Gearing up for the Holidays and beyond!

We hope everyone is having a nice holiday season. We have been busy with shoppers looking for a unique gift. They have come to right spot! Whether it is a piece of jewelry, a sculptural piece or a bowl, a scarf or an ornament from one of our seventy-two artists, a wonderful woodfired piece of pottery (from my talented son, Rob Sutherland) or some new gadgets from Filigree & More, our supply store, we are here to help you choose. We could probably even do a gift certificate for a class for next year.

We have a dynamite lineup for 2017. Many of the classes have already almost filled, even before I have posted a description. Where we can, we will have a second class. I guess my point is: if you see something you want in on, don’t procrastinate on signing up. The classes are limited to ten people and they do fill up!

Watch the classes page, and as pictures and description become available, I will post the fun! What I post below is subject to minor changes when we get text and pictures from the instructors.

First up is Nikolina Otrzan, coming all the way from Croatia. She will be teaching from March 24^th to the 26^th (two spots left) and perhaps March 27^th to the 29^th, if there is demand. We first met Nik at the Atlanta Synergy and have watched her techniques develop. You can probably find her work on Facebook to see her tempting veneers and construction techniques.(Sadly, due to fears of issues with visas and entering/exiting the country, Nikolina has cancelled her class. We will reschedule, hopefully later in the year. We'll be in touch with the people who expressed an interest.)

Jeff Dever is coming from Maryland April 2^nd to 4^th. We are already reserving spots in a second class from April 5^th to the 7^th. We have some of Jeff’s work in the collection for you to admire and get a feel for what you will learn. Jeff is an amazing teacher and we are very excited to share this opportunity with you. This will not be a beginner class. You will need some skills to take advantage of all he has to share.

Sarah Shriver is coming back June 2^nd to the 4^th to teach “Hinged Pendants”. We have started a waiting list for this class, as her class is already full.

Doreen Kassel will be here July 14^th to the 16^th to teach Translucent Flowers and Pods. We have some of her work in the studio for you to see. It’s very appealing. Once you see it, you will want to try your hand at it.

Lindly Haunani will be back at the end of August (August 25-27) for her annual color class. This is your knowledge fix for the year and it is always fun. It’s more than a project. It boosts your skill and makes all your work improve.

Laura Tabakman will be here Sept. 29^th to October 1^st to teach combining wire and translucent clay.

Leslie Blackford is coming “round the mountain” (from Kentucky!) in November (10-12) to show us how to use ‘vintage’ costume jewelry to enhance your polymer piece. We will be haunting all the antique shops between now and then to find discarded treasures from ‘auntie’s’ jewelry box that will be perfect with polymer.

As you can see, we have an exciting lineup for 2017. We hope you can join us or at least come in to visit. We have lots of new products(Moiko screens and Primary Elements) and a steady supply of Premo, Fimo and Pardo for your claying needs!

Back in the Saddle...

If it seemed as though we had dropped off of the face of the earth, perhaps it is because we sort of did. We had a marvelous color class with Lindly Haunani, followed by an adventure in eating to Savannah with her. The day after she went home, I checked into Northside Hospital for some back surgery. Well, the new improved, hardly gimpy at all, Sue is back, after only two and half weeks. We are back in the studio and working more hours each day. I will admit to getting tired, but I’m trying to be here for your needs. Obviously, it is wise to call before driving any distance to see us to make sure we are indeed in.

That being said, we have a bunch of new products out for sale. Primary Elements pigment sets, Silks Acrylic translucent glazes and Pure Mica Minerals with separate ColourArte Medium to mix with the pigments. Ellen has started experimenting with these products and I think you will be excited by the results. We also have seven or eight sets of PanPastels to choose from.

If you haven’t been in to see the retrospective collection in a while, you need to schedule a visit. We have quite a few new pieces. In addition to adding one of her fabulous “shards” necklaces to the collection, Libby Mills brought us a few pieces of Judy Dunn’s work, and a wonderful fish by Dawn Stubitsch that she won at a retreat auction. Mari O’Dell donated an Japanese themed “billet-doux”. Lindly made us two mounted Quilt Squares, a pin from her Sagacious Shale series and an incredible translucent petal necklace.

Cynthia Tinapple is coming next week to teach us the “Secrets of Inlay”. In addition to being the well- known blogger of Polymer Clay Daily, she has been inlaying polymer into wood for years. We have one of her large bowls in the collection, and her home is sprinkled with wonderful caned inlays. Don’t stand still too close to Cynthia or you might end up with a cane slice on your forehead!

We will be closed the last week of October to attend the Kentucky/Tennessee Guilds’ retreat at the Falls of Rough Dam State Park. Ron Lehocky with a few helpers puts on the retreat annually, and his new venue is even better than Mammoth Cave where it used to be held.

Finally, our last class of the year will be November 11-13, 2016. We are hosting Leslie Blackford for three days of fun making a “Winter Woodland Bracelet” and nightlights or lamps. She always has lots of great ideas and sculpting help. This class always amazes me. Everyone always claims they don’t do sculpting, everyone always leaves with a fantastic night light. There is some magic in the air!

 Don't forget to watch the "Upcoming Classes" page for classes coming up next year. If you see something that intrigues you, don't hesitate. Classes are small and fill up quickly.

Next...

We’ve had a wonderful week with Julie Picarello. She taught two wonderful sessions at CJS and is now winging her way back to California to her “day job” as a computer circuit board creator. Julie is such a good teacher and she shared all her techniques, from her style of mokume and ‘lizard tails’ to button blossoms and lunar beads. Our heads are spinning with all our new found knowledge and all I want to do is get back in the studio. Too bad I’ve got to straighten up and get set for Ellen’s two upcoming mokume survey classes. 
Then we have Lindly Haunani, our favorite color-meister, coming for a color class with a twist. We will be making skinner blended “fabric” to make quilt squares for wall hangings. It’s all about getting a palette that sings to you, so your work will make you happy, whether in wall hangings or jewelry. After all, it all starts with color.

 

There are more pictures with the description on the "Upcoming Classes" page. This class is a great confidence builder if you always struggle with your color choices. 

You will also see the new class description for Cynthia Tinapple's Inlaying Polymer (in anything that will hold still). There are also some new dates to put on your calendar for classes coming in the new year. Ellen has been busy lining up some fantastic classes for 2017....Laura Tabakman, Nikolina Otrzan, Jeff Dever, Sarah Shriver, Lindly Haunani...and we will get the descriptions up when it's time to sign up. 

"Hotlanta"....

I think this week "Hotlanta" is living up to its name. We got through the rain at the start of Meisha's class without a lot of fuss, had a couple pretty days and now all h... is breaking loose. Luckily we have air-conditioning and we can stay cool while we bake our polymer creations! We had a great class with Meisha Barbee and one of the nice benefits of her visit was a restock of her display in the gallery. 

We also got a box of goodies from Kim Korringa for the gallery, and brought back new batches of work from Jeanette Kandray, Laurie Prophater, Libby Mills, Alison Gallant, Diane McNamee and Ron Lehocky from our retreat up in Virginia. We added some new pieces to the Collection, thanks to the auction at the retreat. So many reasons for a visit….

Our next class is with Melanie Muir. She’ll be here June 10^th for three days of mokume fun. It’s a technique driven class with her shards necklace as a goal. She will be talking about design and construction as well. It will be interesting to get a European point of view.

In July, Julie Picarello comes to Creative Journey to share her take on mokume. There seems to be a trend here! We’ll have a full weekend of “lazy rivers”, button blossoms and lunar beads.

Finally, in August, Ellen Prophater is doing two weekends of mokume madness. There are only five spots in each class, so there is space to spread out your veneer samples. One of the highlights of the weekend will be creating your own pattern tools to impress your mokume stacks. 

Finally, we’ll end the summer with a labor day celebration of color with Lindly Haunani. Lindly has been quilting up a storm and decided to translate her color studies to polymer quilt squares. How fun to decorate your home with “quilted” wallhangings! This might be a quilt I could finish! Call soon to sign up for your annual color fix! Don’t procrastinate and be sad because the class fills without you. Remember that our classes are small and intimate, but that means they fill quickly. Sadly, we can’t  squeeze you in. Sometimes the teachers will allow us to offer a second session  and we make a waiting list to see if that works out.

Feels like Summer....

The weather in Atlanta is incredible at the moment. We had a fabulous week with Bettina Welker. She definitely had heads spinning, and I think everyone will be playing in their studios with all their new found knowledge. She was in Dallas for the weekend and then headed back to Germany. It was a wonderful visit---not only a well-planned class, but fun meals, a few trips to Collet’s and a little German practice (hence my new name –“Liebe Susi”). We had a lot of our old friends in attendance…from New York, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama and Kentucky, as well as a few semi-locals. We had the fun of adding three new ladies to our CJS family….from Illinois, Massachusetts and South Carolina. Three brought their spouses with them and one, her mom, for a little mini vacation – what a great idea!

We had a bunch of new products to tempt everyone. I think Oyumaru, the Japanese molding material, was a big hit, especially after Bettina showed a few cool tricks with it. We all discovered Genesis Paints. I’ve restocked on Swellegant after that part of the class emptied the shelves. The KorTools were a hit and I’ll be restocking those this next week. Everyone enjoyed using the clay donated by Staedtler Canada (Thanks, Gail!) and many headed home with bulging bags of Fimo.

We are gearing up for Meisha Barbee’s class. Be sure to check the upcoming class page for the full description of Meisha’s, Melanie Muir’s and Julie Picarello’s classes. Don’t procrastinate and get disappointed when the class is full. That happens! Meisha is going to working in a more subdued, classy palette and has some new tricks for creating textures.

Has Spring sprung?

It's almost spring (Boy, are we ready!) and we are having beautiful weather that is inspiring us to restock and straighten, clean up piles of junk, finish up old projects and get ready for another year of classes and fun. We just hosted the GAPCG(Atlanta guild) for their Shop Hop. They had lunch at Aqua Terra and then spent the afternoon with us. Ellen demoed a bunch of wonderful products we carry in the store and had the ladies' heads spinning. Make yourself a promise to come for a visit and get the grand tour!

Be sure to look at the upcoming classes page for the latest class news. If you see something you like, don't hesitate until there is no space. Give me a call and get your name on the list before the class fills. Your check or charge holds your spot so you won't be disappointed. We have students from all over the country flying in to attend, and we only have ten spots, unless we are able to schedule a second session, so heed the warning...."she who hesitates, is lost!".
Bettina Welker's class is coming up....actually two sessions in April. Both are full but I am taking a waiting list. Next up is Meisha Barbee, who has come up with a fresh new look to expand your polymer knowledge.

We have a nice display of Meisha's work in the gallery if you are not familiar with her wonderful pendants and earrings. I know once you have seen her work, you will want to take her class. (more pictures on the "upcoming class" page).
In June, we are very excited to have Melanie Muir coming in for two sessions. She is expanding on her Shards Necklace class with a personal design clinic to help you with your own design decisions and construction problems thrown in, along with her special mokume gane variations.

Next, in July, we have a visit with Julie Picarello. Julie was one of our first instructors, way back when!, so we are very excited to offer her amazing expertise.

August will see Ellen Prophater (with twisted arm!) offering two weekend sessions of her small (limited to 5 students) class on Mokume Gane variations. Ellen likes the class to have room to spread out and to get lots of attention. She has a lot to share and the classes will be jam-packed!
Lindly is busy developing a new class for us and will be down in September to help us celebrate our birthdays and teach an exciting class. We'll post a description as soon as it is available.