What's old is new again

I've been trying to come up with a frog design for quite some time now, with no success. Then a few days ago I came across a necklace that I did waaaaaaay back in the early nineties that had a frog and a couple of snakes. I was working in wax and casting it myself back in those days. I liked the frog and one of the snakes so much that I decided to make them both. The larger piece on the left in both photos is the original casting. Silver cost around $3 an ounce then, it's currently $22 or so! The green dots are concrete.

New Tools!

Last year September was pretty slow for me, but not so this year! It was actually my best month so far this year, so I decided to get some tools that will help me during the holiday crunch. Above and below is my new magnetic tumbler. Even though I do a matte or brushed finish on all my work, I like to tumble it first and make it shiny, which leads to a nicer brushed finish (in my opinion anyway). I have a regular rotary tumbler with stainless steel shot, but it takes at least2 hours and is pretty noisy. This little beauty uses magnets to move stainless steel pins around the barrel. It takes about half an hour or so, and I should be able to do 20-30 pieces at a time. It was pretty expensive but I think it will be well worth it.

While I was shopping for the tumbler, I noticed flex shafts on sale and since this one has a quick release instead of a regular chuck I decided to get it too. I've been using a dremel, but with a foot petal this is so much nicer! I got both of these at Otto Frei, which is located in Oakland California. Their selection is on par with Rio Grande, and both these things were on sale so the prices were better too.

Drawing just for the fun of it

I draw all the time in the design and making of my jewelry, but it's been years since I've drawn just for the enjoyment of it. I recently discovered Zentangle, which is a structured doodling method which results in pleasing little drawings. I gave it a try, and remembered how much I love drawing in ink. I've moved away from the Zentangle format a bit, instead re-visiting the themes I used to draw, since I like to draw critters and such, not just pure abstraction.

Drawing with ink on paper is a good challenge because there is no erasing! I start off with a basic subject, like the rhino, beetles or mushrooms, sketch it out very roughly in pencil and then in ink, and do the rest in ink only, with no plan. I have no idea what will fill the rest of the page after the main subject is inked in. I use this small square sketchbook, which has very high quality, thick paper that the ink doesn't soak through.


Inevitably I add things I don't like, so then I have to figure out what to do about it. That's the biggest challenge, and my only rule is that I have to finish each one that I start. I may not love it when it's done, but no starting a new drawing until the last one is complete. Drawing without a plan is also new to me, I used to have it all laid out and would then would ink over the pencil, but I'm finding that I'm quite enjoying not knowing how it will turn out. If you want to know more about Zentangles you can check out the web site : http://zentangle.com/

Amazing show!

My first Renegade was quite an amazing and exhausting experience. I don't really keep much finished stock on hand, since I do this full time I pretty much make it as I need it. But of course for this I needed lots of finished pieces, so I worked very long hours in the weeks leading up to have some inventory to take with. Then I had to get the displays made and figure out all the many details. Thankfully my sister came down from Mt. Shasta on Thursday and helped out, and worked the show with me all weekend. There's no way I could have done it with out her!


Here's what the booth ended up looking like. For the displays I bought 20 gauge aluminum sheet cut to size and a $40 bending brake from Harbor Freight. My boyfriend Kelly's sister Laura (who is also my housemate and bookkeeper) did the bending for me, I added the paper for contrast and hooks made from aluminum wire on the back to hold the jewelry (bending of 130 hooks courtesy of my sister Colette).


Here I am, hoping that I'm getting all the credit card info that I'm supposed to be getting!


A shot of the crowd. There was a huge stream of people the entire weekend. This was taken during a quiet moment.


Here's my friend and fellow metal clay artist Christine from Chocolate and Steel, who came up from LA to do the show. She does tons of these shows, and is currently 6 months pregnant. She's amazing!


Most importantly, here's our coffee making set up at the motel. Good coffee is not optional, it is a necessity!

It ended up being a very successful weekend, both in terms of sales and in meeting lots of people and seeing old friends. I learned a lot and took notes about what to do differently next time, but it all went very smoothly for my first show. Now I'm working on custom orders, a big wholesale order, and catching up on my sleep!

Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco

I'm booth number 182 - please stop by and say hello if you come to the fair!
Here are all the details: http://www.renegadecraft.com/san-francisco

Getting ready for Renegade SF

I've been working really long hours the last few weeks getting ready for the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco this weekend. The jewelry will hopefully be all done tonight, then there's the displays to make and about a million other details! This is my first show ever, so it's been quite a bit of work getting everything together. If you're in the San Francisco area, do come by and and say hi. It's quite an amazing show. Here's the details: http://www.renegadecraft.com/san-francisco
Back to work now!

Edgar update

Edgar made it through the night, and after giving him a little breakfast I took him to the Sonoma county bird rescue center, where he is now in very capable hands. The best part is that they got another baby crow in yesterday who is about the same age, so he'll have company while he's there. You can really see his blue eyes in this photo, and that stuff on his beak is the baby bird food I was feeding him with an eyedropper.