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!!!

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.

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....

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!

Wrapped Up In Wire

I'm so hooked it's not funny & there is so much inspiration on Etsy that there are times when I spend more time looking than making! That, of course, is going to have to stop. The looking that is!! I'm shaping, pounding, and wrapping as often as I can and the ideas are flowing. I'm still doing lampwork too and trying to make some things that I can incorporate into my wire obsession.

The kids will be on Spring Break in a couple more weeks. Although I've never understood why our school district never has it right after Easter. I hope the weather warms up a bit more before then. We had a nice spread of some Spring like sun, but it seems we have reverted back to the cold rain and frost in the morning.

Easter was nice, we didn't do anything except watch movies (I worked on jewelry) all day. I highly recommend Tin Man. I think it was a Sci-Fi channel original mini-series. It's out on DVD now and is about 6 hours (3 parts). A very cool version of The Wizard Of OZ. Perfect for the fantasy lovers out there. I Am Legend is also really good! An edge of your seat thriller, especially if you like Will Smith. Enough of my movie reviews. I've got a hot kiln waiting for me.

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Some New Work

I've been wire working mostly but am able to squeeze in some lampworking too. I love doing both but the glass requires a little more prep work and takes away attention from my 5 year old, which he doesn't appreciate. The wire work I can do while he's sitting with me. I'll be registering him for school within the next couple of weeks. I can hardly believe it!!!

I'm now a proud member of the Wire Artisans Guild! What a thrill! Here's a link to the blog http://www.thewireartisansguild.blogspot.com take a peek when you can. You get to see a fantastic array of work from a bunch of talented artists! The theme for this week is Magic, picked by me. The moon earrings were my entry for last weeks Nocturnal theme. I missed the week before that. Just too much going on.

Our truck was broken into today in the Fred Meyers parking lot. What a shock and total bummer. We were in the store for 20-30 minutes and according to the police this is now a common occurance in our area with all of the growth going on. We lost some tools and a few other things........man did it suck!!!

The kids don't have school tomorrow due to a teacher in service day so it will be a nice day with the boys.

Off to tuck them in. Have a wonderful evening!

Breathing Easier....

I accomplished quite a few things this last week, but not all of what I would have liked. Between taxes, broken automobiles, sick kids (big & small alike) & internet problems, I have finally gotten everything back to a semi-smooth running basis. I didn't get my Challenge project done :( but I'm working on quite a few new things and the next Challenge is "Nocturnal". I have 2 ideas for this one and will be sketching them out when I'm done posting.

There's still quite a few of my lampwork items to be listed sometime this week and a request I need to work on it that area too. It should be a lot of fun to see how it turns out.

Everyone, in general, seems to be in a pretty good mood. Spring is in the air and I think we are all looking forward to it. I'm sooooo in the mood to create. Have I mentioned that my 5 year old is a total crafter. The only problem is that he wants to do all of the things he's not quite coordinated enough to do. We are working on that and Michael's is have a sort of craft open house next Saturday. I'm going to take him and see if any of the other boys are interested. It should be fun. You can check it out, I guess all of the stores are supposed to be doing it www.michaels.com/theknack. It looks like a lot of fun.

Time for me to run and sketch these designs before I forget them.

Sleep tight!

Yes!!!

I have been busy, busy, busy!! I'm finally starting to accomplish some things I've been wanting to do for awhile and it feels, sooooo gooooood!!!

The first picture is of my Challenge item for the Tree theme at Etsy. It was fun to make and really got me thinking/creating even more things (in my head). I can hardly wait for the next Challenge. I'm back to doing glass too, though not as regularly as I would like but at least it's a start. I've been keeping a note book with all of the ideas that keep popping into my head and wonder how I will ever complete them all. The wire ideas have been going on for a long time, it was just finding the time and motivation to get started. The only bad thing now is that I have wire, cutters, pliers, ball peen hammers, and the like laying all over the house so I can work anytime I have a minute or three.

I hope you enjoy the new stuff check back often for more frequent updates. I promise to try harder!! ; )

Do You Believe??

Do you believe that you can change anything in your life just by changing your thoughts?? It's true, whether you want to believe it or not. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have. Things have been changing a lot for me in the last month or so.

With that said......my art is really beginning to take hold for me personally. I'm enjoying creating soooo much that I can hardly leave it alone and have been spending as much free time as possible creating new things. I even joined a group of wire artists on Etsy for their Challenges, to keep me on my creative toes. In addition to that, the boys and I are hooked on making window clings. It's a kit from Klutz and we love it. I got some more supplies for it about 2 weeks ago and I now need to order more. My windows are quickly filling with wonderful designs made by everyone.

I should be back to posting pictures within the next few days. The weather is warming up and Spring is in the air. Don't forget that Daylight Savings begins next weekend.

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Well, What Do You Know.....

I whole month got away from me before I got around to posting again. I think this is kind of the slow part of Winter for me. I've had enough of the cold and am yearning for Spring. The kids have missed a couple of days of school and the flu is going around. My honey is working out of town during the week and I'm trying to drop a pound or 2 before Summer gets here.

I'm working on expanding my jewelry making & lampworking skills and haven't had much to post these days.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, which really doesn't make much of a difference to me one way or the other. Jim & I are both hunkered in front of the computer and the kids are playing video games. It's one of "those day" where we're all just passing time until tomorrow.

Hope your having a nice weekend.

Renewed Energy!!!

I'm feeling like I have a lot of renewed energy these days.

New Year's Eve was great! We spent it with my sister Cheron, her girlfriend Jessie my niece and her friend. The kids ended up on the Wii most of the evening. It was interesting to see my niece. She has the goth look going on right now. My oldest son, Dakota, looked totally shocked when he saw her but the Wii was a great ice breaker and they got along great. The girl has balls of brass and took the ribbing well, over her new look.

The kids eased back into school this week with only 2 days, which was nice. They are quickly approaching the middle of the year and that means I'll be registering my "baby" for kindergarten shortly.

The weather here has been wild and windy, to say the least. Thankfully there hasn't been anymore snow and even with the wind, the power has stayed on for the most part.

A new year has meant me reorganizing my time and how I spend it. This will be a great help in me getting more done (hopefully). 2008 is going to be much better in so many more ways than 2007.

On the art front I have a couple of new things on ebay. I'm redoing what and how I list things on my other ebay and actually contemplated opening a store until I saw that they double the fees in some things, so in the long run I think it evens out......anyway........no store for the moment.

I'm also going to work on increasing my exposure in all of my artistic arenas.

That's it for now.......

A Sigh Of Relief........

Our puppy made out good from Santa!

All the decorations are down (except for the cool live wreath) and things are returning to normal. Christmas was a lot of fun and the kids got to make Gingerbread cookies which was a total blast. The last minute rush is what gets to me the most and I'm so relieved when it's over.......I know, that if I didn't wait until the last minute it wouldn't be that way......next year......I will plan better.......

Zack is home from the hospital and doing much better although a complete recovery is going to take a few weeks. Having been a very active kid before the infection that is probably going to be the hardest thing for him, staying off of his feet for awhile.

I haven't had a chance to get back to the torch yet but, hope to within the next couple of days. More rings are in the works. Both glass and metal. I also got some new metal smithing toys for Christmas, and am chomping at the bit to try those out.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to the coming New Year. We have already started our new years (life) resolutions early. We just didn't see any reason to wait until then, since it's for the better.

All done!

Prayers For Zack

My friends son has a bacterial infection that's so bad it put him in the hospital. He's going to be in for at least the rest of the week while they try and figure out which antibiotic to put him on and make sure it doesn't come back. What started as a pain in his ankle (thought it was a sprain), turned into a fever and vomiting (thought it was the flu) and then him screaming about the pain in his leg. At his second Dr. appointment they finally told the parents to take him to the ER. I took her other 2 (kids) for the day and night. She has great kids who happen to be great friends with my boys. And I think She and I are kindred spirits. She has been run through the ringer and the ringer isn't over yet. The scariest part about all of this, is that they just don't know how these kinds of infections get started. The aren't contagious and just seem to happen at random and they are serious enough to kill someone. Zack we are praying for you to get better soon!!

I did squeeze in a little time at the torch this afternoon. The boys started Winter break with a half day today but it didn't take long for them to interrupt me a half dozen times while I was torching. That cut my session short, while I looked for the duck tape (kidding). The chilly pouring rain and wind didn't help. They are getting pretty excited as we approach the home stretch of the Christmas countdown (EEEEEK!!!). I'm still not quite ready but I'm working on it.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to head out with my Mom but we haven't confirmed it yet. Maybe I'll be able to finish up...........

A couple of pictures of auctions starting tomorrow night.

Have a good one!

The Stress

Of Christms coming is really kind of funny. The kids look forward to it and most of the adults can hardly wait for it to get over (me included). This year I'm a little less stressed, even though we have less money (thanks to my ex) but I'm really excited for the kids. We bought a couple of cool things that they are really going to love, so I think getting a little less this year won't be noticed.

I braved the crowds today to get a tumbler that I've needed for quite a while. Harbor Freight has them on sale and I have to say that while it's not my favorite store to go to. It does have lots of goodies for artists of all kinds. I have 2 butterfly necklaces that I have been holding off selling for a few months because I think that they could use a little tumble to harden the silver a little and shine things up. I'm rather proud of these two pieces and entered one of the in the FMG contest but unfortunately I missed the deadline (have I mentioned that I procrastinate a bit sometimes?). They have a new contest going but I don't know if I want to try and enter is again. I'll see how I feel after a good tumble. I did, however, forget to get stainless steel shot for it so that will have to wait until later in the week.

I have 8 glass rings waiting to be cleaned. I'm really liking them. Especially the frogs. They are a lot of fun to make. The ladies are too but there's just something about those little froggies. I also tried to do a man ring too. I think he turned out pretty well, right down to his.......hmmm......jewels.

The ornaments I'm going to continue making throughout the year. The are fun and not particularly Christmas themed. I think they would work great for Spring too, because of the flowers.

The boys have a day and a half of school to go and then they are out for a 2 week winter break. I always look forward to this because is means we are almost half way through the school year. Boy is time flying!!

That's it for now.

A Note.....

I was going to start this out with a rant/note on deadbeat Dads........but I think that in the end Karma will catch up with them.........moving on.........

Rings have been a thing for me for as long as I can remember. I love rings in general but particularly unique, cool, out of the ordinary rings. I have gone back to lampworking rings and boy did I forget what fun I've been missing out on. Frogs and the female form. Maybe a flower or two. The down side is that I need to get more mandrels. I only have 4 and they range in size from 6 to 11-1/2. I'm going to have to pick up a few more after Christmas. In the meantime I try to make 4 a day which is difficult with Christmas fast on my *ss. I'm still perfecting things so of the 4 usually two are worth putting up for sale. Still I can't complain it's really a blast and I love the attention I get when I wear a frog ring.

I started Christmas shopping today. I told my Mom that I was getting a "jump" on things and she reminded me that getting a jump on things would have been a month ago.....oh well. I hope to be done before the end of next week, if not sooner.

I'm still looking forward to Christmas but, I'm trying to simplify it and not get so stressed over the whole thing (dead beat Dads do not help with this). No matter what, the kids are always happy and have a wonderful time. So I'm trying to "flow downstream" which helps a lot but is also a new learning experience. Remember the book I told you about....Ask & It Is Given (Jerry & Esther Hicks).....if you read it you'll understand. It helps a ton, in that, I don't lay awake at night worrying about everything but I still have a lot of work to do to reach the desired goal.

Anyway enough for tonight. Check out some new auctions (Rings) on Ebay and I finally got those ornaments listed.

Enjoy your night!

A Couple Of Ornaments.....

Should be up for auction later today. The one I did in white I ended up chalking and I'm not really pleased with the results. That one will end up on my tree. But I do have 2 that I think turned out quite nicely and those will be up for auction later today. I still have a few more in the works but those are my night time projects. I've been messing with the glass during the morning hours and will be listing some cool frog rings and a few more beadies either today or tomorrow.

Lots to do today. Have a good one & stay warm!!!

And More Snow.......

We are being hit again with the white stuff. It's just a light dusting right now & looks to be slowing down. I'm hoping that will be it for the day. With only a little over a week until Winter Break I'm hoping we don't get enough to keep them out of school. Alternate bus routes also keep them home but those days they don't have to make up at the end of the year. Since we are on a hill it's not possible for me to drive them to the alternate stop when the roads are snowy/icy.

I've been working a little here and there on lampwork, ornaments & jewelry. Yesterday I worked mostly on getting a spot cleared for the Christmas Tree. The boys can hardly wait! They picked out the tree yesterday and it's now waiting on our deck for it's esteemed spot in the house and to be decorated.

Christmas is quickly sneaking up, with only a couple of more weeks to go. You can feel the tension/excitement in the kids mounting by the day. I still have a bit of shopping to do, but have lists to work off of, which helps a lot.

Do you like the sampling of ornaments?

Enjoy your Sunday!

Hibiscus & A Ring

My flower bloomed. Isn't it pretty! I love hibiscus and have a couple of ornaments made with a hibiscus theme. I also finished another ring. This one with peruvian opal and lavender pearls. I really like the copper but I do have some sterling around and might try a couple in that, maybe with some bone faces.

Tonight is book club. The book we read is The Skeeter Daddle Diaries~Reflections of a South End Nettle Farmer. A funny book with bits and pieces of one of the local (Camano Island) artist. This is a hard to find book if you decide to look for it. The author is Jack Archibald. A good read and my copy is autographed, Thanks Auntie!!!

Today I started making room for a Christmas Tree. We are going to be getting one this weekend. This is probably the last year we will buy a real tree. I'm ready to go with a "fakie" for convience, time, $$ and the hoard of pine needles that don't shed all over the floor. We will be checking those clearance sales after the 25th.

I'm really looking forward to the end of the week. It seemed to be a long one.......

Stormy Weather.......And More

Stormy weather. So far, so good, we haven't lost power & things seem to be calming down a little but I hear another round is coming. School was normal so the kids were bummed, plus the snow was, pretty much, completely gone since it was 54 degrees this morning and actually stayed pretty mild all day.

Happy Birthday to Brandy today. She's 19. I can hardly believe it!

A couple of Tassel Ladies up on Ebay too. I didn't have a chance to list anything else yet but hopefully I won't have any running around to do tomorrow, outside of the house that is.

I hope you're all having a great Monday!!

See ya tomorrow!

Snow!!!

What a way to start December. We got about 6 inches of snow!! It's a slushy mess now but the kids thought it was fun while it lasted. They are now hoping that they will have a delayed school day tomorrow but I told them not to get their hopes up because it looks like the snow will be mostly gone by tomorrow and then a wind storm is moving in, happy day (not). I would almost prefer the snow over the wind but I'm happy if the power doesn't go out for a long period of time. I really am a modern day girl who prefers electricity to darkness. We do have a wonderful wood stove for heat though so that makes things much nicer in the Winter.

I'm chalking my ornament and am really pleased with the results. I now have to figure out how to seal it and not get the sealer on the glass. I'm working on some more for Ebay & Etsy. I don't know what it is about Hibiscus but I really love them. Since I don't live in a tropical area but I would love to, if the opportunity ever comes along. I keep a plant in my bedroom and it does wonderfully because of all the light. I'll take a picture of the next flower that blooms, which should be in a day or two.

I also have some of my Tassel Babes ready to go up for auction. I don't know what people will think but I love them!!! I haven't seen anything quite like them and it's always cool to think that I might have come up with a totally original design.

Time for bed. Have a relaxing Sunday evening.