swaps and hops

I received my package from my beed peeps partner Alicia Marinache and was so excited to see the goodies that she sent! I love that we have similar tastes and similar ideas of what to send. Neither one of us had any idea what the other would send... but it was similar none the less!
she sent some of the prettiest etched brass components that I have ever seen! I think they are quite lovely and can't wait to use them!!!
She also sent a glass pendant, a ceramic pendant, and a beautiful worn shell, one that has been washed by the tide and sand and is smooth and beautiful!!! I love working with shells!!!


By the way, I never buy purple for myself, but I felt like adding some glass beads that I had received and never used, and they had blue and purple together... so I bought some purple beads to go along with them! And what did Alicia send me?? Nearly the same colors!!! When I sent them, I thought... hmmmm.... those are really pretty! I nearly kept them! LOL!!!  So.. I sent her some resin 'sea' components... and she sent me some polymer 'sea' components!!  I LOVE THEM!

Somehow I missed this picture! I love the color~

            I sent her some purple glass... she sent me some purple!! I love this swap!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Items that I sent to Alicia were very similar in color and material! I sent a polymer clay mokume gane  that I made, some resin 'shells' and resin pendants  and ceramic beads and a Lapis Lazuli teardrop and some glass, Czech, and crystals and even a few seed beads to play around with... I had a few spools of wire that I threw in, oh, and a strip of 'silk' that I thought she might be able to work in somehow. I had hand dyed it and then found out that it wasn't silk well, it is half silk and half polyester! anyway, I thought it was pretty!!!

Year of Jewelry

 Year of Jewelry 2015 is upon us... This year, I jumped in and have been working for three weeks so far. My Talisman, for the first week of January was a bead embroidered piece that just pushed itself on me. I needed to do it, so it became my 'talisman' for the year's work.
It is jasper, pearls, cultured pearls, crystal pearls, glass 8/0, glass 10/0, glass 15/0 seeds, howlite, flat glass beads .
I know it isn't the greatest work, but... I really enjoyed the process, and I didn't sketch it out so I was impressed how it came together without too many mistakes. The needle just kind of took over and did the work for me! lol.

Second week, I used beads leftover from the 'talisman' and my bag of leftover beads that needed to be used to come up with the necklace that was kind of odd... The pendant is copper that I pierced and sawed in the shape of a bird, I flame colored it and this is what I came up with...

 Week three is for a tutorial, so I made a right angle stitch using the beads for another challenge... True Blue challenge from Pine Ridge Treasures

It is pearls, glass pearls, frosted glass, crystal and the cute little pendant is one I got from Lori Anderson that she got from someone else... it is glass with a ruffled skirt, I thought it looked like a pretty little flower so I put stamen in the center. I think it needs something else, but I'm not quite sure what that would be... I need some dangley something. It just seem unfinished.
I have week four already started, in between working on stuff for the upcoming fair, it should get done by next Friday!

Things you learn from working with metal

1. Patience
2. More patience
3. Even more patience.

It's almost Christmas... and I have a wishlist of metal working tools... the top of the list is a full face mask for grinding and polishing, and any real work...
I was reminded this week how important protection is when I was polishing a piece with a wire brush attached to the flex shaft of the dremel. Now, 32,000 rpms is quite a lot when you are thinking about it... and obviously I didn't. It hit home how much damage I could do when one of the members of a metalsmithing site posted a picture of what the grinding wheel did to her face... Protection first.
I wear eye protection all the time, and usually a mask, since the dust from all the stuff I do is dangerous... but I have been lax when I am cleaning up metal pieces.
A full face mask is very important if you are using a grinding tool.
Good eye protection is a must...
More than adequate ventilation is important.
Never take for granted that you are safe.
Never use chemicals like Hydrochloric acid indoors.

There are some items that are a must in the workroom,here are a couple of examples of what I want.

Pyramex Capstone Combination Goggles/Face Shield (1)

This beauty from PK Safety is made to withstand  debris and comes with a couple of extra visors so that you can tear them off when they get too scratched. It contours to your face, which I like... I like this, but I am worried about my forehead... so... I'm looking at other types.

 

 This is more what I am looking for. You would still have to use goggles since this is not rated for eye protection... but it is more in line to what I want. I am not being overly protective... you only have one skull you know, and a hit in the right place... well... I don't need any more added to or taken away from my brain, thank you. 

 

 

A good mask for your breathing is a very good idea, especially if you are using strong solvents, sawing any metal, or grinding metal, plastic, stone or shell.(2).. Copper especially is quite dangerous to your whole body, Shells, Quartz, granite and even common china dinnerware are quite dastardly if you breath the dust(3). The tiny particles enter your lungs and are deposited, they are then picked up by macrophages. When the macrophage dies, it releases the silica, since it can't digest it, and other macrophages enter and try to do the same... as explained in the pdf on Occupational Lung Diseases(4)... the process is repeated while more and more cells are being destroyed by the very mechanism that is supposed to help.

Copper is a wonderful metal to use, it is beautiful, lasts a long time, and it is readily available to use to learn metal work. I work with copper sheet a lot. I love the way it looks, the way it wears, and the patina that you can get with very little effort. I don't like breathing the dust. Even getting it on your skin isn't great, frequent handwashing is essential. Copper can give you symptoms of having a cold, but over time, it can damage your lungs, liver and eyes, as well as the skin. Special consideration should be given when working with any metal, but copper especially should be handled and disposed of properly. (5)

Stay tuned, Next blog, I'll go over some other metals and hazardous chemicals, as well as ventilation, fire retardants and other safety products in the workroom. 

 

1... http://www.pksafety.com/

.

2. Rom WN, Markowitz S, eds. Environmental and Occupational Medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia,

PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007.

3. Oregon OSHA pamphlet. What you should know about silicosis and crystalline silica   http://www.cbs.state.or.us/osha/pdf/pubs/3301.pdf

4. 13 Occupational Lung Diseases http://thoracic.org/education/breathing-in-america/resources/chapter-13-occupational-lung-diseases.pdf

5. Occupational Health Guidelines for using Copper Dust and Mists http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0150.pdf

Yankee Legends

Derek Jeter's last


I have to tell you , being a Texan, I grew up on Texas Rangers baseball, but the Yankees always held a place in my heart... What's not to love? It is the home of legends... and when Jeter signed on... who knew he would be in the same books with those legends like DiMaggio, Mantle... Ruth... Gehrig.
There have been others.Reggie Jackson, Bernie Williams, Roger Maris, ARod ( I suppose he won't ever count, but he was really good) Many have played, some forgotten, like Tony Lazzari who was a second baseman for the Yankees, even though he still holds the record in the American League for the 11 runs he drove in in ONE game in 1936, or that he still holds the Major League record for recording and RBI in 15 consecutive games. The name is forgotten.
Do people still remember stats? I don't, I can't even remember my phone number half the time, there are so many numbers running through my head. War of 1812, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in 14 hundred and 92. My social security number, My kids social security number. My mother's... sigh. I've never been good a numbers anyway, but trying to remember how many home runs Roger Maris had in his single season best that beat Babe Ruth's... 61, by the way. Or that Lefty Gomez, the Yankee's pitcher threw 28 shutouts. That Mickey Mantle had a .353 batting average. Or, that Yogi Berra wasn't a cartoon character, but a really great backstop for the Yankees who had 10 World Series titles under his belt.

The game just isn't the same now is it? Maybe it has gotten better? Maybe it has lost some of it's luster, though. Sure when Mark McGwire was beating records, one after another they went, he was like the golden boy with a career 583 home runs. When he and Sammy Sosa were locked in this battle of stats, back and forth, Sosa just trailed McGwire, but all in all, it seems that was tainted. Can the kids look back and say it was all skill? Jose Canseco rocked the whole country with his tell all book in 2005. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Bring down the game, bring down the players, and bring down a dream.  
Baseball doesn't seem like America's game any more. 
At least, to me, it seems like just the jaded, scandal-ridden, professional sport that is just there to make the money. Legends fall and are forgotten, no one remembers what it was like to have the local team be the representative of your dreams and aspirations. Guys like Mantle were looked up to, emulated and loved. 
I don't want my son to be an athlete. 
But there was that hope in Jeter... He seemed to be one of those guys that put his love for the game first. He was always respectable. He was always professional. He was lovable and worthy of respect. Kids should emulate him.
Jeter ended his career with  3,465 hits, in Boston of all places and a 9-5 win over the Red Sox. Derek Jeter said goodbye and headed into the locker room for the last time as a player. Earlier, the Red Sox had presented him with a piece of the famed Fenway, a piece of the "Green Monster" that had white lettering spelling out "Re2pect".  I think that says it all.



picture from gazette net . com

31 Days in October

Yipee! 31 Days is back in October!
If you don't know what 31 Days is  then you have been missing out! 31 Days is an online writing challenge that was started by Myquillyn Smith (The Nester) 
 It is each day in October, a blog a day, you choose the topic and write about it...There are 9 categories such as Inspiration & Faith and Personal Endeavors, and you can actually pick what ever it is that you want to write about...
At first I thought it would be great to pick something that was going to be super easy to write about, maybe like jewelry or something like a bible quote a day... something that is a no brainer... but why? Why would you go to the trouble to join a challenge without the challenge part?
Sooo.... I am not positive, but I thin my blog is going to be 31 Days of Vision...
What is that?
You are just going to have to come back and visit to see what it is going to be. and... let me tell you, it won't be what you expect every day. I intend to take the blog  to a place that I haven't been to in quite a while, and if you have not read my blogs from years ago... then you will not know where I can lead!

So, come back for the month of October, enjoy reading as the blog dares to delve into Vision. Hope you enjoy it, and maybe join along with a blog of your own, if you try it, you will never give it up. Blogging is such a sweet relief to stress and to that pent up creativity that is running around in your head. Don't worry that it isn't going to be 'good enough', that isn't going to be an issue here, it won't matter if it isn't professionally written, it matters that you are enjoying the experience, that you are looking into yourself and drawing that part of you out that you know is in there... It is a chance to study, to research, to think, to dream, to experience new things... Come on... you know you want to jump in... Just do it!

8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party~~~~~ The Reveal!

First of all, I really would like to thank Lori Anderson, who masterminded this blog hop. She has been an inspiration to a lot of us and she deserves a lot of credit to have gotten this big side show off  the ground!  I say side show, it is more like a whole circus. We have clowns, like me, that play around with beads, and we have lion tamers that tame molten glass into submission and make beads, we have acrobats, like my partner, Skylar Bre'z,  that perform the daring feats with the beads. So sit back and enjoy the show!

the great soup that Skylar sent to me!

It's here!!!
The reveal for the 8th annual Bead Soup Blog Party!!!!!!!!
Yes, I am excited. I have been since sign ups and I am so happy to have been partnered with Skylar Bre'z. She has great taste and knew just what I would love and I have had the most fun playing with the beads she sent to me.

The soup that Skylar sent to me was really a wonderful array of gems. There are pearls, howlite, copper, glass, and a vast mix of crazy pretty beads. Then there is the hank of yarn, that beautiful bound bunch of beauty!  I had so much fun with it, and will for a while, because I used it sparingly. A snippet here and a snippet there... wanting to use it in every piece, but not wanting to overdo it!
I took pieces with me to work on when I went to Beadfest Texas, but honestly, I didn't have time to work much, but I did find some beads and stuff to go along with the soup. Of course I couldn't pass up the pretty hank of hand spun yarn to make the necklace with the copper shell bead and then I found the nautilus shell at Sonoran Beads and little odds and ends that, well, just screamed for me to add to the array. So what I ended up with is a mix of things I had, things I thought were perfect, and things that I just really needed to buy, like the crazy acrylic coral that just set off the set...

Here are my pieces, in no certain order... I made several, I guess I thought I needed to do justice to everything Skylar sent, but really, I didn't. I didn't do the beautiful pieces justice. I just had fun with them, and I didn't get around to finishing everything... I still have a mostly finished "memory" necklace that I just haven't had time to finish up... and a bracelet that I really wanted to get done, but I had other obligations, but will finish soon... and then the glass cabochon with the white daisy in blue and black.I have all the beads set aside and will work on that as soon as school is out   

Earrings to match the Nautilus necklace

The nautilus shell in copper is probably one of my favorite beads, it is really pretty and goes well with my love for shells and all things waterborne. I found the glass Whelk shell and little octopi, along with the glass nautilus shell at Beadfest Texas at the Sonoran Beads booth. I think they went perfect with this. The yarn as well came from that show, from Bernadette Fuentes, who sells this beautiful yarn and also has gorgeous glass beads. She was so sweet and showed me some of her samples and let me ooh and ahhh over her work!
So this necklace was born. It started out with some knitted wire as well, but I decided that it was just a little too much, and took it off, though I used it in the crocheted necklace with the silver focal.      The earrings were just fun!

The lady smelling roses cabochon from Skylar just needed to have a pretty bunch of beadwork around it, I liked the look of the copper oval beads and the reds and oranges to pull out the color of the picture. I used more of the yarn, kind of loosely knotted around the beads. I made two sets of earrings to go with it, and then did a watch as well… what can I say, I’ll probably wear this necklace some!

Purple People Eater

Then there is this one! The purple people eater as I like to call him! It is so cute, it is one that I wasn’t sure how to use, I don’t normally use pendants like this, it's so cute and funky! It reminds me of something that my daughter would do, and that is fun! The painting is great; I am ashamed to say that I have lost the card that came with it identifying the maker. I am so sorry. Maybe Skylar will fill in that blank. I used chain out of the soup and the bar part of one of the clasps and beaded the rest of the clasp. I had these great hex beads that I really wanted to use, but I didn’t like the peyote chain that I made, nor did I like the right angle weave chain, the piece just needed a few beads to make it stand out.
The blue spiral is my favorite I think, though it didn’t come out very well, I used the beads I had on hand to do the bead embroidery, and they were for the most part, pretty crap. I didn’t take the time to sort them, just used what was there, and they show it. But even at that, I like the pattern and will probably take it apart and do another one just like it, using more even beads, and maybe more of the yarn. There is just a bit of yarn on this one, in the ‘chain’.
The crocheted yarn necklace is the one that came first, I just couldn't wait to do something with that beautiful yarn and thought about that focal, the only thing I could think of was to use part of the yarn that was turquois-ish and wire wrap it as the chain. The clasp is one that I had
                                  Then there is the large glass bead, I wanted to use it so bad that I couldn't hardly stand it! Several tries and I didn't like anything that I made. Silk just didn't look good, bead weaving didn't look good, beads alone didn't look good... I thought about just clear line and the bead as the only visible component! It ended up that I did like the silk but it was really bare, I thought about crochet, using the ribbon of silk like thread, but it was still too bare. and the thought of having some wooly thread came to mind, well, I do have tons of wool... and... well, I liked the silk so I just added some roving to the ribbon and crocheted it into the chain. Adding jump rings and some beads, well... it was just right. The earrings are as daring as I will go at asymmetric, I used matching beads and added wool 'beads' and love them!

By the way... did I mention that Skylar sent some yarn?

 Ok, I guess you get it that I love this stuff!!!

Go by Lori Anderson's page (Pretty Things) and see the rest of the list for the other blog party members... SO MANY beautiful designs I am sure... I'll be spending the next week ogling and awwwwing over the  work of so many great designers!

wonderful weekend so far

We spent the weekend with my daughter... what a fun time. My son and my daughter are funny together, they laugh and cut up even with the difference in age. My son likes to give her a hard time, picks on her and really would have loved to have been just a few years apart in age.
As always, we romped around with the dogs, they don't get along, well, her dog loves our dog, just not the reverse... but they played together pretty well. I just had to post this picture... not of my daughter, that would be normal... me, I'm not so much normal!
My grandpuppy... he's such a big sweety!

Bead Soup Blog Hop~~

There is a slight hiccup with the Bead Soup Blog Party reveal that is set for this weekend, nothing major, but it is delayed by a week. There are a bunch of people sighing with relief right now! ha.
I have several pieces done but haven't had the chance to photograph them yet, other than the process. We have had wind and more wind, I know I should build a light box, but hey, I love natural light.
Anyway, I am kind of sighing myself, this will give the weather here a chance to settle down, and for me to either photograph outside or find a reasonable place to do it inside.... I haven't written the blog yet, I know what I want to say, I just procrastinate and I finished the cloak I was working on, and I need to clean house, run errands and do a million and ten things... so this is actually a good thing!
Lori Anderson is quite upset with herself, having to postpone, is hard for her, but we are all big girls here (sorry if there are any guys in the hop) and we can roll with whatever comes. Really. REALLY! If you can't deal with a delay, then you might not have a good grip on reality. Things happen, life happens, we all have times when we are overwhelmed with it... so no big deal!
The new reveal is set for May 10... I am so excited, like Christmas morning coming and I have presents under the tree!!!  I want to tease and pique interest in the event so here are a couple of pictures that will give you an idea of what I have for the blog hop....
Come back next week to see what  else there is... oooooo I can't wait!!!