The Holidays are coming....

Life is always busy, both yours and ours.....but never too busy for fun! We've been gearing up for holiday shopping. Historic Buford held an open house that most of the downtown merchants participated in. It was nice to 'fluff' the gallery and put out some decorations. We got the classroom ready for Jana Benzon's class that's coming up in December, on the 4th thru the 6th.

Sadly, we had to postpone Leslie Blackford's class (she had a disaster in her basement to clean up!) As soon as we figure out a replacement date, we'll post it here and on facebook.

Ellen has been working very hard planning classes for next year and is coming up with a dynamite line-up. As information becomes available, it will be posted on the upcoming classes page. If you see a class you think you would like, call us. Your check will hold your spot. We are very excited to be having more international teachers in 2016. Anke Humpert, from Germany, is coming in February.

Bettina Welker, also from Germany, is going to teach two sessions. She is scheduled to teach in April, and we are going to have the usual Friday to Sunday class. We are offering a special weekday session: Tuesday to Thursday, for people that can't get away on the weekend.

We had a great time with the Kentucky/ Tennessee Guild at the Falls of Rough Park in Kentucky. Dani Torres and Natalia Garcia de Leaniz were the guest artists. Ron Lehocky did a great job of running the retreat. It was a nice new spot and I think we are committed to another three years. It has taken us a couple weeks to unpack and restock, but we'd go again tomorrow if we could!

The Latest.....

One of the nice things about running Creative Journey Studios is having “regulars” who like to shop for supplies and who enjoy coming to classes. Linda Hall, my “twin sister”, has been known to come and spend the day doing tedious inventory stocking jobs with me. She is a member of the Greater Atlanta Polymer Clay Guild and used her basket making skills to turn our donation to their retreat into a spectacular prize! We were happy to support the guild and thrilled for Melinda Greene to win such a beautiful basket.

We are gearing up for Dani and Natalia. We can hardly wait to share their new techniques this weekend. Then we are off to the Rough River State Resort Park to join the Kentucky/Tennessee Guild for their annual retreat. Ron Lehocky has planned a jam packed few days and we are excited to see all our “Cave” friends attending this transplanted retreat. Ellen has been working on new techniques with Viva Décor paints that she can hardly wait to share. She uses them on the clay surface, with translucent clay, and in mokume.

In other news, we are incredibly excited to welcome Julie Picarello to the CJS Gallery. Julie loves to make  beads but had to fortify herself with loads of chocolate to assemble some necklaces for us. We think she did a magnificent job. Julie will be teaching for us next July. It’s been years since I’ve had a class with Julie, so I’m really excited that she will be part of our 2016 lineup.

What's New this Fall....

It's sad when you are so busy you can't find a minute to write a post on the blog, but today is a rare day off so I have no excuse! Since the last entry Christi Friesen, Lindly Haunani and Loretta Lam have been to the studio to give wonderful classes. Do you know how much French pastry I have had to consume lately? It's a tough job, but someone has to do it! It seems that an expected "perk" of teaching for us is at least one trip to Collet's French Bakery. We even had a couple birthdays we had to celebrate.

 

Things won't really calm down until the new year. Dani Torres and Natalia Garcia de Leaniz, from Madrid, are coming in October to share their secrets about hollow forms and ring making. They were here when Synergy 3 was in Atlanta and got us all excited about making hollow forms.

Since then they have grown the idea exponentially! Be sure to read the upcoming classes page. After their class, we will all be going to the Kentucky/ Tennessee Guild retreat at the new venue, Rough River Dam park. 

In November, Leslie Blackford is coming back for another nightlight class. She will add her "Winter Woodland" Bracelet to the fun. Call us (404-314-5767) to sign up and start thinking about the theme of your nightlight. 

We'll finish off the year with Jana Roberts Benzon. As you'll see on the class page, she is sharing all her techniques in a process driven, rather than project driven class. I'm sure it will be mind boggling.

If you haven't been in for a visit lately, there are lots of new things to see. We just got more new work from Patrice Pfeiffer, Anke Humpert, Celine Charuau, Loretta Lam, Bettina Welker, Karen Woods and Lindly Haunani. There are new products in the store that I'm sure you can't live without! Pastels, PolyBonder, Kor Tools (even the new long rollers!), a new batch of acrylic rollers, Premo's new colors, Pardo translucent colors, new silk screens from Karen Woods...all sorts of temptations!

Something new and exciting.....

Everyone is falling in love with the new KorTools and we are no exception. We learned about the new texture tools from Ron Lehocky and immediately we were 'all in'. We are stocking all the rollers and a large portion of the stamps.

A few of Ron's latest hearts using the KorTools

The textures are deep and crisp, and are ideal for polymer clay. We have been playing with mica shift and love the nice deep imprints made with ease and no sticking. The rollers create a length of continuous pattern that is just shy of two inches wide (5cm). We are giving you a break on the price ($9 for the rollers and $3.50 for the stamps) and can pop them in a padded bag and send them inexpensively by first class mail. Check out the pictures below and give me a call at 404-14-5767 to get yours on their way!

 

So Many Reasons...

It's been a crazy month. We had a wonderful trip to the Virginia mountains to visit with our polymer friends and have some sanity replenishing time to clay and relax. Then we raced back home to ready the studio for Ron Lehocky's debut in the teaching arena. He was magnificent! We had a fabulous weekend learning his easy peasy cane, his style of mokume and ikat, and all his construction secrets! We laughed 'til we cried and ate everything that wasn't nailed down! The weekend culminated in Ron's presenting his 30,000th heart to the Creative Journey Studios Retrospective Collection. We are so happy to share his accomplishment with the polymer world.

Ron gets down to KIDS level to place his heart!

Now we need to get back to the real world and gear up for Sarah Shriver. Her class is June 5th to the 7th. She will be sharing her Big Beads and making them into rings and bracelets! I see a fabulous ring in my future! There is still a space if you want to join us!

We've added new work (in addition to Ron's wonderful heart) to the collection. New bracelets from Lindly Haunani, a new bowl from Emily Squires Levine, some new earrings and a pendant from Sandra McCaw, a bracelet and pin from Julie Eakes (in her new Silk Road style), and a wonderful batch of polymer pussy willows from Cynthia Tinapple that we won at the retreat auction.

We've also been busy adding new products to the supply store. We have new wire working tools, Ron's pounce wheels, new texture rollers and stamps from Kor-tools, amalgam carriers for dots, new button molds, new silk screens from Alison Gallant and Karen Woods, new Fimo Pro clay, new Pardo translucent colored clay, and new Premo clay colors. So many reasons for a trip to CJS!

The Journey Continues...

We have been busy getting the studio freshened up, setting up the work spaces, stocking up Filigree & More with lots of new goodies (we're going to need a space stretcher here in a bit!) and putting out lots of new things in the gallery. Just got a nice box from Kim Cavender with some of her wonderful rock pendants and bracelets. Ellen visited with Mary Filapek and Lou Ann Townsend at the Atlanta ACC show and brought some wonderful new pieces from them. Their earring designs are really fun and I love their palette. We got a handful of spectacular pens from Priscilla Lane. They are a pleasure to write with, as well as being beautiful. (I love mine!)

If you haven't visited in a while, it's definitely time for lunch at Aqua Terra and a leisurely stroll through Creative Journey. We have lots of new work in the collection you haven't seen yet. Bettina Welker sent several beautiful and representative pieces, including a matching bracelet and necklace in her signature style. Cynthia Toops and her husband, Dan Adams (an amazing glass artist when he is not running his medical labs) created a collaborative piece just for the collection. Cynthia's micro-mosaic work is mind-boggling. Dan has created hollow glass globes to complement Cynthia's polymer. We acquired two vases by Emily Squires Levine, one that had been in the Carthage College exhibit, for the collection. They get a tremendous amount of attention.

We are very excited to be loaning one of the pieces in the collection, Elise Winters' "Red Cascade Ruffled Neckpiece" to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for viewing in their Wertz Gallery. The exhibit is called "Out of this World! Jewelry in the Space Age". It will be exhibited from June 27th, 2015 to January 4th, 2016.

Classes are going well. We had a wonderful visit with Barb Fajardo at the end of March, to start off our exciting line-up of classes for the year.

 

Now we are gearing up for two weekends with Laura Tabakman. It promises to be a cornucopia of knowledge about translucent clay. We have been busy assembling supplies that will be needed for the classes. Polyform has once again been kind enough to supply clay to our students, and we will be comparing Fimo, Pardo and Kato translucents as well. 

The next class with available space is our three day weekend with Dr. Ron Lehocky, May 22-24. Ron is known for his hearts that he creates for his charity, The KIDS Center in Louisville. We just added Number 30,000 to our retrospective collection at the gallery. Now we have convinced Ron to share his tricks of the trade, learned by twenty years of polymer experience and specifically ten years of heart making. He has several techniques that he has developed: "ronnie-gane", his take on mokume; his easy peasy extruder cane; and a fantastic geometric cane. He creates veneers which he will show you how to apply to shapes. Your bench skills will take a leap forward.

An example of the Easy Peasy cane

Ron has also excited the polymer community with his spiral pieces, using his style of mokume gane. Don't you want to join us at Creative Journey Studios for this technique filled class? There are just a few spots left so don't delay. Call us at 404-314-5767. You can find more information on the "upcoming classes" page.

Stop the Presses!

Just when I thought I was caught up on my blogging, I have more news! Big news, actually! We've added two classes. Barb Fajardo is coming from New Mexico to teach two classes for a weekend of excitement on March 27th, 28th and 29th. On Friday she will share her "Appliqued Tiles" technique.

On the weekend she will teach her "Mandala Flora." Check out the Upcoming Classes page for more description and pictures. Call me at 404-314-5767 to reserve your spot.

The other big news is two-fold. Laura Tabakman's class in April filled almost before I posted it. But, not to worry, we talked her into offering another session the following weekend--May 1-3. Whew! That being said, don't dilly-dally. This session is filling up, too! Actually, all the classes are filling up. Consider yourself warned!

The other bit of news is that we still have lots of Pardo translucent clay. Many of my daily inquiries read something like this. "I've found your website but I don't see anywhere to click to buy your products". It's as simple as hopping on the phone so I can take your credit card info and shipping information. We use USPS regional shipping boxes which saves you a good bit of money. With your zipcode I can quote shipping rates. Check out www.filigreeandmore.com to see some of the products we carry.

New Year's Excitement

It’s the new year and time to plan for 2015! Ellen is working on our class schedule, busily lining up wonderful teachers to bring you exciting workshops. Check out the class descriptions on our “Upcoming Classes” page and give me a call at 404-314-5767 to sign up. The space is limited, so remember—“He who hesitates, is lost”. 

Laura Tabakman is coming at the end of April (and now also May 1-3, as the first class sold out in three days, even before I really started advertising it!). She is going to be teaching her techniques with translucent clay and comparing brands, which should be interesting. We were fortunate enough to see her work up in Racine at the H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art at Carthage College while we were at the 2nd Symposium on Polymer Clay held by Racine Art Museum at Wingspread. 

This was a large installation that you could actually walk through, causing the pieces to sway gently from the air moving as you walked. in addition to these large mixed media pieces, Laura is also known for her wire and polymer jewelry.

We have Laura's work for sale in the gallery, and have several nice pieces in the collection so you can get excited about this class. 
I will be posting other classes as their details become available, so check back often.
This seems like a good place to remind you that we still have Pardo translucent clay, as well as Fimo and Premo. All it takes is a phone call (404-314-5767) and a credit card to have some winging its way to you in a USPS priority box. You can sign up for a class at the same time!