Easy Earrings #27-Ephalumps and Weasels

The fisher is a North American marten, a medium-sized mustelid. The fisher is agile in trees and has a slender body that allows it to pursue prey into hollow trees or burrows in the ground. Despite its name, this animal seldom eats fish; the name may originate from the French word fichet, which referred to the pelt of a European polecat. In some regions the fisher is known as a pekan, derived from its name in the Abenaki language. In parts of New England it is often called a fisher cat.

Yes, Kristen has been busy surfing Wikipedia again. These easy earrings both contain a "fisher ring." A donut shaped, large hole in the center, Czech glass bead. I wasn't crazy with how either turned out, but I like this shape of bead. Anyone else have some better designs?

Clothespins and Coolness

It turns out that among 11-13 year old girls I am now cool. 30 years ago, I wasn't even close. And how did my "hip" rating increase exponentially? I wore a bracelet I'd made today made from clothespins. Well, the wire part of wooden clothespins. Apparently it's Goth. Who knew. I need to clarify...that this is not my idea. I saw it done years ago by a far cooler 13 year old than I'll ever dream of being. And I've seen it on the web. But I'll freely admit. I did bask for a minute or two.

Easy Earrings #26-The Snowy Snowy Day

In North Carolina, where I had previously lived most of my life, snow was a civilized affair. For each inch of accumula-tion, everything shut down for a day. 7 inches meant a solid week of hibernation. Perfect Reason! Sure it meant children might well be in school through the entire month of June--but so what! It was SNOWING!!!!! Reno, Nevada has apparently never cultivated the same Snow Appreciation Policy. (SAP) 7 inches of snow means absolutely nothing! Last year Son Sam and I did the proper thing and took several snow days. This year apparently his 5Th grade teacher has instilled a sense of duty in him that his mother had not previously encouraged. Perfect attendance! (Shudder.) So he was taken to school and I pretended I had the day off. For several hours. And then a couple more. When I finally lumbered off the couch, I snapped the picture from my deck and made Easy Earrings #26. Moonstones, Pearls, and Sterling Silver. What else could be worn today except white!

Reconciled to Take the Bus

Keys show up when you reconcile yourself to the bus. --John Green

I've mentioned my fascination with vintage keys. Part of the appeal is their foreignness. They bear little resemblance to their predecessors. Another merit is their heft. Most of the vintage keys I've been purchasing in bulk are steel. They have a solidity to them that is reassuring. (100 year old keys did not break off in the lock.) Lastly--some of them have cryptic messages. One of them I won't be parting with has "Sparkle" written across it's face. Sparkle! Now this is a direction I plan to try and follow!

Interplanet Janet

Being somewhat (or er almost completely) process oriented, I am frequently surprised when I spend several hours on a piece and what comes out is horrid. It goes something like this:

Oh, cool, here's some brass tubing and a corrugated piece of mokume. Soldier. Soldier. hmmm...what if I close this end with a disk I've curved inward. K, cool. That works. ooh, a little garnet cab. Hmm, little weights soldiered to the bottom of the chain. Gotcha. Good plan!

An hour or so later...I have a capsule for storing the ashes of a particularly grouchy alien. (Just a tad phallic, eh?)

Now--an equal number of times this process will lead to something astonishing. I'm not knocking process, or jubilant soldiering. But here's where I miss school. Forced critique with other people engaging in the same creative process. Joiners, you know you're out there, will gather with creative people even after art school is longgggggg over. I am not a joiner.

So what do I do? I photograph...the good...the bad....the alien. And hope for comments!

Easy Earrings #25--Shell Shocked

Same curl. Different bead. (Hmmm... different colored wires.)

Easy Earrings #24-African Wedding Drops

2 Large African wedding beads-(love the stripes)and wire. A curl on the front, and one on the back. Simple.