Objects and Elements – New Blog, New Design Team

May 17, 2009 by Vikram Goyal

Art Jewelers Susan Lenart Kazmer and her business partner Linda Larsen ; owners of Objects and Elements webstore, have been busy the last few months. They’ve been updating the store with all kinds of unique goodies you won’t find anywhere else like Ancient Roman Glass beads, antique African Dougan, unique bezel settings and cast bronze Ammonites .

I’m a big fan of ICE resin and it’s what I use in my jewelry work. You can buy that online at the Objects & Elements store . There is also lots of unique bezels, fibers, resin molds and tools for your art jewelry making needs.

In addition to searching out great jewelrymaking supplies, they have just revealed a new blog and a new Objects and Elements Design Team.

The Objects and Elements blog has just gone live and will soon have lots of content such as jewelry by Susan Lenart Kazmer and Linda Larsen, design team jewelry inspirations, updates on new store items, guest artist features, reader challenges and more. You don’t want to miss out on any of the fun, so be sure to add the RSS feed to your blog links or add to bloglines or Google Reader

I am extremely happy to announce that I am on the Objects and Elements Design team. The other Design Team members are: Jen Cushman, Deryn Mentock, Kristen Robinson, and Jane Salley . In the coming weeks, you’ll be able to see the design teams creations on the new Objects and Elements Blog. The team wil be creating some lovely projects using the amazing supplies from the Objects & Elements store, along with various found objects, beads, wire, etc… to inspire you to create your own unique jewelry.

If you are unfamiliar with Susan and her work, please check out her amazing jewelry work, check out her blog , get her book “Making Connection” or look at her workshop schedule to take a class with her.

Have you read?

Book Review: The Festival of Lights

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.