Size Matters

 AMAZING REVELATION: I've actually begun to enjoy the chore of photographing my jewelry-- after 5 years! Having a signature look that I rather like has helped a lot-- a close-up picture of a jewelry item placed on a blank, black background that's slightly reflective. I hope this gives my online Etsy & Zibbet shops a clean, uncluttered appearance. However, (1) I have not yet achieved this look, as Monique the Mannequin makes frequent appearances, & (2) I have not yet learned to take close-ups that also offer a sense of the item's size. For example, the top-most pic of both items shown here is a "featured picture" in both shops, but a visitor might wonder if the "3 Rays on Green" pendant is bigger than her head!

Unfortunately online shoppers don't always read descriptions & measurements. My current strategy is to use a prop in the secondary (thumbnail) pictures for each item in my shops. These prop pictures may be useful, but they're not especially attractive. (NOTE the Sharpie & the cup props.) I worry that a shopper in a hurry might leave my website of huge-looking items without even checking the thumbnails for size perspective. How do you handle this issue with your close-up product pictures? What attractive prop would offer perspective on size without detracting from my look? I'd really value your suggestions & feedback. Just post Comments below. Thank you!!!

How My "Klutz Collection" Came to Be

This sad saga, starts on January 1, 2012...

New Year's Resolution for 2012- Get more balance in my life, lose weight, exercise -- The Usual. So I cut back on obsessive jewelry making, played Duplicate Bridge more regularly, joined my husband in 9-holes of golf occasionally, lost a few pounds, & planned to start that Exercise Program... "soon."

August Brainstorm: Go fly fishing in New Zealand  (<== video link) this December- #1 on my Bucket List... and throw in a visit to Australia "since it's so close." That serious physical challenge would motivate me to accomplish my Exercise Program! I had 3 months to turn this body into Fabulous Fisherwoman Awesomeness!

August 26: BUT instead I flew over 2 rough stone slab steps, landing on my knees hard. Pretty bloody, but nothing seemed broken!

September 3: Then after 9-holes of golf, I could barely walk on R heel!

Medical Verdict: I'm still the klutz I always was. Plantar Fasciitis in R heel & possible bone bruise L knee.

Treatment: PT sessions & full-time $ensible $hoes.

Decision Time: Will I heal in time to do my Exercise Program & regain my strength for this rigorous trip? Is trip Go or No Go? Will trip insurance pay us if  No Go? I'm setting end of Sept as Decision Time on the trip. Indecision is the hardest part for me...

Therapy: Meanwhile, I'm wearing my new, high-tech, $ensible $hoes "all day" as ordered, doing my foot & leg stretches, & getting PT twice/week. BUT the new Klutz Collection I'm starting to post in SeattleChic, my Etsy store, is keeping me sane & makes me smile. (Sneak peek below:) Besides, when I'm feeling most pathetic & sorry for myself, I realize that many people have far worse problems to deal with. If necessary my Bucket List can wait another year.

Crystal's Ball

Meet Crystal the Cat, a mischievous, curious critter who loved 2 things -- chasing a ball of fuzzy yarn as it unravelled along the floor & perching on my warm neck while I created my jewelry. Well, the inevitable happened & here it is-- "Crystal's Ball." Why not? She's happy! I'm happy! But hopefully a generous supporter will make Crystal even happier by bringing her home from the Black Cat Ball & Auction on Oct. 27, 2012, Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA. Proceeds support Purrfect Pals' mission to provide no-kill sanctuary, foster, & hospice care for homeless cats. "Crystal's Ball" & other fine donations hope to go home with you!

I'm Shameless

Before I became Shameless, I always colored within the Lines of Life. Most of my life was guided by Mamma's 11th Commandment: "If it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing well." BUT the corollary was a killer-- "If you don't do it well, re-do it until it's right," which I further extended to-- "If you think you can't do it well, don't even try."

Unfortunately, ART fell into that last category. I reasoned that because my training, skills, & jobs/careers involved geeky things guided by R.U.L.E.S, I could never try anything as subjective as art. So unlike most of my artist colleagues, I did not do arts & crafts as a child... unless you count coloring books, where "Excellent" meant coloring within the lines, of course.

But something happened after experiencing my varied successful, geeky careers... after feeling pride at the fine adult & mother our daughter has become... after experiencing Life... and especially after my hair turned silver. Why was I waiting to test new waters? Besides, I learned that Mamma's 11th Commandment wasn't always true. As a medical professional once told me, "If your neurosurgeon operates on your brain, you want a perfectionist. But if he cuts your grass, who cares!" That comment plus the tick-tock implications of my silver hair were incredibly freeing, and I FINALLY BECAME SHAMELESS. I embraced ART:)

So 6 years later here's the New Me, a one-woman-business designing jewelry, supporting my wonderful local customers & three online stores-- my Etsy store, my Zibbet store, & my own website/store. Maybe when age turns us silver, as a consolation prize, we lose our fear of failure. That's my excuse for the shamelessness I feel about my recently hatched, artsy self. Some of my work is classic & elegant. Some is quirky & zany. With beads, wire, & metal, I can/do take many paths into jewelry design. I’m no longer afraid to experiment in my career & fail. (That’s what recycle bins are for.) I'm convinced that SHAMELESSNESS BREEDS THE FREEDOM THAT FEEDS THE CREATIVE PROCESS.

Clearly, Seattle Chic Jewelry and Classic Beadwear are much more than my 2 business names. They track my own evolution as a person in the silver phase of my life. They represent Shamelessness & especially Freedom:)

When Is "Handmade, One-of-a-Kind" Impractical?

It's VERY hard for me to temper my "brainstorms" with common sense. Enthusiasm for the challenge too often overwhelms logic! My latest brainstorm -- an etched medallion or pendant-- is the perfect example. The etching will feature up to 4 user-specified letters &/or numbers. "User-specified" is what makes this creation very special for a customer. The copper disk pictured celebrates a couple's 50th anniversary. But "user-specified" is what will make this item a big money loser for me. Each medallion/pendant requires a handmade template of custom size & lettering. That means creating TWO pieces of art for each customer- the template & the final medallion/pendant, with each process very time-consuming. It's impossible to mass produce such items, even if I could stand to do it. (I can't!!) Dilemma: How can I charge enough to justify creating two pieces of one-use art? Who could afford me? In other words,the custom medallion/pendant I just posted is the best deal ever!

Artistic Background Noise

What's in the background when you're creating your art? Music- classical or rock? Dead silence? Active chat with friends? TV?

My work has 2 phases- design & doing. For the Design Phase, I need dead silence. I'm solving problems or pulling a brainstorm out by its roots & can't handle any distractions OR -- poof -- it's gone. When the design & all engineering problems are solved in my head, then the Doing Phase usually means busy hands & relaxed brain. My ears & brain can handle "The Closer," "The Middle," "Modern Family," "House," "The Office," & "American Idol." Yes, I'll miss crazy, brilliant House & the dangerous Southern sweetness of Brenda Lee Johnson. Help! What's a good substitute for these 2 great characters?!

On the other hand, I lose the creative use of my eyes & therefore my hands during 2 favorite dance shows- "Dancing with the Stars" & "So You Think You Can Dance" AND during designer shows like "Project Runway." My hands & beads must wait for the commercials, so I don't get much done.

I expect I'll be beading a lot as the presidential candidates face-off this fall. I don't need to watch. I know their voices well. Hearing will keep me mentally glued while my hands work in frustration, panic, fear, or what?! I wonder how that jewelry will look?

I should start writing down which TV shows I watched to create
which jewelry! I suspect the variety- from Quirky to Funny to Artsy to Dark
to Classic - probably tells you a lot about my TV habits:)

Striving for "Playful Beauty"

Can a design be both playful & beautiful? Niece Valerie used these adjectives to describe my latest necklace & matching earrings. I'm thrilled because that's exactly the look I wanted. What do you think? I'll post these 2 items later today in my Etsy shop, Seattle Chic. Hope you'll check them out:)

Engineering in Jewelry Design - Really!

I'm embarrassed to admit that my former self-- the geeky Latin major turned bookkeeper turned programmer-- never spent much time thinking about art. When I did, I assumed that it required the opposite set of skills from mine, topped off with a large dose of "creativity," a nebulous term I was not creative enough to even define.

Fast forward 15 years after Greg retired & I quit my last geeky job. A well-hidden artsy side of me emerged when I decided to make jewelry. What surprises me 6 years into my learning curve as an aspiring jewelry artist is just how much engineering is involved! Some of my old geekiness PLUS a lot of bull-headed determination have helped me solve technical problems getting the designs I envisioned to succeed. Here are 2 of the most challenging examples of the marriage of engineering & art:

OUR TOWN Pendant

The challenges were many, but this was the biggest: How to create a 3D skyline that was securely attached to the background panel without bending or scratching any precious metal?

SINE ME JENNIFER Custom Ring 

This elegant, deceptively simple-looking design was full of major challenges: How to hand-bend the twisted precious metal into a consistant-looking sine wave pattern ... fit it exactly between 2 parallel wires that were a precise distance apart so the wave made contact with the 2 parallel wires ... assure that each end of the sine wave strip would meet exactly at the top of its wave when soldered to the 2 parallel wires ... torch-solder the hills & valleys of each sine wave to the 2 parallel, straight wires ... and finally solder the rounded ring without melting the solder joints elsewhere?

All the technical issues which I continue to discover in jewelry design have given me a great respect for talented artists AND the prices they charge for their technical skills combined with artistry. I'm crawling up a steep hill toward that goal.

Riding the Inspiration Rollercoaster

For me Creative Inspiration is more like a rollercoaster than  a Bullet Train. I could structure my life around a train ride, but the rollercoaster is much trickier. I don't want to miss the rush when it comes. During the dips, I may think of nothing more inspired to do than chores, & you can believe that's the last thing I want to do! Often my favorite alternate activities (Duplicate Bridge & visiting my 3 little Gremlins & friends) seem to collide with the unexpected return of Creative Inspiration.

But Creative Inspiration is worth waiting for. I feel totally energized. Can't wait to get up, throw down some breakfast, & get started on something I literally dreamed up the night before. One idea breeds more ideas & more dreams where even engineering details get worked out. At that point I'm in a kind of zone. My creative process rollercoaster is climbing that exciting upward hill... up & up. Love it! Life is good!

I was in such a zone during January & February, which happened to coincide with 2 major trips. Readers might remember that traveling for me absolutely MUST include my beading paraphenalia. (No barking or fleas involved!) I'm still posting the many items made during those travel months.

BUT returning home meant facing my annual tax ordeal-- a major Buzz-Kill! My only inspired thought during that period was how to convince my husband that we need a CPA! BTW I think I've accomplished that mission! Stay tuned:)

But 1 week after Tax Day, I still felt drained. Creative Inspiration had shut down. How could I get it on track again?

Frustrated, I made myself sit at the workbench & start drawing "something." Anything... without editing. You might call this the Kick the Mule Inspiration method. But at some point a few ideas took form. Before I could over-think, I made a template & sawed out 2 large shapes from a piece of VERY expensive sterling sheet, hoping I wouldn't financially regret my new tactic. Then I started playing with the 14k gold-filled wire to make a design I'd sketched, which quickly morphed into something quite different! A few solder points later, you see the result. I could not have been more surprised that kicking the mule not only got it moving, but could produce a result I loved this much. "Swirl in a Hollow" hadn't yet been posted in my Etsy shop, but within 2 hours of posting on my Facebook page, I had a buyer. AKB loved the earrings.

So my new philosophy about Creative Inspiration is this-- If the Rollercoaster method isn't working, I'll try kicking the mule. But I really don't have a lot of confidence in this method yet! QUESTION: So what gets your creative braincells moving again?

DIY Taxpayers Accept Defeat

We're caving in, biting the dust, waving the white flag, calling it quits... just shy of jumping off the cliff. It KILLS me to confess this:

Next year we're hiring a CPA to do our tax return.

You might shake your head & wonder what's the big deal. That's because you don't know us/me- 43 years married to the King of DIY and unwitting convert to the title Queen of DIY. Anyone who KNOWS us... I mean realllllly knows us... will appreciate the concession this represents & might just worry about our mental health. Spend money on something we can do ourselves, even if it kills us? IMPOSSIBLE!

15 years ago Turbo Tax brought relief to our annual self-inflicted manual torture. After the 1st year of transition into TT, April 15 wasn't as much hell as before. In the early '80s, I'd had 3 tax seasons working the Help line for the IRS, where I learned how to read the tortuous language of the publications & follow the maze to fill out a form. Compared to those challenges, TT's Query method was a breeze. But sometimes the Query was ambiguous. When I didn't know how to interpret a TT question, I'd try each interpretation, then find where on the tax return TT put my answer. The location of my answer on the tax return plus some familiarity with taxes & typical forms taught me how I was supposed to interpret that Query.  I'd then make a note about it in an ongoing README file I'd Save for each successive year. I confess that I was pretty proud of myself.

Mind you, TT did not save me from the frustrating weeks gathering & organizing the data about my micro handmade jewelry business. (Yes, torching & hammering metal can be a great stress reliever!) Beginning Inventory, Cost of Goods Sold, Ending Inventory, Manufacturing Supplies, Depreciation remain curse words to me from February through April 15. But after barely surviving the organizing of this data about my teeny, tiny business, TT enabled me to put it all on Schedule C.

BUT THIS YEAR TT HAD A BUG! Yes, I learned that my personal God-in-a-Box was flawed.

After barely surviving another annual organizing effort, TT's bug almost finished me off. It kept wanting to checkmark inappropriate things related to our retirement contributions & would not retain our corrections. I dug deep into TT's bowels of worksheets, "Data Source," & "About Line x" references, but could not find whatever hidden glitch forced these incorrect checkmarks. Amazingly, every IRS form TT filled out for us appeared to have correct data. So after 2 weeks of hair-pulling & family feuds, we crossed our fingers & efiled this *!%&$ return. BUT I was no longer a True Believer. I had lost my faith in my God-in-a box.

Tonight my husband & I celebrated our After-Tax Freedom with a huge steak dinner at Outback Steakhouse! The TT fiasco gave us the final reason to throw in the towel on DIY taxes. We decided we are too old (especially after this April fiasco) to waste 2-3 months stressing out over this stuff.

We're collecting names of good CPA's on Seattle's Eastside. There's only 1 problem. Do we dump a baggie full of stuff on his/her desk & say goodbye or what? We have absolutely no clue!

Awsome Agate!

Sometimes I see a bead or stone so unique that without my knowledge my purse opens & money just flies into the seller's hands. I was totally impressed with the technical skill of the artisan who recognized the potential in this stone, & then cut it just right to capture its magic. I named it the Magic Eye stone before I even knew what stone it was. "Agate" -- What? I'm no gemologist, but I've never seen an agate like this. So Magic Eye resided in the place of honor in my drawer until I found just the right interesting, but understated stones  (dyed magnasite maybe?) to complement (not compete with) my special agate. I hope my MAGIC EYE creation finds its home around the neck of a woman who likes attention -:)

Mother's Day -- May 13, 2012 -- Bring It On!



0-3 pearls & silver, gold, or copper combo

I've got the biggest collection of new jewelry designs ever for May 13! (Why?) Because we traveled 6 of the first 8 weeks of 2012. (So?) So I've beaded in airports, in cars, & during every second of "down time"! My huge stash of goodies has multiplied! Please SAVE ME FROM MYSELF and check it out:)



Each week I'll post some of my "traveling collection" in Seattle Chic, my Etsy store. As usual, each piece is my original & unusual design, all handmade.  I'll still custom-make the Family Tree pendant for moms, as creating wire & metal art jewelry remains my personal favorite thing to do with 10 fingers. 

Here's a sneak peek at a few items I'll be posting on Etsy in the next few weeks. Shopping is easy. Hope you'll stop by:)

The "Pat Down"

Some folks travel with their pets. My pets are my jewelry tools & baggies full of "projects" to keep my hands busy. Passing through security on planes & cruise ships has become relatively easy for me, after learning a few expensive TSA lessons involving my favorite hammers. Yes, it's become easy & routine ... until recently. Perhaps more airports are using the x-ray machines? But in the 2 trips I've taken in 2012, I've faced the x-ray machine 3 times. Based on physicist's warnings about this x-ray exposure to the skin, I had decided to opt out of the x-ray, if the need arose. So I did. I didn't foresee my reaction to the alternate pat-down, however.

After waiting for the "female pat-down" announcement to produce a female agent, a very stern, uniformed, female agent proceeded to explain exactly what she would do. When she completed her speech & started the pat-down, I burst into tears. Why?! That was as much a totally embarrassing mystery to me as to her! I'm a mature, married woman, have been examined inside & out by doctors of both sexes, & had a baby! I mean, what's left to examine that hasn't been examined? She stopped with a stunned look on her face, as my shoulders shook with awful crying. I couldn't help but wonder if they would confiscate all my expensive jewelry tools, just on general principles. Surely I must be a threat in some way? But fortunately, I survived this dreaded process, with much less dignity, but with tools in tact. Hopefully it would never happen again.

BUT NOOOOO...

I've just returned from my 2nd trip & my 2nd pat-down. This time a young, sweet woman responded to the loud "female pat-down" summons. Again as she began her pat-down, I started this embarrassing crying. Why!!!??? Surprised, she stopped & said sympathetically, "Oh no! Don't cry! I'm nice." (Again, I could have crawled under the floor with embarrassment at the uncontrollable faucet in my eyes!) "What's the matter?" she asked. She sincerely wanted to know. With sudden clarity, I admitted that his process makes me feel... guilty. YES, guilty! Why? I mean, my daughter (with a loving smirk) calls me Honor Bright. I really try to be a decent person. I've never seen a bomb in my life. Then another light bulb of clarity: "I'm guilty because I'm Catholic!" Original sin & all that training about guilt in Catholic grammar school of the 1950's. Mystery solved. The TSA agent had never heard that excuse before. We both had a good laugh, as she completed the pat-down. When she was done, I hid in the corner & blew air into my red eyes, before facing my fellow passengers. I'm hoping I've had my last pat-down. But what are the odds... ? Plus I've still got original sin. UGH.

I Never Travel Empty-Handed.

"Love me... Love my satchel." My friends know that traveling with me includes my satchel full of tools & bead projects. But hey, it's easier than a pet, right? So here's a visual log of my recent, 5some girlfriend trip - an annual event of non-stop gabbing, laughing, & games covering 800+ miles driving around the SW. Each jewelry creation comes with a story & lots of happy memories-- NO EXTRA CHARGE:)

While flying Seattle, WA to Phoenix, AZ:

While driving Phoenix, AZ to Laughlin, NV:

While driving Laughlin, NV to Indio, CA:

While driving Indio, CA to Phoenix, AZ:

While flying Phoenix, AZ to Seattle, Wa:

As an added bonus, I always leave a few extra beads on the floor of planes & rented vans as a tip.

Finding a Unique Niche

If you're a jewelry artist marketing online, welcome to the Online World of Crafty Anonymity. It's tough out there in the OWCA, unless Oprah discovers us. I'm still waiting...

Pierre the Pelican

Until then, what can we do to stand out from the crowd? For me an idea strikes literally in dreams or unpredictably when I'm just living my life. It rarely comes because I want it to. I find ZERO satisfaction in putting a new spin on someone else's unique niche. That's HER creative idea, not mine. For that reason I never graze through websites for design ideas or inspiration. My latest unique niche came, thanks to my friend Sheila from New Orleans (where I lived my first 27 years). She asked me to create 13 pendants depicting one "symbol" of either New Orleans or Louisiana. The medium & design brainstorms were left to me. My birthplace immediately inspired at least 4 unique designs (not counting Crooked Louisiana Politician), but Sheila quickly selected my sketch of a pelican in silver & gold wire outline.

And so Artsy Doodads was born -- a collection of wire-art critters & objects, custom made to depict each customer's "favorite thing." Doodads can be charms, pendants, earrings, bookmarks, knickknacks (on wire stands) for shelves, or Christmas tree ornaments! I've since created many Artsy Doodads-- including playing card symbols, pets, stylized crosses, flowers, birds, fish, trees. My favorites so far are the crab pendant & the surgically-separated lion earrings:) Oprah has many "favorite things." If you know Oprah, please tell her I'm sitting here with wire & pliers waiting for her call.

Le-oh!

The Pincher

"Handmade" Links Buyer & Seller

I admit that I'm a little weird. The more time & effort I put into a jewelry creation, the harder it is for me to part with it... even for good money. That's why Challenging Path & Our Town, requiring 30 hours of labor each, are very special to me. So with mixed feelings I set them on my display table at the wonderful Renton Hassle Free Holiday Bazaar recently. They both attracted A LOT of attention from shoppers, but the price tag was too high for most, though my goal in life is to some day make WA State's minimum wage. (My prices are far from it.!) But the appreciative comments were very satisfying, and amazingly I felt a sense of relief when buyers left without my special treasures. (That's weird, right?)

Challenging Path

Our Town

Then a middle-age woman with a very gentle demeanor & a British accent focused on Challenging Path. She picked up the necklace like a fragile treasure & asked me about its name. Clearly the symbolism of life's winding path, full of gaps & obstacles, but beautiful in the Big Picture meant as much to her life as to mine.

She really wanted my creation! The price tag didn't push her away, though it was obvious that she was not wealthy. But this was her birthday, & she "deserved something special & this was it." I felt very honored that this jewelry meant so much to her. As she left with my creation, she promised to come back next year wearing Challenging Path, and gave me a huge hug. We definitely bonded over this necklace! This is weirdness I enjoy.

The next day, a repeat customer stopped by with eyes riveted on Our Town. She was fascinated by its 3-D engineering & unusual architectural design. She wanted it for her niece, but said she'd "test drive" it herself before Christmas:) She was impressed by the weight of the fine/pure silver in the piece. But when she saw the price tag, she knew she must think about it. Two hours later, she was back to see it again. Then off to think about it. That night after the show closed, the phone rang. Mary wondered if I had sold it yet. I told her it probably wouldn't sell quickly because it was so unique & I "wasn't giving it away." (I obviously need Marketing lessons!) But I felt that if she really had reservations, then I preferred to keep it. (Yes, more weirdness!) A week passed. Mary called again to say that she couldn't get it out of her mind & must have it! She "might" give it to her niece... "or not." She's a great repeat-customer who looks for me each year to buy the most unique items on my table of unique items. I was proud to release Our Town to her when she couldn't get it out of her mind.

It's amazing how an object created by hand & turned over to another's hands can create a bond. I LOVE seeing my repeat customers who seek me out at the few fairs I do each year. It's difficult for me to part with my most special pieces, but the appreciation in the buyer's eyes is just as important to me as the money they spend.

I look forward to seeing these 2 customers wearing "our" treasures next year in Renton:)

Holiday Craft Shows -- Y'all Come!

This is a Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda post, with my apologies for not posting my craft show schedule sooner. I only do 2-3 a year, usually during the holiday season, so I hope it's not too late to get on your calendar! I'm "Classic Beadwear" locally & have dozens & dozens of original jewelry designs in metal, wire, beads & stones. I've recently added Artsy Doodads to my repertoire. If you wonder what that means, good! Come see my shows:)

1) RENTON HASSLE FREE HOLIDAY BAZAAR- Time/Location on picture. This is a well-run, well-established show with over 100 vendors, plus refreshments & lots of parking. My "Classic Beadwear" booth is usually near the large garage door in the back corner. It's a great spot, diagonally across from delicious artisan breads. YUM! If I'm not in that spot, please ask for Classic Beadwear.

2) CRAFTY BRIDGE HOLIDAY BAZAAR- For Duplicate Bridge player customers only- at Eastside Bridge Center, Redmond, WA. Dec. 9 (9:30 am to 2:30) and Dec. 10 (9:00 - 5:30). What fun to combine a good game of Duplicate Bridge with a chance to snatch some high quality crafts, handmade by your Bridge pals!

ALSO, my shows are a great place to custom order your own Doodad or jewelry creation! We can work out the design together during slack times. Well, maybe I'd better explain DOODADS, ya think? Stay tuned:)

How RED HOT STUDS Got Their Name

For the past 3 weeks, I've worked intently on my latest brainstorm for a niche market-- the hundreds of avid Duplicate Bridge players from many countries converging on Seattle for our National Championships in November. It's a big deal for all of us addicted to competitive Bridge. I designed a line of wire-art & metal-art jewelry & bookmarks to commemorate this Big Event. After days of Designing, it was finally time to Create:)

I stacked my charcoal block atop the fire brick on my torch table & sat down on the tall bar stool. Satisfied with the 4 card symbol shapes I had cut by hand from copper sheet & already prepped for soldering, I carefully dabbed tiny snippets of silver solder near the Diamond's edge, & with upmost care placed the Club overlapping the Diamond, "just so." Everything was ready for the torch. The room was already hot & the torch made it hotter. The Club & Diamond began to glow red as I moved the Blazer's flame over their surfaces. I carefully positioned the titanium pick onto the top of my glowing-hot copper stack to assure the Club was absolutely horizontal & flat as the solder melted, sealing the 2 surfaces in the "just so" position. Then I sneezed. The pick jerked, sliding the double-wide, firmly soldered, red-hot copper off its "tower" of bricks. Before I could grasp the situation, it had bounced, onto the table, then onto my thigh. I looked down amazed at the smoke coming off my new Bermudas. But piercing heat shocked me back to a scream, a quick stand-up, & a final bounce of glowing redness onto the vinyl floor. Dilemma: Should I save the floor or my thigh?

I saved the floor, but not before yet another burn-freckle left my husband a reminder of my favorite work. Finally, ice wrapped in a wet cloth cooled down my burning thigh....

That was about 8 days ago. My thigh has survived. The new Bermudas got demoted to the gardening-only clothes pile. I finished the copper stud earrings... very carefully, BUT decided their name must commemorate my latest lesson learned, so "Red Hot Studs" was born.

I just received the new US Forge welding apron I ordered the next day from Amazon. I LOVE it. I'm 5'8" tall &, as you can see, it covers almost all body parts. (Actually, it's more like a suede "gown":) In addition, I will take a suggestion from a colleague & put a metal plate on the table & on the floor to protect those surfaces from more freckles. But most of all, I hope I have a line of eager females fighting over RED HOT STUDS.

Salvaging a Mistake

Our Town- Version 1

Do you believe in re-incarnation? When it comes to salvaging failed jewelry brainstorms to give them new life, I do. I keep reminding myself that the time & labor "wasted" have taught me some technical or design lessons that are worthwhile. BUT wasting expensive silver, gold, or other metals? NO WAY!!! I'm the woman who returns a cut lemon to the fridge until every last drop is squeezed.

Two years ago I imagined a pendant celebrating the beautiful Seattle skyline as representative of any city we cherish. I wanted the metal art to have a 3-D effect against a gold-toned silver disk background. Engineering this 3-D vision I had was a technical challenge. Getting the golden colors I wanted from the copper buildings & the silver disk was another. Handling & smoothing the beautiful silver disk without scratching it was another. I spent countless hours on Our Town, but was very proud of the result....

Except for one problem ... It was too big!

It was more like a medallion than a pendant. Should I frame it for sale as a wall-hanging? What else can one do with "a medallion"? Paperweight? UGH!!

Our Town- Version 2

For the last 18 months, I've been thinking about how to re-invent Our Town as the wearable art creation I'd intended, without ruining the components. It was emotionally painful to clip the rivets away, separate all the components, cut them smaller, then carefully replace the handmade rivets in the holes left by previous rivets! I tossed the bits of cut away metal to my treasured can of metal scraps$$, which I'll recycle when full. Finally, I decided that I liked the silver disk looking silver:)

While I miss the "medallion," the re-incarnated Our Town can now be worn with pride by a normal-sized woman:)

Time To Think About Holiday Shoppers... Already!

Where has the year gone? Holiday Shows are booking artists/crafters now, & my fingers are busy creating wearable art jewelry for holiday shoppers. October through December we've got our Arts-and-Crafts ON ... full steam ahead. By mid-October in this blog ("Unwired") I'll post my Seattle-area Craft Show Schedule. Please check back regularly for my holiday show calendar & plan to visit my booth:)

Madness begins for online shops as well. I'll post inventory into my Zibbet store regularly during Sept-- several pieces a week. My other stores will follow. I'll be fully stocked in all 3 stores when holiday shoppers get serious:)

Want a sneak peek at the most varied, original, imaginative jewelry designs around?

Copper Circles, Silver Dot

Crystal Snake

30 Hours of Labor! Do You Love the Baby More?

YES!!

Do you qualify to adopt this baby? (sniff)



CHALLENGING PATH- Metal Art @ zibbet.com/seattlechic