Belle Armoire Jewelry Volume 2

Published by Stampinton & Company.
After having read the first issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry, I couldn't wait for the second issue. It does not disappoint. The 144 pages features no less than 38 unique and beautifully photographed jewelry projects. Techniques and materials used include textiles, glass slides, polymer clay, crochet, wood tiles, mica and PMC, just to mention a few!

The projects do require some familiarity with jewelry arts and not all of the projects have detailed instructions.

My favorite projects include:

• A complex bracelet by Pat Bolgar using polymer, PMC, and fringe that looks like brilliantly colored sea urchins clustered on twiggy beeded branches.
• A lavish free-form peyote stitch flower necklace by Myra Wood.
  An artsy vine jewelry set (necklace, bracelet, brooch) by Lilla Le Vine using textile piece, gold ribbon, silkk covered cord, glass beads.
• A flip-opennable storybook pendant by Louise Duhamel using PMC for the bookcovers and mica for the pages.
• Hip sixties-looking mosaic pendants by Sarah e. Smith using glass slides and solder
• Two projects by Deryn Mentock - a wire and mica necklace using collage, and colorful collage doll pins using found objects.

Somerset Studio March/April ‘07 Issue: Women in Literature

Published by Stampington & Company.
This is one of my favorite magazine for paper arts. Published six times a year, the magazine is jampacked with inspirational ideas provided by contributors and readers on paper crafts using stamping, lettering, and a variety of other techniques. All the projects have a folkart-ish and romantic feel to them. I also use it as a source for identifying suppliers. I picked up the March/April ’07 issue because of 3 articles.

The essay by Michele Heather Pollock (pg 26) describes her paper quilt art which “features abstract human images and hand-embroidered poetry.” Inspired by the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland in Norway, her art is a merger of paper, textile and poetry using the tracings of the photos that she took of the sculptures.

In the Melange section of the magazine – “a lively romp through journals, zines, and art adventures” – the article by Pam Garrison (pg 52) tells of the creation of her blog and served as an inspiration for me to plunge in and start my own blog.

Jar Scenes (pg 78) which features clear jars of all shapes and sizes serving as vessels of paper art works. It’s sculpture meets 2-D paper arts.