Playing with resined paper, nickel metal, charms & crystals~~

Blessed week to you all!

Peace Pendant ICE resin

Donna has been cutting my hair for years.  When I tore the ligaments in my right wrist a few years ago, she colored my hair too.  She does whatever I ask, is always on time and always kind and friendly.  When she asked me to make a necklace for her "hippie" cousin, I said yes. 

 I have a tendency to make myself nervous about commission pieces.  "Is this what she wants?"  "Is this going to work?"  "Does this look terrible?"  I work myself into a dither.  Whatever a dither is, anyway.

Just finished this pendant.  Still need to string a simple necklace and add some charms.  I hope she likes it!  But if she doesn't, I'll take it to Benicia Bead and they'll find a great home for it.

Two wonderful things this week:  My braces came off!  Yay!

And our new fridge arrived on Wednesday.  I never realized how much I LOVE having a working fridge!!!

It's all good.  Hope it's all good for you, my friends.

ICE Resin "Look at the Big Picture" Faith Pendant

 Made a pendant for myself.  I'm playing with little copper boxes that I fold from thin-gauge metal and fill with resin, and I always make the "experiments" for myself.  I'm the guinea pig here~~

I'm also reminding myself to stop a second, in the midst of the daily stresses, and remember what I believe, what is truly important.  To remember Who I trust.  

 The back~

The side~

It's a rainy December 1 here in Northern California.  My DH is watching "The Santa Clause" and the orange kitty just stopped walking over my keyboard and rubbing against my hand as I try to use my mouse. :-)

May you all have a lovely day~It's Advent time!

Another Resin Pour~~ICE is getting a workout!

Rainy Wednesday in Northern California.  My day off, and after errands I poured more resin.  Still works in progress, so I'll put up better pics when I get further along.

Hope your week is going smoothly~

ICE Resin Charms and a Broken Refrigerator

I finally finally finally poured my ICE resin yesterday.  I'm such a chicken~  I'm afraid I'll mess up my little works of art! It went well, but not perfectly.  Two pieces need another doming coat of resin, but fortunately that's not a big deal.  I'll show you those pretties later, I promise!

Our refrigerator died yesterday morning...a moment of grieving, please, lol!  No warning, no funny noises...just died.  My DH found water on the floor in front of it.  And the frozen food inside was all mushy.  RATS!  So, dumping food, salvaging what we can. 

The repairman looked at it yesterday afternoon.  Our 12-year-old fridge was going to cost close to $900 to repair.  We thought about it and decided that we will replace it.  UGH...an unexpected expense right before Christmas.  Oh well~~

My wonderful DH spent most of last night running to assorted stores, then returned home and used his Ninja Shopping Skills on an internet search.  He showed me what he came up with, and we think we have it narrowed down.  More searching today after church.

Well....it could be worse.  And luckily we don't keep as much food in the fridge as we used to when the kids lived at home.  And I've heard tell that the new fridges are more energy efficient...It's gonna all work out.

Here's to a new week~~May it improve and lead us into the joy of Advent.  The big picture: We are so very blessed.  Amen!

Goofing Around on a Saturday Afternoon

Had the stamped copper piece sitting on my bench for weeks.  Finally wrapped the beads and finished it!  And yes, filthy fingers are part of jewelry-making~ :-)  At least for me.

 My hairdresser Donna wants a peace sign necklace for her cousin.  I found this copper pendant at Benicia Bead .  I sawed off the loop at the top and stamped it like crazy~then I made this little copper box to hold it.  I'm working on cold connected copper bezels for a resin pour in my future.  Little by little....

May your Thanksgiving week offer you gratitude and some peace~

And my humble thanks to God for my blessed full life~

Operation Christmas Child

My church and Bible study group encouraged us to donate a  shoebox of gifts for Operation Christmas Child .  We'd bought gifts for children in need many times in the past, but this concept was a first for us.  

We thought about the child, and decided that we wanted to get gifts for a boy 10-14 years of age.  Samaritan's Purse , the organization that sponsors this event, had a print-out sheet of directions and recommendations.  

As we pondered and gathered our gifts: colored pencils, small drawing pad, hard candies, small binoculars, solar powered calculator, wristwatch, toiletries and wash cloths, we thought about the boy that might receive them.  

We were trying to purchase a few last items, when we asked a young man working at our local Target if he could help us find washcloths.  We told him what we were doing, and he said, "I got a box from them when I was a boy".  I asked him if there was anything he could recommend, and he said a yoyo would be good to give the boy something fun to occupy his time.  It took 4 different stores, but we found the yoyo!

We'll be praying for that boy.

If you would like to participate in this wonderful event, please   click the link above.  We know you'll be blessed more than the recipient!

Little by Little

I'm working on a resin project.  Little by little, step by step, in between "life".  In between family and work and chores.  

Making little boxes.  Thin copper stamped and formed.  I know it'll be cool when I'm done, but it'll take a while. 

Patience!  Not my strongest virtue, but necessary for now.  Bit by bit.  

My friends, have a blessed week~

To my friends who have served our country, I am humbled and so very grateful for your service and sacrifice.  Thank you with all my heart.

Necklace for Rachael FINALLY!

Last May, Rachael received these earrings as a gift when we gathered in Spain for Jenn's wedding.  She asked if I could make her a necklace.  I said yes, and told her it would take "a while".

"A while" is NOW! Yay!  Hope Rachael likes it~ I feel a little lighter with one more obligation fulfilled.  :-)

"Alegria" means "Joy", and the pendant is hammered & stamped brass, copper, pearls & crystal.  

"Joy" to you all this day!

Chris Kerr, Super Genius? (I think NOT!)

Ok, I'm making teeny stamped metal embellishments to be used in my resin pendants. Remember Wile E. Coyote?  He would always call himself a "Super Genius" while creating complicated ways to trap the Roadrunner.  The traps always failed, leaving Wile looking like a "Super Loser".  

I stamped out a few teeny nickel disks to stamp with my smallest stamps.  Then I antiqued 'em and tried to shine them.  My fingers are too big for this job, so I came up with the super bright idea of tumbling them.

Great idea!  Oh yes!  NOT!  I lost a couple of them in the shot and I don't know if I'll ever ever find them.  They can happily live with their new shot family and avoid the fate of Ice Resin.

So, I pose this question to you, my lovely blog readers: Do you ever tumble teeny silver things?  Things that could easily be lost in the shot?  Do you have a trick or tip that could help me?  I'll be grateful forever if you could comment and share your Super Genius-ness.  

Have a Super Saturday!

Stamped & Riveted Copper & Brass Heart Charms for Kate

Happy Halloween Day!

I have so many fond memories of dressing up as a child and going to our Community Center for a Halloween party.  I grew up in a rural area, so trick-or-treating wasn't practical.  The grownups collected bags of candy, made cookies & punch, and we kids gathered together in our mostly homemade costumes.  Fun games, costume competition, and lots of CANDY!  Good times~

My darling friend Kate asked me to make her heart charms to embellish some felted purses that she was creating.  Here you go Kate!

Bliss~New Jewelry Books!

My DH and I shopped a bit today, looking for a new table lamp for the living room.  Something pretty, not too tall, light-colored and very sturdy so our doggies can't knock it over.  We looked for hours.  No luck.  I had a specific shabby-chic, cream-cracked-porcelain-with-faded-flowers idea in my brain.  NEVER shop with a specific idea.  You'll get frustrated and tired. :-)

We also stopped at Barnes & Noble....ahhhh a bookstore!  Two new jewelry books for me and I'm in heaven.  Book heaven~~the best!  I'll peruse them in the next few days.  I love reading about new techniques, savoring pictures and words of inspiration.  Yum!

May your new week bring smiles and gratitude~~

Harbor Freight Washers~Gotta Love 'Em!

Harbor Freight copper washers are so nice!  Cheap, stampable, etchable.  And it is much easier to drag your husband to Harbor Freight rather than your local bead store!

Happy Birthday my sweet friend Dianne.

New Tool~~Riveting System from Beaducation

Got a new tool in the mail on Friday~~Riveting tool from Beaducation.  First try this afternoon.  Golly is it easy!  I've been riveting the old-school way for years.  This was a piece of cake. 

I LOVE new tools!

Have a wonderful week, all my friends.

Birthday Present

My lovely goddaughter Kate had a birthday last week~~

October seems like such a fun month for a birthday, doesn't it?  Pretty weather, pumpkins, harvest times, and a minute to reflect before the busy holiday times. 
Have a happy day, my friends!

Make Your Mark Etching Class

October 13, 2012 "Make Your Mark" Etching Class at Benicia Beads.

What a fun group!!!  The class was only 3 hours, though we hung around longer and Carol, the shop owner had to remind us that it was over.  

Maria, Kathryn & Diane started cutting metal  See how safety-conscious they were?  All were wearing their sexy safety glasses. 

  After learning about filings, sanding, resists and ferric chloride, the gals created way cool metal charms.  And they surprised themselves with the results.  Using Sharpie markers and/or rubber stamps, they etched their design into the copper or brass, then antiqued their piece with stinky liver of sulfur.  Whew!  Did we laugh about the smell!

Kathryn's pieces~~

Maria's work~~

Diana's creations~~

Their teacher had fun too!  

And I thank Carol & Grace at Benicia Beads for the lovely full-o-treasures store, their assistance to set up  & take down, and their support and enthusiasm!  You gals ROCK!

Etching Class "Make Your Mark"

Going to be a fun afternoon~ I'm privileged to teach at Benicia Beads this afternoon.  4 students, cool techniques, fun fun creative fun!  
Hope your weekend is blessed.  I need to make some coffee and get organized!  Perhaps I should change out of my pajamas?? :-)

Richard Salley~Art Is You~Petaluma 2012! Woo hoozie!

"Lasting Impressions" Class with the one-and-only Richard Salley!  I signed up in February.  Then, it seemed quite far away.  I was wrong.

There is Richard and the lovely Jessica Papke.  Each step was explained.  There were transferring, etching & torching stations around the room. 

We asked lots of questions.  Richard was quite patient.

Proof that I took the class and met Richard!  He's wearing one of his "Shadow Cowboy" shirts.  

Jessica Papke.  My new heroine.  Patient.  Eased us through the scariness of the little propane and oxygen torch.  I'm so grateful to her, because it was so very daunting to me.   

I stamped this on this backplate the night before the class.  I was so very tired, and  was quite tempted to wuss out and not really try.   With the help of my encouraging teachers, I was brave.  And I had the funnest day.  :-)

Jewelry for Spain~~

The pieces I brought to Spain~~

We'd been planning our Spain Trip for a long time.  Jenn and Paco's wedding celebration was May 26, 2012 at Alcala de Henares, just outside of Madrid.  Family and friends would be gathering to celebrate the happy day. 

Gifts of Jewelry!  Just the ticket to make the visit more fun~  I worked steadily for some months before we left.  Snippets of time, in between the day job and obligations.  And tah dahhhh!here's the collection.  Memories of smiles and thanks~~what an amazing time!  

Good to be back, though.  This life at home is a blessing to me~~I'm a lucky gal.

Baptism Earrings

My friend Candy was baptized today.  A joyful & important event.  I made these earrings for her.  She liked them!  She was happy.  I was happy.  
A beautiful day.
May your week be full of beauty~  Love to you all!

I WON!!! Stacie Florer is way cool~

Stacie Florer , an amazing jewelry artist, generous and encouraging woman and a beloved friend, had a giveaway in March for those who subscribed to her newsletter .   I did and I WON!!  These earrings arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  They are simply funkily wonderful and light and swingy to wear.  LOVE THEM~

See my smile?  BTW, my sweet hubby took at least 15 photos of me to try to get the most flattering...he's soooo sweet!  

Stacie also included these way cool turquoise beads...anyone who knows me knows that I have a serious love affair with turquoise.  Big love for the amazing blue stones~~I've already used the two barrel beads in a couple of pieces I created right after I got them~

It's Saturday mornin' and the sun is so bright.  I love today!  I need to get serious and work on earrings to take to Spain for my beautiful step-daughter's wedding.  It is customary to bring gifts to the family, and some Spanish ladies will have new jewelry, if I have anything to say about it!

Blessings to y'all.  Hope your Saturday is full of fun~

Sereno=Serene

Sereno is "Serene" in Spanish~

May your week be full of serenity my friend!

Sueno~~Dream

What a great afternoon!  My darling DH is at the kiddo's house in Elk Grove helping with a non-fun bathroom wall & window repair.  Poor guy!  After church, he drove the hour and 15 minutes there and I stayed home and puttered.  Then plunked at the bench and finished up this piece that I'd started a couple of weeks ago. 

Ooooooooohhhhhh was it the most fun in the world to be in "the zone".  4 hours. Total bliss. 

Now my neck and back are telling me what a dumbhead I'd been, but my heart is telling me that this was exactly what I needed.  Thank you God!

Wishing you all a good strong great week~~

Stamping Copper & Brass and Spanish on the Brain

Getting ready for my stamping class at Benicia Beads on February 25.  This piece is a bit more complicated than we will attempt in the 3 hour class, but it's a great gift for when we travel to Spain in May.

Today was my day off.  I listened to a Spanish TV channel all day.  While I was stamping, washing laundry and working around the house.  My brain is fried!!!  But I'm determined to feel more comfortable with the language before we head out.  My DH is depending on me~

May you all have a non-brain-fried rest of the week!