The Die is Cast (or Soldered. Beveled… whatever)

Though my blog may appear vacant for a time most lengthy, I assure you, gentle reader, my time was spent, nay invested well.

After numerous sleepless nights and pots of coffee, the decision has been made (for better or worse) that my focus should now lie solely in jewelry, as I find it to be a pleasant mix of challenging and rewarding most intoxicating. The product also sparkles, so what’s not to like?

I recently attended a class held by Don Norris in which light was cast upon many of the shadowy recesses of my chosen craft.
-I learned an entirely new way of soldering that leaves my pieces less…charred.
-Bezels no longer further my descent into insanity.
-My cabochons no longer require a scrap yard worth of metal to secure.
-I can now make pieces more quickly and with greater confidence.
-My bands are now more effectively crafted, making elaborate designs more of a possibility.
…Well you get the picture. The class was insightful and worth the investment.
Directly after the aforementioned tutelage I made these prototypes:


Pardon the dog hair.

I have more silver on order, so expect more pieces to come from Lime and Aqua. It’s good to be back, readers.

6 Purse Project Warmup

These two purses were created strictly for my own use. They're pretty simple, but that's the way I like it. :) The grey fabric was a 2 dollar per yard piece I bought on a whim. I don't think I'll be using that fabric to send to anyone but myself. It frays horribly.

The bag on the left is a massive bag (27 inches wide), created to carry swag that I got from the HOW Design Conference this last week. The conference was fantastic! I'm creatively recharged and raring to finish my 6 bag project. :)

The bag on the right was created as a daily walking around bag. It's about 15 inches wide & perfect to carry around books and my daily items. :)

Recon Picture Frame

I'm sure everyone out there has received a gift that er... uh... just isn't their style. Well, since I'm no different, and since I'm a big proponent of the reuse R of the Three R's. I decided to make it into something fabulous. The original was a pretty standard frame with decoupage brown paper with butterflies on it. Now it's a simple blue and white frame that holds a pic of my dapper little nephews just perfectly. I reused the frame and some left over room paint. It's American Tradition in "Sea Tickle". I love how soft it is and also the texture that the decoupage made is a nice touch.

In other news, my brother has come to visit me and should be living in my living room for a bit. I'm excited to have him here as I rarely get to see him. He's a large.... teddy bear. :)

Less fine art... still art?

Sadly, I missed my nephew Gabriel's 7th birthday. (Present-wise that is.) So I wanted to make it up to him with something really special.

As of now he's deeply in love with the Pokemon universe. (What 7 year old boy isn't?..) So after asking him his favorite, I went to work learning about this little guy. His name is Grotle, and apparently he was once a little guy named Turtwig. He evolved into this cute little warrior.

I really love the painting (I'm especially proud of the texturing on his back... bushes?) I hope he loves it too. :)

Re-starting with a Bang!

Great News! I'm finally at the position to where I can start creating again. I've been working on this re-initial post for a few days. I've been painting and I love it! :) The painting above was a creation for our bedroom. :) It's four different colors of a soft body paint by Liquitex.

Also, if you check out the very bottom of that photo, you'll see a teeeny tiny little girl puppy under my new comforter. :) She's our new little Chihuahua named Dede. She's the sweetest puppy I've ever met & a polar opposite of her brother (a 2 and a half year old boy Chihuahua named Agro). He's incredibly sweet to people and loves everyone, but he is very high needs. He has separation issues...



So! Expect more posts from me. I'm going to try to update once every other day, or even every day if I can.

A New Direction

Today I ordered my new gal. She's a beauty! (Super Inexpensive) :) I have big plans for our time together. My old machine was falling apart at the seams ;). (It was a starter machine anyway. I needed a better, grown up machine).

I started an etsy shop today as well, briemarie.etsy.com. There isn't anything stocked, but there will be. I have decided that it is time for me to give back to the arts for all it's given me, so 10% of all sales from this shop will be donated to a different art related charity each month. I will be selling accessories of all kinds, from jewelry, to purses, dog accessories to home accessories.

Also, as soon as I'm done moving, I'll be renewing my commitment to Creative Every Day as well. I feel it's very important for me to keep up my development as an artist. I have a ton of new ideas brewing in my head and I'm itching to let them come out to play.

I'm still here!

Good news! (If anyone still reads this blog.) My husband and I have finally found a new place to live. We both got new jobs in a semi-little town in Texas.

Once I get my studio area set up again (I'm thinking 2 or 3 weeks), I plan on posting again. :)

I can't wait!

Working Creative Professional

Yesterday I applied to work at Texas A&M University as a Graphic Designer. I'm really really hoping I get the job. So, today to get me back in the designerly mood, I decided to sit down and redo the Lime and Aqua logo. I think I like this one more than the previous version. It's probably going to be changing all the time. :)

Wish me luck!

Busy Weekend! :)

Quince Años

This weekend I had the pleasure of photographing a Quinceañera for the first time. This is a celebration for the coming of age for Latina girls. After taking pictures of the ceremony, we all headed up to the Texas Capital. This is a picture of the whole court along the second floor in the main lobby of the capital. All of the pictures turned out fabulously. I'll post more once I get permission from Ms. Quince.

I'm still knitting, I promise! It's a pretty big bolero. Plus, I'm really not that good at it.

Also! This weekend, my Mother and Father-in-law came in to town for the Greenbay/New York game. Sadly, Greenbay lost. This is me afterwards. :(

Happy Birthday to me!

This weekend was possibly the best I've had in a long long time. :) I turned 25 on Saturday and spent it surrounded by friends and family. As a surprise, my little brother came down and brought me a 2001 Chateau Brion, some Absinthe (the legal kind, without the wormwood) and some nice drinking wine. (I'm not a slush I promise!) I got some money from my parents and a Starbux gift card from my friend Ashley.

As far as creativeness goes.... I did go to the Austin Museum of Art for my birthday to see Roy Lichtenstein's work. Majorly exciting, it was fabulous. Kudos to my wonderful husband Jon for the idea. It was amazing. :) After we went to the art museum, we went to Joe's Crab shack and I had lots of drinks and crab and played the bongos to the birthday song. :)

I've been trying to get better at knitting. I found out that I had been purling incorrectly the whole time. It's a lot easier now that i'm purling correctly. I'm also using bamboo needles this time around. They are a ton more comfy on my hands. I'm getting better at following patterns and I might just have a few FOs (finished objects) soon to show off.