Christine Hansen's Blog, page 8

A Charming Vacation

A few of the Scrabble tile charms I completed recently, including pictures I took on a visit to Seattle, as well as one of my drawings (bottom center charm)

Summer means sun, fun, and new adventures. On your next outing or vacation, keep your eyes peeled for items you can use to make art charms. Here are some ideas to get you started:Souvenir pennies are a really fun (and easy) art charm "base" - see our Metals chapter for how to turn souvenir pennies into art charms.
Small interesting...

A Haircut for Summer...

Recently, Archer announced that he wanted a mohawk...Jerry & I figured summer would be a good time for him to try it out...here are before and after pics:

Art Charms With a Theme

One of the best things about art charms is that you can create a truly customized piece of wearable art. I had the recent good fortune to work on a commissioned piece, with a theme of Hecate, the ancient triple goddess. Since I wasn't familiar with Hecate, I began with some research, which I forwarded to my client. My client reviewed and approved the notes I'd gathered, and selected the color scheme (royal purple, black, and silver), then I began work.

Above are the individual art charms pinn...

Rufus the Goofus, my mixed media puppy

At long last, an update on our giant puppy-hound... He's a mixed media pup because he's got ink (tattoos in his ears) and steel (holding his leg together), as well as flesh and bone. Very appropriate since I'm a mixed media artist!



Took Rufus in to see Dr. Salloom yesterday at Mountain View Veterinary Hospital, and she was very impressed with how well he's using his leg. She had me walk him around so she could see how he moves - she said she couldn't even tell which leg he'd broken (based o...

The "C" Word...

Commitment is a big word – not just because it has ten letters in it, but because of what it means. Commitment means sticking with something and hanging in there, even when difficulties arise.



Commitment is big too, for what it does. A tiny commitment, of maybe just 15 minutes a day, can develop into huge results.



Say you want to achieve a goal, so you decide to work 15 minutes every day to work toward that goal.



Your commitment is what keeps you showing up and making the effort, every sin...

WOW!!! We're Number Two!

2?!?!?

I am in absolute shock - Peg just now called to tell me that the book is No. 2 on Amazon's bestseller list for Jewelry books. I have no idea how this happened - the book is not even out yet!



Since the bestseller list is updated hourly, I expect this status to change, but at least for now, you can go see where we are on the list:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/...



Our deepest thanks to everyone who purchased the book, passed along our book info, ...

Peg's B&B2010 experience...

Go check out Peg's blog to hear how the Bead & Button Show went Saturday...Peg's experience @ B&B2010

Tomorrow's Debut!

Mixed Media Art Charm Necklace, featuring art charms from our book and three of my Fractal Swirl beads

After nearly three years (er, yes, we ARE a bit slow...), it's almost here...the book Peg Krzyzewski and I wrote, Making Mixed Media Art Charms & Jewelry, will be at the 2010 Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI tomorrow, June 12! Peg is going to be at the Kalmbach booth, modeling some of her amazing mixed media art charm jewelry and signing books. She'll be at the booth from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m....

An Ode to my Drill Press, An Art Charm Maker's Perspective

Technically it's not ALL mine – it's mine and Jerry's. When our most recent wedding anniversary rolled around, I told Jerry we should get a drill press as our anniversary present to each other. Guess what? He thought it was a great idea! (big surprise, huh?)



Don't get me wrong – you don't need to invest in a drill press to make Art Charms – I've successfully made holes in hundreds of charms with Jerry's handheld drill. It's heavy and cumbersome, but it does get the job done.



Here are five ...

A Charming Sight!

  Just received the July 2010 issue of Art Jewelry magazine, one of my longtime favorites, probably because the artwork and editorial are both so inspirational. The coolest thing EVER though, is on page 78...it's right under the wobbly yellow arrow...nifty, huh?