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!)

Sneak Peek ~ Silver Stacking Rings

Life must be lived as play. ~Plat0

I love rings! (maybe as much as I love earrings!) and have long admired artists who make them... rustic and organic, fun and playful, those with gorgeous bezel set stones, simple to elaborate detailed bands...all of them! With my new workbench set up, I've been playing at learning to make some of my own....cutting, filing, hammering, soldering, refining how to use my torch, more hammering, oxidizing, tumble polishing... I've 'disappeared' into my little workshop for hours at a time. Here are some of my first finished skinny sterling stacking rings. I love their patinas and organic shapes ... and am so excited to be making my own!

My New Workbench!

I'm so lucky to have a lovely worktable in our house with gorgeous natural light and big windows for my bead and wire work as well as my photography and computer time. It's perfect, really, but for a couple of years now, as my interest in creating more jewelry pieces from scratch and my quiver of jewelry making tools and metal supplies has grown, all my noisy, flammable, and chemically smelly work has been set up on the end of my husband's worktable in our garage. While it's certainly better than nothing, I'm usually cold and never seem to have exactly what I want with me. Add to that, all my bits are cleaned up at the end of each session, and while I've been fortunate to have this little space, frankly it's been a pain! Projects are all over the place and it really bugs me! Over the Christmas holidays, my darling husband built me my own space in our basement with a workbench at my most comfortable height for creating and lots of light. Here's a little look -- there's a spot for everything-- tools, mandrels, torch, tumbler, stamping tools and so on... and even a little heater to keep me toasty warm! I can leave everything out when I'm in the middle of a project and make all the noise I want!

I actually think he likes my space better than his, now, and fully expect to see him set up at the end of MY bench sometime in the not too distant future!
Happy day!

Handmade Holidays

My Christmas shopping experience this year was the easiest ever! It was my hope to find handmade gifts for as many friends and family members as possible...and now that everyone has received their lovelies, I can't wait to show you all what I found!

ohlittlerabbit creates the most wonderful colorful screenprinted organic cotton teatowels, veggie bags, bedding, aprons and other housewares -- they arrived perfectly wrapped in brown craft paper -- so charming, I wanted them all for myself! I'll be returning for more.

Peace sign studs in sterling silver from Michelle Chang are delicate and just right for my 'peace-sign-loving-niece'-- she's worn them everyday since Christmas!
My writer friend loved this handmade journal made by Cheri Ucci of Paperfetish Designs. The handsewn binding is of very good quality and the cover is treated with gesso, ready for her own artistic work. I love it too!
These gorgeous blue felted mittens were made by a local knitter who was a member at the Kubbyhole -- they are so warm and match my niece's winter jacket like they were made for her!

Delightful in everyway are these whimsical zipper magnets from AmaliaVersaci in cool blues and greens and warm yellows, orange and red. Opening the package was a visual treat, with each set boxed and tied with a Christmas red zipper - so lovely!
Rachel Awes awesome artwork is printed on her beautifully inspiring greeting cards and were perfect for my sister. Each was carefully wrapped in cello and the set was tied with a pretty ribbon!
Everyone loved their unique presents and it was a wonderfully enjoyable Christmas shopping experience! I know where I'll be 'headed' next November!

Christmas Dinner in Who-Ville

When we built our new house, one of my dreams was to have a dining room that would accommodate EVERYONE for Christmas dinner...and this Christmas, it was so! It was our absolute pleasure to host 23 members of our family and friends for my favorite Christmas day ever! A Who-ville theme seemed perfect -- I could just see all the Who's seated at their long tables filled with fun, family, friends and fabulous food! Six different families (all related in some way by at least one member) gathered at our house and of course, everyone needed to know their proper Who name... www.grinched.com provides a great tool to help come up with these fun names -- we had Dibble-Moo-Who's and Tickle-Poo-Who's and Giggle-Boo-Who's coming out of the woodwork. I made nametags for everyone and the kids made sure everyone had their own. I also found this great lime green Grinchy tree at HomeSense and couldn't resist. My friend gave me the other funky one (I must admit, I'm a bit of a Who-Ville addict) a couple of years ago.

Red and white, stripes and dots and any wonderfully unique ornament I could find filled the tree, table and house. I even found some great red dishes in the clearance section of the grocery store and picked them up too-- LOVE them!

...and here is the crowd!