Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

What is the story this elf is writing? Storytelling has always fascinated me and I’ve attempted to tell stories throughout my life in various ways.  As a child, I listened to stories told by my parents and my grandparents.  I listened to stories told by their friends and I learned much about my family, my culture and formed my dreams. Many years ago (30+), my niece was just the right age to have one of my dolls.  As I did not want to just give her the doll, I created a story for that doll with doll clothes for different activities.  She could take those props and make her own stories. As a photographer I try to catch an image that makes you wonder or want to know more! Why is this American Kestrel hovering? As an interior designer, I had many shelves and pot ledges (high shelves popular in the southwest homes) to create.  I created stories that reflected the interests of my clients in an artistic manner. As I created the props or visual cues for the stories,

What have I been doing this week?  Setting some of the Mojave Stones that my dad cut and polished into my silver metal clay settings  I’m really happy with these two pieces!  I’ve also read an e-book that just might be of interest especially if you have an etsy shop or a website store.  When I received an email from Hunting Handmade asking if I would like to review the new ebook, ‘The Art of Audience Building for Etsy Sellers’, I said ‘YES, please!’  I’m always looking for ways to improve my two Etsy shops and I’m always interested in new ideas.  The book was written for Etsy sellers but after reading it, anyone with a business on the internet will find it interesting and  useful.  I also enjoyed their website and thought you might also:     http://www.huntinghandmade.com/ If you have shopped on the Etsy site, you know that there are thousands of shops represented.  It is so easy to get lost looking for something or selling something.  There is so much so see on the

 This is my JoolTool.  I first saw it demonstrated at "Metal Clay by the Bay" and thought about buying it for a day.  I bought it with the metal clay kit and was delighted with both the time saving and the finished product.  Then several months later I bought the polymer clay package.  I was equally happy with the time saving and the end product. For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it has a variety of sanding and polishing discs that easily screw on the vertical spike.  The discs have slots evenly spaced and when they turn you can see what you are working on.  Less mistakes and less time spent sanding and polishing. Last February I went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  Since I had been to Australia I wanted to find some black opal from there.  The finished pieces proved too expensive for my budget.  Fortunately a friend and I found a booth with rough unfinished Black Opal.  I decided to buy some (having no idea how to select the better quality

Front of Pendant or Back of  Failed Pendant Described Below This is a story about my trials, frustrations and successes of making a pendant from Goldie Bronze metal clay and setting a stone in bronze bezel wire. Many of you won’t be interested in the details here but I’m hoping it gives you an idea of all the stages and work that goes into making a piece.  Last weekend I decided to make a pendant, finish it and then solder a bezel for the stone.  I practiced wrapping the bezel wire around the stone, cutting the edge straight and soldering the edges together.  Then I practiced soldering a bezel on a piece of sheet metal with my acetylene torch.  It melted the bezel.  I changed to a butane torch and that worked.  I tried to solder the bezel to the finished bronze pendant with bronze solder and melted the bezel.   Next I moved to silver solder and that did not work either.  It was time to go to FaceBook and ask my jewelry buddies for help!  I finally decided (right or wro

It seems that man has always wanted to express himself with drawings.   Early man often used stones to peck on rocks as well as paint to leave his messages.   He recorded ceremonies, hunts, dreams, maps, animals and daily life.   Just to clarify the terms: ‘pictograph’ is anything depicted on a stone surface – carved, pecked or painted. ‘Petroglyph’ is the technical word for anything carved or pecked.   I’ve always been fascinated by pictographs.  And I take photographs of the images whenever I am fortunate to find them. Hopi, Pueblo, Paiute Navajo and Anasazi have left drawings on rocks all over the Southwest.     It is great to live in this area of pictorial wealth!   I just came across William Michael Stokes and William Lee Stokes book “Messages on Stone – Selections of Native Western Rock Art “.   The images are divided into types – Apparel and Adornment, Birds, The Corn Maidens, Design, etc.   Great little book for kids and adults! It is pretty easy to find a real pictograph, matc

Have you ever started a project and all of a sudden you realize your concentration is focused on a part of the project and you aren’t progressing?   You’re just stuck thinking about the same thing over and over?   Well, as most of you know, I make jewelry using silver metal clay.   I like to put the Mojave Stone cabochons that my dad cut and polished in bezels and design around the stone.   Let me share with you how I got stuck in the process.     Bezel shaped to fit a stone  I decided that I would make the bezels (the thin strip that goes around the stone and holds it in place) out of the same silver metal clay as the setting.I made a mold for the stone by pushing it into polymer clay (plastic clay that holds its shape) and carefully removed it.   Then I poured jeweler’s investment (that is a type of plaster) into the mold, let it dry and used it as a plug.   The plug holds the space for the stone and can be fired with the clay in a kiln.   Some stones can be fired in the k