Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Yeehaw It's a Moving to Texas GIVEAWAY!

Yessirreee Bob and whoever else might be reading this.  To celebrate the big move I'm having a big giveaway.

Here's how it all began.......

A couple days ago, the second most interesting man in the world calls me out to the balcony to see this



Gorgeous, right?
I'm thinking "awww what a romantic."
Not so fast, sister!
cuz two seconds later he holds this up with a
delighted look on his face.....










The official name of this giveaway is

"Snakes on a Plane.
Snakes on a Train.
Snakes in a what and why?"

All you have to do to enter is this;

A. Guess what this actually is and why a grown man with usually sound logic would have it. 
 Believe me, he has a reason.

and/or

B.  Concoct an entertaining and/or interesting story about it.  You know me, I do relish an entertaining story, so go to town.

What will you win?

Behind door #1-



Asymmetrical earrings
 made with components by the fabulous
Would you like a closer look as well?
Don't want this little lady from 
Small Bronzes  to have all the fun?
Well then, here you go...




Dagger, Claw and Eye

which is self explanatory except for that the roundish-gray
component that the striped bead is attached to, is a beach pebble
that Petra collected while strolling along her beautiful seashore,
 then drilled and sent over to me from the UK.


Behind door #2;





Amazonite, leather, brass and
chrysocolla.
This is a version of the bracelets described in this technique article...




hmmm, super pixalated.
Sorry about that.
I'll see if I can't dig up a better photo of that for you.




Ok, so here's the deal.
The first one I copied off my Pinterest board, "Published"
and the second one I copied from my computer files.
Worth spending a few extra minutes for a good picture, eh?


Behind door #3;


 
A papered and soldered glass necklace
with a faceted teardrop embellishment.
Simple for everyday wear.


and last but not least behind door #4;




A hand-dyed cocoon pendant topped with sterling silver components.
The handmade sterling beadcap was given a
raw silk treatment to compliment the silk making aspect of the cocoon, 
see cuz silk worms made the cocoon,
Oh  nevermind.  It's a long process. You get the idea.
Then I stuffed the cocoon with
vintage German tinsel.

So if any of these appeal to you,
all you have to do is wow me with your wit.
And you know, I'm easily amused.


But that's not what you all want to hear about is it?
Nope, you want all the gory details of the move don't you?
Huh, huh?

Sure I have a few photos to give you the flavor of the ordeal.
And if you stick around long enough, 
there's even a few new pieces of actual jewelry to share with you.

But first things first....

This is why I want a private back yard here in Texas


 
Yup that's another view of my back yard in Illinois during game time.  
And you thought it was all flowers and morning doves, didn't you?




This was a small turnout.
Yes it was a blast, but time for a change.


This is a really fun storm we had before the big move





Yes the skies do get that black and they get that way in a hurry.
Then they do this





and finally they do this...





Sure sure, it rains in Texas.
And everything is bigger in Texas, but 
I don't have any good storm photos from here to show you yet,
so we'll just appreciate what I left behind, shall we?

So we loaded up the cars, 
drove separately...




and away we went.


to here.....



See those crisp blue skies?
That's a Texas sky.

This is an Illinois sky,
 which Fanci correctly  describes as 
living in Tupperware.




But weather is not what you want to see is it?
Oh No!
You want to see my fancy studio
at our temporary housing digs, don't you?

Prepare to be impressed.....





This is my workbench....
Yup, a paper plate with a few random tools
and an empty cookie box (thank you C for sending all the scrumptious traveling goodies)
with some supplies.
Oh and that's my entertainment system there on the right.
The one that has very limited and spotty
access to the internet.
Cuz I have a mediocre data plan
that runs out in no time when I'm using it to look at pictures, 
which load very sloooowly (designed that way to test my last nerve, I'm pretty sure)
Oh but there's more...






Tools and supplies.
The bench pin and c-clamp are there to torture the hubs.
He's really nervous about me ruining the rental furniture
with my wild working style.
hahahaha
so of course I have to show him all the possible places
I could attach my bench pin .
Oooops, didn't mean to slip and saw right through
the rented table!
Yup, having some fun with that.





Not having so much fun working in this box lid.
As you can see, not a bit of
hammering taking place.


In spite of this I managed to put together a few things.
Including the earrings for the giveaway from some old and some new 
supplies from Scorched-Earth.
Here's some of her more recent work.......
I'm showing you this because if you blink you'll miss it in her shop.
Flying out of there at lightning speed.





Love these glazes and textures, shapes and styles.
and these beauties......





and more scrumptious nails to make earrings similar to these,
which you may remember are mine cuz I couldn't part with them.
 They get worn constantly, right now matter of fact.





there's these first ones using this batch of nails.....







Turquoise, sterling and Petra's 
amazing, lightweight nails.






Love Birds

Baltic amber, game commission bird leg bands,
olive seed beads and Petra components.




currently named Crusty Crystals.
Petra's crusty dangle drops, 
watchhands and acrylic crystals, 
which I used instead of glass to keep the earrings light enough to be
 comfortably worn.





Pyrite, smoky quartz, glass beads and you guessed it...
Petra's leaves.
She's making such incredible stuff
that I'm putting it in everything.  Kind of like my
Numinosity Beads batch of earrings from
a couple of months ago.






Her Rustic Romantic Dreams Fulfilled.
I dunno why I named them that.
Seemed like a good idea at the time....
assorted components and headpins by Havana beads.

and finally, these, which don't feel finished to me. 
Whenever I try to keep things simple this is what I get...



Do they need something along the bottom arch where Petra's porcelain pods are hanging?



The top is pretty busy.
Hmmm, thoughts anyone?

And these....




Headpins by Nadin.
These originally looked like a tomato and a chile pepper, 
probably because we had just eaten Mexican food,
but now they look like a thorn that pierced a heart.
And they look unfinished.
Need something else.

as do these...
maybe chains hanging from beneath the rose?




The Hands of Time Upon my Ivory Rose.






I did get these finished up before packing my studio in Illinois




Thank you all for your suggestions about how to fix these.
I went with a wider engraving of the sun's rays, then oxidized it, 
and went back in 
and engraved some thinner rays on top of the wide ones.
Also added some rays coming out from the rhinestones at the top of the earring on the left.
The scratched rays are still visible on the earring on the right, but I'm happy with the end result.
After all that, I realized they perfectly match a bracelet I made myself a few years ago 
so I decided to keep them.
Will have to make another pair for the shop, minus the ridiculous itty bitty sun rays.

This little bit of jewelry making has helped me keep my sanity 
while we've looked at I won't even tell you how many houses.
Let me just say our realtor is a dream and a very patient man.
Cuz we have looked at a bunch of houses.  A BUNCH!
And at the end of the long hot
looking at houses days,
sometimes this happens...




awwwwww.

He's a keeper.

Check out this cool pool house we saw at an abandoned lake house that we both loved.
Sadly, not the right time for us to be able to restore it, but it 
will be a beautiful place for someone when completed.



 

Don't you love it?
The house was once a glorious place, I'm sure.


Yesterday the hubs had to leave for a weeklong business trip.
It went something like this...




(in my alternate universe we look like this.  work with me here, ok?)

me- "But I just got to Texas. Do you have to leave so soon?"
him-"Listen, I got you those snakes to keep you company while I'm away.  Besides, I moved
you to this fabulous place with the amazing sunsets....."
me- "yes, what am I thinking/  It will be just wonderful while you're gone. I do have the sunset to look at, to while away the oh, 15 minutes it actually looks like that, since there's no internet in our temporary digs.  And since there's no tv in our temporary digs. 
And since I have my first bonafied Texas head cold and sore throat....
and have to go find free wifi to even write my poor neglected blog."

ok, it didn't go exactly like that......
but you get the picture.
He was good enough to buy me some organic (did you see that, Ellice) 
ice cream chock full of pecan pralines and caramel before he left.
Yes, ice cream is the way to my heart.
Opals are also nice.

So my first two weeks in Texas have been a whirlwind.
But not a single feral hog in sight.

A bit of blog news before I sign off....

In addition to her wellness blog ,
my daughter got a new gig writing columns about
 holistic health practices 
for those of you who might be interested.
You can read them here...


Congrats, Ellice!

and many of you already know that Flotsam Kim
has opened a lovely new store with the
sweetest of romantic jewels.
You can visit it here


Please pay them both a visit and
give them a little blog love.

so let's hear what you have to say about this.....






 
Since some of you (and I won't mention names) 
had quite the adverse reaction to the 
scary moving monkey on my last post,
I'll leave you with this




 How's that for a sweet face?
Don't want to be upsetting you delicate types.



Viszlat (Hungarian)
 


Saturday, September 1, 2012

On The Road Again

Hello all.

So where has Anvil been?  What has she been up to?  Not favoriting all of the beautiful things we've been making.  Not even any pinning?  What's up with that?!  Oddly quiet in Anvil land, eh?  Hmmm, more on that in a minute...

First,
THANK YOU for your comments everyone.  You are certainly an entertaining bunch.  I thoroughly enjoy your thoughts and  insights. 
This is what I've learned from your comments on the last post.....Beatn's IPad ate her angels.  I understand...my IPad eats letters and sometimes whole words.  But not angels.  That I know of.  For those of you who have wondered at my inability to spell, that xplains it. 
Numinosity continues to grow no moss under her wandering feet and still manages to list 100 things a week! 
Thanks to 13 and Petra, for sourcing Belle Armoire Jewelry and Dorlands in the UK.  (Petra also manages to list mega amounts.  In spite of moving.  Sheesh.  You're making me look bad)
We've all delightfully realized that Pipn's amazing talent is equally matched by her genuine modesty and refreshing lack of ego.
Coffeefreak's humorous little lizard girl is kind, and Coffeefreak herself always seems to have the clever quip at the ready 
Fanci, along with Pinky and the Brain is taking over the world.
Cat, so very sorry that I didn't mention you by name when mentioning your fantastic felt article.  Raida had an extra bonus of seeing her beautiful headpins featured in Pipn's article. 
The lovely comments from Flotsam, Lucie, Juliette, Gallery 13, Quisnam and Bond girl are very much appreciated. 
A warm welcome to Barry, Patty, Kira, Claire and Shel.  Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.   I think that some of you that I've just welcomed, have visited and commented previously.  Apologies, if so, my brain is on overload, explanation to follow.......
All of you are so supportive and encouraging to one another. It's a pleasure to work amongst you.

So what's been going on?.......

THE NEVER-ENDING HOUSE SELLING SAGA IS OVER!
 
FINALLY!
 
It's been one un-anticipated delay after another.
after another....
and another....
yes, and even more after those.
Phew!
Done!
Fini!
YAY!


 
 
 
Today the second most interesting man in the world and I were supposed to leave Illinois behind and head down to our new destination of...........
Texas!
Yeehaw!


Where apparently, feral hogs are taking over the state.

except for guys like these keeping them in check

 
(hey guys, don't know who you are and hope you don't mind a cameo appearance in my blog)
 
 
 
Woohoo.
Hot Diggety Dog.

Surely there are other exciting things happening in Texas.
Will keep you posted as I discover them.

So how do I have time to post a blog in the middle of a move?
If you watch the news, you all might have heard of a little kink in the works....
a hurricane named Isaac.
Supposed to be treacherous weather on most of our journey there today,
 so we've decided to delay departure until tomorrow.
So here I sit with a free day and no million things calling for me to attend to them.
Cuz they're all done and I'm officially homeless.
hmmmm, sun's out and it looks pretty nice.  Did they get it wrong?
Or did we get it wrong and should have left today as planned?
 Hoping the threat of tornados and heavy rains en route is over tomorrow.
 
"The man" says we'll look like the
Beverly Hillbillies as we're rolling down the road.
Both cars packed to the brim.
I think he might just be right.

Anyway,
The adventure continues.....
my nuerotransmitters will continue to misfire for the time being
as I try to find a house in Texas and move into it.
EGADS!
MAKE THE MADNESS STOP!!!!
Ok, so maybe it's not quite that dramatic of an undertaking.
For some people anyway, (Petra)
who seem to be able to find a house, buy it, move in, and be back up to speed in a week.
That's just not normal.
You hear me people  (Petra)?
It's supposed to take months and be torturous, I tell you!
 
 
I do have some tools and supplies packed up to help me
retain (regain) my sanity while in temporary housing.
What's that you say?
Too late?!
Well maybe.....
at least I'll be able to amuse myself, if not you.
 
Since I've been doing all things "house" and no things "jewelry"
I looked through my Pinterest page
and pulled out some of my fav jewelry displays
to share with you.
 
I aoplogize that I don't have the originators info with the picture to credit them.
Please visit my Pinterest page
(button above right on sidebar)
and scroll through my "likes",
"Creative Minds, Spaces And Displays"
And "More Creative Minds, Spaces And Displays" boards
to be able to click through to the originator of each photo.
I don't normally post other people's photos or works without checking with them
and/or giving them credit.
Please give me a hollar if you know the name behind the image,
  and if it's your image and you would like me to remove it, more than happy to oblige.
It is after all your image and rather than trying to appropriate it, my intent is to share the beauty of what you do through my blog.


here, feast your eyes....



Fancy smancy and I love it!




Don't toss that old lamp, turn it into an interesting display!





So sweet




LOVE THIS!
Now to make myself one.





Furniture legs,
yes, I did just give away a whole box of these in my move.
Can't take everything, (though I did try).





Bicycle seat necklace displays!
Whoda thunk it?!





Great use of vertical space.
So many interesting layers and levels for your eye to travel.





Wonderful.





This one I'm definately going to do.
I kept all of my clipboards.
Because I need another project, don't you think?






A bicycle wheel mounted on a piano stool thingy.
See the nuerotransmitter problem rearing it's ugly head?
I really do think moving gives people brain mush.
Except for Petra.





Love Love Love






Oohh Oohh call me call me.
Can't you see me waving my arm in the air here teach?
Brain mush.





Fabulous!






A visual feast.





Brooch booty.
Yes you younguns, booty used to mean a haul of treasure as in
Pirate's Booty.





Great display.
Love the use of different sizes of mannequins in the vintage trunk.




An old door knocker turned into a perfect jewel holder though it was
referred to as a soap dish.
Nope, I see jewels.
Of course I always see jewels..... (mushy mush)





Clever idea.
 And why can't I remember whose work this is when I know whose work this is?!  ack!
I think I might put a classic statue head atop of it, well if I could figure out how to attach it,
which I can't.
  Never mind, the doll head is a stroke of brilliance!





More brilliance.  A bakers rack with trays.
Kudos to whoever thought of this.
I can't even imagine how much you could store in this,
all within sight and easy to access.
Oh interesting man, I would kind of like this...
anniversary possibly?
Forego the tools this year?  eh? eh?
I know, who asks for a bakers rack for an anniversary gift?
I do. Sigh.  Runny mush.





A hardware cloth dress to hang things from.
I'm seeing so many possibilities.





Simple elegance.





What a great and versatile show display.



Silverware!
Beautiful display.
 
 
 
 
 
This is so cool.  Displays made from books.
LOVE this!
 
 
 
 
 
A simpler book display version.






This would make transporting jewelry to shows so much easier and quicker to set up.
Gonna give this a try.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing these gorgeous display ideas from these
talented yet, sadly, uncredited  people.

Hoping you all have a smarvelous week or two, as the case may be.


I would like to leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy
with this mental image




but no,
I feel more like this when I'm in the process of moving,
no kidding.  hahahahaha
So I shall leave you with this visual
till next time......





Adios