random thoughts

This weekend is the steampunk show in Boone...  Getting ready for my darling Daughter's graduation from high school and then the joint grad party for her and for her Dad, who now has 2  shinny new degrees to add to his Anthropology degree of 20 + years ago...

BUSY! 

but never too busy for making earrings!  (Only for washing dishes)

The last weekend of May is my first Farmer's Market of the year... wheee!!

And then I can fall down in a heap for like 5 minutes, as we won't have another show til Mid-June.  Yes, Kat has breaks this year in the show schedule, who would have thought???  

(I'm negotiating a quickie girl's weekend one of those free June weekends... hint hint Cathie & Sue) 

Speaking of Random Acts of Kindness, while we were in the Quad cities this weekend, someone did a pay it forward on it.... bought us diner! wow!

Love this stuff!! We have done a couple of things to carry it forward this week, but telling about it seems like bragging... so just know we are doing our parts.  Go out and give someone a tip for $20.00, or pic up someone Else's tab or just compliment someone on a kewl shirt... it's amazing how good you feel and how good the other person will!!!

Jerry wants more Hawaiian shirts.  I guess it's been a few years since I found a decent ( read: gawds awful ) one for him... hm.....

For some strange reason, orange ( melon actually) seems to be my favorite color today, it's normally Cobalt.  I saw a gal wearing a skirt with little flowers on the edges in this color today and it's just stuck in my mind and won't leave. 

I wonder if I have any beads that are the right color?

Is everyone watching I-Zombie on the WC?  if you are not, you are missing out! 


Tonight I'm making up rings and pendants using watch parts, while catching up on house work.  (laundry and toilets today, ugh)


What fun ( or not so fun ) things are going on in your house tonight? 

Random Acts Of Kindness

Life has been..... harsh, lately.  Not Armageddon bad, just rushed and uncomfortable and a tad  depressing.  I won't bore you with details, because well, I won't.

But a random act of kindness made my day.  It's sooo easy to forget how just a tiny piece of consideration can go so very very far.

I was running late to my day job, and near strangers ( as in we work at the same company but not on the same floor so I don't know their names but recognize them from just being in the same building) not only held the elevator longer than the unofficial 3 second office building rules, but they even pressed my floor button for me -- with out me saying it.  They knew me enough to know what floor I am on!! 

Such a small thing, but really, it brightened my day.  The best thing is I doubt they have any idea how it effected me, it's just cause they are nice folks.

It got me to thinking about random acts of kindness and how good it made me feel to receive... and how good it feels to pass it on.

At the junk Jubilee a gal with long hair joked she needed a hair scrunchy when I asked if I could help her.  She and her mom didn't buy anything, but I remembered as they left the booth I had one tucked in my bag for emergencies .. so I  followed her into the next booth and gave it to her.  She was astonished and offered to pay for it, and I turned her down, because honestly the grin on her face when I presented it to her was payment enough.  It brightened my day giving her that -- a random act of kindness cuts both ways! 

I've resolved that I"m going to actively start seeking out ways to pass on that kind of happy.     The tiny bits of happy that anyone can enjoy.  

Cause really, what else can we control in our lives, but those little moments of shared joy? 

Getting ready for Waverly Walk

This weekend Jerry and I will be in Waverly Iowa this Sat. For the 10th annual Waverly Art Walk.  We haven't done this show every year -- but it's a great show and I'm looking forward to it.  And the weather should be perfect!

The first walk we did was the 2nd.  I love how it's grown and improved over the years-- and the venue is gorgeous and along the river.  

If you are in the area plan to stop by for a couple of hours.  The show runs 10-4pm.

Open letter to the evil thieving..... person

This is a open letter to the evil thieving .. person who stole this necklace, one of my one eye monsters.. one of the flightly sisters... I hope you rot in hell.  When you steal not only is it bad for your soul but you are materially and spiritually hurting another person.  Karma will catch up with you.  Hope it was worth it.

Junk Jubilee: when I win the lottery.......

These are the things I would buy:

 These Lamps are fab fab fab, and actually once we are firmly in the 2 income family group and are done buying off colleges, we could probably afford them!  So in 10 years....

 It's just as well this is out of my price range at $1295.00, because Jerry's like it won't fit in any of the doors except the garage... so If I want it for the garage.... ugh! I can daydream right? that it was possible to get it up in the attic.  I would kill for something like this up there... sigh.....

 I can't believe how clean these are.. I've seem stuff like this before but usually it's smelly (moldy/rusty) but this one is stellar clean and good shape!  If anyone in the DSM area can get it in their house, I think $1295.00 is pretty reasonable.  It's got to be 9-10 feet long.

Now this could fit in my house, but alack, it's almost $2400.00.  It's octagonal if you can't tell from the picture, and yes, it revolves.  Can you imagine this just right by your desk?????   each pyramid shaped drawer has 2 sections in it.    DROOOOLLLLLLLLL

Still someday I'll win that lottery !

come down to the Junk Jubilee and find your own treasures!

Junk Jubilee Starts Tomorrow!!!

I'm very excited, we are doing our first official show of the season starting Tomorrow (April 24th) at the Iowa State Fairgrounds... Junk Jubilee!    It's a three day show, it starts offically tomorrow at 10, runs til 6pm, same on Sat. and on Sunday it's 10-4pm.  It costs $6 at the door, but it's worth every penny -- some of the best midwestern anitque dealers and reclaim artists will be there.  I'm in good good company... Above are some of my elegant clock part bracelets ready for the show.

Since it's both a anitque and a art show, I"m also going to have a small selection of old bits we can't use in the business.  So if you are into steampunk creating yourself, it's worth a peek in my destash bins.  Clock parts, Watch and pocket watches, bits of typewriters, sewing machines, and adding machines already taken apart... so the hard part is done for you.  

Home to see you there! 

Tonight is Prom Night!

So, Tonight is the Night, and it's not just Jesscera and friends... she's going with a date. 

WOW.

So anyway, Jesscera for the first time ever requested jewelry for her prom, and she wanted armlets, bracelets for her arms, to go with the vague Greek theme of her dress.

I was delighted to help her with this, and I got to play with my hammers, which are pretty neglected of late. I used 14Ga  sterling silver round wire, carefully shaped and textured, and then bent into a bracelet.  I'm pretty pleased, I only had to refit it once to make it work for her.

Bree ( of the shopping fame) came over to help her get ready, which seemed to consist of lots of giggles and making Jesscera do things she normally doesn't do.  ( she's wearing a tiny, tiny tiny dab of make up... horrors!)

Here is Jesscera showing the whole ensemble off.

Here is a close up of the shoe.

Here is a close up of the armlet.  She has one for both arms.

And here is her Date!

I hope you have a good time sweetie, makes lots of memories!!

future jewelry........

Parts from 1940's Monroe Adding machine, 1950-51 typewriter, and not entirely sure but old stuff....
soon to be jewelry for Junk Jubilee  April 24th!

Mission impossible: to find the bay leaf........

I love the blues and green mixed together in this bracelet!

Jerry loves lasagna - course who doesn't love lasagna?   And I make a mean lasagna... but it's more on the sweet than savory side, and it's good to try new recipes.  The rule around here is follow the recipe exactly as presented, then tweak as needed.  

So Jerry picked out this recipe for a lasagna, and one of the ingredients was bay leaf.  I've never used bay leaf before, and the directions said to remove the bay leaf before making up the lasagna layers... so you used it for flavor but don't eat it.

That puzzled me, but I thought nothing of it.  It also had directions to add basil only after the sauce has simmered , just before you put it in the casserole pan.  That really puzzled me.. I've used basil for years, and I think it improves the longer it simmers in the sauce!   But again, in the spirit of things, I tried to follow the directions.  (and people who use basil have very strong feelings about it, so what the hey, I'll try it once) 

It called to mix cottage cheese and ricotta cheese together for the creamy cheese layer.  I'm good with that.. I love ricotta cheese, but Jerry is a fan of cottage cheese, and mixing it together works well, making the layer less runny ( cause no matter how much you drain the cottage cheese, it's always  runny in that layer)  that part of the lasagna had lovely texture.


It was only after the lasagna was in the oven and baking that I realized 2 things: 
     1.  I forgot to remove the bay leaf
     2.  I didn't add the basil

ARRRGH! 

Now I needed to know why you remove the bay leaf... is it poison?  that makes no sense, why would you cook with it at all???  buy why do you have to remove it then?

Thank goodness for the Internet... the reason is the leaf  itself has sharp edges and cans puncture the inside of a mouth or lodge in the throat, and in extreme cases slice up your stomach.  ouch! 

So Jerry and I have been carefully eating our lasagna.  so far 1/2 of the leaf was found.  There are 2 portions left in the fridge, so it's either in them or someone ate it.. but how you wouldn't be able to tell I don't know.  the 1/2 leaf was in my portion... it was like chewing sharp spiky leather. 

Honestly the lasagna wasn't bad, it certainly wasn't sweet! I missed the basil in it, and next time I'm gonna add it in with everything else. But frankly this supports my long term believe that while lasagna takes time to make, it's really a simple dish and hard to muck up.  

will I use the bay leaf again? honestly I want to make it without once to see if it's worth the effort.  The dish had a lovely savory mix of flavors, and much more complex herbal taste that my personal "sweeter" version of lasagna.  I don't know how much of that is from the bay leaf.  From reading about cooking with bay leaves it really can add under tones to your food.  I have a whole little jar full of them right now.....

I think experimenting with food is almost as much fun as playing in the studio!!  

Now, if only someone else did the dishes........

We now interrupt this jewelry blog with .... prom dress shopping??

Jesscera and Best Buddy Bree! (and the Mom is hiding behind them)

 Last weekend I did something I wasn't sure I would ever do.. shop for a prom dress.  I never went  I'm not sure I exactly regret not going to my proms, but I know that I probably wouldn't regret had I gone either.  It's sort of a rite of passage isn't it?

Next!

Jesscera isn't really a girly-girl, and she's not into dating at this stage of her life.  I think she's maybe worn 3-4 dresses since she was little, if that.  She loves to wear t-shirts and shorts and fake crocks and funny hats.  She's quite the character! 

If it was up to her she would probably just skip it, but her friends are going ( some with dates, some without) and they realllllly want her to go.

Aunt Karla, honorary 2nd mom, overcome with emotion....

color is good, but the sleeves are funky!

She asked my opinion, and I told her I couldn't conceive of her regretting going, but she might, down the line, regret not going.  It's very rarely the things we do that we regret, more than the things we don't do.

So dress shopping seemed to be in order.  I've only bought 1 fancy dress in my entire life, and that was years and years ago.  I really had no idea where to go or even where to start!

Fortunately her best buddy is a expert shopper, and proud of it! 
We ended up going to David's Bridal in West Des Moines and that was an excellent place to start -- we ended up buying everything we needed there. 

Finally the perfect dress, the perfect fit!

These are the shoes, aren't they darling?? We are getting them dyed to match her dress...

 And here is the really exciting thing for me, the Mom and independent jewelry designer!

Jesscera actually asked me to make her jewelry for the dress!! this is the first time she really wanted me to make her something!  ( seriously, she's not girly-girl) 

Happy and victorious shoppers! Time for Olive Garden!

I'm really excited, not only does she want me to make something, but it makes me even more involved in this part of her life.

So that's on the list for this coming weekend....

My Schedule is updated... lookie, 7 Downtown Des Moines Farmer Market Dates! woooo!

It's hard to see in the photo, but the drop crystal is spike shaped.  yummy!  The cutie dragonfly sniffin' a flower is pretty cute as well!

I'm so unbelievably jazzed... I got 7 (count them!) slots this year for Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market... woooo hoooo! Wooot! and all words that start with W that means Wow!


Anyway, finally having my dates for FM prompted me to get my schedule updated.... so take a look! I've got 13 dates upcoming so far. 

Happy Dance!

first show is just 4 weekends away.... eep!

I made this on girl's weekend.. I think I was inspired by all the companionship !!

My first show is sort of a different show for me, it's Junk Jubilee . (April 24-26)

I'm really looking forward to it-- It's sort of a antique / recycled art / everything including the kitchen sink show.  Jerry and I checked it out last year and had a blast... some of the art was amazing and of course wall to wall antiques.  Heaven!  Since my jewelry has shifted to mostly my Mechanical Romance line, I feel ( I hope! ) it's a good fit.  If it is they have a equally fab show in the fall..   and they will be service drinks at the show... Bloody Marys, Mimosas, & beer.  How classy is that?  So my fingers are crossed that this will end up being a great venue for us.

This is gonna be a strange strange year I think.  Due to graduations , and other family events this year, I have weekends crossed out that normally I would have 2-3 different shows to consider... I'm getting into some shows I wasn't expecting to and not getting into shows I was hoping for... It's driven me to consider other venues besides art shows, because with the travel limitations we have this year, I have to branch out.

Hopefully next year the hubby will be a full fledged teacher, and that's gonna change things as well... it will be even harder to schedule shows working around whatever his schedule will be.  On the other hand, next year might be a good year to slow down shows, and really catch my breath.. we have been doing 20-25 shows every summer for the last 5-6 years. I would like to maybe be in 10-15 shows and be in galleries again.  A slower show schedule would allow me to do a gallery or 2 full time I think...

Another type of show I've thought about, but haven't tried: steampunk convention.  We will be dipping our feet in that market in May, by doing Steampunk Mid-West in Boone IA.  Dates for that is May 16-17th, and  I will have more info in a future blog.

This weekend I'll be updating my website with the list of shows.  I'll all so be working like a mad woman trying to get more inventory done, shopping for a prom dress, and a 1000 other things that I can't get out of.
OK, I don't want to get out of some of them.... now dishes... :)

Just Three Little Words.....

I get some of my best ideas at the most inconvenient times.  For example,  I was drowsy in bed, almost asleep, when I got this wonderful, fantastic jewelry design idea!!   I gave it some thought, all excited, and roused Jerry up and told him to remember 3 words for me.. 3 words to jog my memory the next day of this fabulous, possibly my BEST IDEA EVER, which was morally imperative for me to remember and make.

Here's a idea I had that I sketched cause I didn't have it at 1am in the morning.....

and Look! it actually got made!

What, pray tell, is my BEST IDEA EVER?   Regretfully I don't know, because I didn't remember to ask Jerry the next day, and now he can't remember what the 3 words are either.

This burning hole in our memories is driving such fun behavior as Jerry will be talking about something and then just ask, was one of the words a key??

And I'll just be like how the hell should I know???

It's sort of a family joke now, Jerry has offered "get a life" and Jesscera keeps pressing for "boys have shoes" .  Serious --  no idea what that is suppose to mean.

I really know who to go to next time I need jewelry ideas!! 

I think if he said all 3 words together it would indeed unlock my bear-trap of my brain, and I would remember my BEST IDEA EVER.  But then again, who knows?? Maybe this is just the ONE THAT GOT AWAY.  (and it was THIS LONG)

sigh.

At least I got a lousy blog entry out of it.

Wedding Steampunk

Vintage pocket watch balance piece with crystals.  If I was gonna get married anytime soon I would love this !!

 I've made bridal and bridal gift jewelry in the past as commissions.  I've never really considered making wedding jewelry upfront.  Back in February I was gonna do this show which morphed into a wedding show, and then got canceled...

before it got canceled it got me to thinking about wedding jewelry as a category.  I seriously considered making up a bunch of crystal and pearl stuff, mostly simple stringing, which I know would sell to a wedding minded crowd, but that's not where I am right now artistically. 

 I wanted to make something for a bride to wear but still fit into my main line, Mechanical Romance.

I  worked up one piece before the show got canceled, but I I like it. I did research on wedding jewelry, and it seems to be easily divided into 2 camps: big bling or little bling. This piece is "little" bling.  Actually it got me thinking about Tiaras.. wouldn't a steampunk wedding tiara be really kewl?  That would be big bling....  gears and clock parts and crystals oh my..... maybe attach the veil with chains of crystals hanging down in drapes, and working in some gears?  I think I need to go sketch now...

Yell if anyone wants to commission me for a steampunk wedding!

busy busy busy ......

Made this for a friend that  isn't necessarily into steampunk, and she loved it!

I'm still working on getting through all the blog entries of the Build a Line challenge that just ended on Saturday.. if you haven't gotten a chance, please do check out some  (if not all!! ) of my fellow students/ peers, really some excellent working going on !   You will be glad you did!

I just woke up to the fact that my first show is just 1 month away.  Where did all my precious time go???   So now I really need to buckle down and get more inventory out.. because once the shows start, it's pretty much on going until the end of September, with just a few weekends here and there that will be free.  I'll be updating my show schedule on my website this week, and  I'm planning on spending at least 2 hours in the studio weekday ... now that will never happen but a gal can dream.....

Build A Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques, Kat of Midnight Kat Productions, The last bit!

well here we are, at the end of the road. This is the third and final part of the Build A Line Challenge run by Brenda Sue of B'sue Boutiques.  You can see my first post here, and my second here..


I really want to thank Brenda Sue for leading us all on this journey. It was incredibly generous to offer to lead this class on her own time and for no cost. I'm very glad I decided to go ahead and join in. I really debated up front because I wasn't really sure I wanted to do jewelry in this manner. I didn't want to lose my creative voice and I wasn't sure if I'm at a point in my life where I can really expand on my jewelry output.

I am mostly wrong on count one, and mostly right on count two.. but first let's look at the last few pieces of my line.

When I left off last month, I was trying to get my time on each pin broach down so I could charge no more than $25 and make what I need to make.

Laying out the last 2 designs.

 Unfortunately I just couldn't get my time down, and make a decent, sturdy broach.

So I made the last 2 pieces necklaces, and it saved time because I don't need to attach the pin back.

After factoring everything in (including increased costs of necklace chain), I still ended up with a cost of $35 minimum each piece.

I think I"ll price the pins at $32, and the pendants $40 and see what happens.

I've also kicked around ideas for more expensive pieces to be at the high end of my line. I sketched out a couple of ideas, which I might get to eventually.

I ran into a real roadblock at this point.

sketches of larger, more expensive pieces

While these pieces had meaning while I designed them, I've said what I wanted to say. 

And I'm tired of hearts. I"m tired of doing pieces with hearts in them. 

I think I mentioned in the first blog hop back in January I'm not normally a heart gal. I'm still not a heart gal, and I've reached my limits, for the moment at least, on working with hearts. I really had to force myself to finish the last 2 pieces, though I have to say I love how the bird heart piece turned out.

I guess you could think maybe I just need to pick a different project to work on to develop a line around... but the truth is I'm gonna hit this wall regardless of what I'm making. I like being to hop around materials and themes and not have to make the same thing or work with the same materials day in and day out.

You can hardly tell the bird is a heart.. maybe that's why I like it so much...

Even when I'm working with stuff I love to work with, even if I'm enjoying my design... I can only work on that for so long.

There is also the time factor. I work full-time at my day job, plus I have a house and family to maintain, and I need to sleep and heck, I occasionally like to do something for myself like read a book... There really is a limit to how much time I get to spend working on jewelry or working on my business as it is.

Even though the business right now is an important contributor to my family 's overall financial health, I can't spend more than a hour here and a hour there on it during the weekdays. Every hour I spend in the studio is probably an hour I should be washing dishes or something... right now as I type this it's almost midnight I should be in bed, not writing my blog.

And the other necklace done!

Of course I would love to make more money, to make my jewelry business my only job, it's just not practical right now when I"m the only one bringing in the income. I hope ( I HOPE!!) that in a few years, maybe I can look at this idea seriously.

In the mean time, this adventure has reinforced that it's OK if I make "mini" lines. I was afraid If I applied some basic production line thinking to my jewelry making I was somehow loosing my creativity. That was was "cheapening" my jewelry because I repeated a few designs.

I look at my line of heart and watch faces, and while they are the same in concept, each one is very different. It's OK as an artist to explore an idea in several pieces.. I'm not a fraud for doing so. I can honestly call each pin or necklace OOAK and not be lying or hypocritical.

crappy pic of the whole line, 6 pieces in all.

 That is majoring freeing!! I've played with this already ( See my Big eye monster or my key to time series ) However I really started to think this way when B'Sue announced doing this class.   This gives me the validation I needed to move in this direction... small run, limited collections.

Going forward I will be doing more of these. I enjoy it, I get 6-8 pieces done in the time I might have gotten 3-4 before, and I can be happy and confident that I'm doing good, original work.   I can really set out and explore a concept in my brain, instead of doing 1 piece of it and think, wow, I need to do more.. and never get around to it.




In the future, if my situation or inclination changes,  I now have the basic outline on how to take my business to the next step. 

Ultimately it's about what makes me happy and what makes sense for my situation at this time.

Be sure to see how my classmates have learned during this 3 month adventure!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques (Teacher and leader )

Jewelry Making Outside the Box

 Students:

Marcia Tuzzolino
Aurora Designs
Jann Tague
Clever Designs by Jann
Judy King
Apt to Wander Studio
Linzi Alford
Magpie in the Sky, Spoil Heap Tales
Cynthia Wainscott
Exotic Peru
Carole Carlson
Beadsophisticate
Lynn Stinten
Dragonzwench
Marica Zammit
Bead Lovelies
Catherine Shattuck
VRBrose
Michaele Collie
The Vintage Gem
Mary Craig
Jewelry Alchemy
Lee Koopman
Strega Jewelry
Erin Whitacre
Shattered Time Jewelry
Monica Casady
MJCasady Copper Works
Leila West
Leila Nicole Designs
Cindy Peterson
Howling Dog Jewelry
Leila Belcher
Leila Bee Designs
Gloria Allen
Wings and Beads
Pamela Anger
Novegatti Designs
Tammy Adams
Paisley Lizard
Lynda O'Mara
LOmara Creative
Elizabeth Hildreth
MadScientistsDesigns
Dana Hickey
Wind Dancer Studios
Janet Calardo
Jan Lea Designs
Maria Clark
Sweet Willow Designs
Lori Beekman
B. Accessorized
Jennifer Kroeger
Relic Charm
Amy Jorgensen
Hoarder's Corner
Robin Reed
Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs
Ingrid Anderson
Lilis Gems
Louise O'Shields
Desire Divine Jewels
Susan Killam
Killam Creative
Mary Katherine Deis
The Rose Sword: Artisan and Vintage Collectible Jewelry
Nike Bottalico
Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman
Woodside Wireworks
Kristy Le
Kristy Le Trendy Jewelry Designs
Jan Peters
Stylized Vintage
Mitzie Crider
Needful Luxuries Occasional Blog
Gina Hockett
Freestyle Elements
Linda Anderson
From the Bead Board
Alexandra Sefton
Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art
Melida Boman
The Journey of Pens and Things
Teresa Shurter
TreeZ's Treasurs
Melissa Latimer
Smithed Up
Renee Hong
Fine and Dandy Jewelry and Art
Nadine Edris
Moondance Jewelry
Lori Meyer
Parisienne Girl
Jennifer Merrill Williams
Artists of All Stripes
Denise Lussier Poirier
Jewelry by Denise
Renee Allen
Small Stuff Design
Autumn Adams
Autumn Dawns
Elizabeth Owens
1996 Shabby Lane

Kat BarronMiller  <<<< ME !

Midnight Kat Productions Art Jewelry
Sandra Ballard
Mama San's Mojo
Coral Law
ab:coraldesign

Key to Time Series

This is the sketch which the series is based on.  I knew it had to have clock or watch parts and extra rivets for the hell of it.  

 I've shown a few pictures of this series and promised to do an entry on them, so here it is.  This is my key to time series.  I suppose I could call it how time flies as well, as most of them ended up with wings, either stand alone ones or part of some critter.  Around Christmas time I had a bunch of ideas that I sketched and I've been working through them.  I actually made these keys in January, and I hope they sell well, because I have ideas for more and I had a blast making them!

I picked out the keys to decorate, 8 in all.  I marked where I wanted holes, and Jerry drilled them for me.  Thanks Sweetie!  At this point, I had no definite plans yet.

I've got bunches of keys in my vast horde of stuff now, including old but mundane ones.  Anyone can make kewl jewelry using a skeleton or clock key, but what about those more common fellas?

So that was my goal, make standard ( even though old) keys exiting.

One advantage a standard key has over a skeleton key is they are flat, and you can drill holes in them for rivets.  Thinking about that, I decided that's what I wanted to do , drill several holes in a key and then just fill them and see what happens.  Any holes left over I could just add rivets or mini-screws as decoration. 

Now we are cooking! I've started to lay them out, and planning how I want them to look.  This is my favorite part!

 Usually when I work with vintage keys I make sure you can see most of it, but in this case I wasn't afraid to cover them up.  It's was quite liberating artistically  not to worry about it.  I used the key as the base, not the focus, but I did want people to still know that a key was involved. 

I wanted time involved (cause when do I not? ) so I started with watch faces, and then layered animals, wings, clock parts etc, until I liked each piece.

Group shot, all of the necklaces are finished in this pic...

Then I assembled each necklace, using rivets, mini-screws, and wire wrapping.  I added a drop to each, and chain for necklaces.  I think these would make excellent broaches as well with some modification.  Since I've already shown pics here on the blog and on my Facebook of many of these, I'll just show the owl one close up. 

this one has 3 clock gears layered in, the owl holding a pearl, and draped chain.  notice the 3 rivets for decoration running up the key shank.

My Rainbow Connection... Chainmaile! and mostly random thoughts

Love love love love the colors!!

I know I go on and on and on about my mechanical romance line, and I do love it!  But I still have a soft place in my heart for chainmaile.

It's relaxing and at least the way I do it it's so colorful!   I'm not giving up the rings!  Or color.. I think I''m sneaking more and more color into my Mechanical Romance stuff as well, but that's harder to do without making it look like.. well, icky cheap.  So just a dash here and there.. so when I am hankering for the full bore rainbow, it's chainmaile I turn to.

I need to work on some designs in my Mechanical Romance line that has pearls as well.  On girl's weekend Cathie was a mad woman with pearls, and it got me in the mood.. 3 weeks later and I still want to do something with pearls.

I'm feeling soooo much better today!! Still have a cold, but I'm definitely on the getting better side of the sick range.  All the weird asthma side issues have gone bye-bye!  That is a huge relief right there.

 I'm actually approaching useful today.  I've been busy listing on both my jewelry and destash etsy's ,   
I'm going to start supper shortly... a new crockpot recipe pineapple chicken.  Tonight around 7pm it should be done.. and I'll have to do do then is make the rice.. it looks delish!   I'm working on tumbling and cleaning up some parts from a  vintage 1960's adding machine Jerry took apart for me, and I'm hoping to work on actually ( gasp!) jewelry today. 

So busy busy busy, but with a smile on my face !  I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday as well!  ( and it's gorgeous out at least in my neck of the woods.. Des Moines IA)

The Joys of Asthma -- a Rant

I have a cold.  Now no one wants a cold, it's nasty, messy and it hurts. 

In our enlighten times, to have a cold is to be a social pariah.  You don't want to give your cold to anyone, but there is the little thing called working for a living.  Strangely enough, corporate America expects you to be at work all the time, even if you feel miserable and you are a disease vector.  So going to work becomes a choice between pissing off your peers or not getting paid.  Or you can sacrifice a vacation day/ call in sick... but you only have so many days so that option isn't always there.

So you hunch over your desk, try not to contaminate anyone, and try not to cough ( disrupting your co-workers) or make distracting snorkeling noises just trying to breathe (and disgusting your neighbors )   
Usually you fail at all three.  Last year some person gave me an anonymous note asking me to stop coughing/wheezing/snorting/ etc or leave my desk when I absolutely had to make noise. 

WOW.  That's so practical!  If I had followed that plan I would have been at my desk for 5 minutes the entire day, the rest hiding in the bathroom trying not to disturb my peers.  I wonder what my boss would of though of not working but getting paid for it? I was out of vacation and sick time both, so I had to be at work.

Notice the coward left it anonymously. 


Now, sprinkle Asthma on top of this cheery little life cupcake, and it really gets fun. 

Not only do you feel crappy, and you avoid everyone at work trying not to infect them, you are constantly worried about having an attack because you can't breathe and everything and anything can trigger it.   Hairspray.  Someone's lotion.  perfume.  Smoke smell on someone 's jacket after a smoking break.  These can trigger problems for me on a good day.  A day when I have a cold and my chest is already feeling pressured?  It's like walking in a landmine field wearing flashing lights to attract the snipers. 

So This morning I ran my peak flow numbers ( a nifty little gadget for asthmatics, it gives you some quantitative idea how your lungs are doing besides they feel "tight" or "too tight" ) and I'm 100 liters down.  This is after I've used my morning inhaler and my emergency inhaler. 

I took a day of vacation.   I still have vacation.  One of the reasons I don't have vacation at the end of the year is because sometimes I take vacation when I'm sick.

I might just burn another day tomorrow, depending on how I feel in the morning.

Most colds last 7-10 days, even without the added excitement of asthma.   I'm on day 3 or 4 depending how you count.   1 or 2 days is all I can afford to burn of my vacation at this point.  So when I go back to work I'll still have the cold, but hopefully I'll be on the other side of the bell curve.

1 or 2 days not stressing about how everyone at work reacts to one's being sick should help.  1 or 2 days in my home, which is more or less free of my asthma triggers should help.  I'm chugging Vitamin C via orange juice and plenty of other liquids and I'm sleeping as much as I can stand.   I'm using my netti pot almost non-stop and I've packing my inhaler.  (course I always pack an inhaler)

OH Yeah, here's the kicker...  I caught the cold at work in the first place.

Rejection ~ HURTS ~ Art Show Juries

It's that time again, sending out applications, and receiving either "yes! we are happy to have you in our art show"  or the  "Thank you for your application - Unfortunately, the jury for this year’s Festival did not select your work" 

I haven't heard back from most of my show entries yet, but one of the ones I was counting on shot me down in flames.   Don't ever let anyone fool you, rejection hurts.  They tell you not to take it personally, but how can you not?  It's not personal to THEM, but it is on my end of the stick.

 I do understand that on a intellectual level.  They get to view your art for just a couple of seconds at a time,  and view lots of pictures , because jewelry is very competitive. The show I didn't get in had only 8 slots open for jewelry, and 70 applications to view. that means over 85% of the applications for jewelry got rejected, including mine. I wouldn't normally know this but I did write to the show organizer and asked what I could have done differently... the answer seems to be not much. 

As a Mom. I think one of the hardest things to do is it try to teach my child how to deal with rejection, cause the wide world is chock full of it.  The best way to teach our children is the model good behavior... and well when something hurts, when it's painful, it's hard to be that good model.  I really enjoyed doing this show last year, and financially it was a strong show.

But I  try to be good about this rejection. 

The important thing I guess is to give a time limit to my moping, then brush myself off and get back on the horse.  

For me that means applying to my 2nd or 3rd choice shows for that weekend.  I found out about this around 1030am, and it's now 5pm and I've applied to another show for that weekend, and I'm getting other applications out for some of the weekends that are blank.  That way I can hopefully get into another couple of shows to make up the difference in not getting into this one.

I'm also thinking about I need to update my jury photos.  It's basically too late for this year, but I'll keep an eye out for my best new pieces as I make them and get them professionally photographed before they sell.  

A new batch of recycled watch movement rings

I also need a good updated booth photo.. my booth photo is really kind of  old.. I think a new booth photo showing our recycled displays that match our jewelry needs to be conveyed to the judges. 

I still hurt, but you just can't stop moving, no matter how tempting it is.

Flea Market Fun this Weekend... HONEST!

I love the color blue, so this is one of my favorite pieces in recent history.

 Last month Jerry and I were going to do The Flea Market (read my 1st blog about it!)  -- not just to buy, but to sell.  Well, then Jerry, Jesscera and I took turns being sick and well, it seemed better to delay the experience.

Hopefully nothing gets in the way this weekend!! I'll have 1 table's worth of jewelry out ( but I will bring most of it with me, so if you were looking at something and it's not out, just ask!) and hopefully 1 table and shelf of vintage stuff to sell, and jewelry bits and books.  

My booth partner is making homemade soap, so it should be good clean fun!
(heh heh, get it??? ) (ok, I'll do it for you: grooooan!) yes, I'm in a weird mood.  Good, but weird.

Be sure to stop by the booth and say hi! 

I made the glass cab in this, I really need to fuse glass again!

Recent Flea Market Finds

I love the tag on this, and after Jerry ripped it apart, it had the most awesome tank track like belts of numbers in it!

I love how cute this clock is, and I picked it up for just a buck! you never find mechanical clocks for just a buck anymore!! I think it would make a cute picture frame.  the other clock is butt ugly. 

here is that adding machine from the top, and a sewing machine, probably late 70's or 80's. 

Guest Blog--- Girl's Weekend update

This is your roving reporter, Susan Yorke, keeping all you inquiring minds up to date on the latest on the FAB-u-lous jewelry designer and maker, Kat BarronMiller.

A little insider told this reporter that our favorite artist to the Stars was once again going on her bi-annual retreat to refresh her creative muse to the ever-so-exclusive Littleton Resort and Spa in the dreamy snow-covered South Dakota. The resort had been a beehive of activity for days beforehand; cleaning and preparing smoked meats for dinners.

Having followed the career of this marvelous artist for some years now, I am familiar with the resort that Ms. BarronMiller prefers and its environs. Midnight Kat as Ms. BarronMiller is more commonly known was driven to Omaha for a day filled with lunch with friends and some shopping before her escort brought her back to the resort in a silver coach known as ‘The Bead Wagon’.

Though this reporter knew the date and hour that the artist was to arrive, I had no success in obtaining any photographs of her or her companions. The security was as tight as ever in the form of an ever-vigilant black and tan dachshund named King.

Kat ensconced herself with her companions, Cathie and Sue in a room especially set up with tables, chairs, snacks and inventory as they have every year in order to create, laugh, sing and read as they saw fit. Due to the colder weather and some recent surgeries (I learned) the usual round of antiquing was forgone for lunches out and more time in.

Cathie Littles (the co-owner of the Littleton Resort and Spa) seemed particularly drawn to pearls in her creations this Spring season while Sue Yorke continued with her Steam punk vibe and appeared to hit upon a cross-over idea to work on. Kat chose to work on her Mechanical Romance series as well and her ‘Build a Line’ challenge from B’Sue.

In an unusual move, the Resort imported a guest chef from Canada for this year’s retreat, Ryan G Yorke late of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Chef’s offering on Saturday night was Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes with ham, sautéed mixed vegetables, lightly steamed corn and a variety of drinks for the attendees. 

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