Never as planned

I am going to look to this holiday season as a lesson learned ("Yet another?" I ask myself!)

It is now the day after Thanksgiving and I find myself without enough items in my Silver Lining shop and nothing really new in Herding Cats either. I have been trying to get new silver items made and spend some time at my neglected beading bench but 5 days off from the FTG (full time gig) don't seem to be working out the way I would like them too.

I got 2 new pieces done in the days just before my folks showed up for Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday by the way...)

and I now find myself torn between sitting in the livingroom visiting or hiding in The Studio creating... (So here I am posting a blog instead?) What to do, what to do...I've got to find a way to get back to work...or have I missed the holidays already?

Payoff!

Mid-week I discovered that I did not have to work the "Full Time Gig" on Sunday and quickly called to see if I could slip into my beloved Farmers Market. I thought it would be the responsible thing to do, being the holidays and all... but behold there was no room! For a short time I contemplated looking for another place to set up my tent on a chilly sunny Sunday morning, then I suddenly felt a strange sense of relief. I had most of Saturday to myself in The Studio then Saturday evening was spent in The Office Gallery in downtown Orlando displaying pieces from both Silver Lining and Herding Cats collections. It was a great evening amongst some old and new friends. I got home and unloaded by 11pm and waltzed right back into the studio knowing that I no-where to rush too in the morning! (Jeff was please also since he did not have to wake up at 7am to help me after working till 2am at his FTG.) We got up early, Jeff had to be at work by 9am, I ran some errands and picked up a small breakfast souffle.

What a treat the boys and I sat outside, in the sunshine enjoying breakfast.

Roger in his usual place. He's a crazy Bengal who loves water...

...Houdini, our "Tree Cat". He can, has and will spend all day sleeping in that plant pot!

Once breakfast was done I headed in to the computer for some much needed ETSY updating. I was signed up as a Showcase Artist today so some minor maintenance was needed. About a half hour later I headed into the studio and the fun began. I finished Christina's creation today. This is the first piece I have made that had more than 10 solder joints...not an easy task but it's done, finally! It's hard to tell by this is a beautiful purple Drusy and a small Amethyst.

I photographed some pieces that I have completed in the past 2 days...

Picasso Collection

Snowfall

...and expended many calories shuttling between The Studio and the computer keeping my Showcase updated at least every other hour.

The end result is 2 (maybe 3) items sold today!

Now that may not be a big deal for some of those longtime, big producers at Etsy but considering I missed a day at the Market AND I got to spend the day making stuff I am very excited.

Oh and by the way, you might not see this on in the shop since I am thinking about keeping it, I love the colors!

Have a great week, see ya'll soon!

An Ernest Effort

(Take 2...I just lost the whole ^&*%$ thing...)

In an attempt to keep my promises I fear I might be doing this blog a great injustice. As I sit at this computer the beading bench behind me in the office is a complete disaster:

Another great injustice...my Beloved Beading Bench in disarray. Time was not too long ago I could not go more than 3 days without sitting here.

Now I'm not going to lead anyone astray, this mess was not created in one day. No it's been this way for a while, partially a result of an afternoon frantically trying to get two pieces ready for this past weekends 2 events. May I introduce:

Bahama Sands

I wrote a short bit ago that I will no longer be selling pendants, they will all be incorporated into necklaces. (This lovely little gem has been posted on the Silver Lining Shop this evening.) I just love the colors of the Laguna Agate beside the Peruvian Opal and Citrine.

Most importantly this means that my beloved Beading Bench will not be neglected much longer. Once I begin producing more of these beauties I will be spending more time with all of those gorgeous gems patiently waiting for me to come back!

I also spent some of the weekend finishing a ring featuring my first piece of Druzy:

Moon Dust

A wonderful wide hammered band with touches of 14 caret gold, accent the colors in the center of this huge collection of little sparkles!

Have a wonderful, peaceful evening!

The Tribe in my kitchen

It may come as a surprise to some that know me that there were a few things about living in the Desert Southwest that I did appreciate, mainly the art. It seemed to be the only place with such a culture of art that I connected with. The colors that we painted in that house reflected the mountains that could be seen outside our kitchen window. And although our little backyard was totally surrounded by brick we did the best we could by adding texture and the colors of the surrounding desert.

Considering we only lived in Nevada for 4 years (and worked our butts off constantly) we collected more art in that area then any other place we have visited or lived. The piece of Rock Art that hung in that kitchen (now in this kitchen) reflected the colors we have latched onto. The funny thing is the color of the sun in this piece exactly matched the color paint I had purchased for the kitchen just days before. We found this piece the day the moving truck dropped off our belongings from South Florida, so, as you can see the connection to the art happened almost instantly, unlike my taking the lifestyle into my heart, that never really happened...although I tried I promise.

<--Us at the Grand Canyon
The little tribe that lives in my kitchen will be with me for a long time. They remind me of family, union and tradition, which is scarce in my little family. (More on that later some other time.)

I have been finding the southwest sliding itself into my jewelry since I've begun my deviation away from wedding jewelry.

Just recently I purchased my first piece of Wildhorse Jasper with many thanks to Jim at Jimsgemscabochons. My first thought was "this looks just like a map of the desert." I showed it to Jeff and he though it looked just like the map of Central Nevada. (Growing up on Long Island and living in Florida the landscape of the desert is still amazing to me.) I immediately had a plan for this stone, I just had to find the right person for this concept. I wanted to give the stone a large background and continue the line right off the stone on to the silver. It's a bit of a stretch but that's what came first and I'm learning to go with those first ideas. Here's what came if it:


Now for the connection to that little tribe in my kitchen (bet you were wondering where the heck this was going, eh?)
Meet Floyd...

Now Lois, you don't need to keep this name but Floyd lived in our community in Kissimmee where we lived before Nevada. (Follow me here.) Floyd was our self proclaimed Pool Monitor. He would walk around the community pool asking people for their pool keys as evidence that we all belonged there. We would often see Floyd walking home from the pool, pool-noodle in hand. Everyplace we have lived has had a Floyd, and although there is no disrespect meant to this Tribal Leader in the Making, he reminds me of Floyd and his noodle patrolling the pool deck.

Okay so I'm done...Lois, Floyd is in the mail.