Deer Dear Husband

Our 26th wedding anniversary is tomorrow.

Birds, Again With The Birds?

I am painting birds again, sigh.
This is day 2 of a little 4"x6" oil on canvas robin.
I cannot help myself.

I found a box of bird flashcards and I feel the urge to make another 100 little bird paintings.

Got Grackle?
Yep.

I even found myself a $1 birdie brush jar at an estate sale.
So many birds, so little time.

Hoppin' Poppies

I've been working on an oil painting of red poppies.

Maybe it's a little better than halfway there.
Where is there?
I never know until I get 'there' with a painting.

That's what I love about painting.
It's one part skill, one part talent and one part intuition all poured into a big glass of dumb luck.

Buckets of Rain

If only I could send all this to my California peeps and family.

Ginger Bells

A new bracelet - Ginger Bells.
Like Jingle Bells, but ginger because I made the metal spangles from a ginger biscuit tin.

I am just going to throw up? throw down? a mess of photos taken while making this bracelet.

Here's the tin I hammered the spangles from before it was chopped up in my new disc maker.
Thanks for the cookies Jackie.

The beads were made with an Effetre odd lot called 'tomato soup.'
I love the two-tone cored rods.
Amazing that I had glass that so perfectly matched the tin.

The bits and pieces all laid out.
Of course, in the end, I didn't follow my lay out but it's always a good to have a plan when you start hammering.

Ew, the edges of the disks have some boogers on them.
Don't get creeped out, it's just burr life wax left over from the stamping process.
It rubs right off.

The first little section of bracelet.
The clasp is made of sterling silver.
The links are brass to match the little temple bells.

Now it's a wee little bit longer.

The backsides of the disks are brassy gold.

The sterling clasp.

Viola!
It makes the most wonderful jangly noise.

Monet Would Be Jealous

Photographs of my sister's lily pond.

What's the Buzz?

Hello Dragonfly.
Gorgeous full on summer days.
Birthday parties, popsicles, boob sweat.

It's been really hot weather for torching beads, my studio is an oven with an oven inside it.

Literally, my studio is in an old brick building which heats up like and oven, and then I fire up my bead kiln and viola! An oven inside and oven.

Swanstrom Sweetness

I received the BEST birthday gift!
Thank-you Richard, you nailed it big poppa.

Something so sexy and sweet - a Swanstrom Disc Cutter.

I have been lusting after one for over a year.
It's not like I didn't already have a disc cutter but mine was a sad, cheapy, crappy, hard-to-use piece of trash.
It was a Ford Pinto and this new baby is a hot rod Lincoln.

If you want to see it in action there is a short training video on You Tube.

It's a few days before my birthday but I just couldn't wait.
I busted it out last night and whacked an old cookie tin into a pile of  cute little red and white polka-dot spangles.

We all know how I feel about red and white polka-dot mushrooms, right?
No?
Then click here.
Who doesn't like to get a peek at another person's obsession?

These are headed for a jangly charm bracelet.

Pink Peony

'Pink Peony' oil on board - 11" x 14"

Thought it might be fun to show you the snapshot I worked from.

Yellow Apples Painting

'Yellow Apples' oil on board, 24" x 24"

I thought I would share a sort of strip-tease of this painting.
Baring layer after layer of some working photographs.

Lilypad Party

So many waterlilies, so little time.
I took lots of snapshots yesterday of my sister's pond with the hopes of making a painting.

After Monet, painting waterlilies seems sort of pointless but they are truly captivating.

Her pond is amazing, full of loud frat boy frogs. All of them are named Homer.

There he is.

Bird Song

Look what the very talented Debbie Sardina, from Let's Bead, made with one of my glass bird charms. How cool is that?

I absolutely love it.

Vinyard Necklace

An old necklace came back to me for a repair.

A nice mix of glass, smoky topaz, rock crystal, amethyst, moonstone and sterling silver.

I wish I could give you the recipe for the glass beads.
Definitely Cim's 'Army Men,' black, large raku frit, dark ivory and I think Cim's 'Eggplant,' but it might also be Cims 'Plum.'

It's back home now with it's owner and it looks spectacular on her.