a great variety of techniques – from encaustics to forging metal. One of her projects utilized a “secret” ingredient that was the talk of the weekend! 🙂

Our tradition: a Friday night Meet and Greet reception for the instructors. There’s nothing like shopping, chatting, nibbling on appetizers and enjoying good company!

This year we added something fun for our crafty retreat attendees – an Altered ID Badge challenge! Congrats to the winner, Dawn Gallop, who joined us for the second year in a row. Dawn has an article coming out in Somerset Memories….look for it on the newstands any day now!

Oh what fun to work with metal under Jane Salley’s instruction….

Students enjoyed learning from Richard Salley, with his sought-after classes. Richard’s new Lasting Impressions class left an impression on us all – everyone was excited to share their personal etched stamps created in class.

It was so good to see Kerry again….she roomed with me ‘n Jeanette and we all stayed up late and chatted like it was one big slumber party. Kerry was up early with excitement though, ready to teach her brand-spanking new jewelry photography course, Snaptastic. We were honored that she debuted her course here at ArtBLISS! Watch for her eCourse coming very soon.

The charm swap is another fun tradition at ArtBLISS (see last year’s charms here). Trades and swaps seem to be a real retreat thing, and we we were happy to see the interest in swapping again. Anne Savage was an amazing hostess and organized the swap – right down to lunch together on Saturday. Jen was so generous and did a demo for all of us – brought all of the supplies, pretty papers, cutters, and all. We learned how to make our own paper boxes. It was a nice scene – a big bunch gathered around the table sharing techniques and learning a quick project over pizza.

Here’s a sampling of the charms that were swapped. Sue Kennedy did a nice post listing each charm and its creator – you can see it here.

Now speaking of swapping with friends, I brought along a few aprons for a few of my closest friends. I really don’t sew, so I asked my friend Julie Anne (look for her blog coming soon!) a really big favor! Then I added a little something to each and now they’re ready to be altered. I thought it would be fun if each of us worked on our own altered art aprons.

Hailing all the way from Texas, Diane Cook was a real joy to welcome to ArtBLISS this year. It was extra special for me as I finally had the chance to meet my dear friend in person, after meeting online 2 1/2 years ago. And I had to take one of her classes.

What a feeling of fulfillment (especially after dealing with my testy soldering iron – yes, I was the “problem” child in this class!) to create my own soldered pendant. Creating the collage first was so fun…and was a different experience than working with resin as there was no special precautions with the paper. Just make your collage (stamp, draw, paint, glue…) and place it between glass. That was the easy party…then came the solder. 😉 I finished a few charms that I’m quite pleased with!

Another dear friend came to teach – Christine Damm, Belle Armoire Jewelry’s current featured artist. Christine brought with her an enormous amount of enthusiasm and wisdom in working with polymer clay. I loved to see her excitement when the timer on the oven went off and she opened the oven door…. She truly radiates her love of her medium.

The weekend came and went too fast. But the memories are there in my mind and I’ll cherish them. I hope to see YOU at next year’s event; please consider joining us….. plans are already underway!

Visit the ArtBLISS Flickr pool to see more pictures from the 2011 event!

-Cindy

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Today…..

by Cindy on September 20, 2011

 Please visit my Bead Soup Blog Party post here.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say thank you to all who have stopped by my Bead Soup Blog Party post (click on image above)…your comments sure made my day. I’m still traveling around to the many blogs and will be for some time. I’ll be having to take a little break from hopping though through the weekend as life has picked up speed like a bullet train this week! So I have just a few words for you…

TODAY…. I picked the winner of my BSBP earrings. The winner is Erin of Elysian Studios! Be sure to visit her beautiful blog – it is really one-of -a-kind! 🙂 It is one of the many new blogs I have found thanks to the blog party!

TODAY…. was my Dad’s birthday. We just finished celebrating McGinnis/Wimmer style with cake and ice cream. It’s wonderful now that my 10 year old son likes to bake many of the cakes…today he baked a Hot Milk Cake like my Grandmother used to make. It was as good as it sounds! 🙂 Here are a few celebrations pictures from various years…..

TODAY…was the last day to register online for this weekend’s ArtBLISS retreat! You can still register onsite for classes with remaining spaces. Jeanette and I have been busy, busy, busy preparing and we’re looking forward to seeing many of you in just a few days.

I will be away from my computer for most of the remaining week and weekend, just checking in here and there.

Thank you for your visit today!

-Cindy

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Bead Soup Blog Party time!

by Cindy on September 17, 2011

Thank you for stopping by the sweet bead studio corner of the great big Bead Soup Blog Party. The blog party is hosted by my friend Lori Anderson, and this is my 3rd time participating in this international event. Lori has created a blog hop (and it’s much more than a blog hop) that so many of us look forward to; it is quite the event of the jewelry community. Thank you Lori, and a great big {hug} going out to you!!

Oh boy was I lucky. My bead soup partner was Riki Schumacher of Riki Jewelry. It happens that I’ve been an online friend of Riki’s for some time, not to mention I absolutely love her style. Riki is such an inspirational instructor – she recently launched a new site for the jewelry community, and plans to share information, techniques, and tutorials! You can also take classes with her in-person (if you’re lucky to live close enough), or take one of her mini online courses – she is very generous with information.

Riki sent me a fabulous array of vintage treasures. The color scheme is incredibly rich – with a mix of bronze and pearly tones. Just look at the focal she created for me! Riki soldered rhinestones to a pendant that she forged and antiqued. Another focal was created from a vintage watch – she shared this technique in a previous issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry. Pearls, an assortment of vintage charms, and luscious silk ribbon were also included in her bead soup mix.

I was immediately drawn to the tiny, old photographs. Who were these people and what kind of lives did they lead? My mind began to wander to different scenarios – from a hundred years ago. Riki sent these pictures to the right person. I take in old photographs and give them their due respect – one day I’ll share my antique photo album collection. Now back to my soup mix – another favorite piece is the gold link (and it’s a mystery as to how it was used, it does not open like a locket). What’s so special about this piece is the script monogram – “LEW”. I created a story in my mind, of how the man in the photograph gave this to the woman with the rosy cheeks as a special token of his endearment. Maybe it was an engagement gift. I know this monogrammed piece must have been special to someone, somewhere, many years ago. It is now in my possession and I do cherish it already.

It’s plain to see that I received a bead soup mix that is completely the type of beads and components I would have selected for myself. If you’re asking, “where’s the challenge then?”, there were still challenges. I did encounter challenges as I connected the components of this cuff-like bracelet. I annealed three of the metal connectors and filigree and shaped them on my bracelet mandrel so they’d have a nice curve. I got creative with cold connections. An antique rhinestone pin is wire wrapped to a Bethlehem Steel tag. The monogrammed focal is attached to the old, ornate stamping with sari ribbon. Fray Check is my friend when it comes to sari ribbon. I added vintage rhinestone and mother of pearl buttons to the beautiful mix of beads that I received from Riki.

I debated with whether or not to embellish the soldered rhinestone focal that Riki hand-forged. It was so beautiful on its own. Should I punch a hole and hang a dangle from the bottom? While looking through my vintage buttons, I came across an old “W” button I had been saving. Oh how perfect. Not only was this one of the initials in the monogrammed focal, but it is the initial of my last name (and if it looks like an M to you, that covers my maiden name too!). The “W” button was a perfect match!

I had a clever little idea for the necklace. I added seed bead and brass chain to a old rhinestone necklace, and did not attach it to the main necklace. I created the look of a double-strand necklace, but with the option of wearing one without the other.

I have a surprise for you….a little thank you for making it this far in my lengthy bead soup post (because there are over 300 other blogs you’ll want to visit!). I’ll be giving away this sweet pair of earrings to one visitor. I’ll draw a name next Tuesday, Sept. 2oth.

Enjoy the rest of the Bead Soup Blog Party & thank you for stopping by! 🙂 You’ll find the complete list of participants when you click on the link below.

-Cindy