Picked up.

I have picked myself up since my last post.

Still feel somewhat the same, but it resides at the back of my mind as I push on doing what I enjoy.

I am enjoying making rings at the moment.

This is the latest one I have made:

And I am working on 3 other rings.

Below are some pendants I have made:

And I finally made another Silhouette lady:

♥ SOLD ♥

All those pieces above will be available in my Etsy store sometime towards the end of this week. I think I will try and finish my other rings first.

I have been feeling a bit sick lately, so that hasn't been helping me get to the bench. New stones have arrived - Jaspers, Labradorites and Birdseye Rhyolite. I am focusing on making simple settings at the moment, at least until my creative flow comes back. It's hard to come up with new designs all of the time, but to still keep with your 'look' if you know what I mean???

Think I will sign off here and go get started on finishing those rings :)

Till next time 

Em ♥

....

I've left my title blank. 

I guess it resembles how I'm feeling at the moment.

There is so much to be done.

Knowing where to start is the hard part. Though usually I'm a list writer, I'm uncertain if a list will help me get organised right now, but it's worth a try.

It is 3 years at the end of this month, that I have been working with metal.

In celebration, I am having a 30% off sale through my entire Shop

to thank you for your support!

So back to why I'm feeling blank.

It's been 3 years since I taught myself to solder and quite frankly, I don't feel I have come far enough in that time. 

Obviously I've had other commitments.

I.e. my daughter.

She and her learning/growing/happiness/wellbeing comes well before mine.

Right now she has a question for everything, possibly in the realm of 150+ a day.

I know there are many other mothers out there who juggle a hobby/business and a family  (who have more than 1 child) and I don't know how they do it.

But can I have some of what you're having??!!!

I spend far too much time comparing my work to others and my skills to theirs and instead of getting over it/past it or doing something about it, I get despondent and critical.

Constantly saying to myself 'I wish I could do that '. 

or 'why can't I do that '

or 'they do that so much better than me'

This, as I'm sure you are aware, gets you nowhere.

I know this.

So why do I do it to myself?

I don't know.

I'm going to vacuum the house .......

and do the mopping too ...

 

So to cut a long story short. 

I know deep down how fortunate I am to have the means to make anything at all, let alone to whinge about it.

This stump I'm tripping over, I will eventually be able to jump.

It just would be nice to not go through this all the time.

It stunts my creativity.

It stunts the joy I get from creating, which is ultimately why I make things in the first place. It gives me incredible joy.

Mine is not the first post of this kind. 

I've read many like it over the years.

It's a common feeling many seem to go through.

Which is a small comfort.

My next post will be more positive.

I'll make sure of that.

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 ♥

A beautiful day.

The sun is shining and the air is cool. 

It's a beautiful day. 

I am spending it cleaning and washing. Blogging and finishing off some jewellery.

We went to some Farmer's Markets yesterday. I was contemplating selling at those particular markets, but since visiting yesterday, I have changed my mind. I just didn't like the vibe and there were others selling jewellery there - though we were pretty certain they were resellers. So we decided on some other markets, they're called 'Creative Markets' and they are held in a 'trendy' suburb near the water. You don't have to book for these particular markets. So I guess that means if it rains you don't really have to worry about losing stall fees etc. 

Anyway there is lots to do before I can go - besides making plenty of stock. I honestly don't know where to start. But I like that challenge. It gives me something to work towards and to look forward to.

I haven't been able to make much lately.

Summer only attended 1 day at Kindy last week, but this week she has 3 days. So I'm hoping that will give me a chance to work at the bench and get some new bigger pieces made.

I have a couple of pairs of earrings to finish off

And below are a couple of pairs I've finished.

 

The pair below are earrings that I changed up a little - I made the hooks from Gold filled wire to match the wrapped wire on the body. 

 

And here is another little ceramic bird that I bought from a sweet little boutique yesterday. 

I would have missed it, if it wasn't for my hubby who pointed it out. 

Well it's time for Summers morning tea, so I should probably leave it here.

Buh Bye for now

Em ♥

Grey Saturday.

It's a grey Saturday. Not great for photographing my jewellery. But I did it anyway.

I have spent the better part of the afternoon rephotographing my jewellery for my Etsy shop. I absolutely loved how it was looking, but I decided to have pictures that were more zoomed in than before. 

Hubs likes how it looks now as you can clearly see the items straight away....I'm still not so sure. But it will probably grow on me. I'm quite fickle and never satisfied with how something is .... I'm always changing my mind.

All my supplies came on Thursday and Friday and I'm very happy. 

I have a nice big sheet of silver and lots of chain and wire and findings etc. But I think my muse is on vacation now, as she had to wait too long before I got new silver :(

With my supplies came some new boxes for packaging. I love them. 

And last night I ordered some Luxe Business cards from Moo with matching labels. Can't wait to get those too! 

It seems like it's never ending, the things you need to make jewellery. I've been saving for a little while and just spent it all on supplies :( I look forward to the day when I don't have to spend all of my savings on more supplies/tools. But that day will probably never come, as there is just no end to the techniques to learn, meaning more tools to buy.

Kindy was back on this week as the school holidays are over. But I was bored out of my mind as I had no silver to make anything with. Next week will be better I hope, as Summer has 3 days at Kindy :p

so, please come back muse! Pleeeeeeze!

Em :)