Musings

Needle Felted Scarf Mimosa Make & Take

2012-01-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

We spent a dreary cold day needle felting scarves! Margaret Hluch pre-dyed the scarves in wonderful patterns so that we could embellish with gorgeous colors of fleece! The technique was easy so we quickly got to work! The scarves turned out great and Margaret gave us the option of sewing them together to make infinity scarves!

"Nature Themed Charm Bracelet" Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2012-01-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

Last night we got "Charmed" with Nature Themed Charm Bracelets at our first 2012 Wine & Cheese Craft Party! Like usual, Chrissy Gemmill brought tons of gorgeous beads to choose from as well as some nature themed charms!

Chrissy showed everyone how to create different types of wire wrapping to create either a link or a dangle. Also other basic techniques were given so that each student could create their bracelet beginning to end!

Everyone's bracelets turned out great and very different! I had a great time- Thank you Chrissy for a fun class & thank you Dale for the cookie addition to the wine & cheese!

Craft Party Open House

2011-12-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last night was our annual Craft Party Open House Benefit Thank you so much to the teachers- Stacie Spencer, Liz Matheny and Chrissy Gemmill!

We were proud to have Lily's Hope as our charity to support. Lily is a 10 year old with Ewing's Sarcoma. Thank you so much to everyone who donated and for Margaret for the use of her studio space. We were happy to raise nearly $300 for the cause!

Lots of fun with Pom Poms! Who knew there were so many uses for a pom pom??!! Liz had plenty of yearn for everyone to choose from...

Jill was the winner of our drawing to win a free class! I will see you soon at a class, Jill!

Chrissy taught the metal stamped ornament craft! This was a great personal gift idea!

Stacie showed everyone how to make gift tags! Here someone combined 2 of their crafts to create a special tag!

Thank you to everyone who came to the event! We had a great time and we appreciate your support for Lily's Hope!

Loopy Scarf Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-11-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night we had Rebekah Miller teaching us the secrets to making her famous Loopy Scarves! These scarves have been a Muse best seller for three years and Rebekah decided this year to teach others how to make it themselves! We had a full class for this one. First Rebekah taught everyone how to crochet around a ring. This was a little hard but everyone caught on eventually. Some of us needed a little extra concentration...
After the hard part was over, we chose our strands from the various colorful bundles of yarn.

They turned out great!

Needle Felted & Stitched Bird Pin Mimosa Make & Take

2011-11-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

So much fun on Sunday making Needle Felted & Stitched Bird Pins! Margaret Hluch taught this class before and just like last time it was a lot of fun! I even made a bird again this time because I liked it so much last time! First Margaret showed us the easy technique of needle felting. Then we cut out our bird and chose our colors of fleece. Next the fun began- needle felting! We then embellished our birds with stitching. Margaret showed us the basic stitches to choose from and there were so many gorgeous threads to use.
All the pins turned out great and everyone wants to take more needle felting classes! They are in luck- we are doing a needle felted scarf in January! Don't miss out!

Storybook Pendants Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-09-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night, Chrissy Gemmill taught a brand new fun class! Storybook Pendants!

We got three metal pieces to write our own personal message on. Skills such as metal stamping, jump ring manipulation and oxidizing were taught in this class.

We had two sets of sisters that took this class!

And The Muse's own Michele Duke finally took a class! She and Chrissy have been friends for awhile so I was so glad she got to take a class from Chrissy!

After practicing our hammering and metal stamping we planned and spaced out our messages.

Then we created our pendants!

After oxidizing, we put together our necklaces to these great results...

Zentangles Make & Take Craft Party

2011-09-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday we spent the afternoon Zentangling and having some wine & cheese! A perfect day if you ask me! Stacie Spencer has been doing Zentangles for a few years now and offerred to share it with The Muse at a Make & Take class! A Zentangle is a meditative doodle. Stacie showed us how to get started and some sample pattern ideas...
Here is a great start that two of the class takers were working on.

After we finished the tile, Stacie showed us how to put them on journal covers using embossing techniques.

Here are the finished results and the happy Zentanglers!

Neptune's Jewels Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-07-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Chrissy Gemmill helped us get in style Wednesday night by teaching us how to create a nautical inspired bracelet! She brought in tons of stones and beads in beachy colors. Also, you could choose from various nautical charms. We learned basic jewelry making techniques such as wire wrapping and jump ring manipulations.

Then we got to the fun part! Picking out our bracelet colors and creating our design.
The results were great!

Image Transfer Collage Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-06-30T18:15:00.001-07:00

Wednesday night's craft party was fun! We took pictures and turned them into a photo transfer collage! Courtney Prahl taught us this easy technique using everyday household items.

Picking out pictures to use was the hardest part! Then we learned some basic design techniques about collage and chose our materials. Courtney encouraged us to look at trash and junk mail in a new way and incorporate them into our collage!

Everyone's collages turned out great! I love seeing how people end up turning their pictures and some scrap papers into works of art!

Printmaking: Oil of Wintergreen Mimosa Make & Take

2011-06-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Dorothea Barrick came back to teach Printmaking with Oil of Wintergreen for the second time. This class is always really fun! First we got started by learning about Dorothea and her art background. She showed us samples pieces she made using the wintergreen print
making technique.

We then tried the technique ourselves...

We had some great results!

Here are the finished pieces- ready to be framed or turned into cards or incorporated into collage!

Blueprinted Scarf Mimosa Make & Take

2011-05-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

We were praying to the "sun gods" yesterday! With a weekend full of rain and forecasted rain, we were a little worried about our Blueprinted Scarf Mimosa Make & Take class that relies on the light of the sun! Luckily the rain held out for just the right amount of time! In our rush to beat the rain and the excitement of the class- I forgot to take any pictures until after the prints were done!

Using all sorts of found and natural objects, we created fabric patterns using the sun.

After they were rinsed out, it was a surprise to see how bright blue the fabric became and how wonderful our scarves looked!

Margaret Hluch, our instructor, showed us how to add a new color and patterning to our scarves using various folding and tying techniques. Here she is showing Judith a special way to create a systematic pattern.

The results after the tea bath...

They all turned out great!

Flower Power Pendants Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-05-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Another fun jewelry class with Chrissy Gemmill! Last night we made floral inspired pendants for spring!Chrissy first taught us the fundamental techniques of jewelry making.
After we felt comfortable with that, we designed our own necklace! There were so many choices of colors in pearls, stones, glass and unique charms!
They all turned out great!

Here is a fun picture of Chrissy cleaning up....she's a bit OCD about her bead organization! Love that about her!

Paper Fabric Bookmarks Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-04-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

Allison Lee taught us how to make Paper Fabric on Wednesday! This was the first class she has taught for The Muse! Allison is best known at The Muse for her wonderful cards and calendars that she creates!
Our first step was creating the layers to make the base of the bookmarks. We chose our papers, tissues, fabrics and more to do this.
Stacie & her sister Renee took the class- what a great way to spend time together!

Next we added color with inks, paints, and stamps. At his point we were able to stitch the paper fabric for texture and complete our bookmarks! They all turned out great!

Thanks Allison! We had fun and left with a bunch of cool bookmarks to use and give as gifts!

"Encaustics- photo transfer/fabric collage" Mimosa Make & Take

2011-04-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Two full classes for the Encaustics- photo transfer Mimosa Make & Take! This was such a fun class that you got to personalize by using your own photographs! Margaret Hluch first showed us how to do a photo transfer onto gauze. Then it was our turn to try it out...

Next we prepared our surface for the encaustic medium. Creating layers using the wax and collage materials , we were able to make a unique piece of art!

I used a picture of some trees from a trip to Chincoteague in my collage.

These crafty friends had fun and incorporated natural items like leaves in their collage.

Here are some more great results from the class!

Paperbag Journal Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-03-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

Turning brown paper bags into a personalized journal was the fun we had this past Wednesday! Traci Garland brought lots of goodies to play with and incorporate into our handmade books.First she showed us how to create the book using brown paper lunch bags and ribbon. Then she showed us how to use products and recycled supplies to embellish our journals.We had fun with all of her stamps, inks, chalks, tags and other fun supplies and completely lost track of time!Here is a finished book...

Mixed Metal Bracelet Design Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-02-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

The Mixed Metal Bracelet class was a hit! Chrissy Gemmill taught another great jewelry class.

As always, the hardest part of the class was choosing which colors of beads to use in the jewelry...so many to pick from!

We learned the basic techniques of jewelry making.

After we got down the basis and chose our beads and metal chains, we were set loose to create our bracelets!We all came up with totally different designs! I love to see the finished projects!

Learn to Crochet: Statement Scarf

2011-02-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

We had a large class for Sunday's Mimosa Make & Take; "Learn to Crochet- Satement Scarf". Liz and Karla were fabulous teachers- even the most inexperienced crafters learned how to crochet a scarf! We had some excellent munchies- thank you to Dale for making us cookies!So many colors of yarns to choose from! Some of us had a hard time getting the hang of it at first! Here I am showing my mom the wrong way to do it!

It didn't take long for us to catch on. After that the scarf came together quickly!
Lots of fun playing with the yarns...
After the chain was complete, some of us made flower pins to add on, some of us had the teachers make us flower pins to add on and some of us did our own thing! Either way, they all turned out great! The finished results...

Needle Felted Valentine Mimosa Make & Take

2011-01-31T08:10:00.000-08:00

What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Crafting, friends and wine... Margaret Hluch taught us how to make a Needle Felted Postcard! She showed us how to do a photo transfer onto a felt background.
We got to choose from a variety of beautiful hand dyed fleece to needle felt with! It was hard to pick from them all! The process was easy so everyone caught on quickly.
To finish off our postcard we added stitching. Again, Margaret had so many gorgeous threads to use. Check out this stash... Here's Laura putting some finishing touches on her postcard with stitching...

Our results looked great! Here they are...

Patterned Metal Bracelet Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2011-01-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

Two weeks in a row we held the very popular class, "Patterned Metal Charm Bracelet" taught by Chrissy Gemmill. In this class we learned jewelry making basics and got to personalize our very own bracelet!

We started out by learning the basics and how hard to hit the metal stamps...

The hardest part was figuring out what we wanted our bracelets to say...

Everyone was really happy with their finished results! Here are some of the finished bracelets and happy class takers...

Mimosa Make & Take "Green Ornament"

2010-12-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

We got into the holiday spirit by creating Green Ornaments with Courtney Prahl! And enjoyed some mimosas- yum! We all created a bird (or a star- Cecelia!) with foil and wire...

Not as easy as it looks... A little messy and sometimes hard to manipulate but someohow we all got it!

Next we gathered our desired decorations for our bird. There were choices of tissue, junk mail and old magazines.

Here are our drying birds (and star). They are so colorful and different!

Craft Party Open House

2010-12-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night we had our Craft Party Open House! Three of our teachers donated their time and supplies to teach mini make & takes to show what our classes are all about! We had a great turnout and were happy to have it all benefit the Frederick Humane Society. Below is a picture of Traci's table... she taught scrappy style art tags! Just in time for gift giving!
Chrissy Gemmill is a popular jewelry teacher. She had everyone create copper charms! Some people did dog charms and others wrote out their favorite sayings or a personal message.

Fiber artist, Margaret Hluch taught needle felting. This table was extremely popular and people seemed to really get hooked on this craft! The attendees created birds that were needle felted and used as ornaments and pins!

Marble & Paste Paper Mimosa Make & Take

2010-11-15T06:25:00.000-08:00

Linda Harrison-Parsons came to the studio to teach us how to create marble and paste papers! Linda is a wildlife artistwith a background in printmaking and paper making. She brought in a bunch of her beautiful samples for us to get inspired...

Linda showed us several techniques; india ink on water, paints on water, a thickened method using sea weed, and paste papers. After a few demonstrations we got to work on our own papers!
Here Linda created tree trunk rings by adding a watercolor medium to the india ink in alternating drops...
I think Lori has found a new hobby in paste paper surface design...

Needle Felted Denim Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-11-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

Last evening was our Wine & Cheese Craft Party, Needle Felted Jeans. Margaret Hluch taught everyone how to easily transform their boring clothes into colorful and unique wearable art! Some people brought jean jackets, jeans, and skirts.

Margaret showed us a demonstration and we picked our designs. Some people used a book for inspiration and others designed their own patterns.

After drawing it out, we picked our fleece...There were so many gorgeous colors of dyed fleece to choose from!

Needle felting was fun! Everyone seemed very happy to learn that this is an easy craft to master! Many said they were going to needle felt other wardrobe items at home! Here are the results...

Eco Friendly Cuff Mimosa Make & Take

2010-10-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Rebekah with a K taught a brand new class, "Eco Friendly Woven Cuff". I received a cuff from Rebekah as a gift a few years ago and had been excited to make my own!

We first began by choosing our colors from the pile of leather scraps she brought.

After measuring our wrist sizes we began to cut through the scraps. Next we started to assemble the cuffs.

Oh! The shennanigans that come with crafting...

Even the teacher needs a break every now and then!

The finished results! They all turned out great! And each one reflects our own personal style and colors!

Autumn Inspired Necklace Creation Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-10-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's Wine & Chees Craft Party, "Autumn Inspired Necklace Creations" was a very full class! Chrissy had some great examples to copy as well as a huge variety of beads to design your own Autumn Inspired jewelry.

We began with basic techniques; wire wrapping and jump ring manipulation.

Next was the hard part...choosing our beads. How do you pick when there are so many yummy choices???

Then we laid out our design and planned how we would create it. This was a fun part! I love how this necklace looks like little fruit!

We all look great in our new necklaces! Here are the results...

We had some friends take the class too! What a fun thing to do with a group of friends for a Girls Night Out?

Shawn is a big Chrissy fan (aren't we all?!). This was her second craft party and she did a great job on her pendant!

We all had a great time and left with a great piece of jewelry that we made ourselves!

"Whimsical Vessels" Mimosa Make & Take

2010-09-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon we were getting crafty! Katherine Buki and her assistant, daughter Zoe, taught us how to recycle glass jars into beautiful and useful storage containers! We also left the class knowing how to make beads and buttons to match any project or outfit!

We first learned how to condition the clay and get it to a point where we could cover our jar lids.

Textures and 3D pieces were applied the clay. Pigments were used to create a shimmery color!
The possibilities were endless... Some of us even started creating pieces to use in jewelry making!

Lori stuck with a color scheme that she loved and had a coordinating set!

"Letter Pendant" Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-08-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Letter Pendant class was so popular this time that we had two classes to accommodate all of the interest! Here are pictures from both classes! Chrissy Gemmill is the class instructor and showed us how to do the letter stamping, oxidizing, sanding and jump ring manipulation. First we started with stamping our messages...
Once our disks were stamped, Chrissy oxidized our disks to make the letters stand out.

We put on our jump rings and added the necklace. Here are the results...

Mimosa Make & Take " Image Transfer Collage"

2010-08-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

Muse collage artist, Courtney Prahl taught another wonderful class on Sunday! "Image Transfer Collage" Make & Take! After meeting everyone in the class we got down to techniques! Courtney shows everyone how to create a quick and easy transfer to your art!
We scrounged around through her piles of ephemera- old books, maps, papers, colored tissue paper, and more! We used these to create artist trading cards- ATCs.Using just a few simples supplies that you can find around your house we did our photo transfers!After finishing we gathered up all the ATCs to see what we all had done! We each kept one and traded one by drawing numbers! Here are our results...

Mimosa Make & Take "Monoprint Scarf"

2010-07-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we had a fun class, Monoprinting a Scarf! This class was so much fun because you got to play spontaneously to create a beautiful accessory! Margaret Hluch showed us the monoprint technique. She also discussed how to get the thickened dyes that are needed to create a monoprint.

We got to pick and mix our colors and create our patterns.

We practiced on a sample cloth. Even these samples turned out beautifully.
Everyone had success with this process! Check out the great results!

Deconstructed Silkscreen Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-07-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we had our Deconstructed Silkscreen Wine & Cheese Craft Party! It was a lot of fun to learn this easy method of silkscreening! Jill Stern, the artist who creates the fun painted shoes and clothing was a great teacher. She showed us many of the secrets she uses when creating her clothing!
It was fun to pick out and create the design! We got to take home the silkscreen which we can use over and over again to add a fun touch to tee shirts, tote bags and anything else paintable! I can't wait to make more!

Bachelorette Private Craft Party

2010-06-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Long time craft party taker & skilled crocheter, Liz Sankbeil, is getting married in July!!! What better way to spend a bachelorette party than to make jewelry?! Liz had her closest friends gathered together to make Twisted Metal Bracelets with teacher, Chrissy Gemmill.

There were plenty of color choices to choose from and most of the ladies decided to make something to coordinate with their outfits as they were headed out for a night on the town after the party!

This party was so much fun! For us as much as for the bachelorette and her friends!

Congratulations Liz! Thank you for letting us be a part of your celebration!

Twisted Metal Bracelet Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-06-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we had our popular class, "Twisted Metal Bracelet Design" Wine & Cheese Craft Party, taught by Chrissy Gemmill. She brought an amazing and organized selection of goodies to choose from to make our bracelets!

Everyone dug in to pick their favorite combinations of beads, crystals and gemstones.
Chrissy taught the basic skills of bead link wire wrapping and jump ring manipulation which are the basis for all of jewelry making.

We all had a great time learning the skills, designing our bracelet and getting to know one another!Here are some finished designs...

"Bird Baubles" Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-05-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

Chrissy Gemmill taught a new class on Wednesday, "Bird Baubles"! It was extremely popular and we had several people on a waiting list to take this class so I am sure we will be offering it again in the future. We learned the basic jewelry making techniques of bead link wire wrapping and jump ring manipulation.After we got the basics down it was time for the fun and hard choice of designing our jewelry! With all of her yummy choices of baubles and colored stones and glass, it was hard to choose!

Here are some of the results...

This fun group of women were celebrating their birthdays! Chelsea got all of her friends the class as a gift so they could celebrate their birthdays!

"Mother's Day Needle Felted Postcard" Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-05-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Mother's are in luck this year because some of them will be getting a personalized Needle Felted Mother's Day Postcard!!! The class last night was so much fun! Margaret Hluch taught everyone how to do a photo transfer onto gauze and felt.

Then we used her beautifully dyed fleece to needle felt the postcard. Everyone was surprised at how instantaneous the results were with the needle felting.

Stitching added the final touches!

Here are our finished projects...I think they all turned out great and the moms will be proud of their creations!I think this one is particularly great- love the peace sign on dad, the halo on mom and the little horns coming out of Stacy!

"Encaustics- Adding Texture and Color" Make & Take

2010-04-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

Carol Leadbetter was back teaching Encaustics again for our latest Mimosa Make & Take on Sunday! Encaustics is a method of wax collage. In this class we took our encaustic collage to the next level by adding textures and color!

Texture was added by imbedding dried florals into the wax and using stencils to create pattern with the wax. Tools to incise and scratch the surface also created textures.
Color was achieved in various ways. From layers of thin papers to applying powders and pigment, color was worked into the texture as well as the surface, depending on the chosen technique! As you can see from the pictures this was a messy and fun class!

Hand Carved Lino Print Mimosa Make & Take

2010-03-15T17:12:00.001-07:00

The Hand Carved Lino Cut Block Print Mimosa Make & Take was a huge success! It was fun and rewarding. Courtney Prahl often uses her own carved stamps in her popular collage and mixed media pieces that she sells in The Muse. Here she goes over the basic steps...

We learned how to transfer images onto the block to carve but some people chose to create their own designs.

After carving out our designs, we inked them up and were ready to go! Karen brought along her sketchbook and had us all print our block into the book. This way she had a visual record of all of the various desings that we created in the class.

Anyone who knows me well, knows I am huge fan of the squirrel. I decided to make my block in honor of the squirrel. Here is my finished project...

Here are some more finished results....I think they all turned out great and everyone seemed pleased with the ease of this project and the way they looked by the end!

Nature Impression Pendants Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-03-12T20:43:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday, Chrissy Gemmill taught a brand new class, "Nature Impression Pendant." It was really great! The results were fantastic. We had a lot of new class takers as well as a few veterans and we all had fun!

We got our kits then got to work! We learned how to wire the beads and pearls. Chrissy showed us the basic jewelry making techniques.

After learning the basics, we learned something new- how to oxidize and patina the pendants!Next step was to figure out the layout of the jewelry. The options and choices of beads were limitless!

Here are some of the results! They look great!

Classes with Chrissy!

2010-02-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

Many of you have inquired about or have booked a private craft party! All classes that are offered through the Muse are available as a private craft party. Thanks to Chrissy Gemmill, our jewelry instructor, she has created this recap of her classes that she offers to make choosing a private craft party easy! Thanks Chrissy!
Current Classes offered for 2010 Winter and Spring (Sample pics for new classes coming soon)

Just Added: February 28 3-5 p.m. "Picture Pendants" Using a picture of your choice, you will learn how to create a personalized piece of jewelry! You can use family pets and pictures, original artwork, nature photography, the possibilities are endless! (see sample pics below)

March 10th 7-9 p.m. "Nature Impression Pendants" Learn the art of patina-ing metal along with basic jewelry making techniques. Select your own sterling silver patterned metal, embellish, and create your own necklace!

"Bird Baubles" April 14th 7-9pm. With a focus on bird motifs, you will learn wire and beading techniques to design your own pendant! Choose from a flock of bird charms, beads and baubles!

Book Your Own Private Wine and Cheese Craft Party! Contact The Muse for more details at shopthemuse.com Minimum 6 people, maximum 12.Classes Offered For Private Parties:

"Earring Design" Adorn your ears with your own creation! Select a prototype to remake or create your own design. Choose from an array of beads and findings.

"Letter Pendants" Let your jewelry do the talking! Using discs and stamps create your own one of a kind jewelry.

"Twisted Metal Bracelet Design" Learn classic bead link wire wrapping and design your own unique bracelet. Choose from an array of gemstone, pearl, crystal and vintage beads!

"Picture Pendant Jewelry" Using a picture of your choice, you will learn how to create a personalized piece of jewelry! You can use family and pet pictures, original artwork, nature photography, the possibilities are endless!
"Open Bead" Learn classic bead link wire wrapping and design your own unique piece of jewelry. Choose from an array of gemstone, pearl, crystal and vintage beads!

"Reflections In Metal" Transfer a picture of your choosing onto metal disc! You can use family and pet pictures, original artwork, nature photography, the possibilities are endless!

Visit Chrissy's blog to see more pictures of some of the classes she teaches http://www.chrissygemmilljewels.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in taking any of our current classes or to book a private craft party contact The Muse 301-663-3632 or http://www.shopthemuse.com/

Needle Punched Flower Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2010-01-24T16:02:00.001-08:00

This week Margaret Hluch taught a really fun class- Needle Punched Flower pin! It was a wine and cheese craft party and it incorporated needle felting and embroidery. Cutting and layering hand dyed (by Margaret) fabrics was the first step. With all of the beautiful fabrics- picking which to use for the pin was tough!
Then we chose beautifully dyed fleece to felt the layers together. Hand embroidery was another option to add to the flower and to reinforce the felting. I love making french knots!

We had enough time to make two pins! I decided to make my second flower a hair clip. Here are the results!Here are all of the finished flowers! Don't they make a beautiful bouquet?

Reflections in Metal Mimosa Make & Take

2010-01-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

Our latest class was one that I am sure will be an ongoing hit! Chrissy Gemmill's Reflections in Metal! Class takers were able to transfer their own personal images into a pendant!

Everyone learned how to prepare their pendant and their images. Chrissy made everyone feel confident in this craft because if it didn't work out- you could sand out the mistake and start over!

The results were fantastic! This craft is a great way to personalize jewelry! After you learn some of the tricks, you can do this craft without having to invest in a lot of supplies. Here are some of the great pendants that people in the class created!

Altered Photo Ornaments Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-12-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

What better way to get into the holiday spirit than a Altered Photo Ornament Wine & Cheese Craft Party?!! Anne Quinlan showed us how to turn our photographs into altered art!
First, Anne showed us various techniques to distress photos and add pigment. We used dental tools and sandpaper! Laurel did a great job on her photo! I loved the colors she used and the white marker details for embellishment!
The next step was creating the cardboard structure for our photos and adding the holes for the ribbon to hang our ornament

Here are some of the finished ornaments! I love how they all turned out! Laura used a wonderful illustration that she brought in...

Sue used one of her amazing flower photographs. She often has great pictures to choose from that she takes herself!

I went with a picture that Anne had brought. As did Jennifer. They both turned out great!

Open House

2009-12-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

To show our thanks for the great response that our classes have been getting, we held a Wine & Cheese Craft Party Open House this past Wednesday! Despite the heavy rain and crappy weather, we had a great turnout and lots of fun!This free event was also a fundraiser for Eliana Maria Stapp. Eliana is an 11 month old little girl who was born with Tetrology of Falot a group of 4 heart defects complicated with 2 other heart defects. Her talented mother, Astrid, played the harp for our event. She showed us her strength and wonderful spirit as she told us about her amazing daughter.The theme of the evening was "wine charms". We had three of our popular instructors teach their own techniques to create a wine charm. Anne Quinlan showed collage techniques using chipboard, papers, and markers. Chrissy Gemmill taught a metal stamping technique and incorporated beads.
Shrink art was used to create the wine charms that Courtney Prahl showed us how to make.

In between our crafting there was lots of eating, drinking and socializing! Here is Courtney with Margaret and Astrid.

Even I got a chance to take a break from my picture taking to have a fun time with Christina!

Here are some of the finished wine charms! We had a great time and thank you to everyone who came out and for your support that you showed Astrid and her daughter Eliana!

Folk Art Bird Brooch Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-11-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

Wednesday we had our latest Wine & Cheese Craft Party! Margaret Hluch taught a Folk Art Bird Brooch. The samples were so popular at the Muse that she is now selling them in the store. But twelve lucky people got to take the class and learn how to make it themselves!!!

We learned how to make the bird form and how to embellish the felt with needle felting.

After our bird was needle felted we got to choose from the beautiful threads that Margaret provided for us. Many of the threads were hand dyed by Margaret! Narrowing down the choices is often the hardest part of a project!

After the embroidery, we put the bird together and finished it off with a pin back. As you can see, they all turned out beautiful and unique!

Mini Collage/ATC Mimosa Make & Take

2009-11-09T19:06:00.001-08:00

Sunday we had Courtney Prahl back to teach the Mini Collage/Artist Trading Card Momosa Make & Take. Her work is so beautiful that she could teach this class over and over again and I will never get tired of it! This time, she showed everyone how to add transfers to their collage.

The transfer method she taught was using contact paper. This method was quick and easy and very versatile. All you need is contact paper- what an easy technique!

Everyone was anxious to get started after they picked out their chosen image.

After we learned the transfer technique we moved onto the collage! One fun thing about Courtney's collage classes are the interesting papers she brings with her for us to choose from! It's sometimes hard to not use them all. She's very big into phone book pages!

After selecting materials we got to work, layering, stamping and embellishing. You can tell by this messy table that we had lots of fun!

One of the criteria to this class is that you must make two mini collages and at the end of the class we draw numbers. You get to take home another persons collage as well as your own! Here are some of the finished collages up for trade...

Here is what I got to take home with me- a collage that I created as well as Marlene's mini collage. I love the happy colors she used and the butterfly transfer. Thanks Marlene!

Sunday Mimosa Make & Take "Encaustic Wax Workshop"

2009-10-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had a great time during the encaustic wax workshop! Students brought in their own pictures as well as used some that were on hand. "Encaustic" means with wax. A collage is created using pictures, papers, tissue, fibers, mica, bark, and other ephemera that is collaged with hot wax.Carol Leadbetter began the class with a background on the steps, materials, and safety of this craft. Then we got busy preparing our surface to collage.

It was fun to use the heat guns! Don't we look tough with our power tools?!!! Using the right amount of wax was a learning experience. Debbie and I won the contest for the best overuse of wax! Our work spaces had a little wax lake after we were done. Carol helped us all use the torch to melt off some of the excess wax.

The finished products turned out great! And I think this class should be offered again because it was a lot of fun! Here is my encaustic collage and the finished collages of the class...

Wednesday Wine & Cheese "Green Collage"

2009-09-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Another fun collage class with Courtney Prahl! This time we used all recycled items. Using a handmade viewfinder she taught us how to look at things differently. Suddenly with her help things such as an L.L. Bean catalog, a tea bag wrapper, and a security envelope became beautiful works of art! Here is some of the "junk" we worked with...

People were so into their projects there wasn't even much of the usual chatter! I think cutting and pasting was great therapy after a long day of work!

Once again, I was amazed at how each person approached their project differently. Everyone did a great job- who knew the "junk" we toss on a daily basis could produce something worth framing!

Mimosa Make & Take "Needle Felted Scarf"

2009-09-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had a very fun Mimosa Make & Take- Needle Felted Scarves! Despite the fact that it was a very warm September sunday, we were getting our fall wardrobe ready with stylish new fall scarves! We started with hand dyed or plain wool/silk scarves and a mound of luxurious dyed wool roving to choose from!

Once we picked out our colors and chose a design to work with, we got down to the felting process. Trying to be careful not to poke our fingers in the process! Here are some of the fabulous outcomes!

Earring Design Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-08-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night we had another fun jewelry class with Chrissy Gemmill! There were three earring styles to choose from and many choices of beads and pearls. First Chrissy gave a demonstration on basic jewelry making techniques...After the demonstration, everyone selected their supplies and started making their earringsThese classes are a great way to spend time with friends and family members. The picture below shows two mother daughters that took the class together. Here are some of the finished earrings. Everyone seemed to really like their new jewelry and the best part was they made it themselves!Chrissy and I always have fun at the classes. Its rewarding to see how much fun people have learning a new craft! We're already planning our next jewelry class! Stay tuned...

Mimosa Make & Take "Oil of Wintergreen Printmaking"

2009-08-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we welcomed Dorthea Barrick to teach our latest class, Oil of Wintergreen Printmaking. Dorthea is a wonderful painter and printmaker from Fairfield, PA who I had the opportunity to take a workshop from a few years ago. When she expressed an interest in teaching for The Muse, I knew people would enjoy this rewarding craft.
Dorthea did a demonstration and showed samples of various past projects. Some were from colored photographs and some were black and white. I think the hardest part was choosing the pictures that we all brought to class... The technique for the printmaking was easy and I overheard some of the students say they liked it because it was instant gratification. We like those kinds of crafts! Kim Grinev from Art Tree ( a craft supply store on Patrick Street) was also at the class and we all encouraged her to carry the oil of wintergreen because we want to do more!

After some of the prints dried, we experimented with adding colored pencils and watercolor crayons to embellish the print. Here are some of the finished samples!

Mini Weaving Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-07-17T20:06:00.001-07:00

This week we had a fun Wine & Cheese Craft Party- Trash to Treasure Mini Weaving! Using a box as a loom we wove yarn and other discarded materials into art. You could even take a picture that was cut up and weave it! The numerous beautiful fibers were hard to choose from!

Margaret Hluch taught the class. She is a weaver and fiber artist and recently taught in Korea as a guest instructor. After we wove our piece she showed up how to take the weaving off of the loom and turn it into wearable art!

Here some of us are with our finished pieces... Can you find mine in my crazy zebra shirt?!

Mimosa Make&Take Hand Bound Journal

2009-06-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

We had our first Mimosa Make & Take yesterday. The class, "Hand Bound Journal", was taught by artist and former art therapist, Anne Quinlan. Anne is the collage artist who created The Muse collage which is seen on The Muse tshirts and was featured in the national mixed media publication, Cloth Paper Scissors.

She taught everyone how to do a pamphlet stitch binding.

We also learned her collage techniques and how to finish the book.We had several mother/daughter duos who took this class. I bought my mother the class for Mother's Day and Liz brought along her mother as a nice Birthday gift!!! What a great gift- you get to spend time together and you take home a piece of art! Here is Liz and her mother...

And here is another mother/daughter team, looks like they had fun making books together!

Mini Collage Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-05-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Courtney taught another successful collage class! There was so much interest in it that we had to add another class! She showed everyone different techniques for collage and shared with us all of her wonderful papers and ephemera!

Everyone got lost in their creativity as they painted, cut, and ripped!

The outcomes were amazing! Some people made 3-5 mini collages that they can hang in a frame.

We created several ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) which we kept for ourselves as well as an extra one which we traded with another class taker. It was fun to receive a mini work of art from someone else.

Felted Flower Wine & Cheese

2009-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

This past week we had a full class for our Felted Flower Wine & Cheese Craft Party. It was great to see many repeat wine and cheesers as well as some brand new faces in the class. To make this project, Margaret Hluch taught us a wet felting technique. She had so many gorgeous fibers and fleece to choose from.

Everyone created flowers in their own favorite color schemes.

These flowers can be worn as a pin for your clothing, a bag, or tied to a strap of a dress or tank.

Letter Pendant Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-04-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a private Wine & Cheese Party for Giselle Lai and a bunch of her friends. She and her friends chose Chrissy Gemmill's class, "Letter Pendants." In this class, you get to create pendants with your own personal messages.

My favorite part about all of the classes is watching what people do. It is amazing to see how each person approaches the same craft in a different way.

In the end, each person chose a message that was special to them and left with a beautiful necklace!

Here are some pictures from when this class was originally taught last November.
Kari gave the class to her sister as a birthday gift. What a great gift!

Twisted Metal Bracelet Wine & Cheese Party

2009-03-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

This month we had two "Twisted Metal Bracelet" Wine and Cheese Craft Parties because everyone wanted to make this cool bracelet! Each class had a lot of fun. The first class had a birthday group in it. What a great gift- spend time with your friends and make yourself a new piece of jewelry!

Class instructor, Chrissy Gemmill, had some great samples to guide the bracelet designs and tons of extra beads so that you could improvise on your designs.

After learning the techniques, everyone got down to the hard part- choosing which beads to use! We had a lot of fun and everyone was happy with their creations!

Jewelry Box Recreations with Chrissy Gemmill

2009-03-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger...Chrissy Gemmill

Sunday Workshop

April 19 12-3 pm "Jewelry Box Recreations"

Hello there! Bring in your old, mismatched, or broken jewelry and recreate it into a fresh new recycled design at my upcoming Jewelry Box Recreations Class. This class will offer a variety of non precious findings plus a large array of beads to incorporate into your recycled design. I will help guide your designs into something you will love to wear!
I've started going through my old jewelry boxes to find old things to refurbish, revamp and make samples for the class. Here's the random selection I've collected so far.

I had so much fun with this project. I only had about two hours to work on this but could have spent the entire day messing around and recreating. I made the necklaces below with an old pin from about 1984 bought at Express, an old broken antique shoe clip and an old earring.

There will be a jewelers drill on hand and basic jewelry hand tools. I encourage you to bring your own hand tools if you have them so you don't have to share.

Begin your jewelry clean out now!

Here are some suggestions for this class:
1. Anything broken to recycle jump rings, clasps, chain and beads
2. Mismatched earrings

3. Buttons
4. Pins

5. Vintage Jewelry

6. Ask your family or friends if they want to give you any of their old jewelry they no longer want, the more you have to work with the better your designs will be.

7.Flea market finds

8.Thift store finds (I've often spotted bags of other people mismatched jewelry sold for cheap)

9. Chains! Broken chains are great too! The class will be begin with a basic jewelry skills review and I will be available to help through out.
This is going to be a really cool workshop, I can't wait to see the interesting things people are going to bring and make. The possibilities are endless!

Hope to see you there!

Cheers!Chrissy

Valentine Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-03-15T17:00:00.001-07:00

Using needle felting we created Felted Valentines! Nothing is better than receiving a handmade piece of art from the heart. Below is a picture of Laura with her beautiful bird Valentine that she created.As you can see, they all turned out great and we had a lot of fun making them!

"Recycled Wool" Wine & Cheese Craft Party

2009-03-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Our most recent wine and cheese craft parties were needle felting workshops. The last one was called " Recycled Wool" where we learned how to alter and add personality to clothing and accessories we already own! This class was really fun and everyone seemed to like their results!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

2009-03-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Before now, I never really understood reasons to blog. I enjoy reading blogs written by my favorite artists and crafters but never had a desire to write one myself. As the craft parties and fun events at The Muse grow in popularity, there seems to be a reason to blog! Chrissy Gemmill, jewelry artist at The Muse and good friend, suggested I start a blog for the store to showcase the fun wine and cheese craft parties and sunday workshops we do. This gives people a chance to see some of the options that they have for future classes and private craft parties! Plus people who took the class can see pictures from their class! And who knows what else might get posted!