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

The weather is cooling off and the bird activity is heating up!   More birds are coming to the feeder and luckily we have black sunflower seeds ready!   I want to share today’s birds with you.   Two Mountain Chickadees came to visit today and since we have not seen them for quite a while, I was excited!    They have white eyebrows which differentiates them from other chickadees.   I love to look for those field marks and they are very handsome!   Remember, the details make the difference!   These birds are tiny and flit through the high branches of our pine trees looking for seeds from cones.   They often hang upside down to gather insects and seeds – very acrobatic!   This winter they may also eat suet and peanut butter so I’m getting ready.   It is very funny to watch them shell a sunflower seed.   They usually hold it between their feet and hammer it apart with their beak!   Not to be outdone, the White Breasted Nuthatch also visited.   Talk about handsome with the sun hitting his w

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 miss my Bobcats!   After living in Tucson AZ for 25 years, Bobcats were just part of my yard.   A wash (slightly depressed path where water ran when it rained very hard) ran behind my house with no fencing and was a corridor for a lot of wildlife.   On hot summer days just after I watered down the flagstone patio, a mother Bobcat would bring her cubs and cool off.   Somedays, she would come to drink from the small pools in the stone and stretch out by the back steps.   I loved watching from inside my enclosed Arizona room while I created jewelry.   These are wild animals that seldom bother humans and in Arizona we’ve learned to coexist!       Bobcats are found at all elevations, especially in rimrock and chaparral areas, and in the outskirts of urban areas where food is generally available.   My house was in the Catalina foothills and a perfect place for them to visit.          They can jump 12 ft. high and are often heard walking on the flat rooftops of the houses or curled

When something piques my interest, I seem to dive right in.   What? Me try to do just one and see if I like it?   Oh not me! Exploring in depth is more my style.   I love vintage hats, hatpins, perfume bottles and ribbon flowers.   My mother-in-law gave me some very old family heirlooms – tiny ribbon flowers.   I treasure them.   So when my friend, Jay, asked me to go to a class with her and learn to make ribbon flowers, I just had to do it.   Jay is an accessorizer extraordinaire - http://www.plant-effects.com .     The class was held at http://www.askrenandsons.com a floral warehouse business in Tucson and I came home with lots of gorgeous silk wired ribbon.   I had such a good time with Kathy Askren (instructor) that I bought several books and kept learning different techniques.   After several months, I also had lots of flowers!   They were used on beautiful packages as part of the ribbons and worn on dresses and coats.   They went on hats and in hair and I made a spectacular flo

Hummingbirds are the tiniest of birds and one of the most fascinating species.   Everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve been able to watch these birds at feeders, hover in the air, get the nectar from bell shaped flowers and flash their colors in the sun.   I love to capture their image in my jewelry and I just found out that they sing with their tail feathers! http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles/211694/20110910/hummingbird-sing-feather-flutter-sound-male.htm   We have seen several Rufous hummingbirds on their migration flight this summer.   Currently an Anna’s hummingbird has staked out his territory at our feeder.   He buzzes any other hummer who even thinks about getting a drink! Peter and I went to Ecuador a couple of years ago and being avid birders we looked for hummingbirds.   I had no idea how many different ones exist.   There are over 300 different species and Ecuador has the most!     The variety of details in their feathers, shapes and colors can be overwhelming.    We were standing o

There are so many amazing things in nature that we seldom really pay attention to and I’ve decided to highlight one each Tuesday.   Please let me know if you enjoy this kind of post!   While going through my photographs today, I stopped at my folder of dragonflies and damselflies.   They fascinate me with their fast wings that are so sheer.   There are so many kinds and so many colors.   And even though the general shape is the same, there are many differences.   Dragonflies have multi-faceted eyes and two sets of wings with an elongated body.   They hold their wings away from and perpendicular to their bodies when they are resting. Damselflies (doesn’t that remind you of fairy tales?) hold their wings close to their bodies when at rest and they are generally smaller than dragonflies.   Another difference is in the eyes.   The damselfly eyes are set apart and the dragonfly eyes touch.   Who would have thought you had to look that closely to see the difference?  Gray Sanddragon 

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