I finally got around to organizing my studio today. It was very messy and chaotic to work in. Once clean and tidy, I could photograph some new jewelry without having to shove stuff aside.

I've been using a lot of copper wire in my jewelry making lately. It's fun to get out my blow torch and melt the ends of the wire into beads to be hammered flat. And it looks cool when it's oxidized. Steel wire is much harder to melt because it needs a higher temperature and the torch just doesn't cut it.

I'm reading this book now. I started reading Stephen King when I was about twelve and had to stop  for a few years because I began having nightmares. I guess twelve was young to be reading books like that, but I was an avid reader and I read whatever my parents were reading. I began reading his books again in my early twenties and I have read almost everything that he has written. What are you reading?

 This week has been kind of weird. I backed my car into a tree and smashed out the back window and put a couple of dents in the hatchback, just for good measure. I felt like the biggest idiot ever.Then I had to call John and tell him what I did. I'll never live this one down. Lol! And it's not easy trying to tape plastic to the window when it's windy as all hell out and minus 5 and your fingers are numb.


Today we are getting a mishmash of weather. 5-10cm of snow, ice pellets and then rain. Add high winds to that and you have a very  nasty day. And I get to go out into it. I don't really mind that much. I like driving in the snow. I feel cocooned and safe, oddly enough.

I created some new designs in the studio. I really like spirals and I put them in my art work a lot.

Still working on the drawing of dad. Maybe I'll finish it tonight.

Making Soap!

 


I mixed together the olive oil and the lye /water mixture with a hand held

blender until it was the consistency of pudding. I then left it to cook in the crock

pot on high, stirring several times until it reaches the applesauce/mashed potato stage.

 

 


This is what the soap looks like when it's done -- that applesauce/mashed potato

 stage I was talking about.

 


I smashed the soap into the greased mold, which is just a plastic

container, and smoothed the top out as best as I could. The

mixture is very thick and hardens quickly so I move fast.




This is the soap a couple of hours after I put it into the mold. It pops

out easily enough. I let it sit this way for an hour and then I cut it

into bars.




The finished product! Many bars of beautiful, pure soap without

any fragrance added. It has its own clean scent which I love.

It lathers up gorgeously and leaves no residue on your skin.





 I have been making my own soap for years. I started making it because we didn't like the strong scent of a lot of the store bought soaps and the hand made  soap was too expensive to buy. So, I bought a book on soap making at the second hand book store and I taught myself how to make it. It's one of the simplest things in the world to do. Really! I use the hot processed method to make the soap, and it's ready to use the next day.

Work In Progress!

I thought I would post my progress as I draw this picture of my father. Dad's face is interesting because it has lots of wrinkles and creases; just what I like to draw. I'm using a mechanical pencil with an HB lead and a 4b charcoal pencil. I used a grid to get the placement of the features right and I erased it as I went along. I still haven't finished drawing his shirt. I have loads left to do on it and no one area is completely finished.

New Jewelry!

 

Finally, some new jewelry! :)

Happy New Year!

 My goodness, it's been ages since I last wrote. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I thought that Christmas flew by too quickly and I found it hard to get back into the swing of things. January has always been a bad month for me and I hide away. Now it's time to join the world again.

I've just started an online workshop with Misty Mawn and I am having so much fun drawing, which I love to do.

It's a winter wonderland outside today. It's our first major snowstorm and I'm happy. I went into town to pick up the kid's and the roads were very slippery. I love driving in the snow and enjoyed myself very much. 

 I went outside and took some photos and Gennie followed me and had a little play. She loves playing in the snow and gets quite excited and makes funny growling sounds in her throat as she runs crazily around the yard.

Drawing of Scrooge using graphite and charcoal