This Blog is Moving....

Reading my last post made me laugh. I laughed because when I wrote it, over a year ago, I was going through big changes. I was moving my studio and trying to figure out how to build a Nutritional Therapy Practice AND keep going with Larissa Spafford Designs. It's funny because I am still figuring it out. AND I'm still going with both!

I have just completely redone my entire website. I'm really happy with it, in fact, it's my favorite one yet. I'm also working on something else....

I've only told one or two people, so you are among the first to know, I'm working on an online store! It's a little daunting just typing it, but I'm doing it! I have no idea how long it will take, but it's happening.

For now, this blog is moving to my new website where I'm going to be posting more regularly. Thanks so much for reading!!!!!

February 26th Begining Silver Metal Clay (PMC) Class

Hi!  I have another beginning silver metal clay class coming up Thursday February 26th from 5:30 to 9pm.  Registration closes at 10am Wednesday February 18th so I will have time to order supplies and have them arrive in time. You can find more details and register online by following this link:

https://squareup.com/market/the-workhouse

These are some examples of pendants I have made using PMC. In the class you will make a pendant you can wear right out of class!  Absolutely no prior jewelry making experience is necessary. Hope to see you there!

The pmc class was a success!

Here are some pictures from my Beginning Silver Metal Clay Pendant class in September. It was so much fun!  I'm going to continue to teach the class every quarter at The Workhouse. The next class will be Thursday, February 26th, 5:30-9pm. You can sign up here.

Learn how to work with Silver Metal Clay, I am teaching a class July 17

Would you like to learn how to make your own silver pendant using silver metal clay?  I will be teaching a class July 17 at the Workhouse in Bend!  Silver metal clay is the material I use to create the silver spiral caps in the earrings shown. It is so much fun to work with. If you have been wanting to learn, now is your chance. Tell your friends! Here's some more info about the material and the class:

Beginning Silver Metal Clay
Thursday, July 17th 2014 
5:30-9:00 pm @ The Workhouse

Silver metal clay (also known as precious metal clay) is an amazing material that can be worked with like clay. As it is fired the binder burns out and leaves behind pure silver. Silver metal clay is loved among jewelers because of its ability to capture imprinted images and textures as well as its malleable nature. Through this hands on class you will gain understanding of the process of creating a silver clay object from beginning to finish. Working with basic techniques students will explore the possible applications of silver clay while creating their own pendants that will culminate in a completed necklace that can be worn straight out of class! Other possible applications include making pieces such as components for bracelets, dangles for earrings, and silver beads.

No prior experience necessary! Tuition includes all supplies which consist of a beginning tool kit that students will get to keep as well as the silver metal clay. $115

More Information and Registration @ www.squareup.com/market/the-workhouse , or you can email classes@theworkhousebend.com, or register in person at The Workhouse

I followed my bliss....until it wasn’t my bliss anymore..... Now what??????

I followed my bliss of making jewelry which led to making beads, which led me to every Saturday at the farmers market for 8 years along with almost every Port Townsend craft fair, and some in Tacoma and Seattle. Then I, along with my family, followed our other bliss of snowboarding to Bend, Or.

I followed my bliss to bigger and better craft fairs throughout the west coast and even as far away as Baltimore and Chicago. 

It’s amazing what being fueled by passion can do. It was a lot of planning, packing, money, work and time. Overall it was a great and extremely rewarding experience....peppered by a few sketchy situations. Both the artists and customers (and sometimes artists were customers) I met along the way were so inspiring, and encouraging.

But one day, I found myself saying the words ‘I’m starting to loathe’ packing up for craft fairs, and setting up and taking down my booth. Loathe is not a word I use, maybe ever, especially not to describe anything I do. That is when I knew, even though at first I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself, that it was time to take a break from craft fairs.

At first the idea seemed crazy, like there was no way could I do that. But then it became easy. It was really simple. I just didn’t apply for the craft fairs. I let the deadlines pass......every time I would get an e-mail telling me about a  craft fair application deadline approaching I would delete it. Honestly, it was actually really satisfying.

So here I am, towards the end of my first summer in at least 13 years that I haven’t participated in one craft fair or market. Not one. It’s no wonder I’ve felt a little confused about what I’m doing lately. Now it’s time to apply for next years shows. Some of the deadlines have already passed, and guess what? So far, I’ve continued let them pass and haven’t applied to one.

I’m not saying I’m never going to do a craft fair again. I already felt a twinge of wanting to do one when I saw Art in The High Desert is happening this weekend. But for now I am taking a break. I’m focusing on the other areas of my art and business, the ones I do still enjoy and feel motivated about. At first I couldn’t even see any other possibilities, but now I’m seeing a lot.

The really good and very relieving to me news is that I am still completely and passionately in love with making glass beads and jewelry. When I sit down at the torch I feel like I am in exactly the right place and making even the smallest most basic bead makes me really happy. The other day, I sat down to make some large circles and flowers. They took me more than an hour each, but I was so engrossed that it seemed like only 10min. must have passed. 
One thing I do know is that I feel really good and am happy right now. I’m at peace with how things are and the uncertainty of not knowing how things are going to work out. It’s kinda fun and exciting that way. I’m open to the possibilities and hoping for the best :)

I've been working on some new designs for a while and here are some of my favorites.

 

 Here are some pictures that show how they were made

Glass rods, silver wire and gold leaf are made into beads

 

                                 
Various gauges of recycled silver wire become circles, links and ear wires.

                             Circles formed from wire ready to be soldered.

                           
             Circles after soldering and hammering, before being polished.

I made a little movie to show you how my earrings are made

Hearts

We don't really make a big deal about Valentine's Day around here. Mainly because we have our very own special holiday to celebrate this time of year. It is the anniversary of our very first date. Honestly, we don't remember the exact date, but do know it is right around my friend Kerri's birthday on Feb. 6th. This year was our 16th first date anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!! It just so happened that Robbie's mom was visiting so we were able to go on a dinner date without the kids. I really like celebrating our love on our own day.

I've only made hearts one time before as a special request from a friend. Other than that, I've never really wanted to until this year. I don't know what gave me the idea that I could just sit down and make awesome hearts right off the bat, especially after a two week break from bead making. It didn't exactly work out like that. These were a new challenge. I almost quit a few times, but I'm happy I didn't because I like how these turned out.

Being Grateful & Giving Away

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The reasons are pretty simple. We spend time with people we love. We take time to think about what we are grateful for. This makes us feel happy and good. I like being happy and feeling good, and I like it when the people around me are happy and feeling good too.

I also really like eating yummy food. And snowboarding. I'm grateful for snowboarding. It has become our family's tradition to go snowboarding/skiing every Thanksgiving. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, it has become our family's tradition to go snowboarding/skiing on just about every holiday that falls between mid November and June 1!

I do my best to think about what I am grateful for every day. Lately, it's been first thing in the morning, before the sun comes up as I groggily drag myself out of my warm snuggly bed after hitting the snooze button three times. I'm not a morning person by nature. I usually feel like I could sleep for hours more. When I think about how grateful I am just to be here, that excites me to start my day. And large amounts of coffee. I am very grateful for coffee.

Another thing I am grateful for is you!!!!!  You who are reading this right now. Each and every one who has 'liked' my Facebook page, followed me on Twitter, looked at my Etsy store, joined my e-mail list and read my e-mails.

I am grateful to each person who has ever traded money for something I have created. For most people, this is trading your precious time. It all started with one person buying a few beads from a little dish that sat on our table in our apartment. I am grateful for each and every one.

I am grateful for each person who has ever come to my table or booth.Weather it was at my card table on the sidewalk in Port Townsend, a booth at a street fair, a Farmers or Saturday Market, a high end craft fair, or a shop or gallery.  I'm grateful for each person who has taken the time to look, ask questions, give compliments and smiles. At times smiles and true appreciation mean more than money. I am even grateful, though it can be hard to hear, for criticisms. 

I am grateful for my teachers. For workshops, classes, books, or just by the right person answering the right question at the right time. I am grateful for my students who are teachers too. Among other things, you have taught me how to teach. 

I am grateful for each and every person and every thing that has helped me on my way to where I am right now. 

All this gratitude makes me feel like giving something away. So, I am going to write each persons name who currently 'likes' my Facebook page (Larissa Spafford Designs) on a little piece of paper. I am going to put them all into this vase. 

Then I am going to randomly choose a name and give something to that person. I'm going to do this once a month. Each time a new person 'likes' my page I will add their name too. I'm not sure when I will get everyones name added, but I will let you know when I do! I'm hoping to do this by Thanksgiving. 

What are you grateful for?

Best of the Northwest!

On Wednesday I'll be heading to Seattle for the Best of the Northwest. The show runs Nov. 18-20th at Pier 91 at the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal. I will be upstairs in booth N-30.

The first thought in my head this morning was, there is no way I'm going to be able to do everything I need to do before I leave for the show if I don't do at least a few things today. So I sat down to do just a couple of things. One thing lead to another and all of a sudden it's gotten dark and is time for dinner! I did get a lot done which is great because there is still so much to do.

I do have a ton of new things I am very happy with! I've come up with several new color combinations of Lovely Blooms and Colorful Circles, and also new colors of Namaste pendants and earrings. You can see some of the new colors in my Etsy shop, but there are still more I have not had a chance to photograph and list.

This summer is just zooming by! Last month we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary! Yes, I know I don't look old enough to have been married for that long, and I'm almost not! We were married when I was 17 and he was 18. We celebrated by laying in the grass in the park and then going out for Pho. Afterwards we met up with the boys & grandparents to launch model rockets.

Then I went to Lake Oswego. Here is a shot of my booth. We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather! You never know what you will get with outdoor shows!

Next it was time for the Puget Sound Bead Festival in Tacoma. Each time I go to Tacoma I like it more and more. Downtown is such an eclectic mix of old and new buildings. This is the view from the Convention Center. I love that you can see Mt. Rainier, the Museum of Glass (two of my favorite places), along with the Tacoma Dome and Union Station all from one spot.
Here are a few happy customers :)



After the show we spent a few days in Port Townsend visiting friends and family and celebrating my 31st birthday. We got home last night and I'm already busy getting ready for the Northwest Crossing Saturday Market, which is tomorrow and the Bellevue Arts Museum Arts Fair at the end of this month.

This is one of my newest pieces, and I am really happy with how it turned out. The idea for this necklace came to me one day while I was driving down the street. I had to pull over and sketch it out on a scrap of paper before I forgot, or got distracted by another idea. It's always satisfying to get a complete idea and be able to go make it and have it turn out pretty much how I imagined it. I just happened to have the perfect chain already too. The chain is long so you can put it over your head without a clasp. You can wear it with the glass and circles in the center or off to one side. Having options is so much fun.

These are my newest rings. The one on the left and the blue one second from the right were made using cabochons made by my husband Robbie. They are SO pretty. The colors are amazing. They change and shimmer depending on how the light hits them and have little silver flecks that remind me of tiny stars.

This weekend I'm heading to Lake Oswego for the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. I'm looking forward to it and hoping for great weather! I'll be in booth G-7. If you are in the Portland area come by and say hello!

In Love

I have fallen completely in love with metalsmithing! It opens up so many creative possibilities for me. I'm already full of ideas.

I'm very happy to say that I am now scheduling beginning lampwork bead making classes for spring and summer! You can see the dates that are available on my website. Just scroll down to the bottom half of the page and use the arrows to go to the months of April-August. If you would like to schedule your class send me an e-mail at Larissa@LarissaSpafford.com or call me at (541)318-4757!

After RAGS at the beginning of March I will be back in the Seattle area for the Spring Best of the Northwest. The image above is the postcard for the show. Recognize the necklace?