Tricked you. I might have a good time, but neither alcohol nor dancing is involved. No flirting, no movies, no night on the town, no girls' night out.
Still my muse and I had, well, not just one, but actually two balls today and I am almost sure they won't be the last ones.
Maybe you remember my wrecking ball? The name comes to you courtesy of Maureen, an SJA friend (by the way, you should check out her blog and shop sometime). These balls are different. The wrecking ball is almost solid. These ones I wanted to make hollow, so I could fill them up, like a candy. Well, not really. A filled candy is meant to be eaten. I love liquid fillings and the sensation on the tongue once the outer wall is breaking. You shouldn't try to eat the ball pendants and I will tell you why.
First I made this one.
It is from black coated copper wire. I tried different things to fill it with, but in the end I decided to take a silver-colored kind of embroidered ribbon because it gave the best contrast.
Now I was eager to try other combinations. As I often do, I reached into the "current project bag" in my nightstand without looking inside and out came the green-golden colored wire. I tried different ribbon and beads for the inside, then I found the last bicone crystals that were left over from my "Green Fairy" necklace. Perfect!
I guess now you know why you shouldn't eat these pendants. Ribbon feels strange on the tongue and is hard to chew and crystals could break your teeth out.
Better stick with wearing them around the neck! ;-)
Yesterday I was on treasury hunt again. Can you believe I missed two although I was so close and had a poster sketch ready and everything? The first time it was pure stupidness. I didn't stick to the golden rule you are never supposed to click away from the site if there is only a little time left. Those treasuries have the tendency to go off early. So I prepared for the next one, but I was so absorbed in folding socks that I missed it again. Luckily I got a third chance, so meet my birdie collection in No bird soars too high ... You are welcome to comment! :-)
A nice surprise was I was featured in this team treasury with my agate slice pendant. This one is called I want!, what a fitting title!
I missed to show you the last two treasuries I was featured in.
Today I checked the SJA treasury thread and what a surprise, my Lady of the Lake necklace is here amongst all those beauties! What a lovely color :-)
You still have time to click and comment and answer the question - Can you guess?
The last days were too hot for me. I am not a hot kind of girl, ehm, temperature-related, that is. Of course as a person I ... ugh, better not get into that now? ;-)
Today when it started raining I thought my suffering was over, but it wasn't. Outside it is quite nice now, but within these walls the heat is still standing around and laughing at me. The cats mostly lie around as if chopped with an axe. Just now Greebo wanted to be carried around, he was too weak to walk, I guess. Greebo has lots of hair. I mean like really lots of hair, you could make at least three cats out of his fur (and his belly, he's just like his human mom ...). Cat hair tends to stick to you when you sweat. One loving touch with his head and you go pfft, pfft, pfft - spitting out Greeb hair for a long time.
When I read in the forum, although I was really ready for going to bed, that both treasuries would open up any minute, I thought I could stay a few minutes longer. I didn't have a poster sketch ready, so I had to hurry and all I could think of was heat. Jewelry and the keyword sweat don't go together, but hey, what about "hot", "red", "fire"?
And this is the result - I'm burning! Check out my red hot choices!
I am back in the treasury game. The poster sketch was three weeks old, so I had to replace a few items, but I made it just in time.
Summertime means color to me (sometimes the red color in my face when it's being as hot as today ...) and here you got color in abundance.
I also like the Mel Brooks quote that inspired me:
"If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy and colorful and lively."
Enjoy these pretties and dive into the color in Color Splash.
I often say that I like my hook and the wire to lead me to a design. That doesn't mean I never have a plan of what I'm going to do. When I make a setting for a cab, I know it very well. Sometimes things don't work in my favor, though. That's what happened on one of my recent projects.
It started out harmless enough. A cab in the shape of a drop which usually is the easiest to work with for me was supposed to end up in a crochet bezel of fine silver wire, but somehow it didn't want that. It wasn't so much that it kept slipping out, I had that before and I have forced smaller cabs than this one in a bezel, it wasn't so much that the wire wanted to run off the spool and start kinking, it wasn't so much that from too much kinking the wire gets tired and starts breaking easier - it was all of that together! I used a very fine hook which can give fine silver wire even more stress (from my experience). I had already fixed three accidents although it would have been smarter to stop there and then, but it worked out. The wire breaking in the last row was the last straw, though. My patience had been tested long enough. I ripped the bezel off the cab and started squishing it. I would have even jumped up and down on it, who knows, but the tall guy was watching me with that sceptical look he gets when he feels I am overreacting.
Now I had this squished almost solid piece of silver - what to do with it? I got out my hooks and the wire spool I had in reach, light purple and started to make a little silver ball that was held together by purple lines of crochet. They are not straight, they can't be as I just followed the stitches that I could use in the silver.
For an extra color kick I added one of my handwrapped bails in purple.
Actually I am quite happy with it now. Maybe the wire breaking was one of my muse's jokes!! ;-)
Blue sky, white cotton ball clouds, sun, warm - the perfect Sunday for a fleamarket. The one we went to is usually one of my all time favorites, for a great atmosphere and also for some spectacular finds (I am not exaggerating!). Today it was a flop. I don't know what was wrong, but we came home almost empty handed.
So I am sitting here now blogging although I should do some research for something else. I am not sitting in my usual chair, though. When I came to the computer, my chair had already been taken by a furry black girl. I couldn't throw her out when she looked at me with those big eyes, purring away happily. So I pushed the chair aside and took the tall guy's one instead which is not as comfortable for me because I am smaller than him. I only have to look at this picture to know it was the right decision, though. May I introduce the sleeping beauty? Excuse the picture, the colors are a little weird, but my camera was acting up again. I can't wait till my new one arrives.
So here is Esme, showing her bald little ear where the fur has not grown back yet after she got into a fight with her brother and had a scratch. She is lying on a dark and light blue blanket (told you the colors were weird!).
Ah, jealous Greebo is on the way to let me know he still exists, too! Ssssh, don't tell him he is going to the vet's tomorrow because he sounds like a bird, he seems to have a sore throat again.
What else have I been up to the last days? I played with my knitting spool. I had bought these ribbons on sale because they seemed perfect for an idea of mine. I love the fact they don't have clasps, but can be tied in the back.
First, I don't really like to put clasps on. Second, you can adjust the requested length easily. Third, you can actually also use them as hair bands!
Wine red ribbon with light pink metallic wire, spool knit together.
Two ribbons spool knit together without any wire. I happened to have orange and black in reach when I wanted to try that, so this became a Halloween band. Of course, this one is thicker than the ones I only used one ribbon and wire on. While you can easily put chunky pendants (like the crab agate) on the one ribbon ropes, a two ribbon rope works better without. Just my humble opinion.
This had been the original idea. Just the wire is spool knit and the ribbon runs along inside. These strands are not as thick of course, so I made two and twisted them. Do you also hear Christmas songs when looking at it?
And yesterday I finally caught a treasury again. I know I would probably make a terrible mess with resin, so I haven't tried yet, but I would sure like to because I think it's really cool stuff. Check out Soaping of organic compounds if you want to see some great pieces.
Last, but not least I can announce I found two more nests ... I hear funny little purring and scratching sounds in the night and see the cats staring at corners, but not doing anything. They seem wary, but not scared or aggressive. What is going on here??
How I know? Look here. I found these today. What is amazing to me is that none of the birds or creatures - whatever they may be - is trying to defend the nests. Actually it seems as if they are put in my way deliberately.
Just look how different they are. Some are almost flat, some are real thick, some have one really big egg and now there is one with three tiny eggs.
I have looked around for suspicious signs today, but I found nothing that couldn't have been done by the cats. There is another thing - if there are birds around, why are the cats so cool about it? Does it mean something that sometimes they sit there and stare up into a corner that seems totally empty to me?
Instead of getting closer to a solution it seems the matter is getting more complicated.
Do you believe that gems have hidden powers? Check out the T-West I got today. Beautiful jasper all over it, in all varieties. According to the comments there are people who doubt that jasper protects you from spider and snake bites, though ... What do you think? Game to give it a try? ;-)
If you want to comment on that, go and visit Go away, evil spirits!
Some strange birds are nesting in this area and I have the feeling they are endemic only to this house. I haven't been able to catch a glimpse of them yet, but I found some of their nests. Small nests with one big egg each. Maybe I should watch them until they hatch? Although the nests look very similar, they do have different colors and the eggs look different, too.
Also I found some other nests lying around that are still without eggs and they again have different colors. One or two have an egg in them, but none of the attachments these have. What are they for? To hang up the nest? Wouldn't the egg fall out? Are those secretive birds weavers maybe? I wonder, I wonder .....
P.S. Double strike, although it was a close call. Many of my favorite movies have Audrey Hepburn in it. There is an exclusively 1970s Japanese Francie doll (Francie was Barbie's cousin) whose make-up made her look like Audrey. I have seen some of her movies (Audrey's, not Francie's!) so many times I can't even count it anymore. I love "Charade", "The Nun's Story", "Roman Holiday" and "Sabrina", but I have to admit "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is not one of my favorites. The movie is not, but the costumes definitely are. Such a difficult decision, watch or not watch? As you can see it has influenced me nevertheless. Take a look at Silver and black and you will know what I mean!
Yes, it's my birthday this week and it will be a "Schnapszahl" as we Germans say, meaning both digits (didn't make it to three with my age yet ;-)) are the same. Usually that means the next round of drinks would be on me, but it's hard and not really fun to drink virtually.
In some countries the birthday "child" gives presents to her/his guests instead of the other way round.
I can't hand out presents around the globe, what I can do, though, is offer a markdown on some of my items in all of my shops. Yup, on Etsy, ArtFire and DaWanda. 15 % down on selected items, go and check it out!
And if any of you would like to drop me a piece of cake, just go ahead. At least the virtual kind is going to be calorie-free ;-)
Oh, forgot to say - this sale is not just for the one big day, but for the whole week from the 22nd of June through the 28th!!
It took me so long to understand the concept of creating a treasury, but now - "My God, she's got it! The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains." Ah, good old times in the school choir. Oops, sorry, digressing. My brain does that a lot which may be a reason why my mouth is so hard to stop.
Despite of burning and itching eyes I took the chance last night. I don't work today, so I could stay up a little longer and curate this honey and bear treasury. The treasury West I just caught will follow. I admit it. I had to steal this screenshot from SJA, my jewelry forum. I can make a normal screenshot, but as my screen is not big enough for the treasury, I have to figure out first how to do it then (two guys could not shake it out of the sleeve for me and they call themselves experts, pah!).
At any rate, here it is, enjoy while it's there. And if you want to comment, here you go:
And the only reason for making ...
