We are getting ready for Michael deMeng’s classes in June. We’ve been digging through the local salvage yards, going to flea markets, and buying really cool stuff on ETSY. Here’s a picture of some of the items we received this week from ETSY.

If you are interested in taking his classes, he’ll be teaching at Absolutely Everything the end of May and also at The Stamp Act in Marshfield in June.  I’ll be at all 4 classes!

Last summer, the Metal Clay community lost one of its own when Robin Whittemore, a talented jewelry artist and active member in the Metal Clay community, lost her courageous battle with cancer.

Robin struggled with breast cancer and after six years of chemotherapy, radiation and medication, she was then told she required a bone marrow transplant.

Robin inspired the group with her uplifting spirit and love of life. Sadly, she died during the summer of 2007, leaving a legacy of courage and charity among her friends and colleagues.

Now Metal Clay artists from around the country have decided to honor Robin and their own loved ones who have succumbed to this disease by raising funds to benefit the American Cancer Society and The Marrow Foundation.

Dozens of Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and Art Clay Silver (ACS) artists have created handcrafted charms for bracelets and necklaces, which will be raffled to raise money for cancer treatment and prevention. Members of the Metal Clay community have donated every aspect of this project, from making charms and bracelets to designing and selling raffle tickets and donating Web site space and credit card fees.

This is your chance to own a unique work of art created by the nation’s premier Metal Clay artists.

Raffle tickets are only $5 each or five for $20 and all proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society and The Marrow Foundation.

These pieces of fine jewelry will be raffled on July 20 during the PMC Conference 2008 at Purdue University, but you do not have to be present to win.

This is a one of a kind bracelet. I ordered my tickets from Whole Lotta Whimsy last week. Please do your part to support the charities.

We just received 3 new movies from Netflix. One was 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigl. Every once in a while you need a movie that’s bubblegum for the brain. This movie is up there with my favorites, Pretty Women, Wedding Planner, Before Sunset, and The Wedding Date. I like to throw in a simple mindless movie while I am working in the studio. When I have a lot of polishing to get done with the buffer I turn on the Ipod and blast it!

Don’t you hate it when you put your change in the parking meter and there is still time left when you return? I was in Brookline, MA this afternoon for lunch. I discovered something really cool. In Brookline you can go to the Police Department and get a Brookline Park Card. You swipe the debit card in the parking meter when you arrive and when you leave you swipe he card again. This way you truly only pay for the time you use. This is awesome.

Where can I purchase a new ParkCard? Where can I add value to an existing ParkCard?

A ParkCard transaction station located in the lobby of the Public Safety Building, located at 350 Washington Street, is available to purchase a new ParkCard, or to place additional value on an existing card. The Public Safety Building is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I am on a roll here with recycling. Jim and I ate at Boloco tonight for dinner. It’s a small Boston based chain that makes really awesome wraps. We ate at the location in Davis Square. My favorite wrap is the Summer wrap with mango salsa….yummmm. We were enjoying our dinner and looked closely at our cups.

The message read:

“This cup grew up in Blair, Nebraska. It really did. It’s made entirely of corn. It’s 100% compostale. It will disappear no matter what you do with it.”

The cup is made by Nature Works. The cup is made of a polymer derived from 100% annually renewable resources such as corn. The website says this product is the world’s first polymer showing a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Now all we need to do is convince all the fast food chains to start using this product.

Some suggested reading…..and another favorite shop on Etsy:

I am reading Marisa de Los Santos‘ newest book, Belong to Me. I love the main character, Cornelia. This is a must read, but make sure you read, Love Walked In first. I went through a phase where I would only read chick lit, where the main character is a journalist in search of true love. These books are far from chick lit. They are well written and tell a heart warming story.

I pulled some books from my book shelf this morning, The Complete Guide To Altered Imagery by Karen Michael. I found some really cool bleaching techniques in Karen’s book. The other book I read was, Collage Unleashed by Traci Bautista. Traci’s book has some really great altered art techniques using crayons. Save up all your left over crayons, melt them and use them in your art. She also goes into detail on dying paper towels. I cannot wait to use some of techniques on my journals. These books are a must have for anyone’s altered art book shelf.

I’ve been looking for a bench block pad for when I am hammering to help lesson the noise. I received this great bench block pad from The Antique Palette on Etsy. This is the best $19 you’ll ever spend and your ears will thank you.

In an effort to celebrate Earthday all year long, Freecycle is a great place. We’ve donated some great working items, a hot tub, snow blower, cerwin vega speakers, and some other items. These were all items on their way to the dump and were given a second chance at life with a new family. I’ve posted requests for other wanted items in the past, ephemera, vintage photos and national geographic magazines.

It’s just a natural step to jump in head over heels into collecting found objects for two upcoming classes I am taking at The Stamp Act in Marshfield, MA and also at Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA.

Michael deMeng’s

Head Sea Scrolls: Art for the Head

Pez Dispensing Totems

I am obsessed with finding recycled objects. Today I posted a WANTED request on Freecycle in Hingham, Quincy, and Boston.

Here’s my posting on Freecycle:

Subject: WANTED: Old Stuff: door handles, clocks, brass objects, locks, rusty stuff…etc

I am an artist. I enjoy working with recycled art. I use old rusty stuff such as:

Doodads
door handles
clocks
brass, copper, steel and iron objects
door pulls
locks
keys
glass bottles
lenses
hinges
old mason jars
gears
hooks
nails
hammers
tools
typewriters
old keyboards
apple computers
metal frames
pretty much anything can be recycled into art

If you know someone that has an old garage or attic full of stuff they want to get rid of, I’d be happy to be that person to help clean out the garage/attic.

Ok, here’s the funny part…I won’t clean out my garage/attic but I am willing to go into a stranger’s home to find hidden treasures. I’ve actually received some cool responses.

Here’s what we’ve been promised received so far:

~2 mason jars of Boston cab keys from the 1980’s

~ 6 doorknobs, a few hinges, metal scraps from a renovation, and a piece of marble.

~rusty nails, and old tools

It’s so amazing to see how generous complete strangers are. This weekend we are off to the local flea markets to see what we can get our hands on. Wish us luck.

We had a great weekend in Cambridge at NOCA this weekend.

In addition to the obvious goal of doing a show (selling some jewelry), we really enjoyed (the so much more important goals) of seeing good friends, and talking about our classes with nice people.

Here area some photos of the setup for people who were not able to attend the show.