Art and Soul Las Vegas

I spent an amazing four days at the Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, Nevada.  During the day, I took classes from Sally Jean Alexander and at night I explored The District located right outside the casino.

The first class was The Velveteen Bracelet.  We learned to make 3-D charms with beads that roll around inside.  I'm not happy with the velvet portion of the bracelet.  I plan on redoing it with decorative stitching and neater wire wrapping.  We were working with nickel silver wire, which is not as bendable as sterling.

The second class was "Buckle Up, Bangle Down".  We learned to make a belt buckle from scratch.  I used part of an old tin cowboy whistle for the focal and added old jewelry parts, buttons, garnets, and beads.  I love the way it turned out!

Saturday's class was the Roulette Wheel Necklace.  What a treat...there were only 5 people in the class!  I love that Sally Jean didn't cancel.  She told us she would never do that to her students.  What a wonderful, unique instructor!!!  We ended up working all day around one table, laughing and getting to know one another.  It was one of the best experiences I've had.  Unfortunately, I got it all soldered together and then I realized I forgot to put the ball inside.  Problem solver that Sally Jean is, she suggested I attach it to the outside on a chain...not bad!

I will post pictures of the last class, Jumping Jack Flash, when my project is complete.  In the meantime, I will leave you with some gorgeous photos of the pool area.  I can't wait until next year!!!

A nice place to read by the pool.

Dinner in The District

Pool with real sand

Balto, The Knitted Siberian Husky

Another knitted dog has been added to my pack.  My own cats were too "busy" to be bothered with a photo shoot.  Luckily, the neighbor's cat, Figaro, was available.  He looks a bit appalled to find a dog in the yard.

Tough Guy

Meet Spike, my latest knitted dog.  He packs a lot of personality into his 5" tall frame!  I could not for the life of me understand how to construct his face.  Like I said before, the dogs in the book Knit Your Own Dog are adorable but the instructions are difficult to follow.  I ended up looking at pictures of bulldogs and then nipping and tucking until I got the desired look.    To get the proper bend in his legs, I cut a coat hanger, shaped it into a "U" and then inserted it into the back legs.  Of course he needed a spiked collar to complete his tough guy image!  He looks just as adorable from the rear.

Knit Your Own Poodle!

Meet Curly, my latest knitted dog. The pattern is from the Knit Your Own Dog book.  The original pattern is for a curly-coated poodle, but I wanted my poodle to have a topiary-style haircut so I used a combo of worsted yarn and boucle yarn, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge.  I just love the way she turned out!

"I liked you better when you were a ball of yarn."