Meet me at The Worlds End

There are lots of fun pubs and bars in London, UK.  However one of my favourites is The Worlds End in Camden. Just south of the Camden Town tube station is where you will find this wonderfully weird pub.

This pub has such a different feel with its interesting shop window walls and fantastic pieces of art.  The beer is good and affordable, the food is scrumptious and the people are always friendly.  If you enjoy people watching The Worlds End is a fun place to sip on a drink and take in your surroundings.

What is Steampunk?

What is Steampunk?

I get this question more often than you may think.  It's become more mainstream just in the past 5 or so years it seems.  But the term was coined more than 20 years ago in 1987.  The popular show Castle (some of us followed this as Nathan Fillian was our favorite space-cowboy in Firefly) even did a great Steampunk episode.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/184337/castle-punked

Starting out mostly as a cult favorite sci-fi book subject and evolving into fashion, design and popular-culture phenomenon. Steampunk combines futurism, time travel, and the Victorian Age. Authors such as K.W. Jeter, Tim Powers, James Blaylock, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Scott Westerfeld all pull their influences from Edwardian authors H.G. Wells and Jules Vernes that have Victorian-era technology and ideals.

These authors have inspired artists, musicians and the like to bring these ideas into their painting, drawing, jewelry, and great music.

Phoenix Oddities (the studio for Phoenix Rising Designs and Embered Designs) have enjoyed making our interpretations as well.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69391457/steampunk-floral-hair-or-hat-pin

If you're in the Cincinnati area there are even a few wonderful events you can enjoy. 

Here are just two: The Time Traveler's Ball: September 24th, 2011 @ the Southgate House

               Old West Festival: September 10-October 9th, 2011 (make sure to come on Steampunk Weekend!)

Hope to see you there!

Wine Tasting @ 20 Brix

Some of you may already know, I have a night job as a bartender at 20 Brix.  I get to work with my sister-in-law Cambrey Hastings and Tuesday we worked a great wine tasting. 

This time I had the pleasure of meeting Hunter Vogel, the label owner of Treasure Hunter wines at the 20 Brix wine tasting brought in by Purple Feet Distributors.  They featured 5 red wines.  My favorite right now is the Man O' War Cabernet.

Chef Paul Borraco paired a 5 course meal to pair with each wine.  Grahm, Dylan, and Josh assisted Paul in the kitchen to prepare and plate this for 25 people while still taking care of all the normal restaurant business as well.  Between each course, Chef likes to come out and talk to our people at the tasting.  I think my favorite quote of the night was after one guest told him how great the food was he says, "I enjoy creating mouth adventures."

Hunter Vogel was one of the funnest people to listen to of all the wine tastings I've worked there.  After the tasting and bottle signing ("Thanks for letting me put my Pinot in you."-hahaha!!) I was able to get some pictures of him with our General Manager Clay Mitchel, Cynthia,  and Chef Paul. 

Yup, I also get paid to work there.

Beaded Leather Embroidery

I thought I would show you a bit of a behind the scenes for one of my favorite art forms.  Leather embroidery is the art (or craft) of stitching very small beads called seed beads onto leather by hand.  Patterns must be figured out, gemstones set, and you must have strong hands!  Getting a needle through leather can sometimes be a real pain. I'm nursing a couple of needle pokes now actually.  I'm working on a new project called "Sun Spots".  Here you can see I'm reusing car leather samples which would have been tossed in the trash had they not been "rescued" by my father.  (Three "R"s, right? :D)

I've been working on it for a couple of days now and I'm happy with the results so far. Here is another piece of mine all finished called "Native Earth" shown below.

Most of my embroidery pieces are at the Nature Shop in Rowe Woods in Milford, Ohio if you would like to see them in person.  I'll also have "Sun Spots" and much more at our show coming up in September, Old West Festival.

A Bit of History



Beaded embroidery is very beautiful, and also very period.  Some of the first known pieces of beaded embroidery were done in the 12th century on German church vestments. This medieval style of embroidery was usually sketched onto parchment, then embroidered, and then the beaded vellum would be used as an appliqué, and applied to the fabric. The embroidery was usually done in laid work, meaning that the beads were strung onto one thread, laid on the design in the desired manner, and then couched into place with a second needle and thread.

By Giuliana di Benedetto Falconieri

Embroidery and most other fiber and needlework arts are believed to originate in the Orient and Middle East. Primitive humankind quickly found that the stitches used to join animal skins together could also be used for embellishment. In 1964, a Cro-Magnon hunter’s fossilized remains, 30,000B.C., was found at a dig in Sungir near Vladimir, Russia. His fur clothing, boots and hat were heavily decorated with hand stitched horizontal rows of ivory beads - bead embroidery? You bet!

Chinese bead embroidery in Siberia, 5000 and 6000B.C., include elaborately drilled shells stitched with decorative designs onto animal hides. Mosaics of Byzantium, 500A.D., depict embroidery of clothing with silk thread, precious stones and pearls. It is possible the Chinese thread embroidery from 3500B.C. was the origin of thread embroidery as we know it today.

http://www.beadwrangler.com/samplers/embroidery1/embroidery_history.htm

Hippie Must have

Summer is here! I can't speak for everyone but for me summer is about being barefoot.  There is nothing i enjoy more that lazing in the sun, reading a good book with my bare feet in the cool grass.  It is because of this that recently I have become a little obsessed with barefoot sandals.

These beautiful items of jewelry are perfect for weddings on the beach to chilling in the garden.  These ones specifically are made by 4mydolly.  The thing i love about her barefoot sandals is she gives you options, you get to choose the color of the thread and the beads and even offers two bead colors!   Although that now leaves me with the predicament of choosing between silver thread  with grape colored beads or black thread with gold beads, so many decisions.

The best thing is they look like real jewelry but are stretchy, making them easier and more comfortable to wear.  Which comes in handy because you can wear them with your flip flops, pumps or heels for a funky new twist.

There are loads of different patterns, methods and materials that can be used to make barefoot sandals.  For all of you talented people who know how to crochet check out this tutorial.  I think these Barefoot sandals are just beautiful and really quite simple to make. 

Whether you buy a pair of barefoot sandals or make your own I can guarantee these are a hippie must have for the summer.

Reduce. Reuse. UPCYCLE.

Earth Gathering has really got my thinking about the different things people can do to help look after our planet.  Most people have a trash can or a box specifically for recycling.  Recycling is very important, but even better is Reusing!  By Reusing an item yourself you save time, energy and fuel, as well as producing less emissions.

As an Artist the idea of upcycling is both fascinating and beautiful to me.  I love that you can take something that originally would have been thought of as trash and turn it into something useful and creative.  For example my Owl piece was an upcycled plank of barn wood. Even though the wood had dents and paint splatters on it, it didn't matter because it gave it character.

Funnily this piece sold at Earth Gathering.

Here are some more artists i found on Etsy.com that Upcycle -

Upcycled Word is an artist that works in a Library.  All of her creations are made from unwanted or unloved books that needed a new home. 

Upcycled Book Earrings

Beer Can Darl upcycles vintage recycled Americana.  I particularly love his use of vintage beer cans to create maps of America and famous quotes.

United States Map - Vintage Upcycled Beer Can Collage

Smokin Axe creates beautiful Guitars out of upcycled Cigar boxes. Even the guitar necks are made from recycled and re-purposed engineered wood.

Las Cabrillas 3-String Hollow-Body Electric Cigar Box Guitar

I do not know, personally, what attracted these Artists to Upcycling. It could have been the interesting characteristics of the items they use, it could be that they enjoy hunting for those uniquely aged objects that need a new home. What ever their reasons they are all helping the Earth by not contributing more unnecessary waste to landfills across the world.

The Power of Nature



Artist's Block- Same thing as Writer's Block which we are all familiar with, Artist's Block is something you don't want to run into EVER.  But all creative people eventually do.  Whether you're painting, drawing, making a pattern or writing a paper for school; all of us need our creative thinking to be in high gear to make something of value.

My living is based on my creativity and I can say it is hard to stay creative and not just fall into a rut of making the same thing over and over.  Sometimes I may just make things that aren't quite up to my standards.  I know I've experienced this loads of times and had to take apart or just start completely over with a project. (Just ask Rozena, she has seen my "To Be Finished/I Threw This Against the Wall" drawer.)  I never let these pieces out until they've been properly yelled at and reworked....

Ahhh...but there's hope.  One thing I have found to keep this at a minimum is to be in the Great Outdoors.  Just sticking your bare feet on the grass can do wonders.  I find that studying the Greatest Artist helps me to stay creative myself.  I have pulled out my phone to take a picture of a sunset that had a great color palate that helped me blend my colors better, thrown rocks down a river to take out frustration only to be inspired by the shapes of them and figured out a new way to weave a necklace.  Like the one shown here:   "Wisdom" Owl Necklace

It's not always oooh aaaaah I was just inspired!!  Sometimes it's just about being, just relaxing with the people you care about or on your own.  Don't underestimate this time.  We live in a culture that doesn't play outside all day until street lights come on (honestly it's just not safe for our children to do this anymore), and most of our shopping is done in a large mall rather than at an outdoor market, and a lot of our human contact is done virtually.  So now we must make time to enjoy outside, I'm just sayin'...love that dirt!

In Cincinnati, where I live, it's been raining like crazy!  Getting outside is difficult.  So this week I enjoyed a trip to Krohn Conservatory where the Brazilian Butterfly Show is currently going on through June.  Just fantastic!

So that's what I do to get rid of Artist's Block... the Power of Nature!  Hope it helps you if you give it a try. :)

Earth Gathering

Earth Gathering is an annual event that happens on the weekend closest to Earth Day.  It is a day long event promoting earth friendly art, music, food, products and ideas. This weekend was my first official juried show and I'm not going to lie, I was nervous!  The drive down to Chillicothe was eye opening, I have never really ventured into Appalachia before. There was a great variety of people from Amish to Hippies and everyone had a smile on their face.

This was the first time myself and Lindsay had set up our booth together. We were surprised at how full it looked! Next time we will defiantly be bringing another table! Luckily the overall look was much more cohesive than we first imagined.  Although in the beginning sales were slow around about 2pm things really began to pick up. I was happy, although a little sad, to see the first piece of Art I ever burnt found a new home.  It really created a sense of pride in me, that someone I have never met deemed my Art good enough to gift to someone they loved.

Lindsay's son Jaden had a fantastic time in the Kids Craft tent! He made me a rain stick, Lindsay a collage type magnet thing and grandpa got a new bird feeder. All of the projects the kids did that day were made from upcycled art supplies, what a great way to teach the next generation that our home is precious! 

We had the pleasure of meeting some real characters at this festival, bought some honey, listened to some very talented musicians and had delicious Mediterranean food in the most unlikely place. One of the great characters I got the pleasure of meeting was Lindsay's dad John Sanders. He was kind enough to open his home to me as a tag along daughter. Johns home is the most interesting I have seen in a while and really reminded me of my own home back in England. Big Thanks John, the food was great and I had a fantastic time. 

Like I said, "Some REAL characters!"

First Road Trip of the Season

Today we loaded up the minivan (Old Bessy) and headed out for Chillicothe, Ohio.  We took St Rt 32 so we could stop at a little Amish place and Serpent Mound on the way.  The first stop was great fun as there are all these great play sets; a pirate ship, airplane and fort with slides and swings so of course we turned instantly into our 10 year old selves, climbing and screaming "You will never defeat me with my impenetrable fortress!"

Inside the main building you can find anything from furniture to jelly and apple butter, candles to home baked goods.  Saturday mornings you can find families packed inside the store for fresh homemade donuts, then heading outside to sit in the beautifully handcrafted gazebos for breakfast...yum!

Second stop for our little car group was a beautiful and historical experience at Serpent Mound.  I love this place as it has a personal draw for me, my family is from this area and my great grandmother is buried not too far from here.  Her people lived here and were Cherokee Native American.  The people that built this mound were the ancient Adena.  It really is a great place to visit and I'm very happy that is was preserved for us to see.

There are many interpretations of the meaning of this mound and what it represented to the people that built it.  However, they didn't have a written record so it remains mostly a mystery.

Great shot by Rozena of my son Jaden. We climbed the tower to see up high.  Just look at your feet not at the ground when climbing the stairs and you'll make it up.  It seems a bit rickety but it is quite safe.  Ugh...still freaked me out.

These are a couple more views from Serpent Mounds' trail.  Just wait for summer or fall when the colors are even more vibrant!  If you are hitting the Appalachian Highway, make sure to stop off here.  The drive is beautiful.

(There is also a small fossil and rock shop at the turn to St Rt 73 that is also a fantastic little stop on the way.)

Embered Designs Intro

I studied Art and Design at the University of Creative arts. Originally the idea was to further my education with a degree in photography. However as we all know things rarely go as planned, so instead i moved to America and got married to my lovely husband.  It was here in America that i found out about Pyrography.  Pyrography means "writing with fire", it is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker.  It is also known as poker work or wood burning. I bought my first wood burning tool at a Yard sale and i am so glad i did! 

Cinderella mini jewelry box

It was only after I joined Phoenix Oddities Studios that i really got the confidence to make a career out of my Pyrography work.  It will be my first season on the art show circuit this year and i must admit i am a little nervous, especially as our first show is in just 5 days time! However i am sure with Lindsay's help i will over come my nerves and have a fantastic time. We are going to be at Chillicothe, OH for Earth Gathering on the 16th of April.

Phoenix Rising Designs Intro

Ok I decided to add this as a way of introducing myself and let you know what Phoenix Rising Designs is and the people behind it! I'm now a member of Phoenix Oddites Studios with Rozena and we're starting our first season together in April.

I started Phoenix Rising Designs  in 2004 after about 6 years of apprenticing and selling for other artists and designers.  I have worked some really great art shows and one really muddy one.  Seriously, shin deep in mud and sleeping in my van.  The bathrooms weren't finished with walls between the toilets so... Anyway, I've done my share of moving around with my work! haha  I am a wife and mother to one son.
 

 I mentioned "people", right?  Well those of you who have helped me in the past are free to add your stories. Rozee, we almost got stolen, remember? haha Brittany, you helped me for about 6 or 7 seasons and one time fell asleep with mud and rocks in your hair, right?  My husband and son helped be run stuff to the van in pouring sheets of rain in Huron, Oh.  Cambrey, how many lunches did we eat at that apple festival again?  I also have met some great people, had wonderful sales and fantastic times on circuit too. Rozena and I will be adding some of our experiences from this summer and looking for fun and interresting people or places to introduce you to.  So check back with us.

I am currently working like crazy to add more wholesale accounts to my business. I'm currently in 4 stores and opening another display in Waynesville, OH (Windsome Cottage) this May.  My styles are tribal and steampunk jewelry, hair accessories, and walking staff grips.  I have an online store: http://www.phoenixbartender.etsy.com/, check it out.  Thanks!

(Why "phoenix bartender"? Well I like the mythical creature and I'm a bartender at night and an artist by day. )