Monday, July 28, 2008

Time Flys

Once again another Monday and half the day is just about over. I don't have any new stuff to show right now. I've hit another little slump that I just feel like I have no energy to create even though the ideas are still there. I even bought some more of the silver filled wire to make a few of those ideas and nothing at the moment.

I have found that the silver filled wire tarnishes pretty easy when sitting out and gets that funky smell. It cleans up pretty easy though and so far the pieces I've made from it haven't really tarnished yet.

My current list of projects:

1. Pair of earrings made from the silver filled wire in a leaf/teardrop shape
2. Finish leaf/teardrop pendant
3. continue to work on purple beaded caterpillar like bracelet
4. Finish Sterling silver earrings and post them to my Etsy shop
5. Measure clay pendant to make a cage for it.
6. cut out apron pattern for my grandmother's apron
7. Finish beaded dolls (2 of them) I started a few years ago

I have a list going and I could probably work on a few of those things while sitting up here at work. Work is so slow and so quiet right now that i'm about to go out of my mind. I have been reading some books but I finish them within hours or a few days, no matter how thick they are. It really all depends on how much time I actually have to sit and devote to reading. I will sometimes read until my eyes can no longer focus and my mind can't even retain what I've just read.

I picked up a book on a whim at the half price book store and really enjoyed the book and upon further research into the author, this particular series has a total of 16 books. YEAH ME! I could finish them in like 3 to 4 weeks. I've already read 2 of them. I'm a voracious reader sometimes. Sometimes I get so engrossed into the book that I get agitated when I'm interrupted. Right now, it seems I'm on another reading kick. I'm going to try and work on finishing one of the pendants tonight. I guess I'll see how it goes when I get home. I'm really tired.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Hello Monday, Goodbye Weekend!

Another weekend gone and all I really managed to do was wash 10 loads of laundry. I've been putting it off and putting it off. Most of it was bedding which takes up so much room, but it's done. I also remembered to charge the camera batteries and download some pictures this morning.

1st, I mentioned I'd made a green pendant in a previous post (i think). I kinda like it but my wire skills needs some brushing up on, seriously. LOL! The base design was supposed to become earrings but when I made 2, they didn't come out as alike as I wanted. I'm waiting on the wire I bought on friday so that I can try that again. I did pick up some more glass pearls from Wally World (wal-mart) on Sunday when I did some shopping. One is a blue and the other is kind of a bronze, maybe a bit lighter in color. I can't remember at the moment but it's pretty and I think it'll look nice on the other pendant frame.

Green Pendant - 18g & 24g silver filled wire, glass beads and I think the pearls might be plastic, I haven't broken one to check but they could be glass.




I have a new addition to my family. On Friday when I picked my daughter up after summer school (that's a whole other story), she was holding a frightened kitten. She said it was stuck in a tree and she thought it might have been there for a couple of days. The kitten was so skinny and whining for her mom. If we would have let it go, the probability of it getting run over was to high. I think the kitten might be about 4 months old but due to her thinness, I can't really tell. Yes, it's a little female.
We brought her home gave her a bath and fed her but not to much to fast cause I didn't want to make her sick. Her hip bones and ribs were showing. I think she may have been around people because she's pretty friendly when your holding her but as soon as you put her down she's off like a bullet.

My cat, Kitty (aka Fat cat), wasn't to thrilled with the new arrival. The kitten, I guess, thought she was her mom and showed no fear, even when Kitty was hissing. Kitty has now come to tolerate the kitten to a degree. They were eating and drinking together this morning and I even caught Kitty a couple of times licking the new baby. I have noticed that kittens she tolerates but older cats, NO WAY, NO HOW, NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

We haven't decided on a name yet for the new addition. My daughter offered up the name Bindi (croc hunter daughter) first and I was like NOOOOO, then she suggested the name Lira, which I kinda like. She's really sweet, when she's not hiding. She's got such an inquisitive little personality though. Her ears are to big for her little head and she kinda looks out of proportion. LOL! She's been playing and eating and staying out from under the couch and exploring more than she was a couple of days ago.

So here are a few pics of the new baby with my daughter:




Friday, July 18, 2008

IT'S FRIDAY!

I'm so glad it's Friday, PAYDAY! Oh, darn.. I forgot all monies are already gone, paying bills, fixing car and so on, YUCK! I did manage to squeeze a few dollars out of my tight budget and buy some more wire.

I bought some more 18g silver filled wire so that I can do some chainmaille. Last night I coiled and cut about the last 3-4 feet I had left. I did leave about 6 inches to make a couple of pendants or a ring from, haven't decided. I need to find my tiny collection of wire files so that I can smooth the cut points on the rings. Yes, I'm still hand cutting and filing my rings. It's not to bad cause I don't cut that many.

Yesterday I took a personal day. I sat down and made a lovely mess. LOL! I started with some light green glass pearls, some faceted glass rondelles that I got at the Whole Bead Show earlier this year. These lovely rondelles have a greenish-purplish shimmer to them. Just 8 more months till next year's show. Anyways, I tried different bead caps and nothing was really working. I remembered having some sterling silver hoop earrings with loops so I pulled them out, some chain and some 20g sterling silver wire for doing some bead links. The design is working, just not my wrapping skills. Either I need to practice more or I need to dig out my mini pliers set.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Finished Pendants

So it seems that my muse has come back to fiddle with some wire. I've got a headache brewing and I should probably go and take something before it gets full blown. I think it's just a combination of poor sleep and sinuses. I really didn't want to get up this morning. I was comfortable and warm all snug as a bug in a rug.

Last night while finishing up the circular pendant I had another idea for some simple pearl earrings. Off into my own little 3D world I went or starring off into space as other's would see it. I can visualize the shape of the pearls, tossing the design from smooth round pearls to more natural pearls. I toss on posts, french hooks and lever back ear wires to see which one seems to fit. Natural shaped pearls of somewhat uniform size look lovely hanging from the lever back ear wires, simplicity at it's best.

I'm happy to have some things brewing and my muse letting my hands cooperate enough to make things. I'm slower than I usually would be but it's slowly coming back, it's a nice feeling.

So without further boring ramblings from me here are my 2 finished pendants.


Moon Pendant- silver filled and non-tarnish wire in 18g, 22g,and 24g. A small selection of glass beads and seed beads along with a shell heart.




Pearl Pendant- silver filled and non-tarnish wire in 18g, 22g,and 24g.Glass and natural pearls in different sizes and colors.




So maybe tomorrow I'll have some pearl earrings to show. I wish I could come up with witty stuff to say to make this blog a bit more interesting. My cat loves me, she keeps my bed warm.



Edited to add: sorry I had the wire gauges wrong but they are fixed now.

Friday, July 11, 2008

I'm still here

PHEW! work has been keeping me busy and I kept forgetting to grab the camera and download a few pictures. I didn't get to much done over the July 4th weekend but here is what I'm currently working on
This is supposed to be a moon pendant. I'm using the silver filled wire and 11/0 pearl colored seed beads. I have several different types of beads to fill in the center part, just haven't gotten there yet.

This is also going to be a pendant but I haven't really decided anything concrete on it yet. This is silver filled wire, hammered. I have found that if you hammer it to thin it becomes brittle and soft and will break fairly easy. Sorry that I don't have the thickness off this hammered piece, I'll try to remember next time. I did manage to wrap the whole of the frame in a thinner gauge of silver filled wire.


These are a couple of polymer clay cabs that I made a long time ago and I finally got around to sanding and sealing and buffing them. They will be made into pendants.


I made this bead, it's actually got a hole that runs through it, several years ago. It was the first really big swirly bead I made, using black and alazarian crimson premo clay. Such gorgeous colors together. I had started making a wrap for the other 2 clay cabs but I made it way to wide and nothing fit, not even some of my really nice stone cabs. This was the only thing that fit. I'm not real thrilled with it because it just kinda lost interest when the setting just wasn't working. I'll try again another time.

These are just a lovely pair of earrings that I made for myself. I love purple, it's even my birthstone.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Thank you and Happy 4th!

First off, I'd like to say thank you very much for everyone who has come to check out my new blog. Ya'll are great. I know it's probably a bit boring, sorry, I'll get my groove back. :D

To everyone celebrating on July 4th, I hope you have a fantastic day and view some spectacular fireworks and listen to great music.

I will see ya'll next week!