Busy Saturday

I had several sales on Etsy today. YAY! I've been selling a lot of the men's bracelets and today I also sold 2 pairs of earrings. The secret is listing a LOT!

This is a necklace I made for my aunt. Her grandaughter's name is Greyson, and she wanted me to make a necklace with it. This is what I came up with. It's all sterling silver, with a light green glass bead, to represent a peridot, which I didn't have! The photo isn't great because it's late here and the sun's not out.

The next pic is the new puppy that found us last weekend. He still needs a home, so I'm going to get better pictures and post them around town. Surely someone will want him. He's very cute, and playful. He's funny to watch, but he sure can bite hard for such a little guy. At least he's a boy! It cost me $150 to get Blue fixed the other day! I don't want to do that again!

Y'all have a great weekend!

A small change...

I changed my mind on the charm bracelet and added some handmade, hammered sterling rings and black discs. It was just to skimpy and I didn't like it. Now I like it a lot better!

The discs and the picks are plastic, so it's a very light bracelet, but it doesn't look like it. I hope she likes it.

I also made another copper and iron bracelet for women today. It looks just like the men's, so no need for pics! I call them Iron Man bracelets, but us girls are tough, too, so it's an Iron Woman bracelet.

Harley Davidson and the Hardware Man

Here's the charm bracelet I made for my cousin. She and her husband ride a Harley and she loves Harley stuff. Her birthday was on the 24th so I made this. It's just guitar picks that I got on Ebay, but I made the chain. Every link! I made the square jumprings, then soldered each one closed. I think I'll just buy chain from now on! LOL At least I know I can do it, though!

The other 2 bracelets are old standards. They are the rebar wire and braided copper for men. They sell well, and I had to restock them. One is for a 7-7&1/2" wrist, and the other is 8-8&1/2". I'm making a smaller one for the ladies today. I have one, and I wear it alot! I love these.

I need to work with my copper more. I had noticed that the arthritis in my thumbs was better when I worked with copper alot. Now it's back and hurting again.

You know I went on a tirade about dogs, and right now my weenie dog is laying across my lap. He thinks he a person! He is TERRIFIED of the new puppy! He acts like he doesn't know what it is. It got in the house this morning when I opened the door, and Oscar couldn't even breathe right! It's a darling little puppy, but I have to find him a home! Somewhere else!

My Dad called this morning, and said he has to go for another PET scan. He had colon cancer late last year, but the surgery and chemo got rid of it. He's been going every 3 months for tests, and now his numbers are up on the tumor markers. Last time that happened everything was okay. I'll just pray that it's okay this time, too. That's all we can do. Just give it to God and hope for the best.

May you all have a great day and a fun weekend!

Dogs!

I don't have any new photos for today, so I'm just going to go on a rant!
I am tired of people dropping dogs off at my house! I actually own 3 dogs, 2 in the house and a pitbull outside. We have 9 dogs! About 2 years ago, my neighbors bassett had puppies. They followed her all over the country, and 2 ended up at my house. One of them got really sick and had to be put to sleep, but one is still here. She had puppies about 8 months ago, and I'm stuck with 3 of them! They are gorgeous dogs, but I don't want them. It is costing me a small fortune to feed all of these dogs. There's an old black dog that just showed up here about a year ago. He has arthritis and gets around slowly. He acts like someone mistreated him, but he lets us pet him now. The mama dog is at the vet right now, because she is being fixed tomorrow. I have no idea what that is going to cost me, but it has to be done. I cannot take anymore! It did cost $70 today, just for worm meds and flea meds!
Sunday morning, at about 2:30 am, I went outside to see why the dogs were freaking out, and there was a very small, very skinny puppy in my yard! I could have cried! I decided I would feed him for the weekend, then take him to the vet and let them give him away. They usually do this for $15 a puppy. Well, just my luck, they are full right now and can't take him! I'm at my wits end with the dogs. I used to love dogs, but now I can hardly stand them! I know it's awful to feel that way, but I do! It is wrong to drop your problem off at somebody else's house!
I'm sorry for the rant, but I just needed to get that off my chest!
I did make 2 new hardware store bracelets for men this afternoon. I needed them for my etsy. I also made a charm bracelet for my cousin, but it was raining today, so I haven't got pics yet. Maybe I can show you tomorrow. Until then, I hope you all are having a better week than I am! Later~~~

Giant Jewelry

Well, here's the great big bracelet and ring. You've seen the style before, but not this large! The second picture is my wedding ring, with a setting, completely inside the PINKY ring. It's hard to imagine fingers that big. I hope he likes them.

My eyes have gotten so bad now that I have to go get glasses. That's part of the reason I haven't been working much. It hurts my eyes to try. I wear reading glasses for work, but my eyes get extremely tired and bloodshot after just a little while. I have an appointment tomorrow! Wish me luck. I don't want glasses, but I do want to see! I read alot, too, and I miss that.

I hope you are all having a good week. I am now, because school's out as of today. No more getting up early, I can stay up as late as I like! YAY! I do my best work at night. Have fun, everybody! Later~

Finally, I made something!

I have no idea what's wrong with me! I haven't wanted to make anything for a while now, and it's very distressing! Maybe it's because Chad is home from offshore, and he hates it when I make jewelry. I'm not sure why, but he does! I did make a GIANT bracelet and ring for a guy he works with, and I'll show you that next time. The guy is over seven feet tall and the bracelet is for a 9&1/4" wrist! The ring is for his pinky, and it's a size 14! It was kinda fun to make those!

This ring is one I made today. It's sterling silver with braided copper and half-round silver wire soldered on top. I love this one, and it's all mine!!! It's a little wonky, but I don't care! It turned out very pretty. If I make anymore I'll be more careful about getting the braid straight, though.

I hope everybody is feeling inspired and making beautiful jewelry. I've talked to a couple more blogging friends, and they are uninspired, too. Maybe there's a virus going around! LOL

Have a wonderful week! Later~

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

I have been very uninspired lately. I don't really want to work. I don't have a clue why this is, but I did force myself to work a little last night and this morning.

I made the copper bangle first, just to work out the kinks of the design. I actually like it best, but it's crooked. So it's mine! It's made it in separate pieces, then riveted them together. What a pain trying to line up the rivet holes! That's why it's crooked!

The second one is a solid band of copper with the sterling silver riveted on top of that. It was sooo much easier that way! I used E6000 glue and placed them like I wanted. I let that dry over night, then drilled the holes this morning. It worked out great! The copper band is 8&1/8" long on the second one, because the first one was a little small. I can get it on, but it's harder to get off. The silver tags are 1&3/4" each, and it's 3/8" wide.

Maybe I'll be inspired again, and get out of this slump. I hope so! I hope all of you are inspired each and every day! See y'all later~

"Charm"ing Necklace

Well, I finally have something to blog about! I've been kinda lazy with the blogging this week. I did make another scrolled ring, and it turned out better, but it looks just like the last one, only smaller, so no need to post it!

Yesterday I made this necklace. I had a small square of silver left over from making rings, so I made the little heart for this charm necklace. I added a silver tube rivet and soldered the big jumprings closed. It looks like a lariat, but it doesn't slide. It's a faux lariat! The smaller heart charm and the big metal bead were some I had just hanging around. I think it turned out okay. If it doesn't sell, I'll turn it into a charm bracelet!

My hubby thinks I should have 14 pieces of new jewelry when he comes home, because he's gone for 14 days! When I tell him I worked on jewelry, he expects it to be finished that day. It's not always the case. Oh well! I'm not even working today! I hope you are all having a more productive day than I am. Later~

Soldering Fiasco

Well, this would have been a great ring. Now it is MY not so great ring. It was going to be just the silver band with the scrolls, but I contaminated my workspace with the steel nut this weekend, and I didn't know it would cause problems. Boy, did it cause a problem! If you look closely at the second pic, you can see the divots. One just on the top scroll line and one just inside the top swirl. That is where the solder was! It burned the silver before it melted! I had no idea this could even happen, so imagine my surprise. I added the bead wire on the edges to cover up most of the damage, and it turned out okay, but not for sale. I have worked on it with a burnisher and that has helped. Right now it's back in the tumbler.

Oh well, live and learn. It's still pretty enough to wear. No one will know about the divots unless they are VERY close. People don't usually get that close to my fingers, so i should be okay! LOL

I hope everybody else's day was better than mine! Have a great Wednesday!~

Tyler's Bracelet

Well, I did it! I finally finished Tyler's cuff bracelet. It was a lot harder than I expected it to be! I made the center from textured brass, added a silver tube rivet, and a part from an old watch. That is surrounded by the nut I cut in two, held in plce with copper rivets. One side is copper sheet, with a brass and nickle patch riveted on. It also has a smaller nut and another old watch piece. The othe side is flattened nickle wire that is wrapped with flattened copper wire. It has 2 smaller nut tube riveted on and a tiny brass screw head soldered on.

It was a challenge, but I like it!

Now I'm going back to my silver!! YAY!

I hope everybody had a great weekend and that you all have a splendid week! Later~

Spring Challenge Pendant

I guess I can show this now cause anybody that reads the description of it at J.A.N will know it's mine!

It's a nickle silver base with a copper and brass flower wire riveted on. The copper wire stem and fold-formed leaves are sweat soldered. The little ball in the center of the flower is sterling. The bail is a copper "spring" I made. It's 2&1/2" long and 1&1/4" wide. I wore it today and a girl at Wal Mart loved it and wanted to know where I got it!

I did not vote for it at J.A.N.! I don't believe in voting for yourself! LOL

I hope everybody is having a fun weekend! Talk to you later~

New Tools

I don't know how I ever got along without a divider! It's awesome! You just open it to the width you want (that's what the little steel ruler is for) then just follow the straight edge of your metal with one leg and the other leg scribers a line. It makes measuring and cutting so much easier. It also does circles like a compass. I got both of these at the hardware store. They had a pin vise, too, but I don't really need that. The coffee cup is mine, and it's the only one I use!! LOL Home IS where my tools are!

Today I have been working on the bracelet. The second pic is the nut I cut in two. That took about 2 hours of sawing. I thought my arm would fall off! It has turned out to be more complicated than I thought! You can't solder a steel nut! I had to rethink and use wire rivets on that part. It's looking good though. Just a challenge.

Tyler took the ACT last month, and he made a 30! I'm very proud of him, but not surprised at all. He is super smart and has always made As and Bs. He wants to take it again because he says he can do better!

Have a great Saturday! See ya~

Not A Ring!

LOL I didn't make one today! I spent a long time sawing a piece off of huge nut for this bracelet that my son designed. I needed a thin but large nut for the front piece and could not find one. Seems the larger they are, the thicker they are! I sliced off about a 1/4" piece with a hacksaw. I thought it wouldn't work, but it did! I think it will be an awesome bracelet, if I can make it right. I'll show you all what I come up with!

I hope your day was wonderful and bright! Bless you all, my blogger friends.