Jumping Out of Your Comfort Zone -- Take a Class!

Last year, I decided to reduce my craft show circuit from about 20 shows and knock it down to only five.  I wrote a separate blog about it, figuring it would keep me accountable.  The idea was to take a bunch of classes, try a lot of new techniques, and hopefully expand upon my current style, or maybe even develop a new one.

My usual style, with beads by Jane Perala

What I ended up finding out was classes scare me.  

Now, I looooove a trip to Barnes and Noble.  LOVE to peruse Amazon.com.  I have a ton of beading magazines and a healthy bookshelf FULL of how-to books -- everything from metalsmithing to micro-macrame.

one of my many, many bookshelves

However, the vast majority of those magazines and books go unread.  

I always have an excuse, which usually has something to do with not enough hours in the day.  There's always a deadline.  Or a school function.  Or the weather is too nice to stay indoors.  Or or ... and or.

So the only way I can really ever learn anything is to sign up for a class.

Attending class is a very humbling experience for me.  First comes knowing what to wear.  I know everyone will be wearing something SMASHING they made themselves -- probably from a two-week art retreat in the Italian Alps, which may or may not involve wrapping wire for three days straight on a hair-thin mandrel or encasing the fur of a unicorn in resin.  I'm totally joking around, but you get the level of my anxiety, I'm sure!

Unicorn shoe by Bete Noire Forge

Needless to say, I've been making jewelry around eight years now but I am THE newbie in the class.  Not just a newbie, but a rank beginner -- the person who cuts things wonky  (accidentally), pounds her thumb with a hammer (repeatedly), and sets things on fire (allegedly).

the inauspicious beginnings of ... something... at my class with Stephanie Lee

I'm the one who sits with shoulders hunched, looking with wild eyes at my neighbors confidently tackle their projects, armed with the perfect tools, the perfect packets of ephemera, the perfect ideas running through their heads.  I glance at the teacher, and all the teachers I've met -- they know That Look.   

And they stop and help.

Not only do they stop and help, but they encourage me to continue to ask for help -- not to the point of nuisance, but just often enough for a few seconds-worth of "is this right?".  And then I move on.

Sometimes it works out OK in the end, and all it takes is one class.

pendant I made during a class with Tracy Stanley

Sometimes it takes a couple of classes before I get things down.  For instance, the first time I took Barbara Lewis' enameling class, I burned things up.  Blechy beads.  Nothing salvageable.  So when she showed up in my neck of the woods nine months later, I took a refresher course, and it finally just... clicked.  I got comfortable.  I relaxed.

my second set of beads from Barbara Lewis' class

I still worry every time I take a class that I have a neon sign over my head that blinks "Caution!  Does Not Know Anything!" and "Doesn't Have a Clue!" over my head.  I am still awed when I walk into the class and see the amazing art around the students' necks.  And I still often wonder what was possessing me when I signed up for the class in the first place, because I feel I don't belong there.

Which, of course, is the entire point.  Why would you take a class if you DID belong there?  It's all about learning something new, isn't it?

necklace I made in Stephanie Sersich's class

Jumping out of my comfort zone means I REALLY take a cliff dive into an entirely new realm of jewelry design.  All of the classes I take are so far removed from what I normally do they require a different zip code.  However, after taking the class, I'm never sorry I took it.  I always learn something, even if I (allegedly) caught the piece on fire once or twice.

My challenge to you -- jump out of your comfort zone this year by taking a class in something that is totally unlike your norm.  Be it jewelry or cooking, sign up, take a deep breath, and jump.

I promise someone will catch you.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site lorianderson.net.  She writes the blog Pretty Things .  She lives in Maryland.

Embellish an Etched Metal Hinged Cuff with Art Beads!

As a contributing editor for ABS, I am constantly blown away by the amount of talent that comprises our readership. It is both a thrill and a pleasure to be able to bring to attention items and people I have fallen in love with that I think may interest the rest of our wonderful community of devoted art bead enthusiasts.

  

One such item is this Etched Metal Hinged Cuff Bracelet Kit put together by artisan jewelry designer Riki Schumacher. Riki is a warm and wonderful woman who, in addition to having published work in Belle Armoire Jewelry and Jewelry Affaire magazines, has also taught at art jewelry retreats such as Adorn Me and private workshops.

 One of her most popular designs is the Romantic Etched Metal Cuff with its unique, bold, rustic style that contains mixed metals and an antiqued finish. I see a lot of potential in these kits for jewelry designers who use art beads, not only does the wide face of the hinged cuff give us a good sized canvas for various art beads of polymer, metal or ceramic (I am picturing a Humblebeads wire-wrapped to the center of a filigree frame) but the metal itself is one that can be altered through a variety of techniques (you all know I am dying to splash it with patina!).   

 I recently emailed a Q&A to Riki and she kindly took the time to answer some of my questions.

  

 ABS - I love your hinged cuff bracelet and I am so glad you are offering a kit! What inspired this design?

 RS- Thanks so much! The kit was inspired by loving cuffs, and wanting to make one more comfortable.  I had just learned to etch metal from Stephanie Lee, so using that to make a hinge was just icing on the cake.  I had traveled to France to study with Susan Lenart Kazmer years ago, and was inspired by her simple technique in making hinges.  So why not make it available to anyone who wants to make an etched hinged cuff?

ABS – Normally I avoid wide bracelets because they restrict movement, but you state in your listing description that they are adjustable and comfortable to wear? Do you wear your hinged cuff a lot?

RS- I do, because they are so comfortable.  They can fit almost any size wrist, because it is adjustable. I love wearing cuffs as an accessory, to have a little touch of beauty I can enjoy seeing.

ABS – I see that the etched brass is 24 gauge, which lets me know we can punch holes in it easily. This opens up a world of opportunities to embellish our cuffs with riveting, wire-wrapping, bezels and weaving. What other variations have you made on your own Romance Hinged Cuffs?

RS –  Oh, there are so many things you can do to this basic design, just like you mentioned.  I love to solder on stampings as well.  And adding a touch of bling, or cold connecting stampings is fun as well.

ABS – Riki, thank you for putting the tutorial and kit together.Taking the time to measure, cut, etch and assemble the parts lets us get straight to the fun part of crafting our beautiful hinged cuff.

RS - I just taught this project at my home last fall, and the woman present had a great time.  I am always available for questions, and would be happy to help in any way I could.  There will be a new workshop in the fall, so stay tuned for that announcement!

 To view more of Riki’s lovely work, please visit her flikr photostream.

And to learn more about this wonderful woman, be sure to visit her blog. 

Being an Entrepreneur -- the Work-at-Home Edition

If you've ever wondered what it's like being a work-at-home entrepreneur, well, let me tell you. It's a lot more than simply shambling down the stairs in your pajamas with a cup of coffee and an endless day of joyful creating ahead of you.

If only.

Yesterday my plan was to spend all day tackling my To-Do list, which consisted mainly of updating my web site, making some jewelry for an upcoming show, and ordering some new booth displays.

However, the day ran like this:

1) Oversleep. I have an excuse. I was up until 2am the night before working.

2) Due to oversleeping, missed my window of good light for photographing new jewelry for the web site.

3) Make coffee. Leave coffee on the counter when the dryer dings. Forget I made coffee.

4) Sit down at the computer to order the booth displays. Remember I have to stick postcard stamps on a 10" stack of cards for the craft show.

5) Remember coffee. It's cold. Make it again.

6) Run upstairs to put on real clothes as Zack has just been invited to go play kick ball. Watch for a moment and remember why I hated grade school gym. 

7) Where the heck is that danged coffee.

8) Sit back down at the computer. My order for booth displays has timed out and I have to find everything all over again.  

9)  I check email and see I have three orders that need to be sent TODAY. Stop everything to pull orders, wrap, pack, and stamp.  Yell to whomever will listen to turn the television DOWN.

Beads by The Gritty Bird



10.) Say a Very Bad Word. It involves lack of coffee.

11) Open computer programs to work on web site. Notice that it is now 7:30pm.

12) Upload exactly two (2) pieces of jewelry before it's time to read to Zack.

13) Finally drink my coffee. It's 9pm.

14) Everyone goes to bed, and thanks to coffee, I am up until 4am making jewelry.


Woody Allen was right. "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."


When Lori isn't searching for a Venti Starbucks Mocha, she's (trying) to create jewelry in her Easton, MD studio. She writes a blog, Pretty Things, and you can see her work at http://www.lorianderson.net/.