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Dragonfly Beads is now Wishlist!

Melissa Zomro Davis of The Show Trunk and myself are pleased to announce the merger of our two shops into a little boutique called Wishlist.  Never fear, the beads are still here, but we will be gradually phasing them out.  The store will still offer classes in Precious Metal Clay jewelry making and will carry sterling and gold-filled findings and high quality gemstones (the sort not available at the “big box stores”!)

I will resume PMC Classes in February.  In April, Holly Gage will be back to teach two phenomenal classes, and I’m so excited to be able to offer them here!  April 27-28 she will be teaching Stone Setting Like a Pro.  I’ve had a lot of people ask about setting cabochons in PMC and this is the class to teach you!  Holly has a great, foolproof technique for setting stones and taking your work to the next level.  As she describes it, “A fantastic stone needs a fantastic setting, and the key to a professionally set stone is good craftsmanship and a clean and well finished bezel”.  To prepare ahead for class, you will want to find a stone approximately 15mm to 30mm.  Holly will also have stones to purchase.  Faceted stones, cabs or glass cabs are welcome, but please stay away from irregular shaped stones until you gain experience with the technique.  A materials list will be provided upon registration.

 

 

The second class she is teaching is April 20-30 with Elegant Meadow Pods.  As Holly describes it, “Nature has a wonderful way of inspiring us.  If we look closely to the pods that are left behind by a flower or plant we can see the beautiful symmetry of nature.  Pods represent a renewal as it releases its seeds to start the life cycle anew.  In this workshop we will capture the elegance of pods and fashion them into jewelry.  We will explore “constructing” pods that look realistic and with texture.  The detail in this method can not be captured with merely painting slip on the surface.”  A materials list will be provided upon registration.

 

 

Classes meet from 10am to 5pm each day and each session is $250.  If you sign up for both classes, the price is $225/class.  Spaces are VERY limited so please sign up ASAP!  A non-refundable deposit of $50 will hold your space.

I will be working on bringing some classes in base metal clays (copper, bronze and the all new sterling metal clay!) Stay tuned for class updates.  I will also be going to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show this February and will keep you posted on my adventures on my blog.  I may even bring back some beady treasures for the store

Thank you to all of my loyal customers over the years.  I value each and every one of you!  This change at the store is a positive thing, albeit bittersweet.  It is hard and scary to do something different and new, but in my heart I know this is the best decision and I am very excited about the future.

erin

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We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and now it’s time to gear up for the next round of eating and merry making!  The Holidays can create a lot of stress, but remember to take a moment…or several moments…to appreciate what you have and who you have surrounding you with love this season.

 

By now you may be scratching your head, wondering why it says “we” up there. Dragonfly Beads’ recent move to Cazenovia enabled storeowners erin meharg and Melissa Davis of The Show Trunk to meet and collaborate.  As luck (or fate) would have it, an amazing opportunity presented itself to us, and we’re so excited to share it with you all!

 

Melissa will be moving in and sharing space with Dragonfly Beads at 53 Albany St in historic downtown Cazenovia. With this move, there will be some modifications being made in both of our businesses.  Melissa will be phasing out the equine portion of her business and concentrating on affordable, hip and trendy clothing. Erin will be phasing out the beads and focusing more on finished jewelry and accessories.  Dragonfly Beads will still have classes, (specifically in Metal Clay and wire work), and we will still offer “ladies night” and kids beading parties.  We will also host private parties with companies like Madison Handbags and Stella and Dot and will certainly still be bringing in trunk shows like the amazing bi-annual show from New Mexico.  Dragonfly Beads will be less “bead store” and more “Tailored Jewelry”!

 

In order to prepare for our shared space, we will be having an “Evolution Sale” starting NOW!! Many items in each of the stores there will be heavily discounted.  Dragonfly Beads is offering everything at 30% off (excluding finished jewelry and sterling silver/gold fill).  The Trunk Show has items on sale for up to 75% off!  Take advantage of the savings now through Christmas because once the items are gone…they’re gone!!

 

We look forward to launching this new joint venture, Wishlist, in January 2012.  We want to reiterate that Dragonfly Beads and The Show Trunk aren’t closing.  We are still here, still part of the community, still offering you the friendly service and products you’ve come to love.  We are simply merging, evolving and doing business together in one spot!

 

Wishlist looks forward to helping you coordinate your entire look, from head to toe!

 

 

Best Regards,

Melissa and erin

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Well, my birthday is just around the corner, which means that Eric Holt will soon be here with his humongous (spelling?) trunk show!  I always seem to time it so that the trunk show falls around the same time as my birthday…and it just so happens that Eric usually finds a little sparkly trinket for me.  It probably doesn’t hurt that I bat my eyelashes and mention my birthday a LOT.  Last year I got some gorgeous Citrine…wonder what I might get this year

The dates of the trunk show are…

THURSDAY, November 17th.  We’ll be having a “sneak peek” as Eric gets set up.  Stop by between 5 and 8 pm and have a little wine and cheese as you shop!

FRIDAY, November 18th, 10-7 pm

SATURDAY, November 19th, 10-6

SUNDAY November 20th, 11-3.

As a reminder, this is the BIG show that we have at the shop twice a year.  It’s worth checking out!  Here are some pictures of past events.

Wow!  As my mom said the first time she saw an Eric show (cover young eyes…)

 

Holy.  Shit.

 

Truly. Holy excrement.  Come check it out!

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It poured rain.  It was freezing cold.  Guests huddled under blankets to keep out the bitter wind.  But if you listened, you heard laughter.  If you looked past the rain, you saw smiles on faces.  And it was the most incredible, amazing wedding day!  I’ve now been a Mrs. for  25 days.  A little hard to believe how quickly time flies.  Does it feel any different?  Well, yes actually.  It feels secure, warm, it feels like home.  It is a little hard to get used to the new last name, and officially, it hasn’t changed…a lot of paperwork I’m not quite yet up to.  But I’ve been practicing a new signature and trying to get used to that MRS!  Pretty lucky girl I am.

 

 

I now find myself the lucky recipient of time.  Solitary time away from home, to myself, in a magical and creative setting, with my metal clay and jewelry making supplies in tow.  I’ve got 8 days to create, reflect and hopefully, grow as an artist.  I’ve got Pandora playing and the three sweet little pups that I’m dog-sitting as company.  Sometimes, it takes being away from your home and comfort zone to really get work done.  Oh, and did I mention I’m in Vermont?  One of my favorite places in the whole world

Today I’ll be working on making some stamps and starting on the commissioned pieces.  I hope to get those done in the next 3 days, and then I will hunker down and see where my imagination takes me!  Stay tuned…

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Wow.  I can’t believe how fast the past 2 years have flown by!  On October 31st, 2009, Carlton proposed to me.  In 14 days, we will be married.  Hard to believe!

For two years, I’ve thought about our wedding day.  Not constantly, every waking hour, but here and there, I’d find some interesting idea that I wanted to incorporate (like the vintage pin bouquet). We had so much time to plan, that I didn’t really do much planning.  Once we determined the big items (venue, caterer, dress) I couldn’t fathom what else I really needed to do.  People kept asking me “how are the wedding plans coming along?” and I’d nonchalantly respond “well, I still plan to get married!”  I didn’t really know what people meant…I mean, the venue was chosen.  We knew who was providing food, beverage service was figured out… Four weeks ago, I attended a good friends wedding in VT and all of a sudden I realized.  Holy.  Shit.  I’m getting married!  Then I realized why people were asking how the plans were going…and it was time to start planning!  It was go time.  SO, in the past 4 weeks, my mom and I have been getting stuff done in a big way.

I finally finished my bouquet.  It was the first idea I had for the wedding-sort of the jumping off point, but it took 2 years to complete!  I received pins from friends, customers, strangers, my parents, grandparents.  A lot of history and love…I wired them all the their stems, but then they sat around.  I just couldn’t get them to look right when I tried to put them into a bouquet.  And then my mom and I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and all of a sudden, I knew what I wanted to do.  Rather than a traditional bouquet (and let’s face it, it’s not-traditional anyway with pin flowers!) I decided to put the flower pins in a basket.  A more comfortable, less formal way to carry them.

 

 

So, I love the bouquet.

Carlton likes to brew beer, and I knew I was going to make the boutineers for Carlton and the guys, so it made sense to use beer-brewing ingredients!  I ordered Barley, Oats and Wheat from Keuka Flower Farm.  They didn’t have hops, so I ordered Phalaris as a vaguely hop-ish looking plant.  Carlton loved the boutineers, butreally  liked the idea of using real hops, and it just so happens we had them growing in our backyard!  So we picked them the other day and have been drying.  I re-made the boutineers yesterday with our hops, but I’m worried I was a bit premature…Not sure they were completely dried out yet, and the have very thin and fragile stems.  Several fell off today, so I tried to reinforce them with a bit of glue :/  I’m hoping they stay together…but they do look pretty great.  When I first started collecting pins for the bouquet, I found a bunch of tiny daisy pins from an Etsy seller in Belgium.  I ordered all 15 of them.  Then I wrapped the stems of the boutineers with twine and pinned the vintage daisy stick pins into them.  So cute, and I love that the pins are in keeping with my bouquet.  The pictures show the boutineers with the Phalaris..I’ll have to get some new shots.

 

 

I also bought some Flax, (I was once called the Flaxen Haired Girl, but that’s a story for another day) Lavender, Mini millet, and cheerful, happy yellow Achillea…I can’t go into too much detail yet with what I’ve done with those

 

 

I  have been thinking a lot lately of lace.  My mom made a great little jacket to go over my dress and used this absolutely gorgeous lace from my great grandmother’s wedding dress.  I was inspired by it, and my wedding jewels are based on it.  I don’t have a photo of the necklace, but I’ve made a few other lace pieces, and here are the earrings:

 

 

And a few lace-inspired necklaces…

 

 

This is closer to what mine will be…

 

 

But with enamel

 

Needless to say, I’m a bit exhausted!  There are too many great details to go into any more …well..detail.  And I’m tired.  So that’s it for today.

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My mom has given me at least 3 “shoulds” in the past week, all three that I “should” write a blog post.  She’s right. I’m just not feelin’ it.  So this is all you get.

Here we go, a quick recap and some gratuitous horn tooting:

The new class list is posted on the website, and includes July.  We may add a few kid-focused classes into the mix later this month.  Don’t forget:

August 6th, Donna Penoyer’s tear away textures class.  Make textures from your own designs!

August 7th, Donna Penoyer’s whistle making class.  Oh yeah.  Whisles.  In metal clay. Dig it.

($225/ class, or $200 each if you sign up for both)

September 24th through October 1st, erin’s head will not be in the beading game, as she prepares for…

October 1st, erin gets MARRIED!

November 4-6th, Rio Rewards PMC Certification Class with Terry Kovalcik

Gratituitous horn tooting to follow…

I had two pieces accepted into the PMC Guild’s Annual, it’s 5th edition which should be out in September.  I’m in “the book” with the likes of Holly Gage, Terry Kovalcik, Donna Penoyer, Lisa Cain, Julia Rai,  Barbara Becker Simon, Vicki Hallmark, Lora Hart, and that barely scrapes the surface, just the names that come immediately to mind.   Yahoo!  According to the PMC Guild website, “As in the preceding years, a jury of leaders from the arts community reviewed hundreds of images to select the cream of the crop — the most innovative and accomplished work being made in metal clay around the world.”  So in the words of Ron Burgundy “I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal”

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I feel like a kid who’s just been signed up for the coolest summer camp.  The July 21st through the 28th, I’m visiting my mentor Holly Gage and meeting Angela Baduel Crispin in Lancaster PA for the Back in Time Metal Clay Retreat.  It should be a lot of fun, and j’ai hâte de pratiquer mon français avec Angela!

Holly and Angela did a Metal Clay Retreat in France a few years ago and I would have killed to go to that.  Well, no, I wouldn’t have killed.  I would have purchased a ticket and flown there and participated in a nice and non-lethal way.  But alas, I didn’t know about it.  I DO know about this retreat, and I’m already planning to be there!  I’ll be learning new techniques from two incredible teachers, eating great food, antique-ing and otherwise immersing myself in all things antique and Amish!

For more information about the retreat, please check here! 

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We did it!  Got the store set up and running just in time for Holly Gage’s Repousse Effects in Metal Clay class this past weekend.  It was the best inaugural class I could have hoped for.  A really great group of women, a great instructor, who helped imbue the store with positive energy and good vibes.

 

 

I am so thrilled with how the store turned out.  It’s “me”.  I have to say, I was a bit worried.  When I moved into the old store, it was already set up for me.  The paint had been painted, the beads had been hung…I “erin-ed” it a little bit, but ultimately, the design decisions had already been made.  Moving into the new space, I had countless sleepless nights, wondering “do I know what I’m doing?  Do I have any design sense?  will people still think the store feels friendly, warm, and inviting?  Will it be a total disaster?”  Well, I can sleep soundly now, the store is warm, clean, and fresh with ample room for shopping, learning and creating.  I am thrilled with the way it turned out, and was tickled to hear sincere complements about the look and feel of the place from students in this weekend’s class, Holly, my family, Carlton and even customers coming in off the street.

 

 

It’s a good thing.

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How has it taken me so long to enthuse about this? Thanks to your support, I took first place in the Show  Me the Love design challenge sponsored by Brynmorgen Press and Metal Clay Today!  I won $150 worth of juicy books from Tim McCreight (Metal Clay guru and phenom!) as well as some pretty significant bragging rights.  Over 1000 people voted in the contest.  I was so excited to win first place for my “Gonzo Locket” piece…especially as I’d inadvertantly split my own chances by submitting two pieces!

Thank you so much for voting and sharing your love.

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It’s the month of love!  I’m planning my wedding and feeling very lovey dovey.  I’m also loving every minute working with metal clay, coming up with new designs and classes to offer you, and working with my mentor, Holly Gage!  I just came back from a weekend with her where I learned to set cabochons like a real pro, and roll snakes of clay so fine, you could floss with them!  Come experience the love of metal clay by taking a class!

On Saturday, February 5^th, Chris and Jackie Rice of CNY Glass Studios will be at the store for a trunk show of their amazing work.  Jackie will be bringing a slew of her lovely lampwork glass beads and finished jewelry, and will have plenty of hearts for your sweetie.  Chris will be showcasing his incredible metal work: from jewelry displays to bed frames, Chris does it all!  Jackie and erin will be teach a class that incorporates metal clay rings with lampwork glass.  A lot of fun, sign up now!

The Rio Rewards PMC Certification class will be held at the store on April 29^th, 30^th and May 1^st, 2011 from 9 to 5.  Terry Kovalcik will be the instructor.  This is an excellent class, and Terry is an extremely gifted artist and a kind and patient teacher.  He has been a professional illustrator for over 25 years, and his eye for detail has certainly translated well into the metal clay world.  His work has been featured in numerous books and magazines, and he recently won first place in the Cultural Symbolism Exhibit at the 2010 PMC Conference in Purdue Indiana.  He is currently the Featured Artist for Metal Clay Today. The cost for the 3-day class is $495, which includes all the materials (and believe me, you’ll be getting a LOT of Metal Clay!).  Students will complete 7 projects, which will test student’s proficiency using PMC in a variety of ways.  New techniques will be taught and mastered.  For more information you can call Dragonfly Beads or to register, call 1-866-345-2698 or email education@riogrande.com.  After completion of the class, each student will be awarded a certificate and enrolled in the Rio Grande Rio Rewards program (which means discounts on clay and PMC tools!).  In addition, each student receives a one-year membership in the PMC guild, and will receive the gorgeous PMC Annual, full of inspirational work done in the field of Metal Clay.  And keep in mind how blissfully wonderful it is to be able to take 3 days and JUST PLAY WITH CLAY with a wonderful and patient instructor!  Class space is limited, so sign up early! 

We’re getting down to the wire for Holly Gage’s Repousse Effects in Metal Clay class.  Spaces are filling up, so call now to reserve your spot!  No matter what level you are at metal clay, you will learn a ton of information in this class, and have a blast doing it!  Even someone with no experience in Metal Clay can take this class! Learn the secrets of transforming original photos or drawings into highly detailed, low relief images, which look similar in style to traditional Repoussé.

Terry Kovalcik will be coming back to the store on May 14^th and 15^th to teach boxes and hinges.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about this!  I LOVE lockets, and Terry is a guru when it comes to hinges in metal clay.  The class will be Saturday, May 14^th and Sunday, May 15^th, 9-5 and the cost is $375 total for both days.

I am participating in another online challenge though Metal Clay Today.  Please go to www.metalclaytoday.com and vote in the “Show me the Love” contest!  And, show yourself some love, sign up to learn something new!

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