how happy am i?

Aren't these great? I love how warm and shiny these octopi look in bronze!
I love these owls cast in bronze and shibuichi! It was alot of fun setting the eye stones. I found some beautiful rose cut garnets and sparkly black spinels, polished cabachons in opal, moonstone, garnet, turquoise, peridot, jade, lapis, carnelian and iolite. I kind of went crazy with the gemstones! They still need silver wire bails to finish them, but I like positioning them around my desk.

Since this project turned out so well, I'm inspired to make more little jointed and jeweled lovlies! Anyway, I have loads of stones to set! Greg liked the idea of a toad or frog. I thought a cat or monkey would be pretty neat. We'll just have to see what happens.....

mechanical owl

Hi! Here's my favorite of the new batch, a little 'mechanical' owl. Its round head will swivel and its hollow, so it'll be nice and light. This will be cast in bronze, with gemstone eyes. Yeah, can you tell I grew up in the eighties loving the original 'Clash of the Titans'? Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed that this piece will cast nicely, so we can debut it in Tucson. We've got a week left.......back to work!

almost done....

Ok, here are the latest pieces in the new batch of goods. This will be a toggle clasp, with a feather as the toggle bar. Its quite dainty, perfect for jewelry made with smaller beads. I wanted a clasp for some simple faceted gemstone necklaces and I think this will work great.

This pebble is the latest piece in the 'little blessings' series. I haven't decided what to carve on the back. I'm thinking of 'fond memories' or 'sweet memories', maybe something about strength. This is the hardest part, next to carving text, which is always hard on eyes and hands. I've been meaning to mention something that has greatly improved my work.....optivisors! Bob Burkett has been talking about these for years, but the set I picked up had a light and were too heavy, so I never used them. I picked up a pair of opti visors and now I can't work without them. They pretty much eliminate eyestrain, since they magnify so well and aren't so close to your eyes, like glasses. Opti visors fit on your head and the lenses lower down, without touching your face. If you work with small things, try them out.

I just recieved these stones from a store on etsy, called stonestudiostoo and I just love them! They are nice and light and have lovely colors. I have an idea to paint patterns on the surface, like lace or seaweed. They seem like amulets, earthy and magical.

I have a few days left to finish carving masters, then its all production till Greg leaves for Tucson. He and TJ have been working around the clock developing formulas for bronze. There are so many formulas out there that determine color, strength and porosity. The recipe they finally settled on is based on an ancient formula, without any of the toxic stuff found in a lot of modern alloys. Its also very beautiful, warm and golden. I can't wait to show the finished pieces!

mini projects

The gem show was in town today, so I stopped in to say hi to my good friend Jess (of Jess Imports) and do some shopping. I picked up these sparkly beauties from Sona: the top strand is rough diamonds, the pinkish brown are andalucite, next are tourmalines and the tiny ones are Tunduru Sapphires (gosh I love that name!). I've been on a tiny dangle stint- I think its like the sugar on a cookie, the tiny sparkles add so much to a piece.

These are some polymer face plates that will soon be cast in porcelain. These will serve two purposes: one, to attach to soft bodies of fur or velvet to make sculptures and secondly, they are a good size to practice china painting faces. It will also be fun, since painting the face is always the most delightful part, its like giving the piece life, or personality. I know very little about china painting so it will be interesting to see how different it is to watercolor or tempera. Any advice on the subject would be greatly appreaciated!

Ok, you know how Tucson is less than a month away and I should be freaking out, carving all night and drinking way too much coffee? Picture instead the table filled with paints, glues and glitter and......Barbies. That's right, Barbies. We spent the day customizing doll shoes and having dance offs on the wii. I also made a cardboard house for our new gals to live in, since they are so awesome. Azalea and i have renewed our love for Barbie after spotting the latest batch with jointed elbows, wrists and knees! Plus, they aren't all rubbery legged, but plastic. Some even have this crazy swappable head business thats amazing. You can buy one or two doll bodies and have a bunch of different heads! We adore Barbie Fashionista. Completely.

Anyway, tonight I'm getting serious, (seriously!) and will be carving till my hands are arthritic claws. Expect to see pandas and maybe a mermaid.....possibly a sphinx (i just listened to The Dweller in High Places by Sussana Clark and its got me in the mood for that sort of thing). And maybe a fairy clasp. We'll see.

winter activities

Our side of the mountain is completely blanketed in bright, fluffly snow. It's unusual to see this much snow, we get a couple inches that stick around for a day or two, then its back to mild cold. This business is weird. Everything seems so still and oddly quiet, the snow crunching underfoot seems thunderous.

I love her hat from Ugly Dolls! I think it suits her perfectly. We picked it up a few weeks ago in Columbus, OH at the plush art show held at Rivet.

Suni loves the snow! She bounds through it, leaping and jumping and burrowing, enjoying every second of it. I, however, can only stand a few minutes of being cold, since my joints stiffen rather uncomfortably.

We love cooking all the time, but there's something about the cold that lends itself to really rich food. Greg made this Bacon Jam from the recent issue of Food Everyday (packed with fast and easy recipes-we love it) and served it with buttery crostinis. Its garlicky, tasting first of sweet carmelized onions, then finishing with a savory crunch of bacon- its rich and delicious. We also tried the Bacon Wrapped Mini Potatoes and they were excellent.

My husband is obsessed with duck. If its on the menu, he's ordering it. Doesn't matter if its crispy, confit or folded into a crepe. So he embarked on a quest to master the perfectly cooked duck. Pictured above is roasted duck with roasted brussel sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes. It turned out tasty. I have to say I am loving his obsession with cooking lately!

Azalea loves to wear Max's puppy costume. She wears it everyday and Max adores her as a dog! He follows her around laughing, petting her head and hugging her. Of course, he's an animal lover and is completely bewitched by Suni and our cat Paddy. He's so sweet it breaks my heart a little.

little dancer

Azalea is currently into ballet and just had her first recital. She was really excited about dancing on stage and wearing her outfit. It was a little strange seeing her so serious and dainty, since most of the time she's rather ferocious. Here's my wobbly video of the last part of it. I thought she looked lovely.

school picture

Isn't my girl sweet! She picked this outfit (its a little dress with sheer black layers, like a tutu) and sparkly flats. I think she has a flair for fashion. I can't believe how much older she looks. Sometimes I'll look at her in amazement, how did she get so big? Wasn't she just a baby? Then I recall that I'm a mom. Weird. I still feel like a girl myself.

busy gal

Here are some of my samples for the taping on Beads, Baubles and Jewels. My segment is on clasps as focal pieces, which is good, since its one of my favorite themes. I really like a necklace that looks good any way it happens to turn on your neck, whether the clasp is in front or back. The necklace with the koi pond clasp is composed of tourmalines and iolites, with rose gold 'sequin' spacers. The bird clasp features large simple cut sunstones (that I've been hoarding for like five years) and some faceted ruby, sunstone and opal rondelles. I particularly like how the clasp looks resting on the back of your neck, a little bit secret. The loose clasps are just a selection of pieces that particularly work well for the theme.

I'd love to say that I work constantly, finishing projects like a bull dozer of creative energy. Mostly, I'm plugged into some sort of device, one eye on Max, the other on my Nook Color, my lap top or sketchbook. I just got the new Nook Color and I love it! The screen is better than I imagined it would be and I like being able to find any book I happen to be thinking of, read a sample and then buy it or not. You can check your email, look at blogs, read magazines and play games. Lately, I've been reading Pride and Prejudice and Food Everyday (there is a recipe for bacon jam that I will be trying shortly!). Its a nice thing to have when waiting at the post office or if you have a few minutes and you don't want to bust out your headphones and ipod (which is one of my most favorite things next to my dolls!).

The majority of my day consists of chasing this boy down, who is practically running! He loves that panda so much. If you look next to the stairwell, you can see something that just arrived that I am very happy about. It will begin my next stage of doll making and possibly some other small items (my kiln!).

keeping calm

A few months ago, I agreed to do a spot on a show called 'Beads, Baubles and Jewels', thinking it would be good publicity for my book 'Enchanted Adornments'. It is a good idea. It just so happens that I'm a little camera shy, or maybe its just that I don't like how I look or sound on video. Taping takes place Dec. 10 and I'm so nervous. I've been making samples and sketches and shopping online for the perfect outfit, hoping all the planning will settle my nerves. It does, a little, but sometimes doing something fun and noodly is the best way to calm jitters. So I started cutting out paper dolls I ordered from Dover books for Azalea. We picked out several styles, from Victorian to Elizabethan (all the most challenging ones to cut out!) now we just need to build a little paper house for them.

Here's a finished piece showcasing my new octopus pendant. It's so dainty and sparkly! I used faceted labradorites in several cuts, tiny rainbow sapphires, smooth teardrop spinels and the smallest Swarovski crystals I've ever seen. These pieces were nice diversions, but now its time to get back to work!

contentment

Hi! Here's a picture Azalea took of Max and I while we were sitting on the porch practicing with the camera. I think she's a natural, but then I'm her mom, so I think she's great at everything. Its interesting to look at the photos she takes, most of them are odd; focusing on tiny details, or random shots of the sky. Sometimes, she catches really lovely moments, like this one. I believe I was daydreaming about a maple and smoked sea salt liquid truffle from The Chocolate Lounge. Or I was wishing, once more, that I could slow time and sit in the late afternoon, cuddling Max and watching Azalea dance around telling stories.

I took this picture a couple days ago, when it was about 70 and a tad breezy. Its 40 out we've got a fire in the hearth, Max is playing with wooden food and Greg is baking his amazing banana, walnut and coconut bread with Azalea. Its the very picture of family contentment. I think the only thing missing is Andrew, attempting to concoct the perfect hot chocolate to go with the banana bread!