9/30/10

This is what I do

while my students are doing pair-work. This is a scan of a photocopy of some doodles in my attendance notebook and the latest little milagro I've invented. I was thinking these pieces are odd enough to maybe work as lone pendants on thick cord or chain...

9/28/10

Monday's Makings

Do I even need to say it? I just took these, it's 1am, so they're gonna look weird. Whatevs. I found these crystals among things Sparrow sent me when we first met, back in the summer of '71. Ah, those were crazy times. Oh, wait- I don't think it was even a year ago...
You can't tell but this little beauty is sorta pointed at both ends, but off-center like an almond eye.
   
I also finally put connecting loops on everything. It just shouldn't be so hard! Well, I figured out how to make it a little easier by making a double loop so the solder had something to stick to. I need a vice. Wait, no, a vise. Making this stuff is my vice.
<--Check it out- finally making this guy into something. I suppose the back'll have to be plain. You already got a lot to take in w/the heart and the chunks of soldered book board.


And a cute simple-ish cuff that came out waaaay to short. I wanted the 2 similar buttons to be spaced apart in a visually pleasing way, but they're just odd. I guess I can cut out the small button, add a chunk of fabric and sew it all back together. I shmeared the chain w/a bit of violet red paint (quinacridone red) and it came out pretty neato.

And being as I am clearly so focused on this, I went into the one class I have to teach on Mondays, which starts at 7:30pm, and went along for a good 15 minutes talking to them like they were my 5:00 class. I was all, "none of you came on Friday!" Finally, after much confusion, they were all, "we don't have class on Friday..." Then I wanted to crawl under the desk. Good thing I'm such a clown and make them laugh so much, it makes them forgive my spacyness...


9/26/10

Sunday's Makings.


The Lost Legion. Custom Spoon Bracelet for Shessoweird.The Lost Legion.
The Lost Legion. Custom Spoon Bracelet for Shessoweird.It takes a whole day to take pictures, edit and list. And that is even considering that I found a bunch of interesting stories for the descriptions last night.



Xenoglossia. Applique Pearl and Rhinestone Dangles.
Xenoglossia. Applique Pearl and Rhinestone Dangles.
Xenoglossia.

Though it's not so easy when you remember you made a bunch of goofy things like these. These remind me of things I used to make in my earlier work. Earlier for me being, like, a year and a half ago. So I priced them lower.
The Tarim Mummies.The Tarim Mummies. Applique and Rhinestone Dangles.The Tarim Mummies. Applique and Rhinestone Dangles.
The Carnac Stones. Oxidized Metals and Soldered Quartz.The Carnac Stones.
The First Freak Show. Mustard Tribal Fusion for the Ear.The First Freak Show.
Sacred Geometry. Rustic Tin Spears.Sacred Geometry.
So since the last 2 here are totally 80s meets rust, I priced them pretty low, too. Low-ish. Lower than if they hadn't come out looking so 80s meets rust. Maybe I should take them down and make the spears shorter...
I just got the coolest convo from shessoweird, the customer who send me stuff. Let me share a certain paragraph with y'all:
      "I had to work again yesterday at the boutique. I wore my newest creation 'Synesthetic Perceptions'. I was working the register again and it was the last crazy day of the anniversary sale. It was a madhouse. We only had one register opened so everyone had to see me and thus my necklace. I cannot tell you how many comments I got!! Everyone loved it, wanted to know where I got it, who made it, what was the significance of the tiny utensils, nail etc etc. Many comments about how interesting to see the combination of things and that the artist that would do that was very ingenuis! There was one lady who is maybe the top buying customer--she might spend $5,000 per month--and she LOVED it. Talk about getting tired of making the same thing over and over. I think there were maybe 100 requests for the necklace. Several people wanted to buy it right off me."

9/25/10

Earring Overdrive.

I am blood and bone.
And then I made silly things:
And a more silly things:
And a bracelet using a tin spoon, antique buttons, a little hammered sterling hook and the tiniest of perfume bottles.  It's for my wacky customer who just mails me stuff she finds on etsy vintage to see what I can do with them.

Overcast with a chance of earrings

It's too dark to take list-worthy photos, but I wanted to show off some earrings I recently made.  Well, these are from today:
I still had some of that dark grungy quartz I soldered so I was able to put these together. The hardest part was finding wire thin enough for the iolite heishi. Though you can barely notice it on this photo.
Some Mary and Jesuses. The cab/stone square links are some of what I did with these I showed you and the fabric is from Sparrow.
OK, but more interesting, a foray into some new designs:
The tops are from missficklemedia, among the tons of stuff she sent. I'm not going to make it into a special project for her b/c I'm wanting to develop this rustic cut-tin look for myself... or something. Hard to get going on projects I know I won't be able to share for a while...
Anywhoo, there are earposts glued to the circular top elements, then the bottom spears are from an old tin box. Yup. That's about it, but its very different for me. They actually turned out rather 80s looking, hu? They're much more striking in real life...
Also, I did a repair that I'm super proud of. Something broke here:
See it? No? Look closer:
Closer:
There! My first wire rivet! Just as much of a pain in the ass as I thought it would be. Though maybe my 1st try shouldn't have been on a already sold piece. Of course, I always rather something break on my watch than after the buyer's received it, horrors. That's why I'm very rough w/my pieces. But I think it looks almost good as new, so... bon voyage wacky girls...
Gotta go back to my cobbling. Hope you are all having a lovely weekend, even if it is grey and yucky out.

9/22/10

You May Have Watched a Cloud Pass Over the Face of the Moon

To counteract the PMS fatigue, I had a Monster way too late in the evening and couldn't get to sleep til 6am. Nevertheless, I find myself having accomplished something today:
The colors are a tanish grey. The focal is a big metal tag that I think originally went on a bottle of superfancy spirits.
The entire back is a bungie cord I found on the sidewalk (and then grunged to death, of course). It hooks on the a broken piece of ancient hardware from Uruguay. (Oh, the tag is urug, too.)
On a stone I've had tucked away forever, which I never thought I'd find use for, it reads, "You may have watched a cloud pass over the face of the moon."

Ohyesthatsright.

It's PMS time again, folks.

So all I wanna do is:

In other news, very unexpectedly, this got into a treasury!
Large Ledger Book with Alphabetized Tabs.
Here's an abbreviated version:
academic calendarKnow It All No. 2 Pencil SetVintage Ink BlotterLarge Ledger Book with Alphabetized Tabs.Vintage Faux Bois Scotch Tape DispenserVintage Bingo King Auto Magic Bingo Book - Veterans of Foreign Wars - Colored PaperROMAN STENSO........... 1956 Stencil Lettering Guide 1/2 inch LETTERSColorful Masking Tape from Japan Washi tapeSquared notepaper inserts - Pocket Filofax or Organiser

I've stopped including treasuries here b/c... I don't know. I get a few a day and they were really taking over. As of now, I'm in 146. Crazy.

9/19/10

Finally! 60 Items in shop!

I love a full shop. May not last, as 3 items in the shop are reserved. But sales have been slow so... yay? 
Antique French Religious Cards.13 Frame Worthy Prints. Book of Hours.
3 items in my oft-neglected 'antiques' section
Antique French Religious Cards.13 Frame Worthy Prints. Book of Hours.
Large Ledger Book with Alphabetized Tabs.Large Ledger Book with Alphabetized Tabs.
I made this little guy:
Ladybones Road. Soldered Fossils and Miniatures Choker.My visiting sister saw it and was like, 'It needs color. It's so dark you can't see anything. Make this green.'         And all that proly would give it more mass appeal. But I am a slave to my muse...  Translation: I gotta do what I'm inspired to do, not what I think more people will like.
Ladybones Road. Soldered Fossils and Miniatures Choker.Ladybones Road. Soldered Fossils and Miniatures Choker.
Soldered fossils, quartz from Sparrow, faceted jet glass, tag from Opulent Oddities... dyed antique bandages... It's really short- 17 inches. Well, short for me. Actually fits me like a real choker, but I have a thin neck. Maybe shoulda made it longer, but I never make anything for my skinny gals...
I also finished a custom order!
Synesthetic Perceptions. Custom Order for Shessoweird.This one is crazy long. As usual, I thought I could finish it up real quick before reality hit.
Synesthetic Perceptions. Custom Order for Shessoweird.This glass bead trim is from Sparrow's supply shop. The string was practically brittle, it was so old. So I glued a lot of it down then encrusted it w/my wax/dirt mix to sorta seal it all in place.
Synesthetic Perceptions. Custom Order for Shessoweird.
Oh and remember the sacred heart I was working on?
Here it is now:

 Cute, hu?
Oh happy, productive day.