New Year Almost Here

As the year comes to a close I would like to thank all of you for your support be it purchasing jewelry from me or reading my blog. This year has been incredible. I hope to push my jewelry to the next level with some new and exciting pieces. May 2013 be all you hope for.


Stay Pretty
Kathie

I'm Back

Isn't it funny how life gets in the way of somethings.  I know it has been awhile since I posted anything, but once again, I am going to try and be better.  I bought an iPad since I last posted. I have loaded a blog program that should interact with this one. But we'll see. 

I have been busy creating new pieces.  I recently made a bracelet for a young man whose 6 year old daughter was going off to her first day of school.  I made it in the school colors. And on it I placed a little heart that said "love". This was for her to know that her Daddy was thinking of her as she embarked on this new journey.  When I gave it to her Daddy, he teared up.  I don't know who was going to cry more that first day of school, her, Daddy or Mom.  Before I know it, I'll be making her a necklace for her first prom!

My high school class is having our 45th year class reunion this weekend.  I don't know when we got older.  I don't think I've aged, but I will take that senior discount, thank you very much. It will be good to see friends and their spouses.

The necklace pictured is one I made for my sweet neighbor, Kim, who watches the house and picks up our mail when we are out of town.  She is a beautiful woman with dark hair and olive complexion.  I felt that this would enhance her beauty.  I hope she enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Till next time, stay pretty.  Kathie

 

 

 

Oh my it is HOT!

Life in Alabama has been hot lately.  Over 100 a few days last week.  It makes you not want to do anything.  The only thing I have been doing is buying cabochons.  Those are large beads without holes.  I like to wire wrap them or do beaded embroidery around them.  I haven't been taking pictures like I should. And I haven't posted anything to my Etsy shop since before Christmas.  So I best get busy. I have been making jewelry and selling it face to face.  And I gave my sweet neighbor a necklace and earring set for picking up our mail and paper each time we go out of town.

I hope to start taking some pictures and posting them with my blog.  Till next time, Stay Pretty. 

Busy, Busy

I have been busy lately. I have scheduled myself for a craft fair September 7th and 8th at St. Francis Xavier Church here in B'ham, AL. So I am getting it in gear to make lots of jewelry to take.  I also have been busy winding down my disability business.  I have 2 more hearings and one more client to finish up with. I have been exploring some different beading techniques that I hope to try soon.  If I make something I'm happy with, I'll post pictures. 

The picture I am posting tonight is a length of chain with gemstones on it. I made an ankle bracelet for myself with it.  I got a close up picture, so it looks much bigger than it is. 

Till next time, stay pretty.

Zentangles

One of my newest things to do is Zentangle. I call it creative doddling. I never was a doddler. I might write my name all over something, but I didn't "draw" anything. Then one night I was looking around the internet and came across Zentangles. It looked interesting. And the article I was reading said it would improve your concentration, improve your handwriting and eye/hand coordination,helps with problem solving, improves relaxation and confidence. The website talked about certified Zentangle teachers. I put Alabama in the search option and figured that no one in Alabama would be teaching this. Much to my surprise, we have one certified Zentangle teacher here in town. I contacted her and the rest is history. I will say that my focus and concentration is much better. My handwriting has improved and I really enjoy creating tangles. It has increased my creative side which is a good thing. So look on line at Zentangle. It really is a great thing to do. I am going to post a picture of one I did.

Until next time, stay pretty.

New bracelet and necklace

I am posting a better picture of the 12 tribes or Salvation bracelet.

12 Tribes Bracelet 12 SONS OF ISRAEL/JACOB So He named him Israel. God also said to him: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. And I will give the land to your descendants after you. Genesis 35:10-12 The Twelve Tribes of Israel are the sons of Jacob. God renamed Jacob Israel. His twelve sons became to the Nation. The breastplate of the High Priest had four rows of stones and the Hebrew letters of the Twelve Tribes/Sons of Israel inscribed on them. The breastplate was first worn by the High Priest Aaron, and subsequently worn by every High Priest in the Temple while performing holy duties. There were 12 precious stones mentioned in the Book of Exodus. The Twelve Tribes and stones are as follows: Carnelian-Dan; Topaz-Simeon; Red Garnet-Judah; Emerald-Levi; Sapphire-Issacher; Crystal-Zebulun; Opal-Ruben; Agate-Nephtali; Amethyst-Gad; Aquamarine-Asher; Onyx-Joseph; Jasper-Benjamin The 12 silver spacers represent the 12 tribes of Israel that were written on the 12 gates (Rev 21:12) The Cross symbolizes Jesus. For whoever is thirty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Rev 21:17) With Him we will find our strength, through Him we will have eternal life. The colored beads symbolize the 12 precious stones that decorated the 12 foundations of the city walls. (Rev 21:19) Go now and live in love. Spread the seed of faith as He has requested, for He is coming soon! (Rev 21:20) I am also posting a picture of a necklace for my BFF Tijuana Buchanan of Senatobia, MS. Her husband Joe made the beads. I hope she enjoys wearing this.

So till next time, stay pretty.

Back again

Seems that I sort of got sidetracked by life and haven't posted in awhile. So now I'm back and posting again. My Mother saw a bracelet called a "Salvation Bracelet" or The Twelve Tribes Bracelet. It was based on the book of Revelations in the Bible. So I did a little research and made one for her for Mother's Day. She is enjoying wearing it. Here is a picture of it along with the references that make up the bracelet. I apolgize for the picture not being large enough to be seen. If you'd like a better look at it, email me and I'll send you a better copy.

I have also been busy making several things that I sold for Mother's Day. I'll post pictures of those later. Everyone have a good week. Stay pretty.

Taxes

Let me just say I don't like doing taxes. I have a CPA, a great one at that, but all the stuff I have to do to get ready to take my "stuff" to him just drives me to distraction. I have working on the taxes for 2 days. It might be easier if I kept up with this during the year. But I do love to procrastinate. One of my weaknesses. Yesterday I got so fed up that I stopped and made some earrings. I had some gemstone crosses that I bought some time ago. I put them on a head pin, wrapped a loop and put them on a earring wire. They are really pretty. I used some antique bronze findings on some of them. Sold a pair this morning. I have lots of turquoise ones but there are some other colors too. They would make a nice Easter gift for someone. I'll try and post a picture soon.

Best get back and finish up these taxes so I can take them to my very patient CPA. Till next time, stay pretty.

More jewelry

I'd like to tell you I have lots of pictures to show you, but I don't. The battery in my camera died. I could not find the charger till tonight. So the battery is charging and I'll do pictures in the morning.

Thanks to Cecily Chaney for all her help and encouragement over the past 4 days while I made some beautiful jewelry pieces. If you live in the Birmingham, AL area, go check out Artist on the Bluff. It is a really neat place. I think it will become a great artist colony one day soon. It is in the old Bluff Park School.

I am really tired, so until next time, stay pretty. Kathie

Update

It is 0020, that's 20 minutes after midnight for those who don't know military time. I wanted to post pictures of 2 projects I did this weekend at Cecily Chaney's studio.

The stone in the ring is Unakite. It has some gorgeous shades of green and pink. I think it is a member of the quartz family. Except for the stone itself, I made the whole ring. I am very pleased with myself.

This is a turquoise pendant. Except for the stone and the chain it is hanging on I made it all too. I even made those little silver balls on each side. I plan on making a chain tomorrow for it, but I wanted to post a quick picture tonight to let you see what I had been doing all weekend. I want to thank Cecily Chaney for sharing her studio and knowledge with me. I plan to be making many more projects in the future.

This week I have some legal nurse consulting work to finish. Then I have a string of pearls to knot. Can't wait till I finish those and get them back to their owner. Time to make the coffee and head to bed.

An Important Announcement: Thanks to a friend Linda from a jewelry listserv that helped me change the settings so that anyone can post on my blog.

Till next time, stay pretty.

Another Saturday Night

I spent another day at Artist on The Bluff with my friend Cecily Chaney. I made another ring, a pair of earrings and a bangle bracelet.I'll post pictures at another time. I was too tired to do any pictures tonight. Cecily has such a nice studio with lots of things to "play with". She has equipment that I only dream of at this point. She is also sharing her knowledge of silversmithing with me. I am having such a good time.

I spent Friday speaking at a conference for attorneys. I spoke on medical abbreviations and knee injuries. I hope I did a good job and the attorneys there were able to learn something.

So till next time, stay pretty. Kathie

New Ring

I made myself a new ring today. It is Sterling Silver with an Azurite stone. I did the whole thing with the help of my friend Cecily Chaney. She has a studio at Artist On The Bluff in Hoover, AL. She has the torch and silver and all the things I need to make different jewelry items in silver. She has given me lots of good information and greatly expanded my knowledge of silversmithing. If you would like to see more of her work go to www.cecilychaney.com.

I am speaking at a seminar for attorneys on Friday morning. 2 other nurses will be speaking too. We are talking on medical aspects of different legal cases. I hope they take away some infomation they can use in their practice. Even if I am not working in a hospital or doctor's office, I will always be a nurse. So here is a thank you to my Mother and late Daddy for giving me an education.

Till next time, stay pretty

What Am I Doing?

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to make anything since the weekend. But I thought I would post this picture of some Mook Jasper also known as Mookaite (Mookite, Mook Jasper, Mook Mook). It is a gorgeous stone in person. Once I make something with it, I'll post a picture.

Until next time, stay pretty. Kathie

Gem Show

This weekend there was a gem and bead show at the Pelham Civic Center. Not only were there lots of pretty beads,it was a great place to catch up with other "beady" friends. Lots of beaders from The Greater Birmingham Bead Society were there. Let me know if you'd like more info about our group. I was only going to the show on Saturday. But I found out more of my "beady" friends would be there on Sunday. So I went again. Had lots of fun seeing everyone and purchasing some pretty beads. But let me add that my favorite place is still The Bead Biz in Helena, AL owned by Lora Lunsford. I'm going to post a few pictures of my stash. If there is anything in there that catches your eye let me design something for you. Till next time, stay pretty. Kathie

New Beads

My BFF Tijuana Buchanan has been here this weekend. We went to see Jimmy Buffett play Saturday night. AWESOME!!! It was a great concert. Tijuana's husband Joe has been making some glass beads. He sent a bunch of them down here for me to look at and make some jewelry with. The first thing Tijuana and I did was go through them to pick out the best. Then this evening I made her a bracelet. I put small silver beads between each glass beads. Finished with a simple toggle clasp it looks wonderful. I hope to make myself a bracelet soon.

This broken strand of garnet was brought to me to restring. I love the clasp on it. This is a stand that has been passed down in a family. These are so lovely. I will restring it tomorrow and take it back to the family it belongs to this week. I have so enjoyed looking at these little gems. But they must go back home to enhance the beauty of their owner.

Have a good week and stay pretty. Kathie

Gifts

This old bracelet was given to me by a good friend, Dorothy Veil. She bought it at a garage sale and was going to make bolo ties for her husband. He wasn't crazy about the idea. So she gave it to me. I don't know what the stones are but they are gemstones. I believe the setting is a silver plate. It has not held up very well. It was strung on elastic which has worn out. The trim around the bezels are chain(you can see it better in the first photo). I haven't been able to tell how it was attached yet. I plan on taking the stones out of the bezels and redo the bracelet in sterling silver. I'll keep you updated as I work on the bracelet.

I started wire wrapping a shell tonight. I'll post pictures when I get it done. It was a "gift" from a company I purchase jewelry components from. At first I had no idea what to do with it. Then one day I could see it wire wrapped.

My BFF Tijuana Buchanan is coming for a long weekend tomorrow. Saturday night is the Jimmy Buffett concert. Fins up!

Stay beautiful. Kathie

Some days it doesn't pay

Was sitting at my table working on a necklace today. Just a simple stringing project or so I thought. The crimp beads didn't hold. Cut the stringing material by mistake. Put it together a 3rd time and the crimps failed again. Time to put that project up. I did get out another project and arrange the beads. This is for the wife of a friend. These are beads made by her Mother 50 years ago or so. They look like an earthen clay and have a slightly rough texture to them. They are handcrafted and you can see her Mother's fingerprints in the beads.I think I have a pleasing arrangement. But since I had such a bad time with the last necklace, I will do the actual stringing tomorrow. These are beads I don't want to drop or they will break. I also have another string to fix for the same woman. It is a string of small garnet beads. They are very old according to my friend. They have such a rich red color to them. Can't wait till I get them restrung.

Need to work on a few things this week. My BFF Tijuana is coming in Friday. We are going to see Jimmy Buffett on Saturday night. I am so excited. I have always wanted to see Jimmy Buffett in person and sing along with him.

Till next time. Stay pretty!

New classes

In the morning, February 18, 2012 I am taking 2 classes at The Bead Biz in Helena, AL. My first class will be a seed bead class. The second class will be an advanced wire wrapping class. I am looking forward to both classes. I hope to have some pictures to post after the class.

This evening I finished a kumihimo cord for a piece I am going to wire wrap. I made it too long, so I had to undo a large part of it. Kumihimo is very relaxing, so undoing part of it was not too bad.

Everyone have a good weekend. And stay dry. Birmingham, AL is predicted to get lots of rain on Saturday.

Another try

Writing a blog is like anything else. It helps to get into the habit of writing in it every few days. Since it has been so long since the last blog, I'll just pick up here. I finally opened a shop on Etsy, www.etsy.com/shop/deltajewelrydesign Right now I only have one item in the shop. I need to stop and take pictures of what I have for sale. Keep checking back for new items to be added. I have been doing a lot with seed beads lately. I am finally getting good at doing circular peyote. I'll post a picture as soon as I get the bracelet I am working on finished.

I went and played Bunko Monday night with some friends. I don't really like Bunko, but I like the ladies I was with. On the way home as I was getting close to my house I spotted something moving out of the corner of my eye. I slowed down and hit by high beams. It was 3 deer. There was a buck with about a 4 point rack, a female deer and a doe. They ran into a wooded area behind some houses. We live close to Oak Mountain State Park so it is not unusual to see deer around here. We saw a turkey vulture a few weeks ago. As we build more in the wooded areas, the wildlife need somewhere to go.

Today I am going to a friend's house and help her cut out a quilt. I am looking forward to seeing what her pattern is and her fabric choices.

Until next time.