Bling Soldered Setting

     This is another one of the beveled and fire polished faux gemstones from Monday's session at the studio. I made a wire setting and soldered it to the glass, with lots of loops so it can be hung various ways or have dangle attached. 
     I love being able to create my own faux gemstones. This one has a white glass backing, so the dichroic glass has a pink tinge to it, not luminous the way it is with black behind it.

     It's really hard to capture it in photographs, but when you tilt the dichroic a different direction and capture a reflective light hitting another part of the stone, it changes color. Here, it turns from the pink to a light blue-green color. So neat! I love dichroic glass!
     I wanted the wire wrapped setting to have an organic look, sort of like vines wrapping the glass. It's kind of hard to get it set just right, when the glass is hot, the soldering iron is hot, and all you want to do it grab it with your fingers and hold it, but you can't!
     Thank goodness for pliers and soldering aids! And my heat-resistant fingers.

Kiln BLING

      A while back, I took the kiln for a test run, to make sure it was working all right after the relocation to Louisiana. Moves are tough on kilns! I made these fused glass gems, and then didn't get around to shaping, beveling and fire polishing them.

      They have a black glass backing, to make the dichroic glass really shine when fused. Yesterday, I spent the morning at the studio, just playing around with different things I'd been wanting to do. One of those was to get the glass grinder set up and working again after unpacking it. I have a beveling blade on it, so I can put those nice 45 degree angles on the glass. But I hadn't used it since setting up the studio. The first time I tried yesterday, the water feed wasn't working. To keep the glass cool, a flow of water has to be going over it while you grind. Otherwise, the glass overheats from the friction, and it can crack. Not fun!

      I took the water feed line completely apart, flushed it, and got all the different parts working again. When I reassembled it, it was finally working like it should. I shaped and beveled these little faux gems, to make them more consistently rectangular, and to give the fronts a pretty little bevel, like a real gemstone.

     Once they were all shaped and beveled, I cleaned them carefully with 90% alcohol, to get rid of all the glass dust and "shavings" from the grinding. Then I put them in the kiln for a fire polish firing, to remove the grinder scratches, and give them a clear, nice finish on the top.
     I think they turned out well, after all of that. And now I know my equipment is still working okay. Now, I just need to make settings for them, so they can be used in jewelry!

Red Ruby Rose

I have a couple of days off from the day job coming up next week - President's Day, and Mardi Gras Tuesday. Yes, I have the day off to celebrate Mardi Gras! I've been ramping up the studio, and I plan to spend the free time over there, working on some projects. I am working on my bezels - trying to improve the look of them, and make them easier to cast. Experimenting with the molding, and how I make the mock-ups in polymer clay, to give them a more finished look, while still keeping the hand-crafted overall feeling to them. I realized that I haven't done any resin or polymer clay work for a while. Some folks have emailed me, asking if I would be doing any soon, and that made me realized how long it's been.
     Part of the hold up is that there's no heat at the studio, and neither resin or polymer clay work well unless it's above 70 degrees F - which it hasn't been for a while.
     So in the next few days I will be showing some new work - hopefully both resin and polymer clay! I'm excited about having time off from the day job so I can spend some uninterrupted time in the studio doing creative things! 
     I rearranged the furniture in the studio so that I have a set up for the resin, and then the following days were all cold and wet and I couldn't do any resin pouring. Speaking of pouring, it has been very, very wet here the last week or so. The humidity has made the paper curl! 
     If you celebrate Mardi Gras, I hope you have a fun day - and Ash Wednesday the next day, as we head into the Easter season. 

Happy Love

Heartwings

     Happy V-day month! I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day. I bought some cute mini-cups for cupcakes with pretty designs on them. Now I need to bake and frost. I also have some chocolate to make homemade candies.  At least I'm thinking about it before THE day is here.
     I'm kind of in a dilemma, thinking about what I want to make next for the jewelry. I have all these ideas crowding my head, and no time to work on them. Some things I want to make will require multiple sessions in the studio, and since I'm only working there on weekends, that's a lot of separation between sessions. I'm thinking, though, when the weather warms up a bit more, maybe I can go over there for a few hours after my regular work day. The days are getting longer now, so I just have to keep the energy and the ideas alive until then.
     With the holidays, it's hard to find extra hours for anything else, but I'm coming up on V-Day now - so that should all be behind me now!


Do any of you take a regular, planned (or accidental) wintertime break from your studio and creative time? How do you keep continuity in your projects if you have a break in time in between?

Time Less

When I knew we were moving to Louisiana, I stockpiled the metals for the pewter blend and had a lot on hand. That was almost two years ago now, and it's time again to get more metal. I've almost used up all that I brought with me. The price of metal, as I'm sure you've noticed, has gone way up lately, so I was concerned how much the cost would be. And the shipping, since metal is very heavy.
     I decided to try a new supplier that's closer to me, to keep the shipping prices down. So I placed a first order, and I'm waiting for it to arrive, so I can test out the new source and see how I like it. I have my fingers crossed about the new metal supplier. I'm sure it's not returnable, if I'm not too pleased. I only made a small first time order, so if it doesn't work as well as I'm used to, I'll just order again, this time from the usual metal supplier, and pay the extra shipping cost. Pewter is an alloy, a blended mix of metals, similar to sterling silver, which is silver blended with copper. With pewter, there are many ways to mix the metals, to get a certain patina or durability in the blend.
     In the meantime, while I'm waiting to cast pewter, I want to make some new charms like the ones pictured above. For a while there I was making them fairly often, but I don't think I've made any since the relocation. For one thing, during the move something happened to one of the drawers of my lateral file cabinets, the one that's full of my vintage papers and collage materials. It's jammed somehow, and I can't seem to get it open. You can imagine my frustration there, I'm sure.
     To make the round charms, I use my glass grinder to shape the glass, making an oval or rounded shape. So many things I want to do, think about doing, but I just haven't done.
     I like the look of them, and the way they work so well with the cast pewter elements. Maybe when the studio warms up just a bit more, since there's no heat on over there, I can spend a long Saturday making some of these charms. 

Where Oh Where

"Where," you might ask, "have you been," 

and 

"Why haven't you been in the studio lately?"

Remember when I moved to Central Louisiana last July, and I thought I might "retire" from working in the law and just make jewelry full-time? But then a law office had someone suddenly gone (sadly, killed in a tragic automobile accident) and they needed help. PRONTO! So I came out of retirement and went back to a 9-to-5 job in the law. To help out because they were in a dire pinch.

It's a very small office. Just four people, including the attorney. I like the casual setting, the variable work, and the fact that I get to leave on time every day, and early on Fridays. And wear jeans on Friday, too.

About a month ago, there was the attorney, the receptionist/file clerk, myself and one other lady at the office working. The four of us were it. If it got done, one of the four of us did it.

The other lady who does what I do suddenly, one Thursday a month ago, gave one day's notice and left. 

No two-week notice. Just gone. Bye-Bye. Outta Here. See-ya.

YIKES.

So it was just the three of us, until we could find a replacement.

Needless to say, I've been BUSY-BUSY-BUSY since then.

But a new person has joined the office recently. It's back to the four of us again. The newly hired one does have a learning curve, but it still helps having four people again.

So it should really slow down some for me again, hopefully soon.

And I will be able to get back to the studio more now! 

To create!

YAY... and WHEW! 

So ... "that's where I've been lately."
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By the way, it's my turn to do the Studio Saturday post at the Art Bead Scene blog. Pop over if you'd like to reply to the question and enter for a chance to win something fun. Also check out the May challenge, for yet another opportunity to win some gorgeous prizes.

Tabletop View and Giveaway Winner

I brought a handful of cast pewter pieces that I've had set aside for a while over to the house, and pulled them all out on the rolltop desk to contemplate their next steps.

And some faceted glass beads and strands of pearls that I've been hoarding for too long.

Now it's time to take up pliers, hammer and bead wire, and get busy.

And make those pieces come together for a finished project.

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Thanks for all the interesting ideas for how you'd use the bottle with loops that I posted earlier in the week. The winner of the bottle is 
ForMySweetDaughter
 - send me an email with your mailing address and I'll send it out to you. And I hope to see how it turns out!

And for all of you who posted comments, you get free shipping in February for any orders you place in the Etsy shop, and 10% off any purchase during February.
 Just put "CASTAWAYPOST" in the Notes when you purchase, so I know you're using the discount.
Thanks again!

Ice Day Off So Rearrange The Furniture

After we relocated to this old, restored railroad house in Central Louisiana, my husband's family drove down towing a trailer, to bring us this old rolltop desk that was in his family.

We put it in the office that he uses for computer work. I recently moved my photo setup into the same room. We discussed setting up a place for me to assemble jewelry, and his suggestion was that I make use of the rolltop desk.

His idea was that all the cubbies and slots would be a good place for my little tidbits that I use in creating the jewelry.

There are skinny little drawers, horizontal and vertical cubbyholes. I don't know about you, but I need to have things visible when I'm creating. For me, out of sight is truly out of mind.

Since my office is closed today due to the coating of ice, I decided to test out the setup using the roll-top desk. I covered the top carefully with thick shelf plastic, to protect it. It has marks of wear, but I don't want to mess it up or harm it.

I brought my magnifying lamp over from the studio, and a couple of boxes of beads and tools. Only the ones I need to assemble jewelry and work with wire. I haven't completely figured out yet how to make the best use of the desk, but I think it's going to work out for me.

I have to try it out, make some things, and that will show what needs to be shifted, take more space or be put away in a drawer.

And one advantage - if I do let things get as messy as I sometimes do when I'm in creativity mode, the top of the desk slides down and hides it all!

Do you think maybe that's another reason my hubby suggested it?

A different kind of "out of sight," possibly.

If so, that's just fine by me, too. I won't feel guilty about leaving a mess behind me!

Glassy-Eyed

In the months since I packed up the studio and relocated, I have not been working in glass as much as I used to.

For the simple reason that I haven't unpacked all the tools for it.

I need to cut and fuse some glass, to make some faux gems.

But I had this one left over from another session, so I finally made it into a connector piece.

I don't know if you're this way, too, but for me it's "out of sight, out of mind" and I forget about things.

I need to go root around in all the boxes in the studio.

Who knows what else I'll find that inspires me! It's like Christmas every day.

Surprise!!!

Heart Treasury

Down here in the southlands, we're in the deep freeze.

No snow here, at least not yet. But the lows are dipping down, with a dome of cold air hovering over.

This Etsy Treasury has one of my Love Letter Heart charms in it. It's called "Dark Heart" and is very mysterious and moody. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, my daughter and grandbaby carpool with me into town. One day I drive, the other day my daughter drives.

We take the granddaughter to school, and play her music on the CD player.

Do you know all the words to "The Wheels on the Bus" like I do?

On Sunday I went to the studio for the first time in a week or so. The holidays really take up some time, don't they? I'm always happy when they come, and also happy when they leave.

I guess I should be making plans for the Valentine holiday. I'll start soon. 

In the meantime, if you need a Love Letter Heart, I have those now.

Just in case.
~~~~~~~~
Hey! I just noticed that today is
1-11-11
that doesn't happen every year, huh?
COOL!

A Muse Zing

My Daughter Took This PHOTO - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennyland/

Has anyone seen my muse?

I turned around, and she had left me. I think it's temporary, though. She left her shoes behind, I can tell they're hers because they're so small and sparkly.

I think the cure for MUSE-LOSS is new equipment.

So I went to Harbor Freight, searching for Muse Bait.

Sure enough, I found a belt sander, it's so cool! Actually, it gets quite warm when I use it, I have to put finger protectors on my hands, to keep from burning my fingertips.

And if I had a manicure ever, this thing would be the most efficient way to remove it.

But it's great at speeding up the cleanup from casting the pewter. I can get way down in the details and crevices, sweet!

And it has a vacuum hose attachment, see it there at the bottom on the side -- so the dust is handled and doesn't go everywhere. I still wear my eye protection and my face mask, but I don't end up completely head-to-toe dusted with metal when I use it. AND it was ON SALE! Woo Hoo ... Santa came early.

I LOVE TOOLS! and especially ones that make me more efficient.

Okay, Muse - time to come back and play now!

Discovery

My daughter took this photo at the end of our trip to North Texas. We did a lot of visiting and ate a lot of food.

Traveling with a two-year-old in the back seat has its own special sense of togetherness. We thought the grandbaby would take a long nap in the carseat. Ummm, does 30 minutes even count as a nap? I didn't think so!

We came back on Monday, and back to the day job on Tuesday. The studio is a bit chilly. Know why?

Today we figured out that, in both houses, we didn't get the gas turned on yet. A big huge DUH!

We went to turn on the heat in the house, it was 60 degrees inside, and no heat. A head-scratcher. We checked the electrical box, any breakers off? Nope.

We went to check the pilot light. It wasn't lit. Ahh, that's the problem. 

And it wouldn't light. Because there was no gas!

So we are bundled up this weekend until we can call the town office and have the gas turned on to the house.

Sometimes, it's the little things.

So I'm headed over to the studio now to open the doors and let some warm, outdoor air in. To warm things up a bit. Since it's going to be 70 degrees today outdoors!

Forward into the Fog

I think I mentioned a while back that I was working on some new cross designs. I finally got them photographed.

You'd think I would have all the time in the world, right?

Well, things have taken a different turn. What's that old saying - "life is what happens while you are making other plans" or something along those lines.

About a week ago someone contacted me.  A friend of a friend had passed the word that I had moved to town, and my prior corporate experience. Someone who was working in a law office locally had just been tragically killed in an automobile accident. The law office needed help, and right away.

Would I? Could I?

Well, I did. I decided that I would help out. I have been back to the 9-to-5 for about a week and a half now.

Did you notice? I tried to keep the ball rolling while I was away. And I was thankful for a three-day weekend, believe me, more than usual.

So, I go to the studio when I can, on weekends and evenings. Not every day, as I planned and hoped.

During the day, I go into town and help these folks out the best I can.

It seemed like the right thing, at the present time. It feels right, right now.

When those folks tell me every day "thank you for helping" it feels like the only thing I can do.

Today's Special Discount and A Chance To See Me in Silly Glasses

Happy Labor Day! I'm Having a Sale in the Etsy Shop ...
For a lot of folks, it's the last sign of the end of the seemingly endless summer. And a chance to shop and save some money on the holiday. Yay!

Those photos are from my workbench at the studio. That's a pile of unfinished cast pewter pieces, with the scrubber and cleaning setup that I use on the left.


And that's my new flex shaft tool for the dremel, and a small buffing wheel accessory I bought at Harbor Freight on sale, in the photo on the right. The flex shaft is better than my old one, quieter and faster. So I'm glad I replaced the old one.

The sweeping brush is because everything I do on that side of the workbench is very dusty and messy. I have to sweep the desk, the floor and myself very often while I'm working. And I still seem to get covered with messy dust anyway.

That's me behind the close up prescription glasses, safety glasses, and respirator dust mask.

Sometime maybe I'll show a photo of one of my old dust masks covered in dust and you'll see why I wear the uncomfortable and annoying things. It's truly better for me to have both eyes and both lungs working than to worry about how crazy I look!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, if you go to the Etsy shop TODAY and buy something or several things, I'll adjust your total invoice for 50% off and free shipping!

Is that a DEAL or what? If you've had your eye on something special, zip on over there and take advantage of the discount for Labor Day Monday Special!

Just put "SAFETYFIRST" in your notes on checkout so I know you're taking advantage of this.
And don't laugh at my silly glasses ... too much.

Wearable Jewelry

Last week, I took time to create some finished jewelry from the pewter components and my hand dyed costume pearls.

It's been a while since I sat down with the beads and jewelry pliers and made finished jewelry.

These costume pearls were my attempt to create dark, blue-black colored costume pearls. There were some small diameter, some slightly larger, and one that's a teardrop shape. I dyed them a while back in the Missouri studio. I haven't set up the dyebaths in the new studio here yet. One more thing I need to get done.

The acrylic bicone beads I used for an accent were also dyed, right along with the costume pearls.

This necklace has found a home already, which makes me very happy. I often wonder whether, if I create wearable jewelry instead of components only, will they find someone who wants to wear them?

This necklace did! And that's a special excitement for me. 

Of All Things I Don't Need

DISASTER!
That is a picture of my husband trying to fix the HP computer.
The one I use for blogging and listing to Etsy.
We thought the hard drive failed.
 So he got a new hard drive, the picture is the screen while loading the operating system on the new hard drive.
But the computer still wouldn't boot, and it couldn't see the mouse or keyboard.

So I'm using a VERY OLD emachine computer that was my standby.
He thinks it's the motherboard on the HP that failed.

I didn't have plans in my budget for replacing the computer. No one does, I suppose.
I guess for now I'll limp along on the eMonster and be grateful it's working.

There's never a good time for these things to happen. But some times are worse than others.

Open and Waiting

I made some settings, that I can use with rhinestones or with polymer clay inserts, I've been wanting some variety and some that are fairly small, that will work for earrings and bracelets.

I sometimes get stuck making large focals, because they're fun and I enjoy the challenge.

I have to make myself change gears and think about making other things, too.

I don't have the inserts put into these yet.

Maybe they'll be dainty, or maybe I'll make some more nautical designs.

When they have their colorful inserts, I'll show you again.

It's hard to imagine right now what they'll look like, I know.

Two Wheels Get Around

I've had this bicycle for a good while. It's a folding bicycle, made to fold up to easily fit into a car or into an oversized suitcase.  Since the studio is several blocks away, and it's been so hot lately, I don't walk back and forth every day.
I've been taking boxes over, so I was using the car to transport them.

But last week I decided to get the bike out, air up the tires and start riding it back and forth from the house to the studio.

It kind of amuses me. To be a person who rides a bicycle back and forth around town.

But I've noticed that other folks around here use bicycles for transportation. Kind of fun, actually.

I pull it up the front steps of the studio into the front room while I'm working. Then at lunch, I ride back to the house to eat and check the internet. After lunch, back on the bike to the studio again.

The other day there was a thunderstorm, I made it back to the house just in time to avoid the downpour.

Even riding in the sprinkling rain was fun!  And I've started wearing Keds sneakers again.

I'm reverting to my childhood.

Black Persimmons Treasury

I love these colors. See my little hummingbird peach pendant in the last row? I didn't think of persimmon as the color - but it fits.

The name of the Treasury is Black Persimmons, in case you want to follow any of the links for a better look at some of the cool items included in it.

These pieces were curated by KandiceinWonderland on Etsy.

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I had to do some equipment replacement this week.
I broke the shaft inside my flex shaft and it stopped working. That's major for me, I use that tool a LOT. I finally wore it out, after a year of heavy use.

On Saturday my daughter and I went on a quest in town to try to find a replacement right away. If I couldn't, I knew I could order it online, but that would cause a delay.

Which would slow down the creativity in the studio, until the fix arrived.

Fortunately, we found the piece at a local hardware store. I took it to the studio and tested it, it seems to be working. That was a big relief.

BUT!

In the process, we also stopped by the local store for Harbour Freight. YES! there's one here in town, with all the imagined and unimaginable goodies you find at Harbour Freight tool stores! One I can drive to, and walk around in, and find sales in .... Oh My!

I'm in serious acquisition trouble. But I did get myself a magnifying third hand tool I'd been wanting.
It was on SALE. Less than five dollars! How could I resist?
Well, I couldn't and I didn't.

And on their website they have a rotary tool with a flex-shaft addition that's on sale. It even has a light mounted in it for detail work. TEMPTING!

My daughter says I made noises walking into Harbour Freight that she makes when she goes to the local bakery.
MMMMmmmmmmm ..... YUMMmmmmmmm ...

She's probably right. I do love tools!

Two Moons Time

When I'm over at the studio, working on something, I enter some kind of a zone. I lose track of time, and whether I've eaten that day. I listen to music on the stereo - I load up six CDs in the changer and that gives me six hours of music. Sometimes I don't realize six hours has gone by until the music stops.

Then I blink, and look around. It's almost like I've been in a time bubble.

And I re-enter the regular timeflow.

These little moon face pendants have been requested lately. I enjoy making them, they look so peaceful.

They make me feel that way when I work on them.

I hope they make the wearers feel that way, too.

Very ZEN.