It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of functional art.  I love art that has a use, that has dimension, that belongs in a home.  While perusing Etsy I came across this divine waterlily tray by Blazer Studios.  The shape, structure and patina are absolutely lovely!

Waterlily Tray, $225 from Blazer Studios

Last weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the Beachcliff Art Walk. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the art walk, since this was the very first one, but all in all it turned out to be a lovely event.  The owners of Studio 22 arranged it, and managed to do an excellent job of running it.   We lucked out that the weather was GORGEOUS, they had an amazing lineup of talent, and a never-ending supply of water bottles.

I did manage to sneak away a couple times throughout the day, and thought I would share some photos of my fellow artists.  John Musarra of ARC-REN, Architectural Renderings

He had some wonderfully detailed work.  I was personally thrilled to see that he had one drawing of Mahall’sBowling Alley in Lakewood, which is such a classic place!

Fellow Cleveland Handmade member SusanK (on the left) along with the lovely designer of Silverbay Designs

Abby Wilson, with her Cement Gardens, which happened to look quite lovely in front of the  Pure Enchantment shop.

My latest jewelry display.

I’m not sure why my husband didn’t tell me to fix my hair before taking the picture!    I was so happy it wasn’t a windy day!

So last weekend, Jamie did his first Summer Residency visit at WRUW 91.1 for the Ravers Edge Show.  Of course we had to fly there right after the artwalk at Beachcliff (more on that in a later post)  Throughout the summer Adam (DJ AxelFiel)  is hosting four different DJs with four different styles, to give a sort of musical education.  Jamie of course, has been called on to represent good old techno music. He spent part of his time showing off tunes from the record label “get physical” and the rest doing as he said “whatever the h— I want”

Of course never content to just sit around and listen I bopped around the studio taking pictures of things.  (Jamie, as you can imagine was not happy with that) The result however is that you get to take a peek into the studio.

All of the sets this summer are being recorded so you can listen to them on podcast.  (Jamies was June 27, 2009) Just click on the “view playlists” link for the date you want at The Ravers Edge.

Jamie Tyler, Djing, Doesn’t he look happy to have me take his photo?

Discussing record selections

Just because, well, it WAS the Ravers Edge Show.

Adam, On Air

Left to Right:  Myself and Laura

So today I spent part of the day creating and photographing jewelry to add to my wedding collection in my shop.  I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile, but somehow I always stick to more one of a kind pieces.  Each of the following items is available for individual sale for ANY special occasion, but I’m also now set up, willing and able to do entire gift sets for bridal parties and custom designs and color arrangements as well.

Champagne Toast Pearl Bracelet, $20.00

Champagne Toast Earrings, $10.00

Radiance Necklace, $34.00

It’s time for a new Cleveland Handmade  giveaway.  (Are you beginning to realze this is a regular monthly thing to check out!)

This month Cleveland Handmade is giving you the chance to win a sodalite necklace generously donated by Cleveland Handmade member Simple Elements Design. A sodalite nugget has been wrapped in hammered sterling silver wire and attached to a delicate sterling silver chain (16 inches with 2 inch sterling extender) that has freshwater pearls at the back attached to the clasp and chain.Be sure to check out Cleveland Handmade for all the details and your chance to win!

So at the beginning of Spring my husband and I bought a new rose bush for our front garden.  Mind you, we did this knowing full well that deer love to run all around our property.  Somehow I think I thought the semi-deer-resistant lilies might hide the roses, or the fact that the roses were in the front yard near the street might be a deterrant.  Yeah, right.

We had five roses ready to bloom.  Then just as they were about to bloom—-chomp! chomp! chomp!  (This should not have come as a surprise to us)

Needless to say, we’re not big on chemical deterrants, and prefer humane deterrants.  I really don’t mind if the deer eat half our yard, but I wanted just one sweet, gorgeous plant to myself.

My husband went ahead and ordered what is known as The Scarecrow, which is actually a heat and motion activate sprinkler.  If it senses an animal nearby it goes off with a loud whoosh of sound and sprays about 2-3 cups of water.   What we discovered is that not only does this keep animals away from the garden, but it gives it a nice watering every now and then too.  Since then the deer only managed to chomp one bloom, and then I think they learned their lesson.

Here’s my lovely roses now!

SATURDAY JUNE 27, 2009 1-8PM

The Beachcliff Art Walk is a one day event to promote Ohio’s finest Artists and to show those in our wonderful community what we have to offer as shopping center. Please join us for this fun filledday of artists, live music, and shopping.Exhibiting artists will feature paintings, jewelry,ceramics, illustrations, photography, fabric art, etchings, cartoons and more.

I’ll be participating in this event along with :

Live music provided by:
David McLaughlin – Singer-Songwriter
Tommy Lanigan – Styling of Dean Martin
Mobius – Jazz
Allison Bencar – Singer-Songwriter

Featured artists:
1. Judy Maruszan: Photography
2. Bob Soltys: Traditional Photography
3. John Musarr: Pen/ink Remedies of Homes
4. Kimberly Engel: Pet Silhouettes
5. Virginia Cirino: Paintings and Photography
6. TBA
7. Lakewood Artist League: Various Artists
8. Sylivia Masek: Illustrations
9. TBA
10. Lauren Sammon: Photography
11. Valerie Tyler: Jewelry (That’s me!)
12. Pat Joyce: graphics & oils
13. Amanda Lee Deer: Painting
14. JBeads Jewelry Design
Susan K Jewelry
Siverbay Designs

The lovely Nicole, of Lillyella was kind enough to feature me as her Spotlight artist this week.  If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about what inspires this “art addict”  you can find out juicy tidbits such as the coolest place I have ever been to my favorite accessory (and believe it or not there is something I like even more than jewelry!)

One of the best parts of the spotlight though is I am giving away a FREE pair of my earrings to one lucky winner, and the winner even gets to choose the earrings.  I’m offering special goodies with purchases as well so visit Lillyella to read all the details and enter to win.

These are just one example of the contemporary earrings you could possibly choose!

While you are there be sure to check out the rest of her lovely blog which happens to be one of my favorite reads and then go visit her lovely jewelry shop as well!

Every now and then I’ll see who is checking out my shop on Etsy, and in doing so I actually discovered Kenny Coop, a couple from Akron, Ohio that actually has their own Etsy shop. Upon checking out their shop I instantly knew I had to feature them when I saw their tagline “Living Vegan Selling Vegan”

Kenny Coop sells 100% pure soy candles with cool names like “frog”, “loon”, “buffalo” and “koala”. These candles have no animal products and certainly are not tested on animals either.  They also have lead free cotton wicks so you can breathe easy.