Dyeing Silks for Custom Colors and Patterns

by Barbara Bechtel


Earlier this year, I took a eucalyptus dying class with Kim Mailhot at my favorite local studio, Art More Place. It turns out, that the green eucalyptus we see in floral arrangements and the favorite food of koala bears, when heated and steamed in dye bath turns a beautiful rusty color.

Here, you can see the beautiful rusty leaves and the impressions they left on the silk bags.

Another useful technique that Kim shared with us is that sari silk and other dyed silks can often used to add pops of color as well. When heated in a boiling steam bath, the dye transfers away leaving a beautiful watercolor effect to the formerly solid silks!

See those little lines? Those are made using tiny threads pulled from sari silk! On the left, you can see some faint lime green lines left from a piece of dyed green silk from Marsha Neal Studio.

I can see so many possibilities with this to customizing and dying your own silks for use, can't you?

Here are just a few of the silks that I dyed in my class!

In the same vein, recently I saw this tutorial floating around Pinterest and Facebook for dyeing easter eggs with old silk ties and that really got the wheels turning in my head because it essentially follows the same method that I learned with the sari silks!

These follow a similar approach! I can't wait to try this method with a silk to silk dye transfer!

Have you ever tried to dye your own fibers for your jewelry? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments below!

New Work and Keeping It Simple...

by Barbara Bechtel


I've had sort of a hard time getting back to jewelry making after 2014's holiday shows. Then for me, procrastination sets in, along with loss of momentum, and it becomes even HARDER to start again. When I work, I tend to get hyper-focused on details, often to the detriment of the big picture. I'll fuss and fuss over little things without looking at the big picture, either in the piece or the whole big picture of jewelry.

In some ways, I enjoy this process. In example, it's led me into the foray of just making components, but I found then I make tons of finished components and NO JEWELRY!

In the last month, I set out to get my jewelry mojo back. For me, this often takes several days sort of sorting things around, playing with elements, and making (and destroying) work....you know, noodling over a piece like I mentioned above only to spend hours on it and find I HATE IT when I'm finished.

This time around, I started out in the same old way, and became disgusted with myself. So my mental dialogue went something like this:

"You're thinking too hard."

"Think outside the box."

"Work SMARTER, not HARDER."

.......wait, that's the problem.......

"You're thinking OUTSIDE the box. You just need to make some jewelry. It's not that hard.....Keep it simple!"

Ahhhhhh, SIMPLE! That was just the kick in the pants I needed to get myself back into gear. The outside-the-box-thing can come later....I just needed to jump the first hurdle.

I started out with going through my stash of vintage findings. I love to peruse estate sales, craigslist, eBay, and flea markets for old components and vintage stampings.

I started out making some bracelet focals from some vintage brass post earrings.

Next, I had these awesome thunderbird stampings that had a bezel tray. They needed cleaning and patina as well as some holes.

Then I filled the bezels with polymer clay and stamped some words. (y'all know I'm a word girl!)

Here you can see the first two finished ones. I wanted to leave a few to fill after I finished a couple to see how the design would work out and maybe get inspired by some different color choices later.

Here's a shot of some of the focals I finished.

And here's a shot of some of the simple finished bracelets. These are just basic simple bracelets. I wanted to have a mixed metal look to the more squarish ones on the top and bottom and so I took bits of leftover matching (but different colored chain) and alternated the links.

You can see that the approach in designing each of the elements is quite simple and used lots of repeating elements, but by changing my mindset and going with simple designs, I was able to cross that first hurdle!

Regaining your momentum....

by Barbara Bechtel

Some freehand stitching I've been working on in 2015

Are you already on a roll in 2015? Are you off and running and attacking the new year? If you are, GOOD FOR YOU! But perhaps you're already stuck.....Sometimes even though we have the best of intentions of diving into the new year with a new zest and zeal, you go to your studio or your worktable and you feel....

Stuck.

Overwhelmed.

Underwhelmed.

Lost.

Lacking.

If that's you, DON'T WORRY! You're not alone! Sometimes the holidays or any big event for that matter can leave you feeling less than motivated creatively. My own experience is that much of that feeling can be attributed the the break in momentum. All of the build up to the holidays or a big show can leave you feeling depleted and zapped. For me, it's a big factor in my creativity. Although it continues to be a struggle for me, as I continue on my creative path, I thought I would share my tips today for finding your groove again and regaining your creative momentum:

Barbara's Tips for getting UNSTUCK:

NUMBER 1 (AND THE MOST IMPORTANT):
Be kind to yourself. You are not a machine. While you may have just had a holiday "vacation", many times we need a creative vacation. If you're recouping after a big show, close that studio door for a couple days, weeks, months, if you need to. Focus on other aspects of your life for a bit. As the old adage goes, art imitates life, and sometimes when you get into a routine with the rest of your life, you'll feel that pull again on your creativity.

2) Take a class or do something different creatively. You're a creative being but that doesn't mean you have to focus solely on one thing. Especially if your main focus brings in income, your creativity can often be zapped by that pressure to make money. Find a class that teaches a skill you've been wanting to add to your repertoire or take up another creative hobby while your brain recuperates. Cooking, knitting, painting or drawing, whatever!....Free yourself to use your creativity in other ways besides the one where you feel stuck.

3) Find local connections. If you have creative friends nearby, get together for a day of fun. It can be as structured as you wish (everyone works on the same project) or maybe everyone just brings their own project to work on. Sometimes just talking to other creative friends about what they are working on and chatting together over a cup of coffee can really help. No creative friends nearby? Get on the ol' interwebs and have a google hangout or start a Facebook group where you can commune with like minded creatives!

4) Revisit an old or unfinished project. NONE of us have any of those, right? ;) Sometimes those old and unfinished projects haunt our creativity and weigh us down. Dig one out and FINISH it. It doesn't need to end up like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but sometimes the act of getting in there and finishing something you started can be very liberating.

5) Clean/ Organize/ Rearrange your workspace. Shake it up. Get rid of old stuff, rearrange and clear the space. Find some old supplies you forgot about. Commit to using them or parting with them.

6) Embrace the mundane tasks of creativity. Make clasps, make headpins, recycle that old metal or clay, polish your tools, clean the pickle pot. Sometimes in the throes of creativity, we put those things off, but just like doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, and cleaning the toilet, it still needs done, and there is always a sense of accomplishment afterwards.

What are YOUR favorite tips for getting unstuck? I'd love for you to share them in the comments!

Resetting in 2015

Happy New Year! Now that the holidays are officially over and the dust is starting to settle, I'd like to get reacquainted with you all!

Many people don't like to make resolutions or goals, but I always find it a good to reset. Whether you have concrete goals or just like to choose a word to focus on....or simply have a list of things you'd like to accomplish, I hope this year brings fruition to your heart's desires.

Over my show season this past holiday, I decided that one of my goals in the new year would be to make more videos and take more pictures of my process. My work tends to focus on using a lot of second hand or seemingly worthless objects and elevating them in my jewelry.

A good example of this is my penny charms. I really wanted a way that those who follow me could see a part of the process so that they could relate it to what they are seeing in person.

I made this simple time lapse video to showcase the first part of the process. I'm still learning about producing videos like this but I hope to keep refining my skills and making more videos from the studio.



How Barbara creates a unique charm from a real copper penny. from Barbara Bechtel on Vimeo.

DIY Trendsetting: Leather Tassels

by Barbara Bechtel

Tassels are all around these days in jewelry trends.....Around last fall, I began making my leather tassels and today, I'm going to show you how!

My tassels are made of reclaimed leather, but after you try this easy technique, you'll see it's easily applicable to fabric or a vegan option like pleather or ultrasuede!

Product note: While you can purchase leather sheet from craft stores, I encourage you to source your local upholstery shop for leather scraps or purchase some leather that is reclaimed. My leather comes from Modern Fabrics, where I buy my leather. It is reclaimed leather from the furniture industry and this company purchases and resells it as it would otherwise end up in a landfill. For $20, you can get a whole box full that will last you for years making tassels and other things! Please note, you want the remnants...the other leather listed on their site is for full hides so that link is the one you want.

Supply List:
* Pieces of leather (about 2-3" x 3-4" pieces) They will be different sizes but depending on the thickness of your leather and the size/length of your finished piece, you'll want to gather a bunch of rectangles to play around! Start larger and work your way smaller as you gain confidence.
 
*extra tiny leather rectangles (about 3/8" x 1 1/2") for embellishing and making a loop.

* strong glue. (I use E6000) Make sure your glue is labeled to glue leather. This is a great reference for glue. I would not use a tacky or fabric glue as it will not hold.

*Sharp Shears (use a dedicated pair of long, sharp fabric shears) They will make nice, long straight cuts that will give you the nice fringe you're looking for here!

*metal ruler

*sharpie or marking pen

*wooden clothespins or clips (to hold your tassel while it dries)

*optional: waxed thread or linen and beads for embellishing.

I made this really high-tech diagram for you to see how you'll be cutting your fringe ;0)....You can mark all these lines with a marking pen if you're nervous. NOTE: The heavy black line above the dotted lines is for reference. You're not cutting this line. Normally, the dotted lines I freehand cut and the solid line I mark as a guide to make sure the fringe is even....but once you get the hang of it, you won't need to mark much.....

 Cut your fringe like above. Don't use tiny scissors! You want long SHARP fabric shears to make nice straight cuts.

This is the small tab rectangle you'll use to make the loop and will also form the core of your tassel. Fold this in half, securing it with a dot of glue at the base.

Place your loop at one end of the fringe, add glue and fold over. Draw a line of glue along the top edge and begin folding, taking care to keep the fringe, straight, tight, and even along the top.

Keep folding and adding glue and rolling....eh? starting to look very tassel-y.....

Once you reach the end, secure with a clothespin and let dry for several hours.

Practice making a bunch because it's fun and addictive!!!! Once dry, you can add another small rectangle around the outside of the top to add interest and a little extra security (as in the finished picture of my necklace above) or add a little strand of waxed linen (as in the grey tassel above).....

If you don't like to use leather, consider trying this with fabric, faux leather, or ultrasuede!

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! Enjoy!

Texturing Metal......NOW WHAT???

Sooooooo, is everyone getting out those hammers and metal and pounding away?!

Since our Art Jewelry Boot Camp is currently focused on texturing metal by hand, perhaps you've been hammering away and have a nice little sampler of metal pieces that you're not quite sure what to do with......

So today, I wanted to share a little tidbit for a simple way to turn that textured metal into a simple slide bail for another pendant. Slide bails/pendants!

Slide bails/pendants are a popular trend in higher end jewelry and you could add some of these to a table at your show as they can easily slide onto a heavy omega style necklace (so ladies can buy a pendant and simply swap them on their own omega for a new look) or be added to ready made leather necklaces. OR....you can incorporate them by adding punches of color by adding them to beautiful silks and fibers or a more involved pieces.

I started with a copper stamping that was very large (about 3+" across)  and probably wouldn't serve well as a pendant. But you could use squares, circles, ovals or any other symmetrical pieces you've been texturing to make a slightly different shape.  The original shape is above.

I snipped off the side rounded bits with a pair of french shears and filed the sides nice and straight and then annealed the piece to make it nice and soft so it would be ready to receive that nice texture we've been talking about..... Next, I textured the piece by using my grungy pitted hammer followed by a piece of bent steel wire that I mentioned at the intro to our challenge.

My piece was quite work hardened by this point so I annealed it again with my torch, cleaned it very well, then folded it around a 1/4" dowel rod to form the bail portion....(this was the point where I wish I owned a pair of bail pliers or wrap and tap pliers).....but a wooden dowel worked fine too! I then used a pair of chain nose pliers to bend the bottom rounded bits out a bit so it met in a friendlier manner.

At this point, I drilled my hole by using a center punch and drilling through both pieces at the same time so the holes would meet. I did all my finish work with my emery papers, cleaned, oxidized, distressed, and waxed and you have this:

A fun bail to add on a bit of silk or a slide pendant! Add your favorite Art Bead or pendant and you are set to go!


One word of caution: Don't forget to seal the INSIDE of the bail (I do this by  passing a Qtip coated in wax or a cuticle stick wrapped with some muslin or cotton ball and wax through the opening so it is finished inside and out) You don't want any oxidation to rub off on leathers or fibers....

Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Balled Headpins Week 2: Rosy Copper Headpins

by Barbara Bechtel

Welcome to Art Jewelry Boot Camp Week 2!!!

I hope Staci inspired you last week to dig out that torch and make your own headpins! Libby and Stacie added some wonderful posts to help fuel the fire beyond just wire-wrapping!

Today, I wanted to talk about making copper headpins and specifically, my favorite Rosy Red headpins!
by quenching your headpins immediately after they ball, you can achieve a beautiful rosy red color that I love to use in my work!

Important tips to remember when making these headpins:

*Dip your glowing red headpin IMMEDIATELY into the quench pot.
*DON'T pickle your headpins! You'll lose that beautiful color!
*Once the copper starts to ball, remove and reinsert into flame to control the size of the ball and it's shape.

As Staci mentioned last week, we do not cover torch safety or precautions, so please use caution and your own common sense.

Please feel free to ask questions and we will be sure to answer them for you, either in the comments or another post, or both.

Sawing with a jeweler's frame

by Barbara Bechtel

I've been really enjoying reconnecting with my jewelry saw over the last few months and this week, I've been challenging myself to making very tiny shapes using the scraps in my scrap pile.

Arguably, the most important tool in any metalsmith's studio, I'm often surprised more people don't have one or haven't tried it! It is inexpensive and so versatile!

To get started, you will need to invest in a simple saw frame, an assortment of blades, some Bur-Life or beeswax, and a bench pin and sheet metal.

A bench pin is a wooden v-shape plate that will help you achieve the cuts in your chosen design. It need not be expensive or fancy and if you happen to have a spare piece of wood and a jig saw, you can even make your own!

An assortment of saw blades will start you off. The more  intricate your design, the finer blade you will use. For large or rough cutting, you will use a thicker and heavier gauge blade. Always begin by lubricating your blade with bees wax or metal lubricant such as Bur-Life.

There are a wealth of videos and tutorials on the internet that can get you started if you're the go-getter type. I also heartily recommend Thomas Mann's book Metal Artist's Workbench: Demystifying the Jeweler's Saw 

If you learn better through classes, local museums, arts leagues, and even community colleges often have beginning metalsmith classes that cover this most basic and useful skill!


Do you use a jeweler's saw? 

Finding and losing words.....

I'm finding immense joy these days hammering words into metal. The phenomenon of metal stamping aside, I've long enjoyed using words in my work, whether it is in my paintings, my polymer clay pendants, or most recently, my metalwork.

I'm not an eloquent writer. Therefore, I think I tend to grab hold of lyrics, poetry, and books, to find my mantras. Casually scribbled onto receipts, haphazardly in the margins of to-do lists and my sketchbook, I love to pull these out and emblazon them onto jewelry.......

hoping that others find the words as captivating as I do......
The medium and the words may change....but there will always be things to say :)

Playing with pennies.....

Awhile back, I began saving pre-1982 US Pennies. Many people don't know that before 1982, US pennies are 90% copper, making them perfect for a variety of jewelry applications. They can be annealed, domed, torch enameled, punched, cut, filed, hammered just like any sheet of copper!

lucky Second Surf pennies, I've been using to sign jewelry

I started out using them as signature tags for my jewelry, but this week, I made some buttons for a bracelet class I'm teaching...

penny buttons for use in sewing and leather bracelet projects.

A variety of currency can be used and incorporated into jewelry. While you should check the specific codes for your country, in the US, it is perfectly legal to alter currency as long as the intended purpose is not fraudulent in nature (Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code----just think of the penny squashing machines at amusement parks and little items that can be sold with hearts, crosses, and doves cut out of them).

Learning about currency is not only a fun hobby, but also educational! Local coin shops and flea markets will give you an wealth of information as well as provide interesting selections of coins you can alter or incorporate into your jewelry! 

Before altering any currency, it is important to check the year and research the specific coin's metal content. For example, pennies made after 1982, are mostly zinc with only a very thin copper plating. Zinc should not be annealed as it has a extremely low melting point and the fumes can be toxic.Other metals may also be present in currency so please research the coin and it's metal content before getting creative!



Have you ever used currency in your jewelry?

Becoming a teacher and a student.....

This week marked the beginning of my 34th year on this planet. As a gift to myself, I decided to take a class given by new friends and fellow teachers at Bali Studios. For a long time, I think at least the last year, I've felt in a constant state of flux, a feeling of transition that I haven't been able to put my finger on exactly. This class was a celebratory act in moving towards that direction, this direction I've been feeling pulled towards but couldn't quite see yet...sort of like trying to orientate one's self to a compass.

One of those steps is teaching and in terms of magnetic poles, and compasses, an aspect of that is also learning...learning in a broad sense, both teaching and learning. Learning about myself, about teaching, and of course, learning from others.

Now, I don't think it's a secret that teachers learn as much from their students as they teach them, right? It's sort of one of the basic philosophies of teaching....This part is the part that has me most curious. This two way avenue of learning....this teaching and being taught.

I haven't taken a class in years....maybe since college. I'm a very visual, hands-on learner....and I'm quite content to teach myself....so I think this class for me was a very important step in this journey to becoming a teacher....to also learn and to UN-learn. To learn from other artists, their own approach, how it differed from my own approach and to do it by another method.

final gathering photo by Deb Taylor

Our class was about creating a personal soul passport, a handmade book. In this case, it was already something I was familiar with, art journal-ing and bookmaking....There was much emphasis on creating a finished mostly blank book in a very safe, welcoming environment in which we were able to create.

I put it in my mind before I even went that I would push myself into this with my whole heart and create something very different than what I was accustomed to....

As I was learning and as I begin to teach new classes, there is this thread I feel between students and teachers....

Students are often reluctant to take a class because they either feel:

A) They WON'T be able to learn what's being taught.

or....

B) They won't be able to learn anything new.

and teachers often similarly feel the same anxieties about teaching....they won't be able to teach anything right and students may not "get" it or their students won't learn it.

So, as I sit here with my heart full of teaching and of learning, I've been asking myself, "what is this common thread?"

For me, it becomes creating this safe, loving, sharing, environment.....This place, where as a teacher, I can enable my students to feel safe and confident learning....but also a sharing environment, where we'll all be able to receive and bring our collective experiences together as a community of learners and makers.

snippets from my soul passport and beauty of a day of learning....

If you are (mostly) a teacher, what has been your greatest learning experience?

If you  are (mostly) a student, what has been the best learning environment?

If you've never done either, what types of experiences would make you feel the most comfortable?

Following your muse....

guest blog by Barbara Bechtel of Floridity

Don't worry about your originality. You couldn't get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do. ~ Robert Henri

People often ask me how I arrived at my current style. Being a little shy when it comes to discussing my work, I'm often unsure how to answer. Most often, I divert the question by talking about my methods, my inspiration, and current ideas in the works.

Style is a topic that is ephemeral at best. Everybody likes it and most want it. Some are sure they have it, other think they may never have it. Think of your favorite designers and artisans...be they high-brow or low-brow...most have a style. Some have arrived at it deliberately, some have arrived at it by accident, some have worked very careful to cultivate it.

Being a mixed media artist, and a painter by education, I've never felt I had a recognizable style. I want to be identified...like Georgia O'Keefe or Frank Lloyd Wright. Until recently, this always distressed me greatly. So, I decided to look critically at all of my work and identify patterns.

Identifying patterns is very important. It is through patterns that you recognize what you are doing cohesively from one piece to another.

By identifying these patterns, you can adjust or refine your working method to help you cultivate your own unique style.


What colors do I consistently use? Do I like these colors? Do I want to use different colors? How can I experiment differently with my color palette? I take out the paints I use. I identify the hues on a color chart. I am a scientist with my process....



What shapes or forms do I consistently use? Am I drawn to geometric forms or organic forms? Why am I drawn to them? I make a list....



Texture. Do I prefer clean lines or a rustic pattern? Why do I prefer that? What other objects in my home and my life personify this texture? How can I translate this texture to my work?


How are you evaluating your own process to better identify your own personal style?

How do you feel about style? How would you like to define it? for yourself? for others?

Can you translate your style into this month's Art Spark? Be sure to check it out and submit to win a host of nice things and challenge your creativity!