Cloudy with a chance of Cabochons.

Now wouldn't that be awesome!!

LOL

Well it is cloudy today and it smells like rain. The weather has been a bit like that for the past few days. I love it. But it's frustrating for the hubby who has to try and work in it. I haven't been getting to the bench as much as I'd like this week. 

The flu dropped by (to visit me only) and has almost left :)

I got a couple of parcels of cabochons this morning:

And I have about the same amount coming soon :) 

I'll probably buy more again this week. Going through the cabochon buy up phase...you know what it's like!

I went to the Gem show on Saturday and dragged hubby along. It was pretty much pathetic. Thank goodness we didn't have to pay to get in, would have asked for our money back - it was that bad.

But on the flip side, I had met someone who is going to fix some labradorite cabochons for me. Though I haven't heard from him yet, so I'm getting a bit antsy about it. I left him with 3 gorgeous ones that cost me over $100, so you can see why I'm a bit antsy. Anyway when I got them, they weren't completely flat on the bottoms and I didn't want to try and set them like that, so I needed them ground down a bit. Here's hoping I don't have to ring him........

Below is a picture Summer drew of me :) - I've never seen her draw anything before - though I've tried a million times to encourage her to draw.

and here is another smiley face she did this morning. I'm so proud! lol as I type this she is reading it out aloud.

I'm working on a custom order and a present for a friend who has just had her baby girl. I had no idea what kind of gift to give her, then I figured I would make her some thing, I prefer to hand make things as gifts whenever I can. But I didn't fancy sewing this time, so metal was the next best thing!

And I have made a little fern pendant to put in the shop, it's in the tumbler now :)

The wind has died down and the sun has come out. Wish the weather would make up it's mind! :)

Em ♥

Goodies

Yay I received my parcel this morning of goodies :)

My fave kind of parcel is this kind. Supplies. Yes fresh new tools and silver and gold (gold fill to be exact) and a lovely shiny new book.

But as usual it's too hot in my workshop to play :(

So the goodies will sit and wait patiently for me to try them out. Cept for the book, I could read that anytime :)

I'm enjoying a nice hot cup of tea (that is going cold swiftly) and a couple of short bread biscuits. Yum. Summertime is coming to a close at the end of February and then it will be Autumn. I can't wait! 

There is so much on my mind at the moment. 

So much I have/want to do.

I'm thinking of some classes perhaps in smithing, to expand my horizons. Like wax carving.

You can see in my piccie above that I have some handles. I need to make a little burnishing tool at some point and that is what those are for. Once I have that made, I can attempt flush setting. I have the stones and burs, so I could at least make a start on my first attempt....

I have a dentist checkup appt this afternoon and I'm not looking forward to it. I have to have it late in the afternoon, to make sure my hubs is home to be with Summer. Which means it kind of ruins the whole day, with the appt lingering overhead.

Anyways, at least I have some nice new stones and tools and supplies to play with. It gives me something to look forward to :)

Em ♥

Back At The Bench.

The sun is out and shining! Finally! It feels like forever since I last saw the sun for this length of time. It's been a few weeks almost. So this morning, I took my little munchkin out to the pond to get some much needed Vit D.

We're back home and I've put the air conditioning on to keep the humidity at bay. 

I have actually made some new things at the bench this past week. 

Honestly though with the lack of sales in my shop, it makes me feel like giving up. Though on the flip side of that, I just bought some more tools and a book and silver tubing lol.

I figure I will keep at it. For now.

On my list of things to learn, I want to try my hand at setting another large faceted stone. I bought one a while back, so will have to take a picture of it before I try and make a setting for it. Hopefully this one works out without any issues and I can list it in my shop. I finally bought the Creative Stone Setting book, which might help me the second time round with this setting. I also want to give flush setting a go. I have the burs coming and I have a few very small stones I can practice with, I just need to make a small burnisher first. There are a couple of tutorials out there that show you how to go about making one. 

Above are a couple of simpler things I have made for my shop.

Thanks ladies for giving me your opinion on my new background. I am going to keep the Turquoise box for the big earring shots and the other background for everything else. It keeps things interesting in my shop.

Sadly I am almost out of silver sheet. Which isn't great, as silver prices are on the rise again. Should probably weigh my scraps and see what I have....I've got quite a bit again.

Really I should buy myself some ingots and crucibles and melt it down myself....actually I think I will buy them in a couple of weeks and give it a go!!

I have the scrap and I have the mill, so it makes sense doesn't it?!!

I guess I should go and make some lunch for all now, it's almost lunch time.

I will go and read some blogs now :)

Take care

Em ♥

She's gone again!

My creative muse/mojo. 

Gotta say, I'm getting a bit tired of her disappearing on me.

I have tried to make my first bezel setting for a faceted gemstone, it's sitting in the pickle right now and if it works out, it'll be a miracle. I've got some earrings in the pickle too, they've been sitting on my bench for some time now.

As I wrote in my last blog, the weather has been 'bench' friendly lately. So this afternoon, I thought I would take advantage of it and see what I can do...but I'm just not feeling it. And when I don't feel it, negativity starts to creep in....thoughts like 'oh no, am I just not into this anymore??' - 'my designs suck and I'm not advancing enough'.

None of those kind of thoughts help.

But how do you stop them creeping in??

I'm wondering if a batch of nice new stones would help some. I haven't bought any cabs in a while now and I'm a bit sick of looking at my old ones lol.

Probably should be at the bench more.

I wonder if trolling the internet for inspiration will perk up the creative juices....or will it just hinder me?

There has been something on my mind the past couple of weeks too that isn't helping, but I can't really do anything about that right now.

Does this happen to you often?

What do you do to combat it?

I've walked away from the bench for now. Let the things in the pickle sit a while and I'll get them out and take it from there. Maybe finishing a simple piece will help some. I don't know.

Maybe I'm forcing myself to be something I'm not....

Em.

Procrastination

Yes. That title describes me down to a tea at this point in time. 

I have pieces I need to get finished. 

It's too hot.

I've some new materials I want to try and techniques.

It's too hot.

The days are going by too fast.

And it's too hot.

Did I mention it's hot??? lol

Yeah it's getting pretty gross out by my bench. Like I said in my last post, I really need that screen door. Last night hubby found a small toad hopping around in the lounge room....YUCK!!!!! And it probably came from the garage :( 

So now we need to be extra careful. I've no idea how it got in the lounge room unseen though.....

I woke up to a sale this morning :)

I am working on something beaded for myself....I haven't beaded in years. I'm not really enjoying it either haha. But I know it'll look nice when I'm done, I've been working on it in the evenings whilst watching the idiot box. It looks so simple, but it's been a bit of a pain in the bum to make - for me anyway.

The desire to buy new stones is scratching away in the back of my head. It's been a while since I really bought any - if you don't count my stash of little faceted stones...I have bought quite a lot of those. And I do have a lovely larger faceted stone on it's way to me.....actually it should have been here by now, so kinda getting worried about that. 

Anyways I haven't really purchased any cabochons in a while. I do not need them. Not at all. But I fancy looking at new stuff. As much as I love the bright coloured stuff, I fancy some more natural stones now. Though to be honest, right now is probably not the best time of year to be waiting on parcels from overseas as it tends to get slowish.

Well that's about it I guess. I'm so grateful for the airconditioning we have in this place and the great insulation and extra high ceilings!!

Have a wonderful day all 

Em ♥

Woohoo! It's Friday :)

It's an absolutely gorgeous day again today. I adore Winter time for days like this. If it were to stay like this forever I would be so content.

But if you know me, then you already know this and know it well haha.

It's almost 11am and I've finished all my housework, I have washing in the machine and my daughter is making an awful racket out in the lounge room and it's driving me CRAZZZZY!!!!!!!!!

:s

Below is what's on my bench today:


The ring at the back is my first custom order, it's almost finished.

I finally got my parcel of Turquiose cabochons. I am never going to get things posted with USPS Priority again if I can help it. It took almost 2 weeks more to get it and the tracking they do is DREADful. So I am going to get things sent with Express like I was going to initially. It costs more, obviously, but it's peace of mind and reassuring. I love the stones :) I got some Kingman, #8, Crow Spring and Pilot Mt. And I think I am going to get some more lol. You all know the disease that seeps in when you buy stones hahaaha.

Below is a pair of mismatched earrings that my mother generously gave to me. They are natural Emerald and Rubies set in sterling from India. I have already popped them out of their settings and am realising I will probably need to teach myself a pronged setting for them. They're gorgeous :)


And below is a little glass/wooden case that I purchased at a furniture shop last weekend, whilst browsing for a bed for Summer.
It needs dusting out and I am thinking of putting in some felt on the bottoms of each square.....if I ever get round to it!


I ordered myself some new packs of PMC3 yesterday, which I probably wont' get until Monday now, but I am looking forward to making some new embellishments with it for my jewellery. Hubby told me to get some as he thinks it's a nice touch to make the little decorations by hand as well :)

On a completely random note, my birdie is having a yawning attack out in his aviary and it looks so funny (that's if birds yawn?) lol he's still going....
We bought him and his little girlfriend a new cage this week and we put it together last night. I was afraid he wouldn't take to his new surroundings considering he's had the other one for his whole life with us....like 10 years now. It's his bed cage. He comes in every single night and he sleeps in it till morning, when I put him back outside in his aviary...spoilt much? His girlfriend is a bright yellow budgie - he is an Indian Ringneck Lutino (bright yellow). Strange friendship I know, but it works so well. They're just like a little married couple :) Anyway, they were a bit bewildered in the new cage at first, but by the time morning came, they were loving it!

Okay, I think Summer and I are going to go and get some lunch as a treat and sit at our new fave spot at the duck pond to eat it as it's such a nice day in the Sun. Have a wonderful weekend everyone! :)

Em

....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.

Progress.

Above are the latest pieces I have made. The spinner ring is my first and I made it for myself. I hope in the near future to either redesign it with some gold spinner rings or make another one altogether. I absolutely love wearing it tho...it's lots of fun to play with.

The pendant is Mookaite, it is a fairly large stone and I hope to be putting that into my mum's shop to sell soon. And the last ring is an Amazonite stone and is really large too. Not sure if I will be keeping this one or not...can't decide yet.

So it's the new year already and time is still whooshing by as fast as ever. I got my parcel of cabochons from Hong Kong yesterday and I can't wait to use them. I made sure to get all bright coloured stones this time as I have enough natural coloured ones.

This year I have many goals to reach. Some are the typical - lose weight - go on a holiday overseas - and so on. And some are getting lessons for silversmithing and working with gold and gemstones etc.

I am working on 3 pieces at the moment with some gorgeous stones. And I got myself a massive Amethyst yesterday, which is going to be sitting around for a while as I haven't the faintest how to set it!

So here's to the new year and all our goals!!!