Patience! And a wonderful friend

My dear friend Kate has wanted a "Trust God" copper bracelet for at least 2 years.  I kept making excuses and keeping busy with everyone else's project.  

Well, today I finished it!  Finally.  

I pray Kate is encouraged by its message.  She is a blessing to me.

Happy end of January 2013!  One more day left.....

LeeAnn's Bracelet~Amethyst, Rose Quartz and Copper

My high school friend LeeAnn asked for a special bracelet.  She's dealing with health issues, and thought an encouraging bracelet would be just the ticket.  It took me a few months to fit in the time to create it.  You know how that goes~~spouse,work, church, family, other obligations.  LeeAnn waited patiently.  And waited.  And FINALLY she received it last week.  She's happy.  I'm happy.  A perfect ending!

May your week be full of happy times.  And may all of the challenges be surmountable!  Bless you all.

"Always be joyful.  Keep on praying.  No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
                                                                             First Thessalonians 5:16-17

I am blessed.   So much beauty, so much good surrounds me in this life.  May I always appreciate.  May I always exhibit gratitude. 

Hugs to you all!

For Kate

Kate is my dear goddaughter. She's a treasured part of our family, and she's one of the people I promised jewelry to before I injured my wrists. How wonderful it will be to send this to her tomorrow! (I'm doing the happy dance!)


Happy Father's Day to my DH~~see what I gave him?? He LOVES sock monkeys. It was fun to surprise him with this one. He's the best Dad, sweetest partner. I'm dang lucky.

Have a blessed Wednesday my friends~

"Gratitude" ~~~I'm Feelin' It!

New bracelet for the Studio 41 Gallery at 700 First Street in Benicia, CA....Gratitude!
So grateful that I can make jewelry again.

So grateful I can work again (yes, honest! staying home when your wrists ache is not that fun) (working is better).

So grateful that I have my sweet hubby, great kids, good doggies, arrogant funny cats, so much. so much!

Today is my DH's beautiful daughter's 26th birthday. I hope she has a great year and realizes that 26 is soooo young.

Bless you all my friends. Must go dry my dripping hair and get ready for another work day tomorrow~
Peace.

My Brain is Fried BUT I Finished This Bracelet!

I've been a creative frenzy since Tuesday. I've been stumped on a new gallery piece, something very different from my other pieces. Tuesday night I came up with this design while I was trying to sleep! I began cutting out the copper charms last night and spent all day today putting it all together. I'm really fried~:-) But so glad this is done!!!

The main stones are citrine, Peru chalcedony and ametrine. Then lots of little gemstones, glass beads, stamped copper sheet and copper wire.

This Saturday, March 21, please come by Studio 41 11-4 if you're anywhere in the Benicia area~~I'll be hanging out and talking about jewelry or the weather or life in general. And some other women artists will be there too! So please visit if you can!

Bless you all my friends~Peace fill you this lovely Thursday.

Saturday Night~~Cavewoman Time

Hello All! Lots of craziness at the Kerr casa...I just spent the last two days at an MRI-Guided Breast Biopsy Seminar in fascinating San Francisco. And I'm a lucky tired gal. My DH spent about an hour today straightening up the house so it'd be nice when I got home. What an AMAZING husband!!! Big hug and kiss for my sweetie~~

Earlier this week I made another Cavewoman Cuff in Citrine and some matching earrings using fluorite.
Here's the earrings.


Here's the cuff.


AND I "modeled" them. Angie at The Knightly News asked me to model my last cuff, and since it's at "Gifted" Shop in Sonoma, I'm modeling this new one and the earrings...so here goes! My debut as a super model!


May your Sunday be blessed. Full of worship for the One who loves us so much.

Happy Friday

Hello All My Blog Friends~
Friday~~ahhhhh. One more day at the imaging clinic before a busy weekend. Another day to save lives! Ah, the exciting life of a mammographer~~~

I spent a good portion of my day off yesterday working on the newest "Cavewoman Cuff".



I love these cuffs! The metal behind the turquoise is brass that I stamped and antiqued. The copper wire surrounds the brass and I added some little charms to dangle.

When I'm stressed, jewelry-making is such a comfort! Seven years ago, in June 2001, I'd asked God to bring me to a hobby that I'd enjoy. The kids were getting older and my love of reading, church activities and my work wasn't "enough". And He showed me an ultrasound tech at my work who played with beads and wire in between her patients. I was hooked! And I've just gotten "hooked-er". God is good. He leads us through tough times and leads us into blessings.

I intend to keep holding onto Him, keep focusing on His blessings and guidance. May you all be led likewise~~~love and hugs to you all!

Chrysocola Cavewoman Cuff

Hello my dear blogger friends~~~I know I've been hiding away since Monday. Work pressures and a lovely visit from my DD kept me busy and hopping.

Here's my project for this week: a cuff featuring a big bead of chrysocola. It looks so primitive that I had to label it a "Cavewoman Cuff" because this style could have been worn by an ancient relative. Nothing refined about this, no sir! The brass plate behind the chrysocola bead was stamped and then antiqued by spraying it with salt water and suspending it in a little cup in a container of ammonia. It takes a while, but the green and brown streaks develop and look super cool. And old. The cuff part is copper wire that is textured and antiqued. I've tried a sealant called Renaissance Wax to keep the patina pretty, but it smells rather strongly...hmmm....I'm wearing it as I type and love the style! Will keep this one for myself and refine the design for cuffs to sell. Only to cavewomen, of course!

So many of you have expressed love and concern, prayers and wishes for a better work situation for me. All I can do right now is ask Him to keep my thoughts positive, work hard and keep my ears open for anything better while keeping my heart open that this situation will work itself out.

I pray that every one of you is enjoying a lovely first weekend of summer. It's 98 degrees here, so we're hiding in the house! God bless you all~~~

Sunday..indoor day

It's a blustery, rainy, icky day in Northern California. We made it to the 8:30 AM service at church, and boy was it sooo worth it! Pastor Jon preached on the 23rd Psalm, which I've read and heard bunches of times. But he "fleshed it out" a bit.

I didn't realize that the Middle Eastern shepherds often named their sheep. Apparently, back in Biblical times, sheep were raised primarily for wool, as opposed to nowadays in the US, where they are raised mainly for food. Anyway, the shepherds would really know their sheep. And they would defend their sheep to the death from wolves and lions and thieves. That really makes the image of Jesus as my shepherd even more comforting. Even more meaningful. Thank you so much, my Jesus!

This bracelet is an oldie. I made and sold several of these to coworkers a couple of Christmases ago. They are so fun to wear! A challenge to make, as you want to use 20 or 22 gauge silver wire for strength, and a lot of gemstones don't have holes that big. Since I got my electric bead reamer, life is better~~ Just don't do what I did and "ream" your finger. Blood is not a good mix with beads! LOL!

Bless you all, my dear blog-friends! May your week be filled with God-thoughts and loving deeds.