My trip to Craftsy & a GIVEAWAY!

In mid October, the kind and wonderful people from Craftsy invited me to come and teach for them. I traveled to Colorado to shoot the class mid-December and last week, my class Make Your Own Wirework Findings launched!

Wooweeee, what a whirlwind. The class run-time is about four hours long, so prepping for this class was similar to prepping for a book. My "on camera" skills are much stronger than my writing skills, so this was my kind of project!!

I had such a great time filming with these folks. They are so professional and so fun!

My days on set started with me in "Hair and Makeup." Yeah, I said "Hair and Makeup." Makes it sound kinda fancy, huh? Well it was! The lovely Danica did my hair and makeup each day and man, I loved it. I wanted to just put her in my pocket and take her home with me. Oh, if only I could start each of my days with a Danica. She had lots of fancy makeup and magic stuff to pretty me up.

This is my crew. James was my producer.  He is the scary guy on the left. Super scary, never smiled and not funny at all. Oh, who am I kidding? I can't even joke about his "not joking" because he might be one of the funniest people I have ever met. He even does stand-up improv (he had a show the day after I left, bummed I missed it)!

Sean was the cameraman. That guy can man a camera like no other. The arial tricks he pulled off to get the tight shots were very impressive! :)

And this is the very talented Nicole, my on-set editor. She is watching me for any mishaps, watching both cameras, and doing some live editing. What at team! They were all so easy-going. They made me incredibly comfortable, they spoiled me rotten, and provided lots and lots of laughing (and snacks).

This was my view for the three days of filming. Look how organized that table top is!

But don't be fooled, open the table drawer and holy guacamole! Ok, that looks more like Lisa's workspace...

GIVEAWAY TIME!  Over at my blog at beaducation.com, we are giving away 3 seats in my Make Your Own Wirework Findings class on Craftsy.com. Those 3 lucky winners will also two of my favorite tools from the class as well as some sterling wire. Click on over for details on how to enter.

Thanks Craftsy. I had a blast! I can't wait to do it again. :)

(and P.S. - I was very impressed with Denver, what a cool city!)

Live Classes at the Beaducation Offices!

Yay, in-house classes at Beaducation!  I am so excited!  March 16-17, 2013 at the Beaducation headquarters in Redwood City.

When I first moved my business out of my house (2005), it was because I wanted space to teach classes in my own setting.  Oh my gosh, I was soooo nervous, "how am I going to afford the rent for a 600 square foot office?".  Well the business grew and we expanded but I lost my teaching space to the overflowing inventory.  That was ok, cause I was now teaching online...woo! But I missed live classes. So now that we have moved (the third expansion since moving out of my house), we have plenty of room, see....

Look at that big gorgeous room, it screams for tables and chairs and students and teachers and pliers and torches and beads (oh and snacks!) !!!  We often have dance parties or TRX workouts in this room,  but now it's time for classes. Come join us!!!

 

SPIRO PENDANT with Lisa Niven Kelly

RIVET IT with Lisa Niven Kelly and Aisha Formanski

INTRODUCTION TO SOLDERING with Joe Silvera

 

RAKU ENAMELING with Steven James

CHAMPLEVE AND PLIQUE-AU-JOUR ENAMELING with Steven James

METALWORKING WORKSHOP with Lisa Niven Kelly and Aisha Formanski

SALE on all my online classes at Beaducation.com!!!

Big sale on not only my classes but everyone else's as well!

We recently dropped the price on a few of our classes, and now with a 35% sale goin' on, there is no better time to stock up!  Remember the classes never expire :)

Discounted price will reflect in your shopping cart.

Under Construction

Hey y'all!

My site is under construction...yep, it's getting a much needed overhaul and facelift.  When it's back up there will be a new gallery, new class pix and this blog will get more posts!  WOOHOO!

Oh and btw, from here forward, I will be allowing comments on my posts.  That will allow for giveaways and contests....yay!

Lisa

Interview on About.com

A big thanks to Tammy Powley for this fun interview!
There is some interesting info in here ;)

Lisa Niven Kelly, The Techniques Master

By Tammy Powley, About.com Guide

Pimp My Bench...wooo!

This post is copied from my other blog at beaducation.com :)

Every day when I get to work, I sit down at my desk with a mug of Chai tea and begin the day with a glance around my office. Having no shame, I will share with you what I used to see:

I'm lucky enough to have a personal office with a built-in "Creative Workspace" and I had allowed that whole corner of my office to turn into a dumping spot. It was cramping my creativity big-time! 

The first step is admitting there's a problem, right? The second step is taking action!

PIMP MY WORKSPACE!

I considered buying a proper jeweler's bench, but instead I kinda made my own. My tabletop was a solid wood door, so I had our contractor, Dave, come in make a rounded cutout. Voila!

As you can see in the "Before" photo, the wood door was resting on IKEA storage cabinets. Functional, yes. Fashionable, not so much. So I had Dave attach real table legs. This worked great! The table is incredibly stable, it's the perfect height, and I have more space underneath. Only one problem -- the legs were ugly. Fabric and a staple gun to the rescue!

I have been collecting fabric for awhile (I don't sew...but I might someday - ha!). I cut the fabric in strips wide enough to wrap around the leg with a little overlap and folded the ends over before stapling it to the wooden legs. I had no rhyme or reason to the patterns or lengths, I just kinda went for it.


I really love how my new table turned out, and for a fraction of the cost of buying a generic jeweler's bench! Now... what to do with all those tools?

I always struggled for the perfect way to hang my hammers so they were out of the way, yet accessible. Pipe sleeves and spray paint solved my problem!

My main goal when redoing this space was to have all my tools organized in a smart and attractive way. Hammers had their new home, next came the pliers. An old quilt rack with shelf was the perfect solution. I painted the rack and lined it with contact paper to protect the painted wood from getting marred by the jaws of the pliers. This holds more pliers than one can possibly need (which is saying a lot coming from a tool addict like me!), and holds them at a perfect arm's reach.

I loaded this tool cabinet from Harbor Freight with files, drill bits, etc... 

A few finishing touches included stapling on some beaded trim ('cuz why not, right?) and hanging a few decorative hooks from Anthropologie. The real piece de resistance included spray painting over 20 picture frames and filling them with favorite images from my collection of Alice in Wonderland books. Dave installed my Italian light and BAM, I was in business.  

Finished product -- I LOVE IT!  I am giddy every morning when I come in and see this inviting workspace. I can't wait to create, create, create!

Vamos a la Playa!

This year for Spring Break, we headed to a beach house in San Diego for a very RELAXING vacation. Yes, that picture is 3 bff mommies and SEVEN kids. The men stayed home. Relaxing you ask? Yes, it really was. We have hit that stage where our kids are self sufficient and we no longer have to watch them like mommy hawks!

The sunsets, the sisterhood and the joy of kids has me super inspired and charged.  I came up with 3 new designs while walking on the beach. Bring it summer...I am so ready for more sunshine!