Trapeze Earring Collection

I found this great site for creating slideshows!

Inspiration Journal

“Far better to live your own path imperfectly than to live another’s perfectly.”

-Bhagavad Gita

I've been searching for a journal-- a place to sketch ideas, glue photos and bits that inspire me, explore ideas, dream a little... something with great paper, an unusual shape, fairly large, simple and unique. The other day, I was cleaning some junk from our basement and came across three huge sheets of thick white paper - gorgeous soft, handmade paper with cotton fibres in its content. I think I once used it to create a snowbank for a bulletin board in my classroom. I remember loving the texture and weight when I bought it and it suddenly occurred to me that I needed to make this sought after journal myself. I've sewn torn strips of paper together to create a simple binding. A watercolor wash and title completed my little project -- and I've ended up with exactly what I was looking for!

I've begun to use it already-- here are some flower box photos that I've been thinking will inspire a bracelet in shades of orange, white and green, most likely with copper wire. I'm also thinking of autumn creations including some leaf pendants from copper sheeting and precious metal clay - I've gathered some leaves from the garden to study and sketch their shapes and details.

I'm happy! xo

... and Copper Hearts too!

Drawn and cut from this gorgeous roll of copper sheet metal -- I love its rosy color!
These hearts have been hammered once and are ready for filing.

Hammered once again for texture and design, the next step is torch firing to achieve these varying and beautiful patinas. I've punched holes and whimsically coiled shiny copper wire for the hangers.


Finis!

ta da!

I've never been able to resist sweet heart shapes!

(now available in the shop)

Copper Starfish ...

I've been playing with some copper sheet metal this week. With summer just around the corner, I thought some starfish ornaments for the cottage would be fun and here are the results. The shapes were hand drawn on cardboard and then transferred to the copper. Next, I cut, sanded, shaped and hammered each one. Torch firing created the pretty patina of gorgeous color in the copper. Some I antiqued and polished to achieve a more rustic finish. Shiny copper wire hangers with a spiral flourish finish them off! I have two hanging on our guest bath right now!

I love this story about a starfish--

“Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?" The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean." "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die." Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!" At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one.” ― Loren Eiseley

After 15 years...

...of watering, pruning, staking, hoping, tying, winding, training, cutting, dreaming, swearing, caring, reading, praying, raking, sweeping, and finally accepting it would never happen, my wisteria BLOOMED!

well, I've pretty much torched off my fingerprints...

...filed my fingernails to a nub, knicked and poked holes all over my fingers and hands BUT I am having a blast! (hehehe...no pun intended!)