Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Do you find yourself drawn to thrift shops, second hand stores, recycle shops, antique shops and estate sales?   No matter how I try to avoid them, an invisible magnate pulls.   Why do I try to avoid them?   Well, there are so many possibilities for all the things I see.   And I tend to keep things until I’m inspired to use them.   That means there are boxes under beds, in closets, and stacked in corners waiting …waiting … waiting!   One of my goals for this next year is to make a glorious piece of jewelry once a month that uses one of the treasures I’ve found; something that creates a story and connects the now with the past.   Being in a new town, Prescott, with so many intriguing places to explore is similar to being in Wonderland.   Looking in, around and under the items encourages me to make up stories about who made something, what the owners lives were like, and inspires me to combine the old with the new.   I’m sharing a few of the pieces I’ve made and will share more in the fu

Who isn’t drawn to fall leaves?   Colors changing, shapes drying, and there is a certain fragrance in the air.   As a kid, I remember jumping into a huge pile of leaves enjoying that crunching sound they made.   So when I walked along our sidewalk and looked right at a group of dried leaves hanging on the tree, I had to pick them.   They were perfectly grouped and hung together gracefully.   What a lovely necklace they would make! The stages of a leaf Studying the leaves, I noticed the variation in sizes and the variation in twists and turns.   I noticed the way they were attached to the center stem.   They sat on my desk for a couple of weeks and I would pick them up and look carefully at them trying to decide the best way to create them in copper.   Finally I made patterns of 3 sizes of leaves.   I cut them out of a copper sheet. Then I experimented with annealing (running the copper through a torch flame until the metal was cherry red and cooling them in water) and I loved the re

I’m getting ready to participate in my first Holiday Sale!   Our homeowner’s association is having a one day holiday sale (September 17).   I will have a table to display my creations of jewelry, silk flowers and blank cards with my photos.   And I’m wondering how to present these items to the best advantage.   Displaying my products in a way that attracts buyers has me thinking about the art of presentation. How things look and are presented can mean success or not!   I remember my mother telling me that it was very important to set a pretty table.   If the presentation for the food was inviting, the food and the conversation would be better.   If it looked like dinner was planned, Dad would not mind waiting for it!   So now, even with pizza, I set the table with candlelight and napkins.   A Ladies Afternoon Tea Such fun to make this presentation and then eat it!! When I taught, I wanted my students to listen.   Junior high and high school students are a tough crowd and the prese

Photographs!   I have a computer full of photographs I’ve taken and I bet a lot you do too!   While I love to look at them and remember the events, emotions and friends, I want to do more with them.   Since I make jewelry, I’ve been experimenting with ideas.   That’s what I do- experiment with ideas and then turn them into wearable art – jewelry. So as I went through my photos one day, I saw that I had a lot of animals.   Especially animals from Africa (what a surprise since I only brought home hundreds of photos from Africa!) and I decided to make a silver bracelet with a cat family.   I had great photos of a cub, a lion and a lioness.   I experimented with photo sizes and charm sizes and eventually figured out I could use 3 charms on a bracelet and have room for tiny beads.   And then I realized that this bracelet had endless possibilities. It could have photos of birds for a birder.   It could be a friendship bracelet.   It might be a reminder of a trip.   Mothers and grandmothers m