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 ♥

Show Holiday.

It's the annual show this month and today is one of the show days that the city gets as a holiday, the other is on Wednesday. So I thought today would be a nice relaxing day to do a blog post :)

Below is around 50% of my cab collection...



And of course I am still buying more..as you do. Though it's evident to me since putting these cabs in this lovely box, that I really should start using some of these up...they're quite lovely.

Saturday afternoon, the hubby and I took a trip to the local hardware store and I came home with a lovely new hammer - cross peen.

And below is some PMC3 that I have been playing with. I want to add some more into my pieces, it's just fun to work with.
My head is filled with ideas at the moment...but I just can't seem to rustle up the energy to get to the bench. I have a few pieces that are halfway done too and it wouldn't take much to get them finished. I might attempt it this afternoon. In fact I should probably pull myself away from the computer and go in there now whilst Summer has lunch....

:)

A Lovely Day...

Or at least I think it is. It's certainly not as humid as it was a couple of weeks ago. And the nights are cooling down enough to need to wear a light cardi, so I'm happy :)

It's been raining a bit today, though the Sun is out right now.

I am working on a couple of new pieces at the moment. But I've kinda lost my mojo again. I need to learn new things, but trying to get a hold of the supplies to do so (at a reasonable price) is a little more challenging. As I've written before, we kind of get ripped off for things over here. I don't know if it's because of supply/demand issues or because that's just how it is. Either way it's frustrating.

I want to get a repousse set, which seems to be cheaper to get from the USA and I seriously need to source some nicer new stones. It is super hard to find any here. There are a couple of gem shows coming up I think, so I might try and get to one of them to see what's available. Right now, Etsy/Ebay is my only supplier, which sucks because of the wait time and the cost of postage.

I found out this week that I can't post to the Czech Republic. I've had someone ask me if I could send a particular piece to them and when I looked up online, "Precious Metals" was on the prohibited list....

I am having a hard time sawing things lately. I don't know if it's my blades, or me?? But it just doesn't seem to happen smoothly anymore. I've never used any type of bur stuff and it used to be just fine...but lately it's harder and it puts me off. I want to get a decent saw, like one of those big red ones I've seen on a few other's blogs recently. I am pondering a decent size disc cutter and a rolling mill and a new bench. Want much???? LOL :)

There's a lot on my mind lately too. We are moving again when our lease comes up for renewal in June. Not far to go now. As great as this house is, I'm over it, for lots of reasons, which I'll blog about another time. I also want to bring more colour to my home. If you were to walk into my home now, you would think I was boring (till you saw my shoe collection lol) I don't really like our furniture. So I am on a quest to sell on what we have and replace it with stuff that I actually like. I won a nice deco cabinet on the bay last night and I have a nice colour in mind to redo it with. It's going to be a lamp table.

Wow that's been a long talky blog....
Potty training has been going well.....ish.
Time to get back to looking at cabochons :)

A Whistle in My Nose.

well that's what it sounds like when I sniff. And yet again, it would seem like I am getting sick again with allergies, in fact it always seems like that now.

Right now I am just sitting playing on the internet, soon I should have my groceries delivered and will have to put them away. I have some laundry on and then I really should be cleaning the floors, but it will all depend on how I am feeling by then.

My hubby and I spent the weekend in 2 specific areas, looking at houses. Summer spent that time with her grandies. We think we have pretty much decided on where we would like to move to, provided a place that fits our needs is available. We are both ready and excited for a change. So until I have moved, I doubt I will be listing much at Etsy :(

I hardly get any time at the bench. I would like to start making earrings, as I haven't really made many and earrings can be made easily and faster than large pendants/necklaces & rings.
Plus since they are made easily, they can be more affordable.

So though I have my jewllery now in the cube store in Town, I do intend on filling up my Etsy store. Just right now, I can't manage the time to include much being spent at the bench :(

Anyway, here are some pictures of my latest stash of stones:

There are lots of Peachblow Jasper and several Labradorites too.

I did manage to pick up some other stones I haven't worked with yet. I can't wait to get into it all again one day soon! In the meantime I have been trying to take Summer out more, to nice places, since the weather has become nice and comfortable.

This is a picture of Summer at the duck pond last week.

That slice of bread was kinda meant for the duckies, but she wanted to chew on it instead :P

I have made a new chunky PMC3 piece and I fired it last night. I need to solder some jump rings to it, then I can tumble it for a few hours. I'll take pictures when it's all done.

Well that's all for now folks. My bird is making an awful noise outside and it's driving me crazy!!!

Have a great day :)

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 :)

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! :)

LITTLE CHERRY HILL - finally open on Etsy!!

Hooray!
I finally took the plunge and opened it this morning. Though I cannot list my rings just yet, I do have about 10 things or so I can list in the meantime. I feel like such a tool about the whole ring thing. I will get to the bottom of it though!
Next week I hope to dabble in a bit of gold work for the first time. I am looking forward to it, but I am also anxious as gold is way too expensive to make mistakes with...but I have to try one day.
And on top of that, we are looking to move from this house. Which now I have this hobby, has made it a little more difficult as I need somewhere that I can work, without any worry that I may damage/ruin anything. We mainly want to move so our daughter can have a big back garden to play in during the day though. I am scared to move as I am very comfortable where we are now and am kinda made uncomfortable by change of this kind, where I don't know the area or people etc. But it's exciting too!


Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of things I have made this last week and listed in my shop:


Now I just have to work on sorting those rings out as I love them and want to put them out there!

:)

Making good out of bad.

First off, below is the present I have finished sewing for my husbands cousins, baby shower on the weekend.
I don't think I will be going. I am not into the big groups of people I don't know and who are also all about 10 years younger than me. I won't feel right and I will feel uncomfortable. So I will send this gift along with my MIL instead.

I am happy with how they turned out, considering I haven't sewn any before.

Wondering what they are?

They are Fancy Burp Cloths.

You put them over your shoulder to protect your clothing from baby sick/dribble. I used many of these with my daughter, but I never had any fancy ones...but I will make them if I have another baby. They have my 'Little Cherry Hill' label on them. I had those made by a lovely seller on Etsy early last year I think. They're great, they make handmade things look 'boutique'. Hubby was so sweet as to say, 'she's gonna think they're from a store, not handmade by you'. Awww...he's so nice to say that.

Below are a sweet little pair of studs. I am going to try and make a heap of little items that are affordable and easy to wear. Not everyone likes loud out there jewelry like I do!

And last but not least -the title of my post - this is the piece that I was struggling with in my last blog post. The solder would not flow. It was originally intended for the shop as a pendant.....but it just wasn't going to plan. So I turned it into a ring for myself. At least I didn't have to scrap it!!! And I still like it :)

I am still buying up many cabochons.....I am a bit OCD when it comes to stuff, spesh when it comes to supplies for a new hobby. I go way overboard and end up spending every last spare cent I have on my hobby and have nothing left for anything else. So that explains why I must and I repeat MUST make this hobby pay me back...even just a little bit, I have invested sooooo much already and I really need to be recouping some of that said cash.

Well that was a super dooper long post, which I didn't plan on. I have a nice little piece waiting for me to finish tomorrow and another piece that I'm not sure I will continue with, that is waiting in the pickle.

TTFN
Em :)

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 :)

Unexpected Expense....but good all the same.

To the left is the latest piece I have finished. Ocean Wave Jasper Ring. I love it. Such a beautiful colour. I got 'bout 2 hours at the bench this afternoon, so I have another 4 pieces half done, one being a custom piece for my mum.

To explain the title - I went to check the post this afternoon (after popping out to get a Mcafe Coffee) and found an Express Parcel inside the letter box. When I looked at the senders address, I was immediately bewildered. It was from a Metal supplies company that I usually order my stuff from. My bewilderment? Well I haven't ordered anything from them in a week or more.

So I open the parcel and see inside, Round bead wire and some bezel wire. I check out the invoice and see that my husbands credit card has been charged $102. It didn't take me long to realise that all the items in the package, were items that I had previously ordered but never received as they were out of stock. Then I realised that I must have missed some small print somewhere, 'cause no one called me to confirm whether I actually wanted these items anymore, or whether they could go ahead and charge my credit card!

Cut to the end - I read on their site that when they don't have something in stock, they back order it and then send it out without charging for freight (this is not stated on their homepage or anything obvious like that). So that's all fine and dandy. But I would think that normal etiquette would be to call the customer prior to charging their credit card to double check they still want the items and whether or not they can afford them before going ahead and sending it out!

Well lesson learned. Now I know this is how they operate, I will call before making orders from now on to ensure that I am not going to be getting anymore surprise credit card expenses! The good part? It's stuff I really can use and was on the look out for anyway. So it's not a waste of money.

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

........

I had no idea what to title this post with.....so I just used dots.
Anywhoo, this is one of my fave rings so far. It's really really big and soooo pretty. I made it for myself (as you do) and then toyed with the idea of keeping it aside to list when I eventually open my shop. My mum has put dibs on it if I decide to sell it. I just can't make my mind up!! I suck at making decisions. It's a gorgeous pink/red colour coral fossil.

This one is a small Natural Kyanite ring. I am putting this one in my etsy shop too. I find making small rings a pain in the ass! But it is something I have to get used too as many women over here do like the smaller jewelry, unlike myself of course! The bigger the better I say!!!!!

New Work.

Coral Fossil Cocktail Ring. Love this one, needs a little bit of tweaking before I put it up for sale, but I am always too impatient to wait before posting my stuff.



This one is Red Picture Jasper with sterling and 9ct Gold Ball.

Commission Piece.

Here is the piece my MIL wanted me to make. I am hoping over the weekend to make several more similar pieces for my Etsy shop. I hope she likes it.

(oh and I sold my Green Sea Sediment Jasper Ring too.....to my mum lol)

Get Ya Cab on....

To the right is one of my latest pieces. Crazy Lace with 9ct gold Ring. Going to put this one up on Etsy soon.

Anyway....staying with the theme of my title for this post...I have finally paid for about 20 cabs and am in the middle of buying more. The ones I am still buying at the mo are on the larger side. I love jewelry on the large/chunkier side of things, I like 'look at me' 'where'd u get that from?' kind of jewelry. Always have, probably always will. So I cannot wait to get my hands on the bigger cabs that I've chosen, it won't be for a while yet, but that is a good thing as I have run out of silver :(

I've been working on a piece for my MIL but it didn't work out...so I have to try it again...I have just enough silver for that. I do have a heap of scrap to send in and have refined though...so that will give me back some silver, I'm just too lazy to do it.

A New Addiction.

Oh Boy. I am trying to think of things I can sell, that I don't use or never did use.....so I can buy......cabochons. I LOVE looking at cabochons and I like touching them and admiring them and thinking of all the lovely things I can make with them.

Right now I am trying to find a really really huge one, so that I can make myself a massive ring. I love really large jewelry, so I am on a mission to find a fantastic stone that will stand out. But whilst doing this...I see many, many, MANY gorgeous cabochons that I just MUST have......

I already have about 20 coming soon....but I want more.....I am sure most of you have been or are going through the very same thing?

Getting stuff done...

Slowly, but surely, I am getting things made. This is my latest piece I have made this week. It's Green Sea Sediment Jasper.

Today I finally ordered myself a .925 hallmark stamp and a round bracelet mandrel. I also ordered myself a heap of gallery wire and some nice 5mm round wire. I really hope that they have it all in stock and I get it tomorrow.

I have been stealing 10 minutes here and there today out on the bench. I really need to get things made to take up to my Mothers shop next week to sell. So far I have about 5 pieces...I hope to have another 3 or so to add to that. Hopefully the weekend will be eventful for me and not so hot!!