Oh for the love of a cat. And what we let them get away with! Meet Millie, current mascot at B'sue Boutiques
No, I do not allow her on the table, but at least it's not the kitchen table, it's just a table with a nice cloth on it in my living room. You know cats....turn around, and they do EXACTLY as they please. Even if it's up on the table!
Whatever we go through with our feline friends, I am of the opinion that it is worth it. We do what we do for the love of a cat, not just ours for them, but their love for us. A loving little nudge, sweet kitty kisses, warm purring as they sit in our laps on a cold winter day. Or maybe a day when we just need comfort.....the love received from a cat is hard to forget.
And don't forget play time!
They can be the silliest things!
Or the most curious....
Evie, the tuxedo kitty in the photo above, was my comfort kitty. He knew my pain and my angst, he always knew when I was down. Somehow, he felt it was his job to make me feel better, somehow. If he heard one sob, he would literally run from wherever he was in the house, to where I was, and he would plaster himself up against me for however long it took, til I was happy again.
I miss him. He lived to be 17 1/2 years old. Evie came to me as a tiny stray kitten about five weeks old, just barely old enough to leave his mother. We found him at the back door, opened it, and he trotted right in with his tail in the air as if to say, "Here I am!" We couldn't find anyone to whom he belonged, so he quickly became ours.
I lost Evie about 2 years ago and it seems like yesterday. I said I would never have another cat, I just couldn't bear the thought of having anyone but him. But only five days later, grief made it unbearable and I had to welcome Miss Millie into my home. She was a rescue kitty.
And then of course, there was Meep. Meep's story and daily doings were often chronicled on this blog. If you have followed B'sue for awhile, you know good old Meep. He was comical.
When we found ourselves at the little brick and mortar shop some time ago, Meep, being a younger cat, was very lonely. We couldn't take him down there, it was a rented building and just not the right place for him to be. He was left at the house with Evie, an older cat who wanted to be left alone to sleep. Meep was very frustrated and it just seemed wrong for me not to try and find him a new home with people who would dote on him. I just was not at home very much and he needed attention.
I did. He is a very blessed cat, because now he has Catherine Shattuck as a cat-mother. He's the cream in her coffee, she and her husband, Everett, are nuts about him.
Every year, in fact, October 29 is designated as National Cat Day!
At the B'sue Boutiques Creative Group you will find that not only do we love to make jewelry....but we are a bunch of cat lovers. I'd love to show you a few of the pieces some of the friends at the group have made. Here is a nice pendant from Harry Wood:
This is a cuff bracelet that I made for a blog hop, a long time ago!
A sweet bracelet made by Cindy Peterson:
Danielle Clarke's cat tassel earrings:
Jennifer Merrill Williams:
Monica Rangne:
Pamela Anger's shopping kitty:
And Pam's Gone Fishin' cat:
Danielle Clarke again, with her Parisian cat bangles:
I made this cat brooch from an old image and gingerbread patina created over brass:
and this cat ring....well it's in the middle of this collage of my pieces of artisan jewelry:
And then....there is Cat In Pearls, from Pamela Anger:
And there are so many more we could share! Maybe next year, or I will start a Pinterest board for our cat pieces!
But I'll wrap this up with a piece by 1928 Jewelry Company. This one is an old chestnut that has delighted people for years....I carry it in in the Vault section of my website at B'sue Boutiques:
I hope you enjoyed our cat parade! And now I have to stop cattin' around....and get some jewelry made!
Once upon a time there was a wistful young girl who had no idea what she wanted, or any idea who she was. Funny thing about that girl, though: she knew she'd figure it out. Life is full of possibilities, after all.
There's a line from the movie "Arthur" that has always struck me. Arthur (Dudley Moore) was a dilatory, spoiled millionaire who drank too much and had to be waited on head to foot, by his trusty butler. He made aquaintance with a common, lower-class young woman, I can't remember her name now or how he met her, but she was played by Liza Minelli. (1981 version)
Anyway: he was dumbstruck by booze and having never done anything with his life, and she was dumbstruck by the POSSIBILITIES in life.
In one scene they are riding along in his limosine (I think!) and she is looking out the window, into the sky. Eventually Arthur asks her what was so interesting out there. She said:
"When I was young, I thought the moon followed me."
He didn't understand that, of course. It is an odd concept, inebriated or not! But, when I was young, I thought the moon followed me. I understood.
Why or how it followed me, I did not know, at that time in my life, I just thought that it did. Really! it doesn't follow any of us. Neither do possibilities. We have to chase them!
I began to chase my possibilities when as a teenager, I had a passion for fashion design. I loved to draw out my ideas, sew, cut my own patterns, invent my own look. No sewing pattern was safe from me. I would read the directions and toss them away with a maniacal laugh! ....and begin re-contouring them, splitting them, adding pieces, taking pieces away. This was one of my favorite patterns:
Betsey Johnson has always been a favorite. I wish she would make that line again! I could never afford it when I was young, but I buy it now whenever I can. ANYWAY: That basque waist was not good for my chubby little figure, so I re-made the pattern several ways. HA! It always came out looking like a hot mess.
I didn't waste time on the hot messes, and I never took them apart to find out what went wrong. I remained in motion! It was on to the next length of fabric and the latest artsy-fartsy thing I'd seen in Vogue magazine, or Harper's Bazaar. Sometimes, the results of my pattern ripping and re-arranging were genius. I wore those frocks with a swish and a sway, yeah baby, I made this dress, not only did I make it, I designed it. I was on my way to figuring out who I was and what I wanted to do, now!
Never did I dream that one day I'd be pushing beads around on a table, like Madame (Chanel). No, I'm not the head of my own clothing line, but POSSIBILITIES! I did create SEVERAL lines of jewelry. I didn't know a THING about making jewelry. Did that matter? After all... the moon followed me, and so, if I liked it and wanted to do it, I believed I could do it.
I must say, I skipped the cigarette thing. Fortunately I realized quite early that nicotine fumes would do nothing for my creativity. Or, the chronic bronchitis that plagued me for many years.
Long story short, let's fast-forward to 2012:
Here's a possibility that became one of my GREAT EXPECTATIONS. I had such great hope for this darling little candy box of a shop. Some of you got to visit me there!
The more of you that came, the happier I was!
Three years later I decided that some businesses DO grow better at home. The GREAT EXPECTATION was a wonderful learning experience, but turns out, it wasn't my calling. Back home we came, summer of 2015. We had an outdoor sale of a lot of the equipment and excess merchandise, fixtures, vintage furniture. Some antiques dealers came in early and got stuff for a steal. THEN: one lady stopped by and BOUGHT IT ALL!
After that, I had a cyber yard sale for the Creative Group. Many wanted a little something from the shop. I sold 40 muse boxes. Everyone was happy. I kept my favorite things, so the current workshop is full of memorabilia from that experience. My map chest, the decoupaged central work table, the pegboard on the back wall....you name it. I sit and work among my souvenirs and I smile. I'm not sad that the shop didn't work out for us.
Maybe something else would!
There are ALWAYS more POSSIBILITIES to ponder, and GREAT EXPECTATIONS to be had.
You see, I knew about this guy. Back to the late sixties, he was just out of the service, no job yet, at loose ends. It was Southern California, kind of a cool place to be in those days. He decided he would peddle Mod watches. I think it was Mod watches, anyway! Something like this, maybe:
In time selling watches worked out okay. Turns out, he was selling lots of those watches. As he went about to take care of his accounts, he began to notice the jewelry in the shops. Late sixties jewelry was composed of a lot of chains. This chain, that chain, long chains, multilayered chains. He saw POSSIBILITIES.
So, he and a few other guys got together and started looking for chain, so they could make chain jewelry and become the chain guys. They discovered that they could take raw brass chain, brush it down with black lacquer paint on paint brushes, wipe it off, and antique the brass in a most beguiling way. We'd call that colorization, now. We do it all the time. Well, they were doing it a long time ago!
Since it was lacquer paint, it never came off. The chain finish was stable. It was a great look. They nailed a trend! Soon they were selling as many necklaces as they could make, as fast as they could make them. But.... how did you make a bracelet? How did you make earrings? The guy knew, hey, we need to learn a bunch of stuff and we need to learn it fast or we'll lose this opportunity. The POSSIBILITY.
Fast forward a bit: they really did make it happen as a team, and then he made it happen on his own. His POSSIBILITY became a GREAT EXPECTATION, and then, a REALITY that has lasted well over 45 years. That reality that just happens to be a household word, today: The 1928 Jewelry Company.
Years ago when I was down in my basement hole banging out my big-little line of gift jewelry with my friends, I heard about that guy. I often wondered about him. I actually had even contacted his company back in 1975 because I saw a chain necklace in a magazine that had a pretty bead on it. that I liked. It would work for the bridesmaids in my wedding. They weren't able to help me then.
No 1928 Jewelry at my wedding......but! Yes, indeed I designed that dress. It was based on the dress my Great-Grandmother, Agnes Bittinger Brenneman wore back in 1901. My mother made all the button loops that went all down the back. I can't say she did it with pleasure, but she did it...and she did it with love. (Oh by the way! you should have seen the big Victorian hat I made to go with it. It was something between stroke of genius and hot mess, but I wore it happily as I skipped down the aisle, all of 19 and a half years old......)
As usual, I digress. Continuing: as I made my big-little line of jewelry, I sometimes thought about what I had read about that guy who started 1928. I heard that he started in a garage. I read an interview where they said he didn't wear jewelry and was just all about what needed to be done. A quote from the article (I think it was Los Angeles Times, 1990) was that in the beginning, he was 'trying not to starve'. Somehow I still pictured him there, gluing little bisque roses on stuff just like I was doing. Maybe a hippie kind of guy, or somebody who liked to surf and was just trying to keep it together, making jewelry in between good waves.
What a strange impression to have, moon girl! I already knew his jewelry was in every mall all around the world!
And here I was in my basement selling to hospital gift shops. Here is where HE was working:
A couple of years ago, I got to meet the guy. His name is Mel Bernie. One day he emailed me. My jaw dropped! OMG, I know who this guy is. Then he called me to sell me some stuff, but we ended up tossing around ideas. POSSIBILITIES. I think he respected the fact that I had followed his company, loved his jewelry and actually cared a great deal about it. (Well guess what....LOTS of people do). We also had a lot of mutual shared experiences in business. I learned from him....and he actually learned from me. And it just keeps happening.
Shelley and I went out there last summer. He had been inviting me over and over, and then, he pretty much insisted. I didn't know what he wanted with a little nobody like me. When I was there, I helped him sort some vintage inventory he had and we did some visiting. Things kept clicking. I wasn't there at the factory very long before I felt I belonged there. It kept drawing me in and I really wanted to be a part of what was so compelling, yet still an enigma, to me.
The conversations continued daily after I came home, dumbstruck by life and possibilities. Just like Liza Minelli in Arthur.
The result is what you see there on the poster in my workshop. You probably know that this work spot also serves as my video set? So we have placed that banner there to brand the space for a new GREAT EXPECTATION: B'sue by 1928.
What is B'sue by 1928? For now, it is a curated collection of pieces Mr. Bernie allowed me to select from his vast castings library of over 35,000+ antique jewelry molds. His molds are wonderful, and the pieces he makes with them have incredible detail. Nobody does it better than 1928! Even though he didn't know anything much about jewelry when he began (just like I didn't!), today, that name is synonymous with style, quality and elegance. It is truly TIMELESS.
The pieces he is making for B'sue by 1928 were used in his copyrighted designs for his company, over many years in business. They are unique on their own, but even more so now, because they have B'sue artisan finishes on them. NEVER has the 1928 Company released their design molds so that components could be made for others to use in their own designs. And for sure, NEVER have they EVER had finishes on them like these:
Or this....
Or this:
The gingerbread is almost exactly the color of the old French vintage stampings. Add a little more patina with a gentle touch of black or black/brown acrylic paint, wipe on, wipe off. The Rusted Iron can be distressed to reveal copper underneath. The silver is so rich....and a great match to our silverware silver plated line at B'sue Boutiques Rusted Iron as well as Gingerbread take patina like Swellegant, very nicely.
I was just fiddling with some POSSIBILITIES last night. Found out quick that regular tissue decoupage with lots of resin may not work great on rusted iron pewter...but prob will be fine with gingerbread and raw pewter. We're going to have a lot of fun with the raw pewter, changing it up and making it our own in so many ways.
Necessity being the mother of invention AND new POSSIBILITIES, I will mention that I took that heart with the bad decoupage (above in the necklace design) OFF, fiddled around some more and I came up with something else that looks really good. I'll share it with you when I'm done!
People ask me, aren't you EXCITED about this new line?
Well.... 1928 is a winner in any form. It is so gracious of Mel Bernie to release these things so now artisans may also design with them. No jewelry company has ever done that....none could! VERY FEW jewelry companies actually MAKE their own findings, so that it could even be possible. Nobody is following the moon here, neither is the moon following them. The castings we have here in our hot little hands are TRIED and TRUE, over 45 five years of screaming successes.
The finishes are tried and true, as well. Anyone who knows B'sue Boutiques knows that I don't tolerate what I call, 'scuse me, 'crap finishes'. I have no place for them in my creative life and neither do you. I want the best.....or I don't want it at all.
There is still much hard work to do, and I need all my energy to get this venture on its feet and MOVING. I am still in POSSIBILITIES and GREAT EXPECTATIONS mode. Soon B'sue by 1928 will feature custom designs unique to this line, and NOT currently in their archives. We intend for there to be new pieces available all the time. The line will grow constantly. You will never be bored with the same old tired pieces.
In a few weeks I am returning to Burbank for more sorting through old stuff for inspiration, checking out more castings, brainstorming new ideas. We will be working at the factory for a full week, and previous to that, Mr. Bernie, Shelley and I will be at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) in Phoenix, so that he can have a good look at my world and how the crafts industry works.
Great expectations indeed! Too soon for popping corks, my friends.....but if you get a piece of B'sue by 1928 in your hands, you're going to feel a creative buzz from your head to your toes.
Here is the video from last week's introduction, if you haven't seen it yet:
One last thing: Mel Bernie has another passion that is just about as strong as jewelry making. He supports the efforts of his wife, Laurie, and daughter Emily, who run Life Animal Rescue Their mission is to rescue abandoned dogs and cats and place them in loving, forever homes.
They also have a special project of rescuing as many dogs as they can from shelters in Thailand, as well. If you love animals, check out what Laurie and Emily do. You will be very impressed! Check out their Facebook page!
Rose Montees are that little something extra that makes a vintage style wire assemblage pop.
Originally used in the clothing industry much like one would use sequins or other trims, rose montees were often found sewn onto dress collars or decorated sweaters of the 40's and 50's. Then someone out there found that HEY, they were a great addition to a wire collage, or a caged piece.
You will often find them in Miriam Haskell vintage jewelry pieces.
They don't look like much, but they really make a design sparkle. Below you see 4mm Czech Preciosa machine cut rose montees, prong-set in little tin mounts. On the back of the mount, you will observe that there is a little cross hatch pass-through. This is where you will wire them into your design.
I use 28 gauge gold plated wire....or whatever color wire matches the filigree I am using. You don't HAVE to do your caging on Russian Gold Plated brass....that's just the typical, true-to-vintage plating shade for this type of work. Think outside the box! Might look GREAT on matte black....chocolate brass....or even brass ox. OR: think about the possibilities of doing this sort of work with raw brass pieces you have colorized with Lumiere Paints by Jacquard, or even patina'd with Swellegant.
The trick is the wiring in.
With some filigree that has nice-sized openings, it will be fairly simple once you've got the hang of it. For little pieces like flower sprigs, it takes a bit of fiddly-fussing!
If you would like a demonstration, you have only to 'tune in' to this video:
I will show you a number of things you can do with them, as well as wiring on small pearls.
The big trick is to get as little wire as possible showing, and keep the work good and tight.
On the piece above where I did the pearls, you can only hope for so much where not showing wire is concerned. You're passing through a hole on a dimensional object!
That is where fill will come in. More pearls, seed beads looping around and over, a nice central focal and maybe some wired in sprigs will hide that.
I did get the piece at the beginning of the video finished:
Something else you might want to know is how I mounted the Art Nouveau lady medallion. Follow the series of photos, below:
Both pieces are found in the Russian Gold Plated Brass section at B'sue Boutiques When you are short a piece in Russian Gold Plate, sometimes a piece of unplated raw brass will work okay.
You would just place that and wire through the back to attach to your 'builder' filigree.
Here is the back of my finished piece:
Still a little more wire showing than I would like, but all in all....it's coming along nicely.
If you would like to have some fun with Russian Gold Plated Brass, I have a little muse package on my website for you:
Russian Gold Plated Muse It's a bit discounted and you have builder and backer pieces, as well as pieces to use your imagination.
All you need is some 28 gauge gold plated wire....we have some if you don't!
And here is where you will find those rose montees:
My favorite piece of vintage jewelry is this lovely Miriam Haskell brooch. It has provided many an inspiring moment for me, ever since it came into my possession almost twenty years ago and is a beautiful example of cagework beading, using wire.
Cagework beading, or vintage assemblage with wire is a way to use beads, bibs and bobs by attaching them to plated brass filigree with 28 gauge plated wire.
Here are some I'd been working on....none are finished:
Everything starts with a piece of Russian Gold Plated brass.....a finish which we developed OUR WAY for B'sue Boutiques with the assist of an artisan plater.
There is actually a vintage Haskell finding mixed in with one of our initial batches shown above. I think with a bit of searching you will pick it out, but there is little visible difference between our finish and the old one.
Ours is a bit more ruddy, while on the old finish there is the faintest ochre-olivene. But no matter that ours is a bit different! It IS ours, anyway...unique to B'sue Boutiques
We had about 36 students in the class, which was held as part of the B'sue Boutiques Third Annual Workshop. Christi Friesen taught polymer clay for the first two days, then we switched gears entirely and did wire assemblage.
First we spoke about the genre, and a bit about my passion for it, and then the class began. I taught it by small demonstrations, a few at a time....and got everyone started.
This was the kit of goodies distributed to each class member:
All the students needed beyond what you see here was a bit of 28 gauge wire. Some brought their own, but we put a nice big spool for common use on every table.
Everyone did a beautiful job. Some didn't even get up to go to lunch at the break, but kept at it, intent on getting that tapestry beading down!
One of the photos shared with us after the event at the Workshop page we form for it, every year on Facebook.
It wasn't necessary for me to continue to teach in the afternoon. Everyone was in the zone, and quite a few even finished projects. So I just went around from table to table to encourage and help with the work at hand.
Here are some happy and content cagework beaders!
Some had done a bit of caging before, but most had not. Let me share with you some of the lovely things they worked on:
This is Elayne Siegfried's piece in progress:
Finished up....and LOVELY.
Monica Rice was a busy bee....this is only ONE of the pieces she made:
Here is a great start by Janet Wilson:
And a finished brooch by Colleen Bullecks!
And from Terrie Taylor, too....
Emma Hall also made a very nice brooch:
These are only a smattering of the beautiful pieces made by our friends in class. And I know, only a START on a new jewelry making journey for many!
Others who were not able to attend the class have had a look and given it a try, as well. Allison Murray from Bordeaux and Pearl, took to it like a duck to water. I believe most all of the brass and some of the little bellflower beads came from our place:
A gorgeous composition, indeed!
If you would like to explore more, here is my last video on the subject:
On day I will do that video over as my hands were in the way too much, we had a bad angle! But there has been a great deal of interest in the video and you will find some solid information and ideas how you can proceed with this method.
And of course....
We have everything you need to get started at B'sue Boutiques
It doesn't matter if you like vintage jewelry or not. These days many people are into recycling, upcycling, redesigning, and taking apart old pieces to make something else. I've done plenty of it myself!
I first got interested in the assemblage or collage art form many years ago, several years after I started picking and selling vintage jewelry. There were always broken pieces to throw back, and I saw photos of things people were making from broken jewelry. There were articles in VICTORIA magazine, one of my favorites! about memory jewelry and recreating wearable things from bits of the past.
And then.....one of my vintage customers told me about Wendy Gell. When I first saw Wendy's jewelry, I was mesmerized. She happened to be in just the right place, just the right time in history for her collaged 'wristies" and funky big brooches to make it big in the fashion design business.
This is a custom bridal wristy made by Wendy Gell. Beautiful work! Totally unique to the world of jewelry design when she began decades ago, nowadays we see work like this all the time on the internet. Wendy Gell is not the first assemblage jewelry artist to walk this earth, but she IS, for me, the beginning of art jewelry collage in this style, in more modern times. If it weren't for Wendy, many of us probably would still be making tree collages out of Gramma's old earrings. She got the world to pay attention and made assemblage jewelry high fashion! Wendy Gell's jewelry appeared in Vogue and on the Vogue cover numerous times.
There are pieces of Wendy Gell's work in the Smithsonian. They are considered part of pop culture.
AMAZING! And then....there is the other Wendy, Wendy Baker:
Wendy Baker is a responsible repurposer. She creates most of her vintage flower jewelry from vintage parts, not pieces that have been broken down. Her work is bold and inspirational, and much of her work is done with cold connections like wire and jump rings, rather than glue. I love her work and I love Wendy. I'd love to spend a day creating with her. We've both got it on our bucket lists!
What does it mean to be a responsible repurposer?
I used to write for a leading vintage jewelry publication, in fact I did so for eight years. I had my own column. At the end of my articles, I would always sign off with, "May the jools of your dreams land in your lap and only cost you five bucks!"
Hey, we all want to find stuff to work with and make money without having to fork over a lot! For many the latest flea market has become another sort of crafts store. It's a great place to find bags of busted stuff, bits of this and that for jewelry making! And pretty pieces of old jewelry. Yard, tag and estate sales are another brilliant resource for those things.
But just because the items were cheap, missing stones or needing a great cleaning, or are just OLD, does not mean they should automatically be fodder for your next jewelry creation. Is a new stash of vintage jewelry your new artistic playground?
It could be! It also might be the source of a new income stream that will get you far more money than randomly taking pieces and breaking them down for parts.
AND THAT is what RESPONSIBLE REPURPOSING 101 is all about. Wouldn't you like to learn to identify pieces that may have great value? Don't think you won't find any! It happens all the time! Sometimes all you need is a few minutes on the internet to learn about your piece, get it ready to sell, and find a buyer. There are avid collectors of the old pieces who are willing to pay good money for what you find! In many cases, they may pay you more money than you would make cabbaging parts and making new assemblage pieces.
Who doesn't need money for good tools, storage equipment, a show tent, supplies, adequate branding for their artisan lines? Who couldn't use a few extra bucks to supplement family income? I assure you: You CAN get it this way. This is an adventure in learning that you definitely want to be serious about, and a journey you want to take.
I know because I did it.
This is exactly how a poor young mother was able to trade a tiny mobile home for a modest house, and buy a decent car instead of enduring a very old one that broke down all the time.
It is how she bought diapers for her baby boy, got him to the doctor for his well baby visits. It's how she bought him school clothes, and how she put braces on his teeth.
How she helped him get his first car and into college.
It is also how she built a business that gave her a sense of value and purpose. Everything that she parlayed into a career as a jewelry designer came from the money she made from learning about vintage jewelry and finding buyers for it. B'sue Boutiques as you know it today would not be here if learning to make money from vintage jewelry hadn't happened, first.
In Responsible Repurposing 101 you will learn:
---How to train yourself to first look at vintage jewelry for value and condition, rather than immediately think of how you would remake or take down the piece for parts.
---how to separate, or triage, a box of old jewelry for value as well as parts good for repurposing.
---You will be learning how to be careful to dispose of tags on old jewelry that is good for repurposing, not use parts of a design that include a logo, be aware of possible lead content and allergens in old pieces, especially old metal and chains.
---You'll learn about names and marks and will be given resources for researching them. We'll talk about what is very popular among today's collectors, and how the vintage jewelry trade is just as trendy as the fashion business.....because it remains to this day, part of the fashion business.
---What to do if a piece is substantial but unmarked.
---You will learn how to circa-date jewelry ( get the approximate age and design style of the piece).
---There will be a discussion of OLD PLASTICS, OLD METALS.....and, a bit about OLD BUTTONS!
---You will learn what to look for in NEW designer names. There are some that already have value on the secondary market, and others that soon will.
---You will learn how to establish a value according to current trend and price that piece to SELL!
---You will learn how to find and continue to find vintage jewelry.....and how to find BUYERS for it.
---You will learn about starting a small collection of your own.
---We will discuss the INSPIRATION FACTOR: what we can learn from designers that have gone before us.
---We'll talk about repurposing heirlooms into more wearable designs without damaging them...and also what to do when someone comes to us wanting us to alter an old piece that they possess but is very valuable.
That's just the tip of the iceberg!
We will also talk about potential value in unusual unsigned things we find along the way. This pendant was made by a local woodworker. It is like a miniature doll house under plexiglass. I bought it for about 50 cents.
I sold it for 50.00.....to someone who collects miniature work.
Interesting!
The class will last 4-6 weeks, depending on what students need. If we can cover all this territory in a month, then we will. If there is more to say and students still have questions and want to listen, I won't rush them off.
We will conduct the class at FACEBOOK in a private group made just for this purpose, the same way as the Build A Line Challenge class is held each year. The class is NOT project-driven. It will be structured discussion and you will have modules that you can print out for your own use, and put in a folder. There are NO BLOG HOPS, NO DEADLINES, NO REQUIREMENTS. You can come to class every day, or every few days and just scroll back and catch up with the discussion. You will be invited to post photos of things you have found, and would like to talk about. The class, being on Facebook, will not be held in real time, but you know how it is on Facebook! Our groups are chatty, and I expect the discussion to be brisk.
There is no application process for this class. First come, first served. I will accept up to 40 for the class group. The classroom has already been "built". As soon as payments are received, you will be asked to 'friend' me at Facebook, if you haven't already. That way I can place you in the class.
The class fee is 95.00 and worth every dime. It will be an eye-opener and turn you into a jewelry detective! And if you put the advice given into play, you will have much more cash in your pocket to get the things you really want to develop your jewelry design business.
Sign ups will begin Tuesday May 2, 2017. You can private message me at Facebook for a PayPal invoice, or call us at 1-800-868-4393 to make a payment by credit card. The classroom will be opened the last week of May and everyone will get an invitation to join us there.
Class will begin on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 and will wrap up in late August. In the summertime, we need to allow a little more time as people have events and vacations and we want them to be able to catch up. As mentioned, I won't be in a hurry to rush you off. If the class needs another week or two, they shall have it.
I can't wait to share the secrets of Responsible Repurposing with you! The things you learn will not only help your bottom line, but they will INSPIRE YOU as you learn new ways to view vintage design.
We were tired from all the learning, friendship and fun.... but glowing with happiness. B'sue Boutiques Workshops are a time to learn, but to do so in a relaxed atmosphere among friends who seem more like family.
Of course, this was Christi Friesen year, so the 'kids' were bouncing off the walls with excitement to see Christi again. She didn't let them down!
Christie Friesen, for those who don't know, is the Princess of Polymer Clay. She has written, what? 12 books on the subject! She teaches classes in exotic places like Japan and Australia, to name a few! Christi is quite in demand because she demonstrates that TRULY, anyone can play with clay and have success, right out of the gate.
Christi also takes note of everyone in the room and is available to all. She does not disappear into her hotel room at the end of class, but parties hearty, involved in everything everyone else is doing. She does that from early morning til late at night. Let's face it....Christi loves a party!
She even made herself a student in my Vintage Assemblage with Wire class! It looks like she was having a great time, too.
We learned so many things....how to make a little dragon with wings, such that it could easily be made into a brooch OR a figurine, as you like it. We learned how to make molds and use Sculpey Ultra Light Clay. I am so sold on that stuff now that soon I'll have it available at B'sue Boutiques
Everyone loved the Swellegant class! Here is Janet Wilson, of Chickie Girl Jewelry, simply mesmerized by something new.
I was intrigued most by the dye-oxides as, being a vendor of brass stampings, I'd always concentrated on using the Patinas from the SWELLEGANT line:
Now it was my time to learn from the 'master' how much fun the dye oxides are with polymer clay!
This one is made from a mold I made, from one of our brass stampings...
Sculpey Ultra Light treated with metal coating, Tiffany Green Patina, and dye oxides, done in layers and buffed out with a piece of denim.
SO EASY and SO FUN to do! Thank you, Christi!
Some also made little owl pendants:
That one is from Janet Wilson, done up in true Chickie Girl style.
Here is Sue Shade's table, and everyone is hard at work. Sue came with her two delightful sisters!
They brought us carrot cake and brownies, too! YUMMY!
Here is a darling fairy box that Annette Carruthers made:
I'd like to thank Annette for taking so many of our group photos.
More pix thanks to Janet Calardo, who has come to every last one of our events!
We all owe a world of thanks to Katie Oskin (of Kater's Acres ) and her husband, Luke (Mr. Katie):
On Friday, there was so much clay baking going on that Katie logged 7 miles on her pedometer! Katie did all the running and baking this year, and honestly I don't know what we would have done without her.
Luke was around for needed support. Katie was so glad to have him there. We all were!
Christi's was a two day class, Friday and Saturday. Then I took Sunday for my class, Vintage Assemblage with Wire.
Many had requested that I introduce in person how to do the vintage Haskell-style assemblage using wire for attachments.
It is truly my passion!
The class paid rapt attention to my lecture and instructions...
We took a lot of candid, off the cuff photos....
But truth be told, they all did VERY well and everyone was very productive!
Here we are discussing a design issue and how to wire on a rose montee!
Later this week, I will have a post for you to show you the amazing pieces that were done in class. I was tremendously impressed that so many got a very quick feel for what needed to be done.
Each kit contained a builder and a backer piece and lots of bibs and bobs to adorn it, including some pretty vintage Czech beads and pearlies! Paula Gaskill, one of our pals who couldn't make it this year, contributed a polymer clay rose that was drilled horizontally through the base, so that it could be wired into the assemblage, if desired.
The goal was NOT to use any glue in the composition...BUT, each kit did include a small tube just in case it was truly needed.
At the end of the day on Sunday, everyone cleaned up their spots and got ready for the party!
That's what you see in one of the first pictures, ME feeding Christi a hunk of her CHOCOLATE CAKE....she is SUCH a chocoholic!
(me, too!)
Tired but quite happy, we all eventually pulled the plug and hit the hay. Every year, though, Mary Reckmeyer has to jump on the bed! This is this year's photo of the annual Mary jumping on the bed thing:
The next morning as many as could met for breakfast one last time....and it was good-bye til next year:
Left to right, Janise Crow, B'sue, Janet Calardo, and Virginia Michelini. Such good friends....
We hate to say good-bye.
Great news, though! We've booked the event for next year already, so mark your calendars for May 19, 20, 21, 2017.
Katie Oskin of Kater's Acres is a protogee of Christi Friesen's, having worked on many projects with her in the past. She is also a Polyform Designer (Polyform being the company that makes Sculpey and Premo, our favorite clays). She will be our polymer clay teacher for next year. You will LOVE her teaching style! I will be teaching a continuance of the Wire Assemblage class. There may be some other surprises along the way, I'll keep you posted about that.
Sign ups will be next February....be sure to join us at the B'sue Boutiques Creative Group to keep abreast of the details as they come up. All business for B'sue Boutiques events and classes is conducted at Facebook and announced first to the Creative Group
We would also like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT of thanks to the Polyform Company, makers of Sculpey and Premo, for providing the polymer clay for our event this year. Thanks, Polyform!!
It's Work Table Wednesday! And oh....what a lovely, lovely mess.....
All of my favorites are here....bumpy cream colored pearls, Czech tulip beads, ball end head pins, my Wolfie pliers, more pearls! 28 gauge wire.....and Russian Gold Plated brass stampings and filigree.
We just began to stock the Russian Gold Plated Brass again, after phasing it out due to finishing difficulties a couple of years ago.
Last winter a specialty finisher and I put our heads together to see what we could do to resurrect it and get it right this time. I wanted a finish that would be the closest thing to the old Haskell pieces:
We went with a 22 karat base and some more steps in the finishing process....and I think we are as close as we can get. After all, the complete original recipe was a secret, and I am told, contained some elements that aren't even legal for use in finishing in the United States any more.
SO: now it's time to play.
I've always enjoyed working with wire and beads in the vintage style. I'm no pro but I'm convinced few are/would be. Even in the photos of how the old stuff was made, you can see wonky beads and messy wiring. Only so much is possible! And that's why, wherever possible, you want to cover the backs of anything you wire.
I've been fiddling around tonight trying to get a little speed in beading the little leaves. I'm not a beader, nor am I a wire artist. I am an assemblage artist who admires this style. What I understand is the vintage look and placement, balance and flow. So armed with that and my spool of wire.....let's see what happens.
I beaded these leaves:
Actually they look better in my hand, as all the wire doesn't jump up in your face as it does in a photo. But I am striving to get the work tighter, and neater.
First I cut approximately 18 inches of wire.....maybe that's too long but so far, it seems good.
I put about half of the wire through the first top side hole, then I add just 2-3 seed beads, and then continue pulling the wire through the hole on the other side. Then, to secure my work as I go, where possible, I cross them and tighten them up in the back, pulling one through, adding beads to cover, graduating as I go. In and out, crossing and twisting one twist only, as much as possible til I finish the leaf.
If enough wire remains, I might come up through the piece in a strategic place and begin to wire in another element:
Eventually I will need to go ahead and finish off that wire:
Now I will cross the wires again:
Then I will gently but firmly twist them. Can't go too hard, they will snap off. Once it's nice and neat, I will trim it back.
Actually that twist, while it will work, should be more coiled, this looks a bit like I just wrapped one wire around the other. I didn't. I twisted them both together, and this is what gives strength to the finished piece.
Now I will twist and coil this into the back:
Here is the tuck, so it will be smooth and not poke out or catch on anything:
You can actually see there is also another piece I'd twisted off, too. That's what you do when your wire gets short, twist it and tuck it and then start wiring again with a new piece.
Now this mess of wire needs to be covered. There is really not a leaf made to back this builder piece, so I will need to choose something else.....once I get the design finished. (It is nowhere near finished yet). This one MIGHT work, but I will have to deal with some edges of the backer showing in the front. Hmmmm.
And sometimes, you can't cover ALL the wire. You just do your best. Usually I use the same builder (front piece) and the same backer and no problem. But using this leaf, I won't be able to.
How about this.....
That might work after a fashion! I will have to bend those edges around into the front and make them work with the design, though.
I'll have to play around with that. Or maybe I have something else in my stash that is even better.
These little leaves are not hard to bead and you do them the same way....
Yep, the wire should have been tighter. It will be, with the next one. You don't see it much until you look at these crazy up close photos!
They really make you proof your work!
I could back the small leaf as there is available an opposing piece:
I wouldn't do that, though, unless this piece was going to be a charm, dangler, or a pendant. If it goes into the builder as part of the assemblage, it will make the piece thick and cumbersome and throw the design "off".
Well, tomorrow it's a whole day of this, and I am learning buckets of stuff just by doing and experimenting. That's pretty much the way it goes, trial and error. There is not a whole lot written on this subject, so you learn by doing and by looking at the old Haskell, Hagler, and Robert pieces. There are even some Five and Dime Style (lower end) pieces signed Made in Japan, that were made this way, wire, beads and filigree.
Here is a piece I successfully made last week:
I need to find a way to sign my work. I could get a stamp made, or just bond on a tiny brass blank and engrave my name, as I usually do.
This was frustrating but also fun! The more I worked along, the more I enjoyed it.
You can find Russian Gold Plated brass here at B'sue Boutiques:
Have you ever been intrigued by jewelry made with tiny beads on wire, rose montees and other bits and pieces artfully arranged on filigree?
Some call this type of jewelry making cagework beading, others call it Haskell style. To be sure, it's just another form of assemblage....but different from all others.
Most assemblage these days comes under the Mixed Media Jewelry genre/title. Some folks call it collage as well. Typically in collage jewelry, glue, rivets and tabs are used to secure the ornaments used in the design.
Cagework assemblage, Haskell or Hagler style---requires extra thought and engineering as it requires little or none of those things.
You will want to use 28 ga plated wire. (I use gold plated but there are some brass plated colors that will work nicely, too----or use silver if you are using silver findings, etc) For me, it seems the size 11 type seed beads work best for "tapestry beading" where you are covering an area of filigree, or a leaf. You need small ones to make a smooth fit without funky gaps.
You can see proper technique in this lovely Miriam Haskell brooch that I own:
The beading done on the leaves and flower petals is tapestry beading. The beads used here are very small faceted baroque glass pearls probably 2.5-3mm. They are on the larger side for this sort of work. You probably would never use something larger.
I've found that the smaller the finding you cover, the more fiddly it becomes.
Petals and leaves are important pieces in this type of assemblage. You will develop patterns and layers with them in your piece. Some leaves in the pattern will be beaded, others might be bare or possibly colorized with your own choice of technique. That is for you to decide.
The best leaf stampings for tapestry beading are rather 'serrated' down the sides.....like this one:
If using this piece I would drill or punch a pilot hole middle top of the leaf as it helps to go through there, up and around the stem to anchor, and start wrapping beads. At the finish you bring the wire straight up to the tail from your starting point, and do the twist off (you will see some pix of the twist off on some old pieces, the farther you read along).
Finally, you will bury the ends of the wire among the other wires.
It is very hard, however, to cover up the wires on the back of a tiny leaf but I have seen where a smaller lacy leaf was taken and applied over the back for a nicer finish.
You could also use a leaf that has holes down its side, like this one:
We have these going right and left at the website under Brass Leaves
This one works very nicely, too:
Some cut a long length of wire from the spool and begin wrapping at the top and go down to the base of a leaf....others recommend that you work from the end of the spool and don't cut the wire off.
If you are attaching a focal it's recommended that you cut 3-4 inch lengths FROM the spool and attach the piece through two holes in the filigree or drilled piece (some also use screen findings, the very early Haskell pieces used screen findings).
At the back you will TWIST the ends together tightly, being careful that they do not snap. This very old unsigned Haskell pin from the collection of Cathy Gordon, one of the writers of MIRIAM HASKELL JEWELRY, will show you the twist-off:
Here is another example of the back of a very early Haskell piece, where several filigree circlets are soldered onto a barpin grid. We actually carry very similar circlets at B'sue Boutiques
Again this picture comes from Cathy Gordon's archives:
As time went on and the work became refined, most pieces were 'faced' with an opposing or complimentary filigree:
And, as you can see, they were signed.
The brass findings were of better quality and more plentiful than in the earlier pieces, which were composed mostly of beads. Some of the findings were French but most were made right here in the United States. Many still are, and I am always adding them to our inventory at the website.
The plating on the findings was called Russian Gold Plating, and it was a mustardy-brown antiquing over a fine gold plated primary finish. In this photo you'll see an older piece with RGP finish, and a raw brass, unplated new piece:
The one on the left is vintage, probably from the late 50's til late 60's. The large one on the right is raw brass and still made, in fact, it just arrived here yesterday.
Sometimes in the old vintage cagework, regular stampings were also used as focal pieces. In order to incorporated with beads, they had to be punched, or drilled. This is a vintage silver plated Haskell finding with tiny drill holes made for wiring, from my small collection of unused findings:
This could easily be accomplished with a small hole punch. Another example in the old RGP finish. Again, this piece is still made.
I found that my usual methods of approaching assemblage don't really work when doing a piece in this style. There is MUCH more planning required. I'll need not only to decide what type of leaves I will use, but also if I will need to drill or punch 'pilot holes' for the wire.
I'll need to check and be sure I have enough seed beads! It takes more than you think, sometimes!
WOW....I wonder how many were in this parure set of three pieces that match?
Again, this photo is courtesy of Cathy Gordon.
As the Haskell and Hagler styles progressed up into the 50's, you saw more and more brass stampings being used in the layers.
For me, this is where it really gets interesting, as I love the play of beaded and unbeaded pieces, manipulating and layering!
This very rare piece from Cathy Gordon's files features an amazing crystal head as a focal! A Haskell lady head brooch!
Since I am a huge fan of this type of jewelry both vintage and handmade, I am always looking for vintage style pieces of filigree and components to bring in to the B'sue Boutiques website
Today I made a collage of some of the pieces that came in yesterday that could be handily used in this type of assemblage:
I would probably not bead those filigree leaves. I might colorize them, though, as they are raw brass. The curved filigree leaves are awesome for adding dimension to be piece. They are very pretty, though, if you go up through the spine, or the middle with rose montees or tiny baroque pearls.
You're the designer....it's your call!
This piece in the collage is really handy for wrapping around a stone or focal so that you can build the design around it:
I love beading this brass fan.....if you go to its listing on the site and click to see the secondary photo, you will see a fun piece I made long ago with it and a sleek hand finding, such as you see in the collage:
I only touched the tip of the iceberg on this subject....it's been something that's mesmerized me for years. If you are interested in this sort of work, making a deep study of how the pieces were really made, will help you to understand the soul of the work and to develop great texture and dimension in your pieces.
I'll be back with more photos and reports the more I study along and get my techniques worked out!
Cora Thomas was born in the year 1879, the daughter of Debra and Michael Thomas, a family which originally came from Wales.
In 1900 she went to house-keeping by marrying Bryson Glotfelty, son of Jonas Glotfelty and Rebecca Specht.
The Glotfelty lineage went all the way back to Solomon Glotfelty. He came with his father, Casper Glattfelder of Glattfelden, Switzerland, mother and other family members to the New World somewhere not long after his birth in 1738. Casper Glattfelder was born in 1709. Somewhere in time Solomon's last name was Americanized to Glotfelty. Anyone with that last name comes from Solomon....and is somehow related to me.
Their marriage was unique in a number of ways. First, because Debra Thomas lost her husband, Michael (Cora's father) and Jonas lost Rebecca (Bryson's mother). Somehow---and I'd like to know that story!---the two decided it would be a good idea to raise their families together, so they became a "Brady Bunch" type family.
The portrait above is of Cora and Bryson with a couple of his sisters, a cousin and a family friend, probably taken not long before their marriage. I see no wedding ring on Cora's hand, which is resting on the shoulder of the young lady sitting next to her, which I think would have been one of his sisters.
So yes, Cora married her step-brother. Unique! (No blood relation, of course!)
Also unique in that they had a grand wedding with engraved invitations, a fancy church wedding, many gifts and many guests. Some of those gifts have been saved and treasured through the years and I'm happy to own a few today.
My Grandmother, Blanche Brenneman Glotfelty, gave me these pressed glass pieces from among Grandma Cora's wedding dishes a long time ago:
They are what collectors call EAPG, or Early American pressed glass. The large bowl on the left is a banana bowl in a very common pattern, one you often see in antiques shops. The other is a berry dish with some gold flash on it. I have a couple of those.
The biggest prize, however, is this chocolate slag glass berry set:
My mother has owned this set since I was just a little girl. I remember wondering again and again about it, since it was always placed high up on the highest shelf in the cupboard and hardly ever used, so out of place with all of her late 50's and 60's style every day dishes. Once in a bit she would take it down and let me hold it, telling me that it was probably some of Grandma Cora's wedding dishes and that it had been given to her by Grandma when she was a young wife.
I always marveled at the unique peanut butter swirly color and the old Victorian-type patterning. For sure it was one of the things that created inside me a love for antique glass and dishware. Once grown, I searched and searched for things that would have been in my grandmothers' homes. I have found Shawnee pottery, which was in my Grammy's house; a jewelry box made like a Swiss chalet that was in my Great-Grandma Brenneman's house. For years my cupboards were full of jadeite and jade-green Fire King dishware, just like Grammy had.
But NEVER did I find anything like that berry bowl set!
Recently, my mother decided to give it to me.
Mom looks so much like Grandma Cora....
The other day, I posted these photos on my Facebook page and wow! the wonders of Facebook.....Dana Jones popped up and identified them as chocolate slag glass. That I was pretty sure of! It was the ray pattern on the bottoms of the bowls and the swirlies around the edges of the bowls that revealed even more!
The set was made by the Indiana Glass and Tumbler Company and is known as Greentown Glass. This pattern is called Leaf Bracket and it was extemely popular in 1900. In fact, the company made over 28,000 of these berry bowl sets to be sold in stores that year.
Sounds like it was a hot item for them, and probably something coveted by many young brides!
Mom and I were on the fence wondering was this from Cora's wedding dishes or something she got later, but the info from Dana seems pretty conclusive that indeed, these were wedding gifts.
Grandma Cora ran a boarding house and fed her guests very well. She was known far and wide for her baking skills.
This prim-style sign is the one that hung outside of her home in the 30's, before the original house burnt down. A fire began one hot summer day by spontaneous combustion and began on the top floor of the three story house. It burnt slowly, but they were unable to put it out. No one was hurt, and all the men and neighbors came running to try and remove as much from the house as they could. Nearly everything from the first two floors was saved.
I am so happy to own that sign. And I just realized, these pieces of glassware that I now own would have had to have been carted out of the house as it was burning, too....or they would not have been around to hand down the line.
A new house was built soon thereafter on the original foundation, so that the basement of the old house remains under the new one:
All down that back porch, it hung thick with Concord grape vines from which Grandma made the best grape juice and jellies. When I grew up, I learned how to make juice like she did, but I had to buy my grapes.
Oh! how I love a grape arbor....and I do know why.
This is all that remains of all of Grandma's grape arbors:
Beautiful Roselawn Farm remains and is lovingly cared for.
Jonas Glotfelty and Bryson Glotfelty moved their families to Roselawn Farm in the 1920's, as the story goes. Previous to that they lived in Maryland, down by the Deep Crick area....and to this day Jonas' house remains there. It's been renovated by someone who bought it. It is now a very upscale bed and breakfast house.
The Glotfelty family has lived on Roselawn Farm for now over 90 years. It belongs to my Uncle Dave now, and one day will belong to his boys....and maybe one day, to their children, I hope.
These are the chestnut trees that grow down the lane. My Uncle Dave is a furniture maker who has made the most beautiful tables and other pieces. My mother's long dining room table with spoon feet was made by him. He had a shop in one of the outbuildings where he made...what else? Chestnut Lane Furniture.
Apple trees grew on the other side of the lane. Just beyond them to the back right, is where Grammy had her large garden. It was one of the places she loved best. No wonder that I love a garden, too!
We kids used to collect the chestnuts and Grammy put them in the turkey stuffing. Let's just say it was an acquired taste. You ate them or you picked them out of the stuffing! But it sure made it a 'family thing'. ;-) We kids loved to eat them raw!
Oh.... how the years fly by! It seems like yesterday that I picked up those chestnuts in the lane. Some of the most sentimental and happiest times of my life were spent on that farm.
We lost Grandma Cora in the mid 60's, but not before she told me a boatload of her stories. And OH! what a story teller she was! Here she sits, content in her home by the stone fireplace in what is now, my Uncle Dave's living room.
He and my Aunt Jerry have been marvelous custodians of the place. Grandma was in her 80's when this photo was taken.
Across the driveway is the little white bungalow house that Bryson Glotfelty built for Naylor, his son, his wife Blanche, and their growing family: Phyllis, Kathy, Dave and Ed.
Inside this doorway my Grammy always waiting with arms full of love and a nearby plate of cookies... or some other yummy thing she had made.
She lived to be a rich 95 years old, passing away in January 2011. Now my Uncle Ed and his family own her home. I am glad it is still in the family. I am not sure I could bear to think of anyone else living there.
Things do not remain the same forever.....that's the way of things. We must expect and accept it, sadly; death is a part of life and so is loss and the change that comes along with it.
Yes, the berry bowl set sure is fine, I am so delighted to own it. In the long run, though, it's just stuff--important stuff, but just pretty pieces of glassware. There is nothing in this world....NOTHING.....like my childhood memories and the love I had from my grandmothers.
I just want to say thanks, too, to Uncle Le for all the wonderful photos he has been posting from his archives of many pictures of our family. He has gone back from the time he married my aunt Kathy (my mother's sister), all through the years. Uncle Le has gone to a tremendous amount of work and it has meant the world to me and so many of the rest of us.
Micheale Collie and her daughter Erin are not only jewelry makers.....Micheale is a member of the B'sue Boutiques Creative Group
AND! She was also a participant in the Build-a-Line Group Challenge last winter (fondly referred to by alumi as BALC) BUT!
They love to participate in theatrical productions!
They are about to be in their local little theater's production of THE MUSIC MAN. What fun! I wish I could attend the performance!
Michaele made the period-style earrings that they are wearing in the musical:
You can find the components to make your own at B'sue Boutiques
Micheale loves to shop with us for her vintage jewelry supplies. We ferret out lots of great bits and pieces, many with a long history in jewelry history. That's why they are PERFECT to use for reproduction style jewelry, theatrical jewelry, even runway pieces!
Now here is a thought for Micheale and everyone else who is looking for a new niche to sell the things they make:
Why not contact your local theatrical groups, both little theater as well as school and college groups! and ask them if they need jewelry for their productions.
In most cases, they will not have a budget that allows them to pay you for the jewelry you make for the production. The key is the door it can open for you:
In exchange, ask for a free advertising spot in the program calling out that you made the jewelry for the play, and your contact info.
ALSO, it may be possible for you or a helper to set up a table in the lobby of the theater to display the jewelry you made for the show and SELL SOME as souvenirs of the evening out!
This can also lead you in many other directions.....home parties, custom work, even bridal jewelry. Have a flyer or brochure made. Get your name out there in your community!
In exchange for a few pieces of jewelry you may find a whole new outlet that's not going to cost you big show fees, set ups, and will help you reach a whole NEW clientele who will be thrilled to buy, enjoy and tell their friends about your work!
I hope Micheale will consider doing that, going forward, with her own theater group! She is always busy with a new design. This is one of her photos from Work Table Wednesday at the Creative Group
To learn more about Work Table Wednesday, why not check out our WTW Pinterest Board?
