We all need some Magic in our Lives....

It's been a really tough week.  To approximately 51 percent of the population, I don't need to explain this.

So we can all use fairy  magic, kindness and good heart right now.

This fairy necklace has a vintage pocket watch enameled face and a clock gear that I added just a touch of patina. ( fairy dust?)

The heart is salvaged from vintage jewelry, probably not super old ( 80's?)  but added a nice touch.  The chain is actual clock chain.  I ran across some unused chain from a retired clock repair guy.

So here is my good wishes to all that's really had to struggle to deal this week.  I feel you. 

Whatever good vibes my wand can grant, I give to you.

Bats in the house

I wish I only referred to my awesome bracelet and earrings, but alas, we get bats sometimes.  Since we got the roof repaired 3 weeks ago, it's only been 2, so maybe we finally got the access closed up again.  Occasionally one comes in through the fireplace.  The hazards of living in a 1920's house in a well treed neighborhood. 


Bat's are actually great creatures, I just don't really like them flapping around inside my house.  But these guys, as jewelry? Cat's Pajamas!

Before the roof got fixed - yep 3 of them.  (total that day was 6)

Soul Music

Made with a vintage saxophone key,  opal, vintage brass, and chain.

I like how it looks like the sax key and the angel are  being "lifted" by the double winged serpents .  That's how good soul music played on a sax should be... lifting you up.

If only you could bottle time........ and Planned Parenthood Booksale!

I know I've made these before, but each one is soooo different! This one has both vintage clock and watch parts in it, and I added a clock face charm.

But unfortunately  I can only bottle it metaphorically.   (word for the day anyone?? )   I never seem to have enough time to get done what I have to do and what I want to do.

Now that I'm feeling better, this weekend I want to make fantastic jewelry and sort through my personal books and get them donated Monday to Planned Parenthood for the Fall booksale October 18-22th.

Now I'm not going to argue over abortion in my blog, other than to say it's a very tiny part of the overall health services offered by planned Parenthood.

If a person has strong objections to abortion they should be the front line supporters of Planned Parenthood -- because they prevent more unplanned pregnancies year in and year out by providing birth control at low cost in a positive environment.  They help prevent the spread of diseases.  They help catch cancer in women, often at earlier stages leading to better medical outcomes.

In so many areas, Planned Parenthood is the ONLY venue woman have for health services.

They are under attack and in Iowa one of the ways they fight back is BOOKS!

The Booksale has been going on for over 40 years, because I remember going with my Mom every year when I was a kid.  (and now as an Adult I try to get her there as well!)

It's Huge!!!! the take over the whole 4-H Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and it's filled to the rafters with books, DVD's, records and magazines.  If you love books, it's magical!

So I'm gonna help out by donating a bunch of books, and then I'll help out by buying a bunch at the sale.

OH, I am donating some beady books as well :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO BOO!!

Today my baby is 22.  So we did girl's night at home.... Chicken wings, pasta and brownies and watched Last Holiday.


The meaning of life is...... Butter.

Happy Birthday my Babygirl!

What's on my table this week

 It's late, and I'm running behind like I usually am.  but I really am trying to get my blog back to 3 times a week, so here is a quickie.  The top picture is stuff I've pulled to work on a few weeks ago, and I'm slowing picking stuff out to actually use... and the below pic is what's actually on my desk right now... flute parts.  This flute I couldn't date, but I'm guessing is 1950-60's due to wear and what the case looked like.  It's not as old as some of the flutes we have had but I would guess it's in the worse shape, part of the body was actually kind-of.. well, bent.  just slightly, but I can't imagine that helped the sound quality.  This is one of the What Cheer buys from August!

One interesting part of the flute is most of the keys were in sets' of 3.  So I'm getting a bunch of earrings out of this flute ( the first flute we got every key was slightly different sized... again part of why I think it's newer.. if the keys are more uniform then it's probably cheaper to produce them)

Jerry has kindly cut the keys off, and now I'm doing some extra filing and sanding for smooth corners and I'm cleaning them up and polishing them.

I'll definitely have new flute earrings for Farmer's Market on the 24th!

Space Evy

Foot release lever from sewing machine, 1950-60's broach and butterfly.  I wanted to create the picture of a butterfly landing on a flower in a field of them.....

One of my Sisters is in the process of buying a house.  Naturally I helped her look for one...  which in hindsight was a mistake, because now I keep looking at a new house for ME and that's not going to happen.

My other Sister is hard at work renovating her house and creating a new bedroom and craft room for herself.  I get pictures almost daily of the progress. 

It makes me salivate, the idea of getting some work done on my house, assuming I just can't get another house.

When Jerry and I moved here, we were like this is our forever house.  We were never ever gonna move. 

Now Jerry just has one word when the subject comes up: stairs.  As in this house has too many.  As much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to have mobility issues or at least pain, and stairs are not my friend.  At some point hauling stuff up and down 3 flights of stairs isn't going to work anymore.

When we bought this house, my jewelry empire fit into a couple of drawers and a couple of shoe boxes.  I had no dedicated space for making stuff.  The first couple of years of my obsession it fit into a rolling set of plastic drawers that fit in the closet.  I would just roll it out when I wanted to work on stuff.

At some point, I had so much stuff I took up the spare bedroom, which is the smallest room in the house.

When my stuff threatened to overflow that space, we got a contractor in and remade the attic space as my studio. 

I really love my house, and I love my studio.... but Jerry, darn his hide, is right.  At some point going up and down all those stairs isn't going to be practical. 

So I've been facing the idea that this isn't my forever house, and I've found a couple of houses on the market right now that would be just about perfect for my family and my business.

Timing isn't right right now.

And I find all of this kind-of depressing.

And I look around my house and think how the space isn't working as well... how I really want a fully functional kitchen.  How I can't stand how cluttered the first floor has gotten.

The worse part of depression is how it just sort of freezes you in place.. how it sucks your ability to move to make decision or get anything done.

So  the first thing I need to do, regardless if this is our forever house now or we move sometime in the future, is to make our space right now better. 

I hate housework, but it's time to put my big girl panties one and just get it done.

So get it cleaned up, get the little things that are bugging me fixed (the things I can get done via a handyman for just a few bucks.  The kitchen is 2 big a fix.. but the hole in my studio? that's doable )

We need to get rid of the graveyard of dead mechanicals, formally known as my living room.  I want my living room back.  We have a bunch of empty sewing machine tables right now.. we have room and use for maybe 4? and have like 10. 

The cats have completely destroyed the love-seat.  Maybe I can find something used that won't pretzel-ize my budget?

Little baby steps.  That's all I can do.  But maybe if I get enough steps in I'll actually get somewhere.

Earrings - just earrings

 I've been ranting / whining a bunch lately, so here is a blog just about my jewelry-- earrings.

I love making earrings, and while I probably love making them with watch parts more than anything else, it's good to stretch and make earrings out of other types of parts.

Above are cogs from a adding machine... the hole in the middle is raised like a tire hub.  I carefully put crystals in the whole and then crystals all around the hole and I love how they turned out.  They kind of make me think of the 1950's cluster earrings !   but these are made from gears!!

This picture shows a wide variety of parts... the first pair is from a clarinet, then the moon and crystals are from a sewing machine, the bottom pair with the ruler? that's actually from a type writer and  top part is loose washers from jeans? I think it was jeans. 

The last part on the far bottom is adding machine cogs and drop crystals.

the back pair is my famous time in a bottle... with watch parts.

This Post is a Whine-Rant. (whimper) you have been warned!

Vintage Adding Machine parts as Earrings.  

Let me start out by saying I'm just fine now, thanks.

Then let me whine.. I have Asthma and I hate it and it sucks.

Or rather, it doesn't suck... it doesn't blow either.  Asthma is when your lungs decide to not work right and they don't grab oxygen and pump it to your other body parts. 

I've been diagnosed with Asthma now for over 10 years, and honestly I've had breathing issues off and all my entire life.

For the most part, it's doable.  It means I need to be aware of my environment at all times, because my asthma can be triggered by smoking, hair spray, flowers, perfumes, cleaning products and a wide variety of things. 

Seriously, I've been triggered by someones hair conditioner 7 hours after they had their shower.

So if you are standing by me and taking to me, and I start to shy away and put distance between us, it's probably cause something you are wearing is making me twitchy in a bad, "oh dear I can't breathe" kind of way.

Please don't take it personal, I know my lungs are defective.  Now you do too!  Isn't shinny new knowledge fun?!?!?

So for the most part, if I can stay away from the triggers I don't need to even use my inhaler.

But like all chronic diseases occasionally you have a bad day.   A day where you wake up and there is a 25 lb SOMETHING already pressing on your chest, and it's hard and hurts to take a full breath, and it's tight, and scary I know one of these days I'll end up in the hospital.  Soooo looking forward to it.

You use your rescue inhaler, and you try not to move for awhile and try to figure out if something is triggering it or if it's a bad lung day and your just going to struggle the whole of it.

Saturday was a bad lung day.

I've had quite a few bad lung days this summer.... The humidity doesn't help.  Humidity hasn't ever been my favorite thing but the last few years It's becoming hard to deal with.

I seem to struggle more when it rains ... change of pressure maybe?  Or it kicks up all the plant stuff?

Not sure.

I had to miss a Farmer's Market this past weekend, which really sucks.  I hate the idea they think I'm not reliable. 

In the last 20 years of doing my jewelry business... I've only missed 4-5 shows due to illness.  Most of them have been in the last 6 years as my asthma gets worse.

Yet another reason to limit the number of shows I do.   I look back at the 25+ shows I use to do years ago and I'm amazed at that person.  Where has she gone?   I wore her out I did!

I think my current schedule of 10-12 shows is probably all I can get away with anymore.  Add in Jerry's work schedule and it's a miracle we are getting that many in this year.

OK I'm done, I've spilled my spleen, I feel better.  Maybe.  I'm going to finish some pieces for the gallery today, so that definitely makes me feel better.  Happy Labor Day!  So glad it's not Labored Breathing Day!