Back Home!

I had the best vacation this year! I got to relax and read books and spend lots of time with family! The weather in Florida was beautiful and I spent most of my time outside by the pool listening to the wildlife that was all around me.

When I got home to the cold and fog, I became ill and spent a week on the couch. I'm all better now and I'm getting back into my studio again. I have several unfinished projects that I want to complete and a load of art work that needs to be inventoried and framed. I have a tendency to paint something and then put it in a pile. I'm going to start adding some mixed media paintings and art dolls to my store over the next month too. 

 

Doll Update!

My son thinks she looks like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Lol! He wonders why all my doll faces are kind of creepy. I don't know...that's the way they turn out. I do like creepy, though. Once her hair is on she'll look completely different. Maybe I'll give her a hat and some earrings and a fancy scarf...

New Jewelry!

I finished painting and varnishing the doll face, hands and feet yesterday. Tonight I work on the body and putting everything together. I'm not sure how she will be dressed at this point. I'm thinking vintage; I want her to look like she's been around for years and years. No name or story yet either. 

A Doll in the Making!

I sculpted the head, feet and hands for an art doll  over the weekend using polymer clay. I baked the pieces in the oven and today I will paint the face and make her come alive. Once the doll is done, I'm hoping to put it in my Etsy shop.

This is Alice and she is naughty. She talks in the library and has to constantly be shushed by the librarian.

Alice is unfinished!

Hope you're enjoying the weekend! :)

I'm Back!

I decided that I didn't like my new blog as much as this one so I came back! This one is much easier to use and loads much faster.

Dad is still in the hospital. He has pneumonia now and the doctor said it would be two to three months before he will be able to go home.

I've been sick and haven't been in the studio for a couple of weeks until yesterday. I spent the afternoon working on an aceo for my dear friend, Stacy. I filled some Etsy orders, as well. Today I spend the afternoon in the studio again. Happy day! :)

New Website!

Hi Guys, I have a new website and I now can be found here:

http://www.dogberryhill.ca/

Had lots of snow over night and lots of snow to shovel this morning. It's a beautiful wonderland outside and so cold. It was a very good day to cook a turkey. Also a good day to list some new jewelry in my Etsy shop.

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

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!