Friday Finds 8.20.10

Happy Friday everyone! We're excited to bring you another installment of our Friday Finds workspaces segments. These workspace features are designed to show people that while a high-end, top of the line work studio is really nice, it's not always necessary and that all it takes is a little imagination to turn any place into a sweet workspace and create some really cool stuff. This week we get a behind the scenes look at Jayne from J. Norvelle Design's workspace.

J. Norvelle Designs

What do you create?
I create jewelry from stones that I find walking along the edge of the ocean. Some of the stones are natural polished by the sand and sea, others I will give an extra bit of polish. I then set these stones in silver. I hand forge the silver from flat sheets. Cutting, pounding, heating, sanding, polishing, until the silver is transformed; much as the sea has transformed the stone.

The work in your shop looks awesome Jayne, we love the wave logo! The jewelry boxes made by your husband look great as well ;)



Tell us a little about your workspace please:
My workspace is a small room, about 9 x 10, one wall acts as miscellaneous storage. My husband built my workbench for me. The room is small, but everything is within reach - oddly I still manage to lose tools that are right in front of me.

We always lose things right in front of us ;)


















What inspires you?
I live on the Oregon Coast, my inspiration comes from the ocean. I have lived by the ocean all my life, my family has earned their living from the sea, and we have also lost to the sea. Even through the loss, the sea continues to call me, and I can not resist.


Very cool! Thanks for sharing your workspace as well as what inspires you Jayne! To see more of J. Norvelle Design's awesome work please visit her etsy shop.

senioritis

Well, it's back to school time so this week we pay tribute to orator and educator Robert G. Ingersoll who reminds us that common sense is more important than education ;) To see more of our designs please visit our Etsy shop.






Featured? Why not grab a banner?

<a href="http://itmakesyoulazy.blogspot.com/2010/07/friday-finds-82010.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4389108163_a09e51ac98_o.jpg" alt="Senioritis Friday Finds" border="0" /></a>

Featured Artist :: Symbolic Interaction Studio

This week's featured artist is Symbolic Interaction Studio!

Symbolic Interaction Studio - Uncommon art and jewelry for uncommon people.

Senioritis: Name and location please.
Symbolic Interaction Studio: Symbolic Interaction Studio, Winston-Salem, NC.
Senioritis: Hmm, Winston-Salem, so does that make you a Duke fan or a UNC fan ;)

Senioritis: Can you tell us a little about yourself please?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: From the earliest days I can remember growing up in New England, I have loved learning and doing creative things and have not stopped since. I would spend my summers reading, swimming, dancing (ballet), playing video games (oh, yes, I loved that Intellivision), creating skits that I would record on my cassette player, and drawing. I loved learning so much that I stayed in school forever, for real, earning several degrees along the way culminating in a doctorate in a social science field. Some of my early training was in the arts where I learned graphic design, ceramic techniques, photography, watercolor painting, and drawing. I knew that I wanted to teach at the college level, but decided that I did not want to grade art, so I continued my education in my one of my other favorite subjects, observing and studying people. I currently work as a professor in the social sciences; I love the creativity of teaching and interacting with students. But I also enjoy getting my hands covered with paint and I get easily distracted by pretty beads so I continue to enjoy the challenge of creating art and making jewelry even though my profession is demanding.
Senioritis: Very cool, still have any of those skit tapes around? I had a chance to check out a toy museum last week and they had a display on the evolution of video games it was pretty sweet.

Senioritis: Marlon Brando: Streetcar Named Desire or the Godfather?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: This one is easy, Streetcar Named Desire for sure.



Senioritis: How would you describe your style?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: Textural, Contemporary, Colorful & Deconstructed.

Senioritis: What would you say is the best business tip you have ever received and who gave it to you?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: The transition from art maker to business person can be a difficult one. One of the challenges is to stop thinking like a customer and creator and to start thinking like a business owner. I have learned a lot about running a business by avidly reading Etsy’s forums. One transformative piece of advice I learned there relates to pricing one’s work. Unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly who offered the advice, but she wrote that one should price one’s work at market value (what the market will bear taking into account your materials, overhead, time, training) and not what you would pay for it.
Senioritis: Great point, pricing is always a tricky topic. We have seen several pricing approaches and formulas; however, at the end of the day we think that the art of pricing seems to revert back to supply and demand. The Etsy forums definitely contain a wealth of information on pricing and many other business topics as well.



Senioritis: What would you say is your favorite sport to either watch or play?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: I love the Olympics and can’t get enough of the more “obscure” sports I only get to watch once every four years. Short track speed skating and moguls were a couple of my recent favorites.
Senioritis: The Olympics rock! We loved watching the winter games. All the short track events were exciting to watch; one slip and a medal favorite gets eliminated. We also enjoyed the snowboarding slalom event as well as the half pipe.

Senioritis: Chevy Chase: Fletch or Three Amigos
Symbolic Interaction Studio: Fletch, although I have to admit, I don’t think I have seen either movie in its entirety.
Senioritis: Fletch gets our vote as well. We've seen it several times, if you need us to fill you in on parts you missed just let us know ;)

Senioritis: Do you have a favorite quote?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: “But what to do with poor Hugo? Too crazy for Boys Town, too much of a boy for Crazy Town.” Dr. Julius Hibbert, The Simpsons
I think about this quote often because it addresses the betwixt and between character of my life, never fitting in with any one group easily. Many of us think that others may fit neatly into categories, but this quote is a reminder that people defy easy categorization.
Senioritis: I always thought The Simpsons was about donuts and beer, apparently there's an underlying message as well. D'oh! Great quote and a great observation.



Senioritis: If you could jump in the DeLorean and go back in time; what’s one thing you would do differently in your business?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: I would start my business at the point in time at which I arrived. I wish I started my business earlier even though my life at the time would make it difficult. If you are thinking about moving forward with your creative endeavors, don’t wait. There is never a perfect time to jump into it and don’t forget that you can start slow.
Senioritis: Agreed, the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step and the frist step is often the most difficult one to take.

Senioritis: If the $100 bill needed a redesign, who would you put on it?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: Rosa Parks or Harriet Tubman would be my choice. As we honor many foundational figures of our country’s ideals of freedom on our currency, I think it would be nice to include pivotal individuals who helped work to ensure those ideals of freedom and pursuit of happiness for all.
Senioritis: Sounds good to us!

Senioritis: Where can we find you on the web?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: symbolicinteractionstudio.com



Senioritis: James Bond: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: This is a really, really tough one. Where’s George Lazenby? My answer is Sean Connery, but only by a hair. Daniel Craig was brilliant in Casino Royale.
Senioritis: Iwas wondering if that question would come up ;) I think I'm the only person I know who saw On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Lazenby's only portrayal of 007). For those of you who have not seen it let's just say you don't need to rush to add it to your Netflix queue. It looks like Mr. Connery has extended his lead as favorite Bond.

Senioritis: Any shoutouts?
Symbolic Interaction Studio: My husband who is supportive and barely says a word about growing materials costs. My friends and family who also have backed my artistic efforts.
Etsians: 42things who offered support very early on and CreekBedThreads who also generously offered to mentor me. Members of the Etsy community who take the time to participate in the forums to share their sage advice and their experiences.


Thanks so much for giving us and our readers a sneak peek behind the scenes at Symbolic Interaction Studio!

Friday Finds 7.30.10

Good morning! We're excited to bring you another installment of our Friday Finds workspaces segments. These workspace features are designed to show people that while a high-end, top of the line work studio is really nice, it's not always necessary and that all it takes is a little imagination to turn any place into a sweet workspace and create some really cool stuff. This week we get a behind the scenes look at Jennifer from Wearable by Design's workspace.

Wearable by Design

What do you create?
I work in silver metal clay. It's a very cool product. It consists of microscopic particles of silver or gold suspended in an organic binder to create a pliable material with a consistency similar to modeling clay. It can be worked with the fingers and with simple tools to create just about anything you can think up!

When Metal Clay is heated to high temperatures, the binder burns away and the metal particles fuse to form solid precious metal, 99.9% pure. The metal can then be sanded, soldered, colored, and polished like conventional materials.

I had taken a traditional silver fabrication class when in college and fell in love with silver. Later, I wanted to start a small jewelry studio in my apartment and was frustrated by the lack of originality in commercially available findings. Because of my previous experience, I wanted to work in silver and was looking for a way to make leaves and other unique silver items. I stumbled upon a book about metal clay. What a great invention! It allowed me to work in a small space with a much smaller investment in equipment. It allowed me to finally create all the things I had envisioned very easily.

Very cool Jennifer! I've never worked with metal but I love watching the shows on Discovery channel about building bikes and cars; it always amazes me what people can do with metal.



Tell us a little about your workspace please:
My studio consists of a six foot folding table upon which I've placed a closet shelving unit to hold my organized containers. I've organized it in such a way that those items that I use the most, are closest to me. Just to my left is a set of three drawers that hold my metals, my clay shaping and cutting tools and my filing and drilling tools. Next to that is a spinning container that holds brushes, pencils, scissors, etc. And lastly, there's a cup warmer that I place wet clay items to be dried.

Just below the first shelf are all my pliers, hanging so that I can easily grab them if need be. On the first shelf up is a television which keeps me company in the studio (the artists life can be a solitary one!). To the left of the television are four drawers that hold measuring devices and my saws and hammers. To the right of the television are two drawers that hold various sundry items that are seldom used (for more specialty work that I do from time to time).

Anything inspiring that you like to watch while you create?



The second shelf up holds organizers that contain molds, bolts and screws and items that I've collected that I find interesting -- kind of a curiosity cabinet. To the right of this is the organizer that holds findings, chains, clasps and jump rings. Above and to the right is the arm that holds my flexshaft -- the true workhorse of my studio. The top shelf holds boxes and resin supplies.

Below the desk I also have a set of bins that hold stamps, enameling supplies, scrap metals, metal finishes, etc. And to the right of the folding desk is a metal file cabinet upon which sits my kiln that I fire my metal clay pieces.

It's a cozy and very convenient set up for me. I love my studio!!

Wow, a place for everything and everything in its place ;) Thanks for sharing your workspace with us Jennifer! To see more of Wearable by Design's great metal work please check out her etsy shop.

senioritis

All good things come to an end. In the wise words of one of our great Famous Seniors:

And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Tomorrow (7/31) at midnight marks the end of our Christmas in July Sale. To see more of Frankie and his travel sized friends before the coach turns into a pumpkin please check out the Christmas in July Sale section of our shop.






Featured? Why not grab a banner?

<a href="http://itmakesyoulazy.blogspot.com/2010/07/friday-finds-73010.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4389108163_a09e51ac98_o.jpg" alt="Senioritis Friday Finds" border="0" /></a>

Featured Artists :: 2.10.10 - 6.09.10

Hello senioritis blog reader!
Now you know how to greet people in English!

This week we're shaking things up a bit. A wise man once said:

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you
could miss it.

Well, we figured it was time for us to stop and take a look around so this week we give you a quick stroll down memory lane:

2.10: Skribbly Kids
2.17: Heather King Photography
2.24: Digicute
3.3: Jewelry by Tara
3.10: WingAndWillow
3.17: Echoes of Stars' Designs
3.24: Handmade by Anne Potter
3.31: Himawari Designs
4.7: Mich20
4.14: Authentic Arts
4.21: RobinsFlight
4.28: Filigree Photos
5.5: PeacockLane
5.12: Samantha Nowak Illustrations
5.19: jessiemacCreations
5.26: Emelia Jane Photography
6.2: A Little Stranger
6.9: Pause Designs

We would like to say thanks to all artists that have been featured; we and our readers appreciate you taking the time to share some info with us.

We will be back next week with the first in a long line of new featured artists. In our ongoing quest to keep things fun and fresh we're mixing things up with some new questions so be sure to check back .

And now back to your regularly scheduled program...

Featured Artist :: Authentic Arts

This week's featured artist is Authentic Arts!

Authentic Arts - Glamorous, Colorful, Natural Jewelry!

Senioritis: Name and location please.
Authentic Arts: Jenny Hoople - Beloit, Wisconsin.
Senioritis: Hi Jenny! We're working on a tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright and I was just looking at some photos of his summer home near Spring Green, Wisconsin; it looks pretty wild! Is that anywhere near where you are?

Senioritis: Can you tell us a little about yourself Jenny?
Authentic Arts: I make glamorous, colorful, natural jewelry. I grew up on a farm, graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts (concentration in ceramic sculpture) and a minor in geology. I work part-time in a library and on an organic farm. I married a cute little Mexican! We have an awesome bunny!!
Senioritis: That's awesome, there aren't too many farms near us but one of our aunts grew up on a farm in Kansas; seems like it would be pretty cool. Do you think your sculpting background helps you when it comes to jewelry making or are the two arts completely different (I've never sculpted or made jewelry)?

Senioritis: How would you describe your style Jenny?
Authentic Arts: Quirky, colorful, authentic, and fabulous!

Senioritis: Do you have a favorite color?
Authentic Arts: Green



Senioritis: Are you a righty or a lefty Jenny?
Authentic Arts: Righty (but my dad and sister are leftys)
Senioritis: Yay, we finally found some leftys!! Are your dad and sister artistic?

Senioritis: Do you have a favorite quote?
Authentic Arts: "In Tavor, not many people had jobs. People had businesses or they worked on farms or they made things, like pottery or cloth, but few of them had jobs that began at one hour and ended at another hour, during which time one’s life was not one’s own. If one wanted a person like that, one had a slave."
~Sheri S. Tepper
Senioritis: Wow, I wasn't familiar with Sheri Tepper's work before doing a quick google search but what a strong observation. I read (can't remember where) that in the early 1900's the vast majority of Americans were business owners as opposed to employees, but if we fast forward just a century later, today the vast majority of Americans are employees. Sheri Tepper's quote reminds me of this fact.



Senioritis: Jenny, if you could have lunch with someone famous, past or present, who would it be?
Authentic Arts: Johnny Depp. That is all.
Senioritis: Edward Scissorhands Johnny Depp or Pirates of Caribbean Johnny Depp ;)
The guy is amazing, we have never seen him in a bad movie. One of my favorite Depp movies is The Ninth Gate.

Senioritis: What's your favorite cartoon, from now or when you were a kid?
Authentic Arts: The Smurfs! (I'm also rather fond of Spongebob Squarepants.)
Senioritis: Another Smurfs fan! I like the Smurfs but never really got into Spongebob, maybe it's because I can't swim and the whole show is underwater??



Senioritis: Where do you see yourself and your business in 10 years Jenny?
Authentic Arts: I see myself selling enough jewelry to leave my part-time library job and live in Mexico with my husband and in-laws all winter!
Senioritis: Very cool!



Senioritis: Are there any websites you'd like to share with us?
Authentic Arts:
jennyhoople.com
Jenny Hoople on Twitter
Authentic Arts on Facebook
Authentic Arts on myspace
Authentic Arts Blogspot
Jenny Hoople on Tubmlr
Senioritis: Wow, you're everywhere Jenny ;) We recently set up a Tumblr site to showcase our Famous Senior of the day. We're glad to see you stepped up to your brother's challenge, we look forward to watching your art diary grow!

Senioritis: Any shoutouts before we let you go?
Authentic Arts: A shout-out to the world! Thanks for existing, it's been a good ride so far ;)

We'd like to thank Jenny for giving us a glimpse into her world of Authentic Arts. Thanks Jenny!

Featured Artist :: Handmade by Anne Potter

Handmade by Anne Potter - Cool stuff, awesome cause (I give 50% of all proceeds to missions)

Senioritis: We are thrilled to have you as this week's featured artist! Please introduce yourself.
Handmade by Anne Potter: I'm Anne Potter, from Champaign, IL, USA.

Senioritis: Welcome, Anne. Would you please give us a brief bio?
Handmade by Anne Potter: I’m a stay-at-home mom to five kids, ages 14,9,7,2,2. I’m from the Chicago area, and I’ve lived my whole life in sunny Illinois. I also live in a constant state of wanderlust and so many of my pieces are inspired by foreign cultures. I love to travel (when I can), play catch, look for interesting materials and I run (because I love to eat).
Senioritis: We love to play catch (though we New Yorkers say "have a catch") and eat, too! Your world culture-inspired pieces are terrific.

Senioritis: How would you describe your style?
Handmade by Anne Potter: creative, smart, scatter-brained, laffy

Senioritis: Favorite color, please.
Handmade by Anne Potter: Light coral red



Senioritis: Are you a righty or a lefty?
Handmade by Anne Potter: Righty

Senioritis: Do you have a favorite quote?
Handmade by Anne Potter: “You don’t have to be dumb to be happy, but it sure helps.” - My friend Karen’s grandmother, Virgil Leonard
Senioritis: That is a totally fantastic quote, Anne! Your friend Karen's grandmother deserves some major recognition for that.

Senioritis: If you could have lunch with someone famous, past or present, who would it be?
Handmade by Anne Potter: Off the top of my head, Andy Samberg from SNL. I like to be around funny people and he seems to be too silly to have that tortured-soul baggage that some funny people have.
Senioritis: We agree - Andy Samberg seems like a really fun guy to be around. We bet you wouldn't stop laughing throughout the entire lunch.



Senioritis: What's your favorite cartoon (from the present or when you were a kid)?
Handmade by Anne Potter: Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson, where are you?!)
Senioritis: Wow, Calvin and Hobbes has been retired for a while now. What a great comic, though! And actually, we think G (the mad designtist) looked uncannily like Calvin when he was a child.



Senioritis: Anne, where do you see yourself and your business in 10 years?
Handmade by Anne Potter: Heading a (not-Martha) domestic empire: I have a resourceful approach to making pieces that combines repurposed and secondhand materials with creative technique. I plan to continue teaching creative seminars on this subject. I also plan to write and publish beautiful books (on knitting, quilting, needlepoint and home decor projects) and produce product lines. And I plan to keep selling pieces on etsy because I think it’s a great marketplace.
Senioritis: We think you have a great future, and we look forward to seeing your non-Martha empire take off. Keep creating and promoting great causes!



Senioritis: Before we let you go, is there anyone you'd like to mention?
Handmade by Anne Potter: All my beloved friends and family who have received so many tacky gifts from me in the past. Thanks to your graciousness (and some seriously regretful gifts), I have honed my skills.

We'd like to thank Anne for taking the time to teach us a bit about her handmade world. Be sure to check out her esty shop, Handmade by Anne Potter.