Focusing on the Fun Stuff!

Focusing on the Fun Stuff!

I haven't seen my blog for some time. It is sad and lonely. I have been pulled off by Facebook, but am going to pay more attention to my blog. I promise. I signed up for an online blog class, but got lost 1/2 way through the first of 5 two hour classes. Thank goodness she has recorded both the video and audio, so I can go back and go at my speed. Even though she says "anyone" can do this, I don't think her 25 year old techy mind is wrapped around the fact that some of us are 60+ years old and were not born with a computer in our cribs. Anyway, I WILL get it. In the meantime, there are many other things vying for my time.

We are still working on the house, or I guess I should now say in the house. All of the cleaning, de-wallpapering, painting, decluttering, etc. is done (inside, anyway). Now the fun part - Staging! Moving things from here to there, adding little touches of color to the now neutral palette. One of the projects is to add a little pizazz to the deck. So, I am making seat covers and pillows in a fabulous printed outdoor fabric - on sale at Joannes for $1/yd on the remnant table. Off to the thrift store I went for large pillows ($1 each) and a few hours of designing, cutting, and sewing and I have fantastic throw pillows for the deck benches for only $2.00 each. Happy Me!

New Jewelry Site up and running!

Finally, I got some of my jewelry up on the new jewelry site at etsy. http://www.wjjewelry.etsy.com/ Now I need to fill up the categories. Pendants is looking good, but needs variety. The rest is lame! Get to work! NOW! Well, ok, after prepping the dining room walls for paint, feeding the dogs, checking emails, blah, blah, blah. Think I better put a little time into a time management plan.

Artist's Eye Candy!

I am a visual artist. I use color in all of my art, no matter what I am doing at the moment. Artists are funny about their tools. If they are good tools, they are probably quite expensive, so we take care of them. If they are "tools" that get used up (like paint and colored pencils) we sometimes hoard them. I remember going to a colored pencil workshop when I was getting my graphic design degree with two friends. It was a bit of a car ride and our conversation revolved around our hesitancy to use up our new very expensive colored pencils. All of a sudden we all stopped, looked at each other and burst out laughing. Could there be anything more ridiculous? Well, I still love my colored pencils and some of them are still from that set (the colors I tend to ignore, that is), As I was organizing my studio the other day, I found my colored pencils which had been relegated to a box. The last time I used them I found myself digging through to find just the right color. Now, I've decided that they deserve better and so do I! So, I sorted them by color, found just the right containers and voila......Eye Candy! I see them every time I sit down to work and even though I am designing and making jewelry, they are there for me to enjoy. Yummy!!!

Another Challenge and that's good!

I love challenges that are either created by others or that come about as a result of my own making. I am resurrecting my PMC (Precious Metal Clay) skills and looking forward to sharpening some old ones and learning some new ones. One of the best ways for me to push myself into learning new things is to participate in a challenge or contest. There is a wonderful company called Metal Clay Findings who is sponsoring their first contest. You can probably guess what they make. Each contestant purchases a bag of 21 findings and must use at least 3 in a piece of jewelry which must be over half PMC. Learn more about PMC at http://www.pmcguild.com/ or at http://www.metalclayfindings.com/. I received my contest package today. What will I do with this collection? I know that this peridot I have been treasuring for awhile will definitely be in it. It is my birthstone. I can't wait!

Taste Temptations!

Here is a little taste of what's up on my etsy site. Enjoy!

Where Have I Been???

I have been setting up a website and a selling site for my handmade jewelry and clay sculptures. (Yes, and still stripping wallpaper!) See my work at http://www.wjsculpture.etsy.com/. This week I will be splitting that site into two to include http://www.wjjewelry.etsy.com/ (not active yet). I read from the success stories on etsy that that is the thing to do. Will give it a try. I will be adding several new lines of jewelry, so keep an eye on the site. http://www.wjsculpture.etsy.com/ will have a link to the jewelry site, so you'll always be able to find me. PS Please feel free to share this info with all of your jewelry loving friends and family (unless you are buying them a Christmas gift from the site and want to keep it a secret until after THE day).

1940's Beauty!

For my birthday this year, my grandsons gave me a digital scrapbooking course by Jessica Sprague. That was August; this is September, almost October. I am finally getting a chance to try it out. Hence, my first effort. I hope you enjoy it.