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!

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.