Not Cleaning Today :)

Normally Mondays are when I'd do some big house cleaning for the week. But today I have decided, I don't want to do that today :P

The house doesn't look any worse for wear because of that decision, so I figured I can probably get away with it today! I am going to try and work at my bench instead.

Below are a couple of pieces I've finished this past week:

♥ SOLD ♥

I am only working on 1 more pendant and a pair of earrings for my shop at the moment and a little brooch for my mother. So hopefully today I can get a few more pieces started. I also want to do something for myself. I don't really make things for myself, but I want something like the piece above, but without a stone and with a back. Hope I can have that done before baby arrives.

Above is the latest addition to my techniques 'to do'. I haven't ever attempted this wax carving before, but it is something I have been intending to try for about 9 months now, so finally with my latest Rio order, I got a box of wax tablets to play with. I also would like to pull out my repousse kit and give that a go too, but I think I need another kit with a different pitch in order to do a whole piece. So I have to investigate a little more into that and maybe order that with the next purchase from Rio.

Well I had better leave it here and get on with my day. I have to finish the chain on the owl piece above and get that posted out and it's nearly 10am, so only a handful of hours left before I pick up the kid :)

Em ♥

Not Long Now ...

I haven't been very devoted to posting of late.
So I thought I had better pop on by and say hello.
Not long now until baby comes. Under 6 weeks and it will be here! If all goes according to plan anyhow (not that that ever happens!) :)

I have decided to renovate my blog.
It's still simple, but I like the colour change and I have added my Etsy and Facebook and Pinterest to the links in the header and sidebars.

There hasn't been much going on bench wise lately. I'm just not feeling very creative - though I do have several pieces almost finished. It just takes me a lot longer to create at the moment. When I'm at my bench, I have been enjoying the show Downton Abbey. I'm up to season 2. It's funny how not much really happens, but enough goes on to make you want to keep watching :)

Below is a pendant I've recently finished and listed in my store:

And below are some earrings I've recently made and listed:

The pieces I'm working on now are all pendants.
Isn't it great news that silver dropped??!!!!! I was so happy. I needed to make an order and the price drop couldn't have come at a better time. I didn't go crazy or anything, but I ordered enough to keep me going for a little while. I don't imagine that I'll be making much for a while once baby arrives, but we'll see. Once in a new routine that includes baby and Summer, I might get more time to myself.

We have an inspection tomorrow. I hate them. But it does give us a chance to do a good ole spring clean. Which is exactly what I've been doing with my spare time of late. I have sold some clothes and books and stamps and have cleared out a lot of stuff from the spare room that baby will be eventually going into. It's a nice feeling downsizing things and even better if you can make a little cash on the way.

Well I have a hospital appointment this afternoon with an Endocrinologist. I'm hoping I don't have to wait around long. I'm tired of waiting around there.

Have a lovely day
Em ♥

I'm tired this morning.

But the house is fairly quiet, so I thought I would do a quick little blog post, whilst I can. 

Summers arm is finally all good to go. No more cast/brace. Which I'm sure she is enjoying. Baby is doing well. I'm doing o.k.

I've been getting to the bench a little - only 3 months till baby comes, so I really want to enjoy the time I have to myself before then. 

I have spent a little while searching for an anvil. 

I thought I had found what I was after, but it turns out it was Iron and not steel and that's not any good. Finally I decided to take the plunge on one from RioGrande. It's costing as much for the postage as it is for the actual anvil. Hubby has lovingly and generously offered to pay for the postage so I could have my anvil. 

Isn't he fab?!! ♥

So hopefully some time this week I will get that :)

I know I don't overly NEED an anvil. But a steel plate isn't going to cut it for me anymore. It jumps around on my stump and it isn't big enough. 

I want to do some fold forming this year and the anvil will be great for that to begin with. I'm hoping it will absorb all the noise when hammering too.

Below are a couple of pieces I have finished recently that I had a lot of trouble with:

Sold

 

Sold

I have a few new things I am working on at the bench right now too. Just need to do the bails and clean up and set the stones etc. 

I did finish this on Friday:

 

Just felt like doing something simple and out of silver only. I'm not really loving my stone collection at the moment. I find it so hard to find really good ones. Everyone else seems to be finding them :(

Well I'm waiting on a friend to come over - but who knows if/when she will. Either way, I've got lots to get done today, so I should probably make a start :)

Em ♥

A Little News To Share

I'm not sure if you will remember, but last year over a few of my later posts, I was complaining of not feeling so great.

Well this is the reason why:

We are expecting baby #2 this year in June!

I have been struggling with several ailments due to being pregnant :(

I'm having some heart palpitations (seeing a specialist about this) have had 'Morning Sickness' (usually an afternoon early evening event) and am now suffering from Chronic Reflux - which last Friday afternoon got sooo bad that I called an Ambulance for myself!! At that time I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I thought I was dying :( The pain was the worst I've ever had in my chest. Fortunately I have the best GP and I was able to talk to him over the phone and he gave me the name of a tablet to take.

Last night at about 9:30, I felt the symptoms start in my chest again and so I got up and took the tablet. About 10 minutes later after really bad pain, it just disappeared! Just like that! That happened to me on Friday too. I was on the floor in severe pain and then - snap your fingers - it was gone. So I don't know if it was the tablets that worked their magic, or if it was going to go of it's own accord. 

I guess I will have to wait until I have another attack :( Which I really hope doesn't happen!

In other news, Summer is doing well at Prep.

She now has a half cast again - after having a whole arm one for 2 weeks and she gets that cast off (hopefully) next Tuesday.

Not much else happening around these parts. I'm too tired to do much. Keeping up with the housework takes it out of me as it is. I want to get to the bench today. I have finally finished soldering a piece that was giving me hell. So I need to oxidize it and polish it up and hopefully it turns out. 

Well, here's hoping I get to that bench at some point today. Or this week lol.

Take care all 

Em ♥

Broken.

My daughter broke her arm. 

Her right arm.

On Tuesday. 

The day I was having such a terrible time at the bench and thinking of giving up. 

Well it ended much worse than I could have possibly imagined. 

Just 5 minutes before it happened, I had asked her to come back inside as it was getting late and going to be dinner soon. As usual, she refused, saying she wanted to stay out and keep playing. So I walked away. Then I came back to my bench to try and keep on keeping on, when I heard the painful cries. 

I got up wondering if the dog had tried to get her, because she tends to annoy him (he's only a couple of pounds in weight). Or I thought maybe a bug had landed on her again. 

Then I saw.

As she walked across the patio towards me.

Her floppy arm.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I almost totally freaked out. 

I haven't ever seen anything broken before. But I was certain that her arm was indeed broken. 

I swept her up and yelled out to my husband to get the keys we're going to the hospital. 

And the rest goes as you would expect it to.

We got her seen to almost straight away in the emergency room. 

You could see it was very painful, but she was acting so bravely and hardly crying at all.

All in all we were there only a few hours. 

The Doctors and Nurses were fabulous! They treated her with such care and patience and warmth it was probably what made it go so smoothly.

A week later and Summer is totally back to her normal, noisy, cheeky self.

Tomorrow morning, I take her to get her proper cast on. The one she has on now is only a half cast (the cast part is underneath the arm) and it is bandaged on.

No idea why they didn't cast it up straight away, but there is obviously a reason for it.

She gets to pick a colour for the new one, which I'm sure she will find fun.

And she will be wearing it for the first few weeks of Prep - which starts in 1 weeks time! So she will get plenty of attention I'm sure :)

In other news, I'm still feeling down and out with my smithing skills.

I haven't let it keep me from the bench - as sometimes I feel that does the opposite for me. I have just kept on keeping on. 

This is a piece I finished this morning:

Labradorite Pendant - Cascades

I was cleaning up the LOS off a piece today (that I struggled with last week) and as I was doing it, a jump ring came away :( 

I was pretty frustrated to say the least. So I went back and soldered it on. Thank goodness I hadn't yet set the stone, or who knows what I would have been able to do with it.

Now I have to LOS it again and hopefully it turns out well the second time.

I've also made a 3 stone ring and a very large pendant, but need to LOS those yet.

On Friday afternoon, Summer and I made some cookies.

Sadly they weren't all that great, they were too light in texture. And I wasn't a fan of the taste to be honest. But sometimes it's fun to try and make things you haven't before. However, I won't be making these again ....

Sugar Cookies with M&M's

Okay, I should probably sign off here, so I can make Summer some lunch.

We've a busy week ahead of us before she starts school.

I am looking forward to it and I think she is too.

Take care 

Em ♥