sold in 10 minutes! Whoeeeeeeeeeeeee!
8-28-18
8-27-18
Hard to believe that the website has been up for 2 weeks ... I am so grateful that so many have stopped by to visit. This weekend, I was able to work in the studio with some fabulous quartz druzy pieces I had. I made 3 different pair of earrings, with 3 slightly different price points.
... and a happy snap for today :)
8-24-18
8-23-28
The first fall we moved here (in 2013), there were 2 lady deer that would frequent our yard. One of them had a bad leg, and did not survive the winter. The other had a deformed jaw. They knew our yard was a safe harbor for them, and often they would sleep in the shadows of our trees.
Over the years, that first deer had children... then they have had children. They all seem to intuitively know that they are safe here... and continue to sleep on occasion in our yard. Today... 3 little babies (with their spots!) came to graze. I am so very grateful.
8-22-18
These past few days, I've been crazy tired. That said.. I've also been making some earrings that I am really proud of. Seems like there is not enough time or energy to concentrate on creating things.... but I hope to get there.
8-21-18
Another restless and wearily long night... but this morning....
I wish you could bottle the smells wafting in my windows this am. Damp, cool, misty rain... combined with the wind swimming through the pines... and garden flowers. And these lovelies... not sure what they are... and there's only one stalk of them... but they sure are beautiful.
8-20-18
This weekend, I was able to steal some time away late in the evening, to work on some earrings.
It is always good to work in the studio...
8-18-18
Happy 86th Birthday to my mom...
8-17-18
nature is amazing
8-16-18
this whole week has been very strange....
and so I will leave you with a photograph, and see you all tomorrow.
8-15-18
Not sure what is going on... but I am still "out of sorts..."
The solution, however, seems to be time away, rest, reading, and nature.
Puppy snuggles help too.
8-14-18
... I walk with deer... barefoot.
treading lightly, trying not to leave a trace
of my overweight and cumbersome body on this place
shifting my bulk, my thoughts, my perceptions..
from the mundane, yet overwhelming
to the quiet
the peace
the resting place
that is this forest
8-11-18
This is the very first post on my new website.
I feel like I just gave birth.
8-7-18
Bookmark it!
https://moongipsies.com
Another one of the "lessons" in the jewelry book I am currently studying, talks about soldering. I've done a little bit pf soldering ... but it was at least 8yrs ago. Since then, I just haven't had the right tools... or so I thought.
Right now, I only have a small micro-torch... instead of a heavy duty acetylene/oxygen type duel set-up. But, after researching... and more than a bit of butt kicking to try something.... I ventured on.
For this pair of earrings, I have used 20 gauge steel wire to make "rings". I've soldered it in a couple places, and wrapped it sporadically with both 14K gold-plated wire, an German twisted wire.
The top dangly features vintage faceted Czech glass beads in a carnival glass type coloration, along with some Swarovski crystals and gold plated beads. The bottom dangles are Titanium druzies.
All the findings are 14K gold plate.
Total length is about 3 3/4 inches long.
I am really stoked at how these turned out... and even though it was nerve-wracking... I got there.
8-6-18
Mercury is definitely in retrograde.
Sometime this weekend, my blog decided to completely change it's own layout and such.. and I can't get it back to what I had, no matter what I do.
Jim has been trying to pass a kidney stone (he gets them every 18 months like clockwork)
I got stung by a bee (accidentally stepped on him while walking barefoot). Now my foot looks like a red, angry puffer fish that is crying... and I am wheezy, itchy and can't walk very well at all.
Our dryer died.
My email decided I was no longer allowed access.
ZeeZe got sick and threw up... all over.
My camera's SD card is no longer being accepted into my laptop without extreme measures.
And I've thrown out my lower back again.
On the plus side!
I was able to spend some time in the studio yesterday, and while it was sort of a one step forward, 3 steps back kind of thing... it was good.
I've been reading a jewelry making book, and have decided to follow along with some of the tutorials in it. One of the first "lessons"... is making a ball end headpin. Now, let me preface this by saying that I have tried to do this before with all kinds of wire, and it has never worked for me. The key here, I've discovered, is to use FINE SILVER wire. Not sterling, not artisan. Apparently you can ball end the ends of these kind of wires... but not with the micro torch that I currently own. It involves a higher temp that I just can't attain. There is a certain finesse to it... so that you get perfectly round balls... (sounds kinky, I know).
Another one of the first "lessons" is drilling beads. This takes lots of practice, and a steady hand (unless you have a drill press... which I don't). Also... you need a diamond drill bit.
So... yesterday I made ball end headpins -- dipped them in a pickle cleaning solution, sanded and filed, and polished them. Then I took some natural BIWA pearls that I had, and drilled them vertically... and taDa! ... fabulous, minimalist earrings. Total drop length is about 1 3/4 inches.
for the weekend
...current mood....
have a great weekend!
It's always amazing to connect with family... especially those who you think didn't like you.
You know who you are... and I am so very grateful 💙
It's always amazing to connect with family... especially those who you think didn't like you.
You know who you are... and I am so very grateful 💙
8-3-18
... and today ... 💚
8-2-18
I'm not sure where yesterday went.
I ran a bunch of errands, got my haircut...
my niece came to visit my mom with her sons...
I took ZeeZe to a doctor's appointment... and we discovered that he has Lyme's disease
(along with 2 other diseases often associated with Lyme's)... and now he is on medication for a month.
The good news... is that he is completely asymptomatic, and they think we caught it very early. My poor boy.
Anyway.
For today... I think we are all going to take a bit of a step back here, and enjoy the drizzly and overcast day.
The photo I used for today's post is one I took (on this day) ... several years ago when we lived in Albuquerque... it was from our gardens.
8-1-18
Back in June 2016, I started a new "series" of posts... if you will... 2 years now!!!
And so on Wednesdays; I've been posting an old photograph to inspire your creativity.
Write a poem!
Plot out a short story.
Have inspiration for a piece of art or composition.... let your artistic soul shine.
--and occasionally I write my own sordid story or poem.
(you can click on the photos in this post to make it larger to see).
~~~
So, the other day, I went to a local antique place that I adore... and found this photograph.
On the back, it states that it was taken in Newcastle-on-Tyne in the UK... specifically, Grainger Street.
It also says that there are trams in the photo, and that there aren't any now.
Isn't that awesome?!
Looking at photographs on Google, of modern day Grainger street... you can actually tell where this was taken.
And guessing from the clothing some folks are wearing (and the 2 soldiers in the bottom right corner),
I'm guessing this was taken in the mid to late 1930s.
Sometimes, the photo speaks for itself 💙
So, the other day, I went to a local antique place that I adore... and found this photograph.
On the back, it states that it was taken in Newcastle-on-Tyne in the UK... specifically, Grainger Street.
It also says that there are trams in the photo, and that there aren't any now.
Isn't that awesome?!
Looking at photographs on Google, of modern day Grainger street... you can actually tell where this was taken.
And guessing from the clothing some folks are wearing (and the 2 soldiers in the bottom right corner),
I'm guessing this was taken in the mid to late 1930s.
Sometimes, the photo speaks for itself 💙