Finally Done!

Oh yes, I have been "nose-to-the-grindstone" for the past three weeks now.  The DH's kung fu school is about to celebrate its Thirtieth Anniversary(BIG YAY!) in another month, and I have been putting together an album to commemorate the event.  There are always technology challenges when I attempt any project of that sort, so it has been a huge relief to have finally dotted the last I and crossed the last "T."

All that time, I was mostly absent form my jewelry studio.  I longed to take the time to finish the pink Imperial Jasper bracelet that I had started for the store event I wrote about last post, but I knew if I got into it, the book deadline would suffer.  Yesterday, I was able to really have a go at it and finished it up.  Here you see my finished piece....

Wine & Cheese

I have been selling some of my jewelry.  OK,

I stumbled into a fabulous little boutique that specializes in Interior Design and has some wonderful items for the home and features hand-made decor too.  I have often wondered how jewelry fits in ...but why not???  We women love our jewelry.  One for the house and one for me!

A few days ago the store held an open house with wine and cheese tasting and invited customers to come in and meet their artists.  I have never done anything quite like this and I don't do wine or large parties, and not so much cheese, but I am looked forward to enjoying a good time out of the house.  An event like this absolutely requires a "canvas" for showing off my artisan OOAK (one of a kind) jewelry, and I worked against deadline to make something to wear with an outfit I will be wearing for the first time.

For over a year now (I have had a very long "To-Do" list) I have planned to incorporate a knit lace edging for an old knit silk camisole.  It's OLD.  Old enough that I didn't mind once that it stopped right at my waist and showed just a little skin.  Now, the horrors of my muffin top would leak out of that gap and I ain't showing no one my muffin!  So, when I came across this gorgeous pink yarn that matched color perfectly I set yarn and top aside.  Now, finally, it is complete and I will be wearing that with my white linen pants and big shirt.  But what jewelry to wear?!!!  ...So off I went to Michael's and struck gold.  Beautiful slabs of pink dyed Imperial Jasper to make a "Pebble and Bam-Bam" style necklace, and bracelet too, but the bracelet didn't get done in time for the event.

8

8?  Yes.  I mean to say it is August and that it's nearly gone ALREADY.  Where is the year going?  Time is moving faster than I am and I want it to slow down!  Well, we all know that just won't happen, so I guess the only thing to do is speed me up. 

I have been feeling the pressure to be creating more ...more ...more.  A new design I refer to as "The Abacus" has kept me in the studio these past weeks working on leather cuff bracelets.  Unfortunately, I keep running into problems with new snaps that don't play well with thin leathers. 

Then there are rivets.  Thankfully, they work for me, and look just like the snaps.  ...Whew!!!  ...And rhinestones!  We gals do love us some bling.  

The stones seem to love the design.  More ways to use them pop into my head before I can even get finished with one piece.  

Mother of Pearl cabochons, turquoise and pyrite nuggets, just pretty stones, fresh water pearls and unique ceramics, rustic wood slices I have cut from my Gum tree branches, amonite and other fossils, ...all my beads want to play with galvanized steel, silver-plate and copper metals!

Silvery nuggets want to play in chains ...boldly making statements of their own.
 

The Basic Abacus

The Hurrier I Go the Behinder I Get

...That is a quote from an old cross stitch pattern I once did.  I often think of it and feel it was made up just for me.  I am a collector of things by my nature.  I collect not only all sorts of physical stuff but mental and emotional stuff as well. Sometimes that makes it very hard to move forward.  I have great hopes that this new year will bring some changes to all that.  When fruit stops ripening, it begins to rot.  Forward progress is essential or the rot begins!

For the past few weeks, I have been working on a new bracelet.  It is for someone who

loves Banksy and I wanted her to know I "had her back."  The Para Rat was actually started early last fall when she took a trip to Hawaii.  I just felt she needed a parachute. (metaphorically)  I was not able to finish the project in time, but it turned out she really did need a "parachute" when the vacation took a serious nosedive.  This ratty is filled with symbolism.  If I was in survival mode, I think I would want money (the dime), and food (the slice of Swiss cheese).  Ratty has a parachute to catch his fall, the blue beads symbolize clear skies ahead, and a hobo-like wrapped pack implies whatever is needed in our bag of tricks to get through the rough times (solder bumps).  Bone beads and the silvered pebble are to show strength and stability, and lastly, lava beads are there to remind the wearer that life is better met with fluidity than a rigid approach to whatever is in our path.

I Feel Like the 60's

Beading and macrame were passions in the 60's and 70's.  I even got the hubby of the moment to get
into the macrame and he helped with larger projects.  I remember hanging rope from a patio arbor to make plant hangers and wall hangings.  I was doing the free-range thing way back then with combining various cords and yarns for texture.  I did many little projects with crochet cord for jewelry as in the bracelet to the right.  It's all that remain of those days.  We didn't have much money, and hippy crafts were cheap.  I loved beads, but hated rat tail cord that always broke during wear and left me scrambling up beads from their scattered landing spots.  I gave it all up until I was a Cub Scout den mommie and my cubbies did some beaded key "chains" to satisfy the Indian badge. It was a brief resurgance and then years later, I had a wonderful Union Bay denim man shirt that I wore the poo out of.  At some point, I got out a shoe box and did some bead work for the shoulder seams.  About 2 years ago I upcycled that shredded shirt into small shoulder bags.  I tried to sell them on Etsy, but Etsy has never been golden for me.

gorgeous wrap bracelet found on Pinterest

This week has seen me returning to beading.  I am drooling over a gorgeous wrap bracelet I found through Pinterest and tangent searches.  After pinning it, it has been climbing in popularity, and I have wanted to make my own version.  The hammer and torch-ering metal is on hold for a while as my right side is sore from neck muscles down to the right hand fingertips due to what I jokingly refer to as "man-handling" (lifting and moving) during care-giving activities. Repetitive stress injury can be devastating and I want my body to heal and take it easy while this level of care continues.  I have moved the bed position so that I am using my left side more, and trying to be more mindful as I lift and move her in the bed.  Now that she has been bed-ridden for nine months, I am simply forced to take better care of myself.

So, this is my little project.  ...Just getting started, and I plan to add some leather and wrapped cord too.  

Epiphany

There's nothing like going through life, passing Middle Ages and getting into the "Senior" category and still you don't really know what you want to be when you grow up.  In my case, I just enjoyed doing so many things that I haven't been able to decide.  So, the other day I made myself one of "those" lists and wrote down all the things I like that could be considered my Artisan ID.   In case you are head-scratching now, that's when you can be exposed to a created piece and know who did it.  Whether it is music or art or a fashion style, you just know who created it.  That's what I have been trying to figure out for months now.  However, even the list didn't help much to clarify my own definition, but the following morning whilst showering, I was hit with one of those thoughts that often come while I am relaxing and letting the hot water pour over me.  Why had I never thought of this in relation to my wardrobe?  My sewing over the decades has really defined me.  I know exactly what styles I like and will wear, and when I applied that same criteria to the jewelry making, my brain lit up like the fireworks on July 4th.  I have been excited about discovering myself ever since!

Inspiration hit me then too.  After looking over my boards on Pinterest for a few hours, I started to get ideas on what I wanted to put together, and here is what happened....