Christmas in.....June??

Lou came home tonight and told me there were Christmas lights on just down the street....I love my neighbors...don't know who they are....but I love them. 

We have a lot of pine trees in the back yard and I've always wanted to cover them in little white lights, especially in the summer.  It would be so magical.  We all need a little magic in our lives.

Still Etching....

I have some obsessive tendencies when it comes to doing things....or maybe it's just that I don't want to pull out the supplies and equipment again....but I'm still etching.  I've done 17 plates so far and will probably do a dozen more before I'm done. 

I'm trying to figure out the best method for transferring the image on the PNP paper to the copper.  In class it worked perfectly but then again I was working with little 2" squares.  I've had some issues with the transfers....but I don't think I was using enough heat or using it long enough. Today I altered my technique a little and got better results. And sharpies work miracles in filling in spaces that don't transfer. 

So I'll be etching all week...and then some. 

Trouble is...once I get all the etching done....I'm going to be obessive about trying them all out with the bronze clay. 
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Etching...

Doing some etching this weekend.  I'm converting some of my tear-away sheets into something a little more permanent and with a deeper cut. 

I made the entwined fish from an old tapestry design that I found.  The picture below this one...the medallion is actual this same image put into a kaleidoscope feature I have in photoshop.

The next two are from photos of ancient tablets. 

Mudcloth designs

I an anxious to roll out some clay on these and see how the designs come out compared to the tear aways.
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Happy Father's Day!!

My Dad.....

He married Mom before being sent to fight in World War II in Europe.  I asked her once how she was able to endure having Dad so far away fighting a war.  She said it's just what you did....what everyone did.

This is a picture of my Dad and me at my wedding.  I was 19.  No wonder my Mom freaked out....I was just a baby.  But I was determined to get married.  It lasted 10 years.  We divorced.  But I love this picture.  I remember him walking me down the aisle.  I think he was more nervous than I was.  It was September.  Dad was so tan compared to me.  He was a farmer and was outside all day long. 

He also worked a factory job at night so he could afford to send my brothers, sister and me to college. Who does that??? How many people do you know these days that work 2 jobs so they can give their kids a better life? 

He raised cattle.  He rode horses.  He was a pilot.  I never had a chance to tell him what a amazing, heroic man he was to me.  He did it all so quietly.  He was a quiet man....something I did not inherit from him...LOL. 

But I have his ears.  When I look in the mirror I see his ears and it makes me smile.  He may be gone from this earth but he is always in my heart.
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Godzilla....at Bead and Button....

and he's chewing on a sea gull bone.  The waitress at the Hyatt was a bit surprised when she came over to see if we wanted more drinks. We had covered the entire table with beach glass that Karen brought.  Godzilla was part of the stash she found on the beach....along with feathers and the bones. 

I think he makes a good mascot.  I like him better then Keishi.
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More from Bead and Button

I went back to work today.  My boss stuck his head in the office this morning and wanted to know if I was grumpy because I had to come back to work....LOL.  I'm used to a very structured day so it was good to get back and it only took 8 hours for me to get pissed off. 

But then all I have to do is look at this pic and I'm better.....  LOL.....Cris and I were visiting Susan Lenart Kazmer's classroom and while she was giving her class a demo....we were trying on her jewelry.  This actually is a neck cuff but makes quite the crown for Cris.  She looks like she belongs at a Renaissance Festival.

We shopped Thursday night and all day Friday.  Boy did we shop.  We got in early and went straight to Gary Wilson's booth.  We've decided that he is a very dangerous man!!!  If you've ever seen his booth you know why. Here are some of the things I picked up...some cabs and some pendants.

The other dangerous booth is Ruth and Ebrima from Bead Paradise.  They always have fabulous stuff.  Ruth has great things on-line so if you can't make it to a show or her shop you can buy on-line.

We also stop to see Abe at Afghan Tribal Arts/Sturee Tribal Village.  He's such a flirt!!...and he has great beads.

And some cool beads from Joanne Zekowski....

and this was all on Thursday.  Friday we roamed the floor for tools....and a few more stops to Gary's booth to see if we had missed anything cool.  We stopped at Karen's booth for a rest.

LOL....there were 4 of us sitting on the floor of the booth just resting out tired bones. 

I can't believe it is over.  I was ready to come home but I already miss all my friends. 
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Bead and Button...let the recovery begin

WOW.... I can't believe the week is over already.  As usual it was a blast.  There is a core group of us that get together each year.  We behave and laugh like little kids.  The classes were good and shopping is always phenomenal.  I wish I could have blogged more during the conference but the iPad doesn't upload pictures very easily nor is it very compatible with blogger.  Besides...most of my free time was spent in the lounge talking to friends.

The first class I had was with Joe Silvera on soldering bezels.  I managed to make a pendant in 6.5 hours...which is much faster than the last one I made which took 6 weeks of classes.  He and his wife, Anat, are great.  I would definitely suggest a class with them if you get the opportunity.  He has a number of DVD's available and wrote a book on soldering.

The rest of the classes were with Richard Salley.  I took those for practice on fabrication....sawing, riveting, layering pieces.  We worked with various sheet metals and faux bone.

A very funky hinged bracelet with a metal Frappacino lid as a base.  The hardest part about this was deciding what to put in the lid and how to put it together.  The rest of it was sawing and forming.

Cris's bracelet on the left and mine on the right. Cris coined the term post-apocalyptic punk.  They look like eyeballs. 

A locket....again a metal lid as the base.  We acid etched the design (both inside and out) and hammered, riveted, wire-wrapped the rest of it. Etching withe PNP paper was fast and easy.  Over the next few weeks I will be taking some of my favorite tear-away designs and etching them onto copper.

 A picture goes on the inside.

Here I am... hard at work doming the lid.  I need to wear two sets of glasses to see anything.



A faux bone and metal pendant.  All the dimples were made with a hole punch that Richard modified to produce dimples rather than cut.  Being the tool whore that I am.....I bought one in each size that he had.  He sold his entire inventory to the first class we were in.

Cris's pendant on the right and mine on the left.



Richard doing a demo.....

Brenda and Deb watching the demo...

Cris and I gave each other tattoos during class.  This is hers.  LOL....  It's dangerous when we have spare time on our hands.

More later...

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Richard Salley class

Last class of the show. Richard Salley's ancient shield pendant. Mine is on the left and Cris's is on the right. Fun class and it has pushed me to go 3-D on my jewelry production. Lots of possibilities!

The people I come to see each year

These are the people I come to see each year....

Karen...the Queen of corset rings!!

Anne

My sista of the heart....Cris

Class hasn't even started and our bench is already a mess

Gigi, Cris, and Paul.  I think Paul is getting the best part of this hug!!