... where the yarn for my yarn baskets is coming from?
Maybe you have been following me a little over the years and got to meet some of the sheep I couldn't have done without. These are just three of them, Belle, Spots and Myrtle.
It has always been a happy little flock, and none looks like the other.
These three have already left me for the big world out there, Belle and Spots live in the USA now and Myrtle is in Canada. I guess they like it there because they never bothered to write, the little beasts. I know they are in good hands, though, so it's okay.
And every, now and then a new sheep turns up to help me out.
Let me introduce you to Minnie. She's a real cutie with her sky blue eyes (yes, you can only see one of them). We already had a little collaboration as you can see. I hope I didn't make her work too hard in this heat!
You know what's funny, I just noticed that so far all of my sheep except one have been looking in one direction ... I wonder what they are seeing there ...
Ouch, has it really been over a month that I have been here last time?
Granted, I did spend a lot of time with a personal project, bead loomed portraits of my siblings and me (one still missing) which I am not allowed to show.
I did find the time for a small stash tackler, though.
This mix of little semiprecious drops had been in my stash for about ten years. I had used a few of them, but forgot about the rest until I happened to find in a drawer - yes, I know, me and my drawers - just a few days ago. That baggie had been wandering from here to there, and now it ended up on the little table next to my computer chair (that was supposed to hold only my old laptop, but also became a spot for things that wait to be moved to their final destination, books, DVDs, CDs etc.).
Ten years of travelling are enough ;-) I spontaneously decided to wrap the stones up in copper which I gave a light patina and to put them on a chain.
I love dangly earrings!
Both Hugo and his beloved ball have been around for a while, one being glass, the other being a shimmering Polaris bead, and they got tired of having to wait for their favorite napping spot.
The basket had been around for a while as well, waiting to be filled up.
So what has been keeping me, you ask? That's easy to say. I can't sew.
My plan for this had been to give Hugo a nice cushion to sit on. I scrounged some fabric off my sewing neighbor and - failed. Oh, so miserably. I can't sew. I never learned it, but you should think I would be able to make a little pillow? Maybe I gave up too early, I don't know.
In the end, however, I did one of the things I do best. I simply crocheted a little afghan in two shades of blue. Hugo seems to be okay with that, he's snuggled up in it right away as you can see. Blue seems to be his favorite color, anyway. I mean, look at his ball, it fits right in!
Once again the Northern Hemisphere is longing for spring. No matter if winter was all snow or a lot of rain, people want to see colors again, blue skies, hear bees buzz, birds sing and feel that rush of spring in their veins.
It is kind of ironic that when I'm looking out of my window, I see a rainy day, but I've said before that I love rain, so that's okay with me.
Nevertheless it is nice to breathe a different air, to see flowers return, tiny violets, spring snowflakes (which we call Märzenbecher here, March cups), bluebells and to hear birds singing when I walk to the train early in the morning.
Not that April may not have its surprises in stores for us ;-)
Today the Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge is all about spring colors. I hope you'll like my picks.
What is the weather like in your area now? Are you already feeling the spring?
1 and 8 MC Stoneworks
2 and 4 Jewelry Art by Dawn
3 and 5 Cat's Wire
6 and 7 RioRita
I have a tiny stash of Cantera opals which are Mexican opals still in their matrix of pinkish rhyolite, and I love them. I can't say how often I took them out and put them back to keep them safe from the outside world ;-) My two favorite ones have gone to good homes and I still miss them. Silly, I know.
It was time to take a deep breath and start letting see them - well, one of them at least - what's outside of the stash drawer - only to go into the finished jewelry drawer afterwards, that is, unless someone takes this little beauty home.
This Cantera opal is almost clear. It looks like a drop of water on a crackled ground, but if you move it, you can see some tiny specks of color, green, yellow, and red. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take a really good picture of them, it seems the stone wants to keep its secret!
As it is not very big - those opals often aren't - I kept the woven bezel rather simple, but added a bigger bail to balance it out and of course I couldn't resist a small embellishment, a very light pink pearl.
Three more opals left ...
Birds of prey, what a great topic for the new Art Elements Design Challenge! I had no idea what to make, but I've always loved those birds, so nothing could go wrong, right? Thank you, Cathy!
I was even brave enough to post on the AE Facebook page that I was well on the way this time. Yay!
That yay turned into a nooooo pretty quickly. Let me explain.
I happened to have a "paint cabochon" (like a Fordite, but not a real one and not as colorful) already set in woven wire. The drop shape seemed perfect for an owl body. I love owls although I don't get the chance to see them often even though I don't live that far from the woods. I remember once coming home late at night, however, and hearing a soft sound from a tree standing in the yard of the daycare center down the road. When we looked up we saw it was a huge owl sitting there. I don't know if he was trying to warn us off or if he had seen prey, but we decided we wouldn't disturb him for too long although I could have stood there staring at him forever. He was gorgeous!
Back to my paint cab. I had the body and now all I needed was a branch for it to sit on, large wings and a head. I put on some wings that I was not completely happy with.
People who know me also know that I tend not to take WIP pictures. That has several reasons. I'm too lazy, I don't want the flow of creativity to be disturbed, I don't want to jinx the piece, and I'm too lazy, oops, already said that.
So I'm sorry, but I can't show you the wings or the body. Or the branch that I started making, but that I gave up on because I didn't see a good way to attach the owl to it without it falling over constantly. The wings did look, hmm, okay at best, the head was pretty good. Then the bead for the beak broke right after the last wire was snipped. Call it destiny.
You don't want to know what happened next. It wasn't a full blown tantrum, but it did come pretty close. There may have been some light or less light cursing, and when the wire cutter came out .... enough to say that I actually apologized to the poor critter before I cut it up because I'm crazy that way. In such a case when I have fiddled around for too long and finally decide this has to end here and now, I cut. I don't even try to save anything. There's a time for saving and there's a time for "destroy this thing or it will come back forever to haunt your soul".
Excuse me while I'm taking a deep breath. Okay. On to the next chapter.
I had liked the idea in general and, most important, now time had started running out again. So I went through my cab stash and found some labradorite in a drop shape, carved to make it look like a leaf. Or - haHA!! - like feathers.
As if the owl in the tree from so many years ago came to me in spirit as an inspiration, things went a lot more smoothly this time. I wove my bezel, shaped some branches (similarities with tentacles are purely coincidental, cough cough) and added some Czech glass leaves. I made a little face consisting of eyes - looking a bit like a pince-nez now that I'm thinking about it - that I "filled" with two yellow bicones, and a beak. The plan had been to attach that to the bezel, but it looked wrong on the stone, so instead I made a little head around the face which made me much happier, especially because I find the weaving in the face reminds of feathers as well now.
Last but not least I oxidized the copper. As I had to take some breaks for the sake of my wrist and thumb joint, I finished this one the evening before the reveal once again, but I made it. So now I can really say it, YAY!
This pendant gives me great pleasure, I have to admit, and I have to hold back not to make another one right away while I still remember how I did it! ;-)
This is not just a challenge, but also a blog hop, so please have a look at all the other hoppers' posts as well!
Guests
Tammy - Beth - Cat (that's me!) - Anita - Kathy - Alysen - Linda - Rozantia - Jennifer - Hope - Sarajo - Melissa - Sarah
AE Team
Caroline - Cathy - Claire - Jen - Jenny - Karen - Laney - Lesley - Lindsay - Marsha - Niky - Sue
