New Work

Welcome!

 

My new decal work will be featured in the winter issue (2016) of Belle Armoire Jewelry. The issue hits news stands December 1.  Yay, I am excited.  The article name is Time Passages, which if you follow my work, is the new decal pieces I have been working on.

They are inspired by old fabric and wall coverings. The charms are inspired by the past, but when combined with contemporary techniques and materials, a unique look and rich design is created.  

The article has a really pretty feel, light, white and bright.  There is a necklace that goes with this article that I really love. The earrings are on teacups and the necklace is displayed on a pretty plate! Here is a little preview.  This is a promo up on the magazine website.  I see how the names, textures, and colors of the pieces set the article theme when they were sent to the photography department.

2 page Article spread preview Belle Armoire Jewelry 2016
BlueAntiquities by Laura Guenther
 



The earrings on the far left teacup are called English Toile.  The ones alone on the right teacup are called Tapestry Floral. 

 

 I am thinking...I want to go to England, and have some tea, out on a patio, with nice company. What do you think?

 

                                             You can see quite a different vibe between my photography and theirs.....

 

Tapestry Floral Time Passages Earrings for Belle Armoire Jewelry
 BlueAntiquities by Laura Guenther

I think it is time to start setting money aside for the trip abroad.  The one I always wanted to take.  The one where I visit all the places I see in magazines, and hear others talk about.  The one I think will never happen.  But, dreams are meant for dreaming.  Wishes are meant to make dreams come true. Some day...my dreams may come true.  And, I will wear the English Toile earrings...have tea and biscuits, in England on a beautiful patio.

 Yes, that sounds lovely!

 

Thank you for visiting BlueAntiquities!

Laura

BlueAntiquities "Time Passages" Earring Give-Away

 

 

"Time Passages"

Time Passages Earring Card
Inspiration for my Time Passage Earrings comes from the past and all of the wonderful fabrics, wallpaper, quilts,
and patterns I see when I visit and shop estate sales, tag sales, garage sales, and antique shops and malls.
I feel like I pass through time, looking at the different motifs and designs from the days long gone.

 

Welcome to my Give-Away!

 

I am excited to show you the give-away earrings! They are created with a quilt pattern design, a new series I will be working with!  If you were to pass through time backwards, you could not do that without seeing quilts.  Quilts have touched the lives of just about everyone!  Everyone has pulled one over themselves to keep warm.  Most everyone has a Grandma or Aunt who has them in their closet or blanket chest. Many of us have them displayed lovingly in our homes. A lot of people know a story to go with each quilt they own. I have a dear loved one who passed away, she became an excellent quilter and won many awards with her quilting.   Started by necessity and seen with fabrics from all times, you will find them in every antique store you walk in. You usually can figure out when they were made by looking at the materials, such as moon shapes and planet motifs of the 50's and 60's typical of the decade of space exploration. I love quilts and they are getting to be very expensive depending on many factors. I have done some quilting.  I made a huge quilt top as a teenager in 1970's-80's fabric and colors of which was never quilted together.  I sold it at a garage sale for $4.00 and have always regretted it! If you have one, hold onto it, especially if it was made by a family member or has a special story, I know you will. 

Pass it on to your children.  Treasure it.

 

And finally, here they are!   Combined with stone beads, and sterling silver, the enameled charms shine like a hand made quilt.  The charms are created with the immersion technique of course, and I use my method of layering and adding the decal image.  These have gorgeous black edges, which is a wonderful technique you can utilize during firing. It also gives the back of them a really cool look! These arrive in a test tube with my inspiration card, ready for gift giving.  Thank you for commenting and checking out my Facebook page! Look for more of these to be posted in my Etsy shop for the holidays. I enjoy making them, and if you have a specific color combination your thinking about, don't hesitate to ask! Lkguenther@triad.rr.com

 

"Time Passages" Quilt Pattern Earrings October 2015
BlueAntiquities by Laura Guenther
 

 

Time Passages Earrings Quilt Pattern
BlueAntiquities by Laura Guenther


And the winner of these Quilted
"Time Passages" Earrings is....
Joyce McCray Funderburk!
Congratulations!
Joyce, send me a message on Facebook, or email me with your address
so I can get these in the mail to you. Lkguenther@triad.rr.com

Thanks again for everyone who played along
and for your support of
BlueAntiquities!

Laura



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



"A Thousand Forests"




Gorgeous work by Gretchen Miller

Ralph Waldo Emerson Kits
 

 

A Thousand Forests Labor Day weekend workshop.
 I think we all got along! A sweet bunch of artists to be sure!

I had such a great time teaching these ladies, and I know they learned a lot. Thank you to all of you, I hope you make some cool stuff. I know you will!

Laura

 



New Workshops In Raleigh-Ornamentea

 

 

New Workshops Open for Registration in Raleigh

at Ornamentea!

 

 

Hello jewelry friends!  I am excited to share my new fall workshops!  They are just in time for the holiday season!  Cynthia, the owner of Ornamentea (the amazing jewelry and crafts store in Raleigh) have been working behind the scenes to bring these workshops to you!  These are a bit longer than our previous workshops, because we pack in a lot of techniques!  You will learn metal texturizing, working with fibers, setting eyelets, working with holes for lining up placement in your pieces, and if time allows, I will show you how to hand forged ear wires, which is a must for artisan jewelry!

 

BlueAntiquities Ornamentea Paint the Sky Earrings
Immersion Enameling Laura Guenther Cynthia Deis Enamel Workshop
 

And I didn't even mention enameling, and working with decals.  For the earring class, we dive into learning about the magic of transparent enamel, how to layer them, and which metals can be used.  This is where you have options with color, where you can truly paint with fire, create stunning shades, all your own.

 

BlueAntiquities Ornamentea Laura Guenther
Paint The Sky Earrings Enamel workshop
Cynthia Deis Immersion enameling
 

 

 

For the Poet Link bracelet, we work with texturizing metals as well, and concentrate on  decals.  You will leave with the knowledge of how to add these to your designs, personalizing your work.  Decals really take your work up a notch, and allow an amazing array of options.  Please see my article on newsstands now, in Belle Armoire Jewelry to learn more about the process.  This workshop is a great way to learn hands on, and understand the placement of the flame and firing times which can be hard to learn otherwise.  

 

Poetic Link Bracelet Laura Guenther Cynthia Deis
Immersion Enamel BlueAntiquities Ornamentea Fall 2015

 

The first run time for this workshop is November 8th.

Check the calendar on the Ornamentea website for registration.

The link on sidebar of my home page will take you to the calendar listing

where you can view the class description.



Fall Workshop 2015 Poetic Link Bracelet Laura Guenther
Cynthia Deis BlueAntiquities Ornamentea Immersion Enameling

 

Poetic Link Bracelet Fall 2015 Laura Guenther
BlueAntiquities Ornamentea Immersion Enameling Shakespeare

Shakespeare Poetic Link Bracelet Fall 2015 Workshop
 BlueAntiquites Ornamentea
Laura Guenther Immersion Enameling

Thanks so much for visiting BlueAntiquities!

Laura

 



 

Adorned With Decals

Learning to Add Images to Your Enamel Work

Creating Your Own Decals

 

Adorned with Words BlueAntiquites Laura Guenther
Decal Article Belle Armoire Jewelry Sept 1 2015
 

 

 Hello friends!  I am excited to talk about decals today, decals for torch fired enamels.  If you have arrived here from the article in Belle Armoire Jewelry, Welcome to BlueAntiquities! Please follow my blog, leave a comment to this post and you are entered to win a pair of my new

Time Passages Earrings!  Hurrah!  The winner will be randomly selected on October 15th and notified by email, so don't forget to leave your email address with your comment. If you don't want to leave your email, send me an email, LOL

 

So, now for the dirt on decals!  You want to make your own? But how?

Well, you need the right printer or copier.  It must print with a toner cartridge that has 30% red iron oxide in it.  What does this mean in English?  The iron oxide is what is left on your piece after it is fired that leaves the image.  The paper burns away and the red iron oxide is the sepia color from the ink of the toner you see when your piece has cooled. Iron Oxide is an inorganic compound and is one of the main 3 oxides of iron. It is a dark red in color, often called rust.  It is mainly used in older printers, thus making the search for a printer for this process a bit tricky!

 

We will talk more about these printers in a minute, but now I'd like to discuss the decal paper you need.  The decals need to be printed onto a special paper, it is called ceramic waterslide decal paper.  There are several online sites that carry the paper.  There are different papers available.  I have only used one type from one source, so I can only give you direct feedback regarding this paper. 

 

It is from Beldecal.com.  You order clear paper for laser printers.

 It is white backing paper with clear lacquer film. You can order it in different quantities.

It arrives with a thin tissue paper covering on each page,

with directions on how to use it with your printer.

This paper has worked great for me!

The other resources you can check out are decalpaper.com and fired-on.com.

 

Now lets head back to the topic of printers.  This can be an overwhelming task.  From my research, older laser printers work the best for the immersion technique.  Not all old laser printers work.  Many HP and Canon printers and some copiers do work.  The hard part is figuring out just which ones actually have the red iron oxide toner in the cartridge. 

 

The following information was resourced from Rothshank Artworks, click here to go to his website.

 

I have found a Material Safety Data Sheet list for HP printers ( from Rothshank Artworks website) that will show you the information for the toners per printer.  It takes some research. Click here for the list.  

 

Here is a small list of HP printers that will work:

 

HP LaserJet M1212nf MFP

HP LaserJet 1022 

HP laserjet 4L

HP laserjet 5L

HP P1005 laserjet

HP P1006 laserjet

Justin Rothshank has more information on his website about printers and decals, so do check that out.

You can do a little research online to see what you come up with.  Look at forums with artisan groups you are a part of.  Ask around.  There are a lot of tech people who know this stuff.   It takes a lot of research to figure out where to purchase or find one of them.  Check on Ebay.  I have not researched printers and I really don't know about them, in fact my eyes glaze over when talking about gadgets and such things! I have a copier that I bought , not a printer, which I really don't recommend. You have to use your printer and the copier, creating more work for yourself.  I had to replace the toner right when I got it, because of a design flaw with the toner ink, and printing too light.  So I do recommend checking around and finding what works for you.  I don't know specifically about these printers, these are lists of ones that I found online, so don't hold me responsible if they don't have the red iron oxide. There you have it, a disclaimer...LOL

Here is a list of some Canon Printers that I found a long while ago when I was just starting to think about making my own decals.

The following list are the toner cartridges with the iron oxide and the printers they go to. 

HP LaserJet C3900A Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 4V/4MV series printers
HP LaserJet 92274A Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 4L/4ML/4P/4MP series printers
HP LaserJet 92298A-X Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 4/4 Plus/4M/4M Plus/5/5M series printers

HP LaserJet C4092A Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 1100/1100A/3200/3220M series printers

HP LaserJet C4127A-D-X-XC Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 4000/4050 series printers

HP LaserJet C7115A-X Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 1000/1005/1200/1220/3300/3380 series printers
HP LaserJet C8061A-D-X-XC Print Cartridge - HP LaserJet 4100/4100mfp/4101mfp series printers

HP LaserJet CE390A-X-XC Print Cartridge
HP LaserJet Enterprise M4555 MFP, 600 M601, 600 M602, 600 M603 series printers

HP LaserJet CE390A-X-XC Print Cartridge
HP LaserJet Enterprise M4555 MFP, 600 M601, 600 M602, 600 M603 series printers

Here is another link to a page I came across ...http://home.comcast.net/~frankgaydos/Decal-1.html 

I wish that I could tell you to go and buy this printer, and it will work great. But, alas you will have to do a little searching and make your own decisions.

Once you have the printer and the paper, you are ready to print your own decals.  Now, its time to format. This can be overwhelming too.  Basically, you have to shrink images to make them small enough to fit our little jewelry pieces.  There are lots of ways to do this on your computer.

I know it is a little overwhelming to create your own decals, but don't forget there are preprinted decals available to purchase. When I started,  I worked with decals that were preprinted.  It took me a long time before I decided to purchase a printer.  And I had the problems with my toner, that left me with delays, so, just be careful. Use the preprinted decals to practice and see if you are really going to enjoy it.  Adding decals is a little tricky until you get the hang of it, but practice will make you a pro.

Please take a peek at my decals for sale on Etsy and Barbara Lewis is selling them at PaintingwithFireStudio. Painting with Fire offers half sheets with patterns, flowers and antique themes.  BlueAntiquities (Me) offers 1/4 sheets with Vintage images, French romance and flora and fauna.   They are relatively inexpensive to purchase and easy to use.  I hope you take a look at these, I think you will enjoy using them with your enamel work just as I did with the Adorned With Words pieces.

Please feel free to send me a message via email if you have questions, LKguenther@triad.rr.com
I am happy to help of I can!




BlueAntiquities Time Passages Earrings 2015

 

 

Thank you for visiting BlueAntiquities!  Don't forget to follow my Blog on the sidebar,
and leave a comment to enter your name in the give-away for my Time Passages Earrings! Leave your email address as well, I will only use it for the give away. 

 

 Laura

 

 

 

 



 

`Cow Girl Camp Out

was a Blast!

 

Terri Brush   Laura Guenther   Cowgirl Camp Out  2015
Terri Brush Designs  BlueAntiquities  Jewelry Retreats
Art Camp at Home 2016

I had a wonderful time in Chehalis Washington!  The weather was absolutely beautiful and the scenery the same.  Terri Brush became more than an acquaintance, more than a teacher and someone that I looked up to... she became my friend.  And that is something I treasure.

She is a lovely person, we found out how much we are alike, we are the same age, and I so enjoyed hanging out with her for a week.  The week went by so quickly, I really had such a great time! She made sure that I was comfortable and well fed to be sure! That's is Terri, sweet as ever.

 

I also have to say that all of the artists that attended were also wonderful ladies.  Everyone was so sweet and nice... giving people.  Just couldn't ask for nicer ladies to be around!  I only wished I had more time to sit and get to know all of them.  I think each of them learned a little bit about the enameling technique although the piece we worked on was a bit tricky to enamel. Of course Terri and I have learned from that, and we will adjust for the next go around.  I want to thank everyone for being understanding about that part.  

  

So, look for more details to come when I head to Washington again next year to co teach with Terri.  We will have lots of fun projects and things to do, so do plan to put the date on your calendar, October  5th, 6th, and 7th, 2016! Head over to Terri's site to register, it is filling quickly!  I am sure the weather will be nice then as well.

 

Thank you for visiting BlueAntiquities!

Laura

 

 

Cowgirl Camp Out!

Terri Brush Art Camps Laura Guenther BlueAntiquities Enameling Torch Fire Enameling Soldering Stamping Jewelry Retreats CowGirl CampOut Weekend August 2015  October 2016 Columbus Day

 

 

Hello Everyone!  I'm so happy as I am headed to Chehalis Washington to be a guest artist at

a wonderful weekend retreat held by none other than Terri Brush!  I will talk about Terri here in a moment but I want to tell you about beautiful Chehalis!

 

Chehalis is located halfway between Portland and Seattle.  From many vantage points, west of town, you can see Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens.  The town began in 1873 when the railroad came in.  Historic downtown is nestled at the base of a small range of forested hills.

The Chehalis River runs though the valley of the city...lovely don't you think?

 

Now that you have an idea of the amazing scenery, let's talk a little bit about Terri!

Terri has been running excellent retreats since 2007. She has taught and held retreats in California, Washington, the Oregon coast and Italy. I attended one last October, on the Oregon coast and it was beyond amazing.  You meet many new people at the start and end up leaving with new friends and bonds with girls across the country. Your treated to fabulous meals by cooks who are there for the duration, trust me, you wont go hungry, the food is over the top!

You arrive to amazing projects and lovely kits and materials personalized just for you.  If you need a little pampering, this jewelry retreat is for you!  Find out the details on upcoming retreats at TerriBrushDesigns.com.  You will see her Academy Link there as well, where she offers many videos of her soldering stamping, and mixed media design classes, with all kinds of different techniques.  Her teaching style is easy to learn, straight forward and she brings in guest artists to coordinate and facilitate loads of inspiration that get's your creative edge going.  In other words...CHECK OUT the ACADEMY!
 

Terri Brush BlueAntiquities Jewelry Retreats Laura Guenther
CowGirl BootCamp Fall Bootcamp 2014

 

 For the Cowgirl Campout I am attending as guest artist.  I will be sharing with the group how to enamel the Painting With Fire technique (immersion method).  Terri and I have been behind the scenes for weeks having a good ol' times with enamels, lots of laughs too!  I am also teaching the technique of decals which promises not to disappoint!

Art Camp At Home Oct 5,6,7 2016 Terri Brush, Laura Guenther BlueAntiquities Jewelry Weekend
Soldering Enameling Fun, Friends, Laughter, Memories, Happy Times, Mountains

 October 2016 is Terri's
Art Camp At Home
 I will join Terri teaching more enamel work,
 it goes on sale with limited seating on August 20th! 
This is at her new and bigger amazing home studio, sign up fast as this will fill up quickly! $100 holds your spot. You can read all the info you need for now, by clicking here.

 

I am offering a giveaway on September 1 in conjunction with my article coming out in Belle Armoire Jewelry's fall issue.  Please follow my blog, and check back on Sept 1, for the information on how to sign up to win a pair of my new Time Passages Earrings! 
I will be selecting a pair for the give away soon!

 

BlueAntiquities Laura Guenther Time Passages Decals Inspired by the past,
Immersion Method PWF method of Enameling

 Thank you for visiting BLUE!!!
Laura

 

 

 

 

Private Workshops

 

Ive been having such a good time teaching at Ornamentea in Raleigh, I cant even tell you!  But, I also want to mention, that I really enjoy private workshops!  I just finished a workshop today with 2 people.  This is a fabulous way to learn the painting with fire technique hands on!

 

Two people can feed off of each others ideas and discoveries, and that is exactly what happened today.  I like to tailor my workshops to fit with what the student wants to learn, and I figure that out as we go along.  I gather information before the workshop, but once the participant is here, that is when I can get a good read on what they need to learn, and where their interests lie.

 

Artist Bonnie Dees PWF Workshop-BlueAntiiquities

 

 

The immersion technique of enameling, the Painting with Fire Method, by Barbara Lewis...

 is really the perfect method to learn hands on.  Once you learn the basics of the process, how to trouble shoot the mandrel, and some color information relating to the flame, you are on your way to adding some delicious color to your work! 

 

Practice is very important with this method.  I recommend staring with about 7-8 enamels.  A neutral, a few opaque enamels, and 2 transparent colors.  That's it.  Take a bunch of time and practice firing up with these enamels for awhile before you get more supplies and enamel. 

You can also use recycled food containers to store your enamels

 to keep your initial investment down.

 

BlueAntiquities Studio 2015 Laura Guenther



The time you devote to practicing will allow you to
1.build your technique with how well you can work around your torch area.
2. become excellent at dredging into your enamels.
3. Get consistent results with even coverage for your pieces.
4. Ensure good results with clean holes in flat pieces and beads.
5. Develop your area of interest within the technique possibilities.

 

       Always do some warm ups when you fire up in the studio, it really helps get your groove going...

 Contact me if your interested in a private workshop!

Laura

 

 

 

 

 

New Teaching Venue

 

Hello everyone.  I am so excited to announce a new teaching venue for my enameling workshops!  I will be teaching at the wonderful Ornamentea in Raleigh North Carolina!  If you have not been to the shop, and live in the triad area, I highly recommend you visit.  

 

 

The shop has an amazing amount and variety of jewelry supplies.  You won't believe it!  There is also lots of other "fine craft ingredients"  for your projects.  You will find yourself lost in the fabulous atmosphere, and so enjoy shopping there.

 

 



 

 

Aside from the supplies, Ornamentea offers free tutorials, crafting nights, Try it Tuesdays and much more.  At the front of the shop, there is a table available if you want to work on your projects.  The friendly staff is super knowledgeable about the products offered.  They are all so welcoming and sweet.

 

I have been working with Cynthia Deis for months, planning project workshops and an upcoming enameling boot camp.  I have really enjoyed working with Cynthia, she is a very talented lady, and is super easy to work with. I can't say enough good thins about her. 

 

 

If your considering taking a workshop, we have several project workshops planned for 2015.  I have a disk earring class in February that includes working with decals.  This workshop is full, but it will run again, so keep an eye out for another date.  We have another fun class coming in March that is called, "Dictionary Moments".  This class will have you making a fun pair of text earrings and necklace. Next on the line up is a four day boot camp. 

Both Cynthia and I are super thrilled about offering this.  You will learn a lot in the camp, so watch for the date to be announced.  

 

I have learned some tips and tricks with years of practice, and I cant wait to share them in my workshops.  Even if you know the process or if your just starting out, this technique can be tricky and hands on learning will bring your enameling up a notch.

 

 

I hope you will join us!  Laura