Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Two Peas In A Pod!

Pea Pod

The weekend of November 6th (sorry I am so behind in posting this) I had the blessing of spending time in San Antonio with my amazingly talented, sweet, “Secret Sister” Diane Cook. We met about a year ago after being introduced through another precious friend/mentor Diana Frey. I adored Diane immediately & since we both live in Texas & both love jewelry making, have a lot of things we love in common… our friendship blossomed quickly. I have taken a number of classes from Diane (& she is again published in the new December/January 2010 edition of Belle Armoire Magazine (by Stampington)

BAJ Winter[1]

& LOVE her style & designs. I am so proud of you my precious friend.

010 Charlene & Daine For this weekend we met to take a class by the internationally known artist & teacher Mary Hettmansperger at Wired Design. The first photo is a picture of the piece I made that weekend. I named it Two Peas in a Pod… named for Diane & I!!!!!

DSCN2791

The first thing I had to conquer was my FEAR of FIRE & the torch!

DSCN2813

Which I did!!!!! When the class started & we were all in the workroom & Mary lit that torch with a HUGE WOOOOOOOSH sound & a flame that shot half way across the table… I started backing up & they all started laughing saying “Oh this is the torch virgin”. Yep! Diane knew I had been leary of the torch I used in Deryn & Diana’s class at ADORN ME & those were tiny. Oh Deryn you would be so proud of me now! And she thought it was time for me to conquer that fear & learn more metal techniques.Mary & I cropped

Mary had me working on all kinds of things in a very short while. Above you can see Mary & I after class. SHE IS A JEWEL of a teacher. You can go HERE for a short clip of her teaching a technique.

DSCN2805

These are a few examples she had in class. We learned to work with the metal to shape, torch & connect different pieces. The cold connections were very interesting.

DSCN2806

We also worked on enameling.

DSCN2786

Enameling is very interesting. You have to be VERY careful when working with it because you can not breathe ANY particles since they are minutely ground pieces of glass that go on as powders. You then heat them with the torch & when they cool here are some examples of what you get.

DSCN2790

I love the piece above. It is achieved by applying the enamel & then the little “bumps” are pieces of thick wire that we made ball up (with that torch) & after punching a hole we inserted the wire (with one ball already on one end) & applied heat to cause the other ball to form & SHRINK into place. SUCH A COOL TECHNIQUE!!!!! Thank you Diane for thinking to include me in this class & asking me to join you for the weekend. Come back for the next post where I will show you a little “field trip” we took to my favorite spot for breakfast in San Antonio & I’ll share a special recipe from there. If you would like to see the post Diane did of this class go HERE!

Hugs!!!!! Charlene

18 comments:

LuLu Kellogg said...

How wonderful! You are learning so much my friend! I love your "Two Peas in a Pod" piece...the colors together are stunning!

Love,
LuLu~*xoxo

VS said...

Hey Miss Chalene Pearl..
Diane's getting so much glory this week in all area's of her life & she soooo deserves it. Such a talent!!
I blogged about how blessed I was to have met her, she led me to you!
Love your peas in a pod & yes, that fire ascares me BAD!!! You are BRAVE!!!
Hugs,
SP

Monica said...

Glad you're having fun, Charlene! And how wonderful your secret is???!!!!!!!!!!
Big hugs!
Monica and Kim xoxo

Tina said...

Sounds like you had a great time Charlene - it´s always so great to learn new stuff and tecniques. Love your 'two peas in a pod' photo.
xo Tina

Anonymous said...

Oh, I am VERY proud of you, Charlene! Great work!

Unknown said...

You are a braver girl than I! I would be totally fearful of the torch! Love your jewels - so pretty!! {HUGS} Heidi

Jan Hennings said...

You girls have too much fun!! I'll be having a peek at this magazine too!

Sonya Badgley said...

How lucky for you that you both live in Texas and have a chance to take these classes! I love your two peas in a pod creation. It's beautiful. I would love to learn how to do that! Thanks for sharing with us, Charlene.
Blessings,
Sonya

Hearts Turned said...

You just have the most amazing adventures, Charlene! Love the peas in a pod--gorgeous!

I've not played with a torch yet, either...sounds scary...but fun!

Hope you're having a wonderful night, my friend!

Julie

Blondie's Journal said...

Your classes sound like so much fun! You really do develop a sort of 'Sisterhood', don't you? That's so nice.

I love your piece, so cute and nicely done!

XO,
Jane

Createology said...

How fortunate you are to be able to take a class from an expert and learn some new exciting techniques. I love the super artistic pieces you have made. Happy creating...

Diana said...

Looks as though you gals had a very good time. Riki, Susan and I will be taking a class with Mary in February. Looking forward to it. Playing with fire can be so much fun but you certainly have to have respect for it.
Great job of conquering your fears.
Hugs
Diana

Diane said...

It was a great time, and I am so thankful you came along with me Charlene! You are the other pea in our little pod, and I luv you bunches!! Thanks for the sweet hip hooray for me~you are the BEST!!

just me... jan said...

Charlene....OH MY GAWD! Your pea pod is to die for! You did a fantastic job! I LOVE the coloring in your piece. Y'all must have had a wonderful weekend.

just me....jealous....jan

Robin Thomas said...

Wow, love this stuff. I am taking some classes at Art and Soul in July that require some of these tools. I hope I can master it like you have! Well done!

Unknown said...

Look at you gals GOI!!! Fire it up!!!

Holly Loves Art said...

What fun! Two peas in a pod... how lovely. This would be something I would love. Thanks for sharing Sweetie. Looking forward to seeing you in March.
xo
holly

Anonymous said...

I love the two peas in a pod. Joey and I have always called each other that! I hope to see it in person soon, love you sweet friend-c

Related Posts with Thumbnails