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.

Dragonheart

I finally got to make something new!


The first one is a dragonblood jasper necklace. I love dragonblood jasper! The red streaks really do look like blood. I'm donating a piece to a charity called Wings Of Hope, and it might be this one.

They are a wildlife rehab facility here in Louisiana, and the only one in this state that rescues bats. Since I love animals, I'm donating to their auction.

The ring is just another stamped one, but without a spinner. I'm kinda tired of spinning rings! :)

It says-
love you once, love you still
always have, always will

I'm working on several more pieces but today I'm being lazy. It's 12:30 and I haven't even showered yet! :) So I'm off to do that now.

Weird Bug Of The Week

Okay guys, here he is, and you've probably all seen one once or twice. We call them Granddaddy Longlegs around here!



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Opiliones"

Harvestmen are eight-legged invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. As of 2006[update], over 6,400 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the real number of extant species may exceed 10. Well-preserved fossils have been found in the 400-million year old Rhynie cherts of Scotland, which look surprisingly modern, indicating that the basic structure of the harvestmen has not changed much since then. Phylogenetic position is disputed: their closest relatives may be the mites (Acari) or the Novogenuata (the Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones and Solifugae).[2]

Although they belong to the class of arachnids, harvestmen are not spiders, which are of the order Araneae rather than the order Opiliones.

In some places, harvestmen are known by the name "daddy longlegs" or "granddaddy longlegs".

In other news: It finally RAINED! WooHoo!!! Sunday morning at about 5:30 it started thundering so loud it was deafening and lightening was striking trees right behind the house, but I didn't even care! I was just so glad to see it raining. We got several inches and Monday was a lot cooler. I hope it rains some more!

I haven't got any new jewelry to show you. I've been busy, but it was all orders from my shop that you've all seen.

OH! I did get some new tools from Beaducation, while they were having their $th of July sale! Yippee! I got some ring bending pliers that I LOVE! I don't know how I've gone so long without them! I also got a new Fretz riveting hammer, (Love it, too!) and new sheet metal shears, and Lindstrom flush cutters. I so love new tools! I'm an addict! :)

Weird Bug Of The Week

I've decided to do a series on my blog! Wierd Bug Of The Week!

I know I've already had one this week, but we'll just pretend it was last week. :)

Okay, here's this weeks bug:


"Graphocephala coccinea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Graphocephala coccinea is a meadow and woodland-dwelling species of brightly-colored leafhopper native to North and Central America, from Canada south to Panama.[1] Common names include candy-striped leafhopper, red-banded leafhopper, scarlet-and-green leafhopper and red-and-blue leafhopper.

G. coccinea is about 3⁄16 of an inch (5 mm) long and has vivid blue (or green) and red (or orange-red) stripes on its wings and the top of its thorax combined with bright yellow coloration on its head, legs, abdomen, and elsewhere.

Leafhoppers feed on plant sap with the aid of specialized mouthparts."

He's a tiny bug, and I didn't realize how colorful and neat he was until I got the closeup macro shot. The world is an amazing place if just look down sometimes!

This is the view into a birdhouse on my front porch! Inside that hole is a tiny little wren. I see it's mom bringing it bugs to eat all the time. Today he's got his little mouth open trying to cool off, because it's still over 100degrees out! Poor thing!

And this I have no idea what it is! I found it on the ground while I was looking down! It's hard, and kind of woody, and really wierd!


So look down and see what interesting and tiny things you find!

Found him!

Whatsthatbug.com

It's a slug moth caterpillar, called a Crowned Slug (Isa Textula).

What is THAT?!

Look at this awesome BUG! I have no idea what kind it is, but it's wonderful! I have had a fascination with bugs and rocks my whole life.

My hubby found this little beauty in his truck. He though it was a leaf, at first, then he brought it to me, to see if I knew what it was. Nope! But I like it! If anyone knows what it is, please tell me!

This was my disaster for the day. It's a Mookaite Jasper that looks like a bloody claw. Awesome stone! So I made the bezel, got it all ready, put the stone in, pushed the bezel over and SNAP! The stone BROKE! Right at the black line at the top! It almost broke off straight, where I could have just made a new bezel for it. But NO! It left a corner on top. Oh well, them's the breaks I guess! So I'm stuck with it now.


I hope everybody had a better shop day than I did!

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!