Class photos from Saturday

From Tracy Thommason's Resin Sampler class, some pendants drying on the table...


From the second half of Sarah Tector's Introduction to Wax Carving.

It was a great day!

Steampunk Book Reception...a fun Friday night!

I took a few quick pictures at the start of the Steampunk Style Jewelry book reception and wanted to share them. We had a great time, with yummy sweet treats from L'Espiga and wine from Seaboard Wine which we drank in fancy teacups. For future reference: white wine looks just like very weak tea.

Kathy King article in the paper today

There is a lovely article about the talented Kathy King in the News & Observer today. She is the author of the new beadweaving book, Bead Quilled Jewelry, and a Cary resident. If you haven't seen the book yet, stop by the stores and look at it. Kathy turns the beads sideways and creates designs that use both the beads and the thread in an unconventional and new way. She'll be teaching her technique at Bead & Button this year and we'll have classes at Ornamentea this spring.

You can come meet Kathy at Ornamentea on February 12th. She'll be signing her book and showing off her detailed work. If you'd like to reserve a copy of her book please call the store at 919-834-6260.

Read the entire article here. See more of Kathy's work on her website here.

New Template for you!

We have added a new template for all our bezel and cab settings to the site. It is a PDF so you can download it and print it out on any paper you choose. Click here to get the template and happy cutting!

This was an idea suggested to us by Carolyn C., a crafty customer who just wanted to make her cutting a little easier. We loved the idea so much we had to do it. Thanks, Carolyn!

I am getting ready for the Steampunk Style Jewelry book party tomorrow night at Ornamentea and realized I don't have a thing to wear. Well, okay, I have things to wear but not the perfect thing...I will probably wear a black frock coat-ish coat and a bit of a lacy petticoat if I can remember where it is. If I have time tonight before I head to this lecture and reception at the Gregg I will hit a favorite store and look at their goodies. The whole fashion look right now is more 50s than Victorian so I may have to dream of a sweet, lace-edged dress with just the right belt, or lace up boots.

At least I have the jewelry covered!

Oh, the book party is Friday, February 5th from 6-8 at Ornamentea. We'll have the local designers featured in the book on hand and you can see a lot of their other work, plus many of the book samples AND get your copy signed if you want. See you there!

Felt ball rug how to...lots and lots of felt balls...

We have gotten a few inquiries from folks asking if we make these rugs for Anthropologie. We don't. We do have lots and lots of felt balls, and the rugs are made of thousands of felt balls, sewn to a cotton backing. The balls make for a comfortable and bouncy floor covering. I have to say, I have been tempted even though I have a comfortable and bouncy floor covering already in my home (a ten-year-old, 10x14" Tenango that still makes me swoon, thanks Crispina!)

Lo and behold, we received notice that a favorite customer of ours, the talented Claudia, is making a felt-ball rug of her own. She is making the rug in a mix of browns, blacks and whites that will be so lovely when finished. Claudia shared her process photos with us and I am sharing them with you.

Claudia begins by sewing her felt balls into long strands, mixing up the colors as she goes. I didn't ask her if she has a planned-out 'random' for the strands but I think it would work just fine to make them really, truly random.
After she has the individual strands sewn Claudia sews the strands to one-another. She has tested the rug out, too, although it's more of a runner at this point! She estimates that it will take 7000 felt balls to make the rug she wants. Since my floors are pretty covered I am thinking that some placemats would be really cool, or maybe chair pads? So, what are you making with your Ornamentea crafty ingredients? Send us a message and let us know...

Thank you, Claudia, for sharing your photos with us!

Edited on 7/19/12 to add:
This video shows how to sew them together...just a needle and thread, albeit a strong thread, will do the trick! These coasters are a great intro project, too!
The felt balls are available on our website (see the link above.)