Process

When it comes to describing my creative process, I can only say that I start with an intention and perhaps a picture or a sketch.  From there on, anything can happen.  At times I find it so terribly frustrating, and I wonder how many other artisans find this to be true for them also.  ...Sometimes, I get so far off course that I end up with a piece that is nothing like what I had conceived in the first place.  ...Sometimes, there has been an issue with the materials or the design, but often it is simply that the design takes on a life of it's own and leads me on a totally divergent course.

The talisman to the right that I completed, was to have been a single strand necklace.  I prefer the idea of layering strands instead of a single layered-look necklace.  However, as I went along, I found that the raw garnet beads were getting quite heavy, and so a shorter strand was called for.  Then, the look wasn't quite right, and other strands were added to give the design more weight and importance.  I also decided that the frame for the crystal and charms seemed too long and it was a choice between scrapping this one and making a shorter one or altering how it looked somehow.  I am groaning just thinking about it!  ...And I added another strand.

K.I.S.S.

Yaaah.  After the holidays were over, I was in severe lag time ...no mojo ...no studio creative juice.  It was awful.  I literally pace the floor when I am in-between creative projects.  If I could walk vertically, I'd certainly be climbing the walls.  My dear husband has learned these signals and patiently observes without comment.  For two weeks I would walk into the studio and diddle with picking up this and that and make no headway at all.  Finally, I decided I had far too many bits and pieces that had been around for ages ...perhaps had been given to me ...maybe I didn't even like them very much ...but kept them around "because."  It occurred to me that in my state of mind, and after so much time off, any piece I might work on was not likely to be something I was pleased with.  In fact, I spent a day trying to solder pieces, etc., and felt like my skills had been slipping.  ...Talk about frustration and despair!  The following morning, I came across a wonderful video by Ira Glass.  I had seen it before, but this video ought to be on the "watch this" list every time I start thinking my artsy creations are crappy.  The man gives a wonderful perspective for beginning creatives at any level.  His message is basically: our taste is better than our skill and it takes lots of practice, but improvement will come, and it may take years to get to our goal ...so be patient and keep on going.

 

So, with a renewed outlook, I began to do some simple beading , making  stretchy  bracelets with some wood beads I had.  I really enjoyed combining wood with brass beads, and made several. I will be taking them to the boutique to sell, and I hope they all go together.  As a stack they are quite striking in a casual sophisticated way.

 Then, I turned my attention to some unusual wooden beads of grape wood that came together beautifully with a carved animal charm that had fallen off an old necklace, and some less than lovely rhinestone rondelle spacer beads, a few other odds and ends, and it seemed to me that grunge magic happened.  I love this pair of bracelets and want to make a bunch more!

...And because I felt obligated...

I turned out a few Valentine hearts too.

As it turned out, January ended up leaving me feeling as if I had accomplished far more than I expected to and pushed me into February ready to hit the ground running again.

**MORAL OF MY STORY:  When I am challenged with being stuck in a rut, do something simple and just get moving and it will all come back before I know it.

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.

Traveling Again!

It seems that the hubby and I have a bit of wanderlust these days.  Actually, I think things

have been so intense for him with upcoming plans for a 30th year teaching kungfu anniversary that he needs to clear out of town each chance he gets.  This time, we escaped to a favorite spot in the mountains ...good ol' Asheville!  My pockets were kind of empty and so I did almost no hunting for precious bits to add into jewelry, but I couldn't resist a table that was set up in the town park square by the local mineral society.  ...Imagine rough Australian opals in deep purples and turquoises and magenta winking seductively, begging to come home with me.  How could I resist?  Then, imagine me early Sunday morning, wading in ankle deep water, foraging for shiny pebbles in a local creek!  Of course I filled my pockets!  I am so excited about all the raw stones I brought home with me.

My Sweetie scored too, as he made a connection with a long-time acquaintance that lives up there and they are planning to meet frequently and do some training together.  LOL!!!  ...Next time we go, I bring my mesh beach shoes and some more money!


I just finished another piece that was done as a commission.  Another stone lover wanted to wear one in a necklace and impress her grand-babies.  Her beautifully colored stone has a pattern in it that resembles a face.

Been Bee-zy!

My mostly anonymous sister, of Wreckorated, was putting lots of bees on her Pinterest boards a while back, and since she is something of a muse to me, I borrowed the idea and made a focal and nature bracelet based on bee.  I was makng it for her, but she informed me she doesn't like to wear copper tones so I get to keep it for me.  I think I will be happy with that.

Bee~zy is now hot off the production line and waiting for a few finishing touches.  I couldn't wait to share.  It features real leather, hand-forged copper, hand-made wooded bead branch slices and hand-made soldered beads.  Metals are copper and steel.

Quickie

My brain has been going in so many directions recently that I craved a quickie project to just feel accomplished.  So, I made a beaded necklace to layer with the long turquoise necklaces I have been making. 

Spring Fever

Hyacinths, daffodils, forsythia, yellow jessamine, honeysuckle, and now the azaleas are all bursting into bloom.  It means our short Spring has arrived.  For the next two weeks, warmer temperatures and that longing to throw windows and doors open has to be ignored.  All the flowers and pine trees are filling the air with clouds of fine yellow pollen that piles up

everywhere, and makes my nose itch and sneeze and I have to bathe my burning eyes several times a day.

Going out is risky business, so now that I am stuck indoors, and sorta-kinda done with taxes, I took a break and got creative today.  Out came strings of turquoise beads and silvered chains and wire and anything that looked remotely good with turquoise.  I didn't get any serious tools or torches out today and just enjoyed the ease of beading.  This is a long necklace with dyed howlite or magnesite beads, carved turquoise beads, old "silver" trade beads, a sterling Hamsa hand, and a tiny Tibetan prayer box charm.  The tassel is hand-dyed silk.

This next necklace also has turquoise nuggets, tiny carved bone beads and dragon, and antique bronze metal with a hand-dyed silk cord and tassel.  I squeezed that in about three weeks ago.

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.

A Little Someth'n-Someth'n

Everything is different now  ...Better, but still feeling strange not to have my mother here with us.  ...Just taking things easy and trying to get caught up with life and that never seems to be the case for me.  There is always so much that I want to do and need to do.

Making and being creative has been taking a back seat lately, but I do have a beaded wrap bracelet to share.  I had started beading while my mother was fading away from us, and finally completed it just a week ago.  I am quite taken with this boho thing on my wrist. 

The inspiration came when I had to shorten a new pair of jeans.  As the old hem came off, I just knew it would be fun to upcycle into a bead/fiber sort of wrap bracelet.  I sewed over the double rows of stitching and then trimmed close to the stitching so that the edges would fray.  I sewed the beading down and added crochet cord wraps to transition and hide joins, and finished the ends with crimp beads and covers.  Eyelets were added and made perfect places to add in dangling baubles.  Its finished with a toggle clasp.

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.  

Respite

It had been a very long time since my Sweetie and I were off to ourselves.  Last week, the hospice team arranged for a five day time out for me and took my mom into their care.  We left the same day, heading for the hills.  ...Mountains actually near Asheville, North Carolina.  I captured a haul of gemstone beads at Beads & and Beyond.  The store used to be in the historic downtown area of Asheville, but has recently moved to a small town a few miles away.  I say town but it really is off in the boonies on a winding mountain road.  We thought we were lost but kept going and eventually found it.  We had an educational  and red-carpet tour of the new store by it's owner, Barry, who loves talking about his treasures from all over the world and ancient beads were in abundance.  I loved the patina that time that had left.  Some of the beads were worn smooth and had a luster from hands passing over them countless times.  I came away with beads I had been wanting to work with ...lapis lazuli, faceted quartz nuggets, ocean jasper, lovely larimer, faceted crystal beads, ancient glass, cinnabar, and several other gorgeous stones and beads.  Not many in count, just a good handful, but I like to use just one or a few in a piece.  I think it features their special beauty better than large numbers in repetition.  ...And did I mention that I even got an assortment of Freebies?

In the Historic Downtown, we found street performers on every corner.  We especially enjoyed this musician playing his steel drum and didgeridoo...

 

I had a great time spending my pocket of fun money.  Terrible thing what shopping deprivation can do when one is set free in an extraordinary place intended to make one's purse strings get loose.  I found fabulous leather scraps, to include some jade ostrich leather that I drool over, a soft beautiful olive green, textured chocolatey brown and metallic silver as well as natural linen cord at Earth Guild ...an institution for artisan weaving and textile supplies.  I grabbed aromatic incense at their next door neighbor, The Open Door, where you can find lots of hippie style clothing and jewelry.  ...'scuse me while I go light up a stick of Jasmine and get heady....

I was hoping for a perfect trip, but began to feel ill the afternoon of the second day.   ...Digestive tract.  The following morning, I noticed that the manager of the Quality Inn Motel where we stayed was handling the food for the Continental breakfast with his hands.  BIG UGH!!!!  Ya just don't know where those paws were last!  ...And what does that say for the behind the scenes preparation?  So, it may have been a bit of a bacterial thing and/or eating strange foods.  It took 24 hours to get myself right using my trusty oregano essential oil.  I haven't traveled without it for years.  Anyway, my plan for non-stop feasting and marauding though stores and sightseeing was stopped dead in it's tracks.

All in all, it was a delicious trip and the hubby and I find ourselves wishing we could return very soon.  That's all in greater hands than ours however, so we are just very grateful for the time and adventure we had.

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....  

Spring is here!

With every end of the month I take inventory and ask myself what I most want to accomplish before the next month sets in.  It's about completion and feeling good about myself.  March winds seemed to blow hard on us symbolically here and brought chaos and changes that were not expected.  Even though last weeks Bad Business was a nightmare, it held within it the opportunity to spend longer moments with my passion.  Interrupted too often with endless aggravations, concentrating on taxes was out of the question.  So, I worked on jewelry.  Not only did it keep me calmer and more in control, but it was possible to finish a piece I began several weeks ago.  

I have been lusting over the idea of a lime green bracelet for ages and this little birdie sang an inspirational song to me.  I can hardly believe that I created this piece because it is so very different from anything I have ever done to date.  I used new skills that I picked up in Stephanie LeBaron Lee's Homesteaders Metalsmithing e-course.  There was such a wealth of information in it that I have barely touched the surface yet.  Just get me through taxes and will I ever have fun!!!

I Played Hookie..

Yes, I played hookie knowing full well that this time of year is ALWAYS devoted to getting taxes done.  For me, it means forcing my focus into unavoidable paper sorting, shredding, QuickBooks and TurboTax, and gathering various forms to fill out.  I have no time to dream of creative pursuits, yet ideas and inspirations  seem to flood in on me and will even wake me from a deep sleep.  So, this morning I gave in and allowed myself to whip out a few more of these Tribal Gypsy bangles that I did pre-taxes. They provided just the relief I needed!

I got the recipe from FancifulDevices on etsy.  I love Marina's work and ingenuity.  She is my latest jewelry heroine.

Bling Looks Better When the Sun Is Out

I just had to re-post these two stack-able bracelets.  The sun came out gloriously brilliant this morning and I wanted better photos.

I have been overwhelmed with the Homesteader's Metalsmithing e-course.   What a storm of information we got and WOW! I have a lot of practicing to be doing for a good long time.  If I can just master the torch, I will be in metalsmithing Heaven.  I had to go so far as stepping myself back a little so I did  not feel so overwhelmed/clutsy/incompetent/and plain pure DUMB.  SO, I did something far more at my level but added a few touches learned in the course...

It's just a simple yoga type stackable of red coral nuggets with a wire wrapped tassel and a charm I forged of molten solder. 

Filled with unusual challenges and a whirlwind of life, the new year has had me in a mire of confusion and fatigue.  My health has been challenged as I recently found that I have arthritis in my back.  After injuring my back last fall and the continued lifting/pulling/pushing/carrying my mother around, I ended up at the doctor who sent me to have an MRI.  OMG!!!  All 40-ish+ young women need to take bone supplements!  I thought I was the healthiest thing around, and didn't need any of that stuff.  Now, I am starting after the fact, and will have to work at this challenge from several angles. 

Anyway, I have been sidetracked with my mother who has advancing Alzheimer's and in sharper decline than before.  My brain has been befuddled and my creativity has been hugely effected.  Lack of proper sleep and rest have left me in a brain fog with little energy for all the demands of every day living.  Still, the creative side of me struggles to stay active.  It's that magical "thing"that keeps me going.  I managed to put together a few more bracelets. Nothing very involved, just me messing around with some fabric and wire wrapping with beads, and some fancy pewter bling beads with aurora rhinestones I found on sale at Michael's.

ICE

Spicing up the daily grind, I am venturing into a new e-course to boost my metalsmithing skills. Not content with stringing beads, I must be a bit on the crazy side to enjoy the brutal art of metal manipulations.  I have yet to see a jewelry artisan who has nice hands.  We all have short, broken nails and sore-looking hands.  ...And they do get sore cuz metal is tough and sharp.  so far, the course is not turning out gorgeous to-die-for results.  I am used to using a solder iron but not the torch to solder.  Big difference!  Unfortunately, there is no immediate feedback or communications with the other participants in this course.  So it really is going it alone.  At just a week in, and three to go, I have learned a few things, but I am holding my judgement til all is said and done.

When Does One Equal Three?

XO Gallery bracelet by Kelly Conedera

For some time now, I have been in awe of XO Gallery jewelry artist Kelly Conedera's drop-dead gorgeous creations.  I adore the uniqueness, boldness and freedom of her jewelry designs.  Her use of color and shapes and textures and mixed metals just amazes my beginner's brain.  Although I like my own jewelry babies very much, I am still growing and developing my own style.  I want my jewelry to be more expressive and make a statement.  No run of the mill stuff will ever do for me.  My dear hubby used to buy me fine jewelry for occasions and I was always properly grateful, but they sit on their boxes never seeing the light of day.  ...Or night for that matter.  I get my thrills wearing artsy, rustic, natural pieces that have a personal meaning for me.  Wrap an uncut diamond in a rusty, soldered bezel and hang it from a piece of driftwood and you may turn my head.  I leave those cut and polished gems for the rest of you jewelry lovers!

I have been studying what Kelly's "Jewelry With Soul" has in them that makes them so wonderful in my eyes.  It has always been the case for me that I learn best by observing, and my builder brain will run construction forward and backwards figuring out how to DIY something I want to make.

In this case, I am pushing myself with this project as I am not working within my own comfort zone, but attempting to do this in XO Gallery style.  It forces me to use color more boldly and look at the texture of beads and how they interact in a way I am not used to doing.  These are the techniques I am guiding myself with:

•  Bold colors
•  Bold clasps
•  Dangles near clasp
•  Mixing metals
•  Large and small beads used texturally
•  Seed beads in strands
•  Large hole beads to hide wire end connections 

 This gave me a new learning challenge that was exhilarating and freeing.  The main beads are colors that I am not used to exploring:  yellow and black.  These yellow beads have been around for years, and I think they were part of a macrame purse that wore out decades ago.   I have thrown in some turquoise and red beads for accent.  Initially thinking of blackened silver metal, the decision was for antiqued and shiny brass instead.  This piece turned out to be a stunning one if I do say so myself.  It was often a struggle and a stretch as each element was tackled.  


 SO, ...to give you the answer to the question, when one equals three could really be turned around to "when does three equal one?"  ...And the answer is a stack-able bracelet set!  It was supposed to be one bracelet yet as work proceeded it made sense to be three instead.  Here is my stack-able creation

*****...And, as an added bonus, I have a finger-saving tip for anyone out there fighting the "flying jump ring" battle.  As a beginner, I am still working with rudimentary tools.  Jump rings are cut with flush cutters and filed into shape so the ends meet.  It is a grueling job and hard on fingertips.  I discovered that if I use a tiny scrap of paper around the jump ring to protect it from gouges, I can use the front oval of the crimp pliers to hold the jump ring while I file away.  Not only does it save my fingers from bruising pain (that happens when you love chain) but it holds very securely and keeps those rings in place.  It even works wonderfully for fidgeting those jump rings into closed position.  
 

Why Am I Going So Slow When Life Goes So Fast?

 I have been in a slow mode for several weeks now.  It's not my style pr preferred pace, but about two months ago life got more complicated and so I have been meeting those time eating demands with "have to-do's" rather than the things I would rather be doing.  I even got behind on the Mantel-a-Month challenge I had posed for myself.  Oh well, I kind of liked the birds and birdhouse.  Still, I couldn't shake that guilty feeling and so I did update the mantel for July.  I kept the birds and added an old cage.  There is a mason jar inside for water and the real flowers were simply inserted through the top of the cage.

I did just finish a new necklace.  I was inspired by some artwork my sister did many years ago, a simply beautiful bouquet of pink poppies.  I came up with a short phrase that was meaningful to me:  "Like the flowers of the field, I am Wild, Free, and Beautiful."  I long for a life with more simplicity and nature has always been what I need to restore my spirit.  Sometimes a small bouquet of flowers gives me a lift in my day.  Wild and free allows me to be who I am with no permissions or apologies: and Beautiful is how I always want to feel the Inner Me is.  Knowing that what I hold inside myself, (without guilt, shame, fear) is positive and goodness, a sense of virtue, is very important to me.  I painted the phrase and added it to the back of the pendant.  I also machine embroidered it along the ribbon ties.  It becomes a wearable reminder and affirmation of purpose and my philosophy for living.

Necklace Update!

I have finished the necklace and have been wearing it all day.  I love the lightweight feel of it, which is a complete surprise.  I thought it would weigh me down with the weight of the glass, solder, galvanized steel chain and beads.  Pleasantly, it is not even something that I am aware of. 

You can barely see Amanda's photo on the flip side.

Just a Little Cabin in the Woods

Memories...

the old cabin

 Sometimes I get obsessed with an idea that just stews in my brain until I do something about it.  For months now, I have been obsessing about Amanda, the grandmother I never knew.  One of the things she accomplished was to supervise the construction of a cabin built in the "Endless Mountains" in Pennsylvania.  Long ago, Native Americans named the a portion of the Appalachian Mountain chain as the "Endless Mountains."  Building a cabin had been a plan that she shared with my grandfather before he passed on, and in her strength, she saw the plan through so that the family would have a place of respite.  It was a time when people still rallied together to raise a home for a family, and she was fortunate to have "Great Uncle Barney"  to help out. Great Uncle Barney was a builder of barns, and he knew how to put strength into a cabin.  It could have lasted forever.  I say "could" because we lost the cabin several years ago.  A fraudulent contractor, who was hired to put new shingles on the roof, left his old faulty truck to  catch fire and sent the cabin into destruction.  Since then, a new cabin has risen in the old one's place, but the memories and the feeling of the original will be with me always.

My favorite view in all this world ...from the cabin porch swing

I loved nothing better than to sit on the front porch swing and "zone" as I gazed out into the beauty of nature.  It is a bountiful view full of life and sound.  A shallow creek flows by, happily gurgling it's way over rocks as the sunlight sparkles over it.  Damselflies with the deepest iridescent indigo or jade green bodies and lacy black wings dance off it's surface.  Crows add their voices in disrespect of the peace and quiet as they call back and forth, asserting their territory.  Beyond is a field of tall grasses occasionally dotted with scarlet-red bee-balm, delicate white Queen Anne's Lace and daisies.  Across the old dirt road, deer visit an old gnarled apple tree (it's in bloom in the right center of the photo) in the field where I gathered mint, yarrow and other wild herbs.  I would harvest them in the early morning, wash them and then hang them in bunches over the kitchen's old wood-burning stove to dry.

It has been many years now since I was last there.  It used to be an annual two week stay when my mother was living nearby.  Over a decade ago she sold her home and has been living with me, my sister, and now me again.  Her health and my care-giving will not allow for travel.  So, I travel in my mind to this haven of peace and regeneration.

Recently, I took into my head to honor both the cabin and Amanda with a soldered pendant.  My first effort at soldering leaves much to be desired, but I am making the best of it, as is.  After all, there is a sense of acceptance in shabby chic style, and the cabin exemplified that.  I was in too much of a hurry to play to take photos throughout this project, but it was easy to do.  I had the scanned ancient photos of the cabin and of Amanda on the computer, and scaled them to fit in between two glass slides from Micheal's craft store.  Making sure that the glass was thoroughly clean, I placed the trimmed photos back-to-back between the glass.  Then, I used copper foil tape (Micheal's) around the outer edges.  It needs to be pressed down smoothly with a burnishing tool to avoid any lifting or seeping of solder into the frame.  Now the fun begins!  I am no solder expert, and encourage anyone interested to search out good videos on the internet to learn this skill.  I fluxed the foil and then applied solder to it's surface until it was coated.  Then, I fumbled, wishing for  a few more hands, until I managed to add the rings to the top and bottom edges.  I will not lie, I ruined the tip of my soldering iron, and had to re-do the piece a few times before it was acceptable.  Now, I am playing with making chain and beads of old buttons, rhinestones, glass beads, and old nylon curtain cord that I had dyed the perfect shade years back.  I love it when I can use old things I have lying about.  I am making the chain of galvanized steel.  It has a tendency to rust, so it's aging will be interesting.  I do plan to coat it with a sealant when the piece is finished.  Not in this photo is an old key from the old cabin that is sitting in some salted ammonia to age it with patina.  This necklace has a  way to go yet, but I will keep y'all posted!