Cats, cats, cats, and more cats, part 2

I said I would be back with the random cats around my house! If you are interested, you can find part 1 here in which I said "I have quite a few around the place, some because I fell in love with them myself, others because for some weird reason people think I like cats and have given me a lot of items over the years. Really strange, I know. Why would they think something like that? 😂"

Let's start with a cat in existential crisis. I get you, cat, I really do. I feel like screaming this way a lot these days.
When the resident artist with the fuzzy ears decided to turn my beloved bunny peeler into art - in other words, he knocked it down and broke it - I had to look for a replacement. The bunny peeler had been a gift from my cat food shop (the best blade ever), so I had to settle for a black cat instead. Gundel and I love black cats. As expected, it's not as good as the bunny, but it does the job.
Oh, and those are cat tins behind it. They came with some cat medication and are perfect for holding tea, wire, and beads.

"Are you interested in a Steiff cat?" As I have mentioned before, Steiff has a huge variety of dogs, but not so much of cats, and we already had the most common post-war ones, so our reply to our seller acquaintance was a little lukewarm.
"She has a red ribbon." Steiff cats (and dogs) often had a ribbon around the neck, so that didn't tell us much. "In the ear." Now that made our ears go up like those of a cat. If it was really a red ear tag, that would mean pre-war and was definitely worth looking at.
It was love at first sight. Not only has the lady the beautiful green-blue eyes (we always called them pre-war eyes because after the war the cat eyes turned a more vivid green instead) that we loved so much, she also wasn't a tabby as in striped, but had more of a dotted fur. She was absolutely gorgeous and is - along with Fluffy, but that's another story - still my favorite Steiff cat. She's almost 100 years old, can you believe that?

I deliberately took her photo next to those scratches on my sideboard. Wanna guess? Yes, it's another artwork by the resident artist (Marsha, how's that for the next SIA challenge? 😜). In his defense, he was inspired by an earlier piece of art by Greebo, displayed on the same sideboard.

When I saw this cat keyring at a jewelry shop, I just couldn't resist ... I had to make the ex buy it for me 😂 That sounds worse than it was, really. I just said "ooh, I love her" and he asked me if I wanted her. We were on a shopping tour through antique and thrift shops on a day off and had been prepared to put down a bit of money here and there.
Oh yes, I wanted her. I love my silver cat. She's cute and heavy, and if I can't find my keys in my shopper because they have once again hidden in the bottom corner, I always feel around for her.
Once I thought I'd lost her, the screw of the keyring had unscrewed. Ever since the first thing I do when grabbing my keys is to make sure the screw is tight.

This is another cat I can identify with on some days when I'm not in cat peeler screaming mode.
It's a print by Wiebke Rauers, a German freelance illustrator.

I told you before that Steiff didn't just make plush animals, but also a lot of wooden toys.
Pictures of Steiff animals also appear on a lot of other items, however (which is a topic for another post).
This is one of them. I have three of these little plastic bowls for children in my collection, another one with a Zotty teddy and a cat, and one with two dwarfs. This one has a Cosy Molly and a Cosy Snobby dog watch over a sleeping Floppy Kitty (Floppy animals had embroidered "closed" eyes).
There's just a copyright mark for Steiff on it but no maker, and I never bothered trying to find out more. I have some smaller plush animals sitting in there, so you can still see the design.
Can't you imagine toddlers eating from these? They are cute, sturdy and easy to grab. The bowls, not the toddlers.

I own a small collection of Zippos with cats on them, most of them gifts. I used to use all of them, but now they decorate my cat book cabinet.
Once we were at a pub. It was quite full and when we left the table, the next group was already over it. Right outside the door I noticed I had forgotten my pack of cigarettes - you can tell from that how long ago that was! - and my favorite Zippo. We are talking not even a minute before I was back, but both the pack and the lighter were gone. I asked at the table and just got shaking heads, so I asked the waiter and he said no one had given it to him.
So I went back to the table again and said it was impossible they hadn't seen it. All of them looked at one guy, one of the girls looking mad and giving him a sign, so he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out my Zippo and cigarettes. I was upset and said "So you really just lied to me?". He didn't even look embarrassed and shrugged. One of them could have caught up with us easily. I admit I called him something when I left. He could at least have apologized. The girl said something I don't remember, but the others just laughed at him for getting caught. Some people!

I didn't try to polish these or anything, the use and wear is telling their own story.

I got this cute little pair years ago as a Christmas gift from a colleague. The pinkish stone is so pretty. I choose to believe that these two are friends.

Have you ever heard of The Kindness Rocks Project?
It's about painting pebbles or rocks and hiding them in public for someone else to find. Children do it, but also grownups. There are Facebook groups where you can share your finds or the rocks you painted yourself. The rocks can have messages, little paintings or both.

An artist friend of mine (I'm not saying the name because she's in web timeout as far as I know) painted rocks for a local project. She showed pictures, and when I said how much I loved this one, she very generously offered it to me as a gift.
It ended up in our customs office. At the time, they picked random private parcels for checks and you had to go to the office to open the parcel as they weren't allowed to, and then they would determine its value to see if fees incurred.
When I put the rock on the table, the clerk took it, turned it around and asked me what it was. "Uh, a rock with a cat painting on it?" "Yes, but what is it?" "It's a rock. There's nothing more to it. There's this project for which people paint and hide rocks. An artist friend participates in her town and sent this one to me because I liked it." "Oh." We looked at each other, maybe she tried to read my mind for the reason why anyone would do any of this. "A rock." "Your friend did that beautifully." "Yes." "Okay, I guess ... that's it then. Have a nice day." And off we went, my rock and I.

I love it when an item comes with an extra story on top of the original story 😁 

That's it for today, but I'm pretty sure there will be a part 3. See you then!

Random Saturday - From a whatever to a mermaid

Two weeks ago I made - something. I couldn't even decide what it was, and when I asked around, I got several opinions on it from dragon lady to bat mermaid.
Although the lady didn't have a fin and I had never thought of making a mermaid - the decision against two separate legs had not been deliberate at the time as this was my first wrapped figure - and although I realized eventually that she had been subconsciously been inspired by the succubus in a computer game, the thought kept following me whenever I looked at her.

So I finally did it. I added a fin. She does look more complete now, doesn't she (see the picture at the end of the post)?
You are free to decide yourself if you see a dragon mermaid, bat mermaid, succubus mermaid or fairy mermaid now ;-)

Random Saturday - The Laurin mark

It was a Saturday night after dinner, my sister and I were hanging out in front of the TV when she showed me a silver ring of hers that she had bought at one of her favorite fleamarkets many years ago. She had got herself a loupe some time ago and was curious what the marks in her ring meant.

Of course we both knew the 835 meant the content of silver. Nowadays jewelry is usually sterling silver which is marked 925, but I still have 835 silver jewelry myself from my teenage days. It means that 835/1000 silver was used, the rest was copper and nickel.

Next was the F with the star which we found online as the mark of W. Frey & Co. from Pforzheim, a city which is famous for its jewelry manufacturing and is even called "City of Gold" because of it. The company itself does not exist anymore, however.

What was that last mark, though? It was hard to read and it took me several attempts turning the ring this and that way under the loupe, taking my glasses off, putting them back on until I suddenly had the luck to get just the right angle to see it was a cursive "Ln" with a semicircle around it.
You know how it is, once you know what you are looking at, it jumps out at you, and my sister saw it, too.
And what did it mean? An online search took me to several sites - and to the Laurin mark.

The Laurin mark was a seal of quality that was used on jewelry manufactured between ca. 1934 and 1938. It got its name from Laurin, the King of Dwarves.
The campaign was supposed to instill trust in the marked jewelry and thus animate people to buy. It was not meant for cheap jewelry for which buyers didn't expect a guarantee nor expensive pieces, but for those in between.
All German manufacturers who accepted the given quality standards were allowed to use the Laurin mark on their jewelry.

Back to my sister's ring. The stone in the beautiful blue of an aquamarine is quite probably synthetic which obviously wasn't unusual for these times and until the 50s. To be able to tell the date and place of the ring's manufacturing like this, however, was really something, and above all it's a beautiful ring after all.
Now I wonder what stories it would be able to tell us if it could speak .....



Sources

While I found several pictures and short mentions of the mark, on auction sites for example, this was where I have found the most information so far (thank you to Antikschmuck Hofer for that!). For those who are not familiar with German and don't want to use an online translator - there are two advertisements for jewelry with the Laurin mark - one of them depicting the above mentioned King of Dwarves - and an article from a journal explaining the meaning of the Laurin campaign.

I also found this thread in a silver forum, this one's in English.

If I can find more eventually, I'll update this post.

Oldies but Goodies - Silver

What does the color silver mean to you? For me silver is related to the moon like gold is to the sun. I'm very drawn to the moon, so that could be one reason I love silver.
I found a website called Color Meanings and these are some of the things they have to say about silver (click the link to read the whole article):

• You are considered to be gentle, kind and sensitive if you like silver. White and silver are colors associated with the higher self and spirituality.
• Where gold is masculine, silver is considered as feminine energy. It is associated with the moon as well as the ebb and flow of tides. Silver color is considered as ‘cleansing, illuminating and showing the way forward’.
• People who like silver tend to be introspective and often lost in their own world. They are highly artistic, creative and imaginative making them good poets and writers.
• It is believed that success comes easily to those who like this color. This may be due to the fact that such people are more open to new ideas and possibilities while being resourceful.
• On the downside, silver loving people can be moody as their moods are reflected by the changes in the lunar cycle. Often they live in a delusional world of fantasies.

Why did I ask this question? This week the JAC Oldies but Goodies Challenge was about the color silver. It's funny, but I only found one piece myself in just silver. I love to combine silver with beads of all kinds, even if it's just a few small ones. I wonder if I should make it a personal challenge to create something in all silver now.
There was no lack of silver at all with the other members, however, as you can see not only in the picture, but in the thread if you click the above link. Have fun!

1 Echoes of Ela
2 Violetmoon's Corner
3 Cat's Wire
4 Jewelry Art by Dawn
5 2 Fab Fristers
6 MC Stoneworks
7 The Crafty Chimp
8 RioRita

Tackle that stash - Earrings with movement

Welcome back to "Tackle that stash"!
As a matter of fact this time I didn't not only tackle the stash, but also a second problem that I - and not just I - have. WIPs - works in progress. Those WIPs are driving me insane. There are those that are missing that last little spark that you just can't find. Or those that have a problem you haven't solved yet or that can only be solved by frogging. How about those that didn't work out the way you thought they would, but somewhere deep within you still know/feel/hope you can save them? Not to forget about those you have forgotten - how very paradox, isn't it?

This pair of earrings used to be almost every kind of WIP.
First it was a pair of earrings that I wasn't very happy about because it was missing something.
Then it was a pair of earrings that I started ripping up because I hadn't solved the problem of the missing something.
When I gave up on the thought of saving them, I ripped until I had two blue disks left and then I forgot about those. I have this vicious bowl eating that kind of stripped down WIPs ... and coins ... and paper clips ... and single earwires ... and had I mentioned the stripped down WIPs?

Well, I found them, and I gave them a silver edging, but they did need more than that, so I went through my stash drawers and found all the wonderful dagger beads I have which were just perfect. Finally I found the silver beads for that little shine in the middle - and voilà!
I know they look a little as if they were inspired by a dreamcatcher, but actually they were not. I just love dangles!

You can find them in my shop now, and looking at all the daggers I still have, it doesn't seem impossible there will be more color variations eventually.

Once upon a time ...

... there was a necklace. It was finished, but then the artist saw that the pendant wasn't sitting perfectly, and the necklace got put away for the time being. From time to time it was taken out, but always put back until a better moment would come. The moment didn't come and the necklace lay in a drawer for a long time.

The waiting is over now which kind of makes my other WIPs hope that they have a chance to resurface again, too ;-)

This necklace with the sapphire pendant is crocheted and spool knitted from fine silver wire.
It is available in my Zibbet shop now.

Old to new

How do I wish I could do the "Old to new" thing with myself. A new ankle, a new shoulder ... I'm even going so far to nag my "alien" friend about new parts, but she keeps telling me there's a long line for that on her planet ;-)

So I have to stick to fields where I don't need alien help. It was not the first time I told myself to take new pictures for some pieces, but this time I'm doing better although I am far from done. What I also do is take one or the other piece that I'm not so sure about anymore and change it to make it better.
Today I worked on two pieces that have been waiting for their turn quite a long time, and as always when doing something like that, I am feeling so relieved afterwards. You keep looking at something, and it suddenly doesn't talk to you anymore or all it says is "Help me" ... ;-)

Both of these pendants had been made after a little summer trip to the Blautopf where I got the rocks. I had shown you pictures of the Blautopf before, but it's so beautiful, one more picture won't do any harm.

For this orthoceras - an extinct nautiloid cephalopod - I had crocheted a simple bezel from fine silver. That was not the problem, but I really wasn't happy with the bail. It looked as if I had stuck it on instead of integrating it into the design.
Today I added two rows of crochet to make sure the orthoceras really wouldn't escape, then I cut the bail off and put a new one on it which is partly hidden in the back, so it won't take attention off the stone.
Sometimes it's a bit difficult with slightly irregular shaped rocks. You never want to cover too much, and you think the setting is absolutely safe and maybe it is, but then you feel as if that one side pushes a bit too much. Better safe than sorry, right?

Orthoceras in fine silver wire

So that's what I did for the tourmalinated quartz, too. I added two rows of crochet in the back and cut the bail off which in this case looked a bit too messy for my taste.
I had more in mind for this rock, though. I figured a tree would look nice on the matte grey and black background. What do you think, did it work?

Pearl tree pendant

Both pendants are in my Zibbet shop, if you want to see more pictures, just click the links!

By the way, did you know ...

... what a protome is? A protome is "a decorative element, on ancient artefacts, based on the head of an animal or bust of a person".
Uh-huh. I can almost hear you asking why the heck I am telling you that. To show off with my amazing knowledge? Not at all. For me it was also the first time that I read this word.

Let me begin with my grandmother. I don't want to tell you stories about her (although I do have a bunch of good ones), but for my birthday my mother gave me a piece of jewelry that had belonged to her which makes it very special to me.

When my grandmother died many years ago, I also got a piece of jewelry that used to be her sister's and before that her sister's husband's first wife.
I had loved this bracelet as long as I can think back. I remember that when I was still a child, I believed they were dragon's heads, but it didn't hurt to find out they were indeed lions. That's where the protomes come in. Regarding its history the bracelet dates back to the 30s approximately. That's not ancient, but it's definitely vintage, and the lion heads are very obviously protomes. I found that out when I googled in the attempt to maybe find out even more (which I didn't, by the way).
Now you and I learned something new. The next time you go to a museum, impress the persons who are with you by saying "Oh, look at that door/cauldron/necklace/vessel/ring with the protomes on it." And if they call you a show-off, just smile smugly ;-)
Unfortunately the spring inside the bracelet is broken (who knows, maybe it was even me who broke it as a kid?), and I'm told it can't be repaired (I suspect the piece isn't expensive enough to do so). It doesn't matter, I just love looking at it.
And here's a picture of it now.

If you think I'm trying to distract from not working on new pieces myself, you are not right. I finished a small loomed wall hanging for a birthday, after a long time I made a new yarn basket pendant, this time with a tiny crochet hook, and I still can't decide if I should list my very first split loom pendant or if I should keep it for myself (today I am leaning towards keeping it, but who knows what I'll say tomorrow) and get to working on the next one right away.
Obviously I can't show you the wall hanging, but I have pictures of the pendant and the necklace.

There is also a little project that was inspired by a friend of mine. I won't show you the prototype now because I want to keep working on the design some more first.

Universe

I'm not really good at making free form pieces. I have to push myself hard to make something slightly asymmetrical and free form ... well, that takes me back to school when I argued with my art teacher about being too much in love with details and too stuck to symmetry. I can still see him taking my tool from me when we had to do an etching of a forest, scratching some wild branches into my carefully designed wood, telling me that nature was wild. So he was right, but still .... let's say we loved to provoke each other and being almost grown up now I see he did have some points and am able to admit it, too :-P

This piece started out with an attempt of using thicker gauge wire for needle lace. I'm not sure anymore what exactly I wanted to do with it then, but when I found it today and then stumbled upon some more gorgeous bubble lampwork beads by Deronda O'Neill, it was like a sign - possibly from my art teacher *grin*

The beads look like the planet Earth to me with their lovely color and this gave me the idea to turn the silver into the atmosphere surrounding it, keeping it organic and "wild".

"Universe" is available in my studio now.

Picking pearls

Have you ever wondered what mermaids are doing all day?
If you have seen Disney's "The Little Mermaid", probably not. Well, I have thought about them long before the movie came out (that I by the way never have seen to the end). Andersen's tale is one of my favorites.

Today I imagined a little mermaid getting ready for lunch. Just as you would go out into the garden to fill up your basket with beautiful flowers for the table, she maybe would swim out into her garden and pick pearls ...

This is the mermaid Catherine's fine silver basket, crocheted from wire and filled with freshwater pearls.
Catherine likes to share, so you can find this basket in my ArtFire studio now.

Going through the world with open eyes - gifts from nature

Are you the kind of person that collects things in your vacation?
Pretty rocks in the mountains or on the beach, various shells, pieces of roots for a terrarium ...
I do and I know people who do. I remember friends moving. It was memorable all right, especially the boxes that said "Rock collection" and "Cigar cases collection". Maybe it would have been a good idea to mix the collections. The rock boxes were incredibly heavy, the ones with the cigar cases you could almost lift with two fingers.

I usually held on to just a few because I didn't know where to put them. I still have the first oyster shell I ever found on a Californian beach, for example.
But this year things changed. I got a whole bag full of goodies from a Danish beach - rocks, shells, pieces of shells, seaglass and they were just as beautiful as a gemstone, granted, with less sparkle, but all those shapes, colors, textures fascinated me.
Why shouldn't a rock be worthy of a silver wire bezel? Why throw a piece of shell away when the colors are so lovely?

Here's a little gallery of them now.

Little piece of shell in a wine red wire crochet bezel


Rock in black and brown in a wine red wire crochet bezel


I really had fun with this one. Blue wire for the ocean, a big piece of a shell and for added interest grey freshwater pearls. Modern, yet romantic.


The "tooth". Somehow this pendant reminds me of an ancient monster's tooth. It's a rock in a silver-colored wire crochet bezel.


I absolutely fell in love with these shell pieces. The cream color with the brown stripes is so lovely! I think they make fun earrings with the contrasting colored wire.


This black rock is the one I had mentioned above. Holding it against the light it has an ever so soft shimmer. I don't think I was wrong when teaming it up with fine silver wire, tourmalines in all possible colors and tiny Bali silver beads. Doesn't it make for a stunning contrast?


And last but not least my favorite piece, a shell with a fine silver wire bezel from which tiny labradorite beads and a pink and a white pearl dangle. The shell has a lovely color, one of my friends said it reminded her of sand. It's a very feminine, soft and somehow peaceful piece to me.


I can't wait to get to work on the other gifts of nature and I hope I'll have enough ideas to do them justice.

Romantic Sunday

No, it's not that I'm in a romantic mood, but I felt like making polymer clay roses again.
Probably Mabel was a Mucha lady again today.
One of them (rose, not lady) turned out much larger than I had planned at first, you know how it goes sometimes.

At first I thought about making a pendant out of it, but after I had crocheted the setting, I felt it might make a fun ring.
The wire goes through the rose bead, so that it doesn't move, and it's a very comfortable ring.
Yes, I think I am quite happy with this one! Not all my experiments work so well at the first attempt!


Which reminds me that I need to hurry to get the rest on today's list done ... wish me luck!

Help me name my dragon!

This morning I saw her again.


She wasn't hiding and she had brought me a new nest.


I guess that means she is going to stay and that means she needs a name now. I asked my friends and my coworkers, I played around with a dragon name generator one of my Plurk friends recommended and still I can't decide.


I need your help and you shall not go unrewarded, well, at least not the winner. You will get five names that have come from different sources. There would have been so many more I liked, but five it is now. Pick your favorite. The majority will then decide what name my girl will carry from now on.
I will then randomly draw a winner who will get the latest little dragon nest!


Poll will be open for a month, so the nest will definitely arrive in time for Christmas.

And go! Please don't forget to comment, so I'll know who voted and can draw a winner!

By the way - if you like my dragon girl (and how couldn't you??), you should really go and check out the shop and blog of ColtPixy. She is one talented lady with polymer clay and it's her merit the dragon flew to my house! ;-)