Monday, April 28, 2008

Let The Sun Shine.....





















It was supposed to rain all day but it looks like the sun won the battle. We are definitely back to more Spring like weather. The lawn actually got mowed over the weekend.

Have you ever heard of shrink plastic (shrinky dinks)? This has been my diversion lately when I need a little break from wire wrapping and glass. I forgot how much fun it is and the kids, especially my youngest, is fascinated by it. Of course you realize what I end up making with it..........I just can't help myself......jewelry no matter what it is made from, is FUN!!!! Somewhere along the way that shrink stuff (we used to use the lids off liver containers, when I was a kid) kind of grew up, a little. Also instead of using an oven to shrink them you can use a heat gun which is kind of a bonus sort of fun and gives you a little more control over the finished product. I don't have any pictures yet of the goodies but I should have something up by the end of the week.

In the meantime more wire, of course. Rings are my addiction. I've had a fascination with them since I was a kid. They are the piece of jewelry that I can't get enough of. I love to make them and wear them, especially if they attract attention. The "Flight Of The Butterfly" ring above is up on Etsy. I have one that I wear and another up on Ebay. None are alike and that's the charm of making these rings. They are my own design and each and every one is different.

The cross up above is for my guy. He picked the charms that are on it. I just need to put it on a piece of black leather and it's good to go. He can hardly wait. Thanks to Iza for the inspiration.

Funny, just writing in my blog makes me want to go create more stuff........

See ya later alligator!!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Glass Issues......




I've been making some vessels over the last few days and apparently there seems to be a compatibility issue. I know that the glass is all the right COE but for some reason I keep getting cracks. I'm thinking that it may have to do with the clear I'm using and a combination of some of the newer colors I bought a couple of months ago. I've never had this issue so I'm going to try combining the older colors with the clear and see what happens.

Of course this gives me even more of a reason to continue my work with the wire. I went digging through some of my older work from a few years ago and BOY did I find some inspiration. It really makes me feel good about what I'm doing these days and I wonder what I found so hard about it at the beginning. Well it could be that I've had LOTS of practice over the last few years(ya think!).

I can remember trying to do some things and finding it difficult and putting it away for weeks/months/years, then coming back to it and wondering what the heck was so difficult in the first place. It's like a certain synapse isn't working and then all of the sudden it kicks in, go figure.

The weather is back to a more Springish feel, YEAH!!! I'm really not fond of colder weather. I have lots of family down in California and every once in a while I toy with the idea of heading that way, but for now the kids love there schools and I love the neighborhood, so I'll just have to live with the cooler weather, for now.

Hope you're all having a nice evening.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Just When I Thought Winter Was Over......






We get another 5" of snow over the weekend. Fortunately it's mostly gone today but it's still in the 30's. Last Saturday we had a 70 degree day. Talk about a rude awakening. How bizarre to look out and see the plum & asian pear trees, that are blooming,
covered in snow.

You can see by some of my pic's that I'm really groovin in the wire wrapping department. I can't tell you how much fun it is. I'm still lampworking too and will have some new aromatherapy vessels up today or tomorrow on Ebay.

Right now I'm working with mostly copper wire for my projects but I do have some sterling and gold fill around that I'm going to start playing with soon. Also I made the SRAJD (Self Representing Artist In Jewelry Design) list. My #1515. Woo hoo!! I have to say that one of my favorite things to make is rings. I've always had a thing for finger Art, especially if it's stand out & unique. I'm looking into going back to teaching more classes at Ben Franklin and will probably start with a basic wire ring. A kind of Wire Wrapping 101 type class. I'm working on my first tutorial too, which will be very basic. Kind of a dry run to see what's involved and how long it will take. I'm pretty sure that I have the basics down (I have plenty of examples to learn from) and am looking forward to actually having one in "print". I'll keep you posted!

I hope you're all enjoying your Sunday and having warmer weather than me.
Take care....

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Making Plans






























I was on a roll and then I got a little off track. I can actually say that it wasn't my fault this time (most if the time it is). Now with this little drama out of the way I'm back to the jewelry....YEAH!!! The weather is on the upswing again after spending all last weekend snowing???

As you can see by my latest work, wire has become my THING! I still love to lampwork too but the prep time is a little longer which makes picking up the wire much easier. I'm really working on trying to finish the projects that I start. I usually have not less than 3-5 projects going at once but as soon as I realize I'm starting another (hey, it just happens when the ideas are flowing so fast) I stop myself and backtrack to finishing the first ones. I've had a couple of prototypes in the works. One turned out fairly well, but not as eye catching as I would like and the other is way prettier but not functional as a piece of jewelry. I'm working to find something as eye catching and functional in the same piece. I'll get some pictures for you when I come up with the "perfect" one, with a progression of how I arrived at that point.

For now I have some wire calling.

I hope you're all having somewhat of a Spring day!