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