Front Page!

Yay! Front Page, with all my Crafty Bastard Buddies!!!!

Where are you?

Just wanted to give my readers (all 2 of you out there!) a heads up that I will be MIA this week due to retreats with my teaching job and the up coming Crafty Bastards show! So I am off camping with 75 fourteen year old girls this week, hope I make it back with my sanity! I have a feeling I will look and feel a lot like my girl Coco, pictured above in her Hallowen costume- slightly skunky and and completely anxious, after braving the great outdoors and "bonding" with teenage girls. Anyhoo, try to come out for Crafty- it's going to be a great show! Until next time....

New Work

Kiln fired enamel on copper earrings

Kiln fired enamel on copper brooch.

Hand sawed sterling silver pendant with crystal on chain

Sterling silver hand sawed pendant with crystal on chain

More graffiti earrings, enamel on copper

Photo Inspiration

I was inspired by Pretty Crafty Thing's post about photographer Mandy Lamb, so I decided to take a closer look myself. I love her view point of the ordinariness of life- the quite moments that often go unnoticed. They remind me of my most favorite photograph by Imogene Cunnigham. They inspire me to take a look around at those hapless, yet oh so perfect compositions and evidence of everyday life. I hope you feel a little inspired too!

Autumn Etsy Finds

Since it was so gloriously "fall" like this weekend I decided to show some of my etsy autumn finds. Like this beautiful wool wrapped bracelet by Reed Design.
For your walls, add little color with one of artist mLee's wood cut prints.
Cute squirrel love button by Kung Fu Cowgirl.

If you have a little pumpkin head or know someone who does, how about this hand knit baby hat by Butterfly Design? Perfect light weight and colorful silk screened scarf by Harrilu, for those "crisp" evenings to come.

Awesomized!

I went to the Crafty Bastards vendor party and info session last night and got to meet several great artists, as well as the organizers of the fair. I am a little nervous of the estimated 20,000 attendants- but I'm in, and for what it's worth, that apparently was the hard part. I thought I had enough work for the show, but clearly after speaking with a few other vendors, I am wayyyyy behind in that department. We toured the area, and had a question and answer period. It sounds like it's going to be an awesome day! I am particuarly excited to be near sponsors The Dog Spot, and the Cake Love booth. I was delighted to meet Blugrn, Scenic Artisian, GoshDarnKnit and Rebound Designs. All artists I've admired! There is going to be music, burlesque, food, puppets, break dancing, and of course the blood, sweat, and tears of 100 indie designers. So If my blog is a little neglected for the next two weeks, now you know why....

Hope to see you there!

Graffiti!

Some new enamels for you! I hope to get them posted to my shop this afternoon. These are a lot more abstract and "loose" then my other enamels, quite free form. The process means that no two are ever alike. I decided to call them "Graffiti" after my husband said they looked like maginified spray paint designs. I am making earrings, pendants and brooches. Enjoy!

When husband's get crafty...

"Grandpa Bob's bee trap," Home Depot trap, the bee barricade















This is how I spent my weekend- Saturday night we had a raging time in the Pet E.R. with a very unhappy and very stung Boxer. Sunday we spent all day trying to out smart, trap, barricade, exterminate or otherwise rid our yard of a hive of angry yellow jackets. It all began with an innocent game of ball in the backyard with our two Boxer's Mason and Coco. Anyone who knows me, knows that these dogs are the children I may or may not ever have, and are considered "mi familia." So when Mason came tearing out of the garden covered in bees we were of course concerned. And given that he is allergic to just about everything, we decided better safe then sorry and took him to the Pet E.R. They know us well at the E.R. by now, and we have probably paid the equivalent of someones salary in the last 3 years of living with Mason. To make a long story short, he got some injections, antihistamines, steroids and we were sent home with an very drugged and sore dog.
Sunday began with a lot of research into how to rid the yard of bees. Being people who do not like to use pesticides, my husband wanted to try to catch the bees first (what he would do with them then is beyond me). He came upon "Grandpa Bob's Bee trap," and in theory, it sounded like a winner. It consisted of fish (I thought bees liked flowers) and soapy water. The bees would be attracted to the fish, fall into the soapy water, the soap destroys their "water proof coating," and they drown. The bees that don't drown, bring the fish back to the hive for the queen, and lure other bees to the trap. I was skeptical. But he was determined and crafted the trap above. After a couple of hours he had managed to catch 3 flies. I guess bees don't like fresh caught Rockfish from the ocean (sorry Dad)! So not only do we have a large, humming underground bee hive, we now have rancid fish hanging in the backyard- couple that with the display of my husband blasting Mason with the hose and chasing him with a broom, (trying to knock the bees off, they hung on and kept stinging) our neighbors must be really impressed.
Next it was off to Home Depot for a "real" trap, displayed in the second picture. While being more aesthetically pleasing, it has proved to be about as useful as the stinkin' fish. So what's the next logical step? Erect a barricade around the battle zone until we come up with another bright idea. The neighbors had an interesting view of me out in my pajamas shinning a flash light on the stump/hive while my husband pounded the stakes into the ground, all the while asking "are they coming out?" Oiy. Anyone got any ideas?

And the Winner is.......

Lucky number 7! Heaven Sent gets a pair of the nest hair pins. Congrats!
email me at sinsle1@yahoo.com with your address and I'll ship them right out!
Thanks for playing everyone!
Have a great weekend!

Friday Give Away!

Since I've been so lame about posting, and I just finished my first week of school, I am giving one lucky reader (hopefully there still is one!) a pair of my nesting hair pins! So quick, leave me a comment, and then at 4pm Friday, I'll random pick the lucky one! So be sure to check back afterwards to see if you've won, drop me an email with your address, and these fun hair pins are yours!

Have a great weekend!

Scribbling

So it was back to school for me last week, hence the lameness with posting. I was all set to have a heavy duty studio work weekend over the labor day holiday, but alas it wasn't so. We had a teacher depart from the department last year, and lucky me got clean up all the stuff that he left behind. Somehow I pulled my back and neck moving around his leftover heavy boxes of junk, and woke up Saturday in screaming pain and unable to move my head sideways or up and down. So I was forced to rest on one of the most beautiful days this summer, brain dead on muscle relaxers. I did get to watch back to back episodes of "The Sopranos" and be waited on by my patient husband. Anyhow, I didn't get as much work done as I had hoped for in anticipation of Crafty Bastards. AND I found out I got into The D.C. Craft Mafia's Unusual Suspects Holiday Fair! So I've got a lot of work to do. Please forgive me if I am lame with posting for the next couple of weeks, as I adjust to working full time again and frantically try to get work made for the shows.
At any rate, what I did get made were these new rings. I call them Scribble rings because I sort of felt like I was drawing with the wire. They are big, and chunky, and fun, and sparkly, and very much like 70's cocktail rings. The stones are different kinds of quartz, serpentine, and carnelian. They are faceted and translucent so the sparkle and glow. I really quite like them and proud of my self for expanding my repertoire of body ornamentation.
Hopefully I'll get a few into my etsy shop someday! To see more check out my flickr page.


pssstttt- check back on Friday, there maybe a surprise coming, hint, hint!