Wild in Virginia!

I just finished another animal tracks commissioned bracelet yesterday for a lady who lives in Virginia.  She wanted animals and birds that live around where she lives, and wanted some earrings to match too. 

L-R tracks - Owl, Bear, Porcupine, Mountain Lion

For the earrings she decided on White Tail Deer tracks - a new track for me. 

White tailed deer

Fox, Beaver, Skunk

So how many of the tracks would you have guessed if I hadn't told you?

Porcupine, Mountain Lion, Opossum, Wolf

I have another tracks bracelet to make now, so see if you learn any here and can remember them when I show you the next one! 

Life on the ocean wave

A customer in Germany asked me to make her a bangle like my "ride the wave" bangle, but in a larger size. 

Hmmm. An interesting request, as now I had to remember how I did the first one!!! Yes, I'm not one of those people that has a little book and fully documents her experiments!  I guess I did enough of that when I was a research scientist.  Luckily I still had the "ride the wave" bangle so managed to figure it out and blended some colors.

Here's the result - a lovely blues bangle - either singing the blues or life on the ocean wave!

Off it went yesterday, across the waves to Hamburg.

36/52 Bird a week - Dan and Magnolia

I'd like to introduce you to Dan and Magnolia.  They are two lovely little birds.  And although Magnolia sounds like she is delicate - like Dan, she is pretty tough.

A little known fact about several varieties of birds is that instead of putting their surname (ie last name) after their first name, they put it in front of their first name.  Sounds a little odd, but that's how the birds do it. So yes, you've guessed it, these two little birds are known by their friends as Steely Dan and Steel Magnolia!

They love hanging out together - and also with people.  They never seem to stay still - maybe they even have restless leg syndrome as their legs are always on the move.  But it's a nice little affect- looks like they are dancing all the time.

Here they are with a larger member of their family.  He has an even odder name - Cutoats.  So yes, you've got it, he's Steel Cut Oats.

In their other life, Dan and Magnolia are earrings made from steel clay, with silver dangly legs and feet.

Check out the other birds made this week by following the links below:

Weekly Bird in the hand

Saturday comes by so quickly! Here is this week's "grateful" list:

Photo by Alan Vernon.

• Sharing our garden with the quails.  We have two group of quails right now whom we see everyday.  The first group is mummy and daddy quail with two little babies. These were late offspring but Daddy Quentin is taking such good care of them. He is always on the look out!  I've stopped using our front door now as they are so often out there and it upsets them when we go close!  Also, we have a covey of older quail in the garden - more than 20! If we come across them because we too, happen to be in the garden (!), they panic and can't decide which way to run!!! I'm sure they'd all be happier if we just stayed inside!!
• Having a wonderful meal out with friends yesterday.  The chef made a dish especially for myself and my friend - not on the menu - and it was yummy.  
• Our friends Don and Janet.  They were due to come up and stay with us this weekend, but sadly Don isn't very well.  Feel better soon my dear and hopefully we can catch up soon.
• Hiking in beautiful places, with no one else around.  
• Finding a picnic table after a big climb and enjoy some sustenance.
• Aqua yoga class.  About 6 weeks ago, I started an aqua yoga class.  Yes, you can tell I live in CA!!!!  I am loving it.  There is a great feeling about the whole class and it's wonderful exercise. It's my new Sunday morning activity and a great way to start the day.
• My parents, who have decided to move home!  I think it's a wonderful decision and although it might seem scary - it's the perfect time for them to do it.  They will move to be closer to my sister.  
• A new discovery with base metal clay!  And successful firings of steel and bronze clays.
• Getting my first commission in steel clay.

How about you? Have you had a lot of things to be grateful for this week?  I do hope so.

Cockatoo designs

You may recall that my "bird a week" post last week was a steel bird brooch, with magnetic "pin".  I wore it that evening that I finished it to see how secure it was, etc and went to a cocktail party.  A woman at the party whom I hadn't met before, commented on the pin and said she'd love to get one for her sister-in-law's birthday coming up and could I make one for her.  Of course, I gave her my card and that was it.

She phoned a couple of days ago and said she'd like to go ahead.  How nice is that! She particularly asked if I could make the bird a cockatoo - and that, like mine, she wanted it "lighthearted" and whimsical.

So here are a couple of quick sketches I've done of cockatoos, which I'll email her and see what she thinks.The bird on the right is very similar to the pin that I was wearing - just with a different beak and fluffed up feathers on his head.  The one of the left is a totally different style. Here is the one she saw:

I think I like the one on the left best. What do you think?

And while you are answering that question - here's another for you. We went for a lovely hike in Sugarloaf State Park today. We did the same last Saturday too.  We've just found this great 6 mile hike. The way up is reasonably "up" but then there is a picnic table perched right at the top, perfect for lunch.  But as we sat there today, we did begin to, wonder about the great people who took all the wood up there! Gosh, that must have been tiring. The path is narrow so no vehicle could do it...Anyhow,
I'm digressing...the question I have for you is that on the way back, we walk through this open meadow area and it smells of rhubarb!  Lots of cooked rhubarb.  It's such a strong smell.  And delicious - especially for a rhubarb lover.  There are tiny white flowers in the meadow but they didn't seem to smell. Do you have any idea what could have caused the rhubarb smell? 

Do let me know if you have any ideas.
Enjoy the weekend xx

First harvest of September - Green Anjou Pears

First harvest of the month today was picking the small Green Anjou pear tree.  Even though the tree is small, it had plenty of fruit on it - 20lbs of pears. 

We have another pear tree that needs picking soon - with dark red anjou pears, but that'll wait for another day. I think these will head for the cellar to keep cool!

Guess we'll be having lots of pear green smoothies in the near future ( yes we still have green smoothies every day!) and I'll also dehydrating be some as we loved our dehydrated apples and pears last year!  What is your favorite pear recipe - do let me know and I'll give it a try!

Are you harvesting anything?

35/52 - Bird a week - Peek a boo!

Look who I saw peaking out of her little hole in one of the olive trees today:

A sweet little bronze birdie called "peek-a-boo", coming out to say hello. 

As I've been working in steel clay for the last couple of weeks, I thought I should re-try bronze again.  The steel clay requires firing in charcoal - as does the bronze and copper clays.  I've had good success with the steel clay firings so figured I'd use the same set up for the bronze.  I made two little pieces - one will have to wait until next week!  They both fired well and easily. I was using fastfire bronzclay. The bronze was lovely to carve into - soft and sand-like. The firing was only 2 hours from start to finish.

I think she has taken up permanent residence in that tree and I'm going to leave her there and see if anyone else ever finds her!  Remember, if you ever come and visit - don't forget to look for peek-a-boo!

Gosh - week 35 of the year already and September starts tomorrow.  That means only 17 more birds to make this year for our year long challenge!

Check out the links below to see what others have been making for their weekly bird:

Father and Daughter collaboration - Stained glass windows

Today's bracelets are a collaboration between my father and myself.  Any of you who remember him as my guest blogger for a few years, writing "Sunday's spotlight" may well recall that he loves photographing churches/cathedrals and flowers.  Yes, a few other buildings get thrown in occasionally, but it's very rare to find people in his photos.

I was checking his Flickr site the other day as he had added some new photos and saw a lovely photograph of a stained glass window from Peterborough cathedral.  It was a beautiful bright window, with such rich colors. 

Photo by Pete2010

Immediately, I thought it would make a wonderful color anodized aluminum bangle.

And indeed it, I think it does! The richness of the reds, blues and greens contrast so nicely with the silver of the aluminum and the black.  It is just rich!  You can see the saint with a bird here in this bangle (- maybe my dad knows the background to the window and who this is?):

I'm loving wearing one. And yes, it's shiny!  Quite a contrast for me who normally wears matt!

I think I'll be taking some down to Grace cathedral when we start singing there again next week and see what reaction I get.  What do you think?

Thanks Dad. It was great to take something you created and use it in one of my creations.  There may well be more of these in the future!

Silly Sunday - Hinge tape

Look at this cool tape!  Wouldn't it make your wrapping more interesting?  Sticky tape with piccies of hinges on! 

Found from Optical Illusion

 I may have to pass over my birdie tape and move to hinges!!  Do you use a decorative tape for your packages?  Here's mine:

Birdie Bright

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's bird in the hand - the things I am grateful for:

Amazing photo by John Soong

• My nephew Matt. He just got his GCSE exam results and got 8 A*'s and 2 A's!  Well done Matt.
• Meeting new friends and enjoying each other's company straight away.
• Having new plans in life and getting excited about them!
• Day trips with friends to new places.
• Being on the best seller list on Dawanda.
• During a busy week, having my "bird a week" challenge ensure that I at least make one new thing!  
• Enjoying a whole day with my friend Carol.

Merry go round - Has your blogging style changed?

It's the last Friday of the month, so join us on our merry go round for a quick spin.  The merry go round is where a group of 11 artists/craftwomen link together around the world and tell you a little about their art and craft, through blogging on the same topic.

This month's topic is "Since you started blogging, has your style/content/feeling about blogging changed?"

I started blogging on July 1st 2008.  Actually, it was a couple of weeks earlier when I tried out blogging to see what I would write about.  It was a real exploration for those first few posts, then I realized what I wanted to write about, so deleted the first blog!  Since that time, I've written 1,132 blog posts. Some of those were written by guest bloggers...but over a thousand were from my hand.  I have been blogging daily for nearly 2 years, but took a break this month ....and it did feel strange!

Since July 2008, yes, my content, style, and feeling about blogging has changed in that time.

My new Cathedral Window bracelet

First of all, I now love blogging!  I just really enjoy sitting down - normally at cocktail hour! - and sharing new pieces that I have just made. To begin with, it didn't feel natural and I had to think up what to write. Now the story behind the piece just comes out, or why I named it what I did, etc etc.  Blogging also encourages my productivity greatly, as I want to have something to write about.  So I tend to make sure I finish new pieces each week so that I have something to share.

Although I generally blog daily, it isn't a time consuming thing.  I guess I've become quite efficient at it.  I do wish I had a little more time to be more creative with my photos however. I really enjoy it when I do "staged" photos - ie adding props and things to my bird and animal pieces, to create a little scene. 

Style-wise, I occasionally introduce regular topics each week and let them run for a few months, like my "inspiration" posts or my "business matter" posts from a few years ago or like this "merry go round" post and my current Saturday "bird in the hand" posts.  It's nice to have some structure in there but also some flexibility.

I have enjoyed having guest bloggers but currently just have my husband blogging once a month about our vineyard.  I'd like to find another guest blogger who would write maybe a couple of times a month also.....

I find blogging a great way to connect to people - to friends, customers, potential customers, casual readers, other bloggers and also my family.  This audience expands beyond blogger as my blog automatically publishes to  Facebook and Twitter as well. It's great to get comments - hint, hint - and get feedback on what you are doing.  I find it really useful for my business.

I can't imagine myself not blogging!  It's definitely become part of my life.  If you don't blog - I highly recommend giving it a try.  And if you don't like it when you start, you can - like me - delete that and start again when you get in the flow of it.  Give it a try!

To find out what the other members of the merry go round think about blogging and how their style has changed, click on the links below:

Samantha at Vintage is for lovers - http://www.vintageisforlovers.com/
Jen at Painted Fish Studio - http://paintedfishstudio.com/
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles - http://www.dirksendabbles.com/
Laura at Blue Terracotta -  http://blueterracotta.com/
Monika at Red2White - http://red2white.wordpress.com/
Mitsy at ArtMind - http://artmind-etcetera.blogspot.com
Kim at Vilt a la Kim - http://viltalakim.com/blog/
Sara at Crafts of Texture - http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com
Mariana at Florcita - http://florcita.eu/wordpress/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent - http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com
Ruth at Birdland Creations - http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com

Or else you can click on the blog hop below.  If you are a merry go round participant, please add your link if it's not already included. You can then copy the code and put it on your blog post too.

34/52 Bird a week - Time for me to fly

Back trying out the steel clay again.  This time, I decided to utilize it's magnetic powers and create a magnetic pin/brooch.  Thus "Time for me to fly" was born. My 34th bird in the bird a week challenge.

He's a happy little bird, legs a-flappin' (and they wiggle as you wear him), and tucked under his wing is a little yellow feather.

The wing is removable as it is attached using the magnet that secures this pin/brooch to your clothes.  This means you can change the feather for a different colored one, or else you can omit the feather if you prefer and just angle the wing however you would like it (- or depending how fast he is flying!!).

Here he is, borrowing one of Harold's feathers (my pet parrot!)

A versatile little fella, don't you think??! And yes, the magnet is strong enough that he stays in place on your clothes, (without a pin creating a hole) and keeps his wings and feathers in place too!

Gotta go now - time for me to fly!

You can see the other birds that have created this week by clicking on the links below.

Birdland Vineyards in August

By guest blogger John

It's hard to believe that we are more than 1/2 way through August already as we really haven't had any hot weather yet. The mornings are misty and the temperature gets to about 85F or so in the afternoon. That's lovely weather to be outside but the grapes could use a bit more heat to get them ripening.

As you can see from this photo some of the bunches are just starting to change color and every day a few more grapes show that they are starting to ripen but I think we are going to be harvesting late this year. I started irrigating the upper rows a couple of weeks ago as the vines seemed to have stopped growing and now need some water to keep them with plenty of leaves.

We did have a very unusual 'grape' on one of the vines, much bigger than normal! Hope you enjoy this photo that was not set up by us at all - pure mother nature!

What happened is that some of the tendrils on the grape vines stretched over towards the apple tree and wrapped themselves around the stalk of the apple!  The pull of the vine and tendril actually picked the apple but then held onto it too!  Now it looks like we have apples growing on our grape vines!  Makes you think that you don't want to stand still too long near the vines or they may drag you in!

Weekly bird in the hand

The things I am grateful for this week:

Photo by Steve (huz001); back in Missouri

• A few weeks ago we got the wonderful news that there will be two new additions to our family in the new year.  This week, we heard one will be a little girl. Still waiting a couple of weeks to hear on the other.  Yippee-yeye-yeah!!! 
• Walking in nature.  I love my daily walks, watching the deer, birds, lizards, squirrels etc all busy with their lives.  I wonder if they enjoy watching us too?
• Success at getting a reservation for The French Laundry restaurant in Yountville (best restaurant in our area) with our friends in October. I've tried quite a few times to get a reservation there and never been successful. Now we get to try it. 
• Our book club.  Yesterday was our August meeting and it was just a lovely way to spend the morning and then lunch.  Great group of women.
• Meeting new friends and finding out all that you have in common with them.
• Enjoying my latest food heaven: pumpkin seeds. I've recently been toasting my own for salads etc but now found "eden foods" low salt spicy pumpkin seeds and just adore them.  For those Brits reading, the flavour sort of reminds me of twiglets you get in England and I haven't had in years - but the pumpkin seeds are a little spicier - and gluten free.
• Seeing a stranger have a good old laugh! It is quite contagious and definitely brought a smile to my face!
• My gentle dental hygienist.  She is so considerate and I really do appreciate that!

Hope your week has been full of good things too.