Fairy house

Ellery and I made a fairy house when I was in Oak Park visiting. Not sure if any moved in yet, but they should. It is full of custom furniture made from clay by little hands!

Ellery's creation

I recently spent a hot, but delightful, few days with our son Jess's family in Oak Park IL. Ellery, who is 6, loved looking at the jewelry I made. Next thing I knew she strung together a necklace from some wooden beads she had. She also asked me how long I'd been making jewelry. When I told her "about two months" she replied, "I've been in the jewelry business longer than that. My friend Katherine and I made jewelry when I lived in Dallas. We didn't sell anything but it was cute--we made it out of string and paper." No doubt she has a lot to teach me!

Work in progress

Bought some hand-dyed silk ribbon and just started playing with it knotting copper rings as I went. Then I created several dangles, which I attached to the rings. I still have to find an S-hook to finish the clasp and work the chain on the second half of the necklace, but I ran out of steam for the weekend. Oh, I'm calling this one Sedona Sunset.

Think I deserve a feet-up-sit-down with a glass of wine before starting dinner.

Open for business

Okay, so the photo is not in focus, but you get the idea. I had cards made. God bless Vistaprint--500 for $2.99. Bought a little stamp and inked the bird's feet on the plain cards.

Polymer clay faux leather

I've had some polymer clay for awhile with the intent of making my own beads or pendants. I saw a cool project online for making faux tooled leather. Believe it or not this started out as tan clay. I rolled it thru a pasta machine, distressed it with crumbled up tin foil, cut the shapes with a cookie cutter, cut the holes with a drinking straw and marked "stitching" with the head of a pin. Then I baked them and wiped on a mix of black and burnt sienna paint. Some are better than others and I still have to file the edges and buff, but I think they are passable.

Empty Nest

What kind of person names her necklaces? This is my first attempt at an asymmetrical design. Shel keeps trying to straighten it for me! I also made a coordinating bracelet. Two tries on both!

Terrible Two's at 64

Seems like everything I do lately takes two tries to get it right. I tried a couple weeks ago to make cherry bounce and the mixture molded. I'm at it again and this one looks promising. I played with the recipe combining several off the web and incorporating some tips. The mixture is supposed to ferment for ten days before adding whiskey to the jar, sealing it and letting it sit until the holidays. Is Labor Day a legit holiday?

Need to get busy

I drove 230 miles round trip yesterday to a bead shop in Lacey--Shipwreck Beads. The place was huge and I shopped for over two hours. Came home and placed two online orders for things I wanted, but couldn't find there. Then today I went to Joann's and Michael's with coupons in hand and added to my stash. I have enough now to keep me busy for the next ten years!

Going to a friend's tonite for crab. I'm taking a layered Mexican dip so Shel will have something to eat. Should be a fun time!

Second try

I don't think I've stopped with the first try on anything I've made yet. I posted this one before and then went back and added to it--made it longer and embellished the pendant. I like it better now.

Shel's favorite

I made this one to wear with the many turquoise and black clothes I own. It's a heavy necklace. I made matching earrings, which I will never wear with it as I don't like the matchy-matchy look.

Ask for that raise!

I think this necklace is classy and perfect to wear when asking for a raise. In hindsight, I'd probably make it shorter in proportion to the focal pendant.

Steep learning curve III

This one was a "from-scratch" necklace which I've actually worn several times.

Steep learning curve II

The next attempt was an addition to a cheap necklace from Kohl's to which I added some resin flowers and a charm. I think it looks like "grandma trinkets". Wore it once too.

Steep learning curve

I pulled out my first three attempts at jewelry making. Two were simply adaptations of existing pieces. The first was made from a money clip that Carol gave me after our trip to AZ. I saw a necklace made out of Buffalo nickels and thought it was cool. Carol found the money clip in the airport gift shop on the way home and sent it to me. I spent hours (honest) making it into a necklace that I wore once.

Food/Mood

I worked so hard from Oct-Mar to shed 40 pounds. I'm not admitting to how much has creeped back, but I am so frustrated. Damn the 3 Basic Mood Groups--red wine, chocolate and cheese. How I wish I were one of those people (and I'm sure they exist somewhere) who only eat when they are hungry! Not beating myself up, just dealing with my demons.