Fresh from the tumbler...

Fine silver butterfly with Rubies. Made with PMC3. This one is almost choker style. I love it!

Remember how I told you I wanted to develop some new stamped name designs? Well, I decided to revisit this design
and incorporate it with the stamped names. My sister was the guinea pig for this one. Lucky thing, because I LOST my MIND, and put the solder on the inside of my components, and well, you can see what happened. Live and learn eh? Also tried out my new font! This design is a keeper. Just need better craftsmanship next time! :)
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I'm sending a package west for my nieces birthday. I'm also including my Mom's thumb ring that she requested. Made one for myself too! :)

Swirly top flower earrings on posts. These are mine! Plans are in the works to make more though.

Richly textured fine silver post earrings. Made with the last of my PMC3......I am still in production mode for the show in October. I'd like to get a series of affordable things made so I can have time to create some masterpieces as well!



Anywho...I'll be out of the studio for most of the week, but will still be answering emails and convos if you need me! Have a fabulous week everyone! :)

Sleeping Beauty's Rose Wreath

It all began with this first ring (which, is on sale in the shop). Then, I was contacted by a customer who loved the ring, but could I make on with roses on the band? I'll tell you the truth. I tried to put her off at first. She was gently persuasive, and I decided to give it a go. I really wasn't sure I could make it work, but here she is......

Luckily it turned out beautifully, and I was asked to make a matching necklace and earrings as well.


I was very happy with how they turned out! They are on their way now to their new home, and I hope my customer loves them as much as I do!! This whole experience was just wonderful. I really enjoyed working with this delightful woman who knew what she wanted, wasn't afraid to ask for it (very politely I might add) and complimented me every step of the way. She gave me the artistic freedom to do what I wanted (which I always ran by her first), and she stroked my ego in a way that I am finally beginning to believe more in myself as a metalsmith.

On tap for today are post earrings. Oh, and I am doing a little experiment with facebook. I made an ad that is running from last night at 6 til tonight at 6. I already have some new fans!! Yay! I hope they like me ;)

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!!!!

Hoop Earrings...

Atlantis:



Absinthe:


Ice Princess:


Cold forged, wire wrapped hoop earrings with briolette dangles. I am making earrings in my spare time to fill my lonely little racks for the art festival in October. I figure I'll make, make, make, and list everything on Etsy. If it sells, great, if not, I have to build my inventory for the show anyway.

I had a lot of fun with these. I've always enjoyed wire wrapping, and plan on revisiting it more in the future. Right now I'm working on a swirly top flower series that I hope to show you soon....so, back to the bench with me!

Have a fabulous day everyone! :)

Long Earrings

I made and listed these in the shop last week. After I started listing them, I realized that they were all quite long.

So, next round of earrings will be medium length and posts. I already have a few designs floating around my sketch book that I'm aching to dive into.

I went to a bead show in Ft. Worth on Sunday. It was ok, the same ol same ol beads I always see at these shows, and no cab sellers! :( Last year there was at least one vendor that had nothing but cabs, this year nada. It made me more than ever convinced I need to keep saving my pennies so I can got to Tuscon next year for the big gem show.

The show I do in October is really on my mind lately. It's at my church, so I have been filling my sketch book with various cross designs. I didn't do anything last year that had crosses, but it seems like kind of a no brainer to bring some cross designs to a church. That, and I've been really drawn to crosses lately. I'm thinking they must be trendy to use in home decor and such, because I've been seeing them everywhere. My Mom collects them and found quite a few nice ones when we went shopping in Fredricksburg. At any rate, I figure making them will be good for me to explore different designs along the same theme.

It's kinda stressing me out if I think about it too much. I still need to buy displays, and I'm thinking of having a sign made to hang on the front of my table. If I do that, then I'll need to have coordinating tablecloths and such. And so on, and so on....not to mention actually building an inventory. Ahhhh!!! I also got a new scripty, calligraphy like font to make stamped jewelry like I did last year. The stamped jewelry went over pretty well, but I want to develop some new designs. So I need to work on that too.

It has been 104 degrees every day for about a week now. Boy is it awful. I hate the heat...can't stand it. At 104 degrees standing in the sun, it takes about 30 seconds to start feeling like you are baking. I am in full summer hibernation mode. I don't leave my house unless I absolutely have to! Hopefully it won't last long and we'll get a reprieve, like it will drop to 98 or something. Still scorching, but easier to cope with. Every fiber of my being is aching for Fall...

I have a commission to finish up, and I need to make my sister a Mother's ring, but I still hope to have a few new things by the end of the week.... Until then, have a fabulous week my friends! :)

Oooooo Sometimes......

I'm listening to Erasure on my iPod and blogging! How great is that? Maybe only if you are an Erasure fan... :)
Anyway, I spent the morning staining cabinets at a house that we are getting ready to rent out....it's the only thing I've done to help my husband get the house ready. I had been dreading having to do it, but once I got started, I actually started to enjoy it. There is something satisfying in taking something and making it both beautiful and functional. I also had a feeling while I was there that I hadn't had since we first moved into the house we live in now....

I felt that wonderful feeling of what it is to make a place your home. There was something about seeing all those empty rooms that made me feel like I had a fresh palette before me. If it were to be my home I could fill it up any way I wanted to, I could make each room into whatever I wanted it to be. Then it struck me that I could do that in my own home. It's strange, but I get so caught up in life that I forget that I can make my own rooms into whatever I wanted them to be. It's just so hard sometimes to find the time to repaint, rearrange, redecorate. Oh well, maybe I'll just have to make some time.

I managed to finish a necklace this week. It will probably be the only new thing I have this week, the rest of my time will be filled with a commission, and more staining.




I'm hoping to have time to list it in the shoptoday. It's name is Cyanburst, and it is imbued with my dreams of sitting on a white sand beach, watching the ocean while the sun beams on my face and a gentle breeze blows my hair....

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week! :)

Midnight Iris

I have several things on my bench right now that I am in the process of putting the final touches on. It just seems that every day life always cuts into my working time.... I did manage to get this fleur de lis design finished up. Irises are my favorite flowers, and I have always loved the stylized fleur de lis. When I got this piece of labradorite with the most beautiful blue flash, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I hope to re visit this design again in the future. I'm offering it as a custom sized ring, and it is already listed in the shop.

In other business related news, I dropped my pro status at ArtFire for AmyNicole. I try my hardest not to put any negativity or drama out into the world, especially when it is associated with my business. So, all I will say is that I couldn't justify keeping the shop. I've been there since September of 2009. No sales at all... ArtFire tries really hard. They are great about helping their sellers in any way they can. They are on top of everything it seems...answer questions uber quick, keeping the resellers out. You know all the things that people complain that Etsy doesn't do..... But if they aren't drawing the buyer traffic, all that other stuff doesn't really seem to matter as much. It makes me a little sad, I really wanted it to work out. I am going to keep RubyMtnBeads there for the time being though.

I guess I have more business news than I thought! I just remembered I need to tell you guys how I'm all official and stuff now. Which also means that I have to collect sales tax on sales I make in Texas. I had been putting this off (as usual), thinking it was going to be a real pain in the butt to get it handled. I even looked into LegalZoom at one point to get them to handle it. But it was going to be $ 200. $200?? I can buy a lot of goodies to play with for that!!! I mentioned this to a friend who has a business in the arts, and she told me that I was crazy. I could do all that stuff myself for free. And she was right. All it cost me was the stamp to mail in the signature forms. And it took less than 30 minutes to fill out all the forms on line. Sweet...

Is it just me? Or is summer the perfect time of year to strap leather and beads to your wrist, wear it day in and day out, removing it only to shower, or jump in the pool? The feel of leather on my wrist takes me back to summers of my youth when I did just that. Actually, I don't think I took them off even in water. Just wore it until it was worn out.

I started playing with leather, I guess about a month ago. Seeing if I still remembered how to knot it, tie it. I was digging around in one of my old buckets of junk, and I found the center part of this bracelet that I had made at least 10 years ago. Hematite and Red Poppy Jasper. I decided that it needed a little something, so I Lashed it to black greek leather, and then I made a little hammered fine silver button for the closure. Since the woven beads were already made, it determined the size of the bracelet for me. It is a size large, and already listed in the shop as well... I definitely have more plans to play with leather, I'm really having fun with it!

Well, I guess I better get on with my day! Hope yours is wonderful! :)

When life give you lemons, make.....

A few of my Etsy faves inspired by lemon! Enjoy....

Lemon Sugar Lip Balm


Yellow & Green Wool Felt Teardrop Earrings


Lemon Chamomile Soap



Lemon and Blue Painting

Happy Independence Day!

This song moves me to tears every time I hear it. We can never take our freedom for granted, or forget what being an American stands for. We can never forget why America declared her independence in the first place.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

TGIF!

These purply blossoms bloom in our front yard every year. They are my absolute favorites, they attract every butterfly from miles around. Or perhaps it just seems that way. I don't know what kind of butterfly this is, but we get these visitors every year as well. I love the dots of blue and orange against black wings.

TGIF!! I love Friday. It always has such a good feeling for me. I always try to cut myself a little slack on Fridays when we don't have anything that we have to do. Since I like to run errands on Friday, it is also the perfect excuse to do a little shopping as well. Nothing big slated for today. I've bribed the girls into cleaning their play room, so that will involve a little trip to the toy store. They want some little animals that move around like the Zhou Zhou hamsters. It really is a rare treat for them to get to go to the toy store for themselves. I'm usually more likely to talk them into getting books or art and craft stuff.

I need to hit Target for some essentials, and Central Market since I'm out of my very favorite Brown Cow blueberry yogurt. Probably should get ribs for the 4th of July cook out. Nothing too exciting today, but it does feel good to get out and about....

I'm working on a fleur de lis ring. At least I think it will be a ring. Or perhaps a pendant. We shall see. I also ordered some lovely greek leather that came in yesterday. The first time I saw "Greek Leather" being advertised like it was something really great, I thought "What, Greek cows are better than American cows or what?" And then I bought some leather cord from Tandy Leather.

Now mind you, Tandy has some great products. The store I went to in Ft. Worth didn't have the best selection, and they only had the 1 mm leather cord. I found out later that the reason everyone loves the Greek Leather is because it is stronger. Yeah, I kinda found that out the hard way....and, that 1 mm cord is just too thin. But, live and learn. So, anyway, this Greek Leather is wonderful. I'm hoping to get a chance to work with it this weekend. I have bracelet and necklace designs floating around in my head.

Well, I hope you all enjoy this lovely Friday, I sure plan to!