Windfall Blessing

Windfall Blessing

Since I last wrote I've had a bit of an adventure. When I went to be the guest artist at the Women's Council of Provo, Artist Section. I brought some of the things I have made and sold several of them. So I earned a bit. Then after my last post, a friend of mine bought two of the necklaces I posted, so it added to my windfall. Then, as we were out shopping with a neighbor of ours when leaving the store we saw a sign “Bead sale closeout”.

   A few days later I decided to take a chance and go see what they had. I was really surprised at the quality and discount so I spent some and thought that was good enough. As I thought about it I went and spent some more another day and I got 20% off on top of the already discounted prices. The day after that the lady from the shop called to let me know they were having their blowout sale the last two days. Friday they would give 40% off, and Saturday 50%. My Husband and I went on Friday. I felt there would be a better selection on that day and I already had some things planned for Saturday. So we had some more fun! As we were shopping my husband's sister showed up. I had told her about the sale. She was stopping by on her way to work. So we hitched a ride home because she was going that way.

These new supplies have sent my mind reeling with ideas. One night it was so bad I got little sleep. So In the next while I will share as I bring them to life. Here are some of my finds: This first picture is chalk turquoise. I had never heard of that.

Next Picture same kind of stone.

The next three pictures are mostly Jasper and some agate. I'm not sure of the one on the left that looks a bit like a cloud.

I think God has done some amazing work here. I have loved rocks as long as I can remember. I did a little research and Jasper is made of petrified mud. Nice mud I wouldn't mind wearing some of that mud. 

This next one I 'm not sure what it is I found online a similar looking one and they said it was some sort of quartz.These make me think of spring.

Hope I'm not boring you with my little rock fest.

        

This picture has some Czech glass, baby blue glass pearls, and one container of  clear flat round beads are quartz.

These are so sweet. Did you know there was such a thing as pink jade? The other beads pictured look a bit like ordinary white beans but they are subtle pale colors. Some sort of stone.

 

These are double holed button pearls,

colored a rich golden color. And the large red faceted stone is red Jade I've already made plans for this one. I attached some forest green satin cord and a ceramic bead I already had. It has a Chinese knot in it's future.

                                                

The picture on the left in the bowl has a jasper focal bead. Also, some sweet glass disk beads with small yellow and white flowers. More Spring.

This small picture is a bit disappointing because these have a beautiful, iridescent glow They are labradorite, or as I found out same as feldspar.

               

Picasso Jasper: this stone has baffled me for a long time trying to find out what it was. I had the donut stone I found at a thrift store and could not find any more of it so now I can complete this long awaited pairing. The others are red orange glass, green and gold swarovski crystals and last but not least bright tiny butterflies also swaroviski crystals.


Whew did you make it through that ?

A Journey of Re-creation2

"If you don’t have time to do it right,
when will you have time to do it over?" - John Wooden

This is my dilemma. I want to start from the top or have things right the first time. That is sort of a silly expectation, don't you think? I find myself focusing on what I can't do and not on what I can. It gives me a lot of grief. So I, like everyone else, have to start where I am right now. Such as it is, here I go.

This is made with paper beads,a bone cross piece, glass beads, black cord with Chinese knots, and an old poker chip with a woven paper heart attached.

This is a reversible necklace made on an old poker chip base. It has a dragon fly on one side, and a vintage brass button on the other, with a needle tatted frame; some glass beads around, with stone and acrylic long beads between.

  These two necklaces are made with polymer clay and Chinese knots.

Of these two bracelets, the one on the left is needlepoint with seed bead edging and two vintage green buttons. The bracelet on the right is knotted macrame with a center motif on an old poker chip.

These three bracelets are made with needlepoint. The red and white bracelet has some new and vintage beads, and an old button. The middle blue and white one is made with a Japanese border design. On the far right is a black and white one, also Japanese inspired design, with a large vintage mother of pearl button and a small iridescent button on top of that.

The butterfly necklace is made with an old poker chip and beaded around with iridescent glass beads and some purple acrylic accent beads.

This night owl is made with an old poker chip with a felt backing and seed bead enclosure . Large blue glass beads and metal star beads are scattered around. It is hard to see, but I put some purple glitter in the acrylic covered owl and a small rhinestone.

This necklace is made with a poker chip pendant and a Chinese knotted neck piece with cream colored Indian glass beads.

These two also have something that reminds me of my childhood. The picture attached to the good old chip changes as you move it. These came from a puzzle. I think they are bright, lite, cheerful, and fun.

Tree of Life

This is wire work with a piece of an old CD for a backdrop. The beads are vintage , old and pearl-like. The base is a poker chip with a brass wire outside ring.

So what have I learned thus far.

• I learned working with epoxy is tricky. It's hard to judge how much you will need for a particular project, and you have limited time to work with it. So be prepared to use the extra epoxy if there is any. 
  

  

  
  
• I learned Chinese knotting takes time and practice. The end result is quite beautiful, and so worth the effort.
• If you put yourself “out there” someone might want more of you. I took some of my things to a craft fair and now someone asked me to be a guest artist at the Arts Council. I didn't even know we had one around here.

There are almost endless avenues to explore, so I hope you will enjoy some of them as I go on.

I learned a new technique to transfer images to the poker chips or other objects you might be interested in, if you want to try it yourself sometime.

Let me explain. You take an image you want to transfer and copy it, and print it out with a copy machine that uses toner. I use my laser printer. You can use color or black and white. Make it the size you want to fit the object you want to apply it to. Print it out on regular paper. Then take some clear packing tape and put it over the image and smooth it out so there are no bubbles or air pockets. Then comes the fun part. Get a bowl of lukewarm water and put it in and gently rub the paper part until no more paper is left on the tape. You will have a image of what you printed transferred to the tape. This is what you apply to your project. The great thing about it is, that it still has some sticky to help hold it in place and you don't have to reverse the print on words because they show up right, not reversed as in some other processes.

Here are some examples of things I have transferred.

Notice the words on the right side have blotchy white spots and a little yellow dot. The blotchy things are where I did not get all the paper off, so be sure to check that. Sometimes it is hard to tell there is still paper on the tape when it is still wet. On the left is the example of the words before I took the paper off the back and on the right is after. (The yellow dot was paper on the scanner bed, oops.) Pretty fun thing don't you think? Happy transferring.

Well, that is about it for this time. Take care and enjoy the journey.