Resolutions of the Heart Necklace

Everyone has been asking to see the finished product of my Resolutions of the Heart Class. As always in a class like this you NEVER FINISH the project in class. I came home & continued to work on my piece. I need to go & buy a heavier gauge copper wire (& the patina) to make my S or Fish Hook clasp for the back of the necklace. Until that time... I will simply slip it over my head when I wear it.

Here is the precious card that our teacher Diane Cook made for each of us. I love the illustration of the two young girls holding hands & then her quote was Take my hand... We'll learn together. On this beautiful card was the vintage locket that Diane had aged with patina (both inside & out).

This is my mannequin proudly wearing my finished necklace. No, she is not generally so plainly dressed but, I wanted the necklace to stand out.

You can see some of the details in the photo above & below. I had a very difficult time photographing my necklace. Many emails ensued between Diane & I about this. After all this the best suggestion was good natural light (but, not to bright or too much sun). Well the weather has not cooperated for this advice & I wanted to post the photos I did have.

Above is the necklace laying on a piece of paper with beautiful script & a heart shaped doily. In the previous class with Diana Frey we used Sterling Silver wire & findings. For this piece we used copper & then varied the finish with patina. I also mixed silver & brass findings. With the different colors in the stones & pearls I think it is an interesting mix.

The photo below has too much flash (sorry it is a bit bright) but, it shows the bead we made using Sari Silk. We made a bone bead & wrapped the silk (which had a LOT of stringy pieces which I think made for an interesting texture) with wire & tiny amber crystals. Also, I LOVE the silver hearts I bought from Diane to add to my necklace.

Here you can see the precious brass bird charms that I added. Also the smokey colored glass heart beads. Lots of little tiny beads done as dangles to give movement to the necklace when I wear it.

Below is the beautiful locket from Diane with the wonderful large smokey crystal bead & the amber stoned bezels. This is hooked on a portion of a vintage rhinestone necklace that I took apart so I could use some of it for this project. I LOVE using vintage jewelry & re purposing it. A mix of BLING against the look of aged & patina makes for an unusual look I love.

We did have a short intro into etching metals in this class. We did not make anything with the pieces we did in class. It was a teaser for us to want to take the next class she has on etching metal & Diane you can count me in on that one. I did have one piece that I etched & liked so I will be creating something in the future with it. I hope you LOVE my necklace as much as I do. I will try to take a photo of me wearing it & share it at a later time. I urge you to go visit Diane's site & see the talent of this designer & teacher extraordinaire! She is teaching at ADORN ME in Houston this March (as is Diana Frey & Riki Schumacher whom are friends & wonderful teachers from California) For those of you in TEXAS this is an amazing chance to top NATIONAL teachers to be in a location near us. Click the ADORN ME Button on my sidebar & come join us! Have a great week my friends. HUGS! Charlene

Resolutions of the Heart Class

I promised you a post on my Resolution's of the Heart Class with Diane Cook & I want to share that with you today! I will post the finished piece in a day or two. I have already shared the Out Post Inn B&B (CLICK HERE to view that post)that I stayed in while taking the class. If you remember the weather was AWFUL that weekend. RAIN, WIND, MUDDY COUNTRY ROADS & BAD HAIR DAYS! Group photo from the class. Back row left is me with my wind blown hair & Carrie (what an amazing pottery artist she is & I am happy to say she will also be attending the all jewelry event ADORN ME (click on the button on my sidebar for more information) in Houston this March. I can't wait to spend time with here again. Front row (left)is teacher extraordinaire... Diane Cook, Agnes & Clara ( who both live in that area & have a space at the twice a year Antique Fair). Indeed it was a WONDERFUL CLASS!! WITH WONDERFUL LADIES!!!!!!

Terrible photo of me... I told you BAD HAIR DAY for me but, here is our wonderful, talented, sweet teacher Diane Cook & I standing by her mannequin with some of her fabulous jewelry pieces. You can see the stained glass windows behind us in this photo. Why? The venue was the beautiful Round Top Public Library which is housed in the Hope Lutheran Church, a historic Gothic building first constructed in 1925. If you click HERE for the post Diane did on the church & class OR on the church name above you will see the link for the historic information. The photo below is of the inside of the church/library. You could feel the divine presence in this room.

Below is a closeup of the pressed tin on the walls of this historic building. They had all been painted white & were stunning.

If you read Diane's post you & the library link you will learn more about the antique German bisque storybook characters that sit atop the library shelves. Below is just one example of MANY of the pieces.

Here is the table set before the class. I loved the woodwork on the stairs leading to the 2nd floor.

Table with class supplies. And you can see a set of book shelves with porcelain piece on top.

Next is a photo of Diane teaching us about different patina's in the library kitchen area.

Below sweet Diane is working with the patina & someones wire. I made the apron Diane is wearing in the Art Exchange that so many of us participated in this past summer. I will have to do another post & show the details another day. We learned SO many techniques in this class. Diane gave us so much information! We worked on basic jewelry design theory, basic wire wrapping, discussions on using vintage pieces to be re-worked into new designs, and we touched on etching. OH HELP DIANE!!!!!!!!! I think that needs to be a WHOLE CLASS! Well worth the time & the money spent on the class. I only wish we had stayed somewhere that we could have continued to work on our piece after class (the library closed at 5:00) As in any class like this, you never complete your piece. You learn technique & go home to finish. I could have seen Carrie & I staying up in our Jammie's, happily working on our necklaces in the B&B dining room.

Below, BUSY classmates working on their pieces.

I hope you have enjoyed the walk down class memory lane. Tell me what you think. I love to hear your comments. Check out the different links & come back to see the finished necklace. Have a great day!

Pink Saturday - Love Is In the Air

I am so glad you joined Beverly & I for another PINK Saturday! Thought I would share a Valentine Tablescape with you today.

My wonderful vintage oil lamp on a PINK & white doily. I LOVE the ruffled edge on the chimney of that lamp. And a hand painted rose plate with lovely PINK roses on it.

A sweet cuddly PINK bear that was a Valentine gift of past. And I LOVE his PINK & white lollipop don't you?

I love this adorable card & I use it every year as decor.

Oh I forgot... Beverly asked us to visit a blog that is new to us & then to share it with everyone else. My choice for today is Jan at Papercraft Pleasures. She does some amazing cards & other paper crafts. I hope you will visit her & please be sure & tell her Charlene sent you. Also, be sure & join Beverly & the other girls playing PINK today by simply clicking on the PINK Saturday button on my sidebar. HAPPY PINK today & everyday!!!!

Out Post Inn @Cedar Creek

This is a photo of The Outpost Inn B&B in Round Top, Texas (of course this shows it in the spring with the bluebonnets & other wild flowers) where I spent the night on Friday night. If you remember me telling you HERE a few days ago that I was going down for a jewelry design class with Diane Cook (yes, I will post about the class in a few days) and it is too far to do in one day. So Friday morning I got in my van & headed south. It was a grey misty day & I enjoyed looking at the scenery as I drove down the Interstate. I don't often travel by myself & I kind of enjoyed just looking around in the peace & quite OR choosing to listen to what I wanted to listen to on the radio. When I pullled into town (Round Top is SMALL) I wanted to find my B&B before dark. The roads were so muddy that I was afraid I might get stuck. As I pulled up the muddy drive this is the main house where my room was located.

The house was built in the late 1800's by a german imigrant family by the name of Hedwig.

As I came around the curve of the road (passing vintage farm equipement) the skies were so very grey & the most beautiful RED BIRD flew right by my window. It truley was a bright spot in all that grey.

The photo on the left shows the barn which was a WONDERFUL building which was the office where you check in, the kitchen/dinning room & a lovely living room area. I would LOVE to have my studio in there!!!! The middle photo is looking up at the house from the barn. And the one on the right is another building that has a suite in it. Don't you love the windmill? (Click on the photos to enlarge if you would like to see more detail).

Here is a view of the living room area. The conference table is to the right of this photo.

And this is the HUGE kitchen area with Lenore (right)the owner whipping up breakfast. And Doris is her right hand for all things needing done. I really enjoyed visiting with these two wonderful women. Lenore is a lovely, interesting, gracious woman that has such vision to create this property. She made the most amazing Apple/Pear Crisp for breakfast. After going into town to eat at Royer's Cafe (which is a huge/well published landmark) & blowing my diet (blue cheese bacon burger & fries...followed by a slice of homemade cherry pie alamode) I went back to the house & Lenore offered her private parlor for TV watching. It was dark & cozy with just the table lamps glowing in the dark. And I took my cheap camera sooooooooooo we had a lot of flash that did not show off the stenciled walls that were done a long time ago & are still in amazing shape. Sorry for the scary green color. Even with using Picnik it still doesn't do them justice. Her choice of fabrics & decor was cute & I LOVED the vintage lamp & wonderful shade.

The next photo is of the front door & entry hall. Remember the time period this house was built in & then look at all those beadboard cupboards for storage. Back then this was not heard of. There was usually NO STORAGE but, the entire entry hall has these built in cabinets running the length of it. You can see the saddle on a stand in one corner. The star is in the middle of the wood floor in the entry hall. Don't you love all of her boots lined up in front of the cabinets? And how about that Texas Longhorn hung on the wall of her art studio. A True TEXAS COWGIRL!

Up the stairs & into my room. I stayed in the Hedwig Room. Again the green walls that were original to the house & all Lenore did was to sand/destress the walls in this room. This is the entry into the room & then it turned with yet another wall of built in (rugged) storage. To the left of this area as you walk in is a single bed for another guest.

But, my bed frame was made from pieces of decorative metal & a gate. Cute the way she used rope to tie the canopy to the rails.

And here is that spare bed I told you about. The room was kind of a mix of femine florals played against western. The photo below shows some of the vignettes in the room. The photo on the top right is a really old bird cage with some flowers on top of it. There was a vintage green photo album with roses on the cover that LISA would have LOVED! And look at the apron used as a curtain on the window in front of the vintage wicker chair.

The bathroom was again GREEN but, done in a fishing decor. A net, floats, lures, oar, pictures & even a mounted big mouth bass fish (over the tub). An old claw foot tub was nice & deep to soak in my hot water to relax. The towels all hung on hooks along with an old metal rake. Rustic but, cute.

Well, that is the end of the B&B photos. Come back & I will do a post on the class. Diane was an amazing teacher. She is the sweetest, kindest soul. The class was taught in a beautiful church which has become the Public Library. So, stay tuned & I hope you enjoyed your tour of The Out Post Inn @ Cedar Creek. And by the way, the Inn is for sale. She has sold 2 of the log cabins & they will be leaving the property this month. She is tired & wants to just spend the days painting in her studio.

Show & Tell Friday AND Silver Sunday

This is a double event post for Show & Tell Friday with Cindy & Silver Sunday with Beth. I will be gone for my class with Diane Cook but, I didn't want to miss playing with all of you. So, let's start with the photo above. I love the SILVER candlestick lamps. They have beautiful beaded silk shade & they have a wonderful GOLDEN GLOW when the lights are low. In front of them are photos of my MUCH LOVED & often talked about Grandmother. To the left of her photos is one cup & saucer from her "Company Dishes".

A little close up of the SILVER candlestick (& Grandma).

Another fairly new obsession of mine is pretty shakers. I wish you could see the sparkle of the cut crystal a little better in these photos. They are beautiful!!!!!! I bought them for myself while out Christmas shopping one day last month. The SILVER tops are in good shape. Often the tops of the salt shaker has been corroded & the crystal etched by the salt. These are perfect.

Here are a few of the ones I already had in my collection but, the tall beauties in the back were one of my gifts from SANTA this year (thank "honey" I love them). Again their crystal is in wonderful shape & the cut exquisite. But, the SILVER tops do a few tiny dents in them. They are much older than the ones in the photo above. The dealer was guessing early 1900's

And the last item for SILVER Sunday is my silver candy dish. I thought it appropriate to share since Valentines Day is coming up soon. I love the work on this piece.

So, which of my treasures is your favorite today? I'll be a bit late getting around to visit all of you since I'm in class but, I'll get there ASAP. Now you know how to go see the others playing... the buttons are on the sidebar & will take you there in one click. Have a wonderful weekend & THANK YOU for stopping by to visit & for leaving a comment. HUGS!

I'm Late! I'm Late for a very important date... I know that's a line from something else but, it works for Silver Sunday! Sorry Beth & all the other Silver Girls I guess I was just so excited yesterday about telling you about the event I just signed up for that I FORGOT my silver post. The beautiful SILVER TRAY CHALKBOARD above is the post & tutorial as well as a WONDERFUL GIVE AWAY from Jill. Be sure to click HERE to enter. So without any more to do let me show you a photo of the silver Tipping Tea Pot I shared last week. This is actually a photo I found showing it in it's just polished glory. Isn't she a dream? I think she is circa late 1800's or very early 1900'w. On the handle there are 2 little rings of bone which helped to stop the heat of the coming off the lower handle from heating up the area you would put your hand on. Clever weren't they? Also in this photo you can see the beautiful floral pattern etched into the sides of this tea pot. And below you can see the monogram that had been engraved on the side. No, it's not my initials but, I do love this tea pot. Also below you can see my beautiful silver tea strainer that I use to catch the tea leaves as I pour the tea into the cups.

These beauties below are Reed & Barton spoons that have a different flowers on the handles. Two on the left have roses, middle is hollyhocks, & the other two I can't figure out what flower that is supposed to be. I also have one that has a beautiful pansy(my favorite flower) on it but, I think someone had already picked it up when I shot this photo. Aren't they wonderful? I got them at an Antique Store last year during their January Sale!!!!!

And this is an older photo (which I think I shared way back when) of a big sack of silverware I found at another Antique Mall. I think I paid a whopping $25 for all of that silverware! I love to set my table with mismatched silver & also to use silverware in some of my crafting. So when I find it I scoop it up.

Sorry I was soooooooooooooooo late in posting. Go read the previous post about a wonderful Art Event I will be going to in April because you might want to sign up & go with me!!!! After reading that I hope you will click HERE so you can go & join Beth & the other girls. Have a great week!

Petticoats & Parasols Art Event

You know that I told you one of the things I wanted to strive for in 2010 was KNOWLEDGE & I can tell you that I have started the year off with a bang in striving for this goal. As I told you in a previous post, I will be going to Resolutions of the Heart jewelry design class with Diane Cook this coming week & I am excited about this. While talking to Joanna back a couple of weeks ago she told me about an Art Event in Savannah, GA called Petticoats & Parasols. This is being put on by the beautiful Jennifer Hayslip. I WANTED TO GO but, was hesitant to spend the money knowing ADORN ME was approaching in March. But, then it was announced that none other than JO PACKHAM would be the key note speaker on Thursday night. THAT DID IT!!!! I HAD TO GO!!!! I asked "Honey" & he said OK! OH I AM OVER THE MOON EXCITED!!!!!!!!! And another fun thing about this event is that I will get to see Christine again as she is one of the teachers at the event. Christine & I met last April when we were in Diana Frey's Secret Shaker Doll Class. Can you hear me squealing with delight with all the fun events I have coming up? Thank you Joanna! Thank you Blogland for opening these doors for us to all network & find out about all the wonder out there. And thank you "Honey" for being the best & most understanding hubby in the whole world. You are MY HERO!

Blue Willow Child's Tea Set

Welcome to Show & Tell Friday hosted by my sweet friend Cindy. I have been a bit of a slacker for the last few weeks through the holidays & I have not participated. But, today I want to share one of my Christmas presents from my dear friend Susan. There's a little history behind this whole story so bear with me.

MANY years ago as a child I wanted a Blue Willow Tea Set because my MUCH LOVED Grandmother had that pattern of dishes. One Christmas my dream came true & Santa brought me the doll sized tea set. I was 4 or 5 years old & had a cousin about 2 years younger than I. ALL day we played tea party & after supper we went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. Standing on chairs wearing Grandma's aprons we washed & played & were so happy UNTIL.......... Jane dropped the tea pot into the water & broke about half of my new tea set. MANY tears followed & I have thought of that set often. Once in Brimflield, MA at the big flea market there I found a boxed set just like mine but, the cost was prohibitive at the time.

And then back in November Susan & I were shopping in an Antique Mall in Dallas & I saw this Blue Willow child's tea set in a display case. I told her the story of heartbreak many Christmas's past. I thought of putting the set in lay away (it's Christmas & I wasn't supposed to buying for me I told myself) but, decided not to. Susan asked me if I wanted her to tell "Honey" about it for my gift & I said "NO! I wouldn't want him to know how expensive something like that is because he'd think I was crazy". Later "Honey" asked what do you want for Christmas? And all I could come up with was The Tea Set. I gave him the information & that was the last I thought of it because a few days later a SMALL jewelry shaped box appeared wrapped under the tree.

So, on the night before Christmas Eve, Susan came over for dinner & for our gift exchange (she was leaving to go visit family for Christmas). After a yummy dinner we sat down & as I opened my box I squealed with delight!!!!!!!!!! MY TEA SET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now this set is a little larger than the doll sized one I received as a child but, I'm just a bigger child now!!!! Isn't it simply DIVINE? THANK YOU SWEET FRIEND!!!!!!

I guess I truly am having a second childhood after all I have a new doll (Noel) & now a new child's tea set! Some day I''ll worry about what I want to be when I grow up but until then I want to thank you for allowing my wander down memory lane. Do you think Grandma smiled that evening as big as Susan & I did? Susan admitted that she had even been willing to ride over there with "Honey" to buy it & play DUMB to the whole "it wasn't there" game. Hee Hee she really got me this year! OK go see the other girls & see what they brought for Show & Tell! HUGS!