For my brother

The first summer after my dad died, my mom and I took our first of several memorable trips together. She went to Cape Cod with me while I attended a seminar. We had our afternoons free so we took a whale-watching cruise. I expected to see a spout or two in the far distance, but the reality was incredible. We must have seen 50 humpbacks--breaching, swimming under the boat and blowing so close that you could smell their fishy breath! We had to remind ourselves that this wasn't Seaworld and these were animals in the wild. The minute we pulled back into port, mom went in search of a gold whale's tale necklace to commemorate her adventure. She wore it every day for the rest of her life.

Mom has been gone now for over nine years. It didn't surprise me when my brother asked that I find a bone whale's tale and make him a necklace. My brother is as masculine as they come and a real redneck. I suspect a few of his friends may wonder when they see him wearing the necklace, but he and I will know that it really isn't about whales.

Lily 2

My other blogs (www.ayearofdefiningnormal.blogspot.com and www.coach-craft.com) are being neglected as I continue to struggle with the acrylic medium. You can see from this latest painting that I am having trouble with blending and that I also need to use less gel as the brushstrokes look too heavy for a flower. However, I like the layers of color and from far away, it looks passable.

 

I also made two necklaces yesterday. Shel's comment was, "you are getting quite an inventory." I am and I haven't even started to crank out the earrings I want to make. I do need to decide what I am going to do with all this!

third attempt

I wish the photographs could capture what I see as this painting isn't bad. However, the shading in the flower washed out in the photo. This painting had three backgrounds before deciding on gray, which also looks blue in the photo. The lily itself is gorgeous and I took 8 shots of it last nite outside, so be prepared for a Lily Series!

Georgia's okay too

I titled my first painting that was of a sunflower, "Degas's reputation is safe". This second one, which is a full frontal of a tropical flower is entitled, "O'Keefe is safe too." I got better blending on the petals with this one, but it is flat. At least there was some movement in the sunflower. This one can't dance! The style of painting that I admire is loose, abstract. You can tell that the artists had fun painting them. So today I will turn on some Aretha, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke and see what happens on the canvas.

New earring design

I'm struggling with a painting right now so it was nice when this earring design came together just like I envisioned. They are incredibly light! I used more fabric scraps from my quilter friend and various jewelry findings I had on hand. I love re-purposing!

Building inventory

I seriously need to take a course in photographing jewelry as the fine detail doesn't show up in my pictures.

I made the pendant. It is an oval stone in shades of blue and violet that almost looks like a seascape. The beads that make the chain are a mix of matte and crystal in shades of blue and violet.

This one is similar to the last in that it has a mix of matte and crystal beads. It also has "gold" spacers and a sea glass and crystal center piece.



This necklace has a purchased pendant in silver, rust and turquoise. The chain has turquoise and rust beads with silver spacers. It has a Southwestern feel to it.

The last one is my favorite. I've had the pendant for over a year. It is made of rusted metal that has been lacquered. The beads are a mix of red coral, copper and tiger eye.

Degas's reputation is safe

This is my first acrylic painting. Hopefully, the subject is obvious--it is a sunflower. It looks a little like a cross between a sunflower and a plate of bacon. However, here's some important things I learned:

• planning your painting saves time in the long run
• color mixing is hard
• using gels for texture is interesting
• using glazes for mood is critical
• you can re-work acrylics to death

More cheers

This pair has a blue fabric center, brass medallion and crystal on a Belles beer cap. Modeled by Kara.

Cheers for your ears

I stole this design from a vendor at the Tulip Festival this Spring. They are made from Coors Lite bottle caps--the logo is on the back side of the earring. I built on the design by filling the center of the cap with a black and white fabric, adding a medallion and a crystal and finishing them with a tiny peace sign charm. They are modeled by my lovely daughter-in-law. I am selling earrings like these for $20 a pair.

new jewelry design

After too many tries to find the right shot on these earrings, I've decided this one is okay and there are other things to do on this lovely Saturday morning. I've been experimenting with using fabric in earring designs. A good friend, who is a quilter, supplied the fabric and here are my first two attempts. I'm really having fun using different fabrics to see what jewelry components they suggest. The earrings are super light, and despite the print on the fabric, they tend to go with lots of things.

Mike

Really hard for me to capture this one. The quote says, "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit." This was a gift for Mike, who is my boss. It's been a hard transition for him to go from serving clients where results were immediate and tangible to being the Chief Learning and Development Officer where, on a good day, you influence the creation of learning platforms and initiatives. In spite of the personal challenge, Mike has accomplished so much for the people of Ernst & Young and I wanted him to know that I recognized and appreciated his legacy.

I have three males on my team and failed to photograph their gifts. I bought each one an appropriate book for their coaching specialty and then made them each a leather bookmark. I dyed the leather and wrote sayings on each one that I think captured their personalities. For example, on Jim's I wrote, "I see good people" as he always looks for what is good in others and never has an unkind word for anyone. I attached a "charm" to each bookmark. I searched thru rolls of pennies until I found the year that each of them joined EY and then attached that penny to an antiqued disc that I stamped with the phrase "lucky EY". I'm the one that has been lucky to know all the members of this team!

Joan

Joan is one of our newer coaches and calls herself "a traveler, not a tourist". I made this bracelet for her and included a compass charm.

Karen

I tried several different designs until I landed on this necklace for Karen. It is natural and elegant just like her. What was really interesting was that on the evening that I gave my team members their gifts, the jewelry matched what they were wearing.

Vera

In a team-building exercise that only coaches could do, Vera identified herself as a "quirky pioneer", which we shortened to QP--thus the kewpie doll. I searched on etsy until I found the right centerpiece. I stitched seed beads to a leather cuff and made a mermaid dangle that contains the initials Q and P with some beads. I knew she would turn bright red with laughter when she opened her gift and she did!

Dawn

This bracelet is made of individual lucite flowers fastened to silver links. It's most likely painful to wear but I loved the design for Dawn. She is a bright, blooming, blingy member of our team and all-girl!

Barb

Barb has been my right arm for so many years. We finish each other's sentences. When I told her that she, at times, was my brain, she commented that her brain was her chocolate lab named Maddie. Barb said, "wouldn't Ernst & Young be surprised to know that all original ideas around coaching actually come from my dog?" I found a set of blank, wooden, Russian nesting dolls and decoupaged our faces on them and painted the bodies. Don't you love Maddie in a bubushka?

Janice

Difficult to read but the inscription, "I will always be behind you" is printed on an old dictionary page. Janice is my successor. We joked during the transition of my being her training wheels. One day I commented that not only did she take off the training wheels, she left the neighborhood! I wanted Janice to have something to hang in her office to remember that I am always behind her in spirit, cheering her on.

Carla

I made gifts for all the members of my coaching team. This is a leather cuff I made for Carla whose mantra is "play big"!

Bette Ann

Bette Ann is an old friend from our Plano Texas days. I recently visited them when I was in Dallas for business. We had a relaxed weekend of reminiscing, drinking wine and we attended an arts festival in Southlake. I made this bracelet for her. Not sure it was the right choice, but I trust that if she doesn't wear it, her granddaughter, Maddie, will!

for me

I found these cute leather bracelet ends online and played with a design until I came up with this. Check back in June as I have a lot of items on the design board!