When it Rains it Poors

You've all heard the saying, but I have recently experienced it... in a good way! The economy is in such a rut that it has been hard to sell anything for over a month now. No jewelry, no scrapbooking items, no cards... my check book was running WAY LOW, just like my gas tank! Then, a turn around.

Within 2 weeks all of the following things happened:

- I was accepted to a local gallery to be an artist in the upcoming show (Craftland 2008)
- I made a huge scrapbooking sale that helped pay two of my bills
- I got a cutom order from a NEW client
- I was approached about possibly doing an interview for the NC Triangle Street Team

Phew! Can you believe it??? I still can't.

I went to drop off my inventory for the gallery today and a lady practically bought a pair of earrings right out of my case. And the gallery doesn't open until FRIDAY! It is simply amazing to me that I could go from one level of my business to another in a matter of weeks. Now, staying there is the challenge... but I'm up to it.

I will be adding some of my gallery photos soon. I heard there was a way to add an album to your blog, but I am completely at a loss for how to do that, so give me a day or so to try and figure that out! :)

Earrings

I also made two different earring sets using my beloved wire!

"Triple Play"

"Bali World"

Solder practice

I am SO impressed with the way this turned out. I wound the wire, cut the jump rings with my jewelry saw, soldered each one individually into a chain, hammered each ring in two places, fashioned the clasp, pickled and polished. I love the way it came out and I am so excited to start my next chain project!!

This is the bracelet named "Circles"

Metal and Wire work

I am completely and utterly fascinated by metal and wire. I love to work with it and I love the things you can make with it. I have been working a lot on my wire wrapping techniques and soldering techniques.

I recently made a bracelet called "Gypsy Dreams" and it is completely wire wrapped. I love the greens in the bracelet from the New Jade briolettes to the swarovski crystals. I also tried my hand at oxidizing with liver of sulfur. I think that I may have polished a bit too much off of this piece, but I love the aged look that it still carries.

Waited A While

Do you think I could have possibly taken any longer to write? Well, I have been busy with jewelry and I have been reading alot on photography. I recently found a great book and I am practicing with my Nikon 5700 to improve my jewelry photos.

Currently, I have realized that I need a new piece of glass! The plexi I am using is HORRIBLY scratched and it looks really bad in my close-ups. But for now, that's what I've got.

I made a new recycled piece and I am very excited about it. I love the way it came together and I am hoping to start a whole new line incorporating the recycled elements. This "charm" bracelet is awesome and I wear it all the time.

Recycling EVERYTHING!

My husband was going through a pile of old childrens hangers that come with the clothes from the store. We were getting ready to recycle them and realized that we would have to take the metal clips off of them because only the plastic is recyclable.

Well, as I picked up the pile of metal clips to throw them away I decided that there had to be good for SOMETHING! Well, they sat in my studio for about a week and then I thought that I would play with them to see what I came up with.

I heated them to anneal the metal and then pounded them out to make them flat. While looking at them I realized that there was a loop already on one end of them so stringing automatically came to mind.

To take a little bit from the "industrial" look of the metal, I paired them with white cat's eye and rose quartz. The result is a funky little fan choker necklace!

Beaded Cabochon

I found this cabochon in the midst of searching my grandmothers jewelry. It was in a silver commemorative bezel celebrating 200 years of America. I kept the bezel, but I wanted something a bit more "glamorous" for the cab.

I combined topaz and burgandy seed beads with Rhondite 4mm rounds to make this bezel. My only problem now is I have no idea what type of stone it is! I would love to find out what it is so that I can purchase beads of the same type to make the actual necklace. Other than that, I think it turned out pretty cool!