OK, Whose Been Messing With the Calendar?

Seriously-it's June...the middle of June?!  Fess up...one of you guys has been sneaking into my house at night and fast forwarding my calendar.  That's the only thing that could explain how it's already the middle of the year!  Or it's because time speeds up as you age, which means as fast as time is flying by-I must be about 175.

Hoping that all of you have are having a wonderful Summer.  And that you haven't been personally affected by the terrible floods and other problems sweeping across the country recently.  Yes, I'm writing this as yet another major flood event is forecast to hit Texas any minute now.  Maybe if I type really fast, I can finish this before we lose power.  Here's a fun fact for you- Did you all know that snakes like to climb to higher ground during a flood?  And by climb, I mean slither up the wall to hang out above a doorway or on a windowsill or pretty much wherever their legless little selves feel like hanging out.  I didn't either.  It's been very creepy and informative Spring/Summer so far.  At least our Texas flooding hasn't resulted in hippos wandering about lost and looking completely bewildered or crocodiles swimming through the streets like in Tbilisi.  Not yet anyway...

Even though it's been ridiculously long since my last post, I haven't a single adventure to share with you.  But I do have lots of eye candy if you would like to see that.  Since there's the usual number of photos for you to wade through, (and if it keeps raining, you might literally be wading, or my computer might be at any rate) I'll spare you the lengthy descriptions.

Do you remember these that I promised to share with you on this, my next post?

The custom order I had been working on is fini!

With these amazing components, the completed pieces are very nice indeed...

My client requested that the necklaces be able to layer

together and intermix.

So you'll see the same pieces paired in a variety of ways in these photos.

yummm

I tried to make them equally beautiful worn alone or layered.

Which wasn't hard.

I could have strung these gorgeous carvings on a string 

and they would have been stunning.

I would love to be able to carve like this.

Exquisite!

It's not all for the neck...

A stack of bracelets

and...

a trio of earrings.

It was such a treat to work on these,

I was sad to see the order come to completion.

Onward to my usual eclectic assortment of materials...

fossil crinoids, coral, fossil bone, quartz

The focal is the coral piece.

This necklace is a keeper using some of the beads

my imaginary friend Kathy brought me.

She brought those sparkling blue beads on the right (which I have forgotten what they are) 

and the cool brown fossil ammonite. I added a lovely white druzy, 

a turquoise teardrop which was a gift from a fellow Etsian

and lots of little glass beads.

En Route to Paris

Maps of Paris imprinted via my rolling mill into lightweight sheet aluminum

and paired with Petra's platinum spikes.

Subtle and lovely neutral color combo.

MOP gaming piece with carved MOP medallion,

faceted onyx, bone beads and lamp work beads by Bluhealer

Dancer in red

Patterned brass inverted triangles with frilly red Petra drops.

They remind me of Flamenco dancers.

Feathers Royale

Damask imprinted aluminum

with fascinating feather drops by guess who?

Petra, of course!

Opals and Pearls

Ethiopian pearls, large keishi pearls, filigree and

lovely ceramic calla lilies by 

Lysa Creation Design.

I can't quite capture the fire in opals when photographing them.

Suggestions anyone?

These opals are really gorgeous but you wouldn't know it to see my pictures.

Sea Fan

Lightweight aluminum roller imprinted with a sea fan design

and crackled platinum bobblers by Petra.

The Ancients

Fossil blastoids, Ethiopian opals, glass beads

and ancient coin imprinted aluminum shields.

Molten Bloom

Lampwork beads that resemble molten lava by GlassbyLeese, 

up cycled Barry metal swirls, 

enameled torch fired headpins, molten copper hoops.

Barry of RustnStuff (see blogroll on sidebar) 

shared some of his wonderful offcuts with me awhile back.
They didn't all get used right then.
You know how I let my supplies percolate before I use them.

When you see the occasional new pieces where I refer to certain metal components as "Barry______".

You'll know they he deserves credit for his generosity. 

The Elegant Rocker

Asymmetrical damask imprinted aluminum with gunmetal and gold drops by Petra

beneath an arch of wee glass beads.

Sage Mist

Faceted double point green quartz, 

alligator patterned brass and swirl stampings.

These earrings are so visually interesting to me.
The play of darkened patterned metal and
 bright faceted quartz with just a hint of color.

Exotic Rendezvous

Mixed metals with cool double drops by Petra.

Hmmm, why yes, I do seem to have a theme going, don't I?

Ok, let's mix it up, shall we?

Tanzanite briolettes , faceted ruby and tanzanite beads with sterling

The Night Garden

Mixed metals embellished with glass adorned metal blooms.

Grape Arbor

Mixed metals: fine silver, aluminum, Barry brass and copper, sterling

Septarian Nodule

Assemblage earrings with raw moakite, etched agate,

brass filigree and fossilized mud-

septarian nodules.

These nodules have especially interesting patterns.

Resembling an exploding star or an underwater bug or?

Twining Vines

Vine pattern-roller imprinted copper sheet, frosted glass beads, ceramic beads

and oober (yes, I know it's spelled wrong, It's an inside joke that has been going on so long,

 I have to remember that this spelling is the one that is wrong. ) cool lamp work beads by 

Numinosity Kim.

Yes, I've been playing with my rolling mill.

A lot.

We've been enjoying that delicious small window of time here in Texas,

where it's not freezing cold or boiling hot out in the garage.

The garage, where my rolling mill, torches and chemical treatments all live.

You can tell our local temperature by what type of work I'm doing, eh?

We're getting really close to boiling hot again....

combine that with all the rain this year,

and you get enough hungry mosquitos to carry off a very large cow.

UGH.

Firestorm

Soldered hoops with dark mysterious Petra spikes peeking out from behind

stunning @Logansquare components.

Midnight Rose Trellis

Assemblage, mixed media earrings.

Vintage components and black filigree.

Dappled Sunshine in the Deep Forest

Textured wire hoops adorned with fabulous ceramic components by Petra.

Notice the way the glaze pools at the bottom of the drop?

It's transparent and pure glossy glass at the bottom.

A perfect compliment to the opaque glazes above.

For those of you who may be new to my blog,

Petra's shop is Scorchedearthonetsy.

Desert Mirage

Sonora dendritic rhyolite, moakite, jasper.

The moakite and rhyolite have the exact same hues.

Midnight in the Desert

Tektites, dendrite stone slabs, brass, vintage glass beads.

I am always fascinated by dendritic stones.

Relics of Today

Swirl textured and verdigris patinated brass,

Barry brass leaves, sterling and

emeralds

Emeralds??

um, where?

Here, of course!

Peeking out from behind along with asymmetrical 

sterling charms.

Ancient Shield

Asymmetrical etched copper shields beneath brass arches.

I guess it's obvious why I don't have any fun adventures to share with you.

Been keeping my nose to the grindstone....

Sunset Above the Desert Canyon

Cherry Creek Jasper, faceted moakite, ceramic discs.

The colors in these stones are gorgeous!

And the patterns in these jasper slabs!

Like a fiery sunset viewed from the rim of a desert canyon as you look at the

 trees scattered across the desert vista.

The Boho Garden

Wonderful iridescent lampwork headpins by Raida of Havana Beads
beneath mixed metal

ornaments.

I've been having so much fun with this metal technique.

You'll be seeing lots more of it.

Festival of Rubies and Pearls

The title says it all.  Plus some brass, a wee bit of verdigris patina and

bronzy black drops by Petra.

I really like the mix of elegant components with the rustic effect of these drops.

Venice Daydreams

Assemblage earrings with up cycled vintage micro mosaics,

vintage enameled leaf links in Venetian blue,

torch fired enameled hoops and textured multi-wire teardrop hoops.

Intrigue

Faceted chalcedony, rhinestones, onyx

and mixed metals.

If these don't sell, I will happily retrieve them and pop them in my ears.

Not that I need more earrings.

Mint Jolie

Vintage glass teardrops in a soft muted mint with

gold plated chain and brass hoops.

A gift for someone special who adores the color mint.

Dancing in Rio Deux

Vintage tin with brass stampings, rhinestones

and vintage glass teardrops.

These are a party on your ears.

Luscious, fun colors!

Limeade

Peridot, garnet, chalcedony and mixed metals.

To me, these colors look like a cool, refreshing drink you would enjoy
while relaxing at the beach. 

Regal Red

Fossil blastoids, torch fired red headpins, mixed metals.

I think I might need to make myself a pair of these.

Because you heard me just say that

I need more earrings.

Right?

Remember this work-in-progress bracelet from my last post?

All finished up now.

I decided to go with a soft, supple leather backing rather than the brass cuff

that I originally intended to use.  

I embellished the back with muslin ribbon with text and a pink ribbon rose.

Because this bracelet clearly needed additional embellishment.

It closes with a leather loop that fastens onto a vintage faceted glass button.

And finally....

This necklace which is a complete departure from the bracelet...

Moonlight in the Forest

An assemblage necklace combining a 

beautiful ceramic focal by Shirley Kramer of Double Dog Design,

a lichen covered branch (treated and preserved) and

a collection of stone and glass beads.

All woodsy and earthy.

That's all folks!

Phew!

I gotta get out of the studio more!

The rain is already pounding at the windows from Tropical Storm Bill.

I think I'll wrap this up and get it posted before the dreaded and all too frequent

storm related power outages.

Thank you for visiting!

Until next time, hope you are all safe, well and happy.

I'll leave you with these sweet photos.

Enjoy!

A peaceful spot of color.

This little lizard was so funny...

He scrambled up the wall and bent himself into what he thought was the

shape of the trellis.

I'm pretty sure he thought he was invisible.

Hiding in plain sight!

Adios!