Can it be...?? Getting Ready for Valentine's Day Already..?

Can it be...? I was thinking the other day that I really need to start to get ready for Valentine's Day. Of course, I do have a time crunch. I will be out of commission for about a week at the end of the month. I have to have surgery on my wrist and won't be making jewelry for a couple of weeks...what ever am I going to do..??? Probably go stir crazy....lol...! Hence the early start to the Holiday.
These little beauties will be available in my Artfire studio very shortly. Perfect for Valentine's Day.

Happy 2010..!!

Happy New Year everyone...! Yikes, it's been another couple of months since my last post. When I started my blog, I wanted to make weekly posts...that didn't quite happen. My best intentions didn't come to pass...kind of like what happens with most New Year's resolutions...we make them on January 1 and by January 15th....March 15th...maybe we make it a bit longer...but most times, we fall short of what it is we want to change. It maybe isn't because our desire to keep up changes, but life and job change and disrupt our routine and it gets harder to adjust.
2009 was a difficult year for a lot of people in the US and even around the world. We've seen huge economic changes that have altered the way we live and the way we view our lives and what's important and necessary in them.
Hurricane Katrina was another life altering point for me. I was out of work for 3 months and we were dealing with cleaning up our Coast and our own back yards. It was shortly there after that I realized that I wanted to turn my love for jewelry and jewelry making into something more. It has been one heck of a ride....one that is not over, by any means. I have come a long way in how I do business and how I make jewelry. I have made huge mistakes in business along the way and made great strides. 2009 was a huge test for my business. I am still standing.
I hope 2010 brings everyone lots of love, health and joy. I hope we all find what we need to live full lives with all our loved ones around us. Thank you for listening to my ramblings in 2009 and I hope you'll be back for another year.

Crazy for Collars

If you follow my blog at all, you know I belong to a very talented group of women called UWIB which is short for Unique Women in Business. We share business ideas, give business advice when needed and just all around support each other in our journey in this world.

I purchased a collar for my sweetie Elvira a couple of weeks ago. How cute is that..?? Suzanne from Crazy for Collars is so very talented in her sewing...! She has a so many cute and colorful collars for dogs and cats. She has Christmas collars and collars with bows. I choose a beach blue ( go figure) and green stripey collar. She collars are very well made and I anticipate it lasting for a very long time.

I realize that Elvira doesn't look very happy in her collar in the photos...lol, but she and my other 2 fur babies had just come in from playing with me in the back yard and she was all worn out. It was a perfect time to snap the photo...while she wasn't moving..lol..!

If you get a chance...stop by Suzanne's Etsy shop and see what she has to offer for your fur baby...I'm sure you'll find something you like...!

George Ohr Show 2009

I know this update is a bit late, but I am recovering from Canton and getting ready for the next show. The George Ohr Festival was fabulous...! We had gorgeous weather on Saturday, but Sunday didn't cooperate and we experienced lots of rain. We got lots of shoppers though in between bouts of heavy rain.

I saw some old friends and made some new ones. Randye Temple was back with her fused glass jewelry and paintings. I also met Pam and Bill Clark from South Carolina. They had the booth next to me and had the most beautiful pottery and colorful handmade glazes...! Visit them at Clark House Pottery if you get a chance, you won't be disappointed...!

One of the great part about doing shows is meeting new people and learning about their art. I also met Loran Chavex from Mobile. She had beautiful paintings in watercolor, acrylics and oils. She does sea life and nature portraits. I was lucky enough to acquire a a jumping dolphins painting. It now resides on the wall of my studio. It's so great to look around my studio and be inspired by the artists I've met along the way on this journey.

I received my booth assignment for the Peter Anderson. It looks like I will be at the about the same location I was last year. That puts me almost right across from one of my retail locations at Sea About It. I will be at booth number 668. I look forward to this show each year. The weather is perfect right now and I hope it holds for the next few weeks...!

Fall Show Season is here...!!

I haven't been posting as frequently lately. I have been a busy little bee getting ready for the Fall Show Season to begin. First on the docket is the George Ohr this weekend.

I will probably not be able to post as much for the next 2 months, but I will try to keep you updated about shows as much as I can.
This bracelet was made with one of Neil's hand cast sterling silver rings. You'll notice it's a little different in style. The back of the bracelet comes around the back of the wrist and attaches to the side of the ring. I plan to make these bracelets in a variety of colors and with different sea charms. This one has a (barely visible, sorry) sterling dolphin charm. I believe they will be a big hit at the shows this year...! I just have to wait for my silver caster to make me some more rings...the task master awakes..! Neil has been great though, he's really enjoying learning about soldering, casting and even getting used to the tools we use. He's made jump rings and he was learning how to make earwires yesterday. It's been great to have someone to share my passion with...!

New Pieces and Panic

I've been a busy little bee lately...! Neil and I have been working on silver a couple days a week and I've had the urge to play with my Kazuris lately.
I took a a very last minute shot to get into a show next month in Canton, MS. It's called the Canton Flea Market. It will be held Thursday, October 8th from 8 to 5. I have heard that shoppers are out in full force at 5 AM with flashlights...! They bus folks in from all over for this show, so I am looking forward to an awesome turn out.

Now..the reason for the panic....I realized after I got into the Canton show, that it falls 4 days after one of my bigger shows, the George Ohr Fall Festival the weekend of the 3rd-4th....yikes...! So, I am scurrying to make enough inventory to fill for both shows. Luckily, Neil will be accompanying me to Canton to help out.
These images are some pieces that I have completed recently...enjoy...!

Lost Wax Casting - Part 2 ( Part 1 actually)

I guess this this actually part 1, because all the work we are doing here, comes before the last post.
The first photo is of me setting up the wax molds on a "button" of wax. I fit as many wax pieces on the button as space allows, as long as the pieces are not touching. We had anywhere from 10-15 pieces per button.


The next step is to "make the biscuits" as Horace puts it. You mix up a fine white powder with water, vaccuum out the bubbles and carefully, pour it over the flasks. They also get vacuumed for air bubbles. They are then put into a kiln for about 9 hours to burn out the wax on the buttons. Once that is accomplished, you can can shoot the hot silver into the areas of the flask that don't have the wax and...."ta-da" you have silver pieces like the ones I show below.

Ok, so maybe there are a few more steps..like cutting the pieces off the button and cleaning them up, tumbling the shine back onto them and buffing them to a high shine. It is pretty much a two day process though and one that Neil is getting pretty good at.