Inspiration Strikes
Sometimes all it takes is an off-the-cuff remark to send you running in unexpected directions.
I am a fan of colour, ::laughs:: so when I first stumbled across stone “fans,” I collected them in as many pleasing colours as I could get my hands on. One stone I’ve come to secretly grow fond of is howlite. Why dye such a pretty stone such odd shades of blue to pass off as turquoise? (Now that I’ve seen the real thing, there is no comparison.) I also find its antithesis, snowflake obsidian, just as enchanting. Using such neutral tones as a focal… was challenging, until a friend pointed out my necklace reminded them of piano keys.
Aha! The rest was history. ::smiles::
howlite and onyx with gunmetal chain
It quickly inspired my obsidian necklace, although I was negligent in my haste to tie the ends and damaged it. ::sigh:: That could be rectified now instead of writing, but the lighting is poor at night and I’ll fix it sometime in the morning.
I am pleased to say that I have finished a few half-finished projects over the weekend as well. There is this little fella and his brethren; I hand measured and strung the chain. Until I find a suitable supplier of seed pearls, I am quite pleased with these glass pearls from Preciosa.
moss agate donut with red bronze fleur-de-lis, and copper chain with preciosa seed beads
This wire-wrapped rhodonite necklace has come to fruition after a week of struggling to find time; matching earrings will be quick to follow as the drops are already prepped.
Meanwhile, as I jump from project to project, I am dutifully learning the art of knotted pearls. That is going slowly through trial and error, but the final result is quite promising. I’m very pleased with my efforts. ::preens::
What else is happening outside of work, and sleep?
I winced today to see winter jackets in July – not even August – at Costco. A problem to be rectified, but not today. I treated myself to a new cardigan with a delightful lace stitch while out buying groceries, and came home with an ever-growing supply of art materials, haha. The sheer volume of primed canvases I have now is nothing short of staggering :P But! I can now say I have black-primed canvas to go with stretched burlap and denim. ::grins:: No, not a hoarder; I just like one of everything…
Then there were the glass terrariums on sale for a song… glass dragon caves if I ever saw one. ::nods:: Sold to the man up front! :P (Wish my pocketbook could have validated taking them all home… two had to suffice.)
Aaaaaand stamps. Beautiful, fanciful stamps, of which I will speak more of another time. I am quite intrigued with Poco Inspired‘s class at the end of the month teaching etching and colouring copper. (Ok, ok, truth be told, I’m in love with it… ) When asking what supplies I would need to buy in class, I was delighted to find that most of it was being provided – I need only bring stamps and inspiration – and yet also foolish. Why? Because there will be little difference between the first half of class and the hand-etched circuit board I made in 10th grade electronics. I really should have realized… I am severely tempted to waltz in with an etch-resistant pen, but for all you computer nerds, I can only think of one local supply store and they’re out of stock right now, nor do I need anything from Digikey any time soon… shame that. Digikey is tempting… I always preferred a fine tip and I know they sell exactly what I want, but when the shipping for one item is more than the cost of the item itself…
::shrugs:: C’est la vie. Maybe I’ll get lucky in the next week; ya never know.
Ho hum. I am sad that my garden was overrun this year… I never had the time nor energy to plant anything. I did learn that plantain calms an upset stomach, so I’ve been toying with the idea to clear those from the yard (and no worries as it comes back every year despite my best efforts).
“wild” plantain, growing unchecked in the back yard.
Appointments, cleaning, and clearing my plate. I’ve 15 vial pendants that need sealing and wire-wrapping.
Love,
EA
(P.S. If you like knitting, I stumbled across this beautiful Japanese Feather Stitch.)
Leave a Reply