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: