Thursday, May 20, 2010

When Your Hardwork as a Parent Starts to Pay Off...

Being a parent is hard! Sometimes you're totally in love with your child and other times you want the ring their cute little necks!

My son is 9 and definitely has his share of 9 year old moments (like wearing his jeans and t-shirt under his martial arts uniform for practice yesterday!?), but lately he's been showing a side I'm loving. Responsibility!

The example that sparked this post is what he did this morning. --He woke up early (as usual, he's always been an early riser) and got himself dressed, made and ate his breakfast, made his lunch for school and packed his backpack, and then came to wake me and his Dad up!

After thanking him and telling him how mature and responsible that was, I went downstairs with him and literally walked in circles... I had nothing to do! Crazy. So I actually made coffee and sat down for a leisurely breakfast (unheard of :) before he went off to school.

This isn't the first time he's done something constructive when he's gotten up (while we're still sleeping). He's unloaded the dishwasher on a couple of occasions and he has made his own breakfast several times, but these occurances are becoming more frequent and functional and it's so cool it gives me goosebumps!

But, I'm seriously torn between being the proud Mom, who realizes she's done something right, and the terrified, no longer needed, empty nester... I've 9 more years to enjoy, I hope I remember that the next time he has a 9 year old (or worse, teenager) moment!

:D

Monday, May 17, 2010

New! Wire Gauge Calculator

I found an awesome widget that calculates wire gauge to inches and millimeters! How cool is that?

I actually put in in the right column of my blog (about mid-way down) so you can use that one at anytime, or you can get your very own widget from the one shown below, or by going here: wire-to-jewelry.com


Monday, May 10, 2010

Color Combos - I love Teal and Brown!

I thought it'd be fun to periodically feature some handmade items in particular color combos.

I'm starting with one of my favorites, teal and brown. I don't know what it is about these two colors, but they really call to me. Maybe the mix of warm and cool, or the natural, organic feel to them, like the sea and driftwood, I don't know, it's just gorgeous.

Another favorite is green and brown, but maybe I'll leave that for another Color Combo post.

What are your favorite color combos?


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Aren't they all just beautiful!

Monday, May 3, 2010

From Sheet Metal to Earrings, part 2

So, I'm finally getting to posting the second half of my production photos, life is just too busy sometimes! ;)

Here they are sanded, textured, smoothed and ready for details

After they've been oxidized in a liver of sulfur compound (to give the aged look and to highlight the texture) I've also soldered the bezel cup onto the one pair (to hold the stone)
 

Deciding on details like what kind of stones, how to attach them, type of earwires, etc. (the one pair in the bottom right corner have just been oxidized, I put them in to show what the pieces look like after oxidizing and before polishing - pretty black and ugly) 

Finished earrings. Stones set and in place, all earwires attached, final polishing done!

These are comparing the finished pieces to my original sketches, some just like the sketches, some have changed.

A finished, photographed pair!


See more of the individual photos of the finished earrings on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aweshop/sets/72157623840174573/

Yay! I just love the transformation that metal takes from just a flat sheet of raw copper or sterling into a highly textured, gracefully shaped, beautiful piece of jewelry!


Wood & Copper! My jewelry display at the Weekend Boutique trunk show.

Display views from the Weekend Boutique! I love designing my display almost as much as I love designing jewelry! What do you think? Do you...