Piling It On

I thought I would try my hand at making a gif file and showing you some of the necklaces I've been working on at the same time. Whee!
If you want to learn how to make an animated gif, go to Jill Ruth & Co. here. 
Now quit watching mine or you'll have a seizure!!

Leather Cuffs

I'm working on some jewelry for Gatherings. They have a show this weekend and while no one will know these were made by me, I'm going to post them here so you do.

So far, these are my favorite pieces. I used a vintage tooled leather belt, some sterling silver bracelet pieces, vintage metal coasters (for the ends of the cuffs) and some elfin bolts.

Spring Fling on Saturday

 Saturday, March 16th I will be at the Liberty House in Seward for the 11th Annual Anniversary Sale - The Spring Fling. The sale is from 10-5.

 I've made some new jewelry...

...including a stack of bracelets.

Come see me!  

I'll be joined by "Franny and her Rag Dolls". I haven't seen them, but hear they are quite delightful!

A Few New Things

 Off On An Adventure - available here.

 Love is Enough. Available here.

Flight. Available here.

bloom

 

 Sister Bee was snowed in here at Two Dog Pond with me. There was about 5 inches of snow - just enough to claim we couldn't get out of our pj's much less the house. We decided to make some paper roses out of old sheet music - the kind of paper with lots of cotton in it.

 

 We took the dogs for a walk right before the snow and cut some forsythia and pussy willow branches. I've had them in water since Sister Bee left and they are now starting to bloom. That makes me feel better. I am getting a wee bit tired of Winter and Wind.

 My seeds arrived from the Burpee Seed Company and are starting to grow. That helps me breathe - did I mention I'm tired of Winter?

  ongoing blooms in our home are the Christmas Cactus (it doesn't know when to stop) the Hibiscus (takes a little rest in the winter, but it's back) and the orchid.  Yes. I need growing things around me...

Miss Mady found my camera - she appears a bit tired of Winter too - 

Here's hoping Spring is around the corner (right after the snow this coming weekend...) we could all use it and then maybe I'll be motivated to blog about what I've been making in the studio.

Turquoise Love

 Part of what I do is make jewelry for other retailers. My Hooker friend, Judy, has the Largest collection of turquoise ever. She brought over a giant jar and said "make whatever you want, and please use some of the giant turquoise hearts". So - I did. Even using all that turquoise - there is still 10 times more left in the jar!

I've also been remodeling and rearranging my shop - here's what things are looking like.

Bleach and a Snow Day

 If you've ever been to a show where I'm set up, you know that I use table covers that have bleach designs on them. A couple years ago I went nuts drawing with bleach on everything! Today is a snow day. My plans were cancelled so I decided to have some fun. After I took a nap. So - here's a tutorial on how to make your own bleach designs....

 Put some cardboard inside your t-shirt to make it a nice tight canvas. 

Fill a syringe (or a craft-store alternative) with a gel bleach. I use Soft Scrub.

 Start doodling (unless you have a definite design in mind.)

Below shows how I hold the syringe. Keep the needle away from your eyeballs.

 doodle some more....

 ...and some more...

 eat some lunch and when you come back your design appears!

 Originally I was going to just draw on the side like below...

 But, it's a snow day and I kept doodling. Perhaps it's overkill, but I like it.

Another Bug Cuff

This weekend I bought an iPad thinking it would be great for taking photos and blogging on one item. I thought it would be great for etsy and Facebook too... We'll see! Meanwhile I finished this bug cuff. 

If anyone has pointers on posting from an iPad I would love to hear them! 

Eventually...

 these become these...

 another of these:

 this is a custom order piece...

eventually.

Working On A Chain, Gang

After taking Stephanie Lee's Essentials of Metalworking class, I've been making lots of chains and pendants and am now putting them together.

I love the rusticness of it all.

This is a little shrine-like bezel I made. I wanted it to look like there were little flowers at the bottom. I'll keep working on that.

A rough little fresh water pearl found it's way into one of my scrappy bezels - added a bead I made and there you go...

Much of what I've been doing involves rough cut stones and rosary-style chains like this flourite necklace I finished yesterday.

got it.

Here's a quick peek at some of the custom orders I did this season...

These two necklaces were favorites of mine. Particularly those giant diamonds in little pipe bezels!

Here's a couple of 'belt loop clips' I made for some little boys. Isn't that a fun idea (not mine - the customer's)

Yes. I glittered my head off this year. I had so much glitter stuck to me, I looked like an old-stripper.

Hey.

Maybe it's one of those "use it or lose it" situations... I can't upload pics. Since I'm pretty sure no 'reads' my blog for my infinite wisdom, I'll wait to post again until I can go back to illustrating what I'm trying to say. PS happy new year.