Rounding out the last few weeks

In addition, I have sold merchandise at two craft shows this month. The first; a new show at a small church was a dismal failure. No customers and only two sales. Not too sure I will go back to that one. The second was much better. It was a fine art and high end crafts so I showed both my photography and my jewelry. Sold several prints and some of my large photographs are to be included in a future gallery show in the same area. I have changed the way I display my jewelry (yet again) and this time I received many compliments about the way the jewelry sparkles in the light and is so accessible to touch/try on.

I have also been working with the mint tins and creating mini pieces of Metal Embossing on the tops of the tins...after I cover the entire tin with a metal tape. They turn out cool and make great jewelry boxes or 'anything' boxes. One of the boxes sold on the second showing.

Even found some time to get some sewing done. I enjoy sewing clothes every once in a while. So while I was 'alone' (how can one be alone with a house full of furbabies), I spent three days sewing. Got a couple of articles of clothes finished and 3 more in the works. To be finished at a later date.

Our original vegetable garden was killed with a very cold snap so we lost all there. But I did have the usual tomatoes, and peppers and a couple other seedlings going. So I replanted a few bell pepper plants and thus far have kept 5 of the peppers alive; one with blooms all over it.

We also planted 4 tomato plants in the cage and they are looking great. Course it is liable to be September before we get any tomatoes with such a late start.

All in all, I am having a wonderful Summer and getting a great tan as a swimming bonus.

New Necklace today

To continue learning the craft of jewelry making, I try to make each piece just a little different and with different 'ingredients' (as in cooking, new ingredients add a different taste). This necklace took several days to complete and is new in that I used all natural stone beads to make this one. The yellow cube beads are Yellow Jasper in 4mm size. The rondelles are from a long strand of all mixed stones.......lots of different colors and textures. They are about 6mm. The necklace is a wire wrapped piece with a hand-crafted hammered "S" hook closure. The completed length is around 20 inches.

Back with new jewelry and a little news

I know I haven't posted for weeks now, but I have not been lax in my works. Husband was gone for 10 days so I had a 'working vacation'. My time was my own to do as I pleased, but I also got to do all the daily chores for two people. Not so bad though, as my biggest chore and most fun was taking care of the pool. It was such a big pat on the back when my husband returned and complimented me on how nice the pool looks. YES!! Compliments are NICE.

One of the mornings I went out to clean the pool and start the filter, this little critter was in the pool. I kind of assumed he/it was dead. Turns out it was alive and more than worn out but still could climb and tried to get back in the pool till I moved it to a Yucca Cactus nearby. This is a Desert Tarantula; all black and furry and about 3 inches in size. We have been back in EP (El Paso) for 4 years and this is the first one we have seen here at home.

Quick pair of Aventurine Earrings

This simple pair of orange faceted Aventurine in Drop form only took minutes to make and were fun. Being so simple, they can be casual or worn with Dress up clothes.

Made with copper of course,these are light weight with lots of color.

New Necklace today

Another necklace was completed today. This piece is a little different than my usual work. I added a focal point to the necklace and like the way it turned out. I did need to rework it a couple of times before I could get it to fall just right and to get the length correct. All in all, I am starting to enjoy the challenges of designing jewelry and correcting flaws on the fly.

This necklace falls to the breast-plate just above cleavage. It is made with 20g copper wire, glass blue-green cube beads, copper spacers and the round focal point is about 2-3 inches and I believe it is Resin. Length of the necklace is less than 20 inches.

Completed today.

The coiled wire linked chain necklace I've been working on for about a week is finally finished. I'm very pleased with the end results and feel the "S" clasp was a perfect finishing touch.

Again this chain is a self created design. I did see something similar for the link, but it continued on with lots of beads and a totally different concept. The chain is made from 18 gauge links that are coil wrapped with 20 gauge copper wire, then the completed link is connected with a 18g jump ring. Each link is just over 1 inch long. The completed chain is just over 20 inches long. Lovely by itself or can be enhanced by any crystal.

Time to catch up some.

Happy Summer.

Been busy with creating, a little shopping, and developing a new way to display my jewelry at shows. I frequent a local Thrift Store about twice a month. Usually I just shop without a specific article in mind, cruising the entire store for what I think is a good deal. On Monday's the store offers a 99 cent on certain colored price tags (changes each week). So I run (almost literally) to the jewelry department for that colored tag to see what 'goodies' I can find. Usually to recreate new jewelry, sometimes for me. I still love the 'sparkles'. This week I found 3 bags of Antique Silverware at 99 cents per bag. Beautiful stuff and almost a full 12 setting service. As I roamed over to the furniture area, I came across 2 fireplace screens. I've seen jewelry displays where the necklaces and other pieces were hung on the standing screen so I grabbed that up too. Now, I am changing over from the flat display case with glass doors to this stand-up version. I really hope it works as I hated carrying the case, bulky and so dangerous with the glass. Also, now the people can see the sparkle of the beads and 'touch' easier.

Monday was an all around day of change. Since I swim daily, and was really tired of going to bed with wet very long hair, I had my hair cut off. Went from middle of back to shaved neckline. Big change!

Finally getting back to the jewelry. I'm working on several projects right now. I am creating another chain with links that have more copper wire coiled the entire length of the link. Very different from the other chains. So far, it looks good and I will be putting an "S" clasp to finish it.

I'm still working on the jade nugget necklace. Thinking about making it a multi-strand so lots more work before it is complete.

Haven't touched the paper-clip chain. Had to strip more of the 20 gauge wire and have not gone back to finish it yet.

I found a bag of cube shaped green glass beads that show different colors in the light so I am making a long necklace with a similar colored round disk as a focal point, front and center.

Don't have much lined up for shows right now, but do need to get these pieces finished. Good therapy, ya' know.