Welcome to our new series, This Week At Mrs. O’Leary’s… In this weekly blog, we will be updating you on upcoming classes, demos, new products, and more! We hope you find this new blog series fun and informative. If there is anything else you want to know, be sure to drop us an email or comment! Curious about our full calendar? You can see it here!

Upcoming Events

Mini Bag Loom – Part 2

This will be this Thursday, May 28th, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm on Facebook Live.

If you watched our last video for the Mini Bag Loom, then you know what this is all about! You can also watch it again (or for the first time) by going over to our Facebook page or our Youtube channel. If you bought a loom kit and fibers, you can follow along as Joni weaves her mini-bag so you can see how to add layers, textures, and embellishments. If you don’t have the kit, feel free to join anyway to learn how Joni makes these awesome woven bags! Than you can always feel free to purchase a kit and fibers and follow along at a later date. We hope to see you there!!

Hidden in Plain Sight – FREE CLASS Part 1

Part 1 is going to be this Saturday, May 30th, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm on Facebook Live.

This was the #1 requested class when Joni took her class samples to shows and it is perfect for ALL ages! You are welcome to just watch or you can follow along with us. If you want to join in the fun, there are a couple items you will need. If you want to purchase some of these supplies ahead of time, be sure to let us know as not everything is uploaded to the website yet (but we are working on it)! You do not need all of these items, but these are what Joni uses when she does this class.

Supply List

  • An inexpensive canvas (any size is fine, but we primarily work on 11×14)
  • An assortment of glues and adhesives (PVA, hot glue, etc)
  • Wire (for attaching items)
  • Small tools (an awl, pliers, wire cutters)
  • White Gesso (sometimes white spray paint)
  • A few stencils
  • Molding paste

Now on to what you need for decorating your project! This is the fun part. Everything is fair game! Raid the junk drawer, check your craft stash, any little bits of fun things that could add visual interest to your canvas as you build and layer items. Joni has used die-cut chipboard shapes, game pieces, odd and end beads and trinkets, little toys, big silk flowers, watch pieces, lace scraps, bottle caps, empty tape spools, straws……. As you can see, the list of what you can use is endless and isn’t limited to store-bought items. The idea behind the name of this class is that you will have to really look at something to identify the objects you have used to decorate your canvases. It’s fun and creative and we hope you will have a blast joining us!

What You’ll Be Doing In Part 1 and Part 2

Part 1 is just assembling the items on your canvas. Organize your canvas, glue everything down or wire it on, and then sit back to make sure it looks how you want. As you watch Joni assemble her canvas it will make more sense, so don’t feel intimidated by this class! Feel free to adjust it over the week if you want to change it a bit, but make sure you have time for all your glue to dry before the next class!

Part 2 will be where you use either the White Gesso (or the White Spray Paint) to cover your canvas and all the fun items you attached to it. You will learn how to do sprays over the white if you wanted color, tracing around items to make them stand out, or whatever else you want to do to finish off your masterpiece.

You Can Join Us In Person

If you want to create your Hidden in Plain Sight canvas alongside Joni in the store, instead of following along online, then let us know so we can make room for you. Send us an email, drop us a comment, or call in! We hope to see you in class!

New Product Highlight

Crown Charm Pack

Heads up, we have a new charm pack online!! Check out the Crowns brass charm pack and be sure to check out the others on our Brass Findings and Rhinestones page. This new pack is perfect for adding a little extra bling to your projects and showing that you are the Queen. Combine it with a couple of the other packs to create a whole new theme or just use the crowns for a royal project.

Speckled Egg Combo Pack

Tim Holtz is releasing a new line of products called Speckled Egg! This new line will be sold as a combo-pack for $38 and be available for pre-order on June 1st. It contains a Distress Oxide Ink Pad, Distress Ink Pad, Distress Mini Ink Pad, Distress Ink Refill, Distress Paint, Distress Oxide Spray, Distress Spray, and Distress Glazing. As a special bonus, you will also get a free pack of Joni’s large hand-stained tags!

This will be a limited quantity combo-pack, so be sure to order yours when they are available!

Update for Art Unplugged 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unfortunately going to have to postpone Art Unplugged 2020. Never fear though! Joni will be offering a variant to Art Unplugged over the weekends of July 10-12 and July 17-19. These offered classes center around online soldering classes.

What Comes First?

The first weekend, July 10-12, she will be offering several soldering classes online. Soldered Pendants 101 (teaching basic soldering) will be the first offered class which a prerequisite for the other soldered classes. After that she will be offering Soldered Pendants 201, See Thru Soldered Pendants, and the Glass House. We will have more information about dates, times, and costs as we get closer so please be sure to stay tuned!

Something New!

The following weekend, July 17-19, she is premiering a NEW Solder Stamped Crown class! This will be a brand new class to create fun crowns decorated by solder stamping. The Solder Stamped Crown class will be an instant hit and you won’t want to miss the crown jewel of solder-stamp classes.

We hope that you guys are looking forward to our Art Unplugged Online Soldering classes as much as we are, and we hope to see you for the re-scheduled Art Unplugged dates as well.

Curbside Pick-Up Service

We are also continuing to offer Curbside Service for those who do not want to come into the store, or do not have time to come in and shop. You can call in an order if you know what you want or you can order online and let us know in the notes that you wish to pick up your order.