Puppy Love

Yesterday I got to play with 10 adorable puppies! The poor mom dog is getting attacked by her babies. I felt bad for her.

This puppy was my favorite, she had the bluest eyes and freckles on her nose! She was a little bit shy and not as adventurous as some of her siblings.

Here I am holding her. I'm not sure if we'll end up taking a puppy home, it's a hard decision! I'll be away for three months (jewelry school) and it's hard enough to leave Joe and Bentley.

By the way if you live in the Canton Ohio area and are interested in a puppy just leave me a comment and I'll pass it on. Two of the puppies have been adopted so 8 to go!

I love funky clocks

I found this clock online and just love it, though when you look at the price you'll be shocked!

I'm still working on the studio floor, I know, when will I get to the jewelry making? I'm working on it and I'll keep you updated!

Working on the studio space

I wanted to show you the before of my studio space, It was painted red and since it's a basement room that just seemed too dark for me. Also it was mentioned a more neutral color was probably better for examining the jewelry I'll be making.

So here are the new walls!

I really love the yellow on the walls! My friend Melissa was a big help, she painted with me! Thank you!

This week I've been working on the floor, Joe found this really cool idea of staining the floor. Turns out it's been way more work than previously thought (and more money). It better turn out great! Here's hoping! I'll show you photos and explain what I did in another post...

Recycled Jewelry

I saw this artists' jewelry at The Carrotbox and loved it. Gulnur Ozdaglar uses recycled plastic liquid containers to make these beautiful flowers. To see more go to her blog.
Also for great inspiration go to the Carrotbox, I love what she finds and shares!

Bezel Setting Class

I got to take a great class last week, the focus was stone setting from my friend Melissa. (Sorry the image isn't so great, I haven't photographed stones before!) Their were four of us in the class and it was really fun! We all played with some wire and made a shaped, created a bezel out of tubing and then soldered it to our wire shape. After tumbling the piece we then set a CZ! I highly recommend Melissa's classes if you're in the area! You can also check out her blog here.

Roses still blooming!

I couldn't believe that I had a rose blooming and a couple of buds still coming! It's been cold here in Ohio and the deer have been hard on the roses, I was happy to see flowers.

Erin Cornell

I found the jewelry of Erin Cornell recently and wanted to share this really fun puzzle ring. It is part of her thesis work which is very interesting to read about. A great project in my book!

Goregous Fall

I wanted to share with you my back yard. The sun comes up behind the backyard and since the leaves have turned yellow it is neon and I love it!

Here is a close up of the trees, nature is a creative genius!
The studio walls are almost finished being repainted, thank goodness. I'll be visiting a shop today to research painting/staining the cement floor. Right now it's painted (in some places) a yucky brown. Not what I'd prefer so I'll let you know what I can come up with.

While I was in MD...

While in Maryland I helped my Mom pick her Cinderella Pumpkins. She let me take one home! Yeah! Last year she had bought a pumpkin for decoration and when it had past she tossed it in the garden. This year it grew one stalk and made 8 pumpkins! So when mine passes I need to toss it somewhere.

A sneak peak of my bench!

Last week I went down to Maryland for a visit and got a sneak peak of my jewelry bench; My wonderful Grandfather is building this for me! It's solid as a rock and 7 feet long! Once it's finished I'll post more pictures of it in the studio. Thanks Grandad!

Crazy week!

Somehow I've been very busy this week but trying to think about it I'm not sure what I did. I know one whole day was dedicated to the DMV, so much fun! I did spend a day with my good friend, she showed me how to color aluminum in a cool way, then we played with some resin! Always fun. I know today I ran a million errands since I'm leaving on Sunday to go visit family in Maryland. It'll be an exciting drive with Bentley in the car!

The picture above is one I took, this weeks drawing theme is leaves. As it turns out I take a lot of pictures of leaves so I was able to print many of them to put in my sketchbook for inspiration.

Have a fun weekend!

John Paul Miller

Since listening to National Public Radio and learning about other local artists (posted below) I looked through the Society of North American Goldsmiths Member Directory and found out the John Paul Miller lives only a few miles from me. I have posted images of his granulated jewelry below. He has won many awards and his work is owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design in New York City, and so on.

I wish all jewelry could have so much care and detail. I decided since he lived so close by to write him a note and tell him that he is an inspiration. I only hope that it will brighten his day.

Busy Weekend!

We had my husbands birthday this weekend, and I painted the above painting of Mickey Mouse. While we were on a cruise last year we went to an art auction and he loved a painting for sale of Mickey Mouse. So on Friday I spent 7 hours painting this, I'm proud of it. Considering that I'm not great at drawing and only had one painting class I did well.
Also for his birthday I made 2 loaves of asiago bread from scratch, a chocolate and peanut butter icing cake with fudge on top from scratch, and a great fruit punch!
We had a good time at the party, his mom made lasagna and sauce from scratch. So it was quite a home made birthday!
hope you had a good weekend!

Photographing Jewelry

I'm not sure where I heard about this resource but I wanted to share it. Photographing jewelry is always hard but necessary to sell it. Here is a link to a website that has tutorials on how to photograph jewelry. I honestly haven't looked at it yet but it sounded good. I wish you luck and have a great weekend!

Making the ordinary fun...

I found this video today on making taking the stairs more fun. I loved it! I wish all things in life were made so magical.