Grief, Honoring those we lost and Some Love to you all

So, I rarely use this blog anymore, but there are a couple things I wanted to share / do.  So much has happend for me the past couple years and my life is not the same as it was before.

I am still creating, and passionate about it.  It is still my full time job.  My kids have grown huge and my heart can barely take the amazing humans they are becoming.  This has not been without its challenges, but honestly, we blessed every single day.

This year in February, we lost my dad.  Although we knew this day was coming (he had liver disease from drinking), it none the less, is still hard to process when it happens.  Something that has helped me to cope is the new spiritual path I have been on, and the healing it has offered to me.  If you would like to read more on that, I have a Facebook page here for it and you can check out my blog that is on my website also.  I am keeping it sort of separate from my beads and jewelry, but not really because it is all coming together in ways I never though possible.  anyhow.............

I felt really led to post a video today on grief.  I know there are a lot of people out there hurting and missing people so deeply that they feel they cannot go on.  I shared some of my thoughts on grief, and I am offering to do a free Mediumship reading a day until Christmas, if I can.  I love that I have the ability to connect people with those they miss and want to help ease some hearts if possible this holiday season.  I cannot promise who I get, or how in depth the reading is.  I am still learning.  However, I don't mind trying for you.  The video is here if you want to watch it.

In my short time of doing readings for people, I have felt how stuck some can become.  They simply cannot get past the loss.  It's as if they feel getting past it, or moving forward, will somehow dishonor or mean they forget their loved one.  But that is so far from the truth.  They want us to live!  That is how we honor them.  To move on.  And move on doesn't mean you aren't still grieving.  You will also mourn them.  But, it mean, you honor them by doing the things they would want you to do.  You honor them by sharing the way they loved with others.  You honor them by sharing their stories and laughing while you remember them.

In honor of grief, (and because I want to preserve these videos, and the only way for me to get them off of my fathers churches Facebook was to embedd them here), please enjoy my father doing what he loved.  Singing and playing guitar.  He was a beautiful soul who loved big and always had a corny joke.








I am so thankful I have these, and wanted to preserve them in more then one place.  And since I cannot seem to download them from facebook, this was the next best way.  Anyhow, enjoy.  This voice always sang me that Ant Rubber tree plant song when I was sad when I was little (and maybe even as a teen!).  I know he is still around me, and I am blessed to be able to experience that now and again.  I get his signs, and I hear his corny catch phrases at just the right moment. 

So remember that you are not alone.  We all grieve those we love- almost always silently.  But never alone.  Sending love to all who need it this Holiday. Please message me on my Facebook page is you could really use a reading.  I will give it my best to bring you healing.  I will do as many as I can- though I may not get to everyone.  But I will try.  Love to you all.

Long Time no Beads

by Staci Louise Smith

I know this blog has been vacant for sometime now.  Life gets in the way like that at times.  However, it has been calling me back. I miss blogging about my creative life.  I miss that interaction with everyone, because you know what?  We inspire each other!  

I am prepping for Bead Fest Philly again, and have been hitting the polymer clay after a bit of a hiatus.  I am both intimidated and excited.  This year I have some new work that mixes polymer clay with two part epoxy resin and crystals- I must say, I am loving these so much!  

Dragon Eye bead / polymer clay, epoxy resin, crystals, paint, other mixed media stuff

Due to life's complexities, I know I am not going to have the amount of beads I like to at Bead Fest this year.  I do know I will have enough.  I used to freak out and work 16 hours days prepping for this show making everything I know how to.  This year, I am focusing on making what my heart is telling me to, rather than what I think others would want to buy.  I am listening to my intuition.  I will have a table full of unique items for sale in addition to my beads, like I have in the past.  I will have my jewelry, ceramic offering bowls and other things.   

You can find all that event info here on my Facebook page.  Please follow it if you have not in the past.  It is the best place to keep up with where I will be and what is going on in my creative world.

I also recently finished converting y Gold Rush class I did for Craft Art EDU into a PDF file you can purchase in my shop.  I was so very sad to see Craft Art EDU disband, but I am thankful they gave us our classes.  The tutorial is an entire class in one!  You learn to form the polymer clay beads, do the faux gold, cure and paint them with a crackle to make them look like stone, and then it even gives complete instructions to make two different necklaces.  You can purchase that here if you are interested in learning some techniques.  The best part is that this class is so full of different techniques and tips, you can use them many different ways.  I really believe this class can take you on a creative journey to new places! 

Well guys, it feels good to be back!  I am hoping to also do some posts to highlight some of the wonderful tutorials we have on this blog.  Click the tutorial link above to see a list of all the wonderful tips and designs posted by various artists over the years.  

2016 Ornaments and a Product Review

Every year I make ornaments from polymer clay.  This year I was sorely behind.  I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do.  Last year I made my usual styles into ornaments, and did a run of Blue Moons to commemorate the blue moon that occurred in December.

This year, nothing was coming to me.  I thought, how can I commemorate this year?  Its been quite a year, with the election and all the great singer songwriter poets we have lost.

And then it hit me.

I wanted to make some ornaments to embrace peace, love, and acceptance.  

First I decided to honor Leonard Cohen, and make something inspired by his song Anthem.  I love the line, "there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in".  The other part of that inspiration was Karen's post that included a picture of this sculpture by Paige Bradley, which I LOVE.

So I decided to make a heart, with gold shimmer in the cracks, and wire wings.

I added the lyrics and dated them as well

Then I made some star ornaments, to honor David Bowie, aka Ziggy Stardust, aka Starman

On the back I wrote "turn and face the strange" because I think it really fits for every single day of our lives. They are also dated.

 I also wanted to make something to do with Peace.  This election has caused so much chaos.  So I made a new design, a peace sign, with wooden textured parts.  It was really fun to make.  On the back, trying to stick with lyrics, I wrote, "Imagine all the people living life in peace".

So, my ornaments are finally done and listed in my destash group. (How my destash group workds: just click that link, ask to join if you are not a member, and then claim items in comments.  I invoice you for them and ship)  

Better late then never, right?  (on top of the normal holiday rush and business, I have had sick kids.  I am so behind).

Anyhow...................since I made a new ornament, I had to make a mold for it!  Thus, the review portion of this blog....

I have been wanting to try that molding plastic, the one that you put in warm water and mold it.  I thought it may capture detail better, or yet, last longer then my typical two part silicone molds.

I purchased this brand, InstaMorph, from Amazon.

I followed the instructions carefully. 

I used water that was 150 degrees as directed and poured in some of the little white plastic balls.  They are supposed to congeal into one piece.

But they never lost their ball shape textures.  So I started again, because the cool thing is, you can re use this product over and over again

 I heated the water again, this time making it between 160-170 degrees

These looked a bit more transparent this time and congealed.

 So I smooshed them together and tried to make it as smooth as possible, but it was hard to get the ball texture out of them

I went ahead and covered my peace sign anyway, hoping that it would smooth out by applying pressure

 While that was setting, I tried again and went a tad hotter.  It did get much more moldable- however, the work time is quick, by the time it cools enough to handle it, and you begin to work it smooth, it begins to harden.

When the plastic was cool, I tried to remove my mold.  it stuck to the polymer a bit, and it did NOT make a smooth mold at all.  As you can see- it never lost that ball like texture- and the sample I did in polymer on the lower right side is terrible

 So, even though I think this is a cool product, and it is amazingly strong, not a fan of it for molds.  I will find a use for it, but it was way more trouble then it was worth.  I ended using my good old trust two part silicone molds.

I actually have an article in the current issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry on making molds with two part silicone.  

(I am also honored to be the Designer Collection in the current issue).  So grab it if you want to have a copy of my mold article- or take a peek at the issue because I was so happy with the pieces they picked to be showcased in the
Designer Collection (12 pages of my jewelry!  squeeee!).

You can pick up the current issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry here, or at some local art and craft stores as well as Barnes and Noble.

I know I haven't been blogging much lately, so I hope you don't mind that I crammed like 3 blogs into one!!!!

Christmas is in 3 days, and I know everyone is just mad busy!  I truly hope you enjoy your holiday, no matter what you celebrate, may it be filled with love, and family and friends, peace and wellness.  

Bead Fest 2016: Prep, Teaching, Friends and Beads

You know, on Greys Anatomy, when Meridith says, "you're my person"?  I love that so much.  When I go to Bead Fest, I think that about everyone, they are my people!  

I have experienced so much kindness and friendship from my fellow bead community, that I leave Bead Fest happy and overwhelmed (in a good way).  

I never vend there in Spring, but have been teaching there the last two years.  So, in order to do that, I must prepare for classes, and make kits, and also make beads for students to purchase or to trade with friends.  

Prep can be a grueling process.  However, once I get over the boredom of making all the little bits and pieces, I really really enjoy assembling the kits and getting excited to teach my classes. 

I had to make blanks for a carving class, condition polymer, anneal tons and tons of wire and label and package everything.  There were bead mixes to make, bronze clay beads to make and instructions to write and print.  

This year I taught Wild Wire Choker- which is a wonderful beginning /intermediate wire class.  It is a short 3 hour, but intense class.  It is really packed with lots of different spins and tricks on very basic wire techniques.  You also learn to use sari silk and make your own crimps from scrap wire.  It is such a great class, and I really think that my students will find lots of ways to use the things they learned.  Mostly, I hope it is freeing, and allows them to relax, and learn to go with the flow, even if the wire isn't doing what they thought it should do.  

Our class was first thing Sunday morning at 8:30 am!

My son Aiden had come with me to Bead Fest to shop and help out in my classes.  He is a great assistant and fun to shop with too!

Set up was a bit frantic on Sunday morning when we ran into a hiccup and had to swap out all the tables in our room!  I honestly looked a hot mess!  You can see the desperation on my face!  LOL! But we did it, and room 18 was ready for the day in time.

My class was full of amazing students and it was nice to see some familiar faces in there too!  I had some students who had never touched wire before and they walked out wearing their finished necklaces.  Everyone buckled down and wrapped and wrapped wire.  I was really proud of how willing they were to get to it and work, and how much diversity and creativity went into their pieces.

Here are the students / student work

Then we had an hour and a half to clean up, eat and set up for the next class

Aiden decided to practice his carving a bit more before class.

Up next was carving polymer.  Another wonderful class, that is 50% safety and 50% fun.  I was thrilled to see that by the end of class most everyone was being careful to not carve toward open flesh and they seemed to enjoy themselves.  Carving is so very relaxing, and the students agreed that is was something they would definitely do again!

Here is the project we did

and here is their work!  I was amazed at how fast everyone picked it up.  I also love the individuality of student work!

We closed Bead Fest classes as the LAST CLASS STANDING.  We had fun laughing about how they were circling waiting for our class to be over so they could clean it up.  They were rolling carpets up as we packed our bags.....lol  It was a great class and we had a lot of fun!

Of course, I also had beads I made to sell and trade, some necklace samples and I also made some rings.  I loved Marsha Neal's new spiral beads and so I made her ring from one (and one for me, and another to make sure she could find one she liked) because she is always such a great friend to me.  I have been practicing rings, and just thought this was a great opportunity.  Anyhow, here is some of the stuff I made for the show.

Marsha Neal and Jenny Davis-Reazor were both together in Artisan Alley.  They were kind enough to let Aiden and I stash our stuff behind their booths while we shopped on saturday.  Their booths were our little home away from home, and that is just one of the things I love about my creative fun beady friends.  They are more like family!  I also got to see Suze Weinberg and Diana Ptaszynski, stopped by CB&Co to see Kristi Evenson, got to visit Yvonne of My Elements, just to name a few.  I got to shop a bit with Heather Marston and her daughter and got hugs from Dianne Miller too.  Heather Boardman took time to drop by and I got to see her for a bit too.  I tried to at least say hi to everyone, but I will admit, I was very distracted by all the beads and on a hunt for some very specific things.  

(Bottom row center is my son and I.  I really love that he enjoys beads and jewelry as much as I do!)

(pictures from Suze, Andrew Thorton, Diana and me)

Saturday my mom brought Julia by to shop at My Elements and see Yvonne, whom she just adores!!!  My mom picked up some really AWESOME Green Girl studio necklaces (and I drooled over some of her new paper dolls) and then we all went out to lunch.  I wish I had gotten some pictures.....but I was just too busy enjoying our time together (and bead shopping, and eating...lol)

I got almost everything I had set out.  I wanted more of those great electro-plated stone beads, more large holed HUGE crystal beads, beads for bracelets and earrings, pyrite for necklaces, earrings and bracelets and small ammonite strands.  I found all but the ammonites.  I really really really wanted them for earrings and bracelets for my spring shows.  Oh well.    Here is the loot I got, its good stuff.  I also had to grab that gigantic turquoise!!!

I picked up some things from Marsha and Jenny of course, and had to have Anne Gardanne's new enameled beads with silver shimmer on them!!!  but I am maxed on art beads, so I was good in that area

All in all, it was an amazing weekend.  I love my creative friends, I deeply love teaching, and I always feel a combination of exhausted and exhilarated after weekend of such goodness.

If you missed it, try to make it to Bead Fest August.  It will be a blast!

Getting my Hands Dirty

It has been a whirlwind around here.  Lots of fun and exciting things going on.  The kids had a week of fun days at school, including crazy sock day, crazy hair day, future career day and hat day.  It was a week of fun to honor Dr. Suess!  So we had fun being creative all week!

 My Little Pony Socks

 crazy socks

Crazy Hair, Julia had a faux hawk with buns, and collin wore a wig

Future Career Day

Julia as an artist and Collin as an explorer

Hat Day

Then the hubs and I got away to NY to visit friends and spend some time on their organic farm, just relaxing and with no kids in tow.  We also got to see Enter the Haggis while we were there, which is always a treat!  

On the way up to NY, I found out I would be doing a jewelry show the next Saturday (the North Penn Select Craft show).  It's quite a nice show, and I didn't want to miss the chance to participate.  I needed to create some sort of pipe and drape, since it was an indoor show, AND make jewelry, since I was low.  

I had a great time figuring out my booth and making lots of new jewelry.  My hands were dirty and happy as I worked antiqued copper and soldered silver.

Thank goodness I had an old pipe style tent to work with.  There were size constraints, so it was a bit rigged.  Here it is in my family room being worked on

And here it was at the show.  I was really happy it all came together nicely.

Here are some of the new pieces I made for the show

 I didn't get a good pic of the finished bracelets.  I made a ton of them!  Oh my dirty sore fingers!

This pieces is sterling silver, crystal, polymer clay, fossils, bezels, pyrite, rutilated quartz.....its a show stopper!

This piece below is rockin' copper choker with ceramic, bronze, kyanite, 2 pieces of leeland blue!!!!, and turquoise (ceramic by marsha neal, bronze by me)

More polymer clay, ceramic and stone

I made more but just didn't get pics of everything due to time contraints.

My oldest son, Aiden, came to the rescue and helped me all day at the show.  My hubs and I had tickets, again, to see Enter the Haggis that night in Philly, and we had to get out of the show ASAP when it was over.  

We kicked butt with a 1/2 hour tear down and load.  I ran home, changed and was right back out the door.  Aiden and I also had a great time laughing and hanging out all day.

And got to see these guys again!!!!

These guys are just an amazing group to witness live.  They cross genre's, and have a wonderfully diverse following of people who just appreciate wonderfully written and executed music!  (they are extremely nice people too!)

Check out their Facebook page, and go and see them if you can!

https://www.facebook.com/enterthehaggis/?fref=ts

or you can just listen here to their newest release Mrs. Elliot here

Turn it up, cause its good!

http://www.enterthehaggis.com/

Yesterday I recovered.  I ran non stop for two weeks!  Oh yeah, we had our tax appointment in there too!  (both self employed).  

My kids and the dogs were all feeling the stress of the busy weeks and time away.  So yesterday after lots of snuggles and hugs, my Julia and I spent hours painting and she learned some new techniques to add to paintings.  She learned to start on the background first, we talked about varying shades, and blending colors.  She learned to stencil.  And she painted her own Pony on top so it would POP off the background.  She was hesitant to go in the order I was telling her, but she did it and now she is really proud.  I love that she got to work through the process of a painting start to finish, so she could see that it doesn't always look how it will in the end when you start, or are even in the middle.  

 (Julia loves My Little Ponies and draws her own versions endlessly.  She has made pony versions of all her friend and family too!!!)

I feel so refreshed after so much creative time, time spent around other amazing artists, time with friends we only see once or twice a year, time enjoying music I love and time with the family.  Now, I MUST finish a class, and prep for my April Bead Fest classes as well.

Have you signed up? Carving is going to be SOOOO FUN!

http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/content/teaching

Thank you to everyone who participated in my destash event as well.  You guys are awesome!  Hopefully I will get to make some more beads in the next few weeks as well and have a HUGE sale!  I will also be bringing beads to sell during my class at Beadfest.  I hope to see you there!