New Year,New Stuff

I've been giving a bit of thought about the new year coming. Time to shake out the cobwebs that have been taking up residence in my head and change things around some. I
figure my blog is a good place to start. I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with the look just yet but hopefully my blogger buddies will keep coming back to check things out. In the mean time I want to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR filled with many blessings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

"GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE."
Tiny Tim

Cookie time

Christmas is near~~~~do you know how I know this? We spent the day baking hubby's yearly oatmeal,chocolate chip cookies. He baked and I ate them, that's where the "we" comes in. They are so good and chewy and smell divine. He likes to bring them to family, the people he works with and we also take and deliver them to some of our neighbors.So, Merry Christmas all....I'm going to grab some more cookies!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Ben Stein's Commentary on Christmas
I found this commentary at Nomadic Creations http://stacieflorer.typepad.com/nomadic_creations/ and I liked it so here it is..
my two cents.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession :
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham 's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina ) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem ( Dr Spock 's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves..
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it. no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,Ben Stein

Ring-linga- ling

I just finished up with these two rings. Both are fabricated with sterling silver and the charms that I made to solder on are also of sterling. They're custom made for my clients two daughters for Christmas. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.

This one is for the youngest daughter who wanted a butterfly.

This daughter is a musician and wanted a treble clef.

I enjoyed making these and I'm planning on making more~~~~especially the butterfly.....

O.K. back to decorating the house for Christmas. If I don't focus I'll never get it all done.

Christmas Parade

Today was the day that Santa Claus came to Shelbyville!!! A good time was had by all....There were dogs and horses and miniature horses! Tractors and marching bands. And, it was cold!! And fun. The marines started it off.

I just love,love,love living in a small town.

I really got into the Christmas spirit today. I feel so blessed and grateful that I'm here and it's now.

And here's is Santa!!!! He comes to town on a fire truck!! Merry Christmas, Ho,Ho,Ho!!!

Good News

Well, the Christmas spirit is upon me. I'll be in the studio all the rest of the day today. Fortunately, the weather is grey, rainy and chilly. Good studio time,not very tempted to go out and about.

I also want to announce that I've been lucky enough to get my jewelry into Damselfly Studio and Gallery http://www.damselflybeads.com/1601.html in charming Midway,Kentucky.


Midway is the cutest little town. There's a train running right through the middle of it and it has shops and restaurants so you can spend a day there browsing (And hopefully, buying.) I feel as though I'm walking around in another century when I go there.


Here are a few of the pieces I've placed there.

I made this one with Argentinium silver with Garnet beads.

Here's one with silver fused to copper for the pendant. I made copper beads and those are Unikite beads at the ends of the copper beads. The chain is sterling silver...........

Remember this one from Deryn Mentock's http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/ summer challenge? I've finally decided that I can part with it. I can always make another, right? Although it won't look exactly the same.

And finally, a close-up of one the the fused silver to copper earrings. So, if you're anywhere near Midway, Kentucky do stop in at Damselfly.

More later, gotta get to work!!

COOL STUFF

I was checking out LLYYN'S blog the other day. She's such a talented artist. Anyway, she mentioned that she bought some things from PatinaQueen over at ETSY. So I took a look. Little keys, jump rings, chain, filigree pieces,bead caps and etc.etc.etc.

I received my order yesterday and Lynn was right. Look at the cool stuff I got!!

All of the patina is done by Patina Queen and the quality is excellant. Here's more.

Aren't these little swallows adorable??? I'm getting all kinds of inspiration from these pieces. But first, I have some commission work to take care of.

Guess I'd better get busy!

Happy Birthday!!

Yesterday was Granddaughter Paige's 10th Birthday. It's hard to believe that this wonderful treasure has been in our family for 10 years. We are one lucky family. She is such a joy to have around.

Happy Birthday, tweenager!!!!!!

An End

We said good-bye to our sweet Jake on Monday. The cancer in his lungs took over and breathing was so difficult for him. I still can't believe that he isn't here with me. Jasmine, our other kittie is looking for him everywhere.

This journey that I'm on will be very different without my little buddy~~~hopefully, healing will take place and I'll be able to smile thinking about the wonderful years that I had with my constant companion.

THANK YOU

Thanks to all who have commented about Jake. Your words hold me up during this trying time. An update----he's still hanging in. Still eating, though I can see his appetite isn't quite the same.His quality of life is still o.k. He has good days and bad days. I'm grateful to God for giving me a little extra time with Jake. I'll take whatever I can get.

I should mention that we have another sweet kitty too. Her name is Jasmine and right now she's been very understanding about not being our main focus.

This is our girl Jasmine.

Taking a break

I'll be taking a short break from blogging. I know it's been awhile since I've written anything. My sweet cat Jake was just diagnosed with lung cancer. His veterinarian tells us that there is nothing to be done for him because of his age. He's been my companion for 17 1/2 years and I have to admit this has got me down. I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can until we have to say our final good-bye. Just writing about this brings me to tears. He's such a good kitty and I love him so much that I'm not sure how to make the final decision. He's still eating,drinking, grooming and being his cuddly self. I can hear him wheezing when he breathes but I don't think he's in any pain yet. I pray that God will guide me to do right by Jake and let him go at the right time. I want him to stay with me but I don't want him to suffer either. Here are some pictures of my sweetie.

He's a fan of do it yourself shows. And he always watches "Ghost Hunters" with me.

Isn't this just the sweetest face?

He likes to stop and smell the flowers.....

Check out the article

My friend, Jessica Moreau-Berry wrote an article about Studio Spaces here . And, guess what!! She mentions my studio,which happens to be a mess right now as I have some orders to finish up and don't have the time or energy to clean it. Jes has pictures of her studio there and it's beautiful. I'll be planning on redecorating mine soon I think. Actually, I'm pleased with mine the way it is~~don't want to scare hubby into thinking that I'm planning a project for him. While you're checking out Wishstudio Blogzine take a look at Sara Lechner's studio. All I can say is WOW.

Prayers for kitten

Hi all,

Please send good thoughts and prayers for little kitty. My friend Denise called me this afternoon to tell me that the kitten is very sick with pneumonia. She and her hubby Eric are taking care of him around the clock ( plus caring for other rescued animals). Any prayers that you could send their way would be a great help. Thanks, all my friends in blogland.

Blah,blah,blah

Well, there it is. On the left is my "new" vintage suitcase. The woman that gave it to me came by on Saturday to visit and was so pleased that her Mother's treasure was put to good use.

Here's a view of what I did with the top. Dover publications has a CD of vintage travel stickers. I printed some out and aged them with Distress ink,beat them up a little and voila, my friends mom had been all over the world..Here's a look at the inside. I don't know if it's my "lucky" suitcase or coincidence...but sales were very good this week-end.

This is ending up to be a long post. Would you like to get a nice cup of coffee or tea and then continue? I'd like to announce that " Serendipity" in LaGrange, Kentucky is carrying some of my jewelry. The Mom and Daughter that own it are very sweet. It's a cafe/gift shop~~~~I love any place that you can eat AND shop at the same time.

And, just for fun. My friend and jewelry partner, Denise, works for the Humane society and this is a 2 week old rescued kitten. He has to be bottle fed every 2 or 3 hours so he got to join us at the Farmers and Artisans market.


Until next time~~~~~

Jewelry Challenge #4

Here is my take on Deryn's jewelry challenge #4. In this piece I used sterling silver,copper and brass metals. Each layer was cut and forged and heat treated. I drew a bead on the copper wrap. The charm at the end is brass,cut and textured, hanging from copper wire. The chain is made of annealed steel with the hook and eye clasp placed on the side. I'm happiest with the way the silver looks. I'm gonna use that texture on something else as well.

Lucky Me

I just keep on being lucky....I sold a pair of earrings to a woman at the Farmer's Market and the following week she showed up with a great old suitcase for me. I had mentioned to her that I was looking for one for my display. It's from the 1930's and quite beat up~~~~isn't it grand? It's quite musty smelling so I'm letting it air out for a bit. I'll be posting the after pictures in a few days.

Happy !

A lady approached me at the farmer's market on Saturday and asked if I would consider trading some earrings for some old silver jewelry she had. She was going to bring it to a consignment shop but they told her she'd have to polish it first. Then she thought about how long it might sit there before it sold. So, we made a trade. She was happy to have new earrings for herself and her daughter and I was happy to get her old stuff to remake into new. In my book that's a good deal and everybody is happy.

~~~Happy,happy,happy.

Busy,Busy,Busy

I've been making new pieces to put up on Etsy. Got a few up yesterday and need to get more pictures of some others. These are my favorites. I've fused sterling onto copper for this look. Sort of a moon over the ocean.

The most difficult thing for me is getting good pictures. I think these turned out o.k. but it took a long time. And thank goodness for digital camera's. I'd be going through an awful lot of film otherwise.

These were fun to work on because I got to use several techniques. The silver was heat treated then I polished all the high spot's to show all the texture. I've said it before and I'll say it again~~~~love my torch!

Well, that's it for now. I have more work to get going on and more pictures to take.

Lazy Summer Week-end

I enjoyed a nice week-end. I sold jewelry at a local farmers market and after that really nothing. Just hung out at home~~~~ didn't even work on making more jewelry. Just stayed low key. The farmers market is one that I usually do each Saturday morning and the setting is so pretty. It's in a cute small town on their courthouse lawn.


It seems that quite a few people were buying Christmas presents already. Can it be that close already? Starting tomorrow I'd better get busy making more jewelry. If sales keep going as well as yesterday I don't want to run out of stock. :D




























Oh, and I did play with my camera a bit. Took some pics of Jake my sweet cat. He's a handsome fella, if you ask me. Especially being a senior citizen and all. He was 17 years old in April and he was a gift to me from my son when he was a kitten of about 8 weeks old.

I like the soft focus look of this one.

THANKS MOLLY!!!

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/ has honored me with a "Brilliant Weblog" award. I'm truly excited and humbled to be mentioned with such talented artists and bloggers. Thank you, Molly. You are kind and generous.
Now I get to choose 7 other bloggers to nominate for the award. Not an easy task as there are so many talented and wonderful artists whose blogs I enjoy regularly. But here goes:

• Stacie Florer http://stacieflorer.typepad.com/nomadic_creations/


• Jessica Moreau-Berry http://sweetpeas.motime.com/


• Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/something_sublime_from_th/


• Sharon Thomlinson http://allnorahsart.blogspot.com/


• Lynn Davis http://z-llyynn.blogspot.com/
  
• Jen Worden http://www.jenworden.com/


• Jen Crossley http://amarkintime.blogspot.com/

The Rules:
Put the "Brilliant Weblog" logo on your blog
Add a link to the person who awarded you

Nominate at least 7 other blogs

Add links to those blogs on yours

Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

And be sure to check out the artists that I've nominated--you will be amazed by their talent....

Other Stuff

Our town had an "Arts Walk" over the week-end. It was so very hot out and I think that it kept many people at home. By Saturday evening when it was all over, I'd have to say that I was "well done" and over cooked. First thing my hubby and I did was drive through McDonald's and order LARGE ice cream cones to enjoy on the way home. Then at home the ice packs came out of the freezer directly to my head and feet. Ahhhh~~~that felt good.

I still enjoy doing the shows. With the price of gas I stick close to home though. I'm looking forward to the ones that are in the Fall. My favorite time of the year.

Here are some pictures of my set-up