What I'm really jazzed about

So yes, the LG is back to school today.

And yes, summer is coming to an end.

And there is good and bad in all of it, but this isn't your typical, 'back to school' or 'end of the summer' post with either a huge hurrah that the kids are going back to school OR a big boo-hoo that summer is ending.

Nope.

See, its all of that, sure, but its more because I have mixed emotions about all of it.

YAY! Summer heat is dissipating.....Booo! the days are getting shorter already.

YAY! we have a set schedule now, but booooooo! we have a set schedule now. (pack the lunch, dinner, homework, pack the lunch, shower, reading, bed, pack the lunch, -- and oh, practice your band instrument, go to basketball practice, don't forget this, how about that, where IS that permission slip, and oh yea, did I mention - pack the lunch!)

Ya know?

Its up and down, good and bad, silver lining to every cloud sort of stuff for me.

But.

but but but but....

What I'm really feeling right now is a hugely wild crazy almost palpable yearning and anticipation of autumn!

I love, love, love, love, love

no seriously

LOVE

autumn.

I just do.

I love the colors of the leaves on the trees as the green fades and turns to yellow, gold, red.........


the sounds of rustling through them when they fall to the ground.

I love that smiling face (yea, I get to see it everyday but I had to throw that in there!)

I love the smells of autumn and the crispness of the air.


I love chilly days and brisk nights


Sleeping with the windows open again, mulled cider and fresh apples,




and hiking the catoctin mountains and campfires and roasting marshmallows, and....


yea, I'm jazzed.






anyone else looking forward to Autumn? if not, what are you currently jazzed about?

Janice

Next in the series

Next post is up in the Raising series. :) This series isn't really a jewelry making tutorial, its more some background and terminology and photos of my tools and process, although there will be images of a piece being made, close ups and all that jazz. Its not really a step by step jewelry tutorial.

Go to the post now.

I've already begun the next post which covers the actual hammering, but I need to take photos so people can see how it goes. I know I am a visual learner so I want to offer that for others who are also visual!

A big blow-through

That's apparently what we went through last weekend.
At least that is what my LG calls it.


He dubbed it that quite some time ago as he contemplated explosives
and their impact on the earth.

Specifically what it took to create this

which we pass on our way to visit family.

LG loves it.

It iss as close to mountains as we get around here (more or less).

We love being out hiking and rock hopping but we normally blow right through the 'big blow-through'. This time though we decided to pull over and get a closer look.

the children slowed down long enough for me to grab a photo

Before resuming their typical shenanigans

I think its so funny how tiny the cars look even though this isn't a huge hill by any stretch of the imagination.

We make this little 2 hour trek in the car every so often to visit family

and this time specifically because Wyatt turned 1 !

YAY!

Gotta love a party!

And here comes the cake!

Hmmm, what IS this?

let me see.....colorful......and umm, hmm, tasty!

Nomnomnom, pardon me while I eatwear my cake.

Wyatt was really diggin' this.

I'm so glad I'm not the Mommy!!! :)

I'll be back with metalicousness later!

YAY ! It arrived!

Well first, let me just say "yay!" that I made a decision.

I can be so indecisive sometimes.

Especially about 'big' things. Things that are going to be permanent, or semi-permanent, or at least you hope they will be around for a long time. That expectation is there.

And also when something is a bit pricey.

Want it to last, Want it to be right. So it can take a while to decide. To jump in with both feet.

To commit.


So when I finally decided to create a maker's mark.....I surprised myself by being really decisive. And really fairly quick.

I guess maybe the timing was just right....I was ready.

So I fiddled a bit, decided on a general idea and then fiddled a bit more.

And then came up with something that I think (I hope!) will stand the test of time. That will be with me for a while. . . . . even as my work changes...........as I change. As things grow and evolve, which they inevitably do - I hope the mark will still 'fit'.

Here is my little mark.

On a half inch disk....

all proud and pretty.

Sort of looks like a butterfly, but its not.

really.

its not.

so don't even go there.

Maybe its a mark only a mother can love......love it I do.

I'm quite enamored.

Now if only I could find my point925 stamp I'd really be in business, eh?

Janice

Quick tip for RSS

While conversing with some wonderful artist friends, the topic of blogging and RSS came up.

People use different methods of tracking favorite blogs, they use the google connect gadget, bookmarks, RSS, email subscriptions, etc.

I like to corral not only my favorite blogs, but also my favorite websites, Etsy shops, etc. With a 'reader' you can add not only blog feeds, but other web content feeds.


I took a few quick screen shots to help you see how I do it.

Lets use my Etsy shop as an example.




First, find the little RSS icon.

click it.





That should take you to a page that looks like this:


When you are there, you will have a drop down box that allows you to select how you would like to subscribe. I use Google Reader, so I would select that.

Making that selection will add the feed to my reader and also take me directly to my reader.






Once in reader, if there is another website or blog that I know I would like to subscribe to, I can do it right from the homepage of my google reader (if I have the web address or url). Google will convert it to the feed.






You want to find where it says 'add subscription'.


click that.







Then you will get a pop up where you can enter the url:













you can try this with any url, the worst that will happen is that google will tell you it can't find a feed for that url or it can't find content.

I'll post later about organzing your feeds in google reader.

*~* NOTE: I did this in mozilla firefox -- I think it will look the same in IE - I use both when I am on the web and I've never noticed a difference. *~*

Whilrwind Weekend

I feel like I Wanda and Cosmo flew in and *poof* the weekend was gone.

Lately they all seem to be going that way. I keep wondering who coined the phrase "the lazy days of summer".

That person obviously didn't come from around here.

We tend to go at a pretty good clip.

Part of that I think is an East Coast mentality. I was borne into it.

Part of it is probably just having kids and a full time job and all that goes with that. And running here and there because its summer and the schedule has poofed out the window right along with my weekend.

And really, I don't even feel like I did that much this weekend, and yet. . .its Monday somehow.

Lets see -Saturday was spent running errands in the morning, doing my Mom's hair in the afternoon, clearing out clutter on the first floor of the house, a smidgen of time spent reorganizing my bedroom (all that 'clutter' has to go some where you know!) getting ready for my daughters birthday party/dinner and then of course having that celebratory dinner in the evening. Then bake a cake for my Mom to take to a gathering on Sunday. I was dead after that, call it a day...veg in front of the tv for a few and go to bed a little after midnight. Read a bit - pass out.

Sunday was church, lunch, a photo shoot for a friend with a new jewelry line (VERY cool line of upcycled/recycled jewelry made from parts of pencils - different from pencil jewelry I've seen before. VERY cool, stay tuned, hopefully he'll have them listed online soon!), then a movie with my son (VOD - Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Cute), some lego action (I can build a mean fighter jet thingy with blasters and um, stuff), dinner, laundry, photo shoot of some of MY jewelry, some family time, upload picture time, brain dead time, then bedtime a little after midnight. (something has got to change about that timeline...), read a little in bed and then fall into a deep sleep.



And now its Monday.




and with that said, break time is over, time for me to get some work done!


SHOP update later today or tonight. I've got it all ready to go, just a few cut and pastes and it will be done!

Reunion Sale!

...........



First - is it really Friday?

I texted a friend of mine this morning wishing him a happy Friday and he texted me back saying - uhh yeaaaaaa, happy friday 2morrow.

hmmm.

That made me stop. Well, not really, red light turned green, I was now moving along in my car, so no stopping, no replying..........but I did think - really think.

What day IS it?

I thought I woke up the other day??? Remember? So I can't still be asleep.

Can I?

no. no. no. I'm positive its Friday.

As positive as I was that my high school reunion was tonight.

Ummmm, no. I apparently got that in my head back when I WAS still asleep.

In the land of the awake, the cognizant....the ORGANIZED - the reunion is TOMORROW night.

Great.

But not really.

My daughter's birthday dinner is tomorrow night.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I may not be able to attend the 25th re...uh, did I just really put that out there?

ok, yes, its been 25 years since I graduated high school. and I haven't been to a single reunion thus far and was REALLY looking forward to this one.

I might still be able to make it, but I'm wondering....

its 25 years later.

Just how late do we party these days?

I don't know what time daughter's dinner will be over, gifts unwrapped, cake eaten; but I'm a little concerned it may be later than 'we' still party.

Or maybe I'm the only old fogey in the bunch who can't burn the candle at both ends anymore.

I'm not sure I even have a candle to burn and if I do, I'll probably put it on the cake.

I can't seem to keep track of anything anymore.

so, I may see some old (and new) friends tomorrow night - but its looking a little unlikely at this point.






However, in honor of the 25th.....I'm giving a discount on all items in my Etsy shop to all of my old friends - if you know the mascot of the high school that I attended, just enter it in the notes to seller section and receive 15% off your total order.

Starting today and running through the end of August.

And if you didn't go to high school with me or grow up with me......but you know me from the net -- well, maybe you can figure it out. If you're resourceful. :)

I just put some 'nib' earrings in the shop - in 'leaf' and 'freeform' styles.

I also just put up a cool pair of earrings featuring dalmation stone which is a cool spotted form of jasper.

and finally, new in the shop today - a brooch that my daughter Jessica helped me design!

Check them out as well as the other work in my shop - I've been slowly adding items. Also, I'm extending the sale to any custom work ordered between now and the end of August. :)

Happy Friday!
~Janice

Looking through photos

This is a random photo I took at the beginning of summer

This is several months prior

I needed that.

you awake?

Well, are you?

How do you know?

That seems like a no-brainer, right?

Of course you're not sleeping!

You're sitting somewhere.

A plane, a train, a car. Or maybe in your kitchen, cubicle @ work, or a coffee shop.

You have a computer.

You're READING.

You're THINKING (thinking what the heck is this girl talking about..) and so OBVIOUSLY you are awake.

But are you really?

I mean, not, are you really AWAKE, but

are you

REALLY awake?

Or are you going through life asleep?

Sort of going through the motions each day, one day turning into the next - many much the same as the one before.

I don't know but I think I've been sleepwalking (again). I'm pretty sure I've done it before although no one has ever said anything about it.

See, My son and I watched Percy Jackson, The Olympians the other night.

Fun movie for a 9 year old boy.

At one point on his quest, Percy and his friends enter a casino in Vegas and are eating lotus blossom treats. Little do they know that they treats are lulling them into a sort of semi-conscious state of sleep.

They are awake, but not really aware. They are enjoying life (like REALLY enjoying life) but they are blissfully (?) unaware of the world around them and how time is passing. In a sense, they are sleepwalking. They spent 5 days in the casino and thought is was hours.

And it hits me.

I sleepwalk too.

There have been times in my life where I 'wake up' and am surprised by where I am or what I'm doing, but more than that, I'm surprised at what I HAVEN'T done.

And I think - WHOA, how'd it get to be August? Or the end of summer? Or when did my boy turn into a young man?

Or dang, what DID I have to eat for lunch today?

Silly, it was a fruit salad.

Orrrrrrrrrr, was that yesterday? (ok, so I'm raw and in all likelihood, its every day. but you get the idea)

of course, it could just be that I'm getting old.

But time flies by at an alarming rate, and sometimes, quite frankly, I think I'm missing it.

In the movie, Percy hears his father's voice coming to him and it gently nudges him awake.

So he can get back to the task at hand, so he can APPLY himself towards his goal.

I need to get back onto the task at hand, move consciously towards my goals.

How about you?

helloooooo, You awake?

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That is SOON!

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WOW! Just WOW!

(we'll get to the photo at left later)

First, WOW - what a great big honkin' outpouring of love on my B-Day! THANKS to everyone who has dropped me a note, called, sent a card, posted on my FB wall, etc !

I'm so overwhelmed and thankful! I have the bestest friends and family in the world! (I do, really)

"the girls" at work made me a lovely lunch yesterday - a big cobb salad, bread from Panera, homemade lemon cheesecake with fresh fruit, tea with mint grown in one of their own gardens, and a lovely gift - a reusable bag (and I don't think they even know about my bag obsession) and a very generous giftcard to Copelands. WOW! These ladies are just amazing. I am SO blessed to work where I do and with whom I do. Amen.

My family and I are planning to go out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate. We will be trying Great Sage for the first time! Great Sage is an "Organic green cuisine vegetarian" restaurant. I never set out to be vegetarian but being raw sort of set that for me. I hope everyone will find something they like there. If nothing else it will be a great adventure - and isn't that a great part of life?

Speaking of adventure - last night was Tuesday - do you know what that means?? BENCH NIGHT!! I didn't really buckle down and do much, but I did have an adventure! I was experimenting . . . .


Soon I will have a line of FUN and quirky jewelry that glows. I mean really glows!

It is part of my adventure in resin. I love resin, it is so versatile.

The various pigments and inclusions and techniques.

It never gets old.



(incidentally you can see last year's bday gift to myself in the background, a lovely, colorful, bright, FUN, and cheery piece from MaryJudy )

So this is with the lights on......








annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd.............................

ta da - with the lights out. :)



I added a luminous pigment that glows!

REALLY glows!

The one of the left not quite as bright as the other - but WOW!

Knocked my socks off! I love it!

I have quite a bit of experimenting left to do, but I can see so many possibilities!

I am thinking of all kinds of designs, words, etc.

The rings are not cleaned I only took them far enough to get the resin in there as I have been waiting to try this for a couple of weeks (vacation was great but what an interruption to my bench time!). So impatient. :)



I also took some time last night to play with creating some custom design dies (think 'mold') for the press. There just never seems to be enough time in the day/week/month......

Anyway, a new friend who is attending the Jewelry Artists Retreat this year has been showing us some of her recent press work and it made me write myself a note to use my press!

I love this little piece of textured metal and am looking forward to making more with different shapes, designs, etc.

I created a template in acrylic sheet like this  and then used a semi-soft rubber to press the metal into the template/mold that I had made. A note about thicknesses: you can use just about any thickness you want - it just has to be deep enough to support your design. A less thick acyrlic will allow a less deep design. Same thing with the urethane (or rubber) -- less thickness means you can't press your metal in as deep. But we're working very small scale here (typically) with jewelry, so you don't need anything really large. :)

Now that you've heard about my recent adventures - I'd love to hear about yours! Go ahead, click comment and fill us all in! (and say WOW!, just for the heck of it)

So sweet......

We really had a great vacation - lots of sweet moments with my family.

I have a few shots taken at one of my favorite places to eat in OC - Catch 54. Good food, GREAT atmosphere.

I took these photos inside and outside the restaurant.

Before going out we took a RARE family photo....

And my daughter snapped an even rare photo of me alone.

On our way out of town we stopped at the Fenwick lighthouse. I snapped a few quick photos and then had some editing fun. :)

Love this 'aged' look!

Inside:

We'll be back to regular chatter soon!!