My New Etsy Shop AtabbycatArts

I have recently made the step and opened up an Etsy Store, I have so much stuff that I make and I have to create things... I seriously am compelled to not remain idle.. lol. My Etsy shop is

http://www.atabbycatarts.etsy.com/

I will be putting scads of things in there over the coming weeks,, but the main focus I have been undertaking is getting lots of new pictures of all my jewelry that I will be offering and of my painted rock critters... so far I have about 18 items of jewelry in the shop and want to add some painted rocks soon.. I know times are hard and the economy has not made it easy on handcrafters .. but Please in the up coming Holiday season,, Won't you think about buying local handcrafted items for gifts this year... The big outlet stores are great for bargains but most of the items in these mega stores and you *know* who I am talking about.. are imported and that takes away jobs and income from Americans. Make a pledge to support the citizens in our country and buy local and or Handmade items... Good for our economy and our Country.

Above is a picture of a Viking Knit chain and pendant that I am offering for sale on http://www.atabbycatarts.etsy.com/

The chain is handmade from copper wire in 24 ga the Pendant in copper 20ga wire is a piece of beach glass I found and a little blue bead in the top swirl, I did a wire woven bail and the whole piece is meticulously handcrafted from start to finish... I even took the brass end cones and turned the edges over to make them smooth rounded and pokey free!

Please feel free to take a peek at my shop and convo me if you have any questions about anything I offer.

Regards :)

Leo Handpainted Wireworked Pendant

This is the first post in a bit for me, lots to do and not enough time to get things done, just like the majority of folks out there I assume.. :) This pendant I have been working at on and for some time. The lion is painted in acrylics on a flattish stone.. I did this way back in 2003, had it on a necklace with a glued bail and one day I noticed the bail was loose. So I carefully pried it off and then kept looking at the loose stone for months.. started a Toodles wire weave wrap on it and made some mistakes in measurement so had to start it over again not once but twice!

Everyone I am sure has heard The Lion, King of the Jungle! well lions are really animals of the savannas.. preferring flat grasslands to jungles in most cases... but the term has been so ingrained that I thought a good way to display Leo was to have him peeking through some foliage ... A friend of mine saw this yesterday and did get the concept,,, "Oh it's like he is coming through jungle vines!" YES!!!!! I did manage to convey my concept... HURRAH!!! Whew!

Leo, or The Lion is now available for purchase in my Etsy shop at www.atabbycatarts.com
I will have him listed for 100.00 dollars, he is wearable art and the combined time to create not just the painting but the pendant setting was over 12 hours. The Lion can also be displayed as a small miniature painting or is of a good size to display in a vintage pocket watch stand. An interesting gift idea for a loved one who may be a Leo. :)

Green Steel

Ah yes another "noodle coil" bracelet, I love making them.. there is something so satisfying about taking wire and making a bracelet.. I love all jewelry but bracelets other than earrings are probably what I wear the most... which is kind of odd as I hardly ever go out.. I wear my jewelry for my enjoyment only I guess... Today I found an old bracelet that I had bought years and years ago,, it was hand made in Inda of brass but was sterling silver plated, I wore it so much that almost all of the silver was worn off, so I used steel wool and took all the remaining silver off and really loved the brass finish... I found it discolored and forgotten upstairs in my daughters room in a box of odds and ends that I was going thru to find stuff for our local freecycle. I almost cried when I saw it, it was like seeing the face of an old friend... I cleaned and polished it and now am wondering what to do with it... even though I love it, it is kind of clunky and large for everyday wear. But I was thinking of somehow making it into a focal point of a necklace with some additions and decorative wire work... I don't know I will get a picture and post it, it should be a good challenge to recycle it into something new... but I have gotten off the topic. the bracelet here is a large sagey green potato pearl , gosh it is a lovely color.. with 4 golden rondell pearls and copper spacer beads the coils are mild steel twisted tubes and the copper S clasp has a steel swirly doo hicky decoration... this is a larger bracelet easily fitting an 8" wrist, I love how this one turned out and I am going to make one for me, I have another Sage green pearl all picked out to redrill just for me! I like the look of steel and copper together .. if you are interested in this one email me ccase491@msn.com 25.00