Fuzzy Hair & Rainy Days

Yes...that's my hair. Fuzzy. And it has been raining on and off for a few days now. 

Here is a picture of what it looks like outside my front door today

We have several of these pink plants out the front of my studio and the front of the lounge. They look awesome on a day like this with their bright leaves and raindrops decorating them.

 

Summer and I took the 4 hour round trip to visit my Mum yesterday and the weather was just as soggy. The drive there wasn't so bad...but the drive back home was terrible.

We enjoyed lunch at a local venue and it was very yummy. Then we trekked over to my favourite store 'Giddy & Grace'. I almost always come away with less money in my bank than when I arrive. And this time was no different. I bought myself some gorgeous Owl wrapping paper and this:

It's really heavy - it's made from stone. But I love Owls and knew it was coming home with me the moment I touched it. I also purchased a lovely white ceramic one from a fellow Etsian in Melbourne. I have used it as a prop for my Etsy shop too... Iove it. It's so cute and detailed.

My mother bought me these little bird eggs as a gift ♥

Now I just need to find something to display them in :)

I finally got my new dining chairs. Hubby was so helpful in taking the nearly 5 hour round trip picking them up in his new truck. Now we are back to needing a new dining table as the chairs really don't work with it :(

Below is what I am working on:

I have just oxidized those 2 pieces and hopefully will finish them off this afternoon. The metal clay pieces will have to wait another day or so to be fired as it's so damp I have to ensure they're properly dried out. 

This past week(ish) I've been on a roll with my muse. It has been a while since I've had this amount of pieces on the go - just finished these 2 below on Monday as well

Both are Ocean Jasper and I love these stones ♥ You can see the White Owl I bought too ♥

Summer is on 2 weeks school holidays now. It's going to be boring for her at times, but it can't be helped. When it's raining, indoor activities are it. I might be able to take the trip up to my Mum's again next week. It's such a hike, but it gives us something to do and gets Summer out of the house to visit her grandies :)

Okay I've rambled on long enough now. Might make myself a nice hot cup'a'soup!

Em ♥

Muggy Much?

Feels like it was just Summer time only a moment ago and here it is upon us already. And I already hate it lol....but whats new???

I am not overly looking forward to the new year. There is a new law that the government here are supposedly bringing in and it will affect my husbands job. His work situation has already become a bit sketchy of late and I've been pretty stressed about it all. 

Anyways - my daughter is now starting to play with her toys properly and interact with them and I love hearing her!! It brings me back to when I was a little girl, playing with my toys and how I used to use my imagination to have fun. I love my little girl so much it makes my heart ache!

Because of the humid weather we have had, we've been getting more and more ants in our house. Ants are fine...when they're outside...but when I start getting lots of them walking around my kitchen bench and random areas around the house, I start to get pretty annoyed. I spent most of yesterday afternoon spraying them and wiping them up. And just when you think they're gone, a new little trail of them appears. Sigh.

Well here are the latest pieces I finished up last week:

I've already listed them in my shop, which I am usually pretty lazy doing. 

I am still digging my backgrounds. I love seeing my shop all fresh and colourful. I did try my background out with another coloured box, but it just didn't look right, it looks better when it's all the same background, but just alternating the positions and bokeh etc, makes it not look too samey same for every shot. You are right Amy, Turquoise really does work :)

Well it's hot and I don't feel like working at the bench, I desperately need a screen door (which I'm still trying to get the hubs to see to). Way too many flies and mosquito's and wasps get in when I have the doors up, but it's so hot in there really need the breeze (something we get a lot of at this house!!).

Hope you are having a wonderful week thus far 

Em ♥

New Background & Jewellery

Thanks to those of you who gave me your opinion on my background choices...I finally redid all the photography for my shop and I love my new background. I didn't end up going with what I posted about, but it got me to the choice I eventually made. 

It's cohesive, fresh and bright and I love how my shop looks now :)

As much as I thought the grey was for me, I was tired of it. Yes it helped my silver work stand out, but it was kinda lacking that certain something...

I have been trying really hard not to let the lack of sales get me down and stop me from making new pieces. It's damn hard though. When I make a sale it kinda motivates me to make more jewellery......when those sales completely vanish into thin air....well my desire to create kinda goes with it - as I'm sure is the case for many creators out there.

Now I just figure that, I have the supplies there, so I may as well use them and enjoy myself!! And I am definitely working on stocking up to do my first market someday soonish. I think I have an idea how I want to make my set up and once I have that figured, I will be able to see how much stock I need.

Next is a picture of a ring I just finished up this morning:

Yes I have been incorporating my latest skill with my new work lol...so I guess there will be a heap of work with tube set gemstones. I'm also working on my plain bezel settings - I find them the hardest to make look nice as there really is no forgiveness in the edge, not like scalloped or sawtooth or like those fancy bezel wires...you can kinda get away with all sorts when you use those settings, but with plain bezel.....well you can't get away with much at all! The reason I want to do more with this bezel type is I think it gives a more finished look to my work, as much as I enjoy using the fancy bezels, I want the stones to stand out more and the embellishments I use around the stones. I'll still use the other wire...but I want to get this wire perfected!

Apparently it's going to start heating up here this week....not happy....not happy at all. I still hate the heat, as much as I did last time it was hot. I can forsee a huuuuuge power bill at the end of the year :(

Well that is it for now....I have a couple of pieces I need to finish up and photograph and list over the next few days. Oh and I did a treasury this morning...first I've done in aaages. It was fun though and I tried to stick to a colour theme (which I find hard).

Have a great day :)

Em ♥

Tools, New Moo Cards, No Mojo...oh my!

Yes, I have some new tools, moo cards and Zero Smithing Mojo :(

If anything would normally kick my butt into creative gear it would have to new tools....but no....not this time.

Below are pictures of my new matching Moo cards and stickers.
I spent ages designing these and am very happy with how they turned out. And they are such good quality! So now the hubs has decided he wants me to make some cards for him from Moo. Oh and they also came like 2 weeks earlier than I was expecting them, so Woohoo!!


Below is my first print I have purchased from Etsy. I have been lusting after several artists pictures for a long time now and then decided I would get on with it finally and just buy one! And I love it! So does my hubby. I think he even approves me collecting more of them :)

This print is by janethillstudio


And this is a picture of some new stamping tools I purchased from 2moontools

I received them this morning and hope to use them on some new pieces.....eventually......if my mojo returns :(

lol I know that I will.
This is not the first time I have encountered the creative block, nor will it be my last.
What's strange is that my head is just absolutely choc full of stuff, but I can't seem to put it to actual physical work. Maybe my head is in overload?? I'm hoping to get a break sometime this weekend and maybe I'll be able to remove this block. I can only hope.

Yesterday I took my daughter with me to a big hardware store to look for some new tin snips etc and I came across a work bench for $100....it's not too big and it has peg board and a shelf underneath and an extra area to hang hammers etc. I'm hoping to take hubs to see this bench and talk him into buying it for me haha....it would be a spot I could bolt my Rolling Mill to as well. So it's kind of necessary. I can't wait to get the mill bolted down so I can try it out.

Alrighty I must go. Daughter is talking non stop and I can't type anymore as I can't hear myself think, think that is half the reason I struggle at the bench these days :(

Em

Wow time has flown by since my last post.
I have been busy I guess, which is never a bad thing in my book. I have just started to get back to the bench this past week and have gotten a few things done.

There has been a lot of light showers this morning already, it's a bit gloomy outside too...I don't mind that though :) Below are pictures of what I have completed this week from the bench:


2 Rings. I find making the ring bands a bit of a pain in the butt, but I really need the practice, so better late than never!! I do have 2 necklaces waiting to be oxidized yet, but I probably won't get to them till this afternoon. I am working on a few other pieces too, it's just finding the time and getting the creative juice hit that I have to wait around for sometimes.

I ended up ordering some silver sheet when the Silver Price was sky rocketing towards the predicted $50 mark.......it took the company 2 weeks to send it to me and by then, the price had dropped by $50 on the order I had made.....so I wasn't very pleased, especially when the company didn't honour current silver prices. To be honest with you, I hate the customer service, or rather lack thereof that this company gives. I am not the only one here in Australia that dislikes their incompetency and lack of supply in stock too. It's really frustrating that I don't have a choice of people to deal with like in the USA. I could go on and on bagging them out, but the fact remains, I still have to deal with them. Next time though, I won't be so naive. I should have cancelled that order and saved myself the money. But what's done is done and I have learned from it :)

On to a whole other subject, below is a picture of the new look dining room. Complete with the new colour feature wall and dining furniture that we have painted up. I spent over a week painting the dining chairs, hence not working at the bench as my time was wrapped up in this project. I am on the lookout for a little dresser or sideboard that I can do up to put where the dark timber table is at the moment, which I will be selling on. I really love the 'fresh' feel/look that the dining room now has. And having a smaller table and chair setting has given us even more room, not that we needed it lol, but it looks nicer and cleaner and I'm happy with that! We are going to move the freezer into the garage soon too, so I hope to get a nice floor lamp for that corner and perhaps a chair.

I will try and get a picture of the deco cabinet soon as it's been finished up and is living in it's new spot in the house......just waiting for the sun to come out :)

That's it for this post, hope you are all well and having a great week! It's lovely and cool weather here now and I love it!!!!

....No Title....

Right now, my daughter is running round and round making lots of noise and it's kinda sending me loopy. I just took her to the beach...but it was way too windy, so that venture didn't last long :(

Not a whole lot going on (as usual). I got some new small stones for once

I also got 'bout 17 more Turquoise Cabs this week, but I didn't get a piccie of them. Below is a piece I am working on and some earrings for myself:

I finally got myself an Apron to protect myself/clothing whilst I solder etc. Unfortunately, the weather is getting warmer....or rather, the humidity is back on the rise. Which in turn (same as last year) effects my desire to go to the bench and turn on my torch. So add to that now, wearing a heavyish apron.......yeah I can see I won't be getting much done. Though today is a veeerry cool breezy day, so maybe I should take advantage of that.
That being easier said than done of course, when you have a 2yr old on your tail to entertain.

*insert big sigh here*

Anywho, even with all the lovely new stones I've accumulated, my creating mojo has taken a back seat again. I'm kinda frustrated with lots of stuff right now, so I guess that's not helping.

I will leave it here, before I start whinging.

New Ideas.

I am feeling a bit better.

I haven't been out to my bench all week, but this afternoon I went out for a bit of playtime finally.

I think I would like to try and make a brooch.

I don't know whether to make the pinback in sterling or to buy some premade findings in nickle/stainless steel.

Though I haven't played at my bench, I have in fact pulled out my sewing machine! I have a baby shower to go to on the weekend for my husbands cousin, so I thought I would make something for her. I have made half of it so far, might post a picture here when I am done, as she doesn't read this blog so there is no fear of her seeing her gift.

I have been through sooooo many hobbies in the last 5 years it's mad!

I have done painting, beaded jewelry, sewing, card making, photography, stamp making... and there is probably something else that I can't remember. And now I am playing with metal :)

The hobbies that have stuck are the sewing and photography. I love Macro photography. And I love being able to make something for someone that they can't go and buy. I guess that's why I like jewelry making too, cuz I can make whatever the hell I want! lol

Well I just felt like posting here for something to do....haven't really got much else to report :)

Ta ta