some gift suggestions from artisan friends of mine

have you heard of Etsy? an online venue for handcrafted items, supplies and vintage?
one of the great things about Etsy is the community of artisans from around the world. we can join teams based on techniques used, business topics, etc to help with business ideas and to get answers on how to do certain techiniques.

so the starting gate is just about to open on the holiday shopping season...
i thought i'd showcase some of my teamies. the artisan industry has huge dollar influx into USA economy but artisans are constantly battling up against mass produced imported items.we unusually can't compete on price but we pour lots of love into our creations...please take a look at these handmade items and try to support an artisan... school budgets keep leading to more arts programs cut so where is our next generation of artisan going to learn? american crafts have always been a big part of our culture. please help keep us around... and the best part is you get some unique items to enjoy...

laura lives in MA and has a goat herd, how cool is that? her soaps are fabulous
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TrystingTreeFarm?ref=pr_shop_more

Tropical xmas tree skirt

Annie is a  local Southern Californian. as you know we can have wonderfully warm xmas. i don't miss MI winter. would it be tooo cruel to send this xmas skirt to someone buried in snow?!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/anniekdesigns

 whimsey, what a great word and feeling, lets add some in to our lives....
you can order custom banners for your special events
http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplewhimsey?ref=ss_profile

Jenn can also create custom cards for you. i love this happy card
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sophienme?ref=ss_profile

carol has cards for many occasions
http://www.etsy.com/shop/QuirkynBerkeleyCards?ref=seller_info

okay it can get cold here...
dana makes fun hats
http://www.etsy.com/shop/danadooleydesigns?ref=seller_info


heres one last one, a tote bag to carry with you, made by a high school friend and former neighbor.


melissa is a fabulous seamstress. we have a baby quilt she made Scott. she has bags in many styles along with other fabric items such as book covers
http://www.etsy.com/shop/japanesqueaccents?ref=seller_info

wishing you all a safe fun Thanksgiving weekend,
jeanne

how many earrings can i design in a year's time?

how many pairs of earrings can i design in a year's time? it turns out alot! at the beginning of the year in 2010, i set a goal of just going in the studio and making 5 pairs a month.... lol now i could easily make 50 different pairs a month
obviously i can't give all of them a home on MOI ears, so i will be listing alot of pretty new ones to go on their way to a new home all over the USA...
here are some samples. i still struggle drastically with my photos, my creations are much prettier in person...

a pair of lampwork glass barn owls for my MOD friends, you know whooooo you are

a small pair of xmas ornament looking red glass beads with copper accents swirled around

i love these eggplanty purple glass beads, the side is a matte finish, the front and back are polished so it's like you can see into the heart.. accented w/ assorted glass beads these are on sterling silver earwires

i love the ocean, anyone want to go on an island vacation? these remind me of ocean waters, the triangular glass bead has several ocean blue tones, the shell dangle is silverplate

so those are just a few of the ones waiting to go up in the shop. i've got scads more using freshwater pearls in assorted colors and shapes, fance semiprecious gems in briolette shapes w/ faceted rondelles...
hopefully tomorrow will be a good day of photgraphing and uploading...

say kumihimo 3 times

kumihimo you ask what is that?! an ancient Japanese braiding technique using silk cording.... it is now the rage with beaders using various size and shapes of seed beads...
i spent Sunday in San Diego learning the technique from Margie Fish, one of my favorite instructors at the Shepherdess bead and yarn shop in Old Town San Diego.
Margie has 'invented' an updated way of using kumihimo to insert focal beads in the middle of a bracelet. It was her inventive take on the ancient craft i was most excited to learn.
as usual, my brain was ready to explode with all the potential ways to incorporate the different braiding patterns and finishing methods in my creations...
i was fortunate to be able to spend the nite on the boat after class which kept me from driving home on the freeway in the rain. today was an absolute gorgeous day to drive 120 miles on the San Diego Fwy: gorgeous blue sky, puffy white clouds, sparkling ocean and mountains with snow on them were all visible for various portions of my drive.

a gorgeous day to make necklaces in san diego

oh it's a cruel world. while the Nor'east has been hit with a very early wet snowstorm, i'm spending the day in San Diego where it is bright sunny and probably 77 degrees. Ray and I arrived just at sunset last nite and will be leaving in about 45 mins, so just 22 hrs spent on this visit to the boat...

i brought jewelry tools and supplies so i could make necklaces while ray was sleeping ( thankfully we have a salon area that is separate from the master cabin so i can move around, make noise, watch TV while he sleeps)

so i apologize for the poor photos i took with my blackberry. i find it impossible to edit photos on a laptop, it's too hard to tell what the true color is.. i can't even tell which picture is the ruby and which the sapphire...
but i wanted to share these now...



studio move going well, can't wait to sit down and create in the new space

oh the move of jewelry tools to new area is going soooo WELL! i avoided it forever it seems, such a big project was overwhelming to my brain. it's not the 'perfect' environment for metal tools as originally it was an outside room and rain water runs through it. a new security screen door cut down the ease that lizards, snakes, rats and mice had to get under old door. maybe i will just be soooo HARD at work in the winter, i won't notice how COLD the un heated room is...
i've got a whole LIST of items i want to make....maybe i'll take some time on my birthday this week as a treat to myself and just lose myself in pretty semi-precious jeweltone briolettes making up the necklaces and earrings that i've sketched out....
the former jewelry studio is transitioning to fiber/fabric studio ( I just can't let loose of that passion yet!) plus a bedroom for Mom to use when she stays with us this Winter.
i'm amazed how the furniture is just falling into place for new setup... okay , YES i have to CARRY it out there first LOL but i'm getting some much overdue exercise in the bargain.....
just been reviewing in my mind all the different ways we've used various rooms in our house since moving here in mid-80s...

i'm using 2 bookcase nightstands that were in Ray's childhood bedroom to raise up my wire shelf units to better eye level. when the boys were young, i painted "Welcome" and a bird on the side and had them sitting on front stoop for our shoes...took me down memory lane seeing the paintings yesterday. Son Scott says he remembers them on the porch. Now his shoes are too long for the shelf... boy they grow up quickly, don't they?!

NEVER throw anything away is a motto that does work for me for the most part but i admit i took it to the extreme last couple years and was veering into HOARDERS ANONYMOUS territory.
thank goodness i've figured out some storage containers that work for me...

well hoping sooon the men folk wake up so i can get back to moving stuff...WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP

moving the studio to new area is alot of work but gonna be soooo worth it!

i'm so addicted to learning new jewelry techniques which leads to have sooooo many different jewelry making supplies and tools. really my rational brain knows it would be much cheaper to just buy resin beads instead of all the stuff required to make my own...but that doesn't seem to deter me.
finally the bedroom i'd converted to a studio reached maximum capacity...then i bought my friend Julie's casting equipment. so the casting equipment was set up in another area....my brain tried to figure out which other techniques i needed to relocate to that area but it overloaded my brain... i wanted certain bead findings in the new area for use in enamelling but also use them plain in designs soooo i made the big leap and decided to move ALL the jewelry studio to the new area
now this area was already too full of its own collection of stuff since we have no attic or basement and i have hoarding tendencies. there, i admit it...
day one of the relocation went well. once i started to move stuff around i discarded my 1st plan of arrangement.
day two and mom is here so i might be distracted by processing some of the veggies in the garden such as tomatoes and bell peppers. apples are waiting to be dried as well
but i'm anxious to get everything organized in new setup and then test out did i locate items in the most usable place...key for me is having multiple worktops/desks so i can have a setup for various stages of work. it's too much of an irritation if i have to put away the tools from one stage and switch over to tools/components for the next stage of creation. i like my own assembly line setup.
boy those 3 bookcases i acquired spur of moment at garage sale for $20 sure are working out well.
waiting for family to wake up so i can start making noise, moving stuff...

gotta do the things that 'scare' you

So in July i went up to Campbell CA to purchase Julie's casting equipment... the scariest thing about that was I was going to have to learn how to USE the freaky scarey centrifuge casting machine... i mean come on what is the point of buying it if I'm AFRAID to use it...
Julie was a super teacher. She planned on us doing 6 castings flasks so the kiln would be full for the burn out and there were 6 times the centrifuge would be loaded and let go... it's the letting go so it spins the 1675 degree silver or the 1945 degree bronze....MOLTEN METAL  as in melted liquid BURNING HOT... yikes

Julie was kind enough to light and adjust her torch to the proper flame. She had me load the casting flasks in place and she torched/melted the first silver castings. After lunch (when my brain had FORGOTTEN what she'd taught me in the morning..) was my turn. We did one as a 'team'...I was too afraid to hold the centrifuge machine with it torqued up and brake off as I wasn't sure my left hand was strong enough but I did melt the metal..and jump back when the machine spun the metal into the burned out investment.

Then the last two were my 'babies'. After the 1000 degree flask was in position and the metal loaded in the crucible Julie lit the torch and handed it to MOI, gulp....i can't quite recall if she helped hold the centrifuge on this firing but the last one I did on my own after she lit the torch... It was an amazing feeling to do all the steps by myself SAFELY. I was exhausted at that point after very little sleep for 4 nites plus 2.5 days of instruction.. all 6 of the castings turned out... what a GREAT teacher.. i wish her well in her creative endeavors in Slovenia...thankful we can still stay in touch through the internet.

The other freaky scarey thing i did this summer was adopting an F2 Savannah male. he seemed HUGE to me when i first met him and i had no experience around any F2 savannahs just my F3 so i didn't know how WILD he might be. I know they aren't mean cats but they do get startled and react like a wild Serval...It helped that he has golden eyes, when he is EXCITED they turn a luscious ORANGEY AMBER color so i just think calming thoughts about JEWELRY hahaha

Today is 6 wks exactly since i learned he was available for adoption...Friday he will have lived with us 6 wks...pushing my comfort zone out with the casting MELTED metal has helped me trust i can handle this HUGE cat who can seem freaky scarey, not really for what he is doing but what my mind imagines...

some might recall i picked him up for the first time on day 11... a high point in my life forever...
Sunday i thought i'd give a try to trimming his nails by myself. that went well while he was laying beside me on the bed...
yesterday he got loose in rest of house and met our F3 and whippet nose to nose. that brief meeting was positive on all sides. today i let him loose in hallway, his room and our master bedroom while the whippet was in there. they met nose to nose in the hallway, neither one reacted. then whippet jumped up on our king size bed, Squeak cautiously approached and then POP POP struck through the metal footboard openings and struck the whippet on the nose... whippet just gave a little whine then i shut the bedroom door... that left me with realisation that all cat nails needed to be trimmed shorter before any further meet ups.... gulppp
could i do it on my own?
well this great big cat that i thought was so freaky scarey on July 18 laid calmly on his side on the floor while i trimmed his hind feet w/ the nail clippers... i tell you he was the easist cat to trim of ANY we have ever had in our family... i finished off the front nails while he was beside me on the bed...
so i could have just lived with my fear, imagining awful scenario and taken him to the vet for a trimming but instead i decided to calmly attempt a trimming on my own... HOORAY the success of this coupled with the conquering of my fear of the freaky scarey centrifuge will encourage me to try other new things that are out of my normal comfort zone... like the marathon i plan to run when i turn 60... now that is freaky scarey. i've let my fear of that stop me from even starting my weight loss efforts... but now that I'm done getting our house/yard ready for Ray's reunion party I can switch my energies over to fall/winter veggie planting, jewelry production and exercising..(anybody know where i can find a few more hours in the day?)

So if you have something you are too timid to attempt i encourage you to safely cautiously push your comfort zone out to a wider range... it is so 'free-ing' in all areas of your life when you do that. I remember how training and running a half marathon opened my horizons...

Just got scared by a big ol' lizard...

finally getting around to clearing out the patio room that serves the purpose of both basement and attic... Just got scared by a lizard about 8 inches long who was laying under a basket....http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/images/emwebbiirulersh408.jpg  Could have been worse as we have rattlesnakes on our property... Tuesday a security screen door is being installed, it will sit flush to the floor and hopefully keep out rats, mice, lizards, rattlesnakes... that leaves one other door to close up the bottom gap on...i will probably never feel 'SAFE' in that room...

You easteners are so lucky if you have both an attic and basement (altho i would pass on having a basement if the reason to need it was a TORNADO shelter... i remember my Michigan childhood days)
here in Southern California we must make our garages do triple storage duty...

so i have a patio room between the house and garage that i stack (nothing organized about it the last 3 years sigh) all kinds of stuff. mainly outdoor chairs, arrowhead water bottles, staging items for homes for sale, food dehydrator, African Grey Parrot Max, cat/dog stroller, pine trunk wedge for jewelry dapping, folding display units for jewelry shows... you know just your average "things" that don't fit in a cupboard or closet...

DH is having a high school reunion this next weekend and there will be a gathering at our house so that gave me a deadline to de-crapify the patio room... I got the new Savannah cat 3.5 weeks ago so i had to move the fiber/fabric out of the guest/fiber studio room THEN i purchased my friend Julie's casting equipment so NOW not only do i need to de-crapify but i must figure out the casting equipment set up and where to store the fabric securely sealed up to keep the above mentioned scarey creatures out of plus spiders and moths....

finally got started on the project this a.m. and the lizard scared the productivity right out of me!!!!!

back i go into wild animal world.. wish me well! if i see so much as a piece of shed snake skin i'm outa there! right after i pick it up to save for a rolling mill texture...oh the things us metalsmith do for our 'craft'

My Worlds Collide...

finally made it to a New Metal Artists monthly meeting. seems their usual Sunday monthly meeting date attracts other things for me to attend to way too often... an awesome group of metal clay artists... beautiful work, amazing how far folks are taking metal clay these days

so my worlds collided when i talked to a couple of the folks after the meeting...
mentioned to 2 folks i couldn't get out of bathroom 'cuz Squeak had shut the door and was spooked by my towel attire...turns out one of them has a Savannah Cattery.... http://www.africanveldtsavannahs.com/about_us.htm
she and i have loads more in common, spooky....

 i showed my castings for show and tell and another member is signed up for Joe Silvera's casting workshop in Berkeley the end of Sept.... i have another metalsmith friend attending the Sept one. there are only 6 students, what are the odds i'd know two of them???? do oyou think it's time for me to buy lottery ticket?!!!!!  i cancelled attending the June workshop but hope to make it there eventually.

Squeakster is now recovered from my Casting Trip.... we are making great strides in our bonding. He will now rest both his front paws on my thigh. he is one BIG guy...he was hanging from the guest room door knob by those front paws this a.m., "J" locks will be installed. thank goodness we don't have lever door knobs...He is also bonding with Scott and Ray, they don't have as much time to sit in cat room so it is a slower process.
i wish i could figure out some jewelry projects i could do in his room but the darling would put all the little pieces in his mouth like a human child... a challenge to savannah proof the house. hmmm, could i be productive and upload product photos, work on website product loading... gee what a concept...

we think in 2 wks time we will start acclimating him to our other savannah and the whippet... he is bored in this room and we want to see him running through whole house. i expect my mouth to drop open watching the two savannahs gallop across the living room together for the first time.  Moving the cat exercise wheel in here today. wonder if he will run on it, will be an awesome sight to see...http://www.catwheelcompany.com/productsstore.cfm
 if you live in So Calif, the manufacturer sometimes has 'seconds' available, that is what i bought...

i need to get back to jewelry making BIG TIME but for now squeak needs me...that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it...

I learned how to do lost wax castings!!!!

what an exciting time i've had the last several days. i drove up to Campbell, CA, a suburb of San Jose to meet in person an online metalsmith 'teamie' so that i could purchase her casting equipment and take 2.5 days of instruction on how to use it.
first off, let me just say how HUGE the state of California is. i drove up the central valley on I-5, the drive seems endless. SADLY there are huge blocks of land that are no longer producing veggies and fruit due to water supply issues. BIG signs saying congress created a dust bowl, SHOCKING tan versus green and lush.
Julie and i jumped right into a 3d working relationship: she teacher, me student, and she set to work to show me how to take seashells i'd collected at Sanibel Island, FL (a premier shell beach world renown) in 1992, and attach wax to them so they could be used to make a mold for wax...
i'll cover the process more when i upload my cell phone pictures but right now let me wet your whistle by mentioning that we did 6 castings: 3 in sterling silver, sea shells, various sizes of sea horses, sand dollar and starfish. and 3 castings in bronze, some shells, and a toggle clasp i fashioned from wax..
i will need alot more practice but Julie has gotten me off on the right start!
it was alot of fun, i enjoyed the time spent with her and am sad she will be moving to Slovenia in a month...
i am still working out in my mind where the casting, wax injection equipment will be set up so i probably won't be casting until mid-Sept but i hope to do some wax work before then.
I'm researching what type of wax i need for my creation style, i think i need modeling wax vs carving wax.
learning this will give me the opportunity to create pieces with an ocean life theme, or organic floral, veggie, or tree plus i will be able to create a heart themed collection of items...
julie had a great idea to do a hinged shell box, i thought i could 'hide' a pearl or semiprecious gem inside.. must increase my fabrication skills to do the project justice..

i'm in heaven!!!!

oh my gosh, what breakthroughs last nite and just now with my new cat, an almost 2 yr old F2 male savannah.... i'm euphoric, really can't get much better than this folks...
just to update you, he came to live with us July 22nd... i didn't know how long it would take for us to bond but as he lived in a household with 3 women he is bonding quickly with me
last nite he played FETCH, it was incredible and funny to boot as after every 2-3 carries back to me, he would detour past water bowl and dunk the little stuffed birdie...
so i came into the guest room this a.m. to see if he would play fetch again, YEP... so now we have a way to bond, interact. he tipped over the water bowl so then layed his chin on it and wrapped his paws around it wondering wheree did the water go
but Folks, it gets even BETTER, i know, is that even POSSIBLE?!!!!!!
drum roll momentous moment: i decided to PICK HIM UP (i'd tried one other time but he wasn't ready) so i lifted him up and then deposited him on the bed beside me where he has sat before. he was fine, didn't seem that "into me" but that will come.... little did i know what a breakthrough picking him up would so quickly lead to in our relationship......... i picked him up a 2nd time while i was standing, after i put him down and he strolled by my legs and HEADBUMPED me, YEP. how incredible was THAT?!!! he did it several times in various spots of the room, twined himself through my legs when i sat down to write this...

OH MY GOSH this is incredible the milestones we have made in just ELEVEN DAYS.....truth be told i've gone from being afraid, his HISS is intimidating, very respectful of him, after all he is pretty darn big and just stares at me with his golden eyes,  to seeing how awesome having a relationship with an F2 is gonna be..I'm so thankful to Adrianne of AJSavannahs for her trust we were the right family for Squeak and her help along with Andrew in SC for clueing me in on how to get an Adult Savannah to adapt in a new home. couldn't be doing this without their help. Plus i have other Savannah breeders willing to assist also... Brigette and the whole Savannah rescue community, you folks are awesome!!! I'm so glad Squeak's prior owners chose us and I'm sad our happiness is at a reversely sad time for them...

of course we've got to get him to bond equally as well (OK maybe i can always be his favorite..;-D) with my husband and son...and both he and i have to be comfortable with me picking him up in any situation, such as when in a new room or something startles him, or heaven forbid he is too aggessive with our other lovely pet family members so this is a work in progress but what FUN work....

i haven't a doubt that our other Savannah is gonna love this guy we got to be his playmate, they are already playing footsie under the door...and wish i could read my Whippet's mind when she sees him, this might be the nicest thing she thinks: " CAT?! are you nuts, what kind of cat is that? he is huge"

NEWS FLASH i just picked him up and held him against my chest. he started PURRING NEWS FLASH
I haven't rated one HISS from him today

I've been MIA

so much going on in my life the last month and a half....
planted a veggie garden, it is doing great,
but the big news is we adopted a 2 yr old neutered male F2 Savannah cat last Fri.

new kitty arrived with the name of Squeak, we are calling him Squeakster

Sinbad will be so glad to have a playmate, here he is helping me prepare to ship a kiln to a metalsmithing teamie...

squeakster is acclimating in our guest room. today was a fabulous day, he weaved in/out through my legs this a.m.
tonite i started to lift him up from behind, lifting him around the middle. he didn't like it, gave me the "look" and then a Hiss when i set him back down. he was instantly okay though... slow baby steps getting him used to me. he came from a household of 3 human females so quickly bonding to me... son and hubby will take time for him to adapt to.
our F3 is the same age, they are playing pawsie underneath the door. F3 was a perfect gentleman for his vet visit today...

MIA

well where have the weeks gone? i can't believe it is almost the middle of June....dang shift key, not gonna fight it, just type w/out many capital letters
i bought some more great supplies from RingsNThings local show in May,
really need to buckle myself into a chair in the jewelry studio
instead i'm working on getting my veggie garden planted and working out, once i get a routine going i can get back to cutting, hammering, torching metal.

i'm working on a plan to run a marathon when i turn 60 in 2013 and as much a rip van winkle i am that year will be here in a 'blink'. i wake up and a year's worth of time has gone by....

it's interesting though, at least tome, when i start working out, my creative brain gets re-activated as well. i'm thinking of stamping some inspirational words on charms and rings: believe, dream, faith
how about 26.2 ? i really do wonder how much tougher 26.2 miles is than 13.1 miles

How to make newspaper seedling pots video

Well Spring is here so my mind is turning to thoughts of vegetable garden. Thought I'd share this video on how to make seedling pots out of newspaper...

http://www.ehow.com/video_1745_create-seed-starting.html

I've seen wooden devices to make these but the glass method looks to be easy and free..

My GoldenWaterCreations.com website is up and running

whew, a big sigh of relief. i finally figured out how to do most of the steps necessary to get product uploaded and the web shop active.
so much still to learn: HTML, SEO, photoshop elements and a system to store pictures
all this takes me away from my real love: creating beautiful things.
Spring is here and i want to be creating pieces in beautiful orange, blues, pinks, greens...
i will slowing be adding more jewelry items to the shop.
look for classic sterling silver hoops in various shapes, sizes.
some luscious biwa pearl with icy blue chalcedony briolette.
i've got loads of semi-precious briolettes and faceted rondelles to create lovelies with.
also i've fallen in love with tourmilated quartz in black, white, clear.
and a man made product (usually i avoid those) volcano cherry quartz.
i've got some HUGE jade beads.
great Nevada turquoise to go with red and peach coral...
some many lovelies just waiting to get out of my head and onto the web shop "shelves"

Easter Egg Dyeing Kit

Oh boy did I have fun coloring these Easter Eggs. Such an easy way to mimic intricate Ukrainian Easter Eggs.
These are done fairly quickly. As you get the hang of wrapping the fabric and twist ties it goes faster.
A big surprise when you reveal the finished product as the dye on the eggs isn't exactly the same as the fabric color....

Where does the time fly to?

Boy, this year is speeding by. Spring is just around the corner. Can you believe the middle of March is upon us already?
 I visited two gem shows at the beginning of the month. I've got some luscious Volcano Strawberry Quartz beads in various sizes and shapes that remind me of blossoming peach trees.
I also bought some HUGE Nevada turquoise nuggets.... and to continue the peach theme I found some peach coral beads in several sizes. There is just something so summery about turquoise paired with coral. I also couldn't resist some red coral.
Since there was still room in my purse I went to the 2nd gem show and got Chinese turquoise, which is more green than the Nevada turquoise.
Couldn't resist some more semi-precious faceted stones: saphire, emerald come to mind now but I'm sure I bought some others to go with the Fall purchase. These make great earrings, casual enough for daytime wear but very pretty for nites on the town as well.
Many folks like to wear black and white clothes year round so I picked up lots of tourmilated quartz beads. They are white and clear quartz with black inclusions. They will make some great looking earrings and bracelets.
A quick weekend trip to the California Central coast to visit the inaugural Cayucos Sea Glass Festival was a highlite of March. I took lots of photos of the beach, ocean and Santa Rosa Creek Rd scenic drive. Brought home a big bucket of Cambria beach stones. Sure to find some heart shapes in there as well as some pretty aqua colored jasper and agates...