Friday, August 15, 2014

School starts next week!!!

What???
How did the summer go this fast?

We've done swimming lessons, and Farmer's Market, and garage sales, and picnics at parks...

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Abigail Fun

I got to hang out with my youngest daughter today.  She's a fun kid.

She got to choose our destination, so first we went to Petco and looked at all the animals.  I admit I enjoy that kind of a trip, too.  Her favorite was this silly, young ferret snaking along on his belly.  My favorite was a parrakeet who dangled upside down by one toe while gently twirling around.  He watched us watching him for about five minutes.

Next, we went next door to the new Fairbanks Pier One and tried on all their clearance masks.  (Random Question: how can a store be 'new' and already have clearance items?  They've been here a couple of months, but really?)

Abigail kitty

Her choices sum up my Abigail pretty well- she loves animals, loves dress-up, and would like to be either a veterinarian or a dog musher when she grows up.  Although if she could, she'd be a wolf instead.

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Fairbanks City Fest with Toby Mac

Thoroughly enjoyed the music.  We don't get to go to good concerts very often way up here in the boonies of Fairbanks, AK.

Toby Mac and his band Diverse City


A fun acoustic set about 15-20 feet from us in the middle of the audience

Sunday, June 01, 2014

The Eyes of your Soul

I found this at All the Pretty Things:

At a dinner, one of the diners, an Atheist, asked the Christian sitting next to him:
"How do you know your God forgave your sins or that He listens to your prayers, when you can't see anything of that sort?" 
"How do you know your tea has sugar?" asked the Christian
"What do you mean? I taste it!"
"So you know there is sugar in your tea, even if you can't see it. Just the same, I feel God's love in my heart. My sinful soul feels delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Liturgy, Holy Confession, and prayers make my spirit soar and find peace in God. You can't see love with the eyes of your body, but with the eyes of your soul." 

I am reminded of God's love when I look at the painted sky and blooming flowers.  I am reminded of His faithfulness as I watch the sun rise and set.  


Wednesday, May 28, 2014

My Baby Turned 11

Deborah turned 11 this week.  Pretty hard to believe...



I still think of her like this...


and this...

(That's me)

and this.

(That's her daddy & my husband, Jake.)

There are several things I miss about baby Deborah- she was cuddly, with the most amazing chuckle, and less inclined to talk back...  
But there are some wonderfully cool things about watching her grow up and turn into a young woman- talking with her and hearing her opinions, watching her make smart choices and learn from her mistakes.

I love you, my precious Deborah!

Friday, May 16, 2014

Farmer's Market Begins!

The Farmer's Market season has begun up here in Fairbanks!
We've had a wonderful early and warm spring and I am so looking forward to seeing familiar faces after the long cold winter.

We start tomorrow and will be going until August.  We take our jewelry most Wednesdays and Saturdays- in fact, we rarely miss.

See you there!




Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bloom Necklace

One of my favorite pieces from my last semester of metal-smithing is this necklace- partly because I am so pleased with how it turned out, but also because it took me four semesters of metal-smithing to complete the project.  I've come so far in my ability to envision a piece of jewelry and then bring it into being. It is  fun to look back at the small steps it took to complete the entire piece.


 My "Bloom" Necklace

I hammered the fold-formed copper piece during my first semester and soldered it to the nickel back at the beginning of my second semester.  Towards the end of that semester I cut out the flowers and soldered them onto the pendant base, but I didn't know what I wanted to do with it next.  It didn't feel complete and I didn't really have a direction or idea.  So I chose to let it simmer rather than push it.

A year later I took my third semester of metal-smithing and one of the first things I did was use letters to punch in the word bloom.  Finally, towards the end of this last (and fourth) semester I added the rivet, the crystals, the leather, the liver-of-sulfur and the chain.

And I am keeping this one.  It has been kind of cool to stretch out the process and see how my abilities slowly increased and allowed me to fully develop an idea.



The "Bloom" Pendant up-close

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Bead Soup Blog Party

Hello!  Welcome to my little space on the inter-webs.  I'm so excited to be part of Lori's soup party again! Honestly, she throws the best parties ever.

I was partnered with the bold and delightful RaMona Woolson of Jersey Girls Beadwork.  Here's the soup she sent me.


RaMona's Bead Soup

Such a lovely mix of blues and turquoises! Pretty humorous since I sent similar colors...


My Soup For RaMona

I knew pretty quick what I wanted to do with that cute whirlpool handmade focal bead.  I had seen a bracelet using a long handmade glass bead, and I wanted to try something similar.  I also have just recently made my first purchase of sari silk and I wanted to work that in, too.


Whirlpool Bracelet

I love the sound this bracelet makes when you wear it.  Ramona's swirly charms and the spin of the focal bead and the clinking of the glass beads make me smile.

I fell in love with the mosaic shell beads and wanted to work with them next.  I had an idea, but it didn't quite work at first...  It wasn't until I pulled out this large handmade glass bead from my stash that I knew what I was doing. And again, I pulled from my new stash of sari silk!


Caribbean shores bracelet

I find I'm mostly using large lobster clasps with my pieces right now because more of my customers prefer the ability to change the length of their bracelets and necklaces.  I'm using a lot of extension chains to make them longer and varying the size of the lobster clasps.  Which means I've got a lot of lovely clasps stashed away and I'm not using them.  

And the sweet leaf clasp RaMona sent me was leaving me in a bit of a confusion.  What was I going to do with it?  Then Lori sent her bead soup tips e-mail and I jumped on the challenge of creating earrings with a clasp.  Thank you, Lori!


Bloom Where You Are Planted Earrings

I pulled out my green wire and combined it with my stash of Lucite flowers & leaves to create these little cuties.  And now I want to pull out some of my tucked away and unused clasps and make lots of asymmetrical wire-wrapped earrings.

Finally, those sodalite leaves were telling me they wanted to be long dangly earrings.


Leaf Wrap Earrings

I liked working with the wire so much on the clasp earrings that I did some wrapping here, too.  It was fun to combine the different colors of silver.

I still haven't done anything with the cute birdie, the large shell beads or the blue pearls, but I have some ideas kicking around in my brain that haven't quite gelled yet.  I'm looking forward to working with them this summer.

Thank you, Ramona for sharing your stash and playing beads with me!
Thank you, Lori for your work putting this party together!

Go ahead and visit some of the other lovely bead artists participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party!
Soup's on!

Enamel Pendants

A few of the things I've been working on this semester in the metals shop.


My first Tree Branch pendant.

I cast the branch in bronze, then cut the flowers out of a sheet of copper.  I shaped the flowers and then enameled them in a kiln.  Finally I attached them to the branch. 



My second Tree Branch pendant

I'm happier with the enameling, but still like the first one best. 

Bead Soup!

Good Morning, fellow Bead Soupers!

I hate to admit this, but I am currently experiencing technical difficulties (partially contributed to by finals week) and my post isn't up yet.  I have completed my pieces and my photos are mostly finished.  I expect to have my post up today.

Please enjoy the rest of Lori's fabulous soup!
And if you think of it, come back later today or tomorrow. =)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Collage Glass Marbles Bezeled and Halfway Done!

Remember these guys?


Glass Collage Marbles: 
"Fly", "Dream", and "Once Upon A Time"

Well, I got the chance to work on them again last night, and I'm pleased with how they turned out.  I only have two of them halfway complete, the other one is still in the metals studio on campus. 


Bezeled Collage Marbles:
"Dream", and "Once Upon A Time"

 I love soldering on copper, but the other one needed a silver finish.  Which made it more complicated for me to solder, since I chose to use nickel silver instead of the real thing for the back plating.

I cut and shaped the copper, then cut and filed the silver bezel strips.  I soldered the silver bezels strips into a circle, then soldered the circles onto the copper.  Then I drilled the hole, but I think I'll need to go back and drill the hole a little bigger.  I want to put an eyelet or grommet (a rivet with a hold through it) through the hole to give it a more finished look.  I also intend to attach leather to the back of the copper so that no one has an allergic response to copper.  Besides, I just like the way the leather looks and finishes the pieces.  I have some more sanding and finishing to do, but I am so pleased with the way they turned out.


Bezeled Collage Marbles:
"Dream", and "Once Upon A Time"

After Note:  Anyone else out there hate trying to photograph glass or crystal?  I am terrible at it!  I can see the reflection of the camera in all of the marbles, and I didn't I got the collages as sharp & detailed as I wanted because of the reflective glass.  I know I can only get better with practice, but my results are always so disappointing to me that I don't want to practice...

Monday, March 10, 2014

Lori's 8th Bead Soup Blog Party

I'm so excited to participate in another of Lori's bead soup parties!  It's fun to see what comes in the mail, to try new things, and to work with beads you never would have chosen for yourself.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the challenge in the past and would not have willingly given up the opportunity to do it again.  In the past I've had to push myself to work with unusual materials, and unusual beads.  I'm looking forward to seeing what comes from my new partner, and to seeing what I can do with what she sends me.

In fact, I wanted to share some of my favorite pieces from past parties.


My Gecko Forest necklace from Michelle's soup



My Birdie necklace from Pamela's soup



My Set it Free necklace from Rose's soup

I can't wait to see what happens this year!

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Lori's Bead Soup Blog Party

I get to be in Lori's awesome Bead Soup Blog Party again!!!

I love this event and have gotten to participate a couple of times.  I'm so excited!


Sunday, February 09, 2014

Saturday Smiles

I don't have much to say this week, too busy, too crazy, too overwhelmed by life.  But I have loved 
some of the snow days we've had lately.

 



Saturday, February 01, 2014

Jake's Photography

Jake, my husband is taking a photography class from UAF (University of Alaska Fairbanks) this semester.

He's having quite a bit of fun, and totally stressing out.  I'm delighted he's doing it, finally.  I expect to share more of his photos as he shares them with me.  Take a moment and check out his Flickr photostream.

Here is one of the shots he took for a Strobist on-line lighting class.

Me Reading
taken by Jake Sirevaag

Saturday- not Smiling

This has been a ridiculously HARD week.

Some family yucky stuff that has added stress.  Blech, blech, blech.

Plus, the big deal: I have talked to my doctor, done a CT scan, and now I'm seeing a neural surgeon.  Which adds up to me probably having another lower back spinal surgery. I am so not happy about this... But at least I knew it was possible.

When the surgeon removed the nasty synovial cyst on my lower spine he warned me that it might grow back.  Until I have a MRI (which I thought I couldn't have 'cuz I've got a metal plate and screws in my neck, but they are titanium so I was wrong, yay.), we won't know exactly what's going on with the soft tissue.  But the CT scan shows some pretty weird bone stuff going on down there.

Not happy right now.
And scared.
And worried.

Glad God has it all under control, 'cuz I certainly don't!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Saturday Smiles

I am having fun with glass tiles.

I bought a bunch of glass marbles at a garage sale this last summer.  I had seen this really great tutorial over on houseofjoyfulnoise.com, and I wanted to try it.

And I did!



I wanted mine to look like something you would only ever find once, like nothing you'd find in a chain store. I think I've achieved that goal; however, I'm not done with them just yet...

The tutorial I read suggested Diamond Glaze, but I was using multiple papers and a few items with dimension- the ribbon, thread and glitter- so I used a Mod-Podge style glue to seal everything.

"Fly"  Collage marble

First I layered the papers and images using regular Elmer's white glue.  Then I added words and accents with Sharpies and some ink stamps.  After those were dry, I added the glitter glue and the ribbon and thread.  I waited another night until everything was completely dry and added any final touches to complete the tiny collages.  And then, I glued them onto the marbles, again using the Mod-Podge.

"Dream" Collage marble

I waited another night and then sealed them with Mod-Podge again. I admit I was shocked at how long the project has taken so far.  I think my favorite aspect of these pieces is how the marbles each add another layer to the collage.  The "Fly" pendant is clear, while the "Dream" one is so cloudy and iridescent... And the "Once Upon A Time" pendant is rather blue with a bit of shimmer to it.


My intention is to take these marbles and bezel them in my metal-smithing class this semester.  Probably with silver, which I hate using...  (I prefer the look, feel and cost of copper.)  I'll have to take them to the shop and see what looks best with each piece.  I hope to reveal the final pieces soon.

I want to do more!
I think I might just be addicted.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

wow, just wow

Well, I guess I was so overwhelmed with finals and working on my last projects that I just stopped blogging...  And then Christmas came and I was too busy to blog...  or something.  Yuck.
Wish I could say what's going on in my head, but I'm not sure yet.

I've started classes again this semester, and I'm still hoping to become a FT teacher in two years.
I'm hoping to be a k-12 art teacher.
I'm freakishly close to qualifying for an English teacher position, but bleargh.  That does not sound like fun to me. In fact, it sounds like pain to me.  Maybe if I taught drama, too?
I WISH I could get a job just teaching drama/acting, but nobody hires for that.  At least not here in Fairbanks.
I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up....