FabUously Creative Weekend

Ah, my favorite way to spend a weekend . . . knee deep in vintage bling, German glass glitter, some serious chemistry and FabUlously talented friends.   Last month, I started on Saturday in Fullerton at Diane Cook’s Etched and Layered Cuff class.  Diane and her husband drove all the way from Texas to teach 2 classes out here and I was so excited to see her on my turf even if we had just seen each other in March at Round Top.  Diane is an amazingly talented jewelry designer and teacher.  She shared so many cool techniques in this class.  We began with a brass cuff blank, stamped it with our favorite rubber stamp and then the serious chemistry started.  I’m so bummed I didn’t get a picture of Diane in the cutest yellow polka dot apron and matching gloves, wearing her safety face mask.  Totally essential when working with chemicals, but so not me!  I did see that she posted a pic (minus the mask) on her blog too cute! 

After the etching process was finished, we layered up our cuffs with filigree, bling and a touch of sari silk.  I brought my layering pieces with me, but Diane had a vintage ear bob (earring) that was calling my name.  So, my cuff took an entirely different direction when I got it home and I love it!

Here’s Diane during one of her many demos . . .

 
Here we are after class.  She’s such a Texas cutie!

Then on Sunday, I headed out to the Urban Barn in Escondido for a Glass Glitter Cone and Jewelry workshop by the uber-talented Deb Hodge (Breathing Beside Us).  If you’ve never been to the Barn, you’ve just got to go!  It’s a slice of Round Top in Southern California.  So much inspiration and eye candy; pure heaven!  The Barn is closed on Sundays, so we were free to roam the entire store – OMG!  I didn’t take any pics, but their blog banner says it all  . . .

 
We started with our cones and they came out FabUlous!  While the cones were drying, we worked on our frames.  Deb is so generous with her kits and class supplies.  She gave us 5 different pre-soldered frames in our kits to use in our pieces.  Some were already patinaed and some were left for us to choose.  I decided on the same frame Deb used on the class sample with my grandparent’s wedding photo.  It came out so beautiful.  We even glittered the backs of our soldered frames; such a wonderful touch. 

And here’s one of my necklaces.  This is my mom on a replica airplane in front of her childhood home in New Orleans.  The house is still there today although it’s no longer in the family.  Sure wish we still had that airplane; just say’in.

I have a few other necklaces to finish and will post them later.  Can’t wait for the next FabUlously creative weekend.