Les Trois Fleurs... Artistic Muse

Holiday Craft Show – St. Paschal Baylon Parish, Saturday, 11/19/2011

lestroisfleurs — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:05:17 +0000

Come visit Les Trois Fleurs and Diviniteez at the Holiday Craft Show sponsored by The Blessed Sacrament Guild of St. Paschal Baylon Parish on Saturday, November 19, 2011. The show is open from 9 am – 4 pm and the admission is $2.00.

Click here to see the flier for details.

Located at:

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Guild

St. Paschal Baylon Church

5384 Wilson Mills Road

Highland Hts., Ohio 44143

Journal – 2011-11-2

lestroisfleurs — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:40:02 +0000

What did I learn today? I’ve been experimenting with some vintage and other random pieces. It is a different creative experience to start with a component that already exists and you may not even particularly like. It causes you to open up your brain and think – how could I make this work? Some of my favorite artists have created some incredibly great jewelry and art from literally the kitchen sink – hardware, plumbing, etc. The process of looking at a component from all the angles, all the techniques, media, drawing it, even cartooning it can help break you out of a lock if you get stuck… and I think we all get stuck sometimes.

Journal – 2011-11-02

lestroisfleurs — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:13:23 +0000

Sterling Silver Bezel on Copper Base with Jasper Cabachon

I just finished an 8-week metalsmithing class at Sands Jewelers in Richmond Heights. This was on my wish list of skills I wanted to develop. The 8-week format was ideal for me to get enough studio time to anchor this new skill. In addition, Steve Kozlowski is an excellent teacher. Everyone in the class was working on a different type of project so each of us in the class learned about a broad range of metalsmithing techniques. I am very happy with the finished piece that I created in this class. The design was created with a copper base, cut into the shape of a flower. A jasper cabachon was set into a sterling silver bezel which was welded onto the copper base. The bail was attached to the pendant with a jump ring. Here is a picture of the design.

Journal – 2011-11-01

lestroisfleurs — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:56:55 +0000

It has been a very busy year…. a lot of changes… but as with changes, if you relax and flow with it, they will change you, enhance you, and bring you new insights. A better part of this year was spent studying for and earning my certification as a Project Manager (PMP). Now I am getting back into the groove of my creative pursuits and preparing for upcoming shows.

Paw-don Me Miss But Wolf You Love Me

I closed the store in Richmond Heights in favor of an online selling venue. Although I miss the people and the beautiful location, I am now the proud owner of 3 Etsy shops… I’ve asked other sellers… “How can you keep up with more than one shop?”. Well, now I know that you can keep up with multiple shops. Les Trois Fleurs is still the first born and seems to be evolving into my boutique shop. Here is a recent design that was created for the release of “Breaking Dawn”.

Lapis Pyrite Buddha Necklace

Diviniteez! was started as my “energy shop” and features natural stones, chakra bracelets, and energy jewelry. Everything listed in this shop has been energized with my years of experience as an energy worker, clearance technologist, and reiki master.

Trunk Sale Beads

Then I needed an outlet for the inventory from the store. I also had accumulated a lot of jewelry making supplies that I was not sure I would use. As you grow your skills in a particular craft, your style evolves and your taste in materials evolves with it. So Trunk Sale was born and it is rapidly growing into the treasury of finds it was intended to be. Trunk Sale offers beads, tools, other crafting supplies, and vintage items.

One of my goals this year was also to extend my network beyond the Cleveland area. I am now a member of numerous teams on Etsy, recently curated an Etsy BNR for the first time, and started selling internationally a few months ago.

New Adventure – Metal Folding 2011/07/02

lestroisfleurs — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:07:41 +0000

I attended a free class today that covered metal folding and wire wrapping in copper at Bead Q! in Chagrin Falls. Learning new techniques is so inspiring and opens up new creative avenues. It is a great way to get re-inspired and expand your versatility as a jewelry designer.

Folded Metal Copper Heart with Copper Lacing

Included in this post is a picture of the pendant created in this class. Bead Q! is a great local bead shop with high quality supplies and great instructors. Highly recommended if you are a novice or an experienced jewelry artisan.

Buy Art – Support Japan

lestroisfleurs — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:10:44 +0000

Kind hearted Etsians are donating proceeds from the sale of their wonderful artwork to support charitable organizations involved with the Japan Tsunami recovery effort. Buy something beautiful and support the tremendous need for help in Japan. Here is an Etsy treasury of a very small portion of these artists… to find other Etsy sellers who are supporting this effort, enter “japan”, or “japan relief”, or “tsunami relief” into the search box on the Etsy home page.

Open Your Hearts to Japan Etsy Treasury.

Here are some additional treasuries that I found all supporting the Japan relief effort:

L<3VE for JAPAN

Hope for Japan

Latest Etsy Treasuries – 2011/03/16

lestroisfleurs — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:17:01 +0000

Hello… here are some of my most recent treasuries featuring works by wonderful artists…

Or-ranging for Spring: colorful, cheery, springy… Hello, Great Earth Mother, what are your or-anging for us this year?

Medallions and Lions: For those knights, guardians, and their medallions.

And other treasuries that have featured my work. Thanks!

Cleveland is in full bloom

Lucky in Cleveland

Photos-R-Us Part II – 2011/03/11

lestroisfleurs — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:53:50 +0000

See the comments to my last “Photos-R-Us” post for the feedback from Mariano Pastor. You can view all his articles and related posts at www.handmadeology.com. This was great feedback so with better lighting I was able to make a second round of shots using the tissue paper on the window and a tripod.

I tried several different backgrounds and the results were much better. This first shot is one with an aqua background. I wasn’t sure whether the apatite beads would be lost with a near-matching background and they still stood out. It’s not my favorite but it is an improvement over the previous shots.

The second one is on a beige background. It still picked up the aqua color of the apatite stones. The color must be reflected off the foil.

The third shot, my favorite, is on a brown background with printing on it. I was reluctant to use this paper for a background because I thought that the jewelry piece would “fade out” against this background. I was wrong… happily wrong. It seemed to really complement the jewelry and made it stand out. I have been resisting using my tripod because the resulting photos were very blurry. With some practice I worked out the bug and learned to maneuver it with more ease and this really sharpened the quality of the photographs.

If you are wanting to improve your photography skills, I highly recommend that you visit www.handmadeology.com and work with some of the photography suggestions.

Have a great weekend … and stay warm if you are local to Cleveland. Let’s all send lots of prayers and love to our fellow humankind in Japan!

Click to Support Susan G Komen – 2011/03/10

lestroisfleurs — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:49:58 +0000

A friend of mine forwarded me an email from a mutual friend and co-worker who is a breast cancer survivor for six months now. This is a great way to support breast cancer prevention and research for the cure – it takes just 4 minutes of your time to watch this fun video made by 136 former NFL cheerleaders; when you do, United Healthcare donates to Susan G Komen for the Cure (breast cancer information, prevention and research for the cure).

As of now, there have been 3,101,789 views.

At 1 million, UHC will donate $100,000 (done)

At 5 million, they’ll donate another $50,000…help make this happen.

Please watch the video, and just as importantly, pass this link and message on to your network of family, friends and colleagues.

www.KomenPhiladelphia.org/Video

Click often!

Winter Ice Storm – 2011/03/04

lestroisfleurs — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:06:58 +0000

This year the winter weather has been very dramatic and different.

Pine Tree Laden with Snow

Last week we had a big winter ice storm that left all the trees covered with thick ice for several days. I was fortunate enough to work from home the day the storm arrived. Many of the schools closed that day. A week later when it all melted along with the huge mounds of snow, we then had some major flooding. One morning I left to go to work and the roads were so treacherous that I turned around. I was about 2 minutes from my home and it took 45 minutes to arrive safely back at my home.

It would be easy to get caught in the fear of driving in this weather or how “inconvenient” it was. Yet it was an incredibly beautiful view! We went out to lunch one day after the ice storm and Cleveland looked like a Christmas ice palace… very magical.

Branches Covered with Ice

So I posted a few pictures to share with you. These are actually after a few days after the ice storm and therefore do not adequately represent the peak beauty that was on display. Some trees could not withstand the weight of the snow and ice… survival of the fittest? Luckily I had just purchased bird seed so the little birdies had enough to eat. My cat, loves to sit in the window by the pine tree because it is in the flying path of the birds on their way to thefeeders. I call it his “home entertainment center”.

Branches Covered with Ice