Simplicity

Sometimes I like the simple things the best. I made 2 pairs of these earrings - one pair for my shop and one pair for me to wear. I wear mine all the time.

Square Stitch

I am out of wire at the moment so that means no chainmaille making for now. I have been doing some bead crochet and some beadweaving. I had never tried doing square stitch. I don't know why since it isn't difficult at all. I looked through my bead stash and found some glass cube beads that I forgot I had. I also came across a great pewter button and this blue bracelet is what I came up with.

My Irises

I love my Siberian Irises and just wanted to share them with everyone.

Copper - Shiny or Oxidized - You Choose

Whenever I make a new piece of copper jewelry I love how bright and shiny it looks when I take it out of the tumbler. I admire it for awhile and then decide if I am going to add a patina or not. Here are a few pairs of earrings that I made both ways so you, the buyer, can decide which they prefer.

All are available in my shop.

I Won A Lariat

About 2 weeks ago when I was cruising around the forums, I came across a post that the Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy was having a contest. I went and checked out their blog and was amazed by what I found. They do such beautiful and intricate work. I couldn’t believe that some of the things were made from clay, but why would they lie about it?

As I am not someone to pass up the opportunity to win something beautiful I cast my vote for my favorite piece and was automatically entered into their drawing for a prize. Well, to my delight and amazement I won a lovely lariat necklace made by Pippa Chandler of Pips Jewellery Creation.



To see more of the great work these artists do, please visit their blog.

I Wish

Yesterday I was cleaning out some of the folders on my computer and I came across “These Things I Wish For You”, written by Lee Pitts. I looked around and saw my kids playing video games and listening to their iPods and it made me wonder if they will ever experience a lot of the things mentioned. I really hope that they do.

These Things I Wish For You-- By Lee Pitts

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse.

For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days, when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you.

Competition For The Sunny Window

I like to photograph my jewelry in natural light. After a lot of hit and miss with the lighting and the time of day, I finally found what works the best for me. I use the window in our family room in the mid-morning for the best photographs with the least amount of photo editing needed. Well, as you can see from the photo to the right, that is also Emma's favorite morning sunny spot. It's not so bad sharing when I'm trying to get a good shot of a bracelet or a necklace, but it can be quite the pain when she joins me when I am shooting earrings. I use a picture frame without glass to dangle my earrings from. Some days it seems that they take forever to stop swaying. And most days it seems that the moment they are done swaying is the exact moment that Emma decides she needs to be in the window. I guess it could be worse - she could be in the box with the earrings.

It's Spring In Northern New Jersey

After what seems like an endless winter, Spring has finally sprung in Northern New Jersey.

Daffodils, my favorites, from my garden.

My Magnolia tree in full bloom.

A lone Tulip that pops up every year for the past 20 years.

I can't wait for all my perennials to start to bloom!

In A Crocheting Mood

It seems like I go through phases. For a while all I want to do is chainmaille and then all I want to do is beaded crochet. Right now I am in a beaded crochet mood. I have added these 2 bracelets to my shop, I'm working on another and I have an idea in my head for one more.

Byzantine - My Favorite Weave

Byzantine is a very well know chainmaille weave. In fact, it is the first one that a lot of mailers learn to make. I know it was my first. Byzantine quickly became a favorite of mine because of its versatility. It lends itself well to earrings, bracelets and necklaces as well.

Below you can see some examples of how different Byzantine can look.

These earrings are made from the Byzantine weave with Jasper beads dangling from the bottom.











This bracelet is a weave known as Beez to Butterflies. It is made from linking vertical sections of Byzantine together.











This shows another way to link Byzantine together. Full Byzantine segments are connected by rings in the middle.

Here is an example of Byzantine segments that are connected with larger rings instead of being connected directly to each other.











This version of Byzantine is known as Romanov. Segments of Byzantine are used to surround a bead or gemstone and are then connected with larger rings.










And lastly, this necklace shows Byzantine in its purest form. Byzantine segments are connected to make a long Byzantine necklace










If you are interested in chainmaille make sure you learn Byzantine. From there it is easy to let your imagination take over.