Beauty For Ashes

More rings.  I just finished 5 more and they are the sweetest little things ever.  I can’t wait to get them to my friend!
Kayaking - we have enjoyed it as a family in the past and thought since our babes are getting a little older and we have all these terrific bodies of water we should float, paddle, swim and enjoy them.  We bought 2 kayakes and figured there is enough room each for an adult, kid and dog or picnik basket.  We are really looking forward to Sparks Lake this summer.
 
It’s soccer season and we are having so much fun!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

I’m sorry I haven’t posted much.  I have been so busy with life but I did want to pause for a moment and share with you what I have been up to.  My metals class started up again today.  It was the first in the metal surfaces series and I am very excited about it.  In addition, there is going to be a students art show in a couple of weeks that I am jazzed about.  I am hoping to have some of my pieces juried and maybe they will be accepted for the show.  So without further adieu, here is what I’ve been doing.
 
The stone has not actually been set yet but here is pretty much what it will look like when I’m finished.  This was my first successful lost wax cast piece.  It’s made of sterling silver with a London blue topaz for the stone.  I am very excited to wear this baby around.  I learned so much and have a number of new ideas floating through my brain for next time.

Next up is some miniature rings that I are for sale.  They are meant to be worn on a chain around your neck.  They measure 1/4″ high and 1/2″ in diameter and are made out of sterling silver.  I have had so many comments on them and just love that I am wearing my kids names in a unique way around my neck. 
Aren’t they adorable.  I am selling them for $23.

Okay, so there’s more. 

This is one of my all time favorite pieces to wear.  The color in the center is a beautiful peacock blue.  The pendant is made of 2 domed discs fastened together with a fine silver ball.  The bottom disc is made of sterling silver and the top disc is made of enameled copper.
 
I took some photos of some poppies last summer, I think maybe I posted them here for you to see.  Anyway, I took the photos and etched them onto copper.  I had several and have done a couple of different things with them.  This one has clear eneamel over the top and is suspended on a ribbon to make a nice pendant.  The one below has a lovely green patina and is mounted on a piece of sterling silver.  The links for the bracelet are made from square sterling silver wire and are shaped into 3 different diameter cirles.  I love the way it looks and can’t wait to wear it with a pretty sun dress when the weather warms up a bit.
 

So creatively, that is what I’ve been up to.  I love working with metal and am astounded at what can be done to create something beautiful with it.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.  If you want to see more take a peak at my flickr sight.  I always try to update it periodically with this and that.

If you are interest in my miniature rings, please feel free to email me.

What have I been up to lately you ask? Well, a little of this and a little of that. The pendant above is one I just completed yesterday. I am thrilled with it. It is made from a domed silver disc paired with a domed copper disc that has been enameled with peacock blue enamel. The little “stamen” in the middle is made from a fine silver ball. I think it is terrific and quite striking really. It is the first of many I’m sure. I have a series using these domed discs floating around in my mind and I’m anxious to get going on it. 

Oh, and don’t let me forget this little treat:
I completed this on Monday and have been wearing it none stop since.  It is a bracelet made of sterling silver and gold filled wire.  It has such a nice weight and makes me feel very feminine and energetic.

I am loving my metal shop classes.  This last weekend I completed an intense enameling class.  It was so very fun and I developed another skill using color on metal.  You all know how I love color.  I am loving the enamels and all the different techniques you can use to create a lovely piece of art work/jewelry. 

Currently I am working on completing a sculpture that I will certainly show you in addition to a lost wax cast ring, a pair of earrings to go with the domed disc pendant as well as a bracelet to complete the set.  I can’t wait to show you how it all turns out. 

This is so fun!!!

We get a snow day today.  Yeah!  My class was cancelled and my kiddies get to stay home.  I decided to let them sleep in so while they were snoozing Abbie and I went out to shovel the sidewalk.  Okay, Abbie just chewed on a pinecone while shoveled.  It took me about 1/2 hour and sweat was pouring off me by the time I was through.  Toward the end of my shoveling, I heard a little voice call out to me.  M was worried that I had left her all alone and was looking high and low.  Of course her worry was put to rest when I told her that she wasn’t going to go to school today.  “So, we get to sled all day today?” she said.  I told her that yes indeed, she could sled off and on all day today.  We have quite a  hill going in the front yard, only to be enhanced by all the snow storms building off the Pacific just waiting to dump beautiful, fluffy white stuff on the mountain and maybe bless us Bendites with some of the extra.  It’s lovely and fun. 

I have a whole list of things to do today since I’m not going anywhere.  I know I’ll probably only accomplish one or two things but I can still dream.  Here’s my list.

Sled with the kids
Do some metal craft
Order some metal supplies so I can complete this lovely bracelet I’m drooling over
Finish reorganizing my closet (we got a new bedroom set so I need to put all my stuff away)
Tidy the house
Vacume everything within reach (Abbie is a wonderful dog but her hair is driving me bananas) 
Make Hot Chocolate
make some phone calls

I could go on but I think I’d better end with that and get started on my list!  Can’t wait!

I am so excited.  I just got my first client.  He has asked me to make a piece of jewelry for his wife.  I am just so stunned and excited.   We are working on the design now.  He has some thoughts as to what he wants and will be getting me his schematics to start.  Did I alread say that I am just so excited?!?

On a little bit different topic, someone asked where you can get a jewelers saw in Bend.  My answer is that I don’t know.  I ordered mine from www.riogrande.com as well as a bunch of other stuff I couldn’t find here.  I am loving Harbor Freight though.  They have great prices on different tools and they even carry cutting compounds now.  I think you will really have to dig to find jewelers supplies here. 

Yesterday was my first day back to school.  I am taking the second in the series of metal craft courses at our local college.  It was so great to walk into that room and see the faces of my classmates. 

It was also funny to me to see the differences in attitude between the younger students and the older students.  There is a dycotomy of perspective.  The difference, I believe is desire.  The older crowd was so excited to be in class, ready to learn and happy to jump in with both feet while the younger crowd whined a lot which in fact is due to them just tryingto get through another boring class.  In fact one girl stood to my right leaning over my work station whining about how she didn’t have enough to do and still had 45 minutes left in class.  She took a break from her diatribe for a few minutes to walk over to one of my classmates, who is a brilliant photographer and has done it professionally for many years (he is part of the older crowd) and give him a lecture on what negative space looks like.  I nearly snorted  and then I realized that I’ve done that very thing plenty.  Oh, I felt embarassed for her and then I felt embarassed for me and my own arrogance at times.  Eeek.

Anyway, it was so terrific to be given design assignments and get a glimpse at what we are going to learn to do this term.  I can’t wait to get my hammer out and start banging away.  I’ll try to get more pictures on here as I go but my darn camera is broke again.  Grrrr!  I am very frustrated by this!

For you, it’s all about the mix.  Any style is welcome in your world as long as it compliments something else.  You’re drawn to funky interiors and eye-catching color combinations (thing red and blue, orange and turquoise, purple and gold).  You like contrasting patterns and unconventional architecture.  you enjoy furnishings that remind you of yoru travels mixed with modern pieces and offbeat antiques.

Hmmmm.  HGTV does it again.  I think that about discribes my decorating “sense” to a tee.

What about you?  Find out your decorating style with a fun quiz…

Oh, it’s a good day.

I am so excited because I got my order in for some metal art supplies.  It makes me feel all gooshie inside.  Yahoo!

Rawhide mallet, jewelers saw, copper tongs, pickle, and other stuff that makes my heart beat faster.

Just thought I’d share it with you.

Have a fun filled day.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope your Thanksgiving is very special.

We have had a nice week.  M and C are out of school so they have been very thankful.  Unfortunately, C came down a nasty little virus and has a fever for the last day or so.  I thought maybe it was strep so I took him in and sure enough, it wasn’t…just a virus that is morphing.  He is on his 2-3 week cycle of illness now…frown.

Anyway, something we did learn about him and why he is eating like a hungry chicken rather than just a little bird is that he is growing.  I had him in to see the doc for the very same reason at the beginning of October and since that visit he has gained 2 1/2 pounds and grown 1/2 inch.  Wow!  No wonder his pants are climbing half way up his shins.  Now if I could just get some girth on him so his pants aren’t falling down all the time.

Also, I got my ring back from school and guess what…I got 100% on it.  I was so pleased and feel excited and full of inspiration.  Honestly, I was not expecting a terrific grade and was trying to figure out a redesign so I could bring that grade up because, you know, I am no annal retentive and OCD about getting an A in this class. 

My Dad and I were laughing yesterday because this is the first time that I have been in college that I have done well.  I am not a brilliant scholar much to the surpise of many (just kidding) and grades were always a huge issue in college.  I was always one step away from being booted from school because of my grades.  Thank goodness I married a brilliant man.  He has brilliance I have common sense(usually). 

Here is a picture of my first ring.  It is made of Sterling and Fine Silver, darkened with Liver of Sulfer and the high spots brought up to a high polish.  I was inspired by the sand dollars we get at the coast and that is what my design was derived from. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My house has been a whirl wind of creative juices.  So much so that my head hurts at times.  I have a number of projects that are all coming due within the next two weeks.  I love it!

I was explaining to my husband the other day that this class I am taking has caused me to jump in, with both feet, to letting my right brain completely loose.  I am totally in my element and loving all the stuff that is coming out of my hands.  I have no idea how God is going to use all this creative energy but I sure am anxious to find out. 

So here are some pictures of a few of the things I’m working on.

My metalcraft class design using one of my initials.  I bet you can’t guess what that letter was at one time…
My design goes from paper to the very beginning stages of a metal art design.  It will eventually be a pendant.
My treasure boxes on a grand scale.  All in the rough so far.  I am looking forward to seeing what they will look like.  They all seem to have their own personality.  I know it sounds strange but I have been learning that no matter what art or craft your working with, it is never a good thing if your fighting with your medium.  I don’t forsee any fights.  That bright blue box is calling to me, I may start with it.
This one is going to one of my cousins.  I think it looks just like her.
This one is going to some family in Bothel.  I am thrilled with the way it is turning out.  It isn’t quite finished yet.  The glue is still drying and it needs a handle.  I must admit, this one and I fought a little.  The box, or at least the paper part has been done for nearly a month but I have been so uninspired by it.  I LOVE the way it is coming together.  Another lesson I have learned about making art is that the things that seem the most uninspirational can turn into the most beautiful piece ever.  Kind of like “Beauty for Ashes”. 

I’ll keep posting as I create.  I love how God talks to me about stuff while I work.  I am so enjoying listening to beautiful music, sitting in the sunshine, talking to God about who is going to get this thing or that thing.  It is beyond words what happens in my soul.

God is so good to me to meet me like this.  I am deeply moved and grateful!

Have an inspiring day.  I’ll post more as I go.