From Inside My Studio

October First Friday In My Studio

Big thanks to everyone who stopped out to my studio at the Banana Factory

last night for First Friday! The weather was beautiful and we had a busy crowd! 

If you haven't stopped out yet to say hi, I'm in studio 102

of the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA.

Soon I will be offering some workshops so be sure to stay

tuned as I will be announcing them on my blog once I

have them all planned out. 

Henna Tattoos At The Banana Factory For First Friday

Last night was First Friday at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA (for those

of you who don't know, I am a resident artist at the Banana Factory and I have a

studio there!) On First Friday at the Banana Factory, all of the resident artists are

in the house and we all open up the doors to our studios and welcome the public

to come in and see what we are up to! 

Last night's crowd was great! Class Registrar Linda stopped in my studio to say

hello and I got to check out her awesome henna tattoos that were being offered 

that night in the Banana Factory. I would have loved to get one but I had to mind 

 my studio! Maybe another time! In any case, I snapped a couple of photos of 

Linda's henna tattoos to share with you. The henna artist will be offering a class at

the Banana Factory in the near future so if you ever wanted to learn the art here is

your chance! Check them out! 

What do you think?

New Jewelry On Display at the Banana Factory!

I'll have new jewelry on display in my studio at the Banana Factory in 

Bethlehem, PA for First Friday tomorrow night. Stop in and check it out! 6-9pm

Broken china jewelry by Laura Beth Love

A Peek Inside My New Art Studio At The Banana Factory!

This past Friday May 3rd was "First Friday" in Bethlehem PA, a community 
celebration that is held on the first Friday night of the month, every month -  when 
shops and restaurants open their doors and loads of people fill the streets to take part
 in all types of festivities. The hub of First Friday is in the Banana Factory, which is 
where my new art studio is located (as well as the studios of over 25 of the other 
resident artists of the Banana Factory.) On First Friday inside the Banana Factory all 
of the resident artists are "in the house" and open the doors to their studios and 
welcome the public to come on in and see all the exciting things that are going on, 
view their artwork and current works in progress, as well as purchase art. There are
 also glass blowing demonstrations and all other types of festivities. 

I worked like crazy to get my new studio furnished and in order in time to greet the crowds! Here is a little sneak peek at what I've been up to!

These photos show only one side of my studio - I will show more next time!

I still have lots to do - I plan on installing a pegboard on the wall above the work 
table in the corner to hold many of my tools and goodies. Some things can't be 
rushed though, and I really like to do a good job at whatever I am working on, so it 
will take me a little time until it is just right!

One thing that was a challenge to me was to figure out how to display my jewelry
on my walls. I think I came up with a pretty creative solution to that challenge and I'll
share it with you in my next post! 

Check out the Banana Factory on Facebook!




Click here for the tutorial for how to make the letter word wall
plates that I made for my wall!

What do you think?

Exciting Announcement: My New Art Studio At The Banana Factory

I'm thrilled to announce that I am a new resident artist at Bethlehem PA's Banana Factory!

Located in the south side of Bethlehem at 25 W 3rd St. in Bethlehem Pennsylvania, the

 Banana Factory Arts Center is a visual arts & education campus run by ArtsQuest that features over 30 resident artists who have studios in the building. The building is also

home to three award winning art galleries and features a ceramics studio, the ArtsQuest 

Glass Studio, and the Olympus Digital Imaging Center. Just minutes from Steel Stacks 

and Sands Casino, the Banana Factory is a true gem of Pennsylvania art and culture! 

Click here to check out the Banana Factory's resident artists 

And yes, it actually was once a banana distribution center, in case you were 

curious about the name...

image via

Even more exciting: First Fridays at the Banana Factory

On the first Friday of every month from 6 pm to 9 pm the Banana Factory and South Bethlehem come alive for a community celebration where local merchants, galleries 

and restaurants open their doors to celebrate Bethlehem's awesome community. During

First Friday inside the Banana Factory, all of the resident artists open their doors to their 

studios to the public and you can stop in and say hello, as well as view and purchase 

wonderful artwork. This coming Friday (May 3, 2013) will be my very first First Friday

as an artist in residence at the Banana Factory, so if you are around town, stop in 

and say hi!

My New Studio - First Floor, room VA-A

Here's a sneak peek at my new space, which I am filling up as we speak!

I love the two large windows...and there's plenty of room for me to teach 

all kinds of workshops right in the studio, which is an added bonus!

I've already started moving in, though it is a little bare right now because I am in the 

process of packing up all of my tools and getting ready to ship them out to Cincinnati, 

Ohio for a week-long photo shoot for my new jewelry instruction book, but I will have the 

space filled up soon enough! I hope one day you will have a chance to stop in on a First 

Friday and say hello, or perhaps take a workshop! 

What do you think?

My Rummage Sale Treasures!

Last night I unpacked some goodies that I bought at a huge rummage thrift sale

last May. This was the Boutique At The Rink rummage sale in Bethlehem, 

PA, whose proceeds benefited St. Luke's Hospital Cancer Center & Hospice. 

This was my first time visiting this huge sale, and when I say huge, I mean huge!

 The previous year, the sale raised $150,000, so just imagine all that STUFF! 

In any case, take a look at what I scored!

The first thing that caught my attention was a gigantic rusty tin object that was 

far across the room on a high shelf in the appliances section. I wasn't sure 

what it was, but it was mine!  On closer inspection, it turned out to be an 

old punched-tin pendant light fixture. What a fabulous vintage farmhouse find!

 It cost $15. I grabbed it. It filled up most of my shopping cart!

I was happy to see there was a crafts section. Here I found box upon box of odds and ends

of craft supplies. There were things like knitting needles, yarn, fabric remnants, leftover project supplies, etc., but what caught my eye was a bag of sequin and bead-filled large glass cigar tubes. Forget the sequins, those glass tubes were going to be turned into something fabulous! I'm not sure what they'll be transformed into yet, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  What's that you say? The bag of nine test tubes for 50 cents? Sold! 

 Next!
Well what to my wondering eyes should appear but a set of nine old embroidery hoops of various sizes all tied together and priced at $1.50. Can you say dreamcatchers? I can't wait to see what happens with those. They will be a great project to do with my daughters this winter, perfect for the first school-closed snow day of the season. 

Fabric? Why yes, please. 

I'm not an avid sewer, though I have made a few quilts and I know how expensive fabric

can be, so I was sure to take my time and go through this section thoroughly. I found some 

great remnants in all types of colors, patterns, and materials. One that immediately

caught my eye was this lightweight canvas vintage horse print drapery material. The piece was 1 & 1/2 yards and only cost a few dollars. Wow. 

Along with the horse fabric, I collected a mixed selection of upholstery, quilting, and decorating fabrics.  For some time now,  I've been wanting to craft up a Bohemian style flag similar to the art flags made by Sara Rahbar (see her flags below at the end of this post). These remnants are perfect for that project. They sold them in packs of 4 or 5 remnants for 50 cents a pack. What a great deal!  

Here it is all unwrapped on my workbench...

Art flags made by artist Sara Rahbar:

Art flags made by artist Sara Rahbar

What do you think?