What I've been working on

I've been working on inventory for the 4th of July. I'll be on the Liberty House lawn (Seward) again this year....

Notice my little lampworked headpins? I had a bunch made up and had some etched copper pendants. I saw something similar in the Rings&Things catalogue... those headpins are showing up on everything!
Love using carnelian beads...

bracelets, necklaces, earrings and lace. These make me smile. Guess you have to be mid-century to remember these shows. I used ice resin on the TV images. Wild Wild West, Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Greenjeans, The Monkees, Man from U.N.C.L.E., test screens and more!
Add them to whatever your heart desires...
If you're in Seward on the 4th, please stop by and say hello! The Liberty House is on the corner of 5th and Moffitt. Lots of great treasures to be found there!

Creating Outside Of The Box

This is the fairy wand and headpiece I made for an upcoming wedding - a four-year-old will be wearing it. The wedding will take place at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln - an absolutely beautiful setting. I don't usually (ever) work with flowers and ribbons, but the bride trusted me enough to do this for her.

Blessings on your wedding day!

...::~*~:::...

I've also been working on inventory for the 4th of July show - I'll be at the Liberty House in Seward. I'll show pics of some of the things I'm working on as soon as blogger quits giving me error messages...

Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest - Losin' It

This week's Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest photo is from an old postcard. I might have edited it a bit to make the guy a wee bit bald. (Thus the title "losin' it"). Anyway - the contest is simple: make a comment as to what saying/quote/word/etc you think would be perfect for this image. Enter as often as you like, check back to see what everyone else suggested too. On Friday a winner will be chosen and rewarded with a soldered glass pendant with their saying on it. It's fun, it's easy, it's like kissing a bald guy!

This Week's Winner Is Great Uncle Murlin!

This is the keychain that Shara's Great Uncle Murlin will be receiving - After looking at his picture all week, and reviewing the comments I think we all really wish we had a Great Uncle Murlin. He is smart and funny and a snappy dresser. He will be receiving a keychain of himself looking his best.
It was hard to choose a winner knowing that we would be sending GUMurlin a keychain and never wanting to offend. Nomaloke entered with her comment of "I'm the only sane one in the family" and then Shara said "for the record, I am the only sane one in the family" but she was trying to convince us with that statement, not really entering it as a suggestion for a caption. Therefore, I pronounce Nomaloke the winner of this week's contest along with GUMurlin. Did you follow that? So Miss Nomaloke, send me your mailing address and I will send your necklace right out!
I've been a bit delinquent in posting again. The interviewers in my head are back - I'll share those conversations soon. Both my boys are home this week and I am easily distracted by the cinnamon rolls on the counter that have appeared out of my oven. I have been working on pieces for the 4th of July Show at Liberty House and will share some of that soon...after I wipe the frosting off my hands and put on some stretchy pants.

Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest - Great Uncle Murlin

This week's Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest image comes to us from Shara of MonkeyBox (she had a drunken pet monkey as a child) who won last week's contest. This is her Great Uncle Murlin and here's what Shara has to say: "I'm attaching a photo of my Great Uncle Murlin. I think he would be perfect for one of your pendants and I can only imagine what people will think of to say about him. He was Dean of Architecture at U of OK and was a pretty serious guy. But at a party he was funny stuff! (He is still alive despite that fact that I am referring to him in the past tense.) My great grandmother made those crepe paper hats for every party and forced everyone to wear them."

Here, then, is what I'm thinking. Great Uncle Murlin is still alive - right? So - not only will the winner of this week's contest win a pendant, but Great Uncle Murlin is going to receive a lovely keychain with the winning pendant on it. He'll be thrilled! (I hope) So, put on your crepe paper thinking caps and come up with some great captions of this image and enter them all week. Special thanks to Shara who also won the "Blue Ribbon Weiner" pendant last year. She's going to wear it in 'honor' of Congressman Weiner's idiot crotch-photographing behavior.

PS - Does anyone have the directions/pattern for making those crepe-paper hats? I kind of like it!!

PPS - Yes. You know I will colorize that hat before turning it into a pendant...

This Week's Winner - She's A Fast One!

Admit it. You all cracked up when you read Shara's suggestion of "If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast." HILARIOUS! So needless to say, Shara wins this week! Congratulations!! It does seem that Shara wins some of the naughtiest pendants... hmmm... that's why we love you, Shara! Send me your mailing address and I'll send you your necklace. (rachel@twodogpond.com)

I had some fun writing with smoke in Photoshop. I don't know much at all about the program, so I just used the smudgey finger and drug it through the smoke... Scootch thinks Shara is hysterical.... (OK... that's not really Scootch, and I have no idea where I found this picture, but it looks just like her!)

Bada Bing Bada BOOM

I was out of bullets and couldn't finish this bullets and fresh water pearls bracelet until I did a little target practice this morning.
Seriously!? Look how close I can get to the bullseye and yet never hit it....

The raw materials.

This is how far I was from the target - AND - the sun was in my eyes...
The bullet bracelets will be available on the 4th of July at the Antiques and Arts Festival at the Liberty House in Seward. By then I hope to have hit the bullseye at least five times...

Last Week's Necklace Contest Winner - Yo' Momma

Last week's necklace contest was delayed because I burned up my soldering iron - a new one has arrived, and I love it! I just finished soldering last week's winning pendant - Miss Lorelei said "My mama wore combat boots." (I just realized I spelled Momma differently than Lorelei... hope she doesn't mind!) When I first read this comment, I was too slow to realize it is a great honor to say that... So - here's to the women that serve their country wearing combat boots! And here's to you, Miss Lorelei, for suggesting it! E-mail me with your mailing address and I will get your necklace right out. Did you notice that Natalie asked if she could buy one? Here's what the back of hers looks like... It's on the way to you, Miss Natalie! Thank you!

Sometimes I pretend I'm being interviewed for a show... Here's the interview that went on in my head today:

Them: So Rachel, were you able to come up with some inventory for the 4th of July while your soldering iron was MIA?

Me: Yes. Here's my favorite - it's a bullet bracelet.

Them: Did you shoot the gun those came from? Are you some kind of lunatic member of NRA? Did you kill anything while shooting those bullets? Does the wearer need to be aware of what poor animal lost it's life while you were making this bracelet?

Me: Nothing was killed that didn't need to be. With me shooting a pistol, even the target is safe. My aim sucks. The same is not to be said about me with a rifle, however.

Them: You're a nutjob. What else did you do?

Me: I etched this pendant and made this lovely necklace. It features a Hans Christian Anderson Quote: One must have Sunshine, Freedom and a little flower.

Them: Did you shoot at it when you were done?

Me: Shut up.

Me: I also made some lampworked headpins. Nothing spectacular... I just love making them.

Them: You know this interview will never air. You're quite boring and ridiculous.

Me: Thank you. Now get out of my head, pin.

Perhaps I really do spend too much time alone in my studio....

Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest - She's Smokin'

This week I've chosen a sassier picture for the Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest. Do you love it? The contest is simple... if you want to know more, you can read about it off on the sidebar. Make a comment - win a necklace. It's just that easy! What do you think would be the perfect caption for this image? Tell us... please.

AND - good news! One of my new soldering irons just arrived. It's got a built in rheostat! I'll post last week's winner just as soon as I figure out how to run the new iron! Until then, enjoy the Rod Stewart poster....

Out Of Order - Winner Announcement Delayed

I burned up another soldering iron (that makes four) and can't solder for a day or two until the replacements (I've ordered three) show up. My apologies to this week's winner and to all the orders sitting on my desk waiting to be filled!

Soldering Vintage Lace

My friend, Jackie the Peony Princess of Bliss Farm Antiques, is a collector. She has the most beautiful shop and acreage and eye for all things beautiful, especially children. She shops the world to fill her shop with beautiful things. Recently she asked me to make soldered glass pendants out of some handmade vintage lace she bought in France. (she knows I will attempt to solder anything...) They turned out beautiful.

Some have a coppery patina, some a black patina, most I left silver. Jackie also sent a silk hand embroidered cloth from Japan. She told me to cut it up. It took me a couple days to work up the nerve to cut into the fabric. This picture doesn't do the hand work justice. Once Jackie has these, she'll do much better with photographing them. Until then - here's a peek:

Silkscreening Adventures

The "local nephews" raise Bucking Bulls - they brand them with the brand shown above. This week they are taking some bulls (some Nationally Ranked Bulls) to Oklahoma for national competitions. I silkscreened some shirts for one of the families. One of the nephews just had a baby girl - I thought it would be cute to put their brand on the left hip of some onesies. I hope they find this as funny as I do!

I silkscreened some canvas bags that say "Living Life on a Gravel Lane - and loving it" Two Dog Pond. Most of them worked - some are quite blobbely. I've also been making some earrings - OK - lots of earring for the show on the 4th of July...

Look at my fingernails!! Isn't that amazing?! My sister and I had 'shellac manicures' done ten days ago. Holy Cow - I've never had polish last this long....

Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest - Flag Boy

This week's Two Dog Pond Necklace Contest image has been greatly influenced by a number of things. The biggest? YIKES! It's less than a month until the 4th of July and I live in the 4th of July City (Seward, Nebraska) and that means that it's my biggest sale day of the year and I'm not ready not one little bit and I don't have a new 4th of July pendant made for this year yet. Oh - I hope my stress isn't showing.... anyway - this is the image I chose for this week's necklace contest. You come up with a clever saying for the back and make your comments here. On Friday a winner will be chosen and presented with a soldered glass pendant on a 24" chain.

Honestly - I have been doing more than just this contest - I just haven't been posting much. Perhaps that's a goal for this week....show you the silkscreening projects and the etching projects and the bugs in the garden I've been tackling...

This Week's Winner - Beatle Fan!

Such a great song... perfect for a puppy in distress. Congratulations go to Miss Natalie for winning this week's necklace contest. She submitted "I get by with a little help from my friends" by the Beatles. There were three or four other quotes that were so close to winning. You all rock, but Natalie wins. Send me your address, Miss Natalie. I think you know the routine!
Have a great weekend.