New Drink Markers

I made this set for a friend who was getting married. Didn't want to do the same old drink markers, and this is what I came up with! I like'em!

I can't resist

OK, I was really excited to see Chimney Rock on our way to Wyoming this summer, but this was as close as we could get to it. So I sat on it. Mind you, I hadn't been to sleep for 28 hours...

Here's the kids, topping off Chimney Rock...

Zinnia

Purty! Nice to see something other than weeds growing.
Brad & the kids planted these this spring.

These are a few of my favorite things...

So this is the bracelet that I made on Mother's Day this year...many of my favorite stones, my babes' fingerprints, and especially, the Lord Ganesha Charm, GORGEOUS pearl and tag from my friend Ruth Bailey of San Diego CA. My only regret is that I couldn't get something in there from my friend down under that makes Dichrioc glass...she's the BOMB!

Still, it is a bracelet that gets attention when I wear it (LOUD!). LOVE IT!!!

For Ruth

A lovely Lotus flower. I made this set for Ruth Bailey of Om Wear Jewelry (I'm having trouble finding her link at the moment). Her daughter (Erin) and I met in 1991, and she and her mother are both wonderful people. After learning that Ruth also had a passion for jewelry, we decided to do a swap, as I really adored the Lord Ganesha charm that she had designed. So I made her this set...I wanted to keep it....

She made me a "Moon over Ganesha" necklace which was DARLING!!!

However, I don't usually wear long necklaces, so on Mother's Day, I decided to make a bracelet of a few of my favorite things, including the pendant and gorgeous pearl and tag that was on the necklace. I also included SS impressions of my kids' fingerprints that were made at Borsheims last holiday season. The rest of it is a collection of many of my favorite stones.

See the post ABOVE (still trying to figure out this "system").

Call me Scratch...

Seems to be my new nick name at work, now that I'm doing all of the engraving at Borsheims. Here's a picture of a job I recently did.

Twisted Wire Hoop Earrings

New favorite earrings!
Nothing new or original about them - they're based on a similar design I've done before (and will do again, thank you very much!).

Cross

Iza Malczyk is a genius with wire. Fortunately for all of us, she decided to share her knowledge. Her tutorials are here, and all are superbly written with very specific photos. Nothing, IMO, is left to question. It becomes about the user, and the amount of time (and measurements specifically) they want to put into it. My problem is that I think I know it all, skim, and then assume things and ending up wasting wire AND time! This experience was no different. In several areas. Still, I LOVE IT!!! And I'm not even done with it! I want to do more of a rosary style necklace for the top part of it. However, since just this part took forever, I needed some closure, and a sense of accomplishment before I continued. Here's a close up of the center.

To be continued.........

How it began...

I get asked often enough how I got started in jewelry to finally write it out. So now I'm going to post it!
One Christmas (about 6 years ago - 2001) we decided to make inexpensive gifts for friends and family rather than shopping for other stuff. It went really well, and I tapped into a creative streak I didn't know was there. I took some of the left over stuff back to the store, and exchanged it for beading stuff. The addiction begins. I can honestly say I have most of the entire store of "Michaels" in the basement. (At least from a couple years ago - I haven't shopped there in some time).
The following Christmas (2002), we decided to do the same thing, and it got a bit more involved. While trying to figure out how to NOT get hot glue all over my wreathes and trees, I discovered floral wire. The addiction exploded.
The same fall of that year, my husband began school full time, along with working full time, so in the evenings I had nothing to do and no one to entertain me. That's when I REALLY dug into the jewelry making and added wire to the mix. Things have never been the same. A couple of friends hosted jewelry parties for me and then I started doing some crap (oops, I mean CRAFT) shows (and some other unconventional shows like at bars when my friends band was playing). Some were great, some were terrible, but I did meet some great people along the way, so they were definitely worth it.
I taught myself how to make a website so I could show and post pictures of my work (and sell of course)...joined a couple of forums and challenges, met more great people.
Time flys by, my skills improve and now we're at August 11th, 2007. I had donated a set of jewelry to the manager of my favorite bar here for their Golf Tourney/Breast Cancer Fundraiser, and the manager asked if I'd like to set up at the bar for after the tourney - you betcha!!!
While I was setting up, I was approached by a burly looking biker guy with a LOT of very specific questions. Turns out he is a Master Jeweler at Borsheim's. He paid me many nice compliments, and before the end of the day, we were discussing my possible employment at Borsheim's. Due to a "conflict of interest", to accept a position there, I had to give up the commercial side of my jewelry (remove the "Buy It Now" buttons, stop doing shows and selling my stuff at shops). It was a tough decision, and I'd be going to work full time, when I had been working part time for the last 8 years...but how could I pass up the opportunity to work for one of the best and most respected jewelry company's? I took the job, and it has been wonderful! Like everything was leading up to it, essentially.

Ginger

This is Ginger, the cat that adopted us a couple of years ago. She is by far the BEST cat either of us has ever had the pleasure of knowing, so I wanted to share a picture of her. She's cuddling with her favorite toy, after batting it around for awhile...

For the Teachers

Tomorrow is Teacher Appreciation day, and I'm fairly certain my kids' teachers both know they'll be receiving jewelry from me...so here's what they're getting!
The bracelet is for Ms. Elliott, Evan's teacher. It uses stick pearls in a fantastic array of dark oily colors with Labradorite.
The ring is for Ms. Herringer, Jenda's teacher. A Pom-Pom ring using Swarovski crystals.
I KNOW the ring is certainly what Ms. Herringer wants because she's talked to me before about buying one. The bracelet for Ms. Elliott I'm a little less sure about, but hopefully she'll like it as much as I do!

Wire Wrapped Ruby Ring

How I LOVE rubies!!!
This one is a big fatty, and after several attempts, I'm finally happy with the way this ring turned out. Sterling silver, and oxidized, of course.

Break your ankle...

Haven't we ALL had days like this? It's a rare video that can still make me laugh like this one does.

President's Day

Lucky kids are on "Winter Break"....of course they also have a typical spring break too. So I took the day off and have a huge list of things to do, but am instead writing to this! Actually, it's nice to have a week day off.
Saw a bumper sticker on a co-workers car the other day that popped to mind when I started writing about President's Day - it said:
"My Kids an Honor Roll Student,
My President's a Moron"
I hadn't laughed like that in awhile!!!

No matter what your political party affiliation is, I hope you get out and vote in your Primary, or participate in your local Caucus. Nebraska had it's first ever caucus on the 9th, earlier this month. WOW, what an experience.
I've seen a LOT of complaining about the way it was organized, but how could a NE person who isn't a Republican, not come away from the experience feeling TOTALLY exhilarated and enthusiastic???
For ONCE, we actually have a say (as small as it may be) in this Presidential election. (Lets just hope that the final say doesn't come down to the super delegate count...)
Even my kids are interested in how this is going to turn out...if there's one good thing that's come out of this presidency, it would be that so many more people are interested in voting and politics.
As I like to say - DON'T BITCH IF YOU DON'T VOTE!!!

Crystal Quartz Onion Cut Briolette Set

I want one of EVERY stone available, in this cut. Such a pretty, pretty cut! Here's a picture of the EARRINGS where you can see the cut of the stone a bit better.

Mixed Tourmaline Circle Pendant

3mm Mixed Tourmaline stones were wired into a twisted sterling silver form. I love this, and wear it with SO many different things. I want to make one in black, with SS balls, in reds, blues, and....well, you get the idea! It's pretty similar to the Mixed Metal Circle pendant I did a couple of years ago, seen HERE.

Sky Blue Topaz Pendant

This is a gorgeous peice of Sky Blue Topaz in a top drilled Marquise cut. Wrapped with SS and hung on a SS chain...all have been oxidized.

I have no idea what I'm doing...

So, I taught myself HTML to create my website, but have NO IDEA how to do a blog....let's see how this post works!