In the Works...

After a particularly brutal winter, during which I have not been in the best health, I'm finally getting some work done. Here's a few snapshots of work in progress (after the rather bleak looking photo shot out my back door this past December), including a tiny little sneak peak.

Creating a tulip stamp based on my sketches.

A few more carved tulip and quilt block stamps. I ended up not using some of these.

Bear totems.

Barn owl.

Spiral fossil discs.

Beads in the theme of "Way Out West" (coming soon).

Hare totem.

A small sneak peak at one of my arrow connectors.

The back of the arrow connector.

Tiny sneak peak of my "Way Out West" update coming soon.

Glazing in progress...

Bears and Hares! And other stuff in progress...

Bead beads beads!

Glazing to be finished.

Beads waiting for their little glaze coast lol.

SNEAK PEAK! Huge Update TOMORROW...

Here's a peak at what I will be listing. I've already got reserves on some of these. So if there is anything you want, let me know. The 20% OFF sale is TOMORROW ONLY (Friday April 11). Don't miss it!

Halloween / Day of the Dead Blog Hop

So....Diana Ptaszynski decided to host a Day of the Dead and Halloween Blog Hop. She announced it on her blog last month.. And since I have not made jewelry since FOREVER ago, I jumped in, thinking this would be a good kickstart to getting back into the jewelry-making groove.

First, I needed a Day of the Dead focal. I had nothing in my bead collection and because I had gotten very busy with studio construction and a trunk show in Rochester NY, I ended up with very little time to make anything. So I needed to go shopping. The very first person I thought of was Staci Smith. I love her Day of the Dead bronze focals. Thank goodness she had at least one left, which I promptly snatched up and which she immediately shipped to me! Yay Staci!

Almost as soon as I got it, I started thinking about the style I wanted to design in. I definitely wanted a tribal / indigenous feel with LOT's of color. I have a wonderful collection of small czech seed beads that remind me of african and indian beads. Once I started pulling them out I knew I was on the right track. I added a bit of black chain I had been saving, one of my rustic ancient blue grotto gears along with a chestnut brown stick toggle, some gorgeous sky blue beads by Shannon German (Missficklemedia), and a stone textured black Wing Ding by Genea Crivello-Knable.

That's it! Hope you enjoyed my little creation - feels good to be making jewelry again!

Be sure to check out all the other blogs participating in the  Halloween / Day of the Dead Blog Hop!

Diana Ptaszynski

Staci Smith

Kathleen Breeding

Sue Kennedy

Dianne Miller

Lisa Liddy

Toltec Jewels

Linda Landig

Laura Medeiros  

Veralynne Malone 

Lynn Jobber 

Michelle McCarthy  

Karen Totten (me!)

Jayne Capps  

Jenny Davies-Reazor  

Joan Miller 

Melissa Meman 

Melissa Trudinger 

Kari Asbury 

Inge von Roos 

Andrea Glick  

Stephanie LaRosa 

Lola Surwillo 

Jennifer Cameron 

Diane Hawkey 

Kristi Harrison 

Nicole Valentine Rimmer 

Tanya Goodwin 

Shai Williams 

Sandra McGriff 

Sarajo Wentling 

Marie Covert 

Lisa Stukel 

Laurie Vyselaar 

Sherri Stokey 

Pam Traub 

Lori Dorrington 

Kristen Stevens 

Eleanor Burian-Mohr 

Sally Russick 

Dawn M. Gallop 

Christine Damm  

Water, Sand, Shells, Rocks, Beads

This is a reprise from an entry I wrote for Art Jewelry Elements quite a while ago... I wanted to share it on my own blog, mainly for archival purposes, and to continue this thread of exploration into rocks and shells, in future posts. Enjoy!

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I collect things from the shorelines where I have lived. Shells, stones, feathers...

When I was small I was fortunate to live on or near the Gulf Coast. I have many memories and sensations of sand, sea and surf. The smell of salt water, the sea critters I encountered: crabs, starfish, and even dolphins. It was magical. This has been a source of inspiration for me...

Gulf Shore Days - me sitting on a rock

My friends  

Me and my sister  

Beachy Beads!

More Beachy Beads!

No less magical were the shores of Lake Superior - the largest fresh water body of water on Earth - we moved there when I was bout 9 years old. A true Inland Sea - full of majesty just as powerful as any salt-water ocean. Here I encountered places and stones of astonishing color and texture.

I have many memories of living in Lake Superior country...

Rock-strewn shores

Me, age 11 or 12

Me and my sister an... yes I really did run around barefoot all summer.

Me again, meeting Paul Bunyan at Hiawatha Forest...

My baby brother Jake asleep fishing, while one of the great ore boats passes - little does he know here, his little rock perch is about to be engulfed in a wave from the wake of this mighty ship. But don't worry, he survived and is perfectly okay now. :)

But mostly I remember the ROCKS - like the ones I collected at Agate Bay or Pictured Rocks shore. I was lucky to be able to return to Superior about 15 years ago to collect a few more... 

Rocks

Rocks

...polished by water

Superior-tumbled rocks

Rocks bathing in the watery froth of Superior

A glimpse through the crystal clear waters

Sorted rocks - amazing color!

I sometimes step back and wonder at how incredibly similar the shores of the Gulf Coast Ocean are to the shores of the Inland Sea - Lake Superior, or as I have come to know it:  Kitchigami.

Though I no longer have the actual shells I collected from the Gulf Coast, I do have several stones from Kitchigami. They are incredibly important to me, and they are my muse...

My collection: nature inspired forms, colors, textures

... my source and my creation

What are you sources of Inspiration?  I'd love to hear about them!

Rainy Days, Sunny Days

We've had a LOT of rain. And storms. And the occasional outburst of sun. Today is beautiful - sunny and temps in the 70s. Here's a few photos of our place and some things I've been working on this week.

Stormy skies yesterday.

 I stayed indoors, using the rainy time to get studio work done - like last night.

Today I woke up to beautiful crystal blue skies...

...so I opened up all the windows! 

Casey keeping watch (sleepily) from the loft above.

Outside the front door - the big green tarp is covering my slab roller. 

Gotta put that into gear today and get some pendants and connectors made.

Stuff I've been working on...

A new WoolyWire order for Lima Beads - with new packaging!

Coming soon to our WoolyWireEtc etsy shop: Beads for WoolyWire - 

Tube beads to wrap WoolyWire onto to add beautiful color and texture to jewelry designs.

Here's some samples with WoolyWire - I love how these look!

 I spent some time earlier this week photographing beads I made just before moving. Many of these are styles I will be taking to Bead Fest Philly this August, where I will be vending (yay!).

I also made some new things, including OWLS!!! Plus more whales and other goodies...

Little Owlie Beads!

Urchin Blossoms - a new set of beads I'm working on.

 

That's it in a nutshell - I'm really enjoying being here, even the rainy days. :)