Hello

Hi everybody! I haven't blogged in FOREVER! I have been so busy with my shop and with life in general, I've neglected my friends.

Lots of things have happened since I was last here! I bottle raised 10 two week old puppies, and they all made it. Then when they were 4 months old, Parvo struck. I lost 2 of the 5 puppies that were still here, and my inside dogs got it from my clothes. I almost lost Oscar, my weenie dog. He spent 4 days in the hospital, and it almost drove me insane. It was like one of my children was sick. Thankfully, both of my house dogs made it, and everyone is fine.

I was going to add photos of Oscar but the STUPID  Blogger uploader stopped working! So you can see him on Flickr

My son had surgery in May, and is just now getting really well. He had to take 2 quarters off from college, but at least it gave him some perspective, and now, instead of art, he wants to go into medicine. He's really good at art, but there's not really a lot of money in it. There is in medicine!

I've been staying fairly busy with jewelry work, but not as busy as I want it to be. :) This year has been up and down for me with my Etsy shop. I now have a new Artfire shop, too, but I haven't sold anything there, yet.

I'll try to do better with my blog, and I still have some bugs I haven't shown you yet!

I'm Baaaaaaack...

I've neglected my blog!

Life has been pretty busy, and it's hard to find time to do it all, but I promise to try harder. I've missed all of my blogging friends.

My youngest son is starting his 3rd quarter at Tech! My daughter in law finally had surgery to remove the cyst. She has endometriosis, and will eventually have to have a hysterectomy, which she wants now, but the doctor won't do it. He says she too young and may want more children. She doesn't!

I spend most of my days in the shop working. Business has slowed to a crawl, but it's still alive, so I keep working! It gives me something to do, and an excuse not to leave the house! I'm such a homebody, and I hate going anywhere.

I have 2 news dogs that just showed up here. I don't know how they always find me!
One of them is a small terrier of some kind, but some asshole cut her ears completely off. She has tiny little points that you can't see because of her hair. She looks like a racoon in the face because she's grey with a black mask. She's adorable and sweet and I don't know how someone could just throw her away.
The other one is a half grown chocolate lab. She's a big, beautiful, sweety and I think she must belong to someone, because she looks healthy and cared for, but she won't leave.

I guess I can show you a couple of my new things, since I haven't done that in so long!

This is my Bayou King alligator eyeball ring.



An African Tribal Mask that I made just for fun:



And a Poppy Ring to match my other Poppy jewelry:



That's about enough of that! I would show you picks of the dogs, but they are to spastic to photograph! If I go out there they're all over me, and It's hard to get a pic, but I'll try later. I'm sure most of you have never seen a dog with no ears before.

Well, I'm off to read some blogs, then go to work for a bit.

Stones

I don't have anything new, but I did start something this afternoon, after I finished up my orders. I'm making a setting for the half cylinder Rosettea Picture Rock. It's so gorgeous! I thought I would show you all some of my latest obsession. I am completely addicted to stones! I have quite a stash now.

I bought this gorgeous Pinolith Jasper from Stone Clouds on Etsy

These awesome Rosetta Picture Rocks




and this gorgeous Bird's Eye Rhyolite from Hans Westermark Stones

WOOHOO

I actually accomplished something today. I took pics of my 2 new rings and got them listed in my shop, finished a necklace that I had laying around for over a week, got pics and listed it, AND made a pair of earrings and got them listed too! I'm on a roll! LOL

Here's a Morrisonite Jasper ring

A Mexican Crazy Lace Agate ring

Volcano Cherry Quartz necklace

and last but not least, fire opal Czech glass earrings

Now if i can just figure out how to get folks to buy the stuff...

Ode to Lisa!

Lisa, over at Lisa's Lovlies makes some gorgeous jewelry, and she does it assembly line style! I took a cue from her style and tried it out. I made all of these at one time!

Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper Ring

Pipeline Canyon Agate Ring

Willow Creek Jasper Doublet Ring

Colorful Onyx Necklace that I'm donating to the wildlife rehab. (Changed my mind about the dragonblood)

Vintage Lucite and sterling necklace


There was another ring, but I burned a hole in the bezel wire, so I have to start over on that. Thank goodness it happened early on! It was a small one too, so no great loss.

I have a LOT of stones to set, and more on the way. So I have plenty to play with!
But tomorrow I have 4 orders to make so I guess I'll play later.

It's 1 AM...

and I just came in from the shop! I can stand to be out there after dark, cause it's a LOT cooler.

I had a couple of orders that had to be done today, so I can get them in the mail tomorrow. After I finished them, I made this ring.



And it wasn't fun! I had so many problems with it, and it's just a simple ring. Then when I put the stone in, the bezel was too deep. The stone wasn't cut really well, and it's not even on top, so that made it worse. I cut the bezel from 24g fine silver, after carefully measuring the stone! I guess I measured the fat side. Oh well, it's done and it's okay. Wonky, but okay.

Oh! I have a question: What the hell is the super sharp point on a burnisher for? I mean, other than scratching the crap out of whatever I'm trying so hard not to scratch! I managed not to scratch this one, but usually I dig a deep gouge in my almost finished work, and have to start all over with finishing! HATE that! I want a burnisher with a round end.

It's still hot and dry as a bone here. I so wish it would rain!

What a MESS!

Okay Sherice, this is for you!


I told you I'm messy and this is what it looks like. :) I'm so ashamed (but not enough to change!) If I clean it up, I can't find anything. This is probably how it would look if you could peek into my head! I'm just a messy person, and it doesn't really bother me! LOL
When I first got the shop, I couldn't work, because it was too neat and clean!
I had to make a mess so I could create!

BUT...last night, out of this mess came this! A Corundum Alexandrite and fine silver ring.
I love it and started to keep it, but then decided to list it in my shop. But if no one wants it, it does fit me! :)
It's my first prong setting, too!

Summer Colds...

SUCK!

I have a cold, and it has made me feel like crap! :( They are so much worse in the summer. The heat just seems to suck the life out of you. It has even made me a day late on a custom order, and I HATE that! I like to finish things when I say I'm going to. The customer was very understanding though, so it all worked out.

Here are the things I made for her, using her Sunstones. I LOVE Sunstone!

This pair of earrings are on my new "Almost Hoops" earwires. I really like them!
She also bought the Sunstone earrings from my previous post.

and a simple, but gorgeous, necklace,

This ring is made with a drilled bead, but you can't tell! The twisted wire is 2 strands of 18g sterling that I twisted in my new flexshaft. I LOVE that thing!!!


This is a rough Oregon Sunstone, and I really like it. I thought it would be a horror to set, but it was so easy!


and last but not least is a copper and sterling cuff bracelet that she wanted to match the Crocodile Tears earrings she bought from me earlier. I really love the design, and I'm going to add it to my shop. I love it when I challenged to come up with a new design!

I also have fallen madly in love with fine silver! It is so wonderful to work with, and it's really not that much more expensive. There's no firescale, and it cleans up gorgeously!

Finally...Something New!

YAY! I finally got around to finishing a new ring!

It's Oregon Petrified Wood Limb Cast Agate. It's a gorgeous stone, with blue-grey and black.

I kept the setting kinda simple, but did a bit of embellishing.

I'm just happy to have time to make something different!

I have to get back to work on orders tomorrow, so I don't know when I'll get something else made.

Cane is doing great and growing like crazy. i think he'll be big enough to release by this weekend.

He won't let me hold him anymore, and that's a good thing. I want him to be scared of people and dogs. He lives in my bedroom right now, so I'm sleeping on the couch with the dogs! Crazy huh? I'll give up my bed to keep a rabbit wild. I have some serious issues! LOL

My youngest son says that someday I'll be the crazy lady that tries to feed caterpillars with an eyedropper! :) He's probably right!

I had to break up a pitbull fight a few days ago. Scary!

My neighbors dog is in heat and my dog got in a fight with another pit. If I hadn't been home, mine probably would have been killed. He's to old for that crap! The other dog had him by the throat, but I got to them in time, so he just had mostly scratches on his face and neck, but he has a hole through his foot and the pad is torn open. It's better now, but still looks awful. The vet said to leave it alone and let him take care of it.

Being a pet owner is hard sometimes!

Well, I've rambled on long enough, so I'm off to check out everybody's blogs. Later!

UFO's Over the High Desert

I found the most awesome Montane Agate on Etsy! I got it from Lapidarious, a wonderful shop!

Here's his description of it because it's perfect!

"This extraordinary example of fine Monatan Agate is as spacy as the picture within. Little scout ships leaving the big mother ship over the high desert of eastern Oregon. A trip waiting to be set in metal and shown off!
NICE nice material.
Definitely for the adventuresome.
18.46ct. and 24mm x 25.5mm x 4mm in size

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft....."

I looked at it for quite a while, wanted it badly, then finally bought it! LOL It is not for sale because I'm keeping it! It's all mine!

It turned out exactly like I pictured it in my mind, which never happens for me. Usually a design mophs and changes while I'm making it.

The stone just begged for the alien face on the back, so I cut out the eyes on the back plate, and cut a tiny spaceship shape to attach the jumpring.

I LOVE how it turned out!

I also got a gorgeous little Oregon Petrified Wood Limb Cast Agate from him. It's going to be a ring, as soon as I have time to finish it! :)

Right now I have to get off this computer and get to work in the shop. Got a few orders to finish. YAY!

The HUGE rock rings!

Well, here they are! These are not something I would have done on my own. It was a custom request from a customer.

Her son found the rocks on the beach in East Sandwich, MA, their favorite vacation spot. The biggest, pinkish one is hers and the green one is her daughters. They were special to her and she wanted them set in a sterling silver ring. So I did it!

The big one is not really practical for everyday wear, but it will make a great conversation starter!

I'm not that good at setting stones, so these were a special challenge for me. It was a little difficult but I figured it out! YAY!

I made the setting with a 20g backplate, and 24g bezel. I've always seen people say they used a hammer on a bezel setting, and I thought it was crazy! Why would you hammer a bezel?! Now I know! That's exactly what I did, and it worked great!

I also tried out my wooden vise that is part of my new workbench. It's perfect for holdng a ring while you set a stone. It doesn't mark the silver at all!

Well, my hubby will be home either tomorrow or Wednesday. Not sure which because of the time difference. Sometimes it doesn't seem like it's been a month since he left, and sometimes it seems longer! Staying busy all the time helps time pass though. I'm always in the shop working, so days kinda run together for me.

I did take yesterday off. I wasn't going to but after eating lunch at my Mom's and visiting with the family, I was too tired and full to do anything. So today I've been playing catch up!

I'm a little more used to my glasses, but they still bug me. It makes me tired to try and focus on what I'm doing, and I catch myself not focusing! The piece I'm working on will be blurry and out of focus, because it's a pain in the patooty to keep moving my head till I find the spot! Lined bifocals would probably have been better for work, and I may get them for that. I can wear these everywhere else. Oh well, live and learn, and get old and fall apart! LOL

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

1000 Markets

YAY! Amazon payments is finally working for me and I got a sale in my shop at 1000 Markets! http://www.1000markets.com/users/tammystreasures

I'm slowing adding more to my shop there and I'm changing my photos in both shops. It will take a while because most of my items are made to order, so I have to wait till I make new ones to take photos. If I have time, I'll make some things ahead. It's just hard to with rings.

Speaking of rings...since I made the diamond ring, I've been itching to set more stones, so I ordered some really pretty ones, and I'm going to make some rings! I think I'll do size 8 for most of them, because 7 & 8 are my most popular sizes, but I can't wear a 7, so I'm going with 8. That way, if they don't sell, I can keep them! LOL

Oh, anybody know what solder to use with rose gold? I ordered some, but I have no idea what solder will match best! Barrie!!!


Almost forgot... CUTE PET PICS!

Red
Oscar
Odie

More new pics

I am slowly replacing my product photos. I absolutely adore this new camera, and I can't believe I struggled with the old one for a whole year! I used to take 50-60 photos just to get a couple of good ones. Now almost every shot is a good one.
Here are some before and afters. The difference is AMAZING!






Well, I finally went to the eye doctor last week...I have to have BIFOCALS! LOL I got the progressive lens without the line, because I think the line would drive me nuts. They should be ready this coming week, and I'll be glad to get them. My eyes seem to get worse daily, and my reading glasses just aren't cuttin' it anymore :) Isn't getting older FUN?!