ATTACK of the FAIRY FLIES!!!!

Yes I know it has been awhile since I "blogged" (one of these days I am going to set my ongoing spell checker to accept the word Blog, without beeping at me!) and, well I get busy, and actually typing is not the easiest thing in the world for me to do...so I tend to look at a LARGE blank screen with misgivings, but I endure, I endure. The other day though I was going thru my pretty darn large cache of completed jewelry pieces and I spied some tumbled gemstone material and got totally inspired to create, though I *had* sat down at my workbench on the pretense of Cleaning it up!! I have often told people that even on a good day my bench area looks like a bomb went off and then a troop of rabid drunken squirrels had an impromptu orgy amidst the rubble. So, the need to create was probably more of a procrastinatory gambit on my part, and it certainly worked because said area still looks uhhhm, well lived in! I will get back to straightening and rearranging .. hopefully :) What I saw that interested me was a tumble stone of Rhodonite that I had picked up probably in a little bagged collection parcel. Looking at it I saw a tiny little gnat or bug perched on it.. it was one of the very small house plant gnats that a lot of people call "Fairy Flies" as I brushed my hand quickly near it, trying to drive it away, it just sat there on the stone.. calmly cleaning his antenna. I blew on him ( just a guess here on it's gender) and he decided the winds of change had come and he was gone.

Picking up my wire and stone, falling into the zone of creating for a few minutes I became aware that the little Fairy Fly was back, running back and forth across my overhead adjustable light shade. In little zig zaggy patterns he seemed to be watching what I was doing. So I stopped and watched him.. all of a sudden he flies and then lands back on the Rhodonite stone that was partially set in the wires.. Little Bugger! Be Off with ya! For the next hour he showed up and flitted off several times, even landing on my finger and dancing his way down to the stone and back up and then away. I have no idea why this little thing was attracted to this particular stone, it looked clean, there was nothing I could smell or see on it.. Eventually I just ignored him and finished the initial wire sculpted wrap and wove the bail. Cleaning and tumbling it to work harden and polish, then antiquing it and the last step wiring in the one small pearl in the top swirl. At last, the photography. I set up my light box and lights, tripod and got ready.. set my stage and,, there he was again!! Sitting in the middle of the stone as it lay on the White Board. I NOW wanted to get this little critters Picture!! He had been dogging me for at least 4 hours.. zoooming in the viewfinder ... and poof he was gone. I waited and waited and after 1/2 hour just took the picures.. and I have not seen him since. Very strange. And here is what he was so obsessed with. Rhodonite free form flatish tumble stone, antiqued and darkened copper wire and a pearl. Listed at my Etsy store www.atabbycatarts.etsy.com

Blades Repurposed Material Earrings

In the spirit of Re cycle, and Re purpose I came up with these earrings that use small discarded industrial cutting disks as an "out there" and on the Edge design element. Steel disks, copper wire and freshwater pearls.. the feel is Post Apocalypse and a Beyond Thunderdome style... the disks are a matching pair that fit together and work in a scissor fashion rather then being a sharp edged blade... My Dad, who passed quite a while ago worked for a comapny that designed and machined Industrial blades like these and all kinds from Humongous ones used in the rubber and paper making and baking industries to tiny blades for precision work in surgery.

The silver colored steel wheels were antiqued and then wrapped and embellished with wire stones and pearls. I then brushed and buffed the high points to bring out depth and contrast. A beautiful pewter like luster with a nice oxidized mottling on the steel give a lot of visual texture and interest to these Indie Punk, Post Apocalypse Goth style earrings.

The edges aren't sharp and they can't cut you if you run a finger along the edge.. they have a nice almost coin edge on them. The pointy "tips" are,, pointy! But not very sharp so they Look Dangerously Daring without being hazardous to you... I have 3 pair all different in my Etsy shop

at www.AtabbycatArts@etsy.com and I have lots of different ideas on varying the themes and style and look. I wore the pair I made for myself to meet 2 new members of my family last night and I got a "Whoa Those are Cool!" from the 20 to 30 year olds in the mash of family.

I think Aunty Entity would more then likely approve!

Dyed magnesite square beads and wrapped freshwater pearls. Pink "puka" shells and wrapped freshwater pearls.

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 :)

Summer

Gosh it's been quite awhile since I posted, one thing after another and life in general... I have been working a few pieces of jewelry and a quilt, the jewelry I'm pretty pleased with! The quilting less so..


A pair of copper wire hammer textured spiral heart earrings with pearls. The inspiration for them was Sherry Dancing Feather who is probably my all time favorite jewelry Heros. I wish wish wish I could someday take a class from her but until I get rich (hystercal laughter) so I can travel to TX. I will have to merely be wistful and emulate her genius.

Another piece I completed was this copper wire sculpture pendent with a pretty dyed howlite or magnesite free form cab like nugget... my dear husband brought this back to me from a trip to the Oregon coast when he went with his mom and siblings on a family outing several years ago, I loved the color and just had it laying around until early one morning I picked it up and started wrapping it, it flowed into shape almost unconciously and I think it might be one of my better creations. I wove the bale with 24gauge copper and then tumble hardened, and applied a patina.
I hope that I can someday find other nuggets of this, I would love to make some earrings that could go with it. You can buy this piece at www. AtabbycatArts.Etsy.com

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. :)

Moms Birthday Present

On Sunday, we went to be with my Mom, who turned... well... I don't think she would like her age known.. so I am over 50 and she was close to 30 when I was adopted, hehehe do some math. (octogenarian) I had thought and thought about what to get, procure and or make her as she has in my view way to much stuff anyway, and as I make jewelry... it kind of follows that that is what she got, .. I wasn't sure she was going to like what I finally came up with as she is a Platinum, Gold and Diamonds type lady, very traditional in her jewelry wardrobe while I am a little Hippieish, Goth, maybe Bohemian in my style. But she genuinely loved both the bracelet and the pendant I made for her,,, and my mother does not say she likes something just because I am her daughter, nnnooooooo.. LOL.. so I was pleased and so was she.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I called this piece, The Living Heart. Copper wire formed into a heart with a baroque pearl and a turquoise rondell in a spiral vining pattern.

OOOOpsy Corrected!

Ahhh... the mistake corrected!


Beads in the right places and all shined up..


I took out 2 brass nut beads to snug up the fit a little.

.

OppppSy!

And here is why you should not work on a piece of jewelry when you are tired or distracted! LOL... I was quite pleased with this bracelet, as the tube coils noodles are made of recycled brass wire that I very patiently salvaged from several other items that were practice or didn't come out right... I straightened out the wire and twisted it and then coiled it. I am really gung ho! on recycling items to keep useful things out of our landfill and I belong to the local Portland Freecycle group, so I was feeling all warm fuzzy and pleased when I noticed I neglected to put 1 spacer bead on between the rose quartz rondell and the end lampwork focal bead! Slaps self in head... Thwack! So now I get to do it over again... ROFLMAO! Well live and definitely learn to Double Check before I make the end eye hook, .

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

Royal Blue Pearl Noodle Bracelet

SOLD

Three big Royal blue baroque freshwater pearls are the splash of color in this noodle bracelet. Copper noodles and accents really go well with the deep beautiful blue on these big, I mean big dyed pearls.. the center pearl is 15mm by 9mm the side pearls are around 11mm.. One of the problems that pearls pose is they are tough but fragile at the same time, pearl necklaces have knots between each one to cushion and keep them from abrading and wearing away the nacre layers,, which is damage to the pearl and over time be unattractive, so when I use pearls strung on large wire as this I use very tiny gaskets between the pearl and the metal bead caps/spacer beads... this not only cushions the pearl but helps reduce the turning of the pearl on the wire which helps retain not only the beauty but decreases damage to the pearls.. This one fits 7" and under... A great look with jeans and casual!

Wire Sculpted Copper and Shell Button Cameo

I did this one several years ago, I mounted a small resin fashion cameo on an old antique shell button and then worked a copper 20 ga wire sculpted setting for it. She has been sitting in a drawer for a very long time... but I just recently oxidized the wire, I like the way it came out, softly polishing the wire took off some of the darker color and gave this pendant a nice antique feel to it.