Week 17 of 52

Oh my it's Monday again…..where oh where does the time go…..Thank God it's Monday other wise…..well I don't know what the other wise would be……but strange!!
I found something in a pile of papers, that I'd like to share with you to start us off……

"here I am…..playing….pretending…hoping that maybe….just maybe, my meager verse might fill your heart with joy"

don't know who said this…..but who ever did….thanks!
I too hope that what I might have to say, will fill your heart with joy!

So now I'll fill you in on what a whirl wind week I've had……….

It's was my granddaughter's 11th birthday, my son and DIL's 5 wedding anniversary …..my youngest son and his wife's 1st anniversary coming shortly…..whew lots of wonderful things to celebrate!

My granddaughter called last night to tell me how much she liked the necklace I made her…I asked if she liked it and her reactions was "OH MY GOSH MEME I LOVED IT", boy was I thrilled, then she started asking if I had made it, etc.….so cool to have her appreciate something that I'd made….it was the heart rock and Kumihimo braided necklace…..actually two, one purple and one green to match the drilled rocks…….here's a photo again of what it looks like!

I didn't get a lot finished this week and that was a bit intentional……..I had a workshop yesterday that was to show me how to polish and finish my jewelry pieces and I was to bring several things to work on the last hour or two of class…..well didn't get much time to do anything of our own but I have to tell you I learned soooo much…..it was everything I had hoped it would be!

You ever take classes or workshops that just fall short of your expectations of why you took the class to begin with……well I have and it's not fun to pay a ton of money and not get what you were hoping  to get…….WELL this class was EVERYTHING I had hoped for and then some!!  It was at the Craft Guild of Dallas……loved loved loved it!

I had gone with two of my Jewelry Junkie buddies and from what they have said, it met their expectations as well!
We had made a weekend of art shows and then finished it off with the all day workshop on Sunday!

On Saturday we went to three art events and all three were learning experiences…..with the 1st one, Artscape at the Dallas Arboretum, we saw how much we still needed to learn……there was just a plethora of really fine jewelry artist!  They worked in Sterling Silver for the most part, in fact there wasn't a piece of copper in any of their booths..some had a little brass just for an accent….other wise it was 100% SS……so there is the 1st difference between their work and mine……second thing was the delicate look to their things….tiny tiny wire…..especially with the contemporary style!  I just loved that look and feel!  AND OMG…they were all so open about how they did what they did and what they used…it was so refreshing and then we learned that several of them were teachers…..so of course they were use to sharing, but still it was very generous of them to share!

One Artist we met was Sally Wade…..she made her own stamping tools…..soo cool!  You have to go check out her blog to see some of her work…….
www.sallywadesilverworks.blogspot.com

She also told us that she does these weekend retreats, where she will teach you to make your own tools and then shows you how to use them…it's something that I'm going to explore a bit to see how it might translate into some unique work of mine…..I'm at that point where I need to move forward in my jewelry making, know what I mean?  You just get to that point where you don't feel like you are moving ahead, you are just spinning your wheels and it's time to get off center point again and move forward……that's where I'm at today!

Especially after seeing some of the work that I saw this weekend!  Now don't get me wrong I saw some things that I already do a better job at ….. on the same type of things……like my cooper bangles…mine are also soldered but cleaned up sooo much better…where you can't even tell where I soldered…..and I have some fun designs, like my spoon skulls, so I'm very proud of my jewelry that I finish…..it's just not even in the same universe as the stuff we saw at the Artscape show…..so how to I get there from here I ask myself…….I'll tell you….explore other learning options……so this summer you will be hearing about the classes that I am hoping to take at the Craft Guild and other opportunities that I'm exploring!
See there's that word……EXPLORE….it's soooo much fun when you have a open mind to something new!

Let's see I think that about completes my week…..I know I'm forgetting something…..my brain is just on over load right now…..I've got class tomorrow, so I plan on working on the pieces that I started and with my newly learned finishing skills, I hope to bring you some new pieces next week!
Speaking of next week…..not sure how I'll be able to do my posting …… I'll be out of town!
So bare with me and hopefully I'll learn to post while away!!

I'll leave you with this………

"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true" EY Harburg
I know I know it's from the Wizard of Oz…..can't you just hear Judy Garland singing that…it was one of my favorite movies!!

Have a great week and go out there and CREATE…..may all your dreams come true!
XOXO

Week 16 of 52

TGIM………..Whew I'm so glad it's Monday……new week with new things to do!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  We had the opportunity to visit our boys and their wives….together we put on a meal that would surpass any 5 star restaurant …… and I learned a ton of new gluten free websites to help stick to a gluten free food program……now don't get me wrong, I've tried before, but I'm just not ready to give up on all glutens!!
Okay enough about food…..this is about ART…….
So this is what I did this week!
Last week I told you about doing some Kumihimo……well I was much more happy with this weeks work than the last week…..just not interested in adding beads at this time!!
Here are the results………...

This one was a total experiment ….. it's really too thick for what I had in mind….but it was fun to see what this cording would do…….

Now this is the same cording with the nylon thread…..1/2 and 1/2….I like it so far (it's not finished yet!!)  It really makes the turquoise color pop!

I also showed you last week, the stones that I drilled…..well this is the finished necklace I made for my granddaughter's birthday present!  Just found out she thinks I'm sending her a sewing machine….whew we sure had some miscommunications on that one!!

Here's the full view of the finished necklace!!

This is the 1st one I made for her…..I didn't like the purple with the green stones, so I did the other one…..but her favorite color is purple, so I'll send it to her along with the green one…...in fact she just got glasses and she choose purple ones…..gotta love a 11 year old stepping out with purple glasses……just love it!!

Looks like that's about all I got finished for the week…..the holiday threw me off a bit…..then at our Jewelry Junkie meeting I worked on some air chasing on some copper sheeting……it's turning out rather interesting, in a good way….I just need a ton more work on it!

I'm hoping to get it to a stage so that I can take it to the polishing/finishing class I'm taking this next weekend!  I've got a few things that I hope to clean up easier and better than what I can do now…..or at least that's the goal anyway!

So I'm going to leave you with something that I read and think it's a good one for the week!!

Hope you enjoy it as well…………

"Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past.  Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn't what you get for it, but what you become for it.  Shake things up today!

Be You…..Be Free…Share!"  Steve Maraboli

Go out and create some beauty….. that is inside of you and share it with the world!!

See you next week!

Week 15 of 52

Wow what a week! Thank God it's Monday!  I can't wait to share all that I learned this week!

First, let me share some inspiration ..something to think about…..it seems to be fitting what I'm into  right now……

"I believe it's in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown.  The only try failure would be not to explore at all" Ernest Stackleton

So exploring we shall go…..First part of the week I spent hours at school drilling holes in rocks...something I've been wanting to do for a long time!  I had such a blast I couldn't stop, heehee!

Ideas were just popping in my head as I was drilling...all those things that I've been saving up to do.  Can't wait to see how they turn out!
That's the funny thing about ideas....you take that idea, then you create in your mind what you think it should look like...then try and make those two things match, heehee!
So we'll see how those ideas progress…..

Here are the stones before they become ..... Well who knows that they will become....that's the exciting thing about ideas, isn't it?

The 1st project is almost finished.....I've stacked several small stones and am making a small pendant for Miz Riley's birthday present .... There's one special stone that looks like a little heart..can you see it in the top photo??...I've put that on the top and will write her a special note!!  I'm working on a braided  cord to hang it on....that moves me into the next new thing I learned this week....Kumihimo!

On Saturday, I went to the Wire meet up group and our project for this Month was beaded Kumihimo....very interesting!  Can't say I liked it...mainly because mine, wasn't turning out the way it was suppose to....think I didn't understand the importance of tucking the bead under the thread!

Now I'm not saying I'm giving up on learning Kumihimo....just don't think the beading part is my thing!  I'm trying it again...this time I'm using two different colors of purple threads (Riley's favorite color) ....so far it's looking 400% better than what I did on Saturday......I'll take some photos when done....but here's a peak of how it looks now…a work in progress!

Interesting right?  It's not very long just yet……hope to have it finished tomorrow!

Wow and I haven't told you the most fabulous part of this past week…Friday, my husband and I went to the Main Street Festival in Ft Worth...it's an incredible Art show...AND I was wearing one of my spoon skulls necklaces...several artist commented on it, thought it was really cool...I said maybe we could barter an exchange ...they thought that was a great idea....THEN in one booths that I was admiring the artist work, he started asking me about the necklace then one of his customers (friend) asked if she could buy one
...of course I said yes and showed her photos of the ones I had finished...but she wanted one, more like mine..a bit rounder....sooo I now have 4 more almost finished...just need the scribing done...how exciting is that!!  I was thrilled 1st to have them notice then to say something about it….sure makes you feel good about what you are doing when something like that happens!!

Okay I've got to close now, I'm down to the last 5% of my iPad battery and I'm about to fall asleep...it's going to be a fun and full week coming up for....I hope it's a great one for you as well!
Happy Easter to one and all!
Hope you get the chance to explore something new in your life…….go Explore!!
Til next week!

Week 14 of 52

Again I have to say…….Thank God it's Monday!!
It has been a fun filled week kids, can't wait to share with you all that I learned!!
BUT first I didn't get back with you with an inspirational message…….soo let's do that NOW

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties" by Erich Fromm

Well this certainty plays into what I did this week…….let me show you!

This was something that Cheryl and Megan from Ten Seconds Studio showed several of us, and I must say we were WOWed…..just loved it!  Yevette and I tried it our weekend together, then I took my leather and some tools over to the Jewelry Junkies and we played some more!!

My favorite was using the embossing envelopes like the "love" one shown at the top!  I can't wait to try the gazillion envelopes I have……I'm sure I'll run out of leather before I run out of embossing envelopes that I have, heehee!  

It's an easy peasy project……you will need leather, spray bottle of water, a decorative embossing envelope and your big shot machine……actually any of the embossing machines will work!

The trick is NOT to use toooo much water, just a good spray all over (front and back)  and NOT too much pressure when you slide the machine over the envelopes…..on some we needed some extra cardboard to put just a little more pressure but not toooo much…….it's best to experiment just for fun!!

Haven't come up with a project for these pieces just yet but I know I will soon!

I had an idea of attaching pieces of the leather to some pieces of copper and make a bracelet…..still thinking on it!!

I finished up my skulls…….added the marks on the faces with the Dremel Scribe…..check it out and let me know what you think!  I might have gotten a little carried away with a few, heehee!

With a little liver of sulfur these bad boys will be ready for Prime Time, don't you think?
They are just a bit toooo shiny for my taste……then it's Etsy here we come!!
Or so that's the plan for this next week…….AFTER I get out of the garage……that's another story NOT ready for prime time, heehee!
I've gotten the back corner of the garage, repacked and tighten up …… even found a few things that had been missing!  Now I'm in the front next to the ART room door……I had been piling stuff up and then couldn't get thru the door…..crazy!  Most of the things that were in the pile were empty boxes that were suppose to be put in the attic…..well if you can't get to the attic….it becomes a pile!!
Sooo after spending the entire weekend in the garage I am proud to say…..there is no longer anything blocking the way to the attic, in fact I've made 4 or 5 trips up there with only one more to go……our Xmas lights….but I need some help with that one!!  Then I'll be able to bring down our old kitchen chairs that have been up there since we moved into this house……I'm most excited about that…..I LOVED those chairs!!
Okay…..it's still early so I want to get back to the garage…..my goal is to have it 100% done from one end to the other, within the month of April…….so wish me luck!!

Here's another great inspiring quote……

"The Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" Eleanor Rooseveltt

Sooo much wisdom in those words!
Go and live your dreams!!
Create Create Create

Week 13 of 52

TGIM......That's right it's Monday!  How crazy is it.....I was more than half way finish with my posting and it totally disappeared....soooo here we go again!  I'm sorry it was much funnier the 1st time around!

Opps here I found it … it was hiding in the drafts…….this was how things started……

TGIM...that's right it's Monday...hip hip hooray....it's a new week...a chance to do something special!
Whew...what a weekend...it was Bead Fest ....it was my first!
Still mixed feelings about it....I took an enameling class.....met and fell in love with Steven James...he was a hoot!  Now for the class, it was mine boggling to say the least.....way tooo much info for me to process in three hours...we were rushed and didn't even get ONE sample completed.....guess my expectation were expecting something more!  Now that's not to say I didn't learn a lot...some things totally opposite of what I was taught before...hard to process

****  Here's where I got shut down and everything disappeared……sooo here I started over and some I was able to recreate….bare with me some will be a repeat……..*****

It was an interesting weekend .... full of fun and learning....some absolutely a blast.   Being with friends is always the best part of  any time.....this weekend was Bead Fest, my first!  I got to visit with old friends and meet new ones...and then a zillion and a half new ideas for jewelry making....fun fun fun!

I also took two classes, one in enameling and one in PMC .... First I met and fell in love with Steven James...he was such a hoot....I loved him...not so much the enameling  workshop!  It was mine boggling ... I'm afraid my expectations might have been expecting too much......there was soooo much info in such a short period of time and a good deal of it was in total conflict to what I had learned before...now that was hard for me to process in a short three hour class!  That's not to say I didn't learn things....just didn't even finish one sample...geez!  No handouts, no finished samples...just disappointing... that's all I can say!
Would I take another class from Steven James....absolutely .... I'd just want it to be longer than 3 hours!

Now that was Saturday and if it was not as expected....Sunday was a total disaster ....not anything like what I expected and was very disappointed in the results!  It may have been a bad batch or bad mixture of a new clay idea……regardless it was not successful!  Several of the rings broke, including mine!!
Here is a photo of my organic ring in the works……….

It was looking okay before firing….what I was most excited about is that it FINALLY stayed on the mandrel AND believe me that was a feet to say the least!!  Our clay dried out then we would wet it…..so then it was toooo wet!  Back and forth back and forth…..just NOT fun!

We ALL had problems with this project even Donna Lewis the teacher……geez sooo frustrating  THEN after it was all done…..fired and all…..it was toooo small….can you believe that??

What we think happened…..those two ladies that didn't have to keep reworking their clay…their rings were to large …… those of us who had to REALLY work the clay our rings were toooo small…….soo go figure!  Again would this keep me from taking another class with DL….NO…she was just as upset as the rest of us …… wish I was a fly on the wall when she gets home and calls the company to tell them of the results…..there will be some burning ears that's for sure!!

Donna Lewis is a class act…..she took home out broken rings and will repair them and mail them back to us!  I do hope she lets us know what happened with the company and I hope they in turn send her new product and she in turns sends us some new clay to work with!!  It was WAY to expensive not to have SOMETHING to show for it…..especially since this was my Bday present from GB….grrrrr

This is the back of the ring so I could id it after it was fired……you can just imagine what it would look like with all of us trying to remember what our ring looked like, heehee!

Have I been turned off of PMC…..no…just not as excited as I was about it!

I did meet some ladies at lunch that are here in the Dallas area sooo will probably hook up with them for something else!

Not all was lost during the weekend……..a new friend from our Jewelry Junkie group can and stayed with us……had such a good time with her…..GB showed off his bar tending skills with some GT's on Saturday night with my home made chicken enchiladas……we were laughing on Sunday that we sure NEEDED those GT's…the PMC was driving us to drink!!

Well kids I am about to fall asleep here at the computer so I need to say goodnight!

Good night one and all!

I'll post an inspiration for you all later in the week……I've written down several!!

Nighty night…..sweet dreams of ART!

Week 12 of 52

TGIM……...It's my Birthday……hip hip hooray !!
I had an incredible weekend with my boys and their sweeties and of course my sweetie!!
We were in Austin for the weekend……..had a wonderful BBQ at Z & A's house…..A did some fabulous ribs……braised in pickle juice then grilled…..Yum!
On Saturday AM they treated me to a massage, mani & pedi……I was totally pampered!
Then we did a Mom's happy hour…..A's Mom, her Aunt J and Me……she had the most Mom's……how about that!!  Dinner was at Eddie V's and I have to tell you, I had the best steak that I've ever had at a restaurant….and from what I could tell everyone had a really great meal, from soul, grouper to flounder and TX red fish……just the best!  T had a great time teasing the waiter, but think he got him back when T asked for chop sticks and the guy pulled out a pair……can you believe it???

Well enough of my Bday week…..let me show you some of the jewelry that I did……and the missing photos showed up so I'll show you those as well……how about that!!

Okay turn you head to the right……lay your ear down to your shoulder and this is the latest ring I did, heehee!

Here's the form folded leaves that I was telling you about last week…..I'm still thinking of adding some green or blue patina…..just haven't done it yet!

Here are the skull spoons after they were tumbled for a while…..they shine up really nice….now they are waiting for the scribe to do it's work….maybe later this week…..Maybe, if I get all my chores done before my next big weekend!!  I"ll tell you more in just a bit!

Okay heres the big honker ring that I made for Adrienne…but it was just a little too big for one finger and just a little to small for two other fingers…..soo it's back to the hammer and mandrel!!  The other one is one that I had made a while back….I was just comparing the two side by side to show how really big the other one is, heehee!!  Amanda loved it as well…..so it's a hit if I can ever get the sizing down right for everyone!!

Now for the big news…….I'm going to Bead Fest and I'm taking a PMC class….hope to make an organic ring or two….these will be for me or that is the plan right now!  I'll let you know how that turns out!
I had tried to get into two torch enameling workshops but hadn't decided until today AND they are both full……so am trying to get on a wait list just in case someone has to drop out!!  Keep your fingers crossed!!

WELL can you believe we're on the 12 week already??  It's hard for me to believe it myself!  I'm so excited that I'm going to tell all my Facebook friends to come and check it out!
Again I want to hear all the good, bad and wonderful…..so let me know what you are thinking, how I can improve and any suggestions you might have for me!!

I was looking for an inspirational quote to share with you but can't seem to find it right now…maybe I'll have to do two next week!! Maybe that's what I could use this magnetic board for, that I have over here by my computer……I'm looking at the board right now and I have a sign that says "YOU ROCK"

Sooo that's what I"ll say to all of you…….
                                                                      "YOU ROCK"
….now go and have a creative week and see you back here next week!!

Week 11 of 52

TGIM……Happy St. Patricks Day to one and all…hope you all had your Green on!

As you can tell it's Monday and I'm here to share what my week was like!
Well let me tell you …. it was fabulous!!
Lots of started projects and even a few finished…..well maybe …… I might like to add a few more touches, here and there heehee!

Here we go……… I worked on my up cycled spoon skulls….and I have to tell you they are getting a bit out there……I just love the way some of the mouths and eyes developed!  Spooky and funny!
I'm loving it and hope you do to……..this is how they start out………

Well I just took the latest photos of the spoons and they seem to be hiding……crazy I know!

Anyway, got 6 skulls cut out, handles cut off and in the tumbler for just a bit at school tonight!

Plan on bending over the ends to create the bail …… then Etsy store here I come!!

This week was also the Jewelry meet up group, and we made these fun and funky rings……well the others were more normal but mine was way cool….it's huge….I use a 9 gage wire, more wire from the recycling that I did……just don't know what I'll do when it's gone…..I love the stuff!!

Tracy was my super hand model…and can you believe her nail polish matched!

Thanks again Tracy!

I made this in mind for my DIL, Adrienne…..hope it fits and she likes it!  I'll be seeing her this weekend for my birthday celebrations ….. I'll let you know how it goes!

I made a few more things…….so let me go and check and see if the photos have made it into the file…….I'll be right back!

It looks like, one more photo came thru…..not the cropped one or the enhanced one….but something to show you!  This was done a while ago with strange and interesting parts that I got at this wonderful shop in AZ!  

I wore it today and got lots of interest, so think I'll be doing more of these especially since I came home with boxes of these strange little parts!

This piece is off to a boutique here in Texas….. hope they like it!

It seems that's all I have to show you or say tonight, except I'd like to share something I read this week and hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

"There is 

no such thing

 as an ORDINARY day

each moment is

EXTRAORDINARY"

Kris Carr

Now go out and have an EXTRAORDINARY week!

Til next Monday!