This beautiful antique steel cut button was rusty and a bit bent when I purchased it, but some sanding and a light application of the hammer left it just right for this 'enchanted night' necklace. Vintage Japanese cotton pearls and hand made hematite beads combine with a modern chandelier drop. 
I am back knitting and sewing for now, so who knows what will appear next, it is nice to never be bored.
It is lovely to have time to create and nothing I “have to” make. This necklace has been in my head for months, an old wall hook; rusted and left, some washers, sari silk, an owl in resin, a bullet casing (thanks to one of my students for that), vintage beads and carved cinnabar all combined with copper, brass and steel. 
I couldn't resist wandering around the garden and taking pictures of this piece in different lights, on different backgrounds, it has been so, so long since I made a feature piece of jewellery such as this.
I always enjoy the contrast between strong and delicate, old and new, salvaged and made. I think this one is for me.
The old water tank, above had been put out for roadside collection, I rang my brother and convinced him I needed it; is to become my herb garden, a job for next week.
I have cleaned up my garden a lot this past week and been amazed by the number of nests tucked in bushes, obviously my purr-babies don’t scare the birds away. This nest really made me smile, authentic twigs, insects, and leaves on the outside and green acrylic filler on the inside – another contrast.
The magnetic post it-note holders were an eye opener. I was attempting to make something using found objects for a possible class and bemoaned my attempts. Until I realised the only objects designed for art were the Collection images I have had for many years, and five split pins.
All of the other items are salvaged and re-purposed. I will send one of these pieces (your choice) to the first person to identify all the non-paper elements. Good Luck!
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.
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'. 
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.
I made three of these 'junk' pins this week- so nice to have my fingers fiddling with little pieces again. I have listed two for sale on Etsy.
Not so long ago I ordered something from here. I can't show you what because they have not gone to their final home yet - but they are beautiful! Wonderful! Perfect! And they were packaged in the little box to the bottom left of this picture. Their creator is a friend of mine and opening this order felt like a surprise birthday party for me - lots of wonderful treats. I am so looking forward to showing you what I bought, but for now I think I will indulge in cookies and hot chocolate....
I have really struggled to create since the art retreat, a combination of too many other things to do and some hang-ups. Everything I started seemed to be a copy, I was lost in technique and have not been able to get my ideas to flow. Finally this week I sat down to play and the pendants above emerged, beautiful beads with simple sterling silver joins. They had no purpose other than play so I have given them one, a give-away. Just leave a comment and one of them may be yours - I will use a random selection method and do the draw on Sunday 26th April.
These memory wire bracelets were a lot of fun to make; I have such a lot of beautiful beads that don't work with my vintage/grunge/earthy styles, and spend way too long just looking at them. The bracelets will appear on my Etsy very soon. If you are in my Etsy store you will find some fantastic sale items as I am having a clean out.
I can't seem to capture the translucent nature of the paint on this canvas or the many layers, but never mind, it was a piece I enjoyed making, a piece where I learnt a lot about product and planning ahead.
Despite the fact we have a multitude of pet baskets and comfy chairs, for Charles to rest in, he has made some interesting choices this past week; the box I was dropping work into as I marked and then the shelf. I know, I should have scooped him off and growled, but it was too cute I ran for the camera instead. Don't you love how he is pretending not to see me?
On Sunday afternoon I walked through “my” bush for the first time in over a week. The bush where almost every day for 13 years I have walked first with Maggie and now with little Archer. It was as if I had stepped onto another planet, strange black moon like surfaces with craters and blackened rocks, strands of trees, and silence. Absolute silence. An acrid smell. 
Then a flock of pelicans swooped over, their wings beating rhythmically, I took a breath, and another step, to my left was the bush I know and love.
The fire has stopped at a main walking path and been contained to a central strip of the bush. As we wandered along I felt my spirits sink, and rise in time with my steps. My mind whirling with thoughts of loss, the blessing that no human lives were lost here, and a few of those pointless “Why? Questions”. Actually it appears some boys wanted to see if they could copy the fires on the other side of our great country.
Towards the end of our walk we met Ronnie, an old aboriginal man with a shock of white hair, and a welcoming smile. Ronnie’s mixed use of English, Aboriginal English and Noongar combined with his lack of teeth made communication interesting. But we chatted for more than hour. Ronnie often explaining his stories with drawings in the sand.
When I offered the comment that it was a ‘shame about the fire’ a torrent of positive results was released. First Ronnie cheekily informed me cooking had been made easy as his family had gathered all the animals killed in the fire and taken them home for the weeks meat, and the freezer was full. 
Then Ronnie showed me a plant which a week after the fire was splitting and releasing seeds, seeds which are apparently the food of echidnas (the Australian spiny ant eater, similar to a porcupine). It is a long time since I last saw an echidna in that bush but Ronnie showed me a couple of echidna homes. He told me with many gestures and pictures drawn in the sand that by this time next year I will see them regularly - and cheekily added, I would have to keep my eyes open and walk at the right time. As I have seen them before I guess I will again.
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 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. 
More houses for the Creative Soul Retreat village. 
Harvey: At last she recognises my Indian roots - dahl on nahn bread. 
Phantom: Can't a bloke have a bit of privacy while he cleans.
so we're both happy. K married a farmer with a shiny new tractor, clean new ute and lots of modern stuff (I had to put that in because F will probably read this). On the farm there is also lots of beautiful rust and F has quickly become an expert at bringing special pieces in and asking K if I would like them. I do. I hear the neighbours have joined the fun and are contributing as well. These two lots are the result of our last two visits - the shearing combs are for a design I have had in my head for almost a year, the rest could become anything, or I might just keep looking at the stash, enjoying the colours and textures.
The pin above has an old rusty lid as it's base and is my comment on landmines. If you would like to buy it drop by my Etsy store.
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.
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.
