My New Earrings

I've been subbing long term for a teacher since the 31st of January. The job will finish the 9th of April. During this time I haven't been able to get much jewelry done, but I did do these earrings. Above are pearls dangling from textured copper rings with sterling silver wire. The rings started their life as washers and I pounded them with a hammer to texture them. These and the opal glass ones below are inspired by Sharilyn Miller. The opal glass ones have been antiqued. The antiquing gives the copper a nice rose gold look.

These are clear sparkling CZ drops with sterling silver in a twisted bird nest wrap. I love these cubic zirconia and have them in several colors.

Lava is kind of a new bead on the market. I imagine it is hard to polish it. Here I've made a spiral for the front.




These are wrapped in sterling silver wire.

43 Degrees

Thirty degree temperature swings in a single day are pretty common in Texas. Snow in March in our area and 43 degree swings aren't so common. If you extend the timeline to 36 hours there was a 46 degree variation.

The ground was warmed up from a couple of days in the 70's so the snow didn't last long. We had some more 70 degree weather and now it's cold and very, very rainy, and it's supposed to snow again.

Taking Pictures of Cats

I've decided taking pictures of cats is much like pilling them. It's a very hit-or-miss operation. Of course, since someone invented pill poppers (a tool with a plunger for holding the pill and popping it down the cat's throat for those of you who don't own cats) pilling is at least possible. Except for Maizie. Pilling Maizie = pilling buzz saw.

I decided to take pictures of the cats. The cats decided not to pose. They did what they usually do. They see the camera and almost invariably walk up to it and press their wet little noses on it. Then they turn around and and point their hairy little behinds right at the lens. I thought of taking hairy little cat behind photos but the cats wouldn't care. Maybe next time. I did manage to get Sugar Baby (above), with an only slightly perturbed look. I got a more perturbed look out of her but decided to post this one. Then I got Jazz with her slightly perturbed look. I know the second photo is blurred. She did the other thing the cats do, which is to walk off in the middle of the shot. I like it though so I've decided it's "artistically" blurred.

And here is Scrappy, who is demonstrating the putting the nose on the camera part. He never looks perturbed. Hopefully my next camera will focus at one or two inches and I'll get better shots of the cats putting their noses up to the camera.

Hey, maybe I could sell a coffee table book--"Cats and Their Hairy Behinds."

Raynaud's Syndrome

NOTE: Update at the bottom.
About three weeks ago I picked Stefan up at school. He'd waited outside for about 20 minutes, and as usual, he hadn't bothered with a coat. It was a chilly and very windy day. He got in the car and I was very shocked to see his purple hands and forearms--MUCH worse than the photo above. He actually had dark splotches that were almost black, much like a corpse with lividity. I was planning on driving straight to the ER but by the time we were driving out of the lot his hands were pinking up.

Raynaud's is apparently what happens when the body overreacts to cold and shuts off circulation to your hands or feet. The purple color comes from lack of oxygen. It's rare to have serious complications, but it can lead to gangrene and amputation if the blood flow is not restored. It can also damage your circulatory system in severe cases.

Primary Raynaud's is just Raynaud's by itself, without a underlying disease. The best site we found online was at Mayo. Secondary Raynaud's is secondary to arthritis or Sjogrens or something else. Stefan's been to the doctor to rule out secondary Raynaud's.

Now Stefan has some gloves, another hat, and new thermal shirts to wear skateboarding. We had to get lined pants for gym as well. He alarmed the nurse so much when he got cold in P.E. and his hands turned blue that she called me in the middle of class. I went to the school on my lunch break and took him a hoodie to wear in gym. Usually hoodies aren't allowed, but they made a temporary exception.

Oddly enough, the nurse told me she had recently researched Raynaud's because three other students and a teacher had come in with the same thing. She went on to add that Stefan's case was by far the worst.

Update 02/09/2011:  My son was taking a medication during the time he had trouble with Raynaud's. While my son was on the medication it became known that it could cause problems with cold temperature.  His doctor took him off it and no more Raynaud's, at least not a dangerous level.  His hands get cool but he doesn't turn colors since quiting the medication.

First Flowers

I was expecting the Crocus but not these flowers. It seems like I usually see them in March. The flower above and the jonquils adorn the back of our property where our pets have been buried.

I have some of the jonquils planted in the front, but they aren't blooming yet.

These are always a pleasant surprise, even though I'm expecting them. I planted these randomly around a section of the front yard many years ago.

More Shopping for supplies

Today I stopped by Bally Beads in Rockwall. I couldn't resist these lampworked glass beads. They aren't the usual thing I get, but I loved the colors and the shapes. The rectangular beads on the far left and the lentil beads in the center remind me of Monet. I also love the little frogs clinging to the three stands on the right and the lizard beads in the center.



Here is a selection of gemstone, bone, and wooden beads that I got, as well as a lampworked bead that missed the last shot.

Shopping for hammers

I sent off another application last week and received an acceptance from one show I applied for, Azalea Trails in Tyler, TX. Now if I can get into some of the others I'm applying for I'll be happy.

Over the weekend I took a friend to Canton. If you've never heard of Canton, its a small town that turns into one huge antique/flea market on First Monday weekends. While we were there I shopped for hammers with the intention of texturing some old hammers to use for texturing metal. I bought one antique hammer that is said to be a watch maker's hammer. I like the way the twisted metal handle fits in my hand. I will polish the head, but won't texture it since it looks kind of unusual, and may be an antique. The second hammer is a more common style and probably not that old so I'll try and texture it.

I also found a cool rock I had never seen. It's a natural fiber optic stone. Notice how the writing appears to be on the surface of the stone. It's known as TV rock or ulexite.

I found some Czech glass beads, mostly rondels, that will look good mixed with gemstones.

Sunday I managed to string some pearls with silver and/or crystal. I still have to put the clasps on.

Thursday I started a "long-term" sub job in 8th grade language arts. My degree is in English, so this is right up my alley. I'm not sure how long I'll be doing it, but it could be 6 weeks or more. I just spent the better part of three hours grading papers. I'm going to have to work really hard to get jewelry done during this period.

Booth Updated

Finally the weather warmed up and cleared off so I was able to get some booth photos to use for show juries this year. I still haven't decided on a business name, although I'm now leaning toward No Stone Unstrung. I'll need to get a banner for the booth as soon as I decide. I'll probably use the above photo for juries.



Here is a close-up of the interior.




Here's Jazz supervising the take down. The cats always find the booth fascinating, especially when they realize they can go under the walls and under the table covers. Jazz was under one of the tables when I took the shots. Scrappy may have been under one. He was checking it out earlier.

I still have some jewelry pics to take plus I need to make lots of jewelry.