66 Degrees Ferinheight what the...

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Right after Tropical Storm Lee blew by the weather couldn't be any nicer for the month of September. Well...just for a couple of days but I'll take it!

I spent most of Saturday making art journals and one leather bracelet.

This one is for my step son. At first I was going to make a double wrap but I thought the stone was to feminine. That's when I decided to add some brass elements. Tell me what you all think?

I've also been planning for my tiara for Dia de los Muertos. I bought some pastel skull beads so far. I was thinking all week long about these skull beads and then they became OUT OF STOCK!!! I was so ill about the whole mess. I think too long about things. I really need to work on not doing that.

Sarah will be teaching an awesome class at The Bead Shop in October for making tiaras. I will be there along with some other fun people. So come on over and join us!

Yours truly will be teaching 3 workshops this fall on how to make those popular leather wrap bracelets. Yay! The first one is coming up soon, Thursday, Sept. 22nd 6 - 7:30. To sign up call The Bead Shop at 504.895.6161 and they will ink you in.

Go to workshops at the top of the page for a list of dates. Also on the right I have a link of workshops in the New Orleans area. The Bead Shop has a whole list of current classes from now until December. Thomas Mann is giving a few workshops in the upcoming months.

Stop reading this blog and go sign up for some great workshops!

Namaste
Kalaya

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The Risk to Bloom

It all started with an acorn button and grew from there. In an earlier post I mentioned this button swap blog hop, that I am participating in, and how I was immediately drawn to the acorn button. Every day I would hold it in my hand, feel its essence, exam it, and then put it down. This lasted for about 2 weeks. Then I remembered I had etched an oak tree on to brass when making buttons for my partner Kylie of Lotus Out Loud . And... so begins the journey of creating something with this wonderful acorn button, which only started yesterday. Haha! Etched brass was copper riveted to a piece of oak. Merci beaucoup Papi for finding some oak! I am using what Jesse taught me in his workshop . It was the first time trying his technique. It worked beautifully! The riveted brass was then captured with a piece of pierced copper. Voila! And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk to bloom.

Pepe Jump Ring Maker...New Is Not Always Better...

For the follow up (2014) on jump ring makers go here . Introducing Pepe's new AND improved Jump Ring maker... When I received my new jump ring maker I knew the new model was more compact but did not expect it to be so unstable. It was precarious but I accepted it. After all I will have jump rings galore with a single swipe! The outcome outweighed the little difference and yes...I am lazy! hahaha!!! To the bench I go to test things out. Test No. 1 The first set of jump rings turned out great! I was satisfied. ☺ I then received an email saying that the top plate (cover) that came with the system was too thick and needed to be replaced. Okay. I receive the new plate but did not test it out until some friends were over and wanted a demo. Well...it was difficult to place the handpiece collar over the plate. It did not fit over the coil holding device very well. I had to finagle it to go in and when I started sawing the handpiece did not move sm

South of the border in Oaxaca, Mexico

I've been idle for too long but I have lots to share with you! Oh where to begin? Let me first say that Oaxaca is a place full of beautiful people. The city was VERY safe and the place we stayed in was absolutely wonderful. And the very best thing about it all...the plane ride was only 3.5 hours from New Orleans! Gotta love that. I don't want to bore you with all the details so I think I will stick to the art side of things. Oaxaca is known for their textiles but I didn't take any pictures of any textiles. :( Lo siento. There was this place that we stumbled upon called La Mano Magica #26 Macedonio Alcala 203, Centro . This place had a variety of high end pieces for the taking and a price. Off to the side we noticed a show going on and I immediately knew the work. It was the work of ceramicist Alfonso Castillo. One of the the great folk artist of Mexico. Eeeee!!! How exciting! FAMILIA CASTILLO Candelabro Ofrenda a mi papa Alfonso died i

Kalaya Steede

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