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.

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!

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!

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!

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?!

Camera Woes...

I want a new digital camera, but I can't decide what kind to get! It has to be simple to use, and take good photos, because I'm sick of mine. I'm looking at Canon Powershot and Fuji. I don't know!!!!

I made a new bracelet today and couldn't get any decent pics. I have to edit the crap out of everthing just so you can see the item.

This is it. It's 8g copper wire, hammered all around, but flattened on the ends. Wrapped in sterling wire. It's really pretty, but you can't tell from the pics!

Business is slow right now, but it's still there, so I usually have something to make everyday. In between orders, I've been trying to get some new things made. The pollen is so bad right now that it's hard to work. My head hurts, my eyes feel awful, and my nose is stuffy. All of our trucks are a yucky yellowish color. I wash it off everyday, and it comes right back! You can see it blowing around in the air and it piles up in drifts. UGH!

I hope you all are breathing nice, clean air where you are!

More new stuff...

I've been making a few new things in between orders, and since the orders are slow, I've made quite a few! :) This is a 1/2" wide copper spinning ring with 2 brass and 1 sterling spinner.
I reversed it on this one and did a wide brass band with 2 copper and 1 sterling spinner.
These are my "Wildwood Flowers" For some reason men like these. Go figure!
And these I love! They are the big flower beads but in brass. I made the balled copper stamins and quenched them while they were glowing orange, so now they are a gorgeous fushia color.
I sold the other 2 pair of silver ones and the necklace! YAY!

There's not much going on around here. Hubby has to go back offshore tomorrow night. He's only been home a week, but they need him to fill in, and right now, with the layoffs, he can't say no. So I'm washing his clothes and getting him ready to go.

I'll leave you with a little something that made me laugh:

Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man; Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods. Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death. AMEN

Remember, if you haven't got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart...Then you are just an old sour fart!

A Few New Things

Since nothing is selling I had time to make a few new pieces for my Etsy store this weekend!

There's not much going on, so I got in the shop and worked.

The first ones are 18g wire that I balled on the ends, then curved so they'd hang right.

The second ones are some simple squiggles that are hammered flat.

Lastly, I made a new stacking ring with 12g wire that I hammered flat, then stamped with my name.

Maybe these simple designs will do well. I like them, especially the comet tail earrings.

Now I'm off to visit everybody's blogs! I love to see what's going on.

Etsy Frontpage!

I was reading the forums at Etsy yesterday, and saw the link for the frontpagers at Flickr. I went there and searched for my user name, and to my astonishment, there I was! My stacking rings had been on the frontpage on Tuesday, and I didn't even know! It didn't help my sales but it sure does make you feel good! LOL I didn't even know I was in that treasury.

Sales have died! Maybe the frontpage isn't a good thing, because I haven't sold one thing since I was on there! I was selling at least one item a day, but for 3 days now, nothing! I guess the stockmarket has affected everything. Even me!

I think it was the stupidest thing our government could have done, buying those banks. Why not just give everybody in the US a million dollars, then they could pay off all those bad loans and the banks wouldn't be in trouble! Where does it stop? Are they now going to bail out every business that is going under?

AIG is under investigation since their bail out, and lo and behold, a week after the government gave them all that money, they sent their employees on a $440,000 retreat!!! WHAT!

That is our money they're giving way, and they didn't bother to ask what ANY of us thought about it. We all worked hard for it, so they could give it away.

Well, I don't usually rant on about politics, but enough is enough! I just had to get that out this morning. I guess that's what happens when you only have dogs and quails to talk to. The dogs never answer and the quails just say the same stupid things over and over! LOL

Have a super weekend!

Later~

Happy Hump Day!

I couldn't think of a good title and it is Wednesday, so Happy Hump Day!

I managed to make a couple of new pieces for my Etsy today. YAY!

The first is a delicate little necklace with tiny initial charms. I really like it! I was asked to make some of these for a customer a little while back, and decided I wanted them in my shop. Then, I searched for them on Etsy, and there are TONS of them! Oh well, now I have some, too.

The second is a soft square ring that started out as another ring, but I made a boo-boo, and it turned into a simple black band! I still like it though, so all is not lost! Got to salvage the silver!

In other news: My hubby decided he had to have some quails so he could pickle the eggs. Well, guess who takes care of them while he's gone! Yep, me. They're okay, but annoying. They're Pharoah White quails, which means that's what it sounds like they are saying. You know, like a Bob White. But Bob Whites whistle, these sound like something from Jurasic Park!

I've heard them until it now sounds like they're saying Trick or Treat, and Oh My God! All day and all night! The cage is right outside my shop!

They do lay a lot of eggs, but I hate pickled eggs!

Oh well, you have to put up with a few things sometimes!

I better shut up now. I hope everybody is having a great week.

Later~