Comic Relief

Yup, that's what I said and I'll do my best to deliver.  First tho, a warm welcome to Connie, who left a comment on the last post.  She really did.  I received the email that told me what she said, and I assure you it was quite lovely.  Why it didn't show up is a mystery.  Anyway, thank you Connie.

Fanci said she only wants the kind of eye candy that I can provide.  Are you sure, Fanci?  Didn't anyone ever tell you to be careful what you ask for?  They should have.  Cuz you could be seeing this

my wisteria.                                                

  or this

      

    black tulips-finally!

tho in the full sun they look purple.  they're not! They are black!

or maybe even this, which is especially for flotsam Kim's adorable daughter because she loves them

BUT NO!

Fanci would rather see this  (blame her, not me)

Eye candy that only I can provide. You see, I used to work in textiles.  here's some ribbon blooms.  had your fill yet, Fanci?  No? you want more, huh?  ok

Yes, you've got the idea.  It's a walk down memory lane.  I did promise comic relief.  So I'm showing you some of my early work.  yeah, the comedy gets better.......but for now, I shall appease miss fanci, because after all she's been working really hard on her fabulous new tute.  which you should check out, if you haven't already. 

ok I'll stop with the ribbonwork.  for now. tho this rose is fabric not ribbon.  but they'll be sprinkled in here and there just for some luscious springtime color.

this is what I made after reading fanci's  blog bangle mini tute.  not to be confused with the official bangle tute which is available in her store right along with her new tute.  so here's some comedic

 pre-tute bangle work.  it's a contest to see how many times I can say "tute"

why yes, that is the amazing Josephine Baker. 

 Even tho, it may appear that we have, we haven't gotten to the real comedy yet, folks.  bear with me........

why two?  because you couldn't see the cute little crowned girl in the first picture, that's why!

oooohhhhh sparklies

neutrals. I love that little bumpy white bead.

these ones look so much better in person.  you have to believe me even tho, I know it's difficult to.

well here's a bit of non-humor for you, but it qualifies for this post as it's definately earlier work

well, the jewelry might qualify as humor.  the explanation, not so much.  see those pretty danglies?  I wanted to make something that I could wear to honor my mom and keep her memory close.  She passed away in 1986 and those teardrop beads were from some of her earrings.  I came by my love of that shape honestly, eh?  I used to wear pins all the time. I think I actually made this one in 1986, maybe 87. Explains alot, doesn't it

even then, I liked putting odd things together in unexpected ways.

hmmmm, have you seen this texture somewhere else?  look just a bit familiar?

it'll come to you......

no, that's not it.....

looking a little more familiar to you now?  think back a couple of posts........

gesso.......paper......

hey, I said it was early work.  have you composed yourself yet?  here let's give you a moment.

Done laughing yet?  Well I might as well continue anyway.  We haven't even gotten to the really funny stuff yet.  you'll be all laughed out before we get there.  try to pace yourselves.

My early ceramic work.  (shall I also say my early assemblage work, since it looks like I assembled everything I could get my hands on into this pin?) The little person and the faces were poured into molds and glazed by moi,  then fired by my friend who had a kiln.  This is a quite different process from the beautiful hand formed wonders that Petra makes.  Hers take much more talent than just pouring slip in a mold.   Though I imagine the other steps are similar. 
Sorry I didn't have enough time this week to grab photos of other's people's work to share with you this time, but the links are there for you to follow.  I go out of town for 3 days and see what happens?!

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!!!!

they seemed so lovely at the time.

wait for it...

a matching pin!

go ahead, make snarky comments.  I'm prepared for it.  take your best shot.

cuz it gets better.......

I wore these when I married the second most interesting man in the world!  Um yeah, I designed my wedding dress as well.   hahahaha maybe next time we do a comedic walk through my life, I'll pull out a photo or two of that!

more buttons.  hmmm. apparently I had a button "thing".  but it has morphed into more of an amphora thing, eh? or a button/amphora thing or.....

pop!  hand dyed silk ribbon. 

I didn't dye this ribbon however.......

I dyed this lace in addition to adorning it with antique buttons.  so ahead of my time, eh?

can you believe it's another button?

can you believe all the pictures and the very few words?!

You're welcome.

not a single button on this whole necklace.  lots of other stuff, but no buttons....

oh yes, there's more.  remember this is memory lane night at the comedy club.

matching earrings and a bracelet.  doesn't get better than that, now does it?

my hair looks oddly just like that in the morning minus the green hue.

brhahahahahahahahahahahahahah

and it sometimes looks like that too.  My hair, people, my hair.

these two somewhat scary looking creatures want to go visit Stanley and Cinnamon over at beesonpie

I think they'll fit right in, don't you?

so many ways to go wrong in the studio.  tho, all of these were pre-studio.  they were definately basement workroom type things.  "not that there's anything wrong with that."  :)

I actually do make pendant people necklaces that are little mini versions of people, very personalized and fun and not scary in the slightest.  Have none on hand right now, but I could probably dig up a photo, if I had thought of that sooner.....maybe next time.  if there is a next time.  you guys might not come back after this fiasco.

oh no, we're not done yet......

I know, I know.

ok, now, finally, done with that ancient stuff! and not ancient in a good way. You all wanted to see my early work, I know you did.  you might not have known that you did, but hey. 

now let's do some time travel and arrive here

to yesterday.

You might be wondering what I've been up to.

This is part of it. 

My latest article submissions.  all 6 of them. all 29 technique examples. 

Lest you think I'm showing you my old work because I've been slacking.  not so. 

see that stack of paper there in the back?  them's the words that goes with the pretties.  and I'm  obviously getting very tired because I can no longer formulate an intelligable sentence.  hahahaha.

and this

because spring needs something light and refreshing.

turquoise nuggets, freshwater pearls, apetite and more of those briolette teardrop shapes in amazonite that seem to permeate my work.  but at least now you know why. genetics.

these large kuchi charms are from pipnmolly's  generous mail love.  more spring colors.  the pearl on the left there is turned to the back.  it actually looks just like the one on the right, if the photographer would just pay attention to what she's doing during the set up.  sheesh.

yes,

I am the photographer.

  shamefaced. shuffle away. 

awe c'mon, it's not that big of a deal.  these are already listed and you can see that I caught my mistake in some of the other pictures.  in case you want to see for yourself, go here.

this is what I hope to have time to work with soon

these are low relief patterns to be used with my rolling mill. they can also be used with metal clay. There are alot of patterns to choose from.  I purchased the pattern with text but the very helpful Tracey of rollingmillresource.etsy.com sent these extras for me to experiment with.  Thank you Tracey!  Sure appreciate it! 

 I'll show you all the results.  that goes without saying, doesn't it?

Belle Armoire Jewelry returned the pieces that are featured in the current issue on newstands now.  These are my Glass Bezel Beauties.  thot you might want to see the connection/settings I used.

that's a nice big hunk of bismuth jutting out of there.

another view

back view.  so guess how I got that delicious patina on there?

Potato chips!

I know, crazy, right?

I'm going to be , no, let me rephrase that, I'm going to attempt to put a listing of my patina recipes on my blog sidebar.  The non-chemical, don't eat your lungs type of patina recipes.  Any suggestions of how to create a button that will open up to page with the recipes, would be much appreciated.  in other words....please help poor little old tech challenged me figure out how to do it.  Fanci wrote me a convo explaining it but as she uses a mac, some of the steps were different enough to completely lose me. 

aww too cute. love me some pygmy seahorses.

if you want to learn how to cut bezels out of old perfume bottles and set them like these are, directions are in the current issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine.

You also might want to check out the new work that Lisa Flanders is doing.  She was one of the talented fellow etsians whose shield earrings I shared with you a few posts back.  She's doing some fabulous new work incorporating unusual assemblage type materials.
 Sorry guys, no pics to share tonight, but her link is just waiting for you to click on it. You'll be glad you did.

and finally, an opal I've been working on

doesn't look like much in this picture.  but it has flash and fire from every vantage point.  hence the shape.  just a bit more polishing..........

thank you for joining me along this comedic stroll through my embarassing early work, for the walk amongst my springtime flowers, those that smell and those that stink and for sharing this with me

no, of course it's not doctored. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Auf Wiedersehen  (German)