Behind the Scenes at Beads Baubles and Jewels...

While I was scrolling through my blog recently, I realized that in the hubbub of moving, I didn't post about my experience of filming for Beads Baubles and Jewels.  I shared a few pictures on Facebook, but I didn't get an opportunity to do so here.  KS Productions, the team that puts together the show, just sent me the edited promo teaser and I thought that was a perfect excuse to write about my time in Cleveland.

Firstly, I have to thank Katie Hacker and the rest of the team that puts together this show.  There are a lot of moving parts and they do such a great job!  Katie is really patient and kind, which is super important for people like me who don't do a lot of filming.  She made me feel at ease and like I was sharing techniques with a friend in the comfort of my own home and not in a studio with a group of people watching me and cameras trained at my every move.

Even though the show is only half an hour long, we crammed a lot in!  I went over how to make your own silicone molds, work with fast-cast resin, finishing your resin pieces, and incorporating them into really cool bezels from TierraCast.

When you're filming a show, even if you've done something a thousand times, things can go awry.  It's not live TV, so there is some room for forgiveness, but just like with any business, time is money and the longer a shoot goes, the more expensive it gets.  So the goal is to keep the takes to a minimum.

I think things went well, but the hypercritical part of my brain sent up a half dozen red flags after I finished... thinking of where I could have phrased things differently or talked about something else or not said something.  Again, it comes with my inexperience with being on film.  Eventually you kind of just have to let go of that and just let it be what it is.  I imagine that the more one does it, the more leeway they give themselves and that preciousness subsides.

Here's a true behind the scenes look at the set.  When you see the show, it's easy to forget what goes on off camera.  There are cameras and (LOTS) of lights, and a bunch of cords and equipment that make the show possible.

All of the process that goes into making a TV show can be a little intimidating, but luckily I was in good hands and the topic I covered was something that I have a lot of experience with.  I've been working with resin for about twenty years now.  (Can it really be that long?)  I first encountered resin at a neighbor's garage sale.  During the 80's, she had made big cardboard earrings decorated with pearlescent puffy paint that were coated in resin.  She was getting rid of her supplies and I just so happened to stumble upon them.  I didn't have enough money for everything, so I got what I could and proceeded to knock on her door once a week with my crumbled up dollar bills and loose change. Eventually, I think she got tired of me and gave me the rest.  I'd like to think that she wanted to encourage my creativity, but more likely, it was to get rid of her pesky neighbor kid.

While my mom was encouraging of us doing crafts, she did not like the idea of anything that could make a mess, particularly anything that could make a sticky mess that would never get out of the carpet.  (There may or may not have been an incident with a bottle of Elmer's glue.)  So I had to work in secret and made a makeshift studio in my closet.  In hindsight, that was probably not the best idea, as it's important to have really good ventilation when working with resin.  Ever since then, I've been fascinated with the material and revisit it often.

Here I am in the green room with a pair of earrings that I made.  I'm a smitten kitten with the bezels from TierraCast.  They add such a nice finishing touch to the resin and the backs are decorated, which is great in pieces with a lot of movement where things have a habit of flipping.

  

It was the last day of filming, so most of the other guests had already filmed their segments.  I was lucky though and got to spend some time with Jill MacKay.  I adore her.  She was doing segments on her new line with Sizzix!  

I had a great time and I hope that they ask me to come back!  This experience has encouraged me to do some of my own videos.  I know that I said that last time I was on the show, but I wasn't really in the position to take on a big new project at the time.  Now that I have a little bit more freedom in my schedule, I think it's a perfect time to explore this medium.