My First Tickle Me Tuesday

I've been reading some "Tickle Me Tuesday" posts, especially at My Life Under the Bus and  Yes Teacher! I decided today I would join in. 


First up are these 17 inch highway letters from SalvageNation. I can just see these on the wall or shelf.

And I wouldn't mind a couple of hearts from Menagerie Studio. Valentine jewelry, mmmmmmm.

This one, or maybe this one.

And then there's this gorgeous milagro heart pendant from Lorena Angulo of Pueblofolkart.

I've been lusting after Lorena's beautiful jewelry for some time now and one of these days I'm treating myself.

We had a couple of warm days and I got out and did some walking.  I always turn left from the drive and walk to the end of the road.  I thought I got away without being spotted but when I turned around there was my entourage.

the entourage-Jazz, Scrappy, and Nikko

Apparently I'm not allowed to walk by myself. Jazz was trotting along pretty well.  This is good since she is a hefty kitty and can use the exercise. The boys are more easily distracted.

I turned around and went back.  Jazz and Nikko stayed at the house and Scrappy accompanied me to the bridge. 

Scrappy heeling

He likes to lean on my leg when he walks with me.  Sometimes he even does it without tripping me.


Check out the other Tickle Me Tuesday posts here:

Stamping Fun

Saturday I went to the Heirloom Productions Stamp Show in Grapevine, Texas. I got off to a late start and ran into a traffic jam and got there just under two hours before they closed.  


Less than 15 minutes after arriving I was lucky enough to win one of the door prizes!  It was a ten dollar gift certificate to Stamping Up.  I used it toward the price of this complete alphabet stamp set. Here's a sampling of the letters.





I use stamps mostly for etching.  When I get in etching mode I etch everything that doesn't run away from me.  The cats even start looking suspiciously at me. 


Someday I'd like to use stamps for other types of art, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. 


One of the coolest stamps sets I got was one from SAR (Some Assembly Required).  It's a little kit of stamps that makes a three dimensional heart put together with slots cut in paper. I plan to use metal.   I'll have to experiment a little to see what size slots need to be cut and what gauges of metal work best.  Click the link above to see some samples. 


I also stopped by Lost Coast Designs booth.  They are my favorite stamp makers.  I purchased several stamps from them.  Some of them I hope to use in some art projects, possibly at Art Unraveled.  My favorite is the small Bird Head Woman shown here. I got several of the stamps shown on this page. 


I found these cool eyelets at The Stamp Doctor. Flowers and hearts, oh my! Now I really have to start using eyelets in my jewelry.  These are a large size but I think I can make them work.







The new job is going well and I'm really proud of the good job our son is doing! I'm slowly getting used to getting up before dawn.  And I do seem to be getting a little more done.


Now to get some more etching done....

New Beginnings and Being On the Job

  Last year about this time I did the word resolution thing.  My word was discipline and I think I forgot about it about a week after the post.  This year I'm going to go back to having an actual list of goals.  I never get them all done, but I do get some of them done.  I think this will work better for me because when you are smack in the middle of the forest, as I always seem to be, you can only see the trees, not the forest.  I need the details (trees) of a list, versus the forest of a word. Plus, I like reviewing the list at the end of the year and realizing that I did get some goals done. I'm working on a list now.  


Are you doing a word, goals, or resolutions?  


The big thing going on right now is that my son and I are starting a business.  It's On the Job Janitorial and we just got our first job, a building in downtown Greenville.  We are both really stoked about this.  We start on Tuesday the 2nd. It's only a few hours a week.  We are responsible for the public areas, not the individual shops. After we get the routine down we hope to add a couple more office cleaning accounts.


Some of you who have read my blog for a long time will know that our son has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  He is high functioning--what many people call Aspergers. He's 19 now and has not been able to find employment. He's not interested in college, and with his dyslexia he'd have to be really motivated to succeed at a college or university.  I've been racking my brain for a job that would be a good fit for him.  I finally decided that working at a janitorial service would be good.  He doesn't do well around a lot of people, or if he's pressured to work fast.  I'm pleased that he likes this idea too, and is very motivated to do this work. 


I will have to get up earlier than I like, since most of the work will be done before the shops open in the building.  I'm not a morning person.  I'm thinking that the upside will be that since I'm up, I will just go work on jewelry after I finish with the janitorial duties. I'm hoping I'll get more done. And of course, the big upside which is employment for us both. 


It's odd that it took me this long to think of a janitorial service.  That's because I kind of did this before.  Years ago I helped a friend find employment cleaning houses and apartments.  I booked the jobs and she did the cleaning.  After a period of time she learned enough English to get a good job at a hospital in addition to the apartment cleaning.  


Now is the perfect time to have thought of it though, because a year ago our son wouldn't have been ready for it, and now he is. It's a blessing.


I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. We had a great Christmas visiting with family. We spent Christmas eve at my parents and had Christmas dinner at my brother's place.  


Happy New Year!  May 2012 be a great year for us all. 
   

And the Winner Is...

Therese of Therese's Treasures is the winner of my earrings!  Congratulations, Therese.  And thanks to all who participated.

Bead Table Wednesday--Hammering Down to the Holidays

Wow, I can hardly believe that it is almost Christmas!  I still have a couple of presents to find and some plans to finalize.  And a little shopping...and probably some things I've forgotten about...


The last couple of days I've been working on finishing up another batch of fold formed copper cuffs.  I just can't get enough of the fold forming.  


Here's a set of pictures illustrating the various courses of hammering.  You may remember the first picture from a couple of weeks ago. This was after the first course of hammering.




This is after the second course of forging.




Hammering is finished. The curved cuff has four courses of hammering and the other had three.




I've opened the Rutger fold and done some pickling and filing. There was some interesting color on these after the pickling but it all came off when I cleaned it with steel wool.




The cuffs have been cleaned with steel wool, stamped with my initials,  and a final shaping has been done.  They'll go in the tumbler tomorrow, get patinaed, and have a finish coat applied. 




I've decided to start including more focals by other artists in my designs and have been hitting Etsy pretty hard over the last couple of months.  I have these pieces out where they will percolate for a while until I decide what to do.


These are by Martha Eason of Menagerie Studio. 







These are by Heather Powers of Humblebeads.  Hmmmm...I seem to have a theme going on.




These are by Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood. Maybe I should be careful and not let these get too close to the ones above. 




And I got some really cool found objects.  These escutcheons are from Nemisis on Etsy.






I'm going to put the long one on the bottom left on a cuff.  It looks like it will bend just fine.  I have some others I want to put on cuffs, but I'm not sure they'll survive the bending.  The three escutcheons in the upper right are nice and thick.  I may etch them. Or not. 


Check here for a giveaway for my followers.  I'll be posting another giveaway open to everyone soon. And don't forget to check out the other bead tables here.


I leave you with this, taken from a letter by Fra Giovanni in 1513.  

I am your friend

and my love for you goes deep.

There is nothing I can give you

which you have not got, 

but there is much, very much 

that while I cannot give it,

you can take.

No heaven can come to us
unless our hearts find rest in today.
Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future
which is not hidden
in this present little instant.
Take peace!


The gloom of the world
is but a shadow.
Behind it,
yet within our reach
is joy.
There is radiance and glory
in the darkness
could we but see -
and to see we have only to look.
I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver,
but we, judging its gifts
by the covering,
cast them away as ugly,
or heavy or hard.
Remove the covering
and you will find beneath it
a living splendor,
woven of love,
by wisdom, with power.

Welcome it, grasp it,
touch the angel's hand
that brings it to you.
Everything we call a trial,
a sorrow, or a duty, believe me,
that angel's hand
is there,
the gift is there, and the wonder
of an overshadowing presence.
Our joys, too, be not
content with them as joys.
They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Life is so full
of meaning and purpose,
so full of beauty
- beneath its covering -
that you will find earth
but cloaks your heaven.

Courage, then, to claim it,
that is all.
But courage you have,
and the knowledge that
we are all pilgrims together,
wending through
unknown country, home.

And so, at this time,
I greet you.
Not quite as the world
sends greetings,
but with profound esteem
and with the prayer
that for you
now and forever,
the day breaks,
and the shadows flee away. 

Fra Giovanni

Celebrating my Followers-A Giveaway

I've decided to celebrate going over 100 followers with a giveaway.  This giveaway is open just to people who are already following me either on Blogger or on Networked Blogs.  There will be another giveaway shortly that will be open to everyone.


I'm giving away these earrings:






These have etched copper domes with a Swarovski crystal and hand made sterling silver ear wires.  They've been finished with a patina and a jewelry finish so they won't tarnish or need to be polished.


To enter you must be a current follower, and you must comment on the blog.  Make sure I can contact you in some way, or leave me your email.  Comments will close on next Tuesday the 27th of December at midnight.  The winner will be selected with a random number generator. Good luck, and thanks for following. 

Bead Table Wednesday-More Cuffs and Delicas

The holidays are upon us and it's cut heavily into my blogging.  Oh well.

I have just a few things on my my bead table.  I have some lots of Delica beads that I'm destashing in my Etsy store, Essential Adornment. I have a lot more lots still to list.

And I have the beginnings of four copper fold formed cuffs.  They've had the first hammering and are now ready to be annealed again.  The black is from the torch and will come off later when I pickle them.  I like to anneal outside but it's so cold now I guess I'm going to have to do it inside.

Ralph and I went to a salvage yard for school stuff yesterday where they had some wooden lab tables that would have been perfect for the studio for the metal work table if they hadn't been outside and just been rained on for the last few days.  I'm going to keep checking back with them, unless Ralph builds me one first.  

I had some disappointing news lately.  Adorn Me 2012 was cancelled because not enough people signed up before the 90 day mark.  It's a great set of workshops and I was really sad to see it canceled.  

Richard Salley, who was scheduled to teach at Adorn Me, put together a three day-two class workshop during the same time period at Spring Beads near Houston so I've signed up for that.  His first session in early March booked in two days and when I talked to Spring Beads a few days ago they were booking a second session for the end of February. There's a description on their website. Richard's a great teacher and I love his classes.

What's on your bead table?  Be sure to check out the other bead tables at: 

Tejas Trade Open House

When I first started selling jewelry I shared booths with Dell Kirkman and her daughter Leitha Herring.  They are my husband's aunt and cousin.

We both got too big for half a booth, but for several years still did many of the same shows.  Dell and Leitha named their business Tejas Trade. 


This past week I attended the grand opening of Tejas Trade.  The store is located in downtown Texarkana, Texas in a cute little red brick building.

They've stocked it with clothing, some of Leitha's original art, and their jewelry.





The store was so packed with people when I got there that I had to wait until things were almost over to take any pictures.





Leitha's son Patrick manned the bar. This table will be their work table during store hours.





Leitha makes these horn cuffs and bangles.  I tried on every one of them but I have a small wrist and they were all a little big. I love them.
  

This is my favorite one.  It has turquoise embedded in the fissures.  


This building was a wreck when they rented it.  They did all the restoration themselves.  They did a fantastic job!


And I did do a little Christmas shopping while I was there.  Shhhhh--don't tell.