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. 

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.

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

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.