On the Horizon...

I admit I'm an awful 'blogger,' as I in no way keep a consistent habit with the bloggin.' I *have* been busy though. The guy above ('The Secret Badge of the Snarkle Walkers') is my most recent piece. Very happy with him-even if he wants to twist off course sometimes... (Snarkles *are* notoriously difficult to walk, thus meriting a full on Badge for those who manage it!)

Went to the beach today and drew a couple of things. One of which has me very excited to start another necklace. Here is the plan:


I haven't done one of these multi-strand necklaces before, and I'm kind of excited to start. The shape is just a rough sketch and could change completely later (or not?). I'm debating making the "spacer beads," or whatever you call 'em, myself. Colors are subject to change as well. Certainly *she* will be more colorful!
SO! Opinions welcome, not to mention any ideas on how to make the 'spacers'. I *could* use the deer suede, like on an Native American shell necklace I used to have... I have it in prrrreeettttty colors!
Here's a larger pic of the Lady:
Did traditional cameos ever have full bodies on them? She kinda feels like a cameo to me.. In fact I was almost going to do just the head for the pendant, but, what the eF, she's too awesome to chop up like that!... Probably...

We Are *NOT* Amused...

I wanted to make another Shrinky-Dink piece today. Am rather disappointed at the result. Not for lack of satisfying design (satisfying *to me*), but because *SO MUCH* went wrong.

It started with the rivet holes. The first one I drilled in the metal was slightly off. Then I realized another problem...The plastic ones were too small for the tubing size.. this time. It worked fine last night, but I think maybe the S.D.'s didn't shrink all the way that first time. This time it shrank *right away*-maybe because I left the cookie sheet in the oven during preheat? Whatever. Then when I tried to fix it, well... not a lot of plastic to make room for bigger holes... so when I went to rivet it all together, a bit of the plastic broke off. I think it will stay together, but you can see the failure.

I also kept dropping things, including my charcoal block, now in pieces. Also the lava rock beads, and I know I lost some- too many things for them to roll under, never to be seen again! Really, I shouldn't be yelling "Damn, damn, DAMN!...DAMN!!!!" at 11pm in my garage, but honestly, there was no stopping the frustration. Even worse; I may have yelled some *other* things...

I guess at least this gives me an excuse to keep this piece for myself. Anyway, here she is:
I think I'll call her "Curse Like a Butterfly." Just cuz...

For Joy With Love

I had a piece up on Etsy.com. I didn't realize I'd misplaced it (for all I know it's gone forever). Unfortunately, (or Fortunately depending on how you look at it...) before I could 'take it off the market,' my unofficial appropriated Mom #2 (aka Joy), had purchased it. Whoopsy!
So I told her I'd make her a custom piece instead, in a vaguely similar vein.
I had only recently gotten the idea to use Shrinky Dink Paper to incorporate my own drawings instead of, say, a sticker/photo collage like the one pictured here in '21st Century Stroll.' I hope I find her someday...






So, I am so immensely proud of what I made today. Shrinky Dink paper is my new best friend! Okay, so here are the raw materials (some not so 'raw'- you can see the finished S.D. in the corner) that went into this project. Well, minus the findings and the pink cord. Above the S.D. is the left over bit of copper after I sawed my shape out. Copper tubing for the rivets, pencils, two jars of green enamel (opaque 'pea' and transparent 'gem'), and my drawing (pre-shrunk size) on tracing paper.

The resultant piece is my new favorite. Hope you don't mind, Joy, but I'm going to wear it a few times before I hand it over!


So here she is, the finished piece in all her Glory. I think I may call her 'Joy Adrift' for various reasons...
I'm wearing it right now...

The Assignment....

The North Coast Metal Arts Guild has assigned a project. Make a hollow form reliquary using two different metals/materials and one 'new-to-you' technique. Which means yes indeed, we're returning to *actual* metal work. Yay. really. Yay all over the place. Okay, so I'm not exactly feeling the "yay" yet, but it'll come...

Maybe my lack of Super Enthusiasm is due to my lack of decision as to what exactly I'm putting *in* the reliquary. I had thought to honor my recently deceased friend/ex-boyfriend/honorary family member in this project, but I haven't collected anything from him that would work for this... If his house weren't 700 miles away, down in L.A. county (where I grew up) I could maybe pop on over and steal some hair from his brush or something, but, alas this is not an option.

There's also the problem of one vital component that I do not have the equipment to make myself... so I'll have to *find* something, which, you know, that's kinda hard to do.... Unless my vacuum cleaner is powerful enough to vacu-form Plexiglas. I kinda doubt it.

Basically, I want a smaller, perfectly round, deeper version of this one I made a few years ago:

On a less soul sucking-feeling subject, I sent off the drawings for Plant Matters, the May issue of my coloring books. Ahhh yeeaaah. Here, have a taste:


The scary part is that I think this is one of the *less* weird ones. I named it Floating Isle of the Mutant Joshua Tree. Yeah, I know it doesn't look much like a true Joshua Tree, but you *did* see the 'Mutant' part, yes? Hopefully I'll get some metal work done soon and put up the results. Wait till you see what I do with pennies.... (if you haven't already...)

Not So Much With the Metal Once Again...

So I'm back home after two weeks in San Dimas (CA). I'm mostly over my freak out over the failed bug piece I from my first post, and I'm feeling like maybe I'm ready to try another one of a different sort. Actually, it's going to utilize the main part of a piece I made a couple years ago.
Here are the pieces:
I believe all the skin is deer. I got it at the Indian Trading Post while I was in San Dimas. That's another real insect. A weevil of some sort. I found I did not like the way it was originally incorporated into a necklace, so I took it apart and set little 'Clyde' here aside for another day. Perhaps this is that day?
So the plan is to sew the skins together and make a sort of choker out of it all. I've never worked with leather before, one of my Southern California friends, Gillian (hard 'Guh' like grass) got me started on all this. Here is the idea of what I'm planning:

Both Gillilan and I agree about liking the raw edges of the leather. It's the flaws where all the character comes from.
I like the idea of a two cord attachment, feels more sturdy for such a large piece. I haven't decided how I want to attach Clyde. Either rivets or by sewing.
I love these bugs, they are so very neat. And the deer suede is sooo soft. Let's hope I pull this one off, and not destroy some integral part right at the end, eh?

Mark Linkous You Will Be Missed

So it looks like the year of death is following us into 2010. It had seemed like people were dying left and right last year- more than was normal. I'm not just talkin' celebrities here, there was hardly a person I know who didn't lose someone close.

Now the awesomeness that was Mark Linkous, AKA Sparklehorse, has left us via rifle shot to the heart. I'm not terribly surprised, but I'm damned upset and disappointed. He was really something special. I always describe his music (as a whole) as beautiful and tragic. Though he does go in for rougher edge sometimes. He's collaborated with Tom Waits, Daniel Johnston, Danger Mouse, and probably others I'm not aware of. I could be crazy but I *want* to say PJ Harvey? That could be misinformation.

If you haven't given Sparklehorse a listen yet, I really, really suggest you do. Sure it might not be for everyone, but how will you know unless you give it a chance? Me, I'm going to finally put it all on my iPod (been meaning to for weeks now) and go for a bike ride. Sorry Mark, it's the closest I can get to a horse...

Totally Pissed Off

Well then. I figured since I just started a blog, I should actually make a jewelry piece, even though I'm on a small hiatus (concentrating on coloring book production). Seemed like a good idea. I had this insect piece I've had *mostly* ready to piece together for a while now.

I sawed out the plastic, drilled my holes, made some rivets- everything seemed to be going pretty nice. I should have remembered that I've been TERMINALLY STUPID all day (almost turned down a one way street-the wrong way- and I think I might have run a red light).

I had it all together and just had to bend the scalloped edges of metal trapping device and what do you know, my hand slipped and I utterly DESTROYED the shiny metallic carapace of the beetle. After waiting like, a year, to finish it and FINALLY gettin' to it... this. SUCK. TASTIC. So very upset. Maybe in a couple of days I'll try to find a way to make it not-trash. For now, I'm feeling utterly depressed and I want a cookie. *sigh* At least THAT I can take care of.