Halloween Crafts

Fall is my favorite season and the best time to get out the craft supplies. Here's a Halloween project from my book "Jewelry Inspirations". These simple creatures are made using air dry clay and then painted with acrylics. Make them into pins, magnets or bulletin board tacks.

This week we are gearing up to teach classes at Bead Fest in Texas Oct 1st. Dan and I are teaching etching, electroforming and enameling on silver. I'm looking forward to the show, the classes are nearly full which is great. I'm so excited to show everyone the new things we are working on-so many I can't keep them straight-stay tuned.

Summer Classes and Art Saves

This week I will be the featured artist on Art Saves by Jenny Doh. You can read a bit about why I love to create and visit a few of my favorite links. She has a great blog with lots of inspiring stories.

This summer has been flying by with lots of travel, classes and just hard work in general. We attended the Bead and Button Show in WI, here we are at the booth (Rachel Haab, Rachel Wright, myself and Michelle Haab-with baby Adeline on the way). We worked so hard, we often missed 2 out of 3 meals and lived on 4-6 hours of sleep all week but had fun meeting people and working together.

One of the classes I taught at the show combined metal clay, fine silver and images transferred to faux bone. It was A LOT to master in one class but I think the end results were stunning. This is a piece made by Erin Prais-Hintz. She transferred images to both sides and then set the piece in the metal clay so that the back is as pretty as the front.

Another hot technique we are teaching this summer is electroforming. I think I have more fun than the students. They bring interesting objects to form into copper to class. This piece was made at Art and Soul in VA by Judy Harris. She finished it with pearls and wore the finished piece as a pin. It is lovely and she also made matching earrings. I am hoping to teach this class again soon. We are really happy with the new electroform controller and the use of graphite paint for this technique. Electroforming and plating is surprisingly easy.

This week I am headed to the PMC conference in Purdue, and then off to Phoenix for Art Unraveled the following week to teach classes using copper clay, resin clay and fine silver clay.

Book Winners!

Thank you to everyone who entered the drawing for my new book, “Jewelry Inspirations”. I was so excited to see so many responses that I decided to choose 2 winners. We did it the old fashioned way with slips of paper drawn from a hat and the winners are Lynn #63 and Morgan #15. Congratulations! and I think I will do another give away next month, this was fun. And a big thank you for the kind words about my work, so nice to read after a rough week.

Sherri

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

I was slammed with a bad cold this week that set me back quite a few days. The cold combined with the fact that it is still winter here (lots of snow) in Utah, left me craving comfort food like hot tea and muffins. Here is my favorite muffin recipe, adapted from a Pumpkin Apple Streusel version. I leave off the topping (too messy and extra work). The muffins are rich enough without it.



Pumpkin Apple Muffins

» 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
» 2 cups granulated sugar
» 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
» 1 teaspoon baking soda
» 1/2 teaspoon salt
» 1 1/4 cups Libby’s canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
» 2 large eggs
» 1/2 cup vegetable oil
» 2 cups apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
Chocolate Chip Variation:

» Instead of apples use 1 cup chocolate chips
Low Fat Variation:

» Substitute 1/2 cup applesauce for the oil.
PREHEAT oven to 350º F. Grease or paper-line 24 muffin cups.

COMBINE flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine pumpkin, eggs and oil in medium bowl; mix well. Stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in apples or chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling three-fourths full.

BAKE for 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly.

Easter Nest Treats

Every year my girls make easter nest treats filled with favorite egg shaped candies. I’ve adapted this recipe from one I found almost 2o years ago in a magazine. The recipe is super easy using only one pan and takes about 20 minutes to make- they are yumtastic! Here is the recipe:

Easter Nests

» 1/4 cup butter
» 4 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
» 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
» 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
» 4 cups chow mein noodles
» candy eggs (mini Cadbury eggs, M&Ms or jelly beans)
In heavy saucepan over med. heat melt butter and marshmallows until smooth. Stir in peanut butter and chocolate chips until melted. Remove from heat and stir in chow mein noodles. Work on wax paper and form 18-24 mounds. Dip fingers into cold water as you work to prevent the mixture from sticking and shape each mound into a nest. Fill with 2 or 3 candies each. Cool and store in airtight container if they last that long.

Jewelry Inspirations - Giveaway

My new book “Jewelry Inspirations” was released on March 9. This book contains everything I love about life and jewelry making. Projects include resin clay flowers, personalized jewelry with images, etching metal, metal clay, polymer clay, wire and beaded designs. The book includes stories from my past and thoughts on developing creativity. Remember Dawn Dolls from the 70′s? These were my favorite and I kept them after all of these years in pristine condition. Read the book to find out what they have to do with my designs.



I am grateful for all of the dedicated bloggers who reviewed the book. Here are just a few reviews from bloggers who took the time to share kind words about the book:

http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/03/craft-book-review-sherri-haabs-jewelry.html

http://crafternews.crownpublishing.com/2010/03/01/a-chat-with-jewelry-superstar-sherri-haab/

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/03/book_review_giveaway_sherri_ha.html

http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-review-jewelry-inspirations-by.html

http://peculiarforest.blogspot.com/2010/03/sherri-haab-jewelry-techniques.html

http://beadweaver.blogspot.com/2010/03/sherri-haab-jewelry-inspirations.html

http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2010/03/sherri-haab-jewelry-inspirations.html

http://organicodysseys.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-review-jewelry-inspirations-sherri.html

http://z-llyynn.blogspot.com/2010/03/when-folks-ask-me-from-time-to-time.html

I would love to send a signed copy to a fellow jewelry enthusiast. Post a comment and I will put the names in a hat and then we will draw a name on Mon April 12 for one lucky winner to receive a book in the mail. Make sure I can reach you by email for shipping.

Silver, Copper and Polymer Treats

I’m overwhelmed this week, so to both torture and treat myself I spent some time surfing the net to look at lovely blogs that portray perfectly presented gourmet dishes and fairytale lifestyles. To anyone out there that has one of these blogs, Can I please see what is behind the camera?? is it a mess back there and are you wearing your sweats when you post that stuff? Did you all come down from a planet I don’t know about? I’m not kidding I really need to know. Well, however you do this, I enjoy the endless eye candy that is presented for us to dream over.
I got some eye candy in my email this past week that came at a welcome time. Hope you enjoy the etched jewelry pieces here:



Nancy Hamilton sent me a few pictures of pieces she made using our E3 Etch controller. I was blown away! Her work is so well crafted and simply beautiful. She tells me she has developed a system to mass produce pieces, and since each silver piece takes less than an hour to etch she can move quickly to the next piece.



Nancy’s copper etched pieces are richly designed by hand using beeswax as a resist. The center of this copper piece is filled with transparent resin, and has an etched design you can see through the resin.

Another treat this week was to find that my friend, Wendy Wallin Malinow, has her own website up along with her Etsy shop. She is one of the most creative people I know and her style is unmistakable- I love it! I predict anything she touches will be highly collectable, check out her new site.