A season of giving and receiving.

It was only after I photographed this pair that I realised they were not opposites - and had to rehang the roses :)

It has been too long since I blogged so I will load as many photo's as I can tonight.

My life is truly crazy at the moment, I am acting in a promotional position at work and loving the adrenalin that comes from stretching myself, learning new skills and conquering my emotional responses to high pressure situations. I am not even minding the looooonnnnnnggg hours or the cakes I cook to bribe, er encourage, my team to attend meetings.

At home, the heater died and a water pipe burst in the back yard so I have been co-ordinating tradesmen - aaaaaaagh, how is it they are never on time? Even, when I am the first one they come to in the morning. Is it part of tradesman school; How to Annoy the Client 101. I wish they could replace it with:
Putting the toilet seat down 101
Picking up your own Rubbish 102
and
Wiping your feet 103
That said it is nice to have some heating again, and time will tell if I made the right choice.

It was fun to draw balls on sterling silver wire to form the basis of these earrings - gifts

for three dear friends with birthdays in the same week, and another skill from Stephanie's class practiced.

My beautiful hand sewn owl and crocheted sari silk nest were my Art-of-the-Month

gift from Jacky. I was so excited when this little fellow arrived as I had 'lusted' after him on Jacky's blog - hoping he might wing this way.

The tin covers are another Etsy purchase and brighten my desk at school, the happy puppy is also a gift from Jacky - I just love his squishy nose!

Bright vintage style ATC's received from Gaby; I so enjoy swapping with this kind

overseas artist.

Cheerful ATC's from a swap with Doreen, very beautiful the felted card too. Thanks Doreen!

I'll try and get back later in the week to add links. oxo

More Steampunk Earrings

As I post these I am chuckling to myself at the contrast between the grunge metal appearance and the Dancing Ladies a few posts back. I was over-the-moon when the two pairs of Dancing Ladies I listed sold fairly quickly - just love the thought of someone on the other side of the world wearing my art.

In case you are wondering the background here is a rusty old enamel tin I have sitting on my deck. It has holes in the bottom, and until now has been of no use other than holding the odd incense stick - and yet it is a favourite of mine.

CIF Received and Elegant Ladies

I recently took part in a Create it Forward (CIF) hosted by the wonderful Steph from Belgium. Last week (yes, I am running late to post) these wonderful items arrived. A pendant that made my heart sing - that spoke to where I am; and the most comfortable bracelet in the whole world.

I have worn both of these pieces almost all week.

These elegant ladies dancing in a row make me smile; tiny antique dolls heads, vintage swarovski crystals, pretty beads and perhaps a little lace.

I am enjoying creating.

Perhaps they will sell from my Etsy, never mind if they don't , I will let them dance in my cave...

More Pins and Some Help Please

I have had a lot of fun putting together pins this week, soldering jump rings to pen nibs, pouring some resin, twisting wire and running my fingers through my button stash. I used some vintage fold-over connectors at the top of this pin, and a less ornate one on the pin below. Does anyone know what their correct name is? Or where I can get more? I really like these!

These owls have been a part of my stash for a long time too, but finally they have a home and nests of their own.

Another of my favourite components is the little fuses with brass ends, I pull them apart add vintage text (usually encouraging scripture) and then solder a jump ring to the top.

I wore this pin to work earlier in the week, some of my students (mostly boys) had a wonderful time passing it around and trying to identify all the components. Friends have been uncomfortable with the name I gave these pins; junk pins. A comment from a delightful, and almost illiterate, teenage boy that 'You tell a story with this Miss, unna?' has changed their name to 'Story Pins'.

Jewellery and Rain

The rains have arrived very late here in Western Australia, but the heavens are making up for it now. We have had three freezing cold days with winds and flooding rain, days where my face feels cold each time I stick it outside and all four fur-babies jostle for places in front of the heater. Nights where I cannot turn over without disturbing at least one fur-baby snuggled as close as he can get. Normally I would whinge about the cold, and the wet, but our farmers have been so desperate and the season change so late I am joyful, grateful that we are not to have a drought.

An added bonus is the wild weather is just perfect for creating (and even doing school work). The last two junk pins sold quickly, the one above was started at the same time. I have been making earrings and hat pins too. I love hat pins, they are perfect for holding my scarves in place as I dash between classes - arms full of books, and the inevitable hot tea. I made some traditional ones with bright beads last week, and this week I have made the steam punk version below.

Hello

Antique bisque doll head earrings

Archer: Are you in there?

Hi everyone, time has flown since I last blogged and so much has happened good and bad.

I have been sick, and truly the list sounds like the Lament of Job, my foot continues to be an issue, a winter cold, conjunctivitis, mouth ulcers and more - just when I though I had escaped winter without being sick. So there was not much art completed at all.

These earrings have been sitting waiting to be constructed for ages, it is nice to finally have them finished and dangling merrily.

I thought you might like these pictures I managed to capture during a game of hide and seek, often the pace is too fast as the game is combined with chasey in the furry world and I get pictures that are a blur.

Last week my new nephew was born - he is smoochalicious and i am besotted already! While he was arriving my Mum had my niece to stay and we had a giggle playing hide and seek -it was nice to be a participant.

Work has been difficult. I have to be careful what I say, but essentially for the first time in my life I had to raise a concern about some abuse I was experiencing. The decision about how to handle that was taken out of my hands and some interesting decisions were made which ultimately left me feeling unsafe at home as well.

More houses for the Creative Soul Retreat village.

Now I am feeling almost 100%, the dark cloud that has come as I battled situations and sickness is lifting and I can enjoy the outdoors as summer saunters in with the help of daylight savings! Long afternoons in the garden are coming, furries all coming to pester and chase the weeds as I pull them. Early evenings on the deck with a cup of tea or a glass of red and all while unconstrained by jumpers, jeans and joggers (OK, I couldn't resist the j's).

Harvey: At last she recognises my Indian roots - dahl on nahn bread.

I just checked I have well over 200 blog posts to catch up on so there will be a nice night or two browsing for inspiration and catching up as well.

Phantom: Can't a bloke have a bit of privacy while he cleans.

Earrings Galore

I have quite a few projects 'on the go' at the moment but it seems the only thing I can finish is earrings. I love the teeny tiny ladies watch faces I have used for the five pairs above and the way their little hands swing lightly below. I have listed one set on Etsy, if you would like any of the others listed please let me know.

The cog and wheel trees were also fun to make and are surprisingly light weight. I wonder if the watchmakers of old would approve of the recycling that occurs with the creation of steampunk jewellery.

The bird earrings have so many 'almost too good to use' components, blue mother of pearl fetish beads, sterling silver hand made nests, and glass leaf beads.

It has been a totally relaxing weekend full of friends, sleep, creativity, sleep and did I mention I caught up on some sleep, LOL.

Enjoy the week!

Unravelling

Unravelling? I am not sure why, it just seems to be the way I am, and it is a good thing, good to undo the knots and look at life a little bit at a time. These earrings all feature the parts of a pocket watch called the balance cock. A harsh name for pieces with such beautiful engraving. I have listed the first pair on my Etsy and will make time to do the others later in the week.

I have booked a stand at a little country show, held and hour or two up the road, in October and have enjoyed using some of the bits and pieces on my desk to make these bookmarks ready for the day.

My beautiful friend Dawn came to stay this week and aside from long chats (how easy it is to right the world while sewing, wrapping and gluing), we managed some time out to shop and to make a very brief visit to the Porongerups for a walk. This lovely little kookaburra is big in my mind, and yet he is such a tiny part of the forest made of tall, tall trees. How like life.

This and That.

I seem to be drifting at the moment art wise, I have some tough decisions to make with work and some personal challenges and while art is my respite I just can't seem to focus long enough to complete a large project. This week yielded a couple more pairs of earrings, I like these the contrast between the mechanics of the watch and their delicate structure. I am can make my own ear wires now so am using up the sterling silver ones I bought last year. These will be for sale on my Etsy very soon.

It was time to boost my card stash too. The top ones feature lots of 'little bits' off my desk mounted on inchies, then on backgrounds made from the skeleton leaves I collected below the lemon tree. I then coated the whole lot in my beloved shellac.

I don't remember who the little boy on the chair is by, but the other stamps here are Lost Aussie by the very talented Marie.

The wind is blowing and rain hitting two sides of the house, I can hear the trees and it all seems to mirror life at the moment -and yet I am enjoying the storm outside.

Wire Wrapping Excess

I set off to make a few pieces of jewellery for friends this weekend, and just kept going. The zips have reappeared, I have wrapped quartz, fabric, lace, glass, string, thread and more. It was so soothing matching colours then simply wrapping wire around each piece, I like the feel of all the different textures beneath my fingers combined with the supple copper as it runs through my fingers. All of the pieces here are now for sale at my Etsy store. I will show you the others when they have arrived at their new homes.

The beautiful skeleton leaves I photographed these on were collected from below the lemon tree this morning; the snails and slugs were enjoying stripping them clean just for me. I think these ones (the leaves, not the snails) will become the background for some journals.

I hope all the West Australians have enjoyed this long weekend.

Jewellery Introduction

This set was commissioned for a wedding this weekend, and the busy last few weeks meant it was only finished last night. I came home from work this afternoon and polished the copper then headed out into the garden to take some photographs.

There I was sitting cross legged on the lawn, Archer attempting to sit on my lap, as Phantom wound through my arms, hanging earrings in the leaves of a rather non-compliant plant when I heard, "Hellooooo". My new young neighbour's head popped over the fence. After a few minutes chat I apologised for not standing up, explaining I was in a hurry as 'it' was to be collected soon. A few minutes later I was introduced to the Grandfather and Mother. Happy that we would get on well I continued clicking away.
It was only later as I heard the family chatting I realised they had not seen the jewellery and thought I was taking goodbye photo's of my plant. I must explain next time we meet.

Meanwhile the copper and mother-of-pearl piece was well received. I was nervous as I find simplicity difficult to do, now I can look forward to seeing some happy wedding photographs.

Dots and Dashes

on etsy

What a busy few weeks it has been. The space bar ceased functioning on my laptop and I attempted typing using.in.place.of.space. - it sent me crazy. So eventually I gave in and sent the computer off to be repaired. I felt like I had lost an arm and yet I thoroughly enjoyed the extra creative time.

These earrings feature Watsonia bulb bases and watch cogs. I was very pleased when I made my own ear wires for these ones and have given a couple of pairs as birthday presents this week.

On Friday morning Phantom walked in with his front leg sticking out at an odd angle. A quick call to work and off to the vet we went. Phantom is the easiest cat imaginable, as the vet manipulated and felt the leg he pressed his head deeper against my neck and purred loudly. It was dislocated and there was a puncture mark so it appears the poor little man (umm...8kg and verrrrry long) had been attacked. No scratch marks on his face this time which was a change. He is such a good cat and has happily taken his medication morning and night while rubbing his face against me.
I spent the weekend sharing this cosy one roomed cabin with three friends. We were at a Christian Women Communicating International camp held just half an hour away on the coast. The speaker was wonderful - funny, entertaining and yet she gave plenty of inspiration and encouragement to take away and mull over. We laughed a lot, ate too much amazing food and celebrated the birthdays of two of my room mates. Bliss.

Gifts from the heart

on etsy

My lovely friend Kim sent Halloween to Australia for the second year. Do you see the candy corn socks and ribbon? My first candy corn experience, in 2006, was bliss. Love the button and trim, ummm... but I might have enough spiders :) . Kim and I are doing a special swap at the moment - I am looking forward to sharing the results.
Nikki blew me away with the time that went into this Box of Chocolates; each of the little books has quotes about chocolate, for example: Man can not live on chocolate alone; but woman sure can.

The guarantee on the back cracked me up: All chocolates are guaranteed to give hours of amusement and are 100% calorie free. Enjoy as often as required. Please store in a cool dry place away from Clever but Cute Cavalier Spaniels and Aiding and Abetting Cats. Containers no Macadamia Nuts (cos a nut takes up space where a chocolate should be). Just precious.

This classy box came from my friend Kylie and now is home to my 'business cards' - yep, you heard right. I am often asked when wearing my jewellery if I have 'a card', so I made some and try to remember to have one in my purse. Makes me feel like a bit of a Diva.

This box came from the talented Carmel. At the moment it has some of my favourite metal buttons in it. Not sure if that will be its 'forever job'.