An Afternoon Roadtrip

Yesterday morning I called my friend and fellow artist, Kim Nugent, to see if she would like to go on a little outing with me. It's been ages since the two of us went on a road trip, so I thought it would be a great day to get out and have some fun scrounging around at a few antique malls in search of some little treasures.

One of the many things I love to collect is old religious items.  I've already got a pretty hefty hoard of little medals, crosses, prayer books, etc., but my motto is that you can never have too much.   That was my main focus of my search.  Unfortunately, the antique malls that we went to didn't seem to have much that was religious.

The time seemed to fly by as we were on the hunt, but neither of us ended up buying very much.  We had a great time, though!

Here are a few pictures of the things that I came home with....

 A smaller sized celluloid photo album with pages that are in good condition for $25; An old tintype for $10; A really pretty photo locket with black cameo for $8...

 A heavy brass crucifix for $10; A box of old bullet casings for $1; 14 religious medals for $5...

 A few other little odds and ends that were cheap...

And finally this little baby...An old brass turning pocket shrine.  This is my favorite item from the stuff I found, and I got it for only $8!

I know it's been months since I posted...

"You gain strength,

courage

 and confidence

by every

 experience

 in which you

really stop

 to look fear

 in the face." 

~Eleanor Roosevelt

I know I haven't posted in months, and I feel really bad and somewhat guilty about it.  I have always tried to use my blog to focus strictly on posting about what I have been creating in my studio; I really didn't want to get into my personal life on it.  But the New Year rang in a lot more than I ever bargained for.

As a result, the chain of events started in motion...no mojo equaled no creating.  No creating equaled no blogging.  And no blogging equaled guilt at no creating.

I did make a wonderful pendant to honor my mom and dad last month, and I wear it often. But other than that and a few pair of earrings...that's about it.  I felt a burst of inspiration today, so I made this collage of my sister and myself.

So now I feel a little less guilty because I did finally post something, even though it isn't very much.

I Got Some New Stuff!!!

 I know, I know...... I go from not posting in almost a year to posting twice in one day!  

UPS left a package at the door for me today from Otto Frei.  I've got a birthday coming up in a few weeks, so Mike told me that I should order some tools that I want as a birthday present.  I am a tool junkie, and always have a wish list of things that I'd like, so I went to the Otto Frei website and honed in on the Fretz hammers and stake sets.

I got the Fretz Miniature Stake Set, along with the Fretz Double Ended Insert Hammer with 9 different tips.  I also recently got both of Bill Fretz's DVD's: "Metalsmith Essentials: Basic Jewelry Hammering and Forming, Vol. 1," and "Metalsmith Essentials: Hammering and Forming Jewelry, Volume 2."   I watched a good portion of the first

DVD already, and can't wait to start working with the different stakes.  Hmm...he makes forming  cuffs look so easy on the dvd's....  I also got a round bracelet mandrel.  I already had an oval one, but from what I've viewed on the dvd so far, he always uses a round one.  And finally, I got another barrette file.  This one is a little coarser than the other barrette files that I always use.  Guess you can never have too many files...

Remember the Components I was Making?....

Remember that pile of components that I was making?  Well, I started turning them into jewelry pieces. 

I finished up these earrings last night.  They're made from fluted brass tubing, sterling silver wire, and brass drops.

My inspiration for these earrings came from Thomas Mann's "Big Links" workshop that I had taken a few years ago.  He showed us how to make components which are very similar to the structure of these earrings.

I wish I had a better torch to use when I solder metal...  I still haven't broken down and bought myself an oxy/acetylene torch yet.  For some reason, I have this inner fear about them.  I think I'm afraid that I'll burn down the house with it, or that I won't have it hooked up correctly.  So instead, I use either my propane torch or mapp gas torch, both of which were bought at Home Depot.

I've also been working on a ring, but I'm having a hard time deciding on the direction I want to go with its design, so it has been  just sitting on my workbench.   I pick up the parts for it that I have already made and stare at them for awhile, and then put them back down again.  I'd rather wait for inspiration rather than totally ruin what I've already gotten done with it.