copper and sterling .. together again!

Though in my mind they are rarely apart! Here is a recent copper/sterling bracelet I made with matching earrings. I think I need to use a thicker gauge of copper next time, I used 20 so it would fit into the holes of the beads... I like it but it's more delicate than I would wish. Like how the earrings turned out though! what do you think??

More Pendants........

A few more pendants to show.... the lime is Mother Of Pearl, the other 2 are agates.

Black and White Challenge for June

Just going through my pictures and realized I'd not shared my Bead Society's challenge for June... This year my local society ( check out http://iowabeadsociety.blogspot.com/ if you are in the Des Moines Area) is featuring a color or color combination each month. For June it was Black and white. I made this bracelet with vintage glass, fresh water pearls, sterling silver ( I made the headpins in fact) and crystals.

July's colors are Red, White and Blue. I'm having a hard time getting excited about that, as the 4th is already past.......

More Pendants.......

I like making pendants, and since they are selling very well this season, I've been making them like crazy!! All three of these use agates... but all are different. I really like the 3rd one, it's Mexican lace, and it's shaped like Africa, so that's what I named it. I don't always name my pieces, but some of them just call out for a name. What would you name the other two? send me your suggestions!

All three are wrapped in sterling silver wire.

Anne's Dad is a talented guy!

My good friend Anne Clodi's dad Bill started cutting stones just a few years ago... He was in town a couple of months ago and came to the bead meeting with examples of his work. He's getting pretty darn good! Anyway, below is 3 different pendants I made using stones he cut... which I was going to show Anne but they sold before I saw her to show her.... sooooo.... here they are Anne! I promise next time I'll make sure you see them in person before I actually sell them ok? Thanks Bill!

what I did today...........

Today I've been very productive if I say so myself. I am working on several pendants and 1 bracelet... when you metalsmith, the soldering is often the easiest and quickest part of it. I spent several hours today just prepping the projects. You have to plan out your piece, cut or punch out the pieces, file and sand it, and clean it (dirty metal doesn't solder very well). You have to put flux on it ( that helps keep the metal from scorching.. and leaving streaky brown spots called fire scale) You you carefully put little tiny pieces of solder where you want them, and light the torch.. if you have done everything else correctly, the soldering is less than a minute. Stupid me, I should of thought to take pictures all along the various stages, but I did take one of the items in the pickle pot... I've got 8-9 projects in pickle right now......

This is one of my little trays with a project in it.. it shows my rough sketch of what I'm doing. the open circle is of copper, the triangle is brass, and the little bits of decoration are sterling.. in fact you can see the top bits in the tray... If you are soldering more than 1 or 2 items together, it pays in the long run to break up the soldering tasks. That way you can control were you want the solder to flow better.. This first past is just the circle and triangle, you can see it the pickle jar toward the bottom right corner, on top of a couple of other items.

this is a picture of my wonderful bench as I set it up for soldering. The aqua colored thingie is my pickle jar. Most people heat their pickle, I don't, because the odor bothers me. It works faster heated, but I've found it works just as good to leave it in longer as heated, and no fumes. Since I rarely get more than an hour or 2 straight in the studio, I just leave it in the pickle overnight, and do the next stages another day.


Here are some cut outs for future projects and scraps. I keep all my scraps... you never know when some bit or piece will come in handy, and of course you can melt it all down and get it remilled if nothing else!

Here are 3 examples of pendants.. I actually made these a couple of months ago, and they are long gone-- all got sold at a show in the recent past. See how pretty and shiny they are? Briefly, after you solder and pickle, you rinse off with baking soda and water, you clean with soap and water, you file/sand/dremel away rough spots or bad soldering, you clean it again, then you polish them, add bail if needed, and then tumble them. this is simplified. Sometimes you have to solder additional stuff on or do "remedial soldering" if something didn't get done well the first time. Always an adventure, soldering is.

this bottom one is my favorite of the 3, I almost kept it. To the lucky customer who bought it, I hope you enjoy it for years to come!

Smithing Rocks!

Wow! I'm done with 5 shows in the month of June, no wonder I feel so tired! Despite the weather Jerry and I had fun selling my jewelry to very sturdy hardy art buyers, as almost every show in June featured rain or sweat drenched t-shirt humidity! Got to love Iowa this time of the year! I now have a couple of weeks of break... So yesterday was sort of piddle around the house and try to catch up on projects like dish washing and bills... ugh! LOL

So today I'm going to do something I've missed the past 6 weeks... playing with a torch and metals!! I'm very pleased that almost all my metal smithing pieces have sold.. which is just the excuse I need to make more! here are 2 pieces shown, both copper with sterling accents. The flower pendant is copper that I rolled in the rolling mill to get that lovely pattern on, then cut out the flower shape, and then I soldered a small 6mm Lapis cab. The bail is one of my spiral wirewrapped one. I do this bail on quite a few of my pieces, so much that one of my regular customers commented ( in a nice way!! ) it's practically my trademark!


In fact, you can see the same type of bail on my 2ND pendant of today, a large tear dropped shaped copper pendant with a cut out swirl in sterling soldered on. I'm very pleased with this as soldering sterling onto copper can be challenging... it's easy to get "sloppy" with solder, and you can see it much much easier on copper... and I did a heck of a polish on this one, hard to see in the photo but it just gleams!!!!

I'll have a few more to show in the next few days, of metalwork I made before my shows... right now I'm going upstairs to work on new metalworking pendants! woooo hooo! I hope everyone has as pleasant of an afternoon!

Quickie post... and lookie! Pictures are back!!

I'm getting acquainted with my new computer ( 20 inch screen, oh I am in love with that!) and I finally got my files transferred over.. so here are a couple ! Pendants are very popular this year, I've heard a bunch of customers call them "sliders" so I'm guessing that is what the popular term is for pendants this year... Anyway, as I get used to the new computer and start uploading pictures again, I'll get some of my newer stuff up! I have Farmer's Market this weekend and then I have a break from shows for a few weeks....

New Computer arrived!

Got the computer yesterday, hopefully today or tomorrow we can get it set up and get it hooked to the Internet... can't wait! But until it's on the net and I have access to my pictures, no pictures to post...

Last weekend we had a show in Oskaloosa, IA and then another on Sunday in Mason City, IA. Both went fairly well, and Sunday's show had the best weather to date!

This weekend we have Snake Alley Art Fair in Burlington IA. I usually book the best price on hotels but Burlington Has a hotel with an attached waterpark... so I splurged and booked that instead. My daughter has been very good this year getting dragged to all these shows with us. She usually hides under a table and plays DS or reads or something... so a nice waterpark as a thank you seems very much the ticket! I've been doing shows for 6-7 years now, but in the past family have watched her or she's stayed at the occasional friend's house. This year we have lost the last of our babysitters, so now she's going to go to most of the shows whether she likes it or not. Dealing with a pre-teen can be trying, but really she's a good kid and I"m proud to have her as mine!

Speaking of the kid, a couple of shows ago we were right by a independent book store (The Book Worm in Omaha NE http://www.bookwormomaha.com/store/ ), so of course we had to check out books at it! Got a couple for me and Jer, but they had a wonderful Kids' section... We picked up the first 2 in a series by Michael Buckley called "The Sisters Grimm" . I'm almost done reading the first one.. and it's wonderful!! If you have an 8 and up ( especially a girl) definitely pick them up.. I think there are 7 books so far in the series. I predict that my daughter will love these!

As soon as I have Internet access on the new computer I'll get some new pics up!

computer bit the dust......

No pictures today, my computer is dead... I've got a new one ordered but it's probably going to be a week or more before we can get it up and running and rescue data and pictures from the old one. My show in Omaha went as well as could considering the bad weather. I have Oskaloosa Ia and MacNider ( in Mason City IA) up this weekend... if you are in either area, I hope to see you there!

Pendants.....

Just a quickie, getting ready for all of my June shows, here are 4 recent pendants! All done in sterling silver of various gauges, showing a range of styles. I've been doing silversmithing and have some metal pendants, I'll try to post them next time.

Enjoy!

Presenting the Studio........

YIPPEEE! I did get my studio finished last weekend, here a a couple of messy studio:

And here is neat, clean ready to go studio: One side of the room is for metalsmithing. The other side is for lampworking.

And lookie at my new bench! 1/2 is tiled for doing torch work safely, and the other is wonderful, hard oak for pounding, punching, twisting, shaping and generally torturing metal! You can see on the tile side, the lampwork torch is set up and ready to go.. I"m keeping the gas cans in the basement when I don't use the torches for safety's sake. You can see the lovely view of my neighborhood out my window. I'm soooo happy!!!!! and it works like a dream!

Prom Night....

A friend of my hubby's Daughter needed a necklace for her prom dress. I got the necklace/earrings done just an hour or so before they came to pick up the pieces, so of course I forgot to get pictures! So Mike was kind enough to take a few for me. Doesn't Kallie look spectacular, even before you add in the kewlest Prom necklace ever? The necklace is made with Swarovski Crystals, pearls and sterling wire.

I did this curvy wrapped piece around the black crystal.. I was thinking of a music staff dancing around with the notes, like in Fantasia!

The interesting thing is I never actually saw the dress before I made this.. I was making jewelry blind so to speak. Jerry ( my hubby) saw the dress and did his best to describe it to me. He must have done a good job, it goes very well with Kallie's dress and personality!

I love the challenge of making commissions!

Pendants...... best sellers at my shows so far....

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day Weekend! I sure am! I spent Saturday in MO visiting my Great Aunt Poss, who I love deeply. I only had 1 by blood Grandparent growing up, so my grandma's kid sister became like an extra grandma to me growing up. Her husband, Uncle Eddie was like a grandfather. We lost Eddie 8 years ago to cancer, but Aunt Poss is still going strong at 90... she's a tough old bird and I want to be like her when I grow up!

And I'm happy to say that we didn't hit anything, including a deer, on the way back this time. (We hit a deer on the return trip in November, for that drama you can look at this blog entry: http://mkpbeadart.blogspot.com/2008/12/ode-to-thanksgiving-or-oh-my-poor-poor.html#links )

Today went to a movie with the family ( Star Trek, highly recommend, it's very fun even the 12 year old liked it, and she won't touch classic Trek with a 10 ft pole) and now working on inventory. My first shows of the year all had 1 trend.. pendants are going to be popular this year. So I really need to concentrate on making up more before the June shows start... above are 2 that sold in the last few weeks. The Niobium is made with pearls and sterling wire, and the caged marble is in sterling.

Tomorrow I will hopefully have my bench ready to go, I have a play date with friends and I'll keep working on more pendants. Have fun everyone!

working on my website, and BENCH!

bench bench bench bench bench... that's been my mantra for the last few days. I'm working on rearranging everything to accommodate my new bench in the studio. When I started my redo of the studio, I was looking at a different bench. I arranged everything based on the understanding of that bench... So this bench has to be oriented differently in the room, and all my materials are in the wrong places to be useful! I got all the lampwork stuff rearranged the last few days, tonight my goal is to get the books and magazines moved... because that's where the silversmith stuff is going now! I work full time, and I swear the last few days all I can think of is my bench, how I want to rearrange stuff, the safety issues I need to deal with before I can light the torch.. I tell ya, I have a 1 track mind, and it's all BENCH! LOL

Actually I think most artist are very 1 tracked mind. We get an idea and we cannot let it go until l we've pushed and prodded it in the shape we have in our heads... so I can't really complain about it. Sure makes it hard for everyone around me though... I've been muttering bench bench bench under my breath at work. I'm sure the few remaining co-workers who didn't think I was nuts do now!

I am also working on a revamp of the website, take a look, though it's not finished by a long shot: www.beadfix.com

Since I didn't have picture last time, above is a pendant I made called "rainbow cloud" it's based on the old circle pin idea. I've made 2 of these now, and they are fun to make. I will make more... but first I'm going to work on my BENCH!

I GOT MY NEW BENCH!!!!!!

OH HAPPY DAYS! I got my new bench delivered last night!! woooo hooo! My Dad did some customizing on it, put it together in his workshop for me, and now it's in my attic studio !! I need to rearrange stuff, the original bench I thought I was getting fit differently in my space... this bench is solid oak, with drawers with felt lined bottoms and a lovely finish that matches my wood floors.. total bonus, didn't realize that when I picked it out.

After I get all my tools rearranged, and a few safety things in place, I can start using torches up in the studio area instead of my dank, dark and moldy basement!! Can you tell I'm excited???? huh, can ya can ya????????? LOL

I'm hoping to begin torching by Monday at the latest, which just happens to be oh so conveniently a vacation day from the money job.

I'll post pictures soon promise!!

Bracelets....

Wow, the last 2 weekends have been such a rush! I had a show in Davenport 9-10th, and then this weekend, I had my first Farmer's Market (16th) and Valley Junction Spring Art Market (17th). The weather could have been better this weekend, but desperate the chill, wind and the occasional shower, everyone who trooped to the shows were in excellent spirits! I have a 2 week break then June starts, and I have a show ( or 2) every weekend in June... I can't wait!




Here are a few bracelets I've made recently, the red and black are in herringbone and brick stitch, made with Japanese seed beads. The pearl bracelets are in modified RAW or right angle weave, using 3 beads instead of 4. I've heard this called tri-weaving but I'm not sure I like that name... whatever you call the stitch, it sure works up nice with pearls and seed beads! The bottom pearl bracelet was made with seed bead drops, which gives it extra texture. thanks for looking!

Earrings, Earrings, Earrings...... Art shows a plenty!

I had my first *real* art show last weekend, and it's the first of about 20 art shows and farmer's markets for the year... I'll be doing anywhere from 3 shows to 6 shows now until October... so busy busy! (be sure to check out my show schedule on my website www.beadfix.com - maybe I'll be in your area soon!)

This weekend I have Farmer's market on Sat, and Valley Junction Art Market on Sunday... so realllly busy busy! I'm working on a couple of commissions from my last show and then I need to work inventory items for this weekend.

My last weekend's show was in Davenport, IA and it went very well. I admit, I've been worried, with the gloomy economy right now. The one thing I noticed about this show is cash receipts were up, and credit cards were down, but overall sales where good. I don't think this is necessary a bad thing, it means people are really thinking about what they are buying.. it's really an enormous compliment that people buy my jewelry with cash! I mean, if you have less disposable income right now, and you still choose to dispose some on my jewelry... why thank you!

Anyway, 3 recent earrings, all different styles. Enjoy!

Samples from my Class.....

Wow, I"m not getting much done today.. I jointed facebook on Thursday, joined mafia wars on sat, and I'm hooked! So why I wait for my next job, here are some of the pieces I made in my last class working with titanium and niobium. The sun and shell are both titanium, and the puzzle piece is niobium. These will probably become necklaces eventually... back to the wars!