First pieces for 2011

So I have gotten the New Year off to a flying start! Could be that I know I am going to be away from my workspace for a week ... whatever the motivation, I have made 2 new pieces of jewellery on the very first day of the year.

This piece I have decided to keep for ME! I can't seem to get a decent photo of it though so you will just have to imagine that when I put it on I go from regular scraggy-Sue neck to giselle-like Uma Thurman neck. At least that is how it makes me feel when I wear it which is what really counts huh?!

It is made from a pewter tankard, a brass planter and sterling silver.

I polished the pewter and the brass using emery paper then my trusty Dremel and then 2 grades of steel-wool. In real life this accentuates the contrast between the pewter and the brass.

I cut a weeny disc out of some pewter and stamped it with date and name so that it would be a bit commemorative. The second piece I made is completely different - it has a gorgeous vintage feel.

I made the central component by sandwiching a piece of lace doiley between a glass pebble and a piece of copper. The key is an old one I found in my father-in-laws workshop.

Other bits include some stacked mother-of-pearl buttons, a large crystal and some chandelier crystals. Oh and some freshwater pearls for scrumminess. The chain is courtesy of a recent trip to Spotlight - yikes they had a lot of stuff on special and I couldn't resist. So that is me started for the year - can I keep it up I wonder? Probably not once the realities of family life, Uni and so forth sets in, so I shall bask in my productive warmth whilst I can!

Looking back ...

This is certainly the time of year for reflection. Most people cast back over the year and have a think about their highs and lows - it is a natural thing to do and I guess it is one way in which we grow each year. Today I saw a bumper sticker that said "I am in shape ... Round is a shape!" and it made me giggle a bit - I kinda relate to the round bit and am not unduly uncomfortable with my shape - even at this reveal-more-flesh-than-any-other-time-of-year time. It got me to thinking about labels and such and the limitations they can place on us if we let them. Two sets of traffic lights later and I got to thinking about all the things I had learned this year - and there have been alot - from practical skills to the realisation of personal aspirations. One thing I learned in 2010 is that labels are not always bad. For the first time ever, I actually wrote "artist" as my profession on a form this year. And it didn't feel weird - how weird is that?! So I guess I feel I have earned the label and learned to be comfortable with it. I could blather on about the skills I learned from the indomitable Ms Kazmer, or all the things I continue to learn from my kids but maybe I will save that for another time ...
So what have you learned in 2010? Did you have an "ah-ha" moment, acquire a new skill or perhaps you gained some insight into something you had previously found baffling?
Thank you for joining me here in 2010 and I wish all of you a most happy and creatively bountiful New Year!

Scribbles ...

Strangely, I am feeling the urge to fill up my journal with ideas. I say strangely because I would have thought that the amount of food and alcohol I have consumed lately may have curbed my creative impulses! Not true apparently and I am scribbling away like  a madwoman - ok so the bit about being mad is probably no surprise but the fact that the stuff I am thinking about is for an exhibition in August is, quite frankly, ASTOUNDING!

Of course I find that yet again I have ideas that exceed my current skill-set - meh - what is life without a little bit of challenging endeavor? For now I am just gonna keep on scribbling and probably making a few prototypes ( damn my design-by-making brain!) and see where it leads. How about you - now that there is a little lull are you feeling creative or do you just want to lounge about and soak up sun?

Christmas is over ....

Well, I guess Christmas is drawing to a close now that everyone is gradually dispersing back to their "real" lives. I gave my daughter a lift to the city yesterday because she had to go back to work and I felt a little sad. I took a stroll along the beach whilst she got ready for said work  - it has been ages since I have managed a tootle along a beach - and I felt better right away - must be the sea air. Or perhaps it is the bountiful treasures that the ocean so kindly leaves for hunter gatherer types like me ...

I can never resist the allure of an interesting shell, I think they hold some sort of spell over me - and to find a couple of pieces of glass that have been rounded and smoothed by the relentless movement of the sea makes me go yipppeeeeee inside. To me they are more beautiful than any gemstone. Another daughter heads back to her life outside the family fold tomorrow and I certainly don't have a beach handy so perhaps I will have to try a little op-shop retail therapy?!

T'was the night before Christmas ...

and there was a family to feed ...

preserves to finish ...

tree decorations to admire ...

gifts to wrap ...

post baking dishes to do ...

 

and finally ...

a toast to share and blessings to count!

Frohliche Weihnachten everyone.

Gotta love school holidays ...

The most remarkable thing about having a seventeen year old home during the school holidays is the rapidity with which they can chew through your allowable downloads. In turn, it is remarkable how agonisingly slow Internet use seems to be once your ISP shaves your speed - sigh - how did we ever manage on dial-up? All this is of course a prelude to me excusing my bloggy absence - Internet activity on my behalf has ground to a halt as my greedy, download sucking teen hogs both the computer and it would seem, all of CyberSpace!
So Christmas is almost here - and I still have pressies to wrap, jam to label and some cards to write! Truth be told, I love the busyness of this time of year and all the fuss and bother. Sorry. Can't help it. I will soon have all my kids under my roof and there will be plenty of food, fun and now that they are older - cocktails - gooooodeeeeee! Santa must have checked his list twice by now and the elves are no doubt giving those brave and stoic reindeer a Braveheart-esque speech to spur them on. Bring it on I say! Are you ready for serious cute overload? Checkout this pic from Rudolphs baby album ...

Awwww ......!

Yum yum - it's beginning to feel like Christmas ...

Lots of lively aromas have been circulating around my kitchen today. I have been bitten by the Xmas Bug and have been making yummo preserves for gifts. I had intended to roast and flavour some nuts but when I got to the shops this morning they were practically giving away really ripe mangoes so I had a change of heart and decided Mango Chutney was the go! Then I had to have a quick whip round the oppies to source some jars. When I got home I wandered down to the veggie patch to see if the locusts (we have a plague can you believe it?!) had done much damage and my hungry eyes fell upon the beetroot practically leaping out of the ground .... oh yes Beetroot Relish was calling my name! I had those beauties out if the ground and into the oven in a flash. I made some nuts too - soy,ginger and garlic almonds and cashews - tasty tasty! I'm gonna bake me some biscuits tonight - gingerbreads with honey icing and cardomon wafers which should stink up the kitchen with lots of Christmassy smells.

Oh and the locusts haven't done much damage despite neighborhood reports of the complete decimation of Chinese Cabbages and the like! Phew!