Happy Cows, Dogs and Me

Today was a gorgeous spring day and it was appreciated by all. The short walk to the gate of Mt. Diablo State Park has become easier for Diego, my pug, and me--both of us easing back into walking. His legs are so short that he has to run when I walk and he is not used to it--loving it, but not used to it. The cows were down by the road today and they were mildly curious about us--and the dogs. The "Cow Whisperer" was a little off his game and didn't seem too interested in whispering and only mildly interested in cows. The picture shows what a beautiful day it was and you get a view of Diego's backside again--but ya gotta love that curly tail!

I had some fabrication time at my workbench today--mostly little rings and big hoop earrings. While this activity is repetitious, it gives me creative mental time at the bench. Ideas often come when I am just repeating a process. The stones and metals seem to mix visually allowing me to see patterns and colors. I can forget the world at that moment and just be completely absorbed. And the time flies by.

Buenas noches,
M----

Country Pug

My pug, Diego, is making many new friends in this more rural area. Well, not really rural but it seems like we're more in the country with lots of animals around. A short walk takes us to the gate of a state park and allows us to visit with cows, horses, goats and many bikers. Yesterday, I didn't go and I missed several "kodak" moments as Diego made friends with a herd of cows that were grazing on the mountain. Being a good pug, he is very trusting and inquisitive when he sees another animal his tail wags constantly and his "sniffer" goes into overdrive. The cows loved him and one risked the barbed wire to put her face right on his back. Diego has no enemies except an occasional misplaced garbage can. The cows followed him when he moved and several cars stopped to see. We have now named him "The Cow Whisperer". Today, I took my camera and of course, the cows were up on the hill--so no luck. Attached is a picture of Diego immediately following a horse kiss! In other words, the horse moved! We are enjoying that country road.

Using What You Have

Tonight marks the second time I have finished a post, moved a finger the wrong way on my new MacPro laptop and lost the post. Grrrrrrrrrr! OK, I'm over it but this post will be short. Creatively speaking, it has been a good week. I designed two new pair of earrings using my stash of vintage brass survey tags and texture, more like distressed, copper. I patinated the copper with flame and olive oil (not together, please) producing a milk chocolate color on the copper discs. After hammering the brass discs and soaking them in magic liquid, they were varied colors of copper and brass, with a slightly rough finish. They look like they have been buried for hundreds of years. I then cut some tiny discs from the 3/4" discs, leaving a terrific large shape which I used with the copper discs and the tiny discs which I attached to the distressed copper rectangles. I had riveted brass discs to the rectangles with silver tubing. These are very unique.

At one time, in California, Registered Civil Engineers marked their survey points with brass discs that were stamped with their RCE license number on them. Sometime (I need to do some research) in the 80's or 90's these were replaced with plastic. On revisiting these tags after a number of years, I began visualizing jewelry. Enjoy the pictures--if I can get them up.

Good thoughts,
M--

Little Steps

I just lost the paragraph that I had written so I don't know where it went to. I had just commented on how productive I was yesterday, finally. I really need time to be creative in order to relieve stress and enjoy the present. I just posted a picture of some handforged swirl earrings that were made in fine silver and accented by 24K gold which was applied with a brush and then torch fired to turn the "paint" into something like a glaze. After the gold is melted into glaze, I let it cool and then burnish the area where the gold was applied. This makes it shine and stick to the silver. This is one of several pair of earrings I am working on. I'm adding a picture of Moose, the golden retriever, as he sleeps belly-up on the couch. He's a sweet dog but a bit eccentric. That may not be the right word. Hmmmmmmm.

There's more to do tomorrow!
M . . . . . . .

Starting to Produce

I have been living in my new space for six weeks and am getting comfortable with:
* wearing the clothing I can locate
* using the shampoo that I can find until it is all used up
* finding my favorite coffee cup
* letting my dog take the flying leap from my bed to the floor every morning (it's a very high bed)

I wrote on my Etsy shop introduction that i expected to be back to full production in three days! I have been able to fill orders but have not "worked" the shop at all. It always takes longer than we expect but I was really optimistic about turning it around. Well, six weeks later, I feel like I am almost back to normal and maybe a little better. I was even able to find enough financial information to fill out my tax forms and file them in time. I thought I was going to need to file an extension because so much of my information was unavailable but I was able to retrieve enough to reconstruct the files I needed. Whew!

Through all of this confusion, you--dear readers and customers--have kept me motivated and involved in my work. Thank you!

I should have pictures soon so you can have something to look at rather than just reading my ramblings.

Happy Thursday, the end of 2009 Tax Season. Whoo Hoooo!
M

Monday, Monday

Sounds like a song, don't you think? Well, it was just Monday. I played around with a design a customer asked for this morning. Design work, or playing as I like to call it, takes a lot of time. Once a piece is designed and I have fabricated it successfully, production goes pretty fast--except when it doesn't. I Have some ideas for new bracelets so I'm anxious to get to my workbench tomorrow. This afternoon I spent at my part time, part time job so no metal work there. I do hope I have some new pieces to show you soon.

Maybe tomorrow!
M___