Thursday, April 5, 2012

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)

26 comments:

  1. Gosh it takes me an hour to create a post half this size--including the head banging and throwing stuff in anger.

    You know all that early stuff you made was right in style then. I know 'cause I was there. Just think in 20 years you'll be creating a similar post making fun of the things you created today...kind of like how we all thought our clothes, hair and cars were so cool until we see old photos of ourselves and wonder what we were thinking.

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    1. hahahahaha no head banging here, but I do feel the life draining out of me about halfway through. I imagine you can tell that without me saying it tho, eh?

      hmmmm, do you really think it will take me 20 years to make fun of my current work? how optomistic of you! :)

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  2. Well... After reading this blog I feel totally inadequate , useless and might as well crawl back into bed or bury my head in a pint of Hagen daz. I don't know what kind of coffee they serve in Illinois but I sure wish I had me some because your energy level is like some kind of hurricane and I would love to half even one sixteenth of it. I actually love those silk flowers... Well what can I say.. Maybe I'll go and put a couple of beads on a wire and call it a day.

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    1. now beatn, what makes you think this blog isn't fueled by Hagen Daz? no, my energy level is oh, let me think, what would a mini mini mini mini mini hurricane be? hmmmm. No such thing? That sounds about right to describe my usual energy level.
      I like the silk flowers too. And they'll be back in style someday and I'll be all set, eh? And besides, when you put beads on wire it looks very very nice.

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  3. Yeah, some of the stuff wasn't laughable at all. Almost makes me depressed at how good your bad stuff is . . . but it gives me hope for the development of my talent, I guess. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. that's very kind of you Chelsea. but the stuff that is laughable is really laughable, right? case in point- the pin with the, as Petra would say, "headlamps" hahahaha

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  4. My wire converse sneaker man wants to go out with the one with the boobs ( a man can dream can't he? At least he has feet.) but he'll settle for the one with just the illustration of a chest.

    its amazing to see your journey and I bet that all of your stuff was wildly popular and still would be with many still (except us oh so sophisticated types that know what you can put out now of course)

    One amazing stash + abundant creativity = your bangles and your photography ain't bad either

    potato chips? perfume bottle bezels? a gazillion submissions? I didn't come here to feel inadequate you know! Now I'm going to go eat Haagen Daz with Beatnheart.

    Loveyou xo, Kim

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    1. yay a use for the headlamps/boobs pin. now tell me that you aren't selling your converse man. cuz if you're keeping him, he's got a hot date on the way.

      aww thanks for the nice compliments. you're one to talk, tho. a gazillion lampwork fantastics, romantic rock and rust finding strolls with your collector husband, I know I'm forgetting a bunch of cool stuff you do.......

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  5. HOLY SHIT THIS IS EPIC. I was going to comment on all this comic relief and down-the-memory-lane-ness, but then got immediately distracted by "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.". Whaaaaaaaaaaat? They don't even sell it over here. *is one of those exotic foreign people from Germany* Well, okay, so there are places that do, but it's crazy expensive and having the mag shipped straight from the US would probably be cheaper ... I may have to get this copy at least ... >>

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    1. hahahaha Sandra Sandra, you made me laugh out loud. now why would you want to be cutting glass bezels out of old perfume bottles when you can explore castles around every turn? and eat German chocolates? at least the exploring would counteract the chocolate eating. or would it? not if I ate way more chocolate than I went exploring.... sorry, I got involved in thinking what I would do in Germany. Really, the magazines are hard to get over there? I think you can buy them via downloads at stampington.com if that's helpful for you.

      hey ladies, hows about we have both Hagen Daz and German chocolates? a feast of sweets! I'm in.

      Delete
  6. Oh, you cruel and heartless woman – putting 47 (yes, people – 47 pictures in one blog post – it’s obscene!), when you know that my damn fool computer won’t let me see most of them. What are you trying to do to me?? But, I did get to see a load of those ribbon flowers,- so - thanks for that!! Not my thang – but, damn me, bloody clever!
    Well bugger me backwards, those are what you call bangle stacks!! They’re bloody marvellous!!!
    OOOOHH, I SEEEEEEEEE! God, I’m such a thicko – I had no idea of the amount of actual physical work involved in these magazine submissions, as well as all the written work. Stone the crows, woman – how DO you do it, as well as everything else?? As I believe I asked you earlier, are you wearing your pants on the outside?? Must be – it’s the only explanation!
    Ah, I can see now why you wouldn’t let the gators ride in the canoe with you and Mr. Wonderful on your first date.
    Well, I’m very glad that I’m not alone in now feeling utterly worthless. I think I shall take myself off and beat myself with twigs, as a punishment for my neglect of my own poor, little bloggette, and my complete inadequacy!
    Thank you though, for another gloriously bountiful post. You’re such a star!!!
    Petra xxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
    Oh My God, the chick with the whopping headlamps has just appeared! I LOVE HER!!!!! She’d scare the living daylights out of little Stanley though!!!

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    1. Petra, dear one, please tell me what wearing my pants on the outside means. I would be happy to tell you if only I knew what it meant. :)
      Must be like an american saying "hot diggedity dog"! right? what's a hot diggedity dog? who knows? can't tell ya. but I really hope you can tell me what your saying means.
      please don't beat yourself but we sure do miss your blogette. but you've been a very busy and productive lady yourself. so ladies, she's the one who is going to make us all go eat about a gallon of Hagen Daz each when we hear the details.
      hahahaha so right, but the wire converse man thinks he could handle her, and I bet he could.

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  7. I think I may have purchased one of your pins in the 80's, from some chic little boutique... or one that was very similar... I could mail it back to you? Everyone here is right. You were right in style back then, and the things you think are funny were absolutely, "tragically hip" back then! I'll bet those very pieces were featured in magazines. You were, and continue to be, a goddess of jewelry fashion! Cynthia, Kim, pass the Haagen Daz... oh, and can I eat some of the potato chips before using the rest of them in a patina recipe? Please, please do post your recipes. I think mine might be killing me.
    It ALSO appears that you have a green thumb... both of mine are black. (Reaches for the potato chips again.)
    Oh, and I don't think Stanley knows enough to be totally freaked out by dolls and doll parts (like I am.)- Shudder - Am I the only one who feels this way?
    Well, I'm off to eBay to buy another copy of Belle Armoire.
    XOXO

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    1. hahahahahaha probably not the floral pins but you might have purchased one of my handpainted silk scarves from a chic little boutique on Park Avenue in Winter Park, Florida or some little boutique in Larimer Square in downtown Denver. Both out of business now. hmmm wonder if there's a connection.
      I do have a green thumb, it's attached to the second most interesting man in the world's hand, tho. sometimes I wrestle it away from him, but it's such a hassle when the time comes to reattach it.
      are you saying that you actually shuddered when you saw Stanley's new friend's?
      Really, you can buy new issues of Belle Armoire on ebay? Who knew?

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  8. well, you could make the pix smaller for petra. just the embarrassing ones, of course. you know, i had a whole millenary phase too! i didn't hang bead fringe off them, though. that's all you. You sure have some creative energy though. And it's still as full of your happy spark (and sparklies) as ever. Now, I'm so jealous of your rolling mill i wanna puke... but also your gusto for sending off all those things to belle armoire, knowing you won't see them again for a year or so...
    those shield earrings are gorgeous!!! and the cut glass bezels with hammered wire frame and resin... could you possibly pack more techniques into one square-inch area? phew.
    hats off. you're awesome.

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    1. i think Petra secretly likes those pictures, don't you?
      ok, we all want to see pics of your millinary phase. got any?
      yeah, rolling mills are awesome. highly recommend getting yourself one.
      thank you! what a nice compliment from someone who knows how to pack alot into a small space herself! :)

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  9. Whoa. I have to say I agree with Chelsea. Even what you call your bad stuff was well put together, so that does count, you know. I love patinas, so would be very interested in your recipes to see if there are things I've not tried. And that Opal! Wow. Can't wait to see what you do with that!!
    xoxoxo Juliette

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    1. thanks so much, Juliette. i'll definately do the patina recipes. Still looking for help with how to get it on my sidebar, tho. any ideas? So that you could click on a button and it would open the page. anyone? Juliette? help........

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  10. Comic? Not So. Bad title. ;)
    Gorgeous textile work. Also, I love the piece you made to honor your Mother.

    And the little people! GEEZ. So very COOL.

    Not to mention...love the seahorse!

    Yeah, I want to see that opal again too...wow.

    -Lela


    Blogger is so irritating sometimes...took me several page reloads to get the comment box to show. Boo on Blogger.

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    1. Lela, thank you! :) I was so second guessing posting all that stuff. So truly- thank you.
      i know! my ipad crashes constantly when I'm on blogger, bloghopping or trying to comment. which is why I'm so erratic about commenting on other people's blogs. irritating is a very nice way to put it.

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  11. I see the comedy.
    Your wisteria is breathtaking!!
    I'm in love with your glass bezels. Especially the sea horse. What a fabulous idea.
    Your submissions blow me away...... intensely Wow.
    I also have a mill. The relief patterns are paper? Amazing they hold up to milling or are they sort of one shot deals? Guess that depends on the squeeze eh. Thanks for the site link. Very interesting indeed.........

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    1. thanks so much Pip. btw, keep meaning to tell you that I'm partial to pugs as well. had one as a kid. They think they're big dogs which just makes them hysterically funny and cool. I learned that Pip has a pug over on fanci's forum if you're wondering where that randomness came from.
      yes, they are a one use paper. so the setting has to be right the first time, which is why the other Tracey sent some extras for me to experiment with. I'll send some of them to you to play with.

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  12. Love, love, love your bangles! Love the little antique bits and the hand holding the photo and the scroll necklace!

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    1. Thanks so much Rosie! Your kind words are very much appreciated. :)

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  13. "I love all your jewelry, the dolls look cute! Thank you for my jewelry, all the flowers are beautiful. I really like more than enough of your jewelry... that's it." So says my little one.

    Thank you for posting pictures of your beautiful flowers, and your work is incredible! I can't stop ogling all of the jewelry that you are sending off for submission. I like your past millinery phase, my daughter was all googly eyed over your brooches. Much love Janet, you are such an inspiration.

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    1. thank you very much Kim's little one. You are too adorable. It makes me very happy that you like the picture of the bleeding hearts that I put in just for you. <3

      You're too kind Kim. thanks for taking the time to give this a look over with your little sweety and taking the time to comment with her. how sweet is that?!

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