Messy Wraps

A lot of things I do go in phases.  I get obsessed, I wear it out, I move on.  Okay, maybe not quite that extreme, but I am pretty fickle about what I'm into; it's always subject to change.  One trend I've noticed in my wirework is a departure from perfect wrapped loops...

Free tutorial on my website
(Link Bracelet)

...in favor of something more organic looking.  I call these messy wraps.

They kinda remind me of tornado beads.

Sure, messy wraps use more wire than coiling, but we're talking about 22- to 26-gauge "little guy" wire here. And it's actually easier for me to tuck in the tip of the wire if I do messy wraps instead of perfect coils on briolettes.  Dare I say they look more interesting as well?

And messy wraps are a subtle nod to my beloved bird's nests.

But wait!  There's more!  The other day I was on a turquoise kick and strung some simple strands of beads into necklaces.  (Why do I always feel like I have to come up with something new and different when making jewelry?  Why do I fight the feeling that *just* stringing beads is uninspired?  Sometimes simple is elegant.)  This is actually a strand of chrysocolla, but it coordinated nicely with the turquoise grouping. 

I wanted the wearer to be able to put this willow toggle clasp at the front, and I love twisted crimps because they feel so solid, but I don't think they're pretty enough for the front of a necklace (left side of photo).  And they're too big and flat to fit inside my 2mm crimp covers so necessity led to invention.  Rather than order and patiently wait for larger crimp covers, I messy-wrapped the crimps in fine-gauge wire (right side of photo).  This also helps take up slack if you decide that your stringing wire is a bit too long after you crimp.  Not that this ever happens to me.

  

Playing with Polymer

People often ask me how long I've been making jewelry, which usually requires a follow-up question like, "How long have I been making jewelry like I make now?" 



You see, when I was a kid my parents wouldn't let me get my ears pierced, so naturally I was fixated on what I couldn't have. Using my dad's tools I would bend telephone wire, gleaned from a construction site, into little clip-on earrings.  I had turquoise ones and yellow ones and I didn't care how ugly or dirty they were.  Later I found some kidney-wire earrings at a craft store and clipped them upside-down to my lobes because it looked like the end of the wire was going into my ear like a real earring.  Hot stuff!  Add to the mix my great aunt, who mined and polished her own stones and got me interested in rock tumbling, and I was a full-on jewelry nerd.  I got really good at wire-wrapping those slippery tumbled stones to make pendants, though, so now wrapping sea glass is second nature. My friend Jenny, whom I've known since 6th grade, recently asked me to wire-wrap this piece of larimar, and (kindly) noted that I've come a long way since my rock tumbling days. 



What were we talking about?  Oh yeah, polymer clay.  Also during my middle school years I got a sampler pack of Cernit clay at a train show (my Dad is into model trains).  Soon I got into polymer clay (sounds like I'm dabbling in drugs) and would read Nan Roche's The New Clay like it was my job.  I worked with polymer clay on into high school and thought it was really cool to make earrings as miniature versions of the designs in special outfits.  That's when I got started with beads, too, back before internet shopping.  So when I say I've been making jewelry since I was a kid, my products back then are not what I consider lovely today.  I haven't any examples to show you, although my mother still wears her vintage AnneMade Jewelry to my chagrin.

These days (meaning now that I have a jewelry business) after I have a chance to recover from the holiday season of making and selling jewelry and all our Christmas festivities, it's usually the dead of winter and I get a yearning for spring.  I do have to work ahead of the season, so it's not unusual for me to use delicate pastels and beachy brights at this time of year.  I've been itching to play with polymer clay again and make some pendants for spring.  And I love that my original sampler pack of Sculpey is still as good as it was 20 years ago.  Polymer clay has come a long way since then, including the development  stronger formulas, liquid clay, and surface techniques like mica shift.  I have always been too cheap to invest in a pasta machine, but today I realized that hand-kneading clay takes forever. 

(I think it's funny that my clay turned out the same color as the shopping list I created while kneading it. Love this color!)  So yesterday I printed out a Michael's coupon and headed there as soon as Olivia woke up from her nap. I also found treasures in the stamping aisle (alcohol inks to color liquid Sculpey, dye ink pads for rubber stamping, clear stamps so you can see what you're doing).  And what a difference the pasta machine makes!  It's like a mini rolling mill, in fact I could run texture through with the clay.  Once I knead the clay to get it soft, mixing colors on the machine is so easy.  And after working with PMC so much, it's so great not to have to worry about a piece drying out on me.  If I don't like it I just ball it up and try again.  I do have to worry about foreign particles, though, because I'm not firing this clay in a kiln like PMC.  (Side note: PMC people, if you're looking for Teflon paper to use as a work surface, Michaels has it in the stamp/ink aisle.)

Another creative chapter in my past is painting.  If you come to my house I may not point them out, but several of the pictures on our walls are watercolors and drawings I did in high school.  And if you've ever worked with oil paint (or acrylic) you'll know the concept of color saturation.  A tiny dab of alizarin crimson or titanium white is all it takes to affect the whole glob of paint because those colors are so saturated.  Same goes with certain colors of polymer clay, so if you're just starting out remember to mix in only a little bit of a new color at a time.

I view the Pantone season forecast a little like I view the Farmer's Almanac.  Does anyone ever look back and grade them on how accurate they were, or do we just trust them?  I live in a small town out in the country, so we're a little behind the style trends anyway, so I tend to just use what I like.  Right now it's orchid.



Did it again! This ballet pink pendant matched another Post-It. Maybe I need to get my fashion forecast from 3M.








Anniversary gifts

I've had two guys contact me lately, each approaching their 7th year of marriage, each looking for copper jewelry for an anniversary gift knowing it is their "year of copper or wool (or desk sets)." One asked for a copper nest pendant with a freshwater pearl "egg" for each of their children.

The other one designed this personalized necklace with their initials on hammered copper tags, the year they got married (in Roman numerals), a heart for love, and a rose which has a special meaning in their relationship.

Spring Flight

I love robins, nests, spring, aqua, twigs, lots of things that make up this necklace.  I don't usually make asymmetrical pieces, but I had this piece of chain that was too long for a bracelet and I didn't want to waste the extra, so I thought I'd do half a necklace with it.  And one dead-of-winter morning I was laying in bed and I came up with all these bird-themed components, some of which are in this piece and others are in the rest of the collection.  I put some blue and some green in there, glass, pearl, stone, a touch of brass, and a couple of speckle-glaized ceramic beads.

Here is the bracelet ($55, necklace is $125) and I also have a pair of speckled-egg earrings ($26).  They're heading to the wonderful Simply Charming Boutique next week, so if you are interested shoot me an email.

Thinking spring & The Bloom

It's that time of year...  The holidays are over, there are pockets of warm days surrounded by blustery cold, and I'm yearning for spring.  This is the time of year I start on my spring line, and especially now that I have a little one it's important to start early or it becomes summer before I know it. 

I'm experimenting with "new" media like doming resin and polymer clay.  Oh, I'm no stranger to polyclay, but it's come a long way since I was working with it as a teenager.  While cleaning out the storage room in my parents' basement I came across my old box of Sculpey.  So I experimented with some simple textured pendants and bird eggs and it's still good after 20+ years.  And mixing 2-part epoxy reminds me of helping my dad with his model train layout when I was a kid.  We didn't get the mixing quite right, so part of the river was sticky after curing.  This time around I'm aware of tricks like using a flame to encourage air bubbles to pop, and testing the leftover epoxy in the cup (instead of getting fingerprints on my pendants) to see if it's cured. 

Here are some of the components I have gathered to make into necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for spring.

Along with spring in the Shenandoah Valley comes the Bloom.  Everyone wears pink and green to celebrate the apple blossoms, so here is the start of my collection for Simply Charming Boutique.  Fortunately in recent years the rest of the country has had a love affair with that color combination, so there is some wonderful lampwork to be had. 

If you see something you like in either photo, just email me for pricing and availability.

Stamped Bird and Branch

Fresh snow blankets the ground.  A sparrow perches nearby on a crab apple branch, waiting for the blue jay to leave so she can have a turn at the feeder.

I love twigs.  I love berries.  I love birds.  Is it any surprise that my newest option in stamped jewelry is a combination of those things? 

These bird & branch tags can be personalized with your children's names along the edge, and I can apply the design to most of the shapes and materials listed on this page.

New Tutorial

I love birds, twigs, nests, all that stuff and I'm happy to share how to make your own out of wire and freshwater pearls.

Click here for the listing...

Catching up

Okay, so I'm a little behind on the blogging. And the housework. And my Inbox. Steve's been traveling a lot (although it's not his fault), and I seem to be happier and get a lot more things accomplished when he's home. And I seem to have a pretty bad case of Babies on the Brain, so I tend to have more to talk about over on my other blog.

In the jewelry department, I am working on a Bird Nest tutorial (pictured), cleaning off my workbench a little, ordering silver, embellishing some Viking Knit... Of course I like to actually finish something before telling you guys, but I thought I'd throw you a bone to let you know what's in the pipeline. I went to an awesome bead show in Vienna, VA a few weeks ago and saw some of my favorite lampworkers, including Patti Cahill from Dyed in the Fire. Talk about little works of art! And yes, you heard me right. The market price of silver has been over $21/troy ounce this year and now it is around $9, so I will be adjusting kit prices accordingly.

Website update: When I said the site now has a "fresher, high-key" look, I didn't realize that everybody except for me was seeing just a boring plain white screen aside from the text and pictures. It's supposed to look like this, with a sage floral print in the background. I posted on a webmaster forum and got a quick response, so the problem should be fixed now. (You may need to hit Refresh to see.)

Perhaps the next installment in my book collection should be The Lazy Housekeeper: Easily-cleaned surfaces, those that hide dirt, etc. I personally believe that dust is a protective covering, so my coffee table is actually "flocked". If you're in the market for a dog, choose one with short hair that doesn't tumbleweed, thereby keeping your wood floors cleaner. Having a screened porch with brown indoor-outdoor carpeting has really cut down on the paw-wiping necessity, too. Now if I could only find a way to harness the energy in the wagging tail and apply that to the noseprints on the windows.

OBX Babymoon

Steve and I just spent a wonnnnnnderful getaway in Duck, NC. Relaxing on the beach, relaxing at the pool, side-by-side pedicures, good food, our kind of vacation. My favorite thing was to sit in beach chairs to watch the nature video: sand crabs digging holes, sandpipers looking for dinner but avoiding the surf, pelicans flying in formation, schools of dolphins, seagulls checking out the seaweed...

Our hotel room was so pretty, with birds and eggs and seashells everywhere. And when I walked into the bathroom my first thought was, "This looks like our bathroom at home." Aqua-gray walls, sandy tile, glass shower. The staff was helpful and friendly, amenities were plentiful, restaurant was delicious, weather was perfect for bathing suits, plus they serve hot/iced tea & homemade cookies in the afternoon and offer turndown service (with chocolates and a forecast) at night.

More berries

Steve and I just went for a visit with his folks in upstate New York. On the way we stopped by Joolz in Canandaigua to say hi to Francie and Kerry Bogert, who was having a trunk show and demonstrating flamework. Hopefully next time I can meet Kerry for margaritas, but it was fun to say hi, catch up a little, and hit the road for the final leg of our trip.

The next morning it rained, then was sunny, then rained some more. Normally I wouldn't have cared, except anyone who knows me knows I love berries, and this is strawberry season in NY. There is a you-pick farm on every other corner! So during a break in the clouds Steve and I headed down the road to Morgan's Farm to pick some berries. We'd collected 7 quarts before I stood up and said, "I think that's enough. What are we going to do with all these?" And then it rained again, so we went home.

Here are Matt and Bob working on the lawn tractor in the barn.

Also in the barn there is a nest of swallows almost ready for flight school. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Later I was walking Riley in the family orchard when I noticed there are cherries! on the tree! this year. (They knew this, but it's not a big deal to everyone else.) Ripe ones, and lots of them. They're called tart cherries, but they are sweet to eat. (When I think "tart cherries," I think of the bright red ones Cheryl and I bought from a vendor in Barbados who assured us they were sweet to eat - turned out to be the tartest cherries I'd ever tasted!) So we picked a quart of cherries off the tree, plus some red raspberries which had just begun to ripen. And then I died of happiness. The end.

Saturday night is always Mexican food, so Cherie makes enchiladas, quesadillas, or tacos. This week it was tacos with your choice of fried-corn or flour shell, two kinds of cheese, several hot sauces, lettuce, tomatoes, and chili beans (two sets, one for each end of the table). I started thinking about this meal (and drooling) weeks ago because it's always so good.

I have an inordinate love for Wegmans, and being that the closest one to our house is an hour away, we always go to Wegmans in NY as there is one in practically every town. It's not just a grocery store, people! Sheesh. This time we didn't walk up and down every aisle, but we did get coffee and stroll through the market part and the cheese shop and the kitchen gadgets and the bulk candy and the craft brew section (arranged by region like wine). I got some rhubarb which may or may not have survived the trip home in the trunk, some French lemonade for my francophile friend Elizabeth, and a measuring cup with a slanted edge to make it easier to read.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 8 quarts of fruit to deal with. Bliss!

Summer Storm

We just had a terrific thunderstorm, one of the many things I love about summer. It goes from being hot and still to cool and fresh with the plants watered. It gets dark, so dark that I actually turn on a light during the day. We get the kind of rain and wind that looks like someone reporting on location during a hurricane. Thankfully I was home in order to run around and close windows this time.

I think I forgot to tell you that our baby robins are all grown up. I took this picture the day before they tried to fly. One of them lept to his fate on the concrete porch, so Steve put down cushions for the other three to bounce off (and we didn't find any bodies later). I thought I was free to walk to the mailbox in peace now that we have an empty nest, but yesterday the mama gave me a "talking to" as a little guy jumped from the grass to the cherry tree.

Time to wash the front door and change the wreath.

The Robins are Hatching

The nest on our front door has been tended for the past 2 weeks by a very conscientious mother bird. Two more eggs were laid after we got back from vacation, a total of four eggs in my favorite color. I try to go get the mail through the garage door, because I'll hear about from Mrs. Robin it if I dare use my front door. I was wondering how long this was going to go on, and today Steve noticed that one of the eggs has hatched. So, I looked around online for more info:

"Robins lay one egg about every 24 hours until her clutch size is around 3-4. The incubation period lasts from 12-14 days and hatching of each egg takes about 24 hours; the order the eggs were laid is the order of hatching...While the eggs are in the nest, females cover them about 50 minutes of every hour and overnight. Females rarely leave the nest during incubation and rely on the mate to bring her enough food to survive. Once the Robin chicks hatch, they remain in the nest for 13-15 days, until they are mature enough to survive on their own...Fledglings can fly within 2 days of leaving the nest, so the male parent watches them until they are able to live completely on their own..."

Breakfast in bed is the least the mother bird can expect for such devotion to the nest. Steve just noted that there are two big birds on the nest, so I told him about this aspect and he replied, "That's a good man." I can only imagine the list of "things to do after the kids are gone" that mama has been compiling in her head whilst sitting on the nest for a month.

The worst part of this whole nest-on-the-front door deal is the mutual freak-out of Mrs. Robin and anyone who comes to our door, so two more weeks of that and then there will be four more little birdies out in the world.

On a sad note, Killer got another one the other day, this time a robin fledgling right in front of its mama. I kinda wish she'd have let Riley have it (punishment, not her child) so this would stop being a thing.

Love to eat them birdies,
Birdies what I love to eat.
Bite they little heads off…
Nibble on they tiny feet.
-B. Kliban (alterations mine)

They're Back

Birds love our spring wreath. I love birds. So upon returning from vacation I was thrilled to discover a beautiful new nest and two perfect eggs right on our front door, so apropos.

Out in the back yard we have a nest of peeping chicks in one of our junipers, but it is too far off the ground for us to see (or Riley to eat).

To Josh and Molly

Happy Birthday, both of you!

Recently in a meeting of 20-25 people we were instructed to find the person in the group who has the next consecutive birthday. It didn't take as long as I expected to figure out our group timeline, and we even had two people whose birthdays are both today. What are the odds? Well actually, pretty good. Check this out.

These are bezel-set stained glass cufflinks that Josh designed (and hopefully forgot), I created, and his wife Jill gave him for his birthday. You can read more on YOJ.

Miss Molly came over for fondue last night and actually gave me a present for her birthday, an iron nest candleholder with a bird perched on the side (yes, so me). We did oil, cheese, and chocolate fondue, and at one point Johnny brought up the formula for a WP dinner party. (I think that blog is hilarious.)

The Birds

The view from my studio.
These birds were only in our yard (not the neighbors'), and they pecked around for about 10 minutes and were gone.

Riley was as fascinated as I was. In general, being a bird dog, this is her favorite time of year. She has resumed her command posts and terrorizing the birds building nests in our junipers out back.

I put our our spring wreath and within hours I had feathered customers trying to build nests again (only this time the wreath is in Virginia not Delaware). I don't know if it's the time of year or the type of wreath, but I don't really want our front porch covered in mud this year.

Eggses, my precioussss

I found a picture in Better Homes & Gardens that shows a garland of hollow dyed eggs for Easter. I don't normally get into holiday decorating, but we eat a lot of scrambled eggs and I think an egg garland would be a nice addition to my Easter tree. Like a necklace, only bigger.

I blew out 6 eggs before I passed out, so maybe little nests like these with individual eggs would be better, say half a dozen of them scattered around the house. Or I may invest in an egg blower.

For all of you who DID play trumpet in high school band or regularly make balloon animals, blowing eggs may come more easily to you. Or, if you have the air skills and care more about the inside of the egg than the shell, check out this quick-peel method for hard-boiled eggs. (I can't do a direct link, so select it from the menu or heck, just watch all of them.)

There's a bush in our flower bed that needs to be heavily pruned or chopped down, and while Steve and I were surveying it I noticed a bird nest in the branches. So of course I brought it inside because it's not every day you can find a real nest without disturbing eggs.

Then a couple weeks later I was out with my friend Molly and saw an empty nest in a parking lot tree. I came very close to taking it, but she suggested the bird may want to re-use the nest so I left it there. Begrudgingly.

Nesty

I can only imagine the robins' confusion after several cycles of springlike weather in February followed by a blustery day like today.

I long for Spring, so I've found myself working with aquas and pinks and making springy stuff like this nest ring, complete with freshwater pearls as the eggs. It was quickly followed by a nest pendant for YOJ Week 6.

Both are available in my Etsy shop.

New look

I like to keep things fresh (read: I get bored easily) so I had a fellow Etsy-er design a new banner for my shop. Let the record show that she originally had two birds in there and I asked for fewer birds.

Speaking of birds, there's a nest in one of our trees (at least it was there before we had 24 hours of gale-force winds). It's too high to reach from the ground, so I'm trying to figure out how to get it down without harming myself. I had a beautiful one earlier this year, but I was changing decorations around and left it sitting on the floor. I came back to find only a trace of it on the rug. Riley likes birds, too, but in a different way.

Cabin in the woods

After one last ride on the lake last Sunday (see post below for photos) we loaded up the kayaks and headed south for the next leg of our trip: The Cabin in Carolina.

My parents had been there for two weeks and were on their way home that day, so we compared mile markers via cell phone and met up for lunch. When we got to the cabin we unpacked and went to Waffle House for dinner (tradition for the first night) and bought groceries. I love going to the store here because the local accent is so thick!

We spent Monday just reading and relaxing. On Tuesday we'd reached our unplugged limit (4 days) so we took off for Well-Bread Bakery in Weaverville (NC) to check our email and have lunch. One of my favorite galleries with jewelry is Miya, right down the block from Well-Bread, so I stopped in to talk shop and get some inspiration. After that we checked out the shops of Burnsville, a little town between the cabin and Mount Mitchell. I finally found some Cavallini folders (birds of course) that I had seen in a magazine, and after plenty of coffee and window-shopping we headed home to take naps and listen to the rain. After a month of hot drought at home I was loving the cool, wet weather we had all week.

Our friends Valerie and Casey came for a visit from Charlotte on Wednesday with their two adorable boys, Coulson and Charlie, and Chester the dog. Riley and Chester swam in the pond, the guys kayaked and fished, the girls split a piece of The Best Chocolate Cake (from Well-Bread), and then we all took a hike and made s’mores in the fireplace.

On Wednesday night our friends Josh & Jill arrived, and we spent the rest of the week resting, reading, watching the fire, and hanging out in Asheville (Bele Chere). They even cooked dinner for us. (See Josh's halo?) Our last stop was Sonic where Riley got a frosty treat.

We had a great time on vacation!

Leaf Motif

This falls into the "why didn't I think of this earlier" category. A mosaic pendant in a different shape! (Are you surprised that I haven't made a bird mosaic yet?) I've done purses before, on request, but during a busy spell when the concept didn't really gel in my mind before the piece was out the door.