Been a while....

I've just come home from the Kindy run and I thought I should probably blog before I get on with other things. 

I'm not feeling that great at the moment....the back/top part of my throat seems to be a bit sore and I'm hoping it's not a sign of things to come......as this weekend there is a Gem Show on and I am hoping to have a look see. Though I did just purchase a few lovlies off Etsy this past week.....they take a while to get to me. I like instant gratification when I can get it. So I might just find something at this show....but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Not a whole lot going on here.

I have been slowly making a few new things for my etsy shop. 

Though I am struggling with one particular piece that I thought I had finished (tumbled for 4 hours and oxidized) and when I went to polish it up, one of the little balls came off.....and I've tried 2 times since to solder it back on with no luck.

I'm finding it quite frustrating to be honest. So I will try and have another go, after that, I might just give up on it :(

I've been having fun designing with Filigree wire lately too.

And I just received in the mail, half of my Etching set up (this little guy came inside on my parcel).

Also I got a set of carving tools, for wax carving, just need to order some blocks of wax. And I'm loving that silver has come down under $30 again as I think it's time to stock up again.

A friend of mine has just had her 2nd child this week and so I am working on a little initial pebble pendant set for her as a gift. One thing I've noticed about having a baby is that, everyone buys things only for the baby, but forgets the poor woman giving birth. So my gift is more for her, but still sort of for the baby...if you know what I mean?

Here's a few of my latest pieces:

 Boulder Opal Ring.

 Mookaite Ring.

 Petal Hoop Earrings.

 PMC Owl Pendant.

 *sold*

 *sold*

*sold*

So I have been a little busy lately, but not as much as I'd like. But it has only been myself getting in the way, so I've only myself to blame for that!

Tomorrow Summer is having her Kindy Class photo taken. I am looking forward to having that. Last week she lost her fave little teddy kinda thing, that I bought for her when I found out I was having a girl. She has had it every night since she was born and it's gone.  

I was sooo sad. 

I wanted to have it for her in her special box of baby things, but it's seems like that will never be :(

Well it's been a long post and I'm starting to feel a little worse for wear than when I started this. I really ought to make an appointment for a hair cut too, but I don't want to go if I'm going to be sick. Sigh.....

Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far 

Em♥

At the bench :)

Yes that is what I am doing this morning :)

I haven't been at the bench for the past week, so I headed in there this morning to tidy up my bench and get on with a few pieces that are sitting there, waiting to be finished. 

It's a beautiful day. 

Yesterday it was cool(er) and breezy and just the perfect weather for enjoying life :)

This morning seems to be following suit.

I'm just back at the computer to put some new stuff on my USB stick for my laptop and I thought I would do a quick post.

I went to the Gemshow on Saturday, by myself. 

It was horribly hot and the hall where they have the main part of the stalls was absolutely crammed, which made it worse heat wise. I did nab a few faceted stones and some small cabs:

There was a lot of rough available...which if I were able to cut my own stones, it would have been fab. But The cabochon side of things wasn't that great. There were a few that caught my eye, but honestly for the money, I would rather buy the better ones I have found on good ole Etsy.

As I made my way to the end of the stalls, I thought it was all over. Till I looked outside and noticed a whole load of other stalls outside on the grass. There wasn't that much for me there either....but I did manage to grab these:

Some lovely Boulder Opal cabochons.

This little parcel of goodies made it worth my while going to that show!

A few of them have the most gorgeous flash of purple. I can't wait to start setting these. 

There are lots of other shows throughout the year. I will try and get to a few of them. You never know, if you never go.

And I would like to know.

Must get back to the bench!

Em ♥

Gem Show, New Bed And Spring Cleaning

It's just after 10am, Friday and I've been spring cleaning my morning away.

We have an inspection coming up in 2 and a half weeks time, so I thought I would make a start now, by spring cleaning the day away :)

This weekend there is a gem show on. 

In fact it happens to be the same one I went to last time and it was really disappointing. But they are so few and far between, that I feel like going again anyway. You never know, it might be better this time around.?.

We are getting a much needed new ensemble base this weekend. Which means it's time to look for a funky headboard! Yay! I have seen a few DIY headboards and have saved them to Pinterest. But seeing as I need to get a new workbench made, I can't see us taking the DIY headboard route right now.

I got to the bench this week and I actually sold a few pieces this week, which was awesome! I made these:

I also made these:

My dilemma with the above earrings is - the stone on the right is darker over the top half (click on the image to see it larger) and I'm not sure whether I should sell them and if so, should I say that one of the stones is darker across the top? Or should I let the photo's speak?? Or should I sell them at a discounted price perhaps?? What do you think??

Em ♥

Sigh.......*warning* long post ahead.......

I am having a bad day.

The Gem Show was pretty lame. Don't get me wrong....there was lots of 'stuff'. But all the cabs were either small and blah/same old, or they were overpriced compared to where I get mine from.

Husband ended up coming with me and he pushed our daughter round in her pram whilst I browsed, though it was really hard to see much really. The aisles were slim and there were a lot of people there hovering for ages over the tables, so it was hard to get a decent look see.

Then we passed several stalls of 'handmade' jewelry. They were made with lovely stones. Very simple and basic settings, no chains with the pendants. They were selling them for very very cheap. Instantly that puts my husband in the 'you need to really drop your prices' & 'you need to make yours shiny and professional looking like theirs' mode.

It really pisses me off when I am compared to others, especially when you don't know whether they are making these pieces themselves (my opinion was they weren't), how long they have been making them, how much they source their materials for and so on....

All the jewelry was polished to a really high shine, which I struggle to do as I haven't got a clue what I am doing in that department yet. Cut a long story short, the gem show ruined my whole day. I am very easily defeated.

All the way home and then some, we discussed what I should do. When I got home I immediately looked up these 'handmade' jewelry sellers to see whether they truly were handmade by that seller. And just as I suspected, no one said they were making them by hand themselves. They stated that they 'designed' them. You can tell from the fact that all these sellers were selling very similar pieces, just with different stones. The settings and prices were the same and no one sold pendants with chains. And they had hundreds of pieces.

Basically I figure they are sourcing their pieces from countries like India or Thailand and then selling them on. So yes in a sense they are actually handmade, but not by the person selling them on. And hence the price being so cheap, because they got them on the cheap.

Tonight I decided that I have to learn how to get a high/er polish on my jewelry and tried it on a ring waiting to be set and I actually had some success, it turned out 100% better than my other stuff and looked a lot more finished.......so I started to feel positive about everything again.......but now when I have set the stone, it rattles :( I feel like screaming! (I am pms'ing as well). Hubby thinks I just have to push the bezel in more...so I might give it another go tomorrow....but now I am too down to bother.

If you got this far....wow! I feel better having written down my thoughts. I feel better knowing that I can get a much better finish now.

But I can't however, get the bezel setting to be smooth.....how long does it take to smooth the bezel down with a burnisher? Could I be going at it till I get serious cramp? Or should it not take too long?? Can anyone help?????

Can anyone offer any tips when it comes to polishing to a high shine??

I feel so lost sometimes and give up too easily.....

Still Raining.

Yep, it's still raining today. Though this kinda gloomy grey wet weather is my fave kind, it doesn't help the bank balance when your husband is the only one bringing home the 'bacon' and he has to work outside for a living.
He hasn't worked all week yet. Not good for the bank balance and bill paying. Which also has a knock on effect on any hobby spending too. I have a little in the bank for the Gem Show on Saturday and fortunately my mum is buying one of my pieces and has commissioned another. So that will give me a little bit of cash to put back into buying some silver.

Before the weather turned this way, we were out at the shops on Saturday and I saw this Butchers Trolley for sale. I have been looking for one of these to use behind my bench in the garage for a while now. I have been checking Ebay frequently hoping to snatch up an old one. But nothing was doing. So when I saw this, I was excited. I paid for half with my meager savings and hubby paid for the rest. Tho I didn't really need anything quite so big. But I love it. I have drawers for my tools and a place to put my soldering stuff when I don't need it, which in turn gives me lots of work space on the bench.

Below is what I am working on at the moment. I wasn't having a very successful day with it all yesterday though. I ruined the labradorite setting and the green grass turquoise silver base for the bezel got ruined (and I had a gorgeous idea for that one). So I just left the bench at that point. Don't need to ruin them all! And all the silver you see in the picture is all I have left. I'm hoping one of the stall holders at the Gem Show will have some silver supplies with them and I can restock a little bit, I really want to get going with the idea for the Green Turq stone that I had.


Well I have blabbed on for long enough! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Rain, Rain, Rain.

It's been raining all day so far. And it rained all day yesterday. And I'm loving it!! This is my ideal weather :)

Since it rained all day yesterday and was nice and cool, I got this necklace finished. I am starting to really like Labradorite. This one has particularly nice flashes of colour. I also have a really nice round Labradorite that has gorgeous blue flashes.

My Mum told me yesterday that a young woman tried on my Labradorite Lariat Necklace and really liked it. But she said she was going to have to think about it. But hey at least someone finally asked to see something!

I am going to sell my Coral Fossil ring I last posted about, to my Mum and she has commissioned a ring using a nice Blue Sea Sediment Jasper stone. It's quite a big one too. Oh and I got my other cabochons today! So now I have more than enough!......but I am still going to visit that Gem Show on Saturday :) I am really hoping that I get to come home with some nice things. I am a sucker for buying more than I need to, so I need to make sure I only buy things I know I can't get normally, but I know that it might not work out that way :P

Little Booboo

The ring I sold my mum is broken. :(
The reason I wrote 'little' booboo is because I am glad that I sold it to my mother and not a random customer. THAT would have been very embarrassing. Anyway, she said that the ring shank isn't soldered down anymore on one side.

Is there a way I can fix this without pulling the whole ring apart? Is Green Sediment Jasper okay to heat? That brings me to another question....how do you resize a ring that already has a stone firmly set? Is there something you can use to protect the stone whilst you torch it?

(sigh)

I got my silver sheet this afternoon and there is plenty to work with for a while. And I got to work on some pieces this evening, but my heart isn't really in it. I am very easily discouraged (I tend to make mountains out of molehills). It's because of the ring my mum was going to buy. It has kinda dampened my confidence. So I'm not gonna push myself or else I may make more 'booboos'.

Oh one very fun thing for me.....I found out there is a Gem Show on in 2 weeks time. It's not too far a drive from here and it's on a weekend. So I can leave my daughter at home with the hubby, whilst I go and see what's on offer and hopefully I will come home with some goodies. I can't wait!