Color!

These are the finished ornaments! They seemed to be well received and added a punch of color to my display! They are now over at the Made In Ojai store!

The new hand torch arrived on Friday but I haven't had a chance to bust it out of the box and take it for a test drive! Any words of wisdom on the mini butane torches would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to have a "You'll put your eye out!" moment here! I did of course read the instructions and safety information...



I also had the room to fire up some newish beads in a newish color. They look very mermaidy to me. I'm all about the made up words today. Go right brain! Go right brain!

Playing favorites...

My favorite new necklace (as if I could really ever pick a favorite!) Turquoise, labradorite, moonstone, rubies, garnets and ceramic beads as well as a new bird! YUM! I gave here a title... "Hope she comes my way..."

Loves me!

This is one of those ideas that has been rattling around in my brain for ages! She's ready to roll on out! Of course she'll look more like a petal when she's a soft pink or orange. And yes there is a "Love's me not" one to go with her!

Busting at the seams!

It was a jam packed weekend! It is time to get myself in gear and get going with the holiday ornaments! Next weekend is the Holiday Home Look-in, a local craft show which will be a 3 day event! Here are some of the ornaments!

Years to get here...

I have been wanting to work with precious metal clay for years. Sometimes it takes that long for things to come together. I'm glad they finally did. A fellow Made In Ojai artisan was kind enough to let me sit in with her while she worked with her Art Clay. Andre is an amazing jewelry artist and is certified to work with Art Clay. A few months ago I purchased a small amount of the clay on-line and it has been sitting in it's shipping box waiting patiently for me to get my s#@t together. It really helped to see someone work with it in person. To see how the clay feels and what essentials to have on hand. It was also very motivating to have Enchanted Adornments on hand as inspiration and instruction. I got my tools together, set up a work area after the kids were in bed and forced myself to pick one or two ideas to really focus on. My mind was overly excited and taking me everywhere so a few small sketches really helped me to FOCUS! I choose to do a few freeform hearts and 2 small press molded bird charms. I let them dry over night and instead of firing them in the kiln, I choose, out of sheer impatience, to fire them on the stove top! Did you know you can do that? Just some metal mesh and a gas stove! Amazing. I was dubious. The photos tell the story...


Here they are over the burner. I used thin sterling wire as the bail on the heart.


This little bird before brushing with a wire brush...


A speck of liver of sulfur.


Getting their sulfur bath.


A really dark patina.


Proud mama! After they were tumbled!
I'm really excited to see what they become...

Cramped nubs...

My fingers have been reduced to cramped nubs at this point. Must stop typing... must stop wire wrapping...

Someone STOP ME!

It's like I've got the red shoes on only they are pliers and they keep my hands wrapping wire!!! In fact I'm all out of 22 gauge wire! Someone stop me!

More! More! More!

Just. More.

Newness...

I had a wire wrapping fit over the weekend! Some of these are for a holiday boutique at the end of the month and some to submit to magazines. Shhhh....

Round and round she goes...

Here are some small shots of what I added to the round robin necklaces. They were all so lovely! And nearly done! Some only had room for a charm. Others had room for more...

Ornamental...

This ornament and it's fraternal twin sister are out having a trial run in the Made In Ojai store. We shall see what sort of reception they get before making more as holiday gifts. I had a lot of fun making them and am hoping they will be this years holiday ornament for friends and family...

It was like Christmas!

Only better! Because it was all for me and it was yesterday! I do love giving a gift but I also love getting a gift! Yesterday was the mother load of post office days! My box runnith over....

First was this beauty of a ring from Andrew Thornton's sale shop and with it was this original work of art by Andrew! Thank you!





Then there was the round robin jewelry from Tiny Leaves. I was lucky enough to be included in the round robin as Lorelei can't count in the wee hours of the morn! Lucky me!



and then, and then, and then... I'm almost too excited to say it because I've been waiting since June for this to be in my hot little hands.... Enchanted Adornments!!!! And now it is MINE! And it is so exquisite! I'm really looking forward to trying her techniques for my own designs, starting with some PMC love. I may have to wait until the holidays and I've been pretty good this year so I've asked Santa for a rock tumbler and a small hand torch.



So much postal love! So little time!

As seen in...

I was lucky enough to have two projects published in this years edition of Easy Wire Magazine...

It has some really beautiful projects. I am in great company!