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



 

 

 

 



 

 



My beads in Stringing magazine.  Torch fired enamel with text.
Thank you Stringing!!!

BlueAntiquities Everyday Sayings Enamel Beads

Mastering Torch Fire Enamel Jewelry

Hello, if your visiting from the Facebook page with the launch of "Mastering Torch Fired Enamel Jewelry" by Barbara Lewis, I am glad your here!  The necklace below is featured in the contributor section of the book which is devoted to the color wheel.

Barbara does not disappoint with the new book, and projects.   There is a lot more to learn, so go and grab your copy, at Painting with Fire Studio, Amazon, or at a book store new you.  There are lots of new projects, tips and things to learn.

Thank you for stopping by!  I welcome your comments!  Be sure to share the post on Facebook for more opportunities to win gift certificates with Painting With Fire Studio! Laura

Grandpa's Journey

Grandpa and Grandma Carlson, and me.

I am honored to have a necklace featured in Barbara Lewis' new book, Mastering torch-fired enamel jewelry.  My necklace is in the section of the book on color.  I have a monochromatic color scheme using green.  The entire necklace will be revealed soon!

The inspiration of my necklace is written with the project in the book.  I am very excited about that, as my story is a fond one, be it about a simple man, yet a man who led a life of hard work, and was a family man through and through.

His name was Clarence, although everyone called him Kelley.  He is my Dad's Dad.  He lived in and around Mitchell South Dakota most of his life as a farmer.  He encouraged my Dad to pursue college and a different life, when he saw my Dad was not the farmer at heart.

Grandpa gave all the little kids life savors after church on Sunday.  This is the way he was.  I remember the trips to get root beer for root beer floats!  Check out the book for that story. I was very young when we would travel there during the summer, but I have vivid memories.  I remember a warm and loving set of Grandparents.

The photo here is the one that inspired the necklace.  When I found the photo decal, it reminded me of this photo, and it inspired my story of Grandpa, and his life's journey.

Photo connector'Grandpa's Journey
I just noticed seeing them side by side, that both the men
have hats, and both the ladies have head wraps! (what would be the proper
name for those?)

My Paternal Grandparents

   

Here is a photo of me and my 2 sisters with my Grandparents in front of the Mitchell house.  I love this photo!  This conveys a lot about them. 

I am the little one on Grandpa's lap. 

My Granparents
(BlueAntiquities)

Thank you for reading a little bit more about Grandpa's Journey.  Visit again when I reveal the entire necklace!  I am listing some pieces over time on my Etsy site in the section, Life is a Journey. I hope you will check them out.  

xo

Laura

Tonya's Hope Bracelet

A couple of weeks ago I was in the craft aisle of Walmart,  preparing for my workshops in Southern Pines.  A lady and I struck up a conversation when she asked, "How do you make a bracelet?" Now is that a loaded question?  Where do I begin? 

Her name is Tonya, and she was holding some bright orange and pink beads in her hands. She started explaining that she wanted to make a bracelet with these colors, because she would soon undergo treatment for cancer.  Bright orange is the color for leukemia and pink, the color of breast cancer. 

She wanted to wear a bracelet when she went for treatments.

After talking for a little while, we left each other with a plan for me to create a bracelet for her.  I didn't like the cheap charms at Walmart!  I wanted to create some handmade charms. 

So, here is the bracelet.  The design idea came from the book Chain Style by Jane Dickerson.

I really hope Tonya likes the bracelet and that her treatments go well.  She's a lovely lady.

I am hopeful!  Do you like?

Tonya's Hope Bracelet August 2014