Inspired by Nature Retreat 2018

This is the third year that I've attended Heather Powers' amazing fall retreat in South Haven, Michigan... the Inspired by Nature Retreat!  As always, it was a fabulous weekend of friends, creativity, laughter, and fun at the lovely Riverbend Retreat Resort.

Me with my fabulous road trip buddy Anna!

Once again, my friend Anna Pierson and I drove to Chicagoland where the fabulous Monica Peña of Mariposa Originals Jewelry, otherwise known as the hostess with the most-est, invited some of us to stop over for a sleepover at her place the night before the retreat started (as well as on the way home for Anna and myself!)  This year, Erin Prias-Hintz joined the party and Lin Stanke was back too.  We had to get an obligatory selfie before starting our little Chicago to Michigan convoy!

Our little band of naughty monkeys before we hit the road!

Here are some pictures of our weekend home away from home and the lovely fall foliage along the river.  The first picture is the cabin that Anna I and I were bunking in... the smallest of the three buildings at the resort.

Day one was all about salt water etching.  A super fun and non toxic way to etch metals... especially copper and brass.  Heather taught us how to use an image transfer process to apply an image to the copper for etching... I also brought my collection of rubber stamps to play with and share.  I had mixed results with the image transfers... since I think we figured out why some of us had troubles I'll likely give it another shot at home sometime.  Our etched metal would eventually become part of our jewelry projects on Sunday.

Anna's etching set up before we got started; my finished etched pieces, and my "used" salt water solution in the jar that Eric oh-so-helpfully labeled for me!

A retreat tradition is going to Taste in downtown South Haven for a big group dinner.  It's always a fun time to reconnect with beady buddies and get to know new friends.  Here are few shots from around our end of the table!  Miranda and Beth win for most "vibrant" cocktails.

Day two started out with some polymer clay fun... cane making to be more precise.  The inspiration for the technique Heather taught us was fossilized coral or agate.  I feel bad that I didn't do a great job of documenting the process, but I was just too wrapped up in trying to do it right.  Heather is seriously the queen of making polymer clay canes... she makes the process look so amazingly easy, and it so is not!  I did manage to snap one photo of my in progress beads... just not my actual cane.  The bottom blobby thing is a bead that I had applied slices of my cane onto but had not yet smoothed out; the middle pieces are a couple of my beads ready to go into the oven; the top mess is a mix of cane end cast offs and a little pile of my core color for my beads.  While I'm not convinced that I'm going to run out and try this cane again super-soon, I'm extremely happy with how my beads turned out.  The translucent clay is pretty much magic in this application.

The afternoon focused on Heather's amazing faux tin process.  It's a proprietary technique that she's asked us not to share, so no process photos for this.  We used some great Audubon illustrations this year.  Swoon!  Seriously, if you ever get a chance to take this class with her, DO IT!!  You won't be sorry.

Day three was focused on making some finished jewelry and/or components to play with at a later time.  I usually crap out when it comes to cutting and filing my metal pieces... this year I did pretty darn good!  I wasn't feeling in the mood to work with steel wire (plus I didn't bring my heavy duty cutters) so I skipped making a bunch more links like the one on the far left below.  I have the supplies and the jig at home so I can always revisit that later.

The last two years, retreat participants have made charms to give to each other person there.  So, each person comes with 24 of their own charms and leaves with 24 charms... one from each person there.  The necklace on the left was made with three of my precious little charms including the most adorable tiny journal made by Sarah Raines.

My finished pieces as well as the components I have ready to become jewelry.

Here are a few more photos from the weekend... mostly grabbed from other folks because I forget to get pics!

Our very own double trouble twins Rosanne and Beverly "guarding" the goody bags; our table of bead making maniacs; best buds Erin and Heather; silly Monica doing her best vampire impression... good times!!

Another wonderful retreat in the books with this fabulous group!

After lunch and our group photo, it was time to say goodbye and start the journey home.  Monica, Anna, and I weren't in a crazy rush so we stopped by a couple of Monica's favorite antique stores before leaving South Haven... and boy, am I glad we did!  I found a fabulous addition to my basement studio space... an antique dental cabinet!!  I found a label on the bottom that dates this piece to 1913.  So cool!

Monica and Anna were fabulous enablers... as was my super supportive husband (who may just be interested because he wants to put his painted game miniatures in the glass fronted cabinets!).  With some creative re-packing and some help from the vendors "muscle" we got this guy into Monica's vehicle for the ride back to the Chicago suburbs.  Thank goodness we weren't in my car... there's no way we could have fit all three of in there!  I've now got the cabinet in place in its new home and am almost done cleaning out all the drawers.  I can't wait to rearrange my studio storage to better suit my needs! 

I know my little write up doesn't begin to do this retreat full justice.  I mostly post things like this as a reminder to myself... a sort of online diary I guess.  I hope that you've enjoyed this little peek into one of my favorite events of the year.  Much of what makes is special just can't be captured in words... it's the laughs, the one on one conversations, the feeling of the place.  May you go out there and be Inspired by Nature too!

Inspired by Nature Retreat 2017

I meant to write this up sooner, but I feel like I've been running nonstop since I got back from this amazing three day retreat with Heather Powers in South Haven, Michigan earlier this month.  I still wanted to do a little mini wrap up of my weekend reconnecting with my beady friends, learning new things, and just generally getting inspired!

If you haven't heard of the Inspired by Nature Retreat, it's the brain child (love child??) of Heather Powers of Humblebeads.  This was the 7th year of this event that is held in Heather's home town each October and my second year attending.  The last couple of years the whole event has been held at the Riverbend Retreat Resort set on a large piece of property along the Black River.  It's the perfect place to get back in touch with nature and your creativity!

After having some travel glitches last year, I decided to drive to South Haven this year.  Luckily for me, a fellow jewelry maker who lives on the East side of the Twin Cities was interested in road tripping with me!  A long drive is always more fun when you aren't alone!  Anyways, I picked up Anna Pierson of SagaHus and we set out on our adventure.  The first leg of our journey took us as far as the Chicago suburbs where we met up with two other retreat goers for a beady slumber party at Monica Pena's house before making the rest of the journey on Friday morning.  Having our priorities in order, Anna and I did stop for a wine tasting along the way to South Haven!

Day one of the retreat started out with getting settled in, getting our goody bags, and doing our charm exchange (so great to see what everyone came up with!).  Our first project started with making some fun polymer clay molds that we would then use to make polymer clay beads later in the day.  While I found the process fun and interesting, my results were mixed.  I learned some things that I think will make any future attempts go smoother, but mostly it's about practice.  Heather's beads are always so perfectly shaped and even.  Mine turned out a bit more on the lumpy gravy side!  

The top picture shows some of my molds.  The bottom are beads before painting.

We didn't completely finish with this project before it was time for our early dinner reservation in town at Taste... painting would just have to wait!  After dinner it was still a little light out and the weather was mild so we took a little stroll down to the pier and lighthouse.  It was lovely and a little magical to see the sunset over Lake Michigan!  After dinner and our stroll, we kept working on our polymer clay beads.  Some of us actually got painting done, but not this girl.  I work a bit too slowly!

Most of the group after dinner!

What a view!  I'm so glad that we took that walk.

After a good night's sleep and a filling breakfast, we were all ready to begin our next big project on Saturday.  Today was the day for the star of the show... Heather's amazing faux tin process!!  For obvious reasons, I can't share the magic of the process, but I did want to show you a few pics from the day.  One thing that I can attest to, is that having a good file made all the difference working on these components.  I have always hated filing... like, hated with a purple passion!  I can't honestly say that it's my favorite thing, but at least I'm now able to file metal edges smooth without wanting to bang my head agains the way!  No more spending stupid amounts of time filing metal only to to find that I've somehow managed to make it sharper!  (Seriously, don't ask me how, but this was apparently my super power in the past.)  Anyway... pictures!!

Are you good with puzzles?  Making the most of the space I had on my copper sheet!

My bracelet bars:  These are the only pieces that I got completely done... filed and sealed.  

We had a decent amount of down time during the faux tin process, so I finally got back to painting my beads from day one.  I didn't finish the process, going back to sand and add more paint is still on my post-retreat to do list.  You may sense a theme here...

These still need sanding and maybe some metallic accents!

Dinner was pizza and salad at the cabin.  We all hung out chatting and continuing to work fairly late into the night.  Several of my cabin mates toddled back to our little cabin for night caps of wine and cappuccino (not at the same time!).  

Sunday funday and we still had more to learn and make before heading home!  First up, Heather taught us how to do some cool braiding with leather and a lucet (i.e. an amazing fork that Jesse, aka Mr. Humblebeads, made for each of us to keep).  Getting this braid started was tricky for this girl who has never known how/been able to braid anything ever!  I'm so glad that I stuck with it through the awkward first stages because the end result is amazing.  I had some issues finishing the braided ends and Heather had to help me.  If I can't figure out how to do it all pretty on my own, I do have a back up plan that involves bead caps.  Stay tuned... I'm going to try it again very soon!   

The beginning stages of my braid on my trusty new lucet fork!

Forks up!  All hail Mr. Humblebeads!!

I'm really very proud of the finished bracelet... and not just because it's the only thing I actually finished at the retreat!  In all seriousness, for me it's not about how many finished pieces I leave with, but about what I learned.  By that standard, this year's Inspired by Nature Retreat was a huge success!  Anyway, back to the bracelet... other than Heather's disk bead and the jump rings, this piece is totally hand made by this girl right here.  This is the first time I've managed to make a toggle bar that I'm completely happy with... and I think I've learned the secret to making more in the future.  

The finished product!

Running behind a little bit, we ended up having lunch and then doing one last quick project before hitting the road.  Heather taught us how to use the Now That's a Jig system to make a really cool focal for a charm necklace.  We all had 20 brand new charms to choose from to decorate the pendant so the hard part was deciding which ones to use since they were all so fun and fabulous!  I'm excited to say that I went home with one of the scratch n' dent jigs that we were using for class so I'm eager to play some more with my new toy.

Full disclosure: I finished this at home after the retreat.

One last item before we all finished loading our cars and headed out... the group photo.  It was cold, windy, and a little rainy so we all huddled (for warmth and to fit!) on the porch while Jesse snapped the picture.  What a fun group of ladies (and one lad) to spend the weekend creating and laughing with!  Thanks to all (especially Heather and Jesse!!) for another wonderful event!

End of retreat group photo:  Can you tell it was a tiny bit windy??

Not wanting to lose momentum after I got back home, I sat down to finish filing and sealing the faux tin earring charms that I had started at the retreat and get the earrings all finished up.  I love how these little cuties all look.  The last pair is a keeper for me since I discovered that they were a great match for a newer top in my closet.  Now I have to get brave and decide what I'm doing with some of the larger "tin" pieces that came home with me.  Hopefully you'll see some necklaces and other goodies from me before too long.  

My keepers.

It's not done yet, but I had a third piece from one of the patterns and I know what I'm going to do with it.  My plan is to rivet the smaller faux tin piece to some of the etched metal that I did at Bead & Button.  Here's a sneak peek:

Thanks for stopping by and following along with my Inspired by Nature Retreat exploits!!  If you have the chance to take a class with or attend a retreat with Heather, you should totally make it happen... you won't regret it. 

Inspired by Nature Retreat

I have been dreaming of attending Heather Powers' Inspired by Nature Retreat for several years.  Events have conspired to keep me from making this particular beady pilgrimage, but this year I finally made it happen!  Heather hosts this awesome weekend retreat in her hometown of South Haven, Michigan each fall and I feel like each year's classes and projects top the last!  (At least that's how it looks from what I've seen online!)  I'm going to apologize right now that this post is going to be a little on the long side, but there's so much to share...

My weekend adventure started out a little bumpy with a delayed flight to Chicago due to having to change aircraft.  Why do these things never seem to happen when you aren't on a tight timeline?  Or is it just me??  Luckily, I was still able to get to the Windy City in time to meet up with some of my fellow jewelry makers and bead addicts... Loralee Kolton and Martha Scott.  Even though we've only met in person once at Bead & Button, these awesome ladies were willing to let me in on their road trip fun!  They scooped me up from O'Hare and we hit the road to South Haven... getting to the retreat just in time for class to start.  Whew!   

Loralee, Martha, and myself ready to hit the road!

If you don't already know, Heather is an absolute magician with polymer clay.  Not familiar with her work?  You must check out her website, Humblebeads, and see all of her gorgeous beads... you'll be drooling in no time!  Anyway, as I was saying, Heather does amazing things with polymer clay but also has such creativity with how she works with metal and combines different elements for one of a kind jewelry... and the wonderful thing is that she's willing to share this wealth of knowledge with her students at her various workshops and retreats.  (Seriously, if you ever have a chance to take a class from Heather just do it!!)

So, true story: I am a total newbie when it comes to making anything with polymer clay.  While I was excited to learn more about this medium and get to play with new techniques, I was also a little nervous.  I shouldn't have worried since Heather is such a great and patient teacher... and I had a group of supportive ladies at my table too!  But you be the judge of how this beginner did as I show you what I made over the course of the weekend.

Friday afternoon was all about making our own molds using leaves and other forest treasures that we found around the grounds.  Some of mine were more successful than others, but I can totally see myself using the molding putty to make some more molds with some Minnesotan foliage and such.  I've got my eyes on you tiny pine cones!  After our molds set, we made buttons and pendants using a lovely bronze metallic polymer clay.  Some I added color to using Swellegant patinas and dyes and some I left plain... for now.  I'd like to play with some other ways of adding color!  

Left: my molds and first couple of pieces; Right: My finished products... the bronze one used one of Loralee's molds.

Saturday was a marathon day of multiple polymer clay techniques and metal work that ended with us finishing our lovely "Woodland Treasures" pendants on simple chain.  This finished piece of jewelry incorporated one each of the three types of "faux stone" beads and pendants we made during the first part of class with our own versions of marbled polymer clay.  This was my favorite part of playing with the polymer I think... I loved being able to mix my own color palette and am itching to combine the colors in different proportions next time!  We cut, hammered, and filed (and filed, and filed!) our copper house shapes to make the backing of our pendants and then used Heather's enchanting metal sketches technique to make the backside a work of art too.  I hang my head in shame to admit this, but while I was hammering my designs into the back of my pendant I had moments of questioning how good the final product would look.  I should know better than to doubt Heather by now!  After dipping the copper into liver of sulphur, our pieces were transformed.  I couldn't be happier with how my pendant turned out!

Day Two's finished necklace... handmade except for the glass and findings!  I even made the tassel!

Sunday morning we had one last project to learn before lunch and hitting the road back home.  We had a fun time making a trio of adjustable bracelets using copper wire and just a few simple tools.  I had a little trouble shaping my bracelets, but I think that with a little practice, these would be super fun and fairly easy to make.  They are also a perfect use for those orphan beads we all end up with!  I made some substitutions and additions to my charms when I got back home.  I'm not much of a bracelet wearer, but these may have me changing my tune!

My finished bracelet stack

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend.  As you can see it wasn't all bead and jewelry making.  We took time out to share meals together, chat, and drink wine... so much wine!  Many thanks to Loralee and Heather for letting me share some of their photos with you!  Of course no retreat would be complete without goody bags filled with new beady treasures from some of my favorite artists: Heather, Gardanne, and Michelle McCarthy!  Friday night's agenda included a tasty dinner out on the town in South Haven and there was plenty of time throughout the weekend to catch up with old friends (several familiar faces from the Bead Cruise) and get to know new ones.

Goody bags; the whole gang at our group dinner Friday night; me, Beverly, & Loralee; Susan & Heather

On Saturday afternoon many of us took a field trip to the shore of Lake Michigan to look for stones and beach glass.  The day was absolutely beautiful and I was in my happy place looking for rocks and enjoying the sounds of the waves on the beach.  The tide was coming in and I got a little wetter than I had planned, but I'm not sweet enough to melt!  (Plus I wore my Keen sandals for a reason!)  Heather did a rock drilling demo on Sunday... I'm hoping some of the stones I collected will work!

Lake Michigan at Deerlick Creek!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end.  After lunch on Sunday it was time for a group picture and to head home.  I feel so blessed to have been a part of this weekend... it's always wonderful when like minded folks come together to create, share, learn, and just connect with one another.  I've come home from Michigan inspired and re-energized... ready to make pretty things that I hope others will love as much as I do!

A bevy of bracelets!  And the whole group before we had to leave to go back to the real world.

While I was incredibly excited to attend the Inspired by Nature Retreat, learn new things, see old friends and make new ones, I have to admit that I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy polymer clay.  I was pleasantly surprised that I really liked playing with this new medium and can see a lot of possibilities down that road.  I'm looking forward to clearing some time on my schedule to play with different ways to add color to the clay and texture to metal after all the new skills, tips, and tricks I picked up.  Unfortunately, my list of new tools and toys that I want is growing... I'd better start that letter to Santa Claus soon so he has plenty of time to track things down! 

Thanks so much to Heather for hosting such a wonderful event... I can't imagine how much goes into planning and executing such a well run and fun weekend!  And thank you to the other participants (many who have been coming back year after year) for making me feel so welcome.  After reading this (or at least skimming it for the pictures!) are you wishing you had gotten to go too?  Never fear!  Heather is offering an online version of the retreat and you can still sign up for that HERE!  I promise you will learn a ton and have fun doing it!