Update on Lenzen Originals

Hi!

It's been a while since my last post but I'm busy trying to find time to hand dye scarves, make jewelry, and spend time with John's Mom while she is in town! My house looks like a disaster but so far it has been worth it. I also updated my website www.lenzenoriginals.com/ with all new photos of my jewelry and scarves taken by my friend, Robyn Van Dyke. This girl is a ninja with a camera! She is amazing! If you'd like to check out her website please go to http://robynvandykephotography.com/index2.php#/home/ or her blog at http://www.robynvandykephotography.com/blog/.

Here is a sampling of a few of my favs:

And you heard right! I added hand dyed scarves to my line of creations. I have found an easier, non-toxic way of dying the scarves that has proven to be effective. The colors come out brillantly and the fabric is soft as ever! I am dying the scarves in the microwave using white vinegar. Now I will say it ends up smelling like vinegar downstairs but it's better than inhaling soda ash by accident which is a toxic, powdery substance. With a puppy in the house that basically licks my floors clean after every time we cook in the kitchen, it is better to use white vinegar for sure! Below is my favorite scarf I have made. I can't decide if it's for sale or if I'm keeping it. Guess I need to figure that out soon!

For those of you in town next weekend, I am doing a show in Cary, NC. It is the Lochmere Arts & Crafts show located on the corner of Lochmere Drive and Kildaire Farms Rd in Cary, NC. Please come on out and visit me! We'll be there from 10am to 4pm. In addition, I am doing a Jewelry Party at my house on November 21st. Let me know if you are interested in coming and I'll email you the directions!

Make today a great day!

Appendectomy

It's been a few weeks since my last post! I woke up the morning after dropping off my Chair-ity project at 5:45am with severe pain in my stomach. I thought I had an upset stomach so I got up and took some medicine. While walking downstairs, I noticed the pain moved to my lower right quadrant and it was hard to walk. I was crying by this point and wasn't sure what was going on. I went back upstairs to lay down in bed. I ended up calling my Mom to see what I should do. Unfortunately, my parents couldn't drive to my house to take me to urgent care. Luckily, my knight in shining armor, my boyfriend John, came to my rescue. We went to urgent care and the doctor sent me straight to the ER. I had to sit in the triage area with the other sick/injured people hoping to get seen. There was this older woman in the triage area with me. She was in obvious major pain crying out every so often. Honestly it made it a little unbearable for me since I was in major pain as well. So, I said a prayer for her while I was sitting in triage and hoped that her pain would go away. I was called to go to my room in the ER department around 9:30am. At this point, John had to get to work and my Dad was with me. They ran test after test for hours on end. Finally at 4:30pm in the afternoon they told me I had appendicitis. I thought to myself, another surgery, UGH. The Surgeon came to schedule the surgery for that evening at 7:00pm. As usual, they were running behind. Before I was wheeled to the operating room around 8:30 they let my Dad, Mom and boyfriend all stay with me till they were ready, thank God. They must of given me some anesthesia because after saying bye to my family I don't remember anything until waking up in the recovery room. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. I asked the nurse for a blanket but was told she couldn't give me one b/c I was running a fever. I won't go into other gruesome details of bedpans and going in and out of consciousness. Finally, a very nice man pushed my bed up to my room on the third floor. My family was there waiting on me. It took them an hour and a half to wake me up after the surgery! I spent 6 days out of work and 4 days working from home. I went back to work on Monday of this week. I'm very thankful for my family, boyfriend, and the entire hospital staff for taking such good care of me! Thanks to everyone for their prayers and get well wishes! I'm on the mend finally!

My creative juices have been flowing and I have drawn some designs for new necklaces that should be ready in the next few weeks! I'm also thinking of adding some paintings to my line so be on the lookout for those in the coming months!

It's for the kids

Hello everyone!

I've finished my Chair-ity project for the Wayne County Arts Council. On February 5th, the Arts Council will be auctioning off all the painted chairs and will be raising money for arts programs for the kids. I spent countless hours perfecting my chair. I first took the adirondack chair and filled in the screw holes with wood filler. After that dried, I sanded down the entire chair so it would be nice and smooth. I applied a thick coat of primer and let that dry. Then I researched waves and thought about how I was going to lay it out on my chair. Then I painted the wave and it ended up being a lot bigger than I had wanted! Woops! haha. It was a happy accident though. Then I decided to bring the wave into the arms of the chair so if you are looking at it, it'd almost be like you were looking at a flat canvas instead of a chair. Then I painted the arms of the chair and the back of the chair. Last I painted the sand which I ended up changing several times because I didn't feel like it looked like sand. I finally got it the way I liked it! So my last step was to glue on the seashells John and I found on the beaches of the Outer Banks this summer. I sprayed several coats of acrylic clear coat on the chair to seal it.

Today John and I loaded up his Jeep with the chair and my mixed emotions for letting go of a project I probably spent at least 40 hours on over the course of the last few months. It was hard for me to give the chair up but knowing that it was for a good cause made me happy! I'm really proud of my work and am now thinking about picking up painting and adding paintings to my business!

I'm attaching several pictures of the chair to share with everyone. Hope you enjoy!

Chair-ity Project

I've been working on the Chair-ity project that I am doing for the Goldsboro Arts Council. They will auction off the handpainted chairs by local artists and raise money for kids projects at the arts council. I'm excited to of been asked to be a part of this. I am taking pictures of my progress of what my chair is going to look like.

I took the basic unstained adirondack chair and I sanded it down really good.

Next I took some wood filler and filled in all those places where there are screw holes.

Then I took the chair outside to my small patio and primed it two different times so that I can put acrylic paint on the chair.

Today I will sand the chair one final time so it will be ready for the acrylic paint. I am going to paint an Outer Banks ocean scene on the chair and glue shells I picked up from OBX on the bottom where I will paint the sand. Hopefully it will turn out as I want it too because I haven't painted in a while. I will continue to take pictures of my progress!

Copper Etching and Doming Galore!

I am so excited to tell everyone about a new technique that I learned this past weekend. I took a class at Panopolie in Raleigh called the "Metalsmither's Delight Bracelet" designed and taught by Melissa. We learned how to etch pictures on copper and/or brass, make a border, and use etching solution. We also learned how to texturize fine silver disks and "dome" them with doming tools. We made two copper etched pieces, 2 domed disks, and connectors, and a clasp to make up our bracelet. The bracelet turned out fabulous! I attached two pictures of the bracelet I made to this post! I'll be making my own original bracelets and pendants this weekend that will be for sale to my customers very soon. I will update my website as I make the pieces!

Lenzen Originals Update

It's been quite some time since my last post but I wanted to update everyone on what is going on with me and my company, Lenzen Originals. Back in March, I reinjured my right wrist. I have had some chronic tendonitis. I had luck with a chiropractor in the past so I decided it was time to go back. I also spoke with my good friend Deanna, who is a massage therapist at The Center for Natural Healing (if you need a massage therapist let me know and I'll put you in contact with her- she's awesome) who has also been helping me back to normal. Thank you to Dr. O and Deanna! I am still seeing them on a regular basis and they are keeping my pain and inflammation in my wrist and neck in check. After seeing the chiropractor and massage therapist, I was able to create about 10 one of kind creations and a bunch of earrings and bracelets to sell to the Dolphin Watch Gallery in Corolla, NC. If you are in Corolla check them out in the Timbuck II shopping center. They support lots of local artists work and have a wonderful selection of jewelry, photography, paintings, wall art, and pottery. She loved my work so much this time she wanted another special order for July. I will be taking that with me over the Fourth of July. I'm sharing with everyone the pictures of the jewelry below. If you are interested in any of the beachy themed jewelry, let me know and I'll see if I can order the supplies to recreate!

I have also entered an amatuer photography contest- NC Wildlife's Organization. I took a picture while at Carova Beach in the Outer Banks of the Wild Spanish mustangs that roam around. I have been wanting to enter it into a contest just to see how it would do. The spanish mustangs basically posed for me in the picture. I was standing there and both the horses looked at me as I shot the picture. There is another horse in the background grazing in the dunes. It's a beautiful shot and I love it! The grand prize winner will get their photo on the cover of NC Wildlife Magazine along with a cash prize, and a large print of the picture. The picture will also be featured in the NC museums. Wish me luck! I'll share the photo with everyone after the contest is over!

Fun new earrings and more!!

Hello everyone,

I know it has been a while since my last post. It's been a wild time for me. I bought a townhouse and got all moved in. Then I had several jewelry parties just before Christmas along with going to Massachusetts for the holidays. I'm finally getting back to making some new jewelry along with coming up with some new jewelry lines. First I'd like to show off my newest hand beaded ornament I created this year. I used Terrifically Tacky tape to sew/stick the beads on the ornament. They were a lot of fun to make and will be for sale for Christmas next year! If you are interested in purchasing an ornament let me know! This ornament was blue but I can use any color combination.

I am creating a new line of fun, beachy jewelry that will complement the perfect summer outfit. It is called "The Carova Line." This line is named after my favorite beach on the Outer Banks. If any of you have been there, you know what I am talking about. Miles of beautiful beach that you can only get to by 4 wheel drive vehicle. There are lots of wild horses roaming around and it is a lot of fun to go off roading trying to find them! Here is my first addition to this collection:

I used Curled shell beads, Luhuanus shells, Hill Tribe sterling silver snail shell charm, puffed fish charm, and a starfish charm. All connected with a sterling silver fish hook and eye clasp. (not priced yet)

Some new fun earrings I've been creating:

Sterling silver plated filigree earrings, rose Swarovski crystals dangles on sterling silver ear wires $16

Sterling silver diamond chandelier earring, Swarovski crystal dangles on sterling silver ear wires. $18 (Shown with black dangles on the left, and crystal clear dangles on the right)

Sterling silver teardrop earrings, Siam red Swarovski crystal dangles, on sterling silver ear wires $18

Sterling silver plated filigree earring with grey Swarovski crystals hand woven inside on sterling silver ear wires. $18

Sterling silver plated fancy filigree earrings on sterling silver ear wires. $16


And lastly, my handmade wire wrapped hearts that will soon have ear wires on them. Just thought I'd put this picture in there as well since these would be a perfect Valentine's Day gift. I am currently in the process of making cute heart bracelets and will send out a picture of them soon!