This and That

I have been helping out in a jewellery class at school; and picking up a few tips myself. In a quiet hour last week while most of the student's were working on projects I made this bracelet. I think every wire wrap is shaped by a question: Can you show me jump rings again? Is this tight enough? How do I? It was a nice haven, a comfort zone within a comfort zone; wire within teaching. I didn't have anyone in mind as I made this one so I have popped it on Etsy.

Thanks to Sherry, Kate and Dawn for participating in PIF you will get surprises soon.

Pay it Forward

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog." is what I read on the talented and kind Gunnel's blog a few weeks ago. Yesterday this lovely quilted Christmas card arrived in my mail box - despite the fact I was fourth to comment.
Now I make the same commitment to you - I think it will be some of the ATC's from the same series as the one above which will wing their way to you.

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'.

Mid-week Art

I found this picture of a tri-colour Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in an old Readers Digest Condensed Book. In the picture a lovely old lady is holding her CKCS on her lap. Somehow framing it gives the look that 'he' is about to be strangled. Ummm I do understand that feeling, at least once a day - between cuddles.

My Mum commissioned this Cat Food Tin Lid People Posy for a friend; she was pleased with the way this one worked out. I am all done with Christmas commissions now and have one or two special projects I want to complete - then it will be free play for a couple of months, YeeHa!

I have received a lot of amazing art and treats in the mail this week and will make my next post a celebration of arty friends.

Intention, Obsession and Reality

I have been buying typewriter keys for years; how I wish I was in the UK or the USA and could buy whole typewriters cheaply; but I digress. This was the year, and this was the weekend. I was finally going to whip up a batch of earrings, the odd bracelet and ... well who knows. But of course I decided I needed to pull the letters for the first pair apart; they needed cleaning. Then I figured I might as well do the whole set.
It became and obsession, I now have three sets of keys in piles like this on my desk. I am ignoring the others, they are hidden in a drawer again. Perhaps I should sell them, then their dirty glass would not haunt me, but they are so beautiful. Who used them? What messages did they send?
So now I have three sets all clean and ready to put together, a free (except for the vacuum) Sunday afternoon and an overcast creative day. But, now I have decided I might as well drill them all as I put them together - at least 150 tiny holes, the ones in glass with a fine diamond drill bit...
That jewellery might end up gifts for 2008 and you might find chocolates inside this years wrapping paper. I kid you not. I have already given up on Christmas cards and decided to send Happy New Year cards - again - it happened in 2005.
Why couldn't I have just made a set of earrings? I guess the answer is simple, that is not who I am...

A visitor and more

There have been a lot of spiders this year, and I really don't mind them - outside. This one was too close for comfort as I groggily reached for the tea canister this morning. I know he is harmless, I know he eats the flies ... but that does not mean I want to live with him.
So, after the obligatory squeal as my fingers brushed his back I stood up looked around and realised I was alone. Archer could not reach the bench, the boys would not. Bravely I gathered Mr Hairy into a glass, tiptoed outside and released him, over next doors fence.
Note to self: Next time check a) The neighbours are not having coffee on their veranda and b) That I have clothes covering all 'bits'.

on etsy

These teeny tiny junk pins are 1" wide and were such fun to make. If you know where I can source more of these little kilt pins please let me know.

A little more play.

If you would like to see more of the detail in these ATC's then click on the image; they should enlarge. Thank you so much for the encouragement and comments after I posted the first five in this series. I framed up the images for these last weekend and tinkered with them for the rest of the week. I have used some more images of my father and his brothers - all spares from a memory board I did for Dad's 60th a few years ago. I used some pictures from my collection of strangers too.

Thank you also to those of you who have bought some treasures from my Etsy clean out. I am going to put some bigger items on e-bay soon. For now there are some buttons on Etsy.

I have a button addiction. I admit it. I sorted my buttons into colours a few weeks ago. After I had filled one compartmentalised container 20" x 12" and had half filled the second I realised I had more buttons than I could ever use. I have made up a dozen bags of 50+ and will put them on Etsy today.

Look at this fabulous collection of art and ephemera, it was a gift/trade with Sherry. What an amazing lot of thought has gone into this gift, two beautiful pieces of art, some vintage Sunday School lesson cards, ration vouchers from Sherry's family during the war, old photo's and more. Archer got his own little bag of goodies... I truly treasure each and every piece. Thanks Sherry (my e-mails to you are bouncing...).