Hang on to Yourself

I've been somewhat productive this week. Hooray for me! And considering there was yet another incident with my dog that's pretty amazing. She's back to normal sick now, instead of omgshe'sabouttodie sick, which was Monday and Tuesday. And just from sneaking a little dog food on Sunday!?

So here are some earrings and a bracelet I've made this week. I started another bracelet last night, but I still have more to do before it's done.

Recycled gun charm & black beads, new coral red beads.

 

Springy Jade Necklace

I haven't been very inspired lately. I've had too much going on to be stressed out about, and the last thing I want to do when I feel that way is make jewelry. I did, at the very least, detangle and sort through one very messy skein of sari ribbon. I also managed to make one pair of earrings and a necklace.

It's been scary and expensive dealing with my dog's health, but it seems like we've figured out the problem (pancreatitis, which is apparently recurring and also potentially fatal), and are working toward keeping her well for the long run (very restricted diet, keeping her away from the cat's food, & antibiotics). At least she's acting like her normal self again. Thanks for the concern everyone :)

Hopefully, my inspiration will return in full force soon. Spring is never a good season for me anyway. People think I'm weird, but I find it as depressing as a lot of people find winter. I joke that I have reverse-Seasonal Affective Disorder, but it's true. I can't function in all the sun and the heat.  Dark & cool is when I thrive. Anyway, here's the necklace & earrings. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I'll be more participatory on my own and on everyone else's blogs soon!

Recycled jade pendant & small bead on clasp, rainbow new jade bead,
recycled sari silk ribbon, antique finished copper wire & clasp

 Because some people like to see it on for actual scale.

Gunmetal findings, vintage aqua glass beads, recycled black glass beads, white rose-carved glass beads.

Dress Form Available at (My) Steinmart

I know many of you have commented on my dress form -- I just wanted to let you know that I went to Steinmart today, and there is STILL ONE LEFT! It's $49.99, and the thing's probably 3 ft tall. It's sturdy, heavy, and well made. While I was there, I heard an announcement that they have some policy that if there's something you want, but they don't have it in your size - they'll call other stores and have it shipped directly to you. SO, it might be possible to call and say you know there's one at this location:

2840 Veterans Memorial Blvd.
Metairie, LA 70002
504-831-0655

See if they can ship it to you. $50 is a STEAL for one of these things!

Here's a pic to remind you what it looks like.

On the jewelry front, I've had a pretty hectic week, so I haven't made much. I did do a lovely necklace with that red butterfly I got a few months back.

But I didn't take a photo of it, and I sold it right away. I also made a pair of earrings last night -- trying to find the inspiration, but sleep took over once I was done with the one pair.

I had very different plans for today, but I awoke to the sound of my dog puking. Again. I haven't even updated y'all about the last time or two that she's been ill. It's been a long time, it seems. They're finally doing blood work - clearly treating the symptoms wasn't enough. Poor thing had to have the blood taken from her jugular! Her little legs just weren't providing good veins. She's getting old, and her vet said he could find enough wrong with her for six dogs. So we'll see what the blood work reveals. Hopefully nothing too grim.

Meanwhile, I better get busy making jewelry so I can sell enough to cover her ever growing vet bills.

A Very Bracelety Day

I've been working on these the last couple of nights, and finished the last one this morning. I love bracelets, even though I don't wear them often. I hope these will find happy wrists :)

 Vintage taupe bicones & rhinestone rondelles, vintage (or at least upcycled) glass pearls, recycled sari silk ribbon. I'd been hoarding this particular piece, and now I know why. All beads from my friend's treasure box.

Recycled sari ribbon, recycled nut beads, shell connectors, vintage buttons.

 

This is for a smaller wrist. Czech glass recently purchased from Lima Beads, ceramic rondelles, hand antiqued copper wire wrapping & clasp.

Creations from the Treasure Box

Remember the treasure box my friend Heather sent me recently? Did I mention that was the second one she's sent? She said she's been trying to identify pieces parts from the first box she sent, but she won't have any problem here. MOST of what's included in the following pieces comes from her new box, and one teeny little thing came from the first box.

That little bowling pin was from the first box. It was precious, and I'd been dying to use it, but the right beads never presented themselves until the second box. The vintage red lucite beads and the little wooden spacers were just perfect. I added a little black "bowling ball," and even used a clasp that came from the second box.

The big gold tone feathers here came from the treasure box as well. I'd already had the turquoise drops from a recent Michael's spree.

Everything here came from the box. The big triangular piece was from a huge earring, I don't remember if the chain was all by itself, or if there was something on it which I removed. Finally, the stone (some sort of jasper, I believe), was from a key chain. There is a bit of yellowed glue attaching it to the bail. I tried to remove it, but realized it was stuck on there for all of eternity, so I might as well accept the glue. It's a funky casual jeans & a tank top kinda necklace.

Finally, the enameled bell. A good friend of mine in college had one of these bells in silver; it was the first like it I'd ever seen and I always thought it was was super cool. I don't know that I've ever seen an enameled one,  so I was particularly excited to discover this one in the box. It was tough to capture in the photos, but it's not really black, it's a dark, tealy-blue ink color. Conveniently, I had this piece of sari ribbon that was just the right colors. I knotted it every inch or so, attached the bell and ta da! Instant necklace. I love it! It's another one I think I could easily steal from myself if I don't sell it quickly.

There was another bracelet that came from finds in the box, but one of my sisters saw it last weekend and insisted she just had to buy it. I tried to give it to her, but she wouldn't hear of it. So buy it she did, but it got away without being photographed. Oh well, I know where it is if I ever need to see it again.

So there you go, Heather. The spoils of your box(es)! I have much much more to do; these were just the things that jumped right out at me. I hope everyone else has enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed discovering and then using them.

EDIT EDIT EDIT!!!

I'm finally listing stuff on etsy! Yay!

Finally Finished!

You know those projects that take you forever, right? The moment I saw the gorgeous copper connector on Lynn Davis's etsy, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I had this old crystal necklace I've had forever, and I knew this is how it needed to be used. I just needed to do some things first: procure the chandelier crystal from my mom; get some Liver of Sulfur; learn how to properly use Liver of Sulfur; get some copper wire (which until the Bead Soup Blog Party was something I'd never used); darken the wire with the LoS; make a clasp during acceptable daylight hammering hours; etc. And of course life, houseguests, a million other projects, and the ginormous treasure box from the previous post all took up a lot of my time.

I had started it, and worked on it periodically for a few weeks, but last night, I decided I was going to finish it no matter how late I had to stay awake. So finally, here it is!!!

Click for close-up.

I just want to mention how much my thumb's about to break off from all this wire wrapping!

Massive Treasure & Good Friends

I have had friends in town for a few days, so I haven't had time to do much of anything jewelry related. But that's okay because we had a lot of fun - much unhealthy (but delicious) eating & drinking (remember, I live in New Orleans and as of tomorrow I'm back on salads and also I seem to be losing my voice), playing tourist at home, going out and staying up WAAAY too late. They left late this morning, and I was finally able to totally delve into the Big Box of Old Jewelry that another friend sent. It arrived on the same day as my visitors, and it was torture not to just dump it all out and start picking and sorting and disassembling. I looked through it a little bit over the course of the week, but for the last 5 or 6 hours, I've been seriously attacking it. Look:

I'm gonna have to buy several new sorty containers to deal with this! Good thing I added more shelves to my storage area a couple of weeks ago. My friend who sent me this buys vintage lots on ebay for one or two items, so she sends the rest to me. She's been saving up this medium sized priority mail box for months. And as a thank you, I sent her the bracelet from this post. She said it fit like it was made for her :)

I also have a little pile of goodies from Rebecca of Songbeads that was a little thank you she sent to  commenters on a particular blog entry.

There's some really good stuff from her as well, so I have to get it all somewhat organized before I can continue with jewelry making as usual. Otherwise, I'll have this constant feeling of dread and panic about allowing a huge mess to pile up.