I'm in!

Sunday September 30th, 2007 10am-5pm, Adams Morgan, D.C.

Yay! I can't believe I got in! Come visit me! Now I have to get to work... once I get back from Italy that is!!!
my blog will again be on hiatus till August 11th or so. See ya then!

I'm back!! But not for long....

I'm back from the wilds of Maine! Booth Bay Harbor to be specific. It was lovely, good times, good friends and lot's of creative inspiration. I even got to go to my favorite bead store, The Beadin' Path in Freeport. I've been ordering from them for sometime now, so actually going there was exciting. It's like a bead mecca, I had to be dragged outta there and I was still clutching at strings of baubles as I was pulled through the door. So I've got a lot of new material to work with! I even had some down time between all the bocce ball, wiffle ball, croquet and Sorry tournaments, to make some earrings with my new finds. But alas, I am off to Europe on Thursday, so I don't think I'll get much into my shop before I head out. Just wanted to post to say hi though!

New Enamels and Hiatus!

4 more new enamel pendants. Checking out some fresh colors and patterns. I really like the yellow one- that one is totally free hand and came out funky but fun. I'll get them up in my shop after I get back from vacation.
See you in a week!

And the winner is....

Comment #4! Dragana! Please email me at sinsle1@yahoo.com with your address for shipping!
Thanks!

Middle 0' the Week Give Away!

That's right! Leave me a comment for a chance to win a pair of Sweet Pea earrings! I'll be randomly selecting a number depending on how many comments there are, and who knows it could be you! Check back after 5pm to see the winner! Good luck!

Yes- that is my brand spanking new digital camera in the bathroom sink, underwater. And yes that is me taking a picture of myself with said underwater camera, taking that picture of the camera in the sink! Make sense??? Anyhoo, I broke down and bought a "point and shoot" digital camera. I am headed off to Europe in a couple of weeks and really didn't want to be lugging around my heavy Nikon D200 and lenses. Nothing screams tourist more then having to stop every 10 mins pull that big boy out, change a lense, what have you. Plus I am super paranoid of dirt, dropping it, water, thievery.... So I broke down. And bought an Olympus.....
(gasp) I am a Nikon girl all the way, I have exactly 5 perfectly good Nikon's in my possession. True, some are film cameras leftover from (shudder) my prehistoric wedding photographer days, but as you can tell, I am dedicated. So why the Olympus? Well for starters it's waterproof, (hence the bathroom sink) drop proof, and freeze proof. Plus it's 7.2 mp, tiny and slim, and relatively cheap (when compared to the D200 that is)! I did some research and settled on the Olympus Stylus 770 after reading about a woman who's kid tried to flush it down the toilet, and then her dog got a hold of it all in the same day. I was sold- I have a bad habit of unintentionally throwing things on the ground, Consequentially I carried very high insurance for my equipment when I was working, but that's another story... I wanted something I could throw in a bag, stuff in a pocket, take to the beach, on a boat, in the rain, whatever and not worry about it. I won't be giving up my D200 any time soon, but this little thing is awesome! I am actually going to be unloading some of my other cameras soon though, anybody interested in a practically brand new Nikon D70s???? I've got one for relatively cheap....!

and now more from my forming class...

Now we are working on anticlastic forms as well as spiculums. Anitclastic forms are compound curves, so these new bracelets curve two different ways opposite of each other- but in the same form. I know, boggles the mind right? The smaller of the two bracelets is closed, the curve is hammered shut so it is actually a hollow bangle. The long pieces of metal are spiculums. This is a process where you hammer the metal till it rolls into itself forming a long "hollow spout" shaped form. These are fun because they can be shaped into wiggles or daggers and all sorts of fun protuberances (I've been trying to use that word for a while now- yes!)

I love this class, but it's challenging. Who knew what you could do with sheet metal and a hammer???

Friday Favorite Etsy Shop!

Today I found Nuno Studio on etsy and fell in love with this set of plates. I have never been camping but would love to! Nature, hiking, campfires- oh the joy! My husband says I romanticize it and forget that you have to "go" in the woods. I am a girl who can't even use a public restroom most of the time... So I figured maybe I can live vicariously through camp related objects. I also really like these "Erin" plates- although not camping related, they are awesome all the same!
Have a great weekend everyone! Check in next week for a giveaway- who knows what it'll be, but it could be YOUR lucky day!

New in the shop!

New earrings in the shop! I love these long, sexy, yet simple dangles. Great for summer! I also listed several of my new enameled pendants so check it out! Hope everyone had a good holiday!

First enamels

Here are a few new enamels I made yesterday.
My white enamels seem to be burning out a bit, but I kind of like the weird, distressed background it gives it. I need to use darker enamels on top instead of those light blues and greens , they are disappearing against the burnt out white. The bottom two were happy mistakes- I meant to sift white as the background, but got mixed up and used a transparent red. I then sifted white over it with a lace stencil (on the right) and sifted green over the Queens Anne Lace image. I think they both came out pretty well. Back to the basement!

New Studio!

Here it is! We spent all weekend clearing out this area of the basement, waterproofing the walls and floor, and then painting and new lighting. I learned that the previous owners may have had a small problem with an illegal substance, ummm, yeah. When we ripped out a platform shelf type thing that was built in god only knows what time, we found some "paraphenalia." And believe me, it wasn't anything good or worth saving. We keep joking that as we renovate this house we'll find our "refund" in the walls- this was not what I was expecting! Anyhow, my area is all set up, kiln is ready to go, and I have all my supplies at hand.
Now, I have to get to work!