Copper and Pearls!

Monday already! Where does the time go? I had a great weekend, very relaxing. I hope you did too! 

New Jewelry!

I'm sitting here now drinking a lovely glass of local blueberry wine and it's very delicious. I think I may just have another glass of the sweet stuff.

Today has been very relaxing. I love days like this when I don't have to worry too much about anything. My family is here safe and sound, the animals are sleeping in various spots in the house and I have nothing pressing to do except get up and pour more wine. :)

The sale in my Etsy shop has been very successful and I'm going to list several more pairs of earrings today. Thank you all you wonderful people who make it possible for me to keep doing what I love. :)

Sale!

I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop now until Monday. In order to receive a 15% discount you must type in the code YULE123 in the promo box at the checkout. :)

The Culprit!

Here's a photo of the culprit who chewed up my slipper. Isn't she sweet...

Christmas Shopping!

I can't put it off any longer. My sister called me this morning and asked me if I wanted to go Christmas shopping. I said yes. I'm notorious for leaving everything until the last minute including my holiday shopping. I could see the most perfect gift in August but I can not bring myself to buy it no matter what. It just goes against the grain. I will always be one of those people who is still shopping on Christmas Eve and that's part of it for me.

 I have started  making my hand made gifts in the evening when I'm done work for the day. I really enjoy settling down and getting out whatever I'm working on while my family and I hang out. It's so relaxing until our dog (Gennie) tries to snatch it out of my hand because she wants to play. I found my new slipper, that I had spent an afternoon making, chewed up on her dog bed. I love her! Lol!

I made some earrings this week and now they are completely finished. I'll list them in my Etsy shop tomorrow.

I woke up to snow yesterday morning. I love snow! And I love my job! I feel so lucky to be able to walk a few feet to my studio to work and to be able to make my own hours. I spend peaceful time in that cozy room making jewelry and journals that I then send out to interesting places all over the world.

There's a lot of work involved. Creating the things I sell being only a small part of it. Supplies have to be bought and reordered when low. Once the steel wire jewelry is made it has to be tumbled polished ( placed in a container with soap, water and steel shot) for hours and then placed in the oven on low heat to make sure it's completely dried because steel will rust if wet. I can also change the color of the wire by heating it at different temperatures for different colors.  The copper jewelry is oxidized and sanded to create depth. It's then photographed and the photos have to be downloaded to my computer and edited. Once that's done, I write a description, set a price and list it on Etsy. When a piece sells, I send a thank you note to the customer, print out an address label, package and wrap it, put it in an envelope and head off to the post office. As well, I maintain a Facebook business page and this blog.

So it is a real job that takes a lot of work, but I love it and would not change a thing. 

          Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

This journal was a lot of fun to make. I never really know what the finished journal will look like until it's completely finished. Once the painting and stamping and splattering and edging is all done, I get out my  button jar and my colored threads and I lay different buttons on the journal to see which one I like the best. The color of the button and thread can change the whole look of the journal. When the button is chosen I pick the thread that matches the button. I run the thread through a piece of beeswax that I have to wax it which makes the thread slide easily when I'm binding the pages. It smells good too.

Thrift Stores!

 I dislike shopping very much, but I love going to thrift shops and looking through all the stuff there. I buy used books and Christmas decorations and mini lights. I found a really cool vintage jar and loads of buttons which I use on my journals and in some of my mixed media work. I buy clothes to recycle for the art dolls that I make. I get 100% wool sweaters that I use to make the felted slippers that I like to wear. I buy curtains and candles -- I have enough candles to last me all winter. I bought the coolest lamp yesterday and some sparkly snowflake decorations.

Some people have issues with shopping at thrift stores. I don't. I'll always find something interesting and different. I got most of my storage units and containers and baskets for my studio there, and the loveliest red curtains for my dining room -- brand new.

Last year I found several wreaths there with the electric candle in the middle, like the ones we used to hang in our windows at Christmas time. Ours were long gone so I was so excited to find these. Now both my sisters and my dad have one, and me, of course. All for very little money.

I buy brass pots for my plants and I got the nicest wool coat one year that I still wear. I go to my favorite thrift store at least once a week. I never know what treasures will be waiting for me when I walk in. :)

Here's a link to a site with  instructions on how to make felted slippers out of wool sweaters.

I've been going crazy making journals for Etsy for Christmas. They are a lot of fun to make and I get to paint as well. I make the covers in my studio and I bind the pages onto the covers in the house while I'm watching tv. 

  I will also be making some jewelry this week for the shop.

I never did finish the watercolor I started. I change my mind from one day to the next on what I want to work on. If I was an octopus I could do everything at once.

Tiddles is a little more relaxed today. Once she gets used to the noises around here she'll be fine.

Tiddles is Here!

Tiddles is here! She's really nervous and jumpy which is understandable. She bonded with my daughter, Rebecca, and follows her everywhere and sleeps on her bed.

Gennie, Roman and Ickles don't seem to be bothered by her and are going about their business as usual.

New Journal and New Cat!

 Sitting here waiting for Tiddles, our new cat, to arrive on a jet plane. She's coming to live with us and we're very excited! She'll probably be a little overwhelmed when she first gets here because we have two other cats and a dog and she's coming from a single cat household.

Simon, our cat, passed away last Friday and John just happened to wake up as he was dying, so he wasn't alone. I miss him very much. He acted like such a big, tough cat, but he was a sweet heart.

Here's a couple of images of a journal I just finished today and listed in my Etsy shop.

Jewelry!

New Jewelry!

I spent yesterday in the studio making some jewelry. It rained and rained while I was in there.

 

John bought me a new macro lens for the camera and I used it to take these photos. I love it! Thank you, John!

finally put some fairy lights around my studio window

Bacon and coffee for breakfast in the afternoon, cheesy Halloween movies on tv, overcast, windy day outside, while inside I'm here with my family. It really doesn't get any better than this.

 

  



I love weekends, especially Saturdays! Later, we'll go to Canadian Tire and I'll buy some potting soil so I can re pot my spider plant and plant some spider babies that I have in water.

Still no painting finished but I do have a clean bathroom closet and the hardwood floors have been washed.

Enjoy your weekend!

Random Photos!



Old building in Boat Harbour



John and I take loads of photos.  These photos have been taken over the last year, all of them taken, except for the Boat Harbour photo, on one of our many walks.

I have my drawing transferred onto watercolor paper which I just finished stretching. I went to the art supply store today and bought some masking fluid, some new paint brushes because I destroyed all of my good ones doing mixed media work, and a tube of yellow ochre. I know I paid too much for these supplies but I didn't want to wait to have them shipped from Curry's. Tomorrow I begin the painting. I have two drawings ready to be transferred which I will do tonight while I watch The Tudors...

Well, I wrote the above yesterday and I didn't get a chance to send it, and here it is 4:30 and I still haven't touched my painting. I did manage to get out my watercolors and practice a bit on scrap paper because it's been so long since I used them, and I couldn't possibly paint in the mess that I call a studio.

I had the car today and it's a sure thing that if I have the car I'll make three or four trips into town before the day is through. Being in traffic wears me out and pisses me off, so by the time I reach home I have a headache.

I did get another couple of drawings transferred to watercolor paper last night while watching my show, and I went through my Christmas magazines to pick out crafts to make for the upcoming holiday season. I love doing that every year.