Love Affair with Mah Jongg

Playing mah jongg is one of my favorite past times and I play regularly twice a week with two different groups of women many of whom I taught how to play.  It is a game of skill and chance and really keeps the brain active.  My mom played all her adult life and I have fond memories of the ladies coming over to our house in Cleveland, Ohio every month when the weekly game rotated and it was my mom's turn to host.  I remember her setting out the bridge mix.  Maybe there were cocktails or coffee - that I don't remember because it was the bridge mix I had my eye on...especially those chews.  But what I most remember was lying in my bed and feeling so safe and secure listening to the clickety clack of the tiles and the soothing sounds of the ladies, in the near by dining room, calling out their discards..."one bam, two crack, green" as I eased into a peaceful sleep.  Mom, I hope you're enjoying playing mah jongg with all your long time buddies and really cleaning up on the coin up there.  One day I'll be up there joining you. 

And as synchronicity would have it, Cleveland just hosted Project Mah Jongg, the first exhibition of its kind - taking visitors on an exploration of the game's cultural meanings through sight, sound, text and play.  

Click HERE, to watch the original documentary short called: 

MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU:  CLEVELAND'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH MAH JONG

Use the password:  mj

In honor of my love of mah jongg, I have created two necklaces featuring a mah jongg tile as the focal.

This necklace is made with vintage sari ribbons and sterling silver findings.

This second necklace is made with bronze chain, bronze wire and both glass and semiprecious beads.  

I twisted several sari ribbons together.  I hand formed the center ring and the closure form 14 gauge sterling.  I drilled through the maj jongg tile with a diamond drill bit.

Vintage glass and semiprecious beads hang from the bottom of the maj tile.
Who's your #1?

To secure the sari ribbons, I added a sterling wire wrap and semi precious beads on one side of the necklace. 

I made a triangular closure with bronze and soldered it closed.  The mah jongg tile acts as the toggle.

I love maj jongg and jewelry making!

Handcrafted Bronze Bracelet

Handcrafted Bronze Bracelet, a photo by jpbeth on Flickr.

This was a fun project incorporating a bunch of metal smithing techniques. I started with a piece of bronze sheet which I metal etched. I drilled a hole in both the flower and the bronze sheet and attached them with a little screw and nut. Drilled four more holes in the bronze, two on each side. I annealed the metal to get soften it, formed in around a mandrel and then work hardened it. I made my own jump rings and soldered them closed and attached everything with wire wrapped green turquoise beads. I patined the whole thing with several different methods. The hand made bronze closure can fit into any of the four jump rings to fit any size wrist.

MOLAA Event

The MOLAA (Museum of Latin American Art) artisan fair and fundraiser held this past Sunday April 22, 2012 at the Long Beach residence of Susan Taylor was a big success.  In addition to each artist contributing a percentage of their sales to MOLAA, quite a bit was generated from the the sale of raffle tickets for original paintings and giclees.  The funds, which had previously been provided but subsequently cut from the public school budgets, will be used to expose students to museum exhibits and workshops.  For every $25 donated, three students will get to be exposed to MOLAA.  Good work and thank you my friend Linda Varela Oldenburg for all your hard work as the chairperson of the MOLAA docent guild and the organizer for this event.  

Beth Marx wearing her original earrings, necklace and nuno felted shawl.

Beth peeking out from behind her table filled with nuno felted goods, hand made jewelry and art cards featuring her original photography.

Linda Varela Oldenburg - Chairperson of the MOLAA docent guild

Setting up the event in the backyard

Thank you my friend Denise for making a purchase from me.

It was a joy to listen to the Rodriguez family performing Bolivian folk music.

I love metal smithing

I don't know what was more fun, making the jewelry or making the collage in Photoshop.  But I do know that I love metal smithing...oh, love playing in Photoshop too.


This fun, funky necklace and earrings feature hand-made metal etched bead caps, green magnestie beads, lemon chrysoprase wire wrapped dangles, bronze and silver wire and deer skin leather. 


I taught myself how to metal etch.  It's easy really.  I first stamped a piece of bronze sheet metal with rubber stamps using permanment Stazon ink which you can buy at any craft's store like Michael's.  You use duct tape to protect one side of the metal and then basically float the exposed side of the metal in the etching solution, which you can buy at Radio Shack, which I poured into a shallow rectangular plastic storage container.  Needless to say, this container will only be used for metal etching.  You leave the metal in the solution for about 1 hour.  Then you rinse it and neutralize it in baking soda and voila...hand etched metal. 


Using my handy dandy disk cutter, I cut out circles from the etched metal.  I then drilled them and formed them on the dapping block that Joe bought me for my birthday (oh, how did he know!).  The ear wires are made from 20 gauge sterling silver - learned how to do that in Deryn's awesome earring class. The necklace has a focal similar to the earrings attached to a large bronze jump ring that I soldered closed. The magnesite beads are wire wrapped with bronze and connect to a bronze double ball hook and eye front closure. Deer skin leather forms the back of the necklace and connects to the beads with 22 gauge bronze wire that I balled on both ends, flattened with the chasing hammer and annealed to soften before I wrapped it around the leather.

Close up of the hand made jump ring, wire wrapped magnesite beads and focal

Double balled hook and eye.  And fun, funky wrap on the deer skin leather.

Rustic Rhinestone

I just finished a new fun, funky, asymmetrical, long necklace using some of the closure techniques that I've learned, in Deryn Mentock's Art of Closure on-line class, including jump rings (which I soldered closed), a beaded toggle clasp and rhinestone chain crimp ends.  I added some sari ribbon which I've attached with rustic wraps made by first hammering the wire flat, drawing a bead on both ends with the torch and annealing the wire to get it soft.  I then did a funky wrap and twisted the balled ends together.  I have used bronze wire for the wire wrapping and the closures and have also strung some of the beads on beading wire and attached with crimps, some with sterling crimp covers which I patined to darken them up. 

This was a lot of fun to make and it reminds me of a fun, circus type lively necklace in purples, pinks and greens with the fun rhinestones, funky beads along with the semi precious beads enhanced with the green/purple sari ribbon.

Hand made bronze beaded toggle clasp

Fun dangles hang from the centerpiece which features a funky, purple crystal bead

Rhinestone chain and sari ribbon attached to a green crystal bead with hand made bronze wire crimps and wraps

molaa - Spring Artisan Fair & Fundraiser

To my Long Beach, Orange Cty and LA friends and friends of friends:  
You are invited to a artisan fair sponsored by molaa (Museum of Latin American Art), next Sunday April 22nd from noon-4, where there will be about 20 artists showing and selling their wares.  I will be there with my jewelry, felted goods and art cards.  6215 "E. 6th St.  (in the area called the Hole right off of 7th St. before the 22 Freeway).  Feel free to post this on your FB or Twitter pages.  Thanks always for your support of my handmade goods.
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