Guess who's on TV?!

Iptv came and did a wonderful segment on the studio fuzzishu make & take workshops at the Iowa State Fair. They featured several of my students and their finished projects. Check it out!



We are nearing the end of fair so if you haven't already come out to make something AWESOME, what are you waiting for?! ;)

Winning!...with fuzzishu

Aaaand we have a winner. Fuzzi-dad chose a # at random and the winner of the blog contest is Lisa. Lisa said she would like to have a name pendant so she can keep her boys close to her heart as she heads back into the working world. Thanks to everyone for participating and keep your eyes peeled for more contests (I'm thinking of something for the Fall....hmmmm ;)


Even if you didn't win, I hope you are able to make it out to the Iowa State Fair and come join me for a workshop. Cheers!

ISF 2011....T-minus 6 days?!

NEW WORKSHOPS AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR

In honor of Studio Fuzzishu's 4th year at the Iowa State Fair we are introducing four new metal jewelry projects that you can make and take home with you the same day. Workshops start every half hour or so, daily 9am to 9pm Aug. 11-21 in the Cultural Center.

New Project No.1 - Mixed Metal Stamped Pendant

New Project No.2 - Mini Mantra Bracelet

Projects 3 & 4 Coming Soon!!!

(hint - they are name tag for your pooch and a yearly charm that can be used for a keychain, charm bracelet, pendant etc.!)

New Project No.3 - Pooch Tags

New Project No.4 - Annual Fuzzishu Charm

And, of course, your favorite project and mine, the one that started them all, the silver ring!

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Dear blog readers, I am going to give you the opportunity to win one of the new workshops for FREE at state fair OR, if you are out of state/country, one of the new projects made by yours truly just for you ;)

To enter to win simply leave a comment below telling me which project you would like to make/have and why.

BUT WAIT, we are giving you more chances to rack up entries. If you follow the fuzzi- blog, share the giveaway on Facebook and Twitter and promote this giveaway on your personal blog you'll receive one extra entry for each act of social media. Just come back here and post a SEPARATE entry for each of your postings or followings. Entries will be accepted until Tue. at 9pm Central time.

Update 8.8.2011 - Thank you for the entries so far! However, please make sure you leave me some way of getting a hold of you if you win. You can email me with your screen name or leave a contact on here. I will post a blog announcing the winner but you don't want to miss your opportunity!

Breakfast at Tiffany's pearls

This is MY color! Love it. Lately I've been working with this lovely shade of pale turquoise / robin's egg / 'tiffany's' blue. It seems like I always have a great spontaneous idea for a piece right before a show. These little loops have been sitting on my bench for awhile. I had planned to make them into a large brooch but they wanted to be a necklace.


See? Necklace. And as it happened to be, someone fell in love with this piece first thing Saturday at the Midsummer Festival of the Arts in Sheboygan.


There were earrings to be had as well. Nice long modern earrings.


Amazonite earrings and necklace coming soon...

A special mother's pendant

I am so very proud! Earlier this spring I exhibited in the Believe in Girls conference held by the Girl Scouts and demonstrated a possible career in the arts. A while after the conference one of the girls called me and arranged a ring making workshop for herself, her mother and her grandmother. We had a blast.

Just recently she called again and wanted to make a special necklace for her mother's birthday. She had bought the stones, come up with a design and needed a little help (and the tools!) to bring the piece to life. I helped with the bezels and stone setting but the sawing, filing, stamping, etc. was all her. Yay! She did such a great job and it was awesome to be able to help her make something special. You too can come to the studio to create a one of a kind piece, just give me a buzz.

Beaducation Giveaway!

Want to see more stamps at your next fuzzishu RiNGS workshop? Cross your fingers and hope I win this lovely set of lower case kismet stamps they are giving away here.

....Something Blue

I've been wanting to post about this custom job for awhile...but realized I had no good photos. While going through my old crappy point and shoot camera's cards I ran across at least one, which prompted this post. The rest of the images I've borrowed from the very talented Life Art Photography.


MaCay and Andy were married at Living History Farms last year in Urbandale, Iowa on a beautiful Autumn day. The small chapel was the perfect venue for this small, funky - more on this later, intimate event.


My friend MaCay had approached me about this project last summer. She wanted to do something unique for the bridesmaids' gifts. She had always had a penchant for my a go go 5 loop necklace and wanted to design something similar but different. Something that would work with three different styles of dress and unique personality. Oh yea, and with some small touch of blue.


I sketched a few ideas for her, we played around with some elements on my bench and VOILA! A new necklace was born.


Modern, sleek, but rustic enough to go with the venue. Small touches of lapis lazuli accent the loops of various sizes. Sadly, this is the only photo I have of the piece. Don't worry, I've gotten much better about documenting the things leaving the shop...especially the one of a kinds!

MaCay and Andy are a fun quirky couple - see exhibits A. and B. There were speeches from engineers and the appetizers featured multi-flavor popcorn bowls on the tables and a 'fancy' cheese table by Gateway Market (they also provided dinner, if I recall, OMG the dinner!!!)

[exhibit A.]

Not only does their card drop box look googly-eyed and muppety-y but they walked in to the Muppets' Menomenon song :D Love it! Speaking of...did I mention my dad was their dj?!

[exhibit B.]

Four flavors of delicious cupcakes from the Carefree Patisserie were adorned with bride and groom rubber duckies. Yes, duckies.


I was honored to be a part of their special day and wish them the very best in their new life together.

At Laaaast...

After *cough, cough* months in the making MaryAnn's ring is finally complete. She approached me with her mother's vintage diamond ring, wanting to give them a new life in a fresh contemporary design (SO wish I had remembered to take a photo of it before I took the diamonds out, d'oh!).

I carved the wax and then sent it out to be cast in palladium. MaryAnn wanted a 'white metal' ring and we decided against white gold (too pricey, didn't want rhodium plating). Platinum was waaaay too expensive and silver is a little to casual and tarnishes. Palladium is a tough metal and as part of the platinum family shares a bit of it's prestige. It was a first for me and I look forward to playing around with it more in depth in the future.

I'm very pleased (and so was MaryAnn) with the modern architectural look of the ring. It has a good heft and tapers nicely at the bottom. It ended up highlighting her mother's diamonds and giving them a new life. Mission accomplished!

BetsyBensen ♥s fuzzishu

BetsyBensen celebrates Etsy artists that demonstrate a 'fearless' use of color in this super summery treasury.

lkkersh hearts fuzzishu

Check out what's going on 'Inside Rubix's Head' in this wonderful treasury by lkkersh.

Meet the Artists

Last night's 'Meet the Artists' event was a fantastic time. My former student Teryl is creating fun and funky PMC pieces and her friend Meddy brought some enormous pantings! There was great food, oodles of art, and a wonderful evening. I hope you can join us next time.

angeladesigns hearts fuzzishu

Every day would be a nice day with this colorful grouping of work! Check out the 'Have a Nice Day' treasury by angeladesigns.

Dine + Design

Art is food for the soul...but let's not forget our tummies! Please join us at studio fuzzishu this Thursday May 26 for the first Dine + Design event! Bring your sketchbooks, materials, things that inspire you, and thinking cap. We'll do some brainstorming around a theme, bounce ideas off of one another, critique, sketch, create, etc. and of course, share a meal.

Don't forget, if metal or glass is your thing (or you just need some space that's not the kitchen table!) you can always come back for 'open studio' time and create what you've designed! Please RSVP if interested so I can get a head count for the 'dine' portion of the evening. See you Thursday!

HansHolzkopf ♥s fuzzishü

Holy smokes, it's end of May! Sorry fuzzi-followers. Here's a fantastic caterpillar treasury from April collected by HansHolzkopf featuring my 'space caterpillar' bracelet. How cute are all of these? And sooo springy!

workingwoman ♥s fuzzishü

workingwoman has put together a fantastic treasury that includes fuzzishu's 'squarings' and fellow Iowan handmadepretties' recycled sweater balls. This group of colorful offerings is just what we need to greet spring with. I don't know about you, but the swirly circle quilt and wildflower wall decor are calling me!!! Check out workingwoman's 'Are we having fun yet?' treasury here.

Steampunk Pendant @ studio fuzzishu

We had a great time making some steampunk-esque pendants the other night at the studio. The students were given packets of odds and ends and a short time to come up with their designs. After a few demos they began to create their pieces. Everyone did a fantastic job! We ran out of time before oxidizing the pieces to give them that antique-y feel but I think they turned out great either way!

Jewelry Bites @ the Des Moines Art Center

[jewelry bites necklace sample by fuzzishu]

This past Thursday was the first of three sessions of Jewelry Bites, an introductory jewelry workshop, at the Des Moines Art Center. We have a full class of twelve (12!) excited novice jewelers. Our first class was also jam packed with new technique demos and a chance to try their hands at them. We covered sawing, filing, finishing, texturing/stamping, and 2 kinds of rivets. They also received homework and will bring back sketches of their ideas for next class. Check back in two weeks to see the fantastic pieces they come up with!

Waikiki Wabbit...I mean, Wine

studio fuzzishu is helping to sponsor the Tropical Wine Festival this Friday at the Botanical Center from 6 to 9pm. There will be a steel drum band, delicious nibblies, over 15 wineries to sample and a nice tropical respite from the cold blowing winter weather. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. I hope you can join us - be sure to wear your most festive tropical gear, there are prizes for the best dressed ;)

A Passel of Profession Rings

Saturday's J101 class just finished a fantastic set of profession rings. Everything from a teacher to a heart surgeon. Yay soldering! We've just begun the final project - wire link bracelets. Check back for more student projects soon.

Another thank you in 3D

One of my students brought studio fuzzishu a nifty present - a bag full of 6g. copper wire.

I decided to make her a thank you gift as well, a forged copper bracelet.

I had to guesstimate a good starting size, anneal and solder it.

I then began forming the bracelet's tapering hammered shape on my anvil (yay, anvil!)

I cheated just a little and used the saw to remove the extra flare rather than taper the ends with a hammer.


Then some filing and refining.

And voila! Bracelet - so simple and comfy I had to make one for myself too :D

Ta Da!

Newly designed logo for the studio end of fuzzishu. Comments? Critiques? Congratulations? ;-p

FourHearts ♥s fuzzishü

A big thank you to fourhearts for featuring my 9 element a go go necklace in her 'vivid' treasury. Look at all the pretty colors! You can check them out here.

a 'thank you' in 3D

I whipped out this 'worry stone' keychain as a thank you to friend who gifted me a variety of steel ball bearings the other day. The idea of a moving ball riveted between two sheets of metal was given to me a few months back by my student Cindy. Thanks Cindy! And JV for the BBs.

coppersonja ♥s fuzzishü

coppersonja has put together a wonderful colorful and glass filled treasury and featured a fuzzishu necklace. Please go check it out here. We'll get an a.go.go 9 element on the front page of etsy one of these days ;)