Festival of Arts & Pageant of The Masters

If you're ever in Southern California during the months of July or August, you have GOT to check out the Festival of Arts & Pageant of The Masters in Laguna Beach. I wish I could have recommended this earlier in the summer, but at that point I had never been.

Admission to the festival is only $7/adult and $4/students and seniors, so you can't beat that! The pageant is more expensive, and it varies depending on where you're seated and what day it is.

The open-air gallery of the festival isn't huge, you could see it in a couple of hours if you're pressed for time, or you could spend the whole day. You can also opt to go on a guided tour, or just wander around on your own. My family and I enjoyed the tour because we got to meet the artists and listen to them talk about their art. It's really amazing because the artists have to be juried into the show by a committee, and then they are judged throughout the festival to determine if they will be invited back. It's very competative, and the exhibits are quite impressive.

I wish I could share more pictures, but most of them are copyrighted.

In addition to browsing through the gallery, you can create some art of your own if you'd like. This is my husband making a print.

I have to say, the lady helping him was a piece of work herself! You definitely want to follow her directions very closely, or everyone there will know it! In a loud, but funny way... She made us laugh. :)

I regret that I wasn't able to see the Pageant of The Masters. Really regret! But I will definitely catch it next year. The sets and the people are designed to look exactly like famous paintings. But don't think "costume," think "artwork."

So, I hope you can put it in your future vacation plans... Maybe I'll see you there!

Alisa

Friday Finds

I decided I need a new serving bowl. Maybe a few. So I started shopping around and found some beautiful handmade stoneware and ceramics! Now, I'm thinking I need new dishes to go with those serving bowls...

I love this! Especially the deep red color. I found it at Sheila's Art

Pretty! These are at OC Pottery. He's practically my neighbor! Maybe I could pick them up and get free shipping... :)

Ok, you HAVE to click on this link and look at the beautiful detail on this plate! You can't see it in this picture, but there are other pictures in the listing that show it up close. 

I might have to take up knitting and get a cat, just so I can buy one of these adorable Kitty-Proof Yarn Bowls!

Alisa

Wow... It's a Whole New World!

Did you read my post "Unique" from a week ago or so? I was all excited about drawing original pictures and paying to have them made into custom stamps. Well, looky here!.....It's The Stampmaker! I haven't been this excited about finding a new product since PMC!

Watch and be amazed....

This is on my birthday wish list (hint, hint!)!

Alisa

Cameo Factory

This summer my husband and I celebrated our 21st anniversary by taking a trip to Italy. It was amazing! My dream vacation! One of things I enjoyed most was visiting a cameo factory in Pompeii. We got to watch a video demonstrating how they are made. It is so incredible to me that people can carve such detailed and intricate pictures by hand with just some chisels, and they've been doing it the same way for thousands of years! I found this video that you might enjoy that explains the process.

I actually wish I could have spent more time there, and that I could have watched an artist, first hand, making one. It really does fascinate me!

The hardest (but most fun!) part of the visit was picking one out for myself. There were so many to choose from, it was a little overwhelming.... But I managed! :)

This is my cameo :)

So cool. I really admire people with such artistic talent!

Alisa

Unique

One of the joys I find with making jewelry is trying to make something completely unique and handmade. Of course I make jewelry with components I buy, but I enjoy making as much of my jewelry myself as is possible. I like how that idea pushes me to learn new techniques and keeps things exciting and new.

I was recently asked to design a necklace for my nephew who had earned his Eagle Award in the Boy Scouts. Being a guy's necklace, I wanted it to be simple... just an eagle on a leather cord. Sometimes I use rubber stamps to impress a design into Precious Metal Clay. It's a simple way to add texture or a picture to a piece of jewelry. So I started looking for a small rubber stamp that had a simple and masculine image of an eagle on it. I didn't have any luck. Most of the stamps I found were too large for a necklace... at least for the simple necklace I had in mind. The only one I found that was small enough was rather cartoony, more something for a child.

So... I decided to make my own! I didn't actually make the rubber stamp (which some people carve by hand, I found! Like Corrabelle in her Etsy shop The Mayberry Sparrow) but I drew an eagle that was exactly what I had in mind, and had it made into a rubber stamp. I was really pleased with the way it turned out, and with the fact that it was truly unique. I think my nephew liked it too! :)

This is my drawing. It has to be fairly simple, because too much detail ends up getting lost in the clay. Especially when it's going to be a small stamp.

 I took a picture of the stamp, but it is the clear kind and didn't show up well....

...but this is the completed necklace.

I'm so excited about this new method for making jewelry that won't be found anywhere else, I can't even tell you! I've had a couple more stamps made, and this time I ordered them from an Etsy shop called Dragonfly Buzz. She makes laser cut custom stamps. I do like to buy handmade when I can!

I drew the shark for a key chain I made for my husband. He likes sharks because they don't stop swimming. They have to keep moving forward, even when they sleep, or they will drown... That's just how their gills work. That pretty much describes my husbands outlook on life!

This is inspired by my mom. Not only does she collect lighthouses, but she is a constant, guiding beam of light.

And this dove represents my best friend. Every time I go to her in a frenzy, which is often, she listens patiently and calms me with her practical wisdom. She brings me peace!

This is the clasp for a bracelet in progress. :)

Alisa

Friday Finds

With Father's Day just a few weeks away, it's time to start shopping handmade! Give those artists time to create for you, especially if you want something custom. Browse through Etsy or Artfire, or anyplace else you like to shop for handmade items, and run a search for "fathers day." You might be surprised at all the creative things you'll find that you've never even thought of. I was!

Valet / Keepsake Box, Leopardwood with Birdseye Maple

This is a beautiful box, and Knotheads Woodshed has more where this came from.

Dry Spice Rubs

For the BBQ lover in your life. These spices and a few nice ribeye steaks, and my husband would be in heaven! Check out everything Cook Outside the Box has to offer.

Sapele Case for Apple iPhone 4

This is great, huh? Yes, it is. Find more at Signimade on Etsy.

Nerd 4 Life Mug

Ha ha! Your dad's probably not a nerd, even if he IS a genius, but this made me laugh! My husband is an engineer, so... yeah. ;)

My contribution to a happy Father's Day is a discount for you! Use coupon code DADDAY11, from now through Father's Day (June 19), when you order either of these customizable gifts:

Hand Stamped Sterling Silver Tie Bar

Mixed Metal Necklace

Alisa

Water Casting... Thoughts?

A few months ago I took a water casting class at The Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, CA. Fun? Yes!

Water casting is pouring molten metal into a pot of water, where it almost immediately solidifies in random shapes. As students, we each got to melt a mixture of sterling silver and a bit of copper in a crucible with an acetylene torch, which we then poured into the pot of water. It was fun (and a little scary!) to use the torch in one hand (a much larger and hotter torch than I usually use), and swish molten silver around in dish in the other. I kept visualizing myself splashing some out on my foot or someones pant leg. Exciting! :) We could either pour the silver directly into the pot of water, or pour it into a bundle of straw which had soaked in the water and was standing up in the pot. I wish I had pictures to show you of the straw method, but I didn't go that route, so no pics. They came out in sort of a long shape with vertical grooves in them. They almost looked like some kind of crystallized mineral or something. They were pretty cool, but I watched several unsuccessful attempts, and decided to just use the pot of water.... It was a larger target to aim at! I had time to do it twice, and ended up with two very different pieces.

This was the first one I made. The metal hits the water and cools immediately in whatever shape it splashes into. Each piece also comes out with an interesting patina. The colors in the patina depend on several factors like the temperature and length of time the metal was heated, the combination of metals used, and the speed of cooling. We didn't get into trying to acheive a particular patina... we were just newbies, but I kind of like the golds and greens and pinks in this one.

And this is my second piece. I like the more compact shape of this one. I played around with the patina a little after I got home because I wanted to accentuate the high spots by darkening the nooks and crannies. I like the effect, and I also like how, over time, the high spots have darkened to a goldish color because of the copper mixed in with the silver. However, the original patina had some of the same greens and pinks that the first one has... maybe I should have just left it alone. Trial and error. Live and learn.

Ever since I took this class I have wondered about making some pieces like this to sell. They are very different from my usual style. I normally like to plan something out ahead of time, and then make my jewelry according to plan. These water cast pieces are completely random. I suppose with practice I could control the outcome a bit, but not much. You get what you get. Maybe that's good?

What do you think?

Alisa