Charm swap – sneak peek

Here is a peek at the charms I’m working on for a swap with the JouJou Girls. The theme is Valentines and who doesn’t love roses for that particular holiday? I am so excited at how they are turning out – even better than the picture I snapped with my cell phone (if I do say so myself). I just have the wire wrapping (ala the Deryn Mentock technique) left to do. I made some extras for other uses… maybe an addition to my OWOH giveaway!

Charity auction and Christmas swap

The Charmsters, a charm swapping group that I belong to is holding a charity auction on eBay. The auction is for a beautiful hand crafted charm necklace. This necklace features 15 soldered, Christmas-themed charms. Each beautiful charm has been created by a member of the group. We collaborated to make a very special work of art which can be yours just in time for Christmas. You can leave the charms on the necklace as shown or remove them to be worn individually. This would be a perfect gift for someone special. All you have to do is go out and bid on the item.

One hundred percent of the sale of this special item will benefit A Place to Bark. This non-profit is a no kill foster and adoption rescue dedicated to the welfare of animals and was founded in 2001 by artist Bernie Berlin.

Please help us support Bernie’s efforts by bidding!

Here are thumbnails of the charms from the swap.

Here is a charm on the necklace but not in the swap.

Time flies by

I cannot believe that it is the last day of September. Where does time go? I have so many projects going on, it’s hard to stay focused long enough to finish anything. I have made some slow progress on my studio. I still have quite a bit of work to do but I’m getting there. I kind of veered off from the plan I originally worked out with Brandie. But since I’ve been taking my putting things away, I’m really optimistic about the finished product. My dad finished my work table but I haven’t painted it so it’s not in the room yet. I thought I’d post a couple pictures anyway.

when I want to solder, I'll put the fan in the window for ventilation

I got the greatest bins for my paper at the Container Store!

I've got to be the worst photographer but I sure hope it looks better in the first two pictures than it does here. What do you think?

some of my favorite things

I had this little settee outside but it was really getting dirty and fading. I spent more on it than I really should have and didn’t want it to get trashed so I brought it into my room. It’s not really functional  (although, three boxes fit nicely underneath) but it’s too cute and it makes me want to be in there. The doll is something I had made in my daughter’s likeness. The artist did a good job, I think. Amber was a little freaked out when she saw it.

I finished my trades for Art & Soul. I think I like the packaging better than what’s inside. 🙂

trades for Art & Soul

what's inside

A while ago, I dropped my laptop on the floor and the corner of my LCD cracked just a little. I managed to make it worse and now abut a quarter of my screen is not usable. I bought a new one but I don’t know if I should attempt to install it myself. I think I’ll be calling on my brother… time to cash in on all that babysitting.

I’m also working out all the final details for Deryn Mentock‘s JouJou Workshop. It is going to be a wonderful time. Good food, great people, and lots of fun. It’s also a time to learn something new and invest in yourself and your well-being. For me, it’s so important to persue activities that nourish my soul. When I surround myself with other like-minded, artsy-types, I feel an uncommon energy… a co-mingling of our strength… synergy… I’m sure you know what I mean. I hope if you’ve considered attending, you take this opportunity and savor the experience; you will not regret it. Please leave me a comment or send me an email if you’re interested in knowing the details. Hope to hear from you.

Black & White swap

I participated in a  black and white themed charm swap recently. Here are pictures of the beautiful artwork. I showed my mom tonight when she was at my house and she was impressed with everyone’s creativity. 🙂

Sunday evening already?

This weekend was very busy. I got a new cell phone on Friday and I am so happy with it. I had been with the same company every since I got my very first cell phone, which was more than 10 years ago. I get a nice corporate discount with the new company. And I’m on a plan by myself. *yay!*

I babysat my nephew on Friday night while my brother, sister-in-law, and niece attended a wedding. He is such a cutie; reminds me so much of my brother when he was a baby. Saturday, I took one of the dogs for a haircut. She came home with a bow in her hair… adorable! I tried to snap a picture of it but her hair’s so messed up, you can hardly see it now. I should take it out before it turns into a big knot.

I got together with some of my art friends last night. My friend Melissa gave a demo on altered books. She is so creative and I have admired her books for a long time but never started one myself until yesterday. It will be a good thing to work on when I’m not consumed by other things.

In preparation for Art & Soul, I made some charms this week, 104 to be exact. I finished them today and I’m really pleased with how they turned out. Now I just need to package them and I’ll be ready for trading. I can’t believe it’s only a couple weeks away! *yay!*

I ordered all the supplies for my classes that I didn’t already have, mainly sterling wire and metal clay. I’m glad the price of silver has dropped a little since I first thought about placing my order. I’m so excited to take some time off work, get together with friends, learn some new things, and make art. If you have never attended an art retreat, you should do it! It’s a wonderful experience. The energy when you have so many creative people in one place is awesome.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Round robin fun

I sent off my round robin charm on Tuesday. I can’t wait to see how things progress with all the participants. There are ten people in all. So far these charming ladies have posted pictures to their blogs:

Melissa
Laurel
Kecia

I am so excited to be included in such an exciting swap with such talented women.

Charming charms

I was so excited when I got home and found a package waiting for me. I had heard a lot of buzz from different bloggers about Kelly Snelling and Ruth Rae‘s book, A Charming Exchange. I knew by looking at the cover that I needed to get my hands on it as soon as I could.

Yay! The book is a wonderful work of art in itself. So many amazing artists collaborated to make this a masterpiece. The photography is stunning; the artwork is gorgeous; and the instructional demo-like lessons are very detailed; not to mention, the wealth of valuable resources referenced. I didn’t realize one of my art-friends is a contributor… way to go, Marci! And one of my favorite artists, Deryn Mentock, also contributed some beautiful pieces. Oh, how I love vintage coin purses. If you share my passion for those old, worn, kiss-locked pieces of leather, you’ll also die for The Shepherds Amulet… it is enchanting and delightful. Go out and get this book… it will definitely wake up your muse.

Speaking of muses… I have so many ideas swirling around. I only wish my “studio” was better organized so I could work in there. I have a professional organizer coming on Saturday morning to help me get a plan together for working through the mess. I am hopeful that change is just around the corner and I can become more engaged in my creative projects. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I am really thrilled about a round robin charm swap I will be participating in and eager to get started. There are 10 participants and it will take months to complete. The participants are all members of the Charmsters group I belong to. Each participant has taken their time to decide a special theme for either a necklace or bracelet. Each of us will create our own first charm. I am planning on using one of the soldered pieces I made in Stephanie Lee‘s class and embellishing it to fit my theme: Architectural Garden. My vision of the theme includes rough stone, weathered statues, patinas on tin, old architectural pieces, salvaged gates and finials, song birds, garden angels… a special place of peace and sanctuary. Everyone’s themes are so heartfelt; it’ll be a reverent exercise creating each unique piece. I’ve been making some eBay purchases (take a look at this, this, this, and this!) lately and hope to use some of my found objects in my work. I can’t wait to begin!

Bird swap charms

Here are the thumbnails of the pictures I took of the charms from the Charmsters bird swap I participated in. I wish I was a better photographer. I don’t know if it’s me or the camera. I guess I need to experiment more. But just look at the wonderful charms everyone created. I can’t believe how much detail everyone put into these lovely pieces of art.

Suzanne Redmond

Pam Kirschenbaum

Maya Macauley

Carlee Ragsdale

Lori Guerin

Lore Caldwell

Kristine Zakarison

Kecia Deveney

Kathy Lefleur

Julie Saunders

Christine Hendry

Cheryl Connell

Betty Hooper

Zhulia Abrok

Terri Nickelson- Williams

Sharon DuBois

Michelle Geller

Melissa Merrill

Maureen Baranov

Jennifer Griffin

Janet Wilson

Connie Williams

Carol Moore

Denise Mares

When I was at Art & Soul in Hampton, Kecia and I decided to do an individual swap. I gave her one of my silver clay charms and she agreed to send me a unique charm in return. I love what she created. She is such a talented artist. If you don’t already do so, check out her blog. And if you love her artwork as well, she has a site on etsy.

1 for 1 charm swap

Random stuff

This week flew by. I am a bit ashamed to admit that I failed my first attempt at getting a permit… better study some more so I can learn to ride my scooter… in traffic. Even more shameful, I wasted most of the beautiful weather we had this week. I did some weeding in the yard but some of the flowers I bought died before I planted them. The ivy I planted last year is thriving, however. And the little garden area outside the dining room window is lush and so pretty. I was hopeful that my allergies would be mild this year and up until now, I have had minimal symptoms… but one day above 70° and I’m all stuffed up.

Tomorrow, Steve will be taking his dog, Bull (the toy poodle) to the vet to be put down. It is going to be a sad day; he’s had that little guy for a LONG time. I’m not sure if I should go with him or not. I know he’s going to be upset and when he’s upset, he usually doesn’t want any fuss. But I want to be supportive so I’m torn. Bull had a long, happy life. In his day, he was feisty and love to chase squirrels. He was most happy as a lap dog. As he’s aged, he didn’t have a lot of patience for the other dogs in the house so we tried to give him his own space. Most of his teeth have been pulled by the vet. There are four left on one side of his mouth which makes his tongue stick out the other side. Slowly, his hearing and eyesight have deteriorated. I think he has some other problem but not sure what—he is constantly grooming himself. Doesn’t do any good though; he smells like feet. Poor little buddy has been suffering for a long time. His quality of life is poor. It’s time to let him go.

Note: I went with Steve; Bull passed peacefully this morning. Rest in peace, little buddy.

Tomorrow afternoon, my family is getting together for a pot-luck. My cousin, Kevin, and his new wife, Elena, are coming for a visit. They are both in the Air Force and he hasn’t been home for several years. We’ll get to meet Elena tomorrow and hope we don’t scare her off. The weather should be nice so the kids can play outside on the waterslide. I made a pea salad. I got the recipe from All Recipes. For some reason, when I’m cooking, I don’t usually like to taste what I’m fixing so I have no idea how good (or bad) it will be.

I was considering going to the Flourishes sale tomorrow but I have changed my mind. No one can go with me and I don’t want to go alone. Besides, I’d have to rush from the vet to Washougal to Scappoose. I think I need to hold off and go to the next sale.

I don’t think I mentioned this before: I shared my blog with a co-worker of mine. She really liked the Morpeus Box I made in Michael deMeng’s class and commissioned me to make one for her in honor of her father’s memory. She gave me some ideas and I’ve been gathering some things. It’s going to be quite eclectic but I am so excited. She wanted the piece to be bigger than the original so I bought a little box at Craft Warehouse. I found a post to use for the spinner part. I am going to try to use a different method of mounting that part. I had been searching high and low for swivel/spinner hardware but could find nothing that would work. Finally, I went to Target and found a kid’s bathroom cup holder. It was small and spun around. I bought it and dismantled it. I am going to bore a hole in the wood and then drill a hole and put it all together with a dowel. Then I’m going to mount it with that epoxy-putty stuff. I think it’ll work. If only I could find more of the swivel/spinner things… I can think of a million and one things to do with them. Anyone have any ideas about that?

I haven’t started my bird charms… I’m such a procrastinator! I have set aside Sunday to work on them though. I’m still pondering what I want to do. I was going to do one thing but now I’ve changed my mind. It’s a plus I work well under pressure! I’ll post a picture here when I’ve finished them.

I bought this really cool ceramic casting mold of little birds. Has anyone used ceramic molds for things other than ceramics? How did it work? Could you use metal clay with them? Would you just fire the whole piece, mold and all? Speaking of metal clay, has the new bronze metal clay come out yet? I heard they’re going to have copper metal clay too! How cool is that?

Oh, I almost forgot… I went to the doctor today. I asked him what he thought was going on with me a few weeks ago. Well, could have been ovulating and since my ovaries are floating around loose inside, could have felt different. Could have been muscle spasms caused by the weird position they put you in (head down/feet up) during surgery. And there was some issue with my bladder and scar tissue. Everything seems fine now and I got the green light for baths, hot tubs, and sex… yeah, like that’s a priority these days. Oh, well… just so glad to have that all behind me. Time to start saving for that breast lift. I figure by the time I have enough money put away, I’ll have lost that extra 40 pounds too. ha! 🙂

By the Sea swap

Here are the thumbnails of the charms from the By the Sea swap.

What talent!

Note: I changed the privacy settings so you should be able to click on the thumbnail and the flickr image should open. Sorry for that… it worked for me! 🙂