Happy Thursday...Happy Happy!

I simply can not believe that tomorrow is going to be the 28th of January...where did this month go? It's almost Friday, and it's almost February too! Sheesh...I feel like I'm shuffling behind already!

The sketchbook is filling up again. I feel like my brain in at least kicking into high gear with new ideas and new projects. I feel like if I don't write things down, they will be forgotten. And I know that they will...sigh! LOL!

I've set a creative challenge for myself to use more texture and shape in my jewelry pieces. The challenge is to learn anticlastic and synclastic raising - so that led me to the internet and of course, there are no classes to be had here in snowy, cold Minnesota. However, Rio Grande now has some very affordable stakes made of Delrin that I think I'm going to buy and try. There is also a book, written by Tim McCreight that features this method so I'm thinking that I might have to have that too. I think that there will be a lot of experimenting happening once I get said tools and book. I also want the book on foldforming that Charles Lewton Brain wrote...one more purchase...texture, form, shapes...moving out of 2D into 3D and I won't need special glasses to see it all! LOL!

Anyway - going to be working down in the studio tonight - I have my few projects lined up to finish that have been sitting on the bench for the past few weeks. Set a few stones, finish a few bails and wire wrap a few briolette stones and coin pearls to include in earrings. THEN I can move on to starting something else, once these things are finished. Finish, then start, finish, then start. My bad habit is project hopping so I guess you could say that I'm trying to break that habit so I can actually see accomplishments and items being crossed off of my proverbial bench 'to do' list.

The weather here is finally above 20 - yes. It's true. But it's supposed to get cold again...unfortunately, that's true too. I guess that's what I get for living in the frozen North lands of our fine country. Minnesota...land of 10,000 snowmen.

Well, that's it for today...nothing profound, just another ordinary day happening. I promise to post some pictures with the next post. Stay healthy, Stay warm, and stay happy!! :)

Definitely sick...

Well, Saturday I finally got SICK sick...coughing mostly, and just generally feeling like doodie...Sunday was worse. Today I have no voice, called in sick, and am just staying in my jammies and staying in bed. Lots of tea, lots of juice, lots of water to drink. Mucinex helps keep things loose but I still feel like crud. Hoping that tomorrow will be better but we'll see...if I'm not feeling more than 65-70%, I'm staying home. As it is, getting up and about makes me feel tired, sweaty, and a little light-headed. Ish. Hope I feel better soon...I hate being sick...I just don't feel like doing ANYthing when I'm like this...which makes me feel like I'm wasting a bunch of perfectly good time.

Ok...keeping this short today...nothing new to report but I hope that everyone is having a great and happy Monday today. Stay healthy...

Happy Friday! It's snowing again...

Today I got a pleasant surprise! My sweet hubby came all the way across town to take me out to lunch! I love when I get to see him in the middle of a work day...happy sigh!

Anyway - after lunch, I got back to work and took up where I left off on a stack of old Lapidary Journals. I started clicking around finding some of the supplier links listed in some of the advertisements - big fun!! (I'm a tool nerd...I can't help it). I ordered a few new little smallish things that I felt I needed (mainly a few new shape templates and a few new texturing sheets for my rolling mill) and then got to the business of laying out my wires for an enamel butterfly pendant. I have the base prepped and the wings are bent up so the piece has dimension. The idea is to make a few copper and silver flowers to add around in the setting with gemstones. The tricky part will be getting the enamel piece solidly set onto the armature when it's done. I don't want all that hard work falling off when all is said and done...that would be very bad.

I also brought a few prop items with me today to attempt taking a few photos of some of my jewelry for my Etsy shops. I got two pieces shot and then the low battery indicator popped on...which led me to believe that it's just not in my cards or stars to EVER get those shops populated. It's always something or another when I sit down to work on that project...freaky deaky wierd Maynard. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Needless to say, the battery is recharged again so I'm going to attempt this one more time so that I MIGHT have a few photos to import into Photoshop this evening...wish me luck.

Other than this, I think I might be getting my yearly 'bout of bronchitis. Usually this whole thing starts as a cold and sinks into my chest - sinusitis and bronchitis usually go hand in hand for me. This particular instance, however, is starting in my chest and working it's way up. Yesterday a little coughing and teenie tiny bit of a sore throat and getting absolutely pooped and winded after walking the dog a whole half a mile before bedtime. This morning more coughing, tight lungs, tired, dry red eyes, and now my glands feel like they are feeling a bit sore. I have a leftover scrip of Augmentin from a previous bronchitis adventure (the dose that the minute clinic prescribed was way too strong - I got other subsequent nasty issues after only being on it for three days...I got something else instead) that I might cut in half and just start taking that. I don't know. I'm not good at these things and usually don't self medicate with leftover anything, but I seriously do not want to spend the time going and sitting around at an urgent care facility, along with other patients who are hacking up vital organs, just to get a simple scrip for a Z-pack antibiotic. We'll see how the weekend goes. I have a feeling I'll be visiting my local urgent care regardless...oh well...it happens every year so this is no large surprise. Wish me luck.

Ok...here's a photo of one of my bracelets that I did manage to get earlier. Hope everyone has a great weekend and is staying warm and cozy! Talk to you again soon!

Could I get ANY slower?

Well, yesterday was kind of a bust in the studio...I got home, felt tired, the phone rang, then rang again, then I was even more tired than I was initially (drama can do that to you, even when it's not YOUR drama) so I just curled up with my book and read for a little bit, then hubby came home and that was it for the evening...pretty much.

So...MAYBE I'll get down there to make a few button clasps tonight...or to dust off my wax sheets and get to carving a few new toggles. OR maybe I'll get going on all those photos I need to take for my Etsy shop...OR perhaps I'll sit and fix a bracelet that I made a tidge too long...OR Or or...bottom line is that I need to kick it into gear and get things going. There's a lot to do in the next two months before we leave for vacation and if I can accomplish most of it, then I'm finally ahead (for once! HA!)

So that's it for today...sorry for being woefully short, not so interesting, and lacking in content...next post will be better.

Hope you all have a great day!

Had a somewhat productive weekend...

Ok...so my sister has been poking at me to make her a certain type of bracelet for some time now. What was this project, you might ask?? Well, it was one of those bracelets that have pearls or beads strung between two lengths of leather cord. You know, the one's that look a lot more tedious than they actually are. Now, this is not to say that they are not time consuming - that they were - but I am very pleased with the finished product and will be making a few to post on my Etsy shop pages. Yes...they were that nice. I really do like them!

Anyway...I finished my sister's bracelet and made it with one of my better strands of freshwater rice pearls. It has a lovely weight and almost slinky movement about it - I can see why people love them so much. In the process, I got to thinking about clasp options. I don't like the look of just tying knots in the leather cording - to me that looks unfinished and sloppy. So, I dug around in my private stash box of different clasps and found nothing aside from a few chitzy buttons that might work as a button/loop type clasp. So...knowing where this was going to lead, I grabbed my sketch book and started drawing out plans for new button clasps that will be fabricated out of sterling with copper and brass components as embellishment. I'll be working on a few of these tonight. When the world does not bring you what you need, just MAKE IT YOURSELF! LOL! Am thinking that some of these little buttons might actually work well for my knitting projects as well...might have another market there...you never know.

Anyway, I didn't get as far as I wanted to get on my cloisonne enameling. But we did get a lot of errands run and I did bring that particular project to work with me to make some progress with today. I might actually get a few bases prepped this evening too...again you never know what's going to happen once I sit down at the bench. I might not get what I intended and set out to do done, but instead, might get going on a completely different tangent and get something else, completely unintended done. Sometimes there is no focus down there...sometimes that turns out to be a very good thing...sometimes not! We all know how that goes.

So, that's it for today...hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! Happy Monday!

Welcome 2011, and Happy New Year to you!

Well, it's 2011 and hubby and I welcomed the New Year in with peace and quiet. I worked at my bench for much of the day and evening and he worked on getting drywall up in our kitchen remodel job...quiet indeed!

This year, my resolution/goal is to get more of my ideas out of my notebook, incorporating more of all of the funky ephemera and vintage cool components into my new works, and make more pieces to sell at Greg's Galleria Azul gallery in Cozumel that benefit the island's Humane Society. The two pieces I left with him for this purpose last year have recently sold - he dropped off a check for a whole $250 dollars to them not that long ago. I was so very excited I couldn't help but clap my hands and feel so happy...I really hope the little extra cash buys a few essentials that they might need for the shelter. My goal is to try to increase that amount this coming year x three or four...if I manage to exceed that, well, all the better for all the cute little furballs.

I'll be working this weekend on getting some cloisonne wires set on bases and trying to finish up a few pendants I started last weekend. Will post pics as soon as I have them.

Well, as short as this post is, being it's my first ever...I hope it does not disappoint and if you just happened across me out there in the blogosphere of the internet, I sure do hope to see you again soon.

Happy New Year and all the best to you and yours!

~Camille