Bangles....

Several people have asked me to offer brass bangle blanks for sale so I've put some on Etsy
http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurenabrams
these are the best I've tried, offered at an affordable price.
Hope you like them

Just Checking In

Sorry it's been so long since I posted....sometimes life gets in the way.

My mother turned 80 and we had a huge reunion(at my house...whew)that was wonderful and exhausting. Plus we are still putting finishing touches on my new studio(yes, pics will be here soon)

Today started out sadly, we found out my stepson's best friend died. Such a young man, and leaving a wife and children behind. Sometimes the universe doesn't make sense.

Thanks, Julie....your purchase of a pair of bangles from my Etsy store did give me a lift....I hope they brighten your day as well.

CraftEdu on YouTube

Here is a sampling of the CraftEdu instructors' work on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1mEkMC_f8E

Brass Bangles

I have been having a great time making these....it's addictive....the technique is loose and painterly and more fun than I've had in a while...

Having a bit of a learning curve doing my CraftEdu classes...but hopefully I'll be able to get some help tomorrow. Very excited to be doing these...

And my studio....is getting very, very close to being done...my wonderful daughter spend the weekend here with me and she organized me to within an inch of my life lol...I love her and I love the space....just some more wall treatment and molding and maybe the stairs covered and I promise I will be plastering photos all over the net......beware!

A Group of New Pieces

My best friend, Susan, is setting up a show for me in Orlando next week. She and several other clay artists have opened a gallery called Claybodies...they mostly do ceramic work but have also included polymer....and up until yesterday I was working hard at getting everything done for that. Here are a few of the pieces I did for the show...

it's always fun to have a show to do, it gives me motivation to create work I might not otherwise.

In this case I've made some bangles... it's hard to stop once you get going on those...thanks to a wonderful tutorial from amazing polymer artist and fellow instructor with CraftEdu, Melanie West. She has a great Etsy store with bangles and tutorials here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CorvusFlies
I learned to work on brass and found it very satisfying...I've never really covered anything before so it was a bit scary at first but now I feel like an old hand at it lol....












I also did a piece with wild stripes and a split pendant.....












and I think my most fun piece was this one....I took a painting I did some time back and made a transfer...something I learned from Kathleen Dustin's workshop....I can see myself going in this direction...it's what I've been wanting to do for a while now, combine polymer with my painting....








....speaking of painting, I am all set up and ready to photograph my first class for CraftEdu...nervous but excited.......I'll let you know how it goes...

Bye for now!

A Gallery of Trompe L'oeil Paintings

Here is a link to my new gallery done for CraftEdu.com.....I'll be creating classes to teach how to do faux finishes and paint trompe l'oeil objects on surfaces like tables and boxes.

http://craftedu.faculte.com/bp/MzA1MTY2MTA0Mg

CraftEdu.com

Wow....the last few days have been a blur of exciting new things....one of the best being a new educational opportunity coming....CraftEdu.com! The brainstorm of the amazing Donna Kato, it will have it's launch very soon...check it out on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CraftEducom/339651391037
and the blog is http://blog.craftedu.com/

And yes, I'm going to be an instructor!! I'm starting with trompe l'oeil and if that goes well maybe some polymer classes.....I've very happy about this, it's made me look at painting with a new attitude....something I haven't done in a while....