Hot Sand and Cool Metal

Hello all,

I almost titled this post "Randomness" which as you will see, is entirely appropriate.
Because sometimes you just feel random.  Or is it scattered?  Naw, it's random.  :)

First, want to see something you didn't know you wanted to see?  Sure you do.  So here you are...

Yes, they are exactly what they look like!  Hand molds of those near and dear to me who live far away.

Then there's this...

My finished jewelry used to be all over the place in here 

but now......

It's all in here.

 Wanna see?  Sure you do cuz you're all so agreeable...

Keeping company with all of my show displays.

  I actually prefer it all out where I can appreciate it, but you know.  Not everyone shares the same design aesthetic.  grumble mumble.....

Notice the half mannequin?  The one with it's back to us that stands all by itself and doesn't have to be hanging from a hook to stand still for the camera?  The one I now get to texturize and paint?  woohoo!  What to do with it....what to do....?

Things to be listed, eventually......on a rainy day.....or a stormy night......or once upon a time....or when I simply have time.....

Are you ready for some pretty random now?

oooooh-awwwwww

how about some pretty random of a totally different kind?

For those of you who have been with this blog from the start, you'll remember the giveaway.  You'll also remember Joren the winner of prize #1.  Why do you remember her?  Cuz she's the one who has grandma's teeth in her curio.  And the way she wrote about it was so engaging, funny and endearing that even the other entrants were voting for her.  Yes, now it's all coming back to you, isn't it?

Well here she is...

She emailed me this picture of her holding the current issue of Jewelry Affaire, open to my article. Too sweet of you!

Love it!  Thank you Joren!  So nice to see the face that accompanies the wit, isn't it?

Where, you ask, is the hot sand and the cool metal?  It's coming.  Patience is a virtue........

and you know I'm gonna torture you with flower pictures cuz it's springtime and things are blooming, so you might as well try to enjoy them.

It's not after all, a doily collection.  (inside joke.  you know who you are, the one I'm threatening to compile a doily collection for so I can bequeath it to you.  yes, YOU!  Come to think of it, I might actually have a doily collection.  hahahahaha)

The mutant Colum-mums are doing just fine.

 (mutant columbines for those of you who missed it previously)

FINALLY

Here's some hot sand for you to feast your eyes on

CRIFFIES!  in Venetian blue or seafoam as Kim of

Numinosity Beads 

refers to them.  Aren't they pretty?

So I went a bit Numinosity crazy....

You will most likely never see the fiesta beads or the psychedelic nail for sale, cuz I have every intention of keeping those.  I know, what's up with me and these colors?!  Hey sometimes I use actual colors.

So then I sent Kim some keys and hardware to see if she wanted to play with them a bit. 

And she made a glass bleeding heart!

LOVE IT!

I thought she would keep some for herself, but nope, she sent every single wonderful thing back to me.

Aren't these amazing?  Each one is completely unique.

This is what can be done with hardware and glass in the right hands!

STUDNIKS! 

And ridgy I don't remember how she described this shape beads

with more gorgeous criffies!

They remind me of little girls twirling round and round so fast that their full skirts stand straight out.  Right before they fall down laughing.

the grand finale.....

So when we were done with my purchases and our trades, this is what I ended up with.  

A whole pile of Kim's fabulous lampworking.  Now that's some cool hot sand, Kim. 

But alas, they did not all live happily ever after...sniff sniff

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT drop your gorgeous criffies on a glass top table.  Cuz they don't like it. 

 Or to be more specific, don't be hurrying like crazy and moving the pile of glass goodies really fast so that one actually flies off of the pile, through the air, ending in an unfortunate hard landing on the glass table.  It was really quite sad.  But all is not lost cuz I bet I can grind that edge smooth or......

As if all of those beauties aren't enough Kimwonderful, this is her incredible collage work and packaging. 

Marcia, are you sitting down?

That's a paper lantern there on the left, and a bookmark tag in the front and a postcard in the back and the envelope it all came in.  Yes, those are aqua deer scampering all over the world!  (hmmm sounds a bit like the uber multi-talented Kim, doesn't it?)  It's like a delicious party in a bag. 

Scrumptious random, eh?

And now, here's some cool metal

Remember those low relief paper patterns from

rolling mill resource

that I shared with you a few posts back?

Finally, I had a chance to try them out....and discovered that they are amazing!

See for yourself

This is how it looks going in.

and this.....

is half way through......

while this....

ta-da! is the metal all roller printed

I used the pattern twice and got the same great results, even though they are sold as one use patterns.

Equally good results from a variety of patterns.

The depth of the design wasn't quite as deep in the copper as it was in the aluminum.  I'll have to experiment with copper a bit more.

Too much pressure eats the paper!

The paper sandwich even looks good. 

I love this product and heartily recommend these patterns.  For all of you metal clay artists, they are designed to work with metal clay as well. 

Oh you wanted to see jewelry?

O.K.

Sea Urchin Blade earrings

Waterfall

and now this...

Dark Blossom

More random coming up...

Many years ago a friend gave me a little box full of old Cracker Jack charms.

So I made a bracelet.

Aren't they fantastic?

Here's some more cool metal

from

FRANCE!

Most of you are familiar with the beautiful jewelry and hair ornaments from

Lucie Tales

Did you know that Lucie also has a vintage shop?

Lucie Tales Vintage

where I purchased these

LOVE THEM!

I'm thinking hand dyed silk ribbons and black (of course) beads and hmmm maybe some chain, minerals and metal all combined into delightfully dark and charming bracelets.

Lucie had no way of knowing this, but one of my dream vacations is spent leisurely scouring the Paris flea markets.  Hunting up the odd bits and pieces of European history that could be used to enrich my jewelry pieces.  Lucie made my dream come true, in part.  Look what she included with my order...

BEAUTIES!!

look at that rust! So yummy

so many possibilities

Merci beaucoup LUCIE!

I absolutely adore the beautiful delicacy of these pieces you so generously shared with me. 

Be still my heart.

 

UPDATE: I found the picture I mentioned previously, of the prismacolor technique done on reticulated copper.  I've added it to the Patina Recipes post, but here it is as well.

That's it folks!

Hoping that you all have a happy and peaceful week ahead of you.

Here's a little preview of what will be in my next post.....

Adieu (French)

You guys are GREAT!

Hello all,

UPDATE~  Greer has come through again!  She actually made me a personal tute on how to make the patina recipes button clickable, and she held my hand through the step by step process, not because it's a hard thing to do, but because I am seriously that tech challenged.   Yes, embarrasing, I know.  So there you have it folks,  thanks to Greer, a clickable button!  It will take you back to the patina recipes post rather than just the recipes, but this way you get the photos as well.   THANK YOU AGAIN GREER!
 Appreciate the help that all of you offered and took the time to type in for me.  You guys aren't just great, you're amazing.  Such a helpful bunch you are!  THANK YOU ALL!  
Hopefully this will begin to be intuitive for me and my requests for help will cease completely. 
 Until then, I will try to keep them to a slow trickle......  




Wow, you guys really rose to the occasion.  Thank you all for your suggestions and help on my patina recipes sidebar question.   You might have noticed the pretty picture over there on the right sidebar, the one that says "Patina Recipes".  That lovely picture is courtesy of Greer of Vintajia Adornments.  Thank you so much, Greer!  Really appreciate the efforts you went to . 
 And doesn't her handiwork look nice?  Why yes it sure does!  You might be wondering why I have the date of the post listed underneath Greer's picture.  I had excellent directions on how to make the button clickable to take you right to the post.  But I kept getting error messages.  So despite all of your best efforts, ladies, you'll still have to find the post in the archive to refer to the recipes.  Hopefully having the date will make it easier for you.

oohh already getting too wordy, here let me fix that

Lily of the Valley blooming like crazy.  Aren't these delicious?  Sorry fanci, there's gonna be real flower pictures this time. 

Something else happened that was very cool.  Look what I won from 13Alternatives blog giveaway!  I know!  I've now won two, count em, two things in my life!  happy dance woo-woo

These are Marcia's Regal Pigeon earrings.  Love them!  The workmanship is amazing!  I wish you could feel how soft the leather is that she used.  They're just beautiful. 

THANK YOU MARCIA!

but it doesn't stop there.  Her packaging is wonderful

Don't you love it?  When I commented on how much I liked her packaging, she mentioned how "great it would be to see what everyone else does for packaging".  So here's what I do, which looks sadly non-descript next to Marcia's interesting composition.

You all kind of knew it would be black, white and venetian blue, didn't you?  Inside, the goodies are wrapped in black tissue with a round Anvil Artifacts sticker.  Yup, that's it folks.  Marcia, you've got me thinking, I need to up my game. 

Switching gears- a lesson in Botany.  This is what Colorado Columbines are supposed to look like

or this

This is the traditional color of the wild Columbines in Colorado.

I have a mutant Columbine growing in my yard.   I know it's hard to believe, but I do.  I have proof.  Here it is....

When we planted it, it was a regular Columbine.  Then wham that sexy Mum moved in next door and look what happened next!

It's beautiful, but weird, eh?  This is the second year for this plant now, so I guess it's a thing.

Here's a few things I've had in the works and got finished up and listed this week.

"First Date".   

Made from the most scrumptious vintage tin tray, rhinestone chain, freshwater pearls and vintage chandelier crystals.  These make me think of a romantic picnic in a flower strewn meadow.....with normal, non-mutant flowers, that is.  Sheesh.  Now I have visions of alien pod people coming to get me that look like Columums.  What, you've never seen Invasion Of The Body Snatchers?!  You should.  There's 15 versions.  The original black and white one is fantastic.  The one with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, ummmmm............not as scary as the original one.

Pillars Of Pompeii.

This rusty vintage tray had the coolest leaf pattern on it.  Half of the leaves were rusted but the top half was pretty much intact.  Just enough rust for a wonderful patina.  Combined with these pillar beads, the handformed leaves and those beautiful silver filigree bars, they looked like ancient ruins to me.  But then, doesn't everything?  hahahaha

Intrigue at the Venetian Palace

A vintage English biscuit tin has been embossed and adorned with brass stampings, midnight blue seed beads, rhinestone chain, rhinestone beads and vintage black teardrop shaped glass beads.  There I go again with the teardrop beads.  Can't help myself.  Here's the back

You get to see the back cuz I only have a few things to show you tonight.  Not my usual 47 photos that torture Petra cuz she can't see them and thinks she's missing something. 

Also listed this

Black Tourmalinated Quartz with Sterling Silver

The focal of this bracelet is also it's clasp.  I dimpled it, oxidized it then sanded it in a way to mimic the rutiles in the stones.  Love it! 

   

The Grungy Sophisticate

Not listed yet.  They looked too minimal to be hanging next to the Intrigue earrings.  They have quartz daggers hanging from oxidized brass hoops with gold-filled earwires.

And these which are already spoken for

Vintage tin, vintage twisty pearls, vintage MOP buttons, and the sweetest little tortoise shell cameos.  Why did I only buy two of those?!

First Iris of the season keeping those black tulips company.

and last but not least

These greet our friendly mail-woman everyday.

Why am I posting all of these flower pictures?  Sure, mostly cuz they're pretty.  But also because the second most interesting man in the world and I have recently found out that we will be relocating to another state.  Leaving all these beauties behind.  But here they are in Bloglandia, for me to revisit in all their extra large glory whenever I get homesick for this place.  

And here's a dilemma.  To take this or leave it since multi generations of sparrows are happily living in there, even though it was an anniversary gift.  hmmm these are the hard decisions I'll be making. 

 I think it unlikely that the sparrows will end up homeless.

A collective thank you all for your lovely comments on the last post.  Really enjoyed them.  Had an unusually busy week with a visit from some out of town friends.  What fun!

 Bond girl, we would love to get back to Florida and get to know you and go check out the gators for first hand inspiration, but nope, not at this time.  We'll be heading in the other direction.  So I'll live vicariously through you.  You will tell me all about your trips to Gatorland, won't you?

And a warm welcome to Little Brown Sparrow!  So glad you paid a visit!

now to conteract my flower sappiness 

What is that thing?  It looks like moss with a mouth!

Have a great week everyone!

Ja ne (Japanese)