Yesterday I discussed my yearly resolutions, or goals as I prefer to call them. Last year I read blog posts by Christine Kane here and here about using a word as a focus for a resolution. Both these posts have a great explanation of the process and a list of words to jump start your thinking process. In true ADD fashion I've procrastinated for a year and am finally ready to do this. Christine's current posts are guest posts from people who did this and what happened in the past year.
So what do I want to concentrate on or do this year? I want to get the studio up and running so I can have a place to work. I want to make a lot of jewelry and some other art. On a personal level, I want to get rid of the clutter in the house.
What word will encompass these goals? Right now I'm thinking of these:
Just do it, get going, focus. This is the word that I'm favoring.
This word will help me let go of things that are getting in the way, like clutter and procrastination.
I probably won't choose this one, but I need a word that will include this idea. I want to finish what I start. Some ventures are processes, like learning new technique for jewelry. It's very important to me to do something with what I've learned though, so I need to think about this.
There's a free PDF file on Christine's site that is a short worksheet to help you choose your word. It's called the "Word for the Year Discovery Tool." Check it out.
What word will you choose? Or if you aren't into "words", what goals and resolutions will you have for 2011?
A few years ago I started thinking in terms of goals instead of making resolutions. It's that time of year again and I'm thinking about my goals for 2011. And guess what? I could pretty much recycle my goals from this time last year. But wait...last year's goals were recycled from my 2009 goals. Yikes!
The good news is I did make progress in most the goals. The bad news is I don't seem able to actually finish anything I start and some of the goals which should be completed haven't been finished. I think I need a different approach. More on that later. Here's how I did on the goals:
- Try new jewelry techniques, especially more wire work and Art Clay.
Alas, once again I didn't do Art Clay. But I did lots of new techniques. I learned a lot at Adorn Me last year, plus I took two of Stephanie Lee's Homesteader's Metalsmithing online classes where I learned more. Some of the new things I learned in 2010 were soldering with a torch and soldering iron, using a jewelers saw, cold connections, and new methods of patina on metal.
I also took two online collage classes by Mary Green of Green Paper, and an online digital collage class by Susan Tuttle, Visual Poetry. These aren't jewelry techniques, but they are part of the creative process.
I did pretty well on this one, but I haven't done much with the new knowledge. I want a body of work. Or at least a bigger body of work than what I've done in 2010. I need to develop my own style with the new techniques. I'm going to do more with this goal in 2011. I've signed up for more workshops at Adorn Me! 2011.
- Post at least once a week on Etsy.
Again, not even close. But I did get some batches in both stores posted in the last few weeks so there's a chance I can make this a habit.
- Submit some of my written works for publication. I already have several short stories. 2009 also included "Write some more, particularly fiction."
I haven't submitted a dang thing except for jewelry related things which was a separate goal. I did partially work on this. In December I got copies of the 2011 Writer's Market and the 2011 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market. I went through them and marked some possibilities for submission. It's depressing that there are so few paying markets. Of course, people write because they love to write, but I'd like to get some money for my labors. I need to check the online databases for both books, make a decision, and make some submissions.
I did not write any more fiction. I did do some preliminary research for some biographies and nonfiction books I want to write for the 10-14 year age group.
I reviewed some jewelry making books that I've enjoyed. In the last year some of these have been noticed and I've been asked by publishers to review some of their books. I'm happy about that. I enjoy reviewing books.
- Make at least one component for jewelry everyday.
I'm laughing now. I think I was insane to expect that I would do something every day. I did make some findings, but but no more than I did the year before.
- Submit jewelry works for publication.
Hey, I did do this. I sent in a photo of something for inclusion in an upcoming book. It was rejected. That's okay. I think I'll send in some more photos this year.
- Get my studio up and running.
This was a new and major goal for 2010. My friends Billye and Martha both started working on their studios about the same time and they have nice looking studios that they can actually work in now. (Another look at Martha's studio.) Not me. At least I have worked on it. I cleaned off one of the tables and organized my tools on it. I can't show you a picture of it because almost immediately I piled so much stuff on the table that it's embarrassing.
I threw away a lot of junk in the room. I removed some old shelves and put together some new ones just a few days ago. Here's a picture.
Note that the floor is not shown because I have some stuff on the floor that I can't figure out what to do with.
That's it for today. My actual goals, and my new and hopefully more effective approach to my goals and resolutions will be in the next post.
Other Snippets from a Todd Family Christmas
My parents, my husband, our son, and I are all in the car headed to the family Christmas on Christmas Eve at my brother's. I'm driving and we're in the driveway negotiating the cattle gate.
Me: "Dad, did you check the mail?"
Dad: "What?"
Me, loudly: "Did you check the mail?"
Dad, louder: "What?"
Me: "Never mind. We should have checked it on our way in." They have a rural box some distance from the house.
Hubby: "You can check it now. Drive up on my side."
Dad: "What?"
Me, very loudly: "The mailbox, Dad."
Mom: "You can drive up to the mailbox from the gate because I had it put in the right place."
Me: "Good thinking, Mom."
Our son, who has his earphones in and hasn't heard a single word we've said now realizes I've shouted something.
Son: "Do you have to argue?"
Me, as I drive to the mailbox: "It's a Todd tradition. We love to argue."
And we had a great Christmas at my brother's. I managed to take a lot of bad and not so great pictures, except the one above of Shaggy. All but my brother's oldest made it in for Christmas, although the youngest was at work Christmas Eve and we had to leave before she got home.
There was no arguing.
There was this later after most of the presents had been opened....
I hand my Dad an envelope with our main present to them, which is money. "Okay," Dad jokes. "If you don't tell Mom about this I won't tell her." We both laugh.
A while later I sit down next to Mom on the couch and see an unopened card addressed to "Mom and Dad." I hand it to Mom and help her by reading it. (Mom is blind.)
"It's from C and L (my brother and sister-in-law.)" I say. "There's money in it." Coincidentally, it is the exact same amount of money that we gave Mom and Dad.
I cannot resist. "Mom," I say. "I won't tell Dad about this if you won't." And both of us laugh.
I'm still working on Stephanie Lee's Homesteaders Metalsmith class. I tried soldering some stampings onto my flooded pieces. The crown was the first one I did and I toasted it pretty well. I think after I put a patina on it I'll be able to use it.
These are all still works in progress. The piece with the round bezel will eventually get resin in it, and I think I'm going to use my letter stamps to stamp a word below the big bird. They all need holes for attachment rings and dangles.
Tomorrow I hope to get some chain done and more pendant pieces.
I've been taking Stephanie Lee's Homesteaders 2 online class. Here's a few pics of my works in progress.
These are small pieces of brass that I flooded with solder. I'm satisfied with the flooding, except for the bottom two that I used a different solder on, but my bezel making with the copper pipe isn't going so well.
The solder is kind of grainy looking after I heated it again to solder the bezels. And I'm having trouble getting the bezels covered completely with solder on the outside. I need more practice but I'm having fun with the class. I've antiqued the bezels above with Novacan patina. It did cover the little bare copper spots. I think I'll go for a "dug up at an archeology dig" look with whatever I put in them. Until I can do better things are going to look rustic.
Scott David Plumlee makes chain jewelry very approachable and the designs are fresh and engaging. I've always been interested in chain jewelry but before I saw this book it seemed too time consuming and imposing.
I got excited when I thumbed through this book and saw all the earring and pendant designs. One of the most versatile designs is the Tripoli. I have lots of ideas for using the Tripoli formation in different ways. Following the directions in the book I made some 18 gauge copper jump rings and made this Tripoli formation:
It's about an inch high and will be perfect for some earrings when I get a second one made. I sawed all the rings, except for the one on the top right which I cut with pliers. I need to file it a little. Plumlee's design in the book called for rings in copper, bronze, and silver. Since I'm a newbie at this I made mine out of copper.
Plumlee uses the Tripoli formation and other formations as pendants woven into Byzantine and other chain necklaces. The geometric designs also include dimensional earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and key fobs. Gemstone beads augment many of the designs.
Chapters 1 and 2 cover basics and tools. Several tables show measurements in both metric and inches.
Chapter 3 covers variations of Byzantine chain and shows several ways to use it with other chains and geometric connections. Chapter 4 illustrates the very interesting Tripoli formation. This formation is a building block for most of the designs in the book. It's amazing how many ways it can be combined, either with other Tripoli formations, or with other chains and beads. Chapters 5 through 7 cover triangle, quatrefoil, trapezoid, and pentagon formations.
Several organic forms are covered in Chapter 8, including beaded fish, cross earrings, snowflakes, and butterflies.
Photography is excellent throughout the book. The color photos are presented on a white background, and are larger than life size. There are step-by-step photos accompanying all the instructions as well as many photos of finished jewelry. Mixed metals are used throughout the book, making it easy to follow the instructions.
Seven chain styles and two flower formations are covered in the book, but the focus of the book is on the geometric shapes. There's a two page spread that shows all the aspect ratios and indicates the mandrel sizes to use for specific aspect ratios in different gauges of wire.
The appendix details the use of Argentium silver and how to make headpins with a torch. Also included are color diagrams of chain variations. A note in this section refers readers to Plumlee's website for chain configuration tutorials.
Chain beginners (like me) can do one of the smaller projects and have a completed project in a short amount of time. Intermediate and advanced chain artists will find lots of inspiration and many different and challenging ways to use geometric forms.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book.
Shelby of sundownbeaddesigns is the winner of Stephanie Lee's Semiprecious Salvage. Congratulations Shelby!
This is one of the most inspiring jewelry making books I have ever seen. I'm so glad I purchased this book.
While there are some beginner projects, many of the projects require metal working skills and tools that a beginner jewelry maker would not have. A beginning metalworker, versus someone who has only done basic bead stringing, could do well with these designs. There are also some designs using metal clays, rather than traditional metalwork.
Some designs call for a rolling mill to pattern metal, but the designs could be made with metal patterned in other ways, like etching or hammering. It's not necessary to have every tool mentioned.
I'm pretty sure that many of these would take ME longer than 30 minutes to make. I intend to put this book on my bench, practice and hone my skill on these designs until I can make them in 30 minutes. I love this book!
The table of contents is pictorial. This makes it very easy to see what page a certain design is on and quickly turn to the instructions.
The photos are clear and close-up. The photos are all of the finished jewelry or a detail of the finished earrings. There are some line drawings of templates. There are no step-by-step photos.
The designs are modern and unique. Just leafing through the book gave me inspiration for many different designs. Several of the designs gave me ideas on ways to improve some of my own designs, even though I use different techniques with my designs.
This book is good for those wanting to take their skills to a new level, and for those seeking inspiration with their own designs.
