Life's a hoot

Here is the little owl necklace that I made for the step-by-step project for the Art Jewelry magazine article.

He does look like a cute little owl, don't you think?

Notice any similarities to a visitor to our garden?

If you follow the article and make your own, please send me a photo. I'd love to see your creation!

Songbirds

I first made my songbird necklace and earrings early on when I started out with metal clay. This week, I made some more with a slightly different design.

This time, I've made them flat backed, instead of a complete 3D bird.  They have always been a best seller, and there must be lots of these little songbirds all over the world.  

As someone who likes long necklaces, I thought the lariat version might be nice too. There's something to be said for keeping designs simple, don't you think?

Leaf textures

This week I tried out a couple more textures with the aluminum using a rolling mill.  My goal was to create a leaf impression.  I'm pleased with the results.

I dyed the aluminum first and sealed it. Then I ran it through the rolling mill.  All the little veins show up well on the aluminum.  It's such an intricate pattern and all that you see is texture, not different colored dyes.  I then did a little fold forming to bend the leaf,  filed the edges to show the silver color of the aluminum and voila!

The photo above reminds me of soft furry sage leaves - the green really does give them a soft look.

And you can see from the photo below that the veins even show up on the back of the leaf.

I haven't decided how I'm going to use them yet...whether a little creature will sit on them...or some flowers or.....what do you think?

Bloomin'

I made a couple of simple pendants today in anodized aluminum.  I am so enjoying trying different techniques of printing and dyeing the aluminum. 

I thought these two were happy cheery flowers for a wet afternoon in CA.

And yes, I am still doing silverwork. I was up in my studio today working on four separate pieces...but more on those later.

Hope you like my bloomin' flowers and that they brighten up your day!

Cartoon caption No.2

I tried putting a cartoon on anodized aluminum this week then coloring it and sealing it.

He looks like a bit of a grumpy cardinal or maybe he's just eaten too much.  I wonder what his problem is?  What do you think?

I think he's muttering to himself something about how busy he gets with the holiday season coming up and everyone wanting to photograph him as he sits on a cold branch, just so they can put his picture on Christmas cards. Brr! Just the thought of it makes you want to fluff up your feathers!

The Knitter's Assistant

I was asked to design a pendant for a customer that she could give to a friend of hers who is a keen knitter.  She is also a cat owner so wondered if I could combine that into the design too....and so I came up with "The Knitter's Assistant"

.... a little cat holding onto two balls of wools and some knitting needles!  she definitely has her paws full!

Cozy up to Quentin

I woke up to our first frost of the season....All the grass was covered but the sun was shining. My husband went out to play golf wrapped up nice and warm..... and I was just thinking about all the little birdies who had had a chilly night outside last night, when who should come around but my friend Quentin!


He was as cozy as anything! Gone were his running shoes - and he had lovely warm boots instead. And he was donned out in a nice warm scarf and hat! Oh, he looked just right for this chilly morning.


I had to take his photo - and he quite likes that. We hung out together for a while, catching up. He told me he had been keeping an eye on the forecast and got all his winter gear out last night. What a sensible Quail!


Anyhow, he did mention that he's missed being in the limelight for the last few weeks, so I have a feeling he might call round again soon....


If you happen to have your own Quentin - do send me photos of what he's been up to lately as I'm sure we'd all love to see...

Are those laugh lines? No, they're crows feet!

Whether you say laughter lines (UK) or laugh lines (US), this is by no means a reflection on Karen, our prize winner! Please don't take offense Karen!

But for her prize for guessing the most correct animal tracks in the bracelet, she chose to have a pendant made of crows feet tracks! Now I don't know Karen, but if she didn't have crow feet before, she soon will, if she'll email me her mailing address and I'll get this sent off to her! :-D Here's her crow tracks pendant:


Hope you like it Karen.