Half Empty or Half Full?

 brass, copper

It all started with this. 

copper, sterling

And proceeded to this.

top: brass, copper 

 bottom: copper, sterling, black onyx

And heck, why not a couple of pendants. The bails are sneakily hidden on the back side. All of these are what I would consider prototypes. Or maybe just an idea seed. I can see all sorts of errors. Things I want to change, improve. But I have loved getting out the metal and fabricating. Playing with fire and solder. Oh fire! I love fire. 

It has my wheels turning. I've even felt a little excited. Not giddy but excited. And after the last 2 months,

 that is a hugely great thing.

You might be asking yourself just what is LeAnn up to? Doesn't she make beads? Well, yes, I do make beads. But after a 6 week rest of my thumb, things have gone quite wrong. A couple of days of trying to make beads and it's shrieking with pain and there is a disgusting huge lump on my tendon. The lump, says my doctor, is my pressure valve. Sort of like the button that pops on a pressure cooker. Ick! So the upshot is, no beads for 2 weeks. No using that thumb to push things. Then we'll see.

But I'm a glass half full kind of girl. OK, I'll admit that earlier my glass was way on the side of being more than half empty. But the sun's been shining. It was even warm yesterday. And I'm feeling like I have an opportunity here to follow some ideas that have been in my head. Things that require very little use of my thumb. Lordy, I even see some beads with the new ideas. I'm learning some new things. Things like letting my tools, rather than my hands, do the work. What a concept.

 My glass might even be more than half full. Not over flowing. Maybe 3/4 full?

So how are you? How full is your glass?

Swings and Roundabouts

You ever have one of those months? You know the one where every where you turn it just seems there is one more obstacle in your path? Well that was my November, starting with the work in the studio.

My hands hurt. My whole body hurts. I haven't been able to do anything for weeks. It seems I'm not tolerating one of the cancer drugs very well.  But life is all swings and roundabouts.

While it's been just one more thing in the month of November that has made me sad, it has given me an opportunity to pause and decide what I want to do. Not a bad thing, really. I find myself moving to a more experimental direction with new forms, new ideas. When I can work, it's like playing. It's exciting.

My old dog Bob has entered his twilight years. Diagnostic tests in November came back showing that he has heart disease and tumors all over his body. He has problems walking and can no longer get himself up the stairs at night. But we help him, sometimes Peter carries him, all 62 pounds of him.

He is resting comfortably. We're seeing to it. He gets extra treats like peanut butter with his tablets. We've had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is an amazing dog who has brought us so much joy. We brought him back with us from Australia. (His ticket cost more than mine). My children grew through their teens and became adults with him. He'll be 13 in April and he's had a good life. He's getting pampered. Secretly, I think he's saying to himself it's about time I get extra treats and cuddles. But it still breaks my heart to have to acknowledge that Bob is not immortal.

 My son deployed for Afghanistan on the 12th of November. It's his third deployment and this time it has hit me hard. The hardest of all the times he's been away. He missed Thanksgiving with us, his favorite holiday. He'll be gone again for Christmas, the fourth Christmas in 6 years. But most of all it has hit me so hard that he'll be missing 9 months of his new son's life. So many mile stones.

But this time we've pulled together as a family in a way that is even deeper and stronger than before. Another opportunity. A time to be grateful that we have each other. And thanks to the magic of skype, my son got to see one of those mile stones. Brody laughs and coos at Daddy and even picked up his bottle with his own two hands for the first time just for Daddy.

It is hard to be sad when you have grand babies to love. Look at them! All full of giggles and smiles. Learning new things all of the time. Teaching me new things all of the time. We'll be seeing them again at Christmas. Decorating cookies and leaving a plate for Santa. There may even be a bowling outing in the future. There is nothing in life more entertaining than bowling with a 5 year old. Truly. You should try it. If you don't have a 5 year old of your own, you should seriously think about borrowing one.

And there will be Christmas in Afghanistan, with maybe not all of the trimmings, but stockings, teddy bears, candy canes, and even a Christmas tree.

A super easy how to

Want to know how to make these earrings? A few of you did when I posted them as part of my contribution to the Ears To You blog hop on Saturday.  The hoops for these earrings are fairly simple to make and are an upside down, no solder variation of the hoops used in Stacie Florer's  Ranch Hand Earrings that she taught in a class I took at ArtBliss last September.

Let's get started, OK? You don't need a lot of tools or supplies to make these hoops. I imagine you have most of these in your tool box already.

heavy gauge wire (14 or 16 gauge. I used 14 g copper)

scrap fine gauge wire

jump rings (I used 18 g sterling, 8 mm outside diameter)

Something to form your hoop on (sharpie, glue stick, top of nail polish remover, the world's your oyster here)

flat nose and round nose pliers

wire cutter

hole punch

chasing hammer

bench block

Cut two pieces of wire. Mine are 14 gauge copper a wee bit over two inches long. Length depends mostly on how big you want to make your hoops and a little on what you are forming them on.

Use your chasing hammer to make paddles at the end of the wires. Be sure to make your paddles plenty long enough. You'll be punching holes through them later and too short makes that a small nightmare. I like to do one wire and then do the other along side of the finished one so I can get approximately the same size paddle and overall length on the wire.

Mark the centers of the wires with your sharpie. I kinda judge by eye but it's important to be close or your hoops are going to end up a little skew-whiff when you go to close up the ends of the wires.

Center your wire on whatever you are using to form your hoop. Use your fingers to pull the wire around the form. I'm using the top of a nail polish remover bottle. The ends don't meet on the other side. This is just getting a nice curve set up for the bottom of the hoop.

And yes, my nails are often in a disgraceful state. I don't actually used the polish remover on my nails. I use it to remove sticky things like labels.

Use your fingers to squeeze the paddle ends of your wires together. You are going to have a kind of fat U shape when you take it off your former. I just put my fingers on each side about in the middle and gently squeeze the wire into something life a tear drop shape.

Next you need to get out your flat nose pliers. On the paddle ends of the wire bend them out just about 90 degrees. Try to keep your pliers square across the wire and make the bend on both sides the same distance from the end of the paddle. Like everything, there's a little fudge room but life will be easier if you get pretty close to spot on.

Pinch the paddle ends of the hoop together with your flat nose pliers and hold them closed while you wrap it up with fine gauge wire. I don't know what gauge wire I used because it was scrap floating about my drawer. But it's reasonably fine, maybe 24 gauge. Doesn't really matter as long as you can wrap it around the end to hold the paddles tightly together. Then use your hole punch to pierce both paddles at the same time. The paddles should be quite thin enough to get your punch through and doing both paddles together keeps the holes lined up nicely. 

I use a plier-type punch that I got from Fusion Beads. You can replace the pin that punches the hole if they break. Really big bonus there, as I've had other punches in the past that once broken the whole tool was wasted. 

I like to file the ends of the paddles at this time to get them more refined to the same shape, and get rid of burs and sharp bits. 

I insert a jump ring through the holes at this point  but that could be done later if you like. I do find it easier to do while the paddles are still wrapped with wire to hold them closed. Also the final shaping tends to make the holes in the paddles get a little misaligned. If the holes aren't quite aligned, or big enough, I stick a round nose file in there and give it a few twists. 

Last lap here. Place that hoop on your bench block and start shaping and flattening the bottom of the loop with your chasing hammer. Doing this with the paddle ends wrapped up tends to keep the ends from creeping apart. Add what ever texture you like and you are done with hoop number one. One thing to consider while you are making these is that the hoops going to get gradually larger as you shape the wire. See how small it was before shaping the bottom?

Two hoops ready to punch the holes at the bottom to add whatever bead you'd like.

I really love these and am starting to think of so many ways to use these hoops. Pendant holders? Smaller, larger? It's a lovely form and I'm happy I learned something of it.

Happy making!

Ears To You

I don't do a lot of blog hops but when Amy at Copper Diem organized this one, I knew I wanted to do it. Had to do it. . Ears to You is a non-profit organisation that gifts earrings to women undergoing chemo as a way of helping to lift their spirits. If  you've been around this blog over the past few months, you probably  know that I finished chemo for breast cancer treatment not too long ago. So this blog hop seemed a natural for me and a way to give back just a little tiny bit of the love that sustained me through the months of treatment.

Amy asked us to make 3-5 pairs of earrings to donate to Ears to You. I started with what I knew best and that's my ceramic beads with some little bronze nuggets and garnets.

A lot of you out there were so kind and one of the things that meant so much to me were the earrings you all sent. All sorts of handmade ones that made me feel very special. Because lets just face it, when you have chemo you are probably going to loose your hair (and your eye brows and lashes). I did. Pretty much overnight I went to completely naked on my head. And a lot of the time that naked head of mine made me feel kind of naked all over.

Earrings were the answer for me. I hadn't actually worn earrings much in the past. But when it came to bald, even with my head covered in scarves, earrings were one of the things that made me feel good. It gave me something to focus on, rather than how strange I looked to myself.

I made this pair thinking how much I loved long dangly earrings. Something that went with the turban look. The turban look can be hard to pull off without looking like a chemo patient. But add some long dangly earrings and you've got an instant 'I am an artist, somewhat bohemian look.' You shout,  'I am not a victim of cancer, I am exotic.' Well even if you don't really look it, you can feel it and that is kinda important :-)

This last pair is a technique I learned from Staci Florer when I was at ArtBliss only I turned the copper hoops up side down. The ones I learned how to make, which I really wanted to do, required soldering. Ones like these. Well the soldering station has been over taken by the not anymore Secret Project which has made a momentous coup of my studio and my time. So in a stroke of something approaching a light bulb going off (dimly), I used sterling jump rings. And now that I think about a little more, I could actually turn these upside down again. A hint here, if you want to do something like this style of ring hoopy thing, wire together the top ends temporarily and then punch the hole. Much easier to get the hole lined up that way and the jump ring in. I know this from experience and one or two cuss words.

By the way, I do have hair again (and eye brows and lashes). It's almost an inch long and so very curly. I look a little like Richard Simmons but not as fit and perky. The earrings, especially long dangly ones, are what I am using to combat the post chemo, your hair is growing in look.

If you want to do something special, donations are always welcome at Ears to You. If you know a woman who's undergoing chemo, earrings are a very special way of saying I am thinking of you.

Just one last thing. My heart and soul, prayers, and thoughts are with all of you who have endured so much and lost so much in Hurricane Sandy. Blessings be with you.

Thanks, Amy, for organizing this blog hop! 

Have a look at what some sweet people have made:

Copper Diem
My Addictions
Beads, Tea and Sweets
Juls Beads
Fabric of my Life
Blogging Business Artisans
Jeannie's Blog
Lorelei's Blog
One Kiss Creations
Backstory Beads
According to Katie
Cherish Designs
Beads: Rolling Downhill
Falling Into The Sky
Garden Path Beads
Antiquity Travelers
Sissy and Jacks
Erin Siegel Jewelry/Art Bead Scene
Northwood Creative Studio
SilverRose Designs
Dreamin of Beads/SAS Jewelry Design
Cabe Woman
Summers Studio
Honey from the Bee
Shaiha's Ramblings
Mama's Got to Doodle
Beads for Busy Gals
Tanya McGuire
Creative Atelier

The Secret Project

Often I think to myself where did the time go? This time I know just exactly where it got gobbled up....The Top Secret Project. Its a biggy. I've been working up to it for a long time. Years even. Well, the moon, the stars, the planets all aligned just right and I was able to acquire casting equipment. This is the first little piece, an experiment really. I am happy. There will be more. Well that is if all of the stars, the moon and the planets line up just right.

Happy weekend all. I know for a few of you it will probably be a tense one full preparation for Hurricane Sandy making its way up the eastern coast.  You are in my heart and prayers.

Catching Up

Where did the time go? I haven't been around this blog as much as I'd like. The autumn days have just flown by. Lots of things happening in the studio. One of them a secret project that has consumed an enormous amount of time.

It seems almost like yesterday that we were up in DC for ArtBliss. But it has been nearly three weeks already. How did that happen? Not one photo did I take while I was there. I made this pair of earrings in Stacie Florer's class. Bit wonky but it may be the first time ever that I've come away with a completed project from a workshop. Stacie is a great teacher!

On the way back we stopped to see Monticello. I've always admired Jefferson, well except for that slavery thing. So it was a treat to see his home. Lot smaller than I imagined but packed full of innovation and the most shocking yellow walls in the dining room. Dayglo does not even begin to describe it. My eyes hurt. Apparently this color was used to make the most of the light in the room. Me, I think I'll stick with dark and dreary if the only other option is that yellow.

Lots of things have been happening in the studio besides the secret project. Some of it is organisational. My glaze table mess went from this.....

To this!

I am pleased with myself beyond words. Finally a solution to the mess....Stepped spice racks! Why has this solution never occurred to me before?  I thought about alphabetizing, organizing by color, etc. It seemed a natural way to go. After all, the spices in my kitchen are alphabetized. Pathetic, huh? But for now at least I can see those glazes and get at them without stacking and unstacking.

Part of that organization had to do with necessity. I am definitely not normally the model of studio tidiness. The cheeky monkey and her brother arrived last night. The cheeky monkey likes to fossick around Nana's studio. There are too many things out there that could go horribly wrong....so...the only solution is to clean things up. I think maybe the cheeky monkey should visit Nana more often.

gratuitous photo of heliotropes of some sort

 I'm the only one up. It is quiet. It won't be quiet for very long. My grandson is a noisy little chappy. He giggles and coos, loudly. He knows that if he giggles and coos someone will come over and love him up. So he giggles and coos a lot.

Have a lovely couple of bright shiny weeks everyone. I'll be around this week but not on this blog. Nana has a lot of grand baby loving to do. Then we will head off to Dallas for a long weekend with our daughter.

Is it really October? Where did the time go?

The Owls Are Back!

Gosh, it's been a year since I made any of these. Where did the time go? But some of you asked and I could not refuse. Besides I like these little guys. Six colors including a purple tummy owl that I really love. Of course, I love just about anything purple. Not lavender. Just a nice dark purple. Ok, I like lavender in spring. I'm quite seasonal (fickle?) about my color favorites.

Sometimes when I'm making beads, a new shape sort of spontaneously appears. I don't think too much about it. They just happen. These are a cross between a lentil and a coin bead with fluted edges. Or maybe they are squashed melon beads with holes in a different direction? Or maybe they are a new bead shape called the amoeba. I might start naming all of my beads after micro-organisms. Next up the paramecium followed by the spirochete.

This was a glaze experiment. I don't usually use this glaze on this clay because in the past it's gone all drippy and weird. But I like it now. Kind of reminds me of winter with that frosty blue.  I have no idea if I will get this result again because I can't remember just what I did to get it in the first place. Notes might be a good idea but then that seems way to organized.

Have I ever told you how much I like making bead sets?  It's a sort of sophisticated form of procrastination. I don't generally glaze them with any particular sets in mind. I could (and sometime do) spend ours mixing up different shapes and colors of beads. I tell myself it is work all in the name of getting that Etsy shop updated. But the truth is I like playing with beads.

Speaking of updating the Etsy shop, I'll be putting the owls and beads up tomorrow night.

Thursday, 4 October, 8 pm EST