Doobeedoo

Ha! I couldn't come up with a title for my post today - this was the first word that came to mind.......

Just about finished my housework for the morning and baby is napping.
Was thinking of going to my bench for a short while...

You know, lately I have noticed, even though my eldest is at school during the day and my baby still naps regularly, I don't tend to go to my bench until after I have picked my eldest up from school. No idea why that is. But it's like my 'bench' clock kicks in around the 4pm mark and tells me 'yes! lets go make something now'. It's perhaps one of the most inconvenient times of the day - seeing as it's nearly time to make Dinner and it's bath time and so on - I just seem to get this feeling of time to go to the bench every afternoon.

Silly really. Seeing as the best time of day is when it's quiet and I have no one to attend too. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a gumby? Don't answer that.   :)

Below is what I've recently completed and listed in my shop:

One of my 5 goals for the year is to make more detailed pieces and to add more dimension. I feel I have been reaching that goal so far. And I feel like my work has had more cohesion of late too. Which I'm happy about.

With my last order from Rio I got a few packs of PMC3 to play with again. I'm waiting on some molds from an Etsy seller (they are taking too long to get here and I'm growing ever more impatient!) so I can make my own little findings to add to my work. Going to try and make a nice little twig mold sometime soon, so I can make some twigs with the PMC for earrings. Ooooh I hear the postman..................

YAY both my Etsy parcels came!!!!

Okies well I will leave it here so I can open my parcels. How I love parcels :)

Em ♥

Blah

Blah is how I feel right now :(

The heat is still here and it just won't go away (to put it politely). It's kept me from my bench all week so far.... it is supposed to cool down by next week - one can only hope.

Just writing here to share my latest works, below is the biggest silver piece I have made to date, she challenged me, but I won. In the end. I think I am going to have to make myself something just like it - as my favourite kind of jewellery to wear is big chunky stuff.

Above is a ring with a nice chunky piece of turquoise. Recently I got myself a nice Snowflake Obsidian and a piece of Parrot Wing - sadly (as always seems to happen to me when buying on the internet - mostly on etsy!) the Parrot wing isn't half as nice in real life as it looked on the listing. It's not nearly as bright and colourful and I am getting really fed up with that happening. I bought a big piece of Sonoran Sunrise (on etsy) and it was $40+ and when I received it - well lets just say now I won't buy from that particular lapidary artist ever again.  They should know better.

This is why I wish we had good gem shows here, man I would even fly to one if there were any, just to be able to hand pick my own stones. That's just something I don't see ever happening :(

Well that was my whinge for the day - be happy you who have those nice gem shows to go to!

Em ♥

Holidays.

Well it's the school holidays. And already they're off to a bad start.
Summer has the measles :(
No one can remember if I've had them either.
Which means I probably haven't and probably soon will. So you can see, a pretty rubbish start to the school holidays.

Now I just wait with baited breath as to when I (and quite probably) my baby girl get them too. Not happy. At all. Actually that's an understatement.

Below is an earring display stand my FIL built for me over the weekend. ♥ it.

I am in the process of waiting on some sticky adapter things for the backs of my earring cards, so when I've got those I can start arranging my dangly earrings on this stand. Yes I am intent on getting to some markets in time for Christmas shopping. I have decided to try the ones closest to me, they're Farmers/Craft markets and about $33 a stall. I will have to borrow the FIL's gazebo tent and I have found a table to buy and I just need all the other bits n bobs - table cloth, vinyl logo and a mirror - then all I need to do is get more stock together and finally go! haha how long have I been saying THAT for??

Anywho, below is the latest off my bench:

Earrings and a pendant. I am working on more earrings and more pendants and a ring or two. There are some new tools on their way to me and some new stones, new books and some new enamels. Oh and I got new Business cards coming from Moo.com with my new logo on them! Lots to look forward too! :)

These are 3mm Natural Diamonds I purchased from a fellow jewellers stash on etsy.

I would like to flush set these. Which means teaching myself to do this. I have seen a couple of videos and read in mags/blogs etc how to do this. And most of these tutorials suggested making your own small burnisher, as the original burnisher we use to set stones is too big and will mar your metal and leave not nice scratches all over. Well I am not one to make my own tools. Not yet anyhow. So I purchased these off an Etsy seller also:

I haven't yet used them. Well actually I lie, I did try the metal twisted bezel rocker and found it a little slippery and a bit difficult to hold as it's quite small. But I will keep trying. Probably just used to using my big wooden handle one I guess.

Trying to get to some tuition for metalsmithing is pretty much out the window for now too. It's much too difficult to get to the classes, I will just have to be happy with trial and error and continuing to teach myself with the help of the internet. ♥ the internet.

Alrighty well I had better get back to my less fun chore of the day - bleaching the grout in our tiles. It looks terrible. Spesh when I have bleached the actual tiles and they're looking pristine. I am bleach/scrubbing them by hand and we have A LOT of tiles :(

Take Care
Em ♥

So not in the flow.

I'm struggling to finish my little collection. And I have a small custom pebble pendant to do, but I just can't seem to get it happening. Doesn't help that it's now day 2 of the 2 week school holidays. I'm keeping up with everything domestic/parental. Just not jewelry.

I have to get my backside to the bench today to finish that pendant so I can get it posted. I have been enjoying getting my groceries delivered, so that is something I don't have to contend with, spesh with having the baby to take and a 5 yr old ... not my idea of a good time.

So jewelry wise, here is a piece I finished not long before I had Poppy:

My first ever attempt at a hollow form piece. I love it. It has a nice weight to it and it's a great simple -go to- go with everything pendant. I wear it with another long necklace with a feather, being that it's all silver, it goes with other necklaces. Not that I have any others lol

Below is a picture I just captured:

I absolutely LOVE it - I managed to get her to look at me just for a split second, enough to capture her beautiful little eyes looking right into the lens. This will be one to frame!

*sneaking away to make a cuppa*

Okay, I ended up going to the bench to get that pendant happening too lol.
I am going to make sure I have my collection complete and listed before the 1st of July too! I think it's so hard for me to get on with it, because of that little bundle of cute above. When she finishes her feed I want to continue to hold her as she sleeps or just lays there looking around taking the world in, it's so hard to put her down sometimes. But if I were to hold her all day long, I would get nothing done - at least nothing done that requires both hands/arms :)

It's time now for me to enjoy my cup of tea and a chocky biccie or 2! Then it's back to the pendant, by then I'm sure my little one will be awake again.

Take care
Em ♥

......

I probably should be at my bench right now, enjoying what little time left I have to myself. I was motivated to do so ... but that was yesterday. Today was the first day all week I've had to myself and I realised there was much to be done about the house. So my 'me' time has to wait. The housework is almost done. Just a small section of my floors left to mop. There are towels in the dryer - too tired to hang them out, or maybe too lazy, you choose. The dishes have just finished washing in the dishwasher. I have cleaned all my daughers toys up - really need to go through them again. Half of the baby's things have been washed and neatly stacked ready to hang/fold and put away. Everything else is pretty much sorted.

I am working on a very small collection. My first ever collection. Not sure if it will turn out or not, but I'm having fun trying.

Here is a piece I managed to finish for the shop over the weekend:

Kingman Turquoise and Red Coral

The leaf on the pendant is my 3rd (2nd silver) attempt at fold forming. My first try was with copper and my second was double the size and thickness in sterling silver. The one above is in Fine Silver. I tried my hand at a little wax carving last week and it was a pitiful attempt. So much harder to do than I'd imagined. I mean I knew it wouldn't be super easy, but I honestly thought it wouldn't be so hard either. No, I've not given up. But I've put it aside till another time. Fortunately I haven't put up a large sum towards it, the most expensive part so far has been buying the wax - which didn't cost very much at all.

Well, I've a hospital appointment this afternoon. They won't tell me when my induction will be, until a few days before they want to do it. It's a little frustrating that they can't tell me a little more ahead of time, as I have to let my mother know and my husband, so they can schedule what to do with work. But it is what it is. Really not very far off now. I pray this time that everything goes well. The birth of my first was an absolute nightmare and I am going to be well prepared this time that things go differently - at least with the things that are part of our control. I cannot, simply CANNOT go through what I went through the first time.

So until that time, my hospital bag is almost packed and ready to go. We are waiting on a change table to arrive and then we will start putting everything together. My Blood Sugar Levels are all over the place, which isn't good. I'm getting put on higher and higher doses of insulin every few days, but it isn't bringing them down at all. I know this baby is going to be bigger than my first - I just hope it doesn't get TOO big - Ouch! lol. Baby and I will have a couple of weeks together before Summer's next school holidays! Hoping I will have some sort of routine in place by then ..... but that's a big hope :)

That's all I have to write about for now. I will hopefully do another post or 2 before arrival of baby, as I'm hoping that my little collection will be finished soonish.

Hope all is well in your world!
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 ♥

Winters End.

It's lunch time and the last day of Winter :(

As I've been sitting here reading blog posts and oxidizing metal, I can't help but notice the birds are extra vocal. I haven't noticed it before, so I wonder if it's to do with the fact that tomorrow brings the first day of Spring.....or have I just been too busy to notice their constant chatter?

I am on my last sliver of silver.

My scrap has been sent off.

I have 2 pieces waiting to be polished and set. 

And I just had my 90th sale in my Etsy shop ♥

It may not sound like much. But when you consider that I hardly ever have more than 30 pieces in my shop at a time, it's a great achievement for me and I'm thrilled.

Whenever I am down to my last little piece of silver, I find I stumble and my ideas disappear. I know it will be a few weeks before my scrap returns some sheet to me, though I could just buy some .... I want to hold off ... but then again I don't want to be without sheet ...

I am stone hunting again. Though I really shouldn't be. But I look over my stash and feel bored with what I see. Stones I once couldn't wait to get my hands on and create with, stones that cost a small fortune. I wonder if this is why so many of us have such a huge stash of stones? Perhaps I should forbid myself from looking, hence to stop temptation. Honestly though, I don't buy that many stones, I spend a lot more of my time looking, than I do spending any actual money.

Here are a few things I have made lately:

The cuff is the first of it's kind I have made.  A little inspired by Amy who has been making lots of them lately. The stone is #8 Mine Turquoise and I have been pondering over what to make with it for months and finally I used it. 

Last week I had made a nice simple setting for a HUGE round labradorite stone. One of the ones I had to have ground down to flatten. It took a long time figuring out how it was going to be set, so it would be at it's best 'flashing' angle. Finally I sat down to set it and it not only wouldn't fit in - but it broke! I think somewhere along the soldering line, the bezel had gotten out of shape. It was only 1mm(ish) off. And I think perhaps because the stone had been ground down - that maybe it had been weakened - as it seemed to have broken on a fracture line. It was a small little crumb that broke off ... but enough to stop me from wanting to set it. 

I might see if I can't grind it down all the way around and reset it some day. But oh what a disappointing day that was. I was so excited to be setting it too :(

Well I am getting peckish, so I will head off to make lunch and finish some jewellery. I hope you are all having a lovely week so far :)

Em ♥

Broken Record.

It seems that all I ever do is write about the hot weather on my blog these days.
Well the weather is still absolutely horrid. It's so humid I am struggling to get absolutely anything normal done, let alone jewellery making.

It's driving me CRAZY!!! It is s'posed to rain this afternoon and start to cool down....yeah I will believe it when I feel it. Till then I am just sitting at the computer scrolling through a million bags on Ebay, as it's time I bought one that was a decent size (I have only got smallish bags), enough to fit things in without them spilling out each time I open my bag cuz it's too small.

I am just going to try and get all my washing done today and not worry about the rest of the housework. It's too hot to vacuum and my mop broke again, I'm on the second one at this house.

Anyways, here is what I have finished up lately in the jewellery department:

My first saw pierced and riveted pendant. It turned out okay. I am not super impressed by it, riveting is kinda tricky (for me) at the moment, having only ever done it this one time. I am not sure I want to continue doing it either. Hubby thought it turned out quite good (bless his cotton socks), but quite honestly it was a pain in the a** and I don't think I have the right hammer for it. But I did buy myself a tiny little riveting plate/stake thingy, so I might give it a go again. I did like how the pattern I sawed out looks.

This ^ is more my thing as far as sawing out is concerned. I love this piece. It looks awesome in real life, very vintage. I haven't put it up in my Etsy shop yet, but I will try and get around to it this week. I have plans to do more of her, but will have to wait and see if this one finds a new home first. I want to do a nice bird like this too. .. .. if only it would cool down enough....

I am so very pleased to see that Kim from KSK
is back on the Blogging Wagon! I can't wait to hear what she has been up too! Welcome back Kim!

That's all I have to write about ... boring huh!

Hope you are all enjoying lovely weather.

Creative Block, Unblocked.

Finally my creative dry spell has passed me by. The last 2 weeks I have been back at the bench having fun making new things. It was kinda boring there for a while....wanting to make things, but not being able to, for the lack of ideas.

It's 8pm here and Summer is in the lounge room playing a game, so I thought I would get this post started, then I will finish writing it up when she goes to bed.

(off to sit with my daughter for a while)

Okie dokie, below are pictures of what I made last week.

I'm having a blast using the new findings I got from RioGrande. I am going to have to order larger amounts next time...but the cart always mounts up so quickly dollar wise, I have to be careful not to go over the importing amount. Did that once and it wasn't very fun....

I have my eye on new tools and a nice script stamp set. I am also hoping to have a Rolling Mill by the New Year. Just have to stop buying anything else..but it's so hard...there is so much to buy for this hobby it's kinda hard not to spend.

I have made a few new things this week and over the weekend and have a nice shiny new tool to show off, but that will have to wait for another post, I'm still yet to take photo's.

I enjoyed a nice style cut at my hairdressers this afternoon, I got the 'relax' package. The hairdresser massaged my head and I got to sit in a massage chair whilst she did that. I was sooo looking like a dorky daggy mum and I'm so glad I finally got it all chopped off again! It was nice to get outta the house for a half hour by myself too :)

till next time....

bye :)

A little Bit Cool.

the weather that is. Which is great!

Sitting at the computer having a nice hot cup of tea :)

Seems many other bloggers are a little bit on the quiet side at the moment. So thought I would write a post tonight. Hubby is in bed....little one is in bed. It's just me and the t.v I have on in the corner of the computer screen. That suits me just fine right now.

Well I have finished a couple of pieces this week, but will leave those for last.

First I thought I would share a little trick I use when making jewelry with cabochons:

As I keep all my stones in bags with the measurements on them etc, I can use this to my advantage when making bezel settings for them, I keep the stone in the bag and once the setting is made I can sit the stone (whilst still in the bag) on top of the setting and push it in ever so slightly to make sure that it's still going to fit right and I can go ahead with my piece....here is a picture for an example of what I mean:


This means I can easily pull it back out and don't have to fiddle with floss or any other 'tool' to remove the stone once fitted. As it's easily removed again.

I would only suggest this with quality bags, not thin easily ruined ones as you could end up with the stone stuck in the setting :( It hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm sure it will one day!

Oh and it looks like I have finally chosen a new look for my shop and business cards too. More on that when I have it all happening.

So here are my latest pieces:

A very large Labradorite Ring for me and a Green Sea Jasper & tinted concrete pendant.

That's all for now folks :)

Creating.

I am just sipping the last of my mug of tea and then I'll go to bed.

I am working on 3 new pieces, 2 for the shop and 1 piece for me.

This is the last thing I made.

The flower is made from PMC+3. It's a pretty rough piece as I didn't spend ages primping and preening over it, but I like how it turned out, the flower stands out really well. I will probably make more things like this down the track, as there is no colour, you can wear it with anything.

I actually have my first 'solder' cut. Exactly like a paper cut, but done by a little piece of solder.

How?? Don't ask....I don't even know.

I am looking into getting a new Etsy Banner shop set & business card done up. I love my business card that I already have, but it isn't a very good quality one IMHO and it isn't cohesive with my shop banner (which I no longer really like). So I have found a couple that I like, but for me, sometimes too much choice is just that....too much. I can't make decisions as it is, without having so much choice. I don't want to end up with something that someone else has, but I also don't want to spend a bunch of moolah on something that I might want to change (cuz I'm like that) again and again.

I don't know what I will choose, but I just know that I need to get something that matches and flows and works in with what I sell.

Still looking at houses. Can't wait to move. Wish I could have a day all to myself to spend at the bench. Am over my allergies. Can't wait till the weather gets cold. Love my little girl. So happy I cut my hair off.

Well that is enough for now....feeling tired for once and it's nearly midnight....should go get that much needed sleep!

Goodnight all! :)

Rain & Itchy Eyes.

It's been a little while since I posted, but honestly, not a whole lot has been going on. It's just after 8:30 in the morning and it's raining! It is slowly starting to get cooler in the mornings now. I can't wait till I can be back into snuggly jumpers and jackets again!

I have only made a couple of pieces since all my supplies arrived :( I just haven't had the chance to get out to the bench much. And my mojo has left the building! I would love to be able to go out there and spend a few hours uninterrupted, cuz I know I would get a lot done. But by the time night time rolls around and my little one is in bed, I just can't be bothered to go out there and play...I want to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. Plus its usually when I catch up on everyone else's blog posts etc.

I have 2 of the 3 parcels of cabochons now, so I have plenty to work with.I am just waiting on an order of more Turquoise and Chrysocolla etc, can't wait to get those too!



I got all my hair cut off yesterday. We got a leaflet in our letterbox last week, for a mobile hairdresser, which is awesome cuz it means I don't have to wait until I have a babysitter for Summer and I don't have to go out. She did as good a job as I would have gotten in an actual salon, only you don't get to watch her cut your hair or sit in a comfy chair etc. But hey she charges half the price. So for the convenience/price, it's well worth it!!!

I have just listed this on Etsy: - Natural Kyanite Pendant


And I will probably list this tomorrow sometime: Natural Apatite & CZ Pendant (love this one!)

I wish I could have put my rings up in my shop, but I have sent them back with my mum (she stayed for 2 nights this week) to go into her shop, as people can try them on there, so it doesn't really matter about having to size them. They will either fit or not fit. Simple.

I think for now I will just make rings with the whole ring soldered together and not have an open band, that way I will know what size it is. At least until I have some spare cash floating round to buy a flat sided mandrel.

Well that's all folks!
Have a great day/night where ever you are! :)

New Work.

My latest work. The first is a Pendant with Green Grass Turquoise and a little Yellow Jade stone and the second is a ring with Turquoise and a little Green Jade Stone. I haven't done any pieces like these before and I had lots of fun using all the findings and the small cabochons. The ring has 2mm Beaded silver wire for the shank and I need to purchase some new belcher chain for the pendant, which I will have to oxidize too.
I went to the doctors today and I have to go back to find out about my thyroid results from the hospital, so I have a long way to go before I know whats up with my old body.

Just for fun, here is a picture of my bird Tookie. He is a Lutino Indian Ringneck and we got him on our honeymoon 8 years ago :)