Let Me Tell You About The Birds and The Bees and The Flowers and The Trees

By now it must come as no big surprise to my regular readers to find my blog posting to be sporadic this year. No matter how much I try or how sincere my desire, there just seems to be those seasons when there is either not enough hours, not enough energy, not enough creativity, or just plain ol' not enough me.

But here I am today, with a little time on my hands to try to catch up with at least a few pictures to show you that I actually have not dropped off the face of the earth. (Just in case you were wondering.)


Proverbs 3:13
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding.

My classes have progressed and I am pleased with all that I am learning. This is my most recent piece from my jewelry/metalsmithing class, not nearly enough in this picture to show you the frustration I have experienced in class, but frustration with a point.

I've come to appreciate, through some not so cooperative projects, that there is a purpose to the obstacles, difficulties, and accidents. Without them, would I have learned as much?


Proverbs 1:5
let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.

The silver spot in the middle of the back of this piece was the original tab to hold down the prongs of the pin back. A T-shape that looked much better then these little tabs but wasn't as functional. I guess it will take practice in order to produce a piece that is both functional and pretty on the back.

Practice, practice, practice, without it I will never be able to produce all the ideas lined up in my head.

I am learning patience.

Inside, as I stand at the soldering station, waiting for the stubborn solder to flow, I'm a bossy demanding child stomping my foot in front of the Lord. Why won't you make the solder flow for me? Come on Holy Spirit! Aren't you my helper? Stomp foot, kick the cat, stomp, stomp, stomp!

Outwardly I sigh and allow the instructor to guide me, to show me how to hold the torch, to demonstrate the proper technique.

I am learning humility.

I've been plugging along with a little Nikon Coolpix in my Digital Photography class, having broken my good camera just before the semester began. And while I am thrilled to be learning more about digital photography in general, it is learning Photoshop that has me so excited in this class. I put together the banner above before my free trial version of Photoshop ran out. It isn't what I had pictured in my head either, but it is a start. A considerable start as far as I'm concerned and I hope to refine it as my skills develop. This Friday I also took a day long workshop for Photoshop. Yeehaw!

I am learning to love learning.


Psalm 51:6
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

"Pregnant"

Along with all the learning going on in the classroom, I'm still seeing my therapist and learning so much about who I am. I've been exploring all that I have learned through the wisdom of this lovely Spirit-filled woman in a series of collage-assemblages. I have shared the main image from these first two with you in previous posts, but felt they were incomplete and needed to be presented as a part of this series.


"Pregnant" represents to me all the possibilities that opened up when I allowed myself to think about change. The kind of change that began deep inside and allows me to embrace my past, not shrink from it, in order to heal and begin the voyage that God has in store for me. I will look to Him for the true inner healing and follow where He wants me to go. It is getting exciting but I still have some fear.

I am learning to trust.


Proverbs 4:6
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

"Change Begins Within"

The series I've been working on will be titled after this piece, which represents a window from a dream like state deep in my own spirit where the seeds of change were first planted.
I look back over the storms of the past few years and now know that the Lord was plowing and working the hardened ground to make it ready to accept these seeds. It was a painful tilling, but necessary in order for the seeds of change to be firmly planted and allow them to take root.

I want this change more then anything. I can see it, taste it, breath deeply of it. As I fall asleep at night I can't help but envision it. I know the Lord has good things in store for me, but there will be plenty of weeding to do. I will open my heart to Him and let Him do the work he needs to do.

I am finally learning to surrender.

Proverbs 19:20

Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise

Summers End

Summer's end brings a unique rhythm between taking advantage of the last of the warm weather to head out to the open air flea markets and art festivals and getting settled in to school and fall routines. There is a sadness to the end of the long warm days and a familiar comfort in the appearance of pumpkin patches and hay bales in roadside stands.

I promise to post more art soon, but until then I wanted to share this picture of a few of my treasures from the Randolph Street Market last weekend. The unpolished sponge coral branches were an awesome find and I wish my pocket book had allowed me to snatch up all the strands the vendor had to offer. I can't wait to start creating with them. They are long finger like branches and have great textural appeal. That one over on the right side with its white bubble-like inclusion has my creative wheels spinning! I'll be listing a few for you in my Etsy shop so be sure to stop by today!

Hard/Easy vs. Easy/Hard or Back To School - A Season of Change

"Self Portrait: A Work In Progress"

First counseling and now school. My head is spinning over the suddenness of it all, and yet, not so sudden.

It started with a single thought. One innocent thought.

"Hey, I'm not working full time now, I can take a class!
Something fun.
Something I can use to take a step toward my art goals and build a better future."

That one innocent thought led me to enroll for a class, add another class, then another, and oh why not just one more? Whoops, I'm a full time student!
Phew! Is it only Wednesday?

So suddenly I'm going back to school. But at nearly 43 years old, I guess it isn't really sudden at all. It took me a long time to get here. I signed up for Digital Photography, Electronic Graphic Publishing, Web Design, and Metalsmithing. Many of the classes I would have loved to take if I had gone to college straight out of High School.
Well, I would have loved to take them if they actually had computers and the internet way back then! Ha!
Okay, they did indeed have computers. And maybe the internet even existed, but nobody had heard of it and the one computer class I took in High School involved IBM key punch cards.

I know very little about computers. Enough to show you my latest work and tell you a little about my life here. Enough to list and sell my wares at the store and the studio on Etsy, but that is about it.
So to say I am feeling a little overwhelmed with my choice of classes; learning Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver all at the same time, is an understatement. And deciding to do this at the same time that I have decided to dive into counseling has me questioning my sanity just a bit.

It's not going to be an easy season, this season of change.

There is that voice track in my head, you know the one, that puts up all the objections that sound rational and reasonable to making these changes.
Its too hard. I'm too old. What about all that time you thought you were going to spend just working on art? What about the housework and the kids and dinner? What about all that homework?
And do you really want to open that can of worms?

But then I think about a sermon I heard not long ago. I can't remember the scripture it was based on, or really, the main message at all. I just remember the pastor giving this tidbit: Hard/Easy versus Easy/Hard.
Making the choice to do the hard thing now can bring about the fruit of easier paths in the future, whereas, taking what looks like the easy road can make the future a whole lot harder.

I guess I'm old enough now to testify to the truth of that statement.

Not dealing with the pain of my past "issues" and always having a good excuse not to go back to school? Easy.
Life after those decisions? Hard.

Doing the work it will take to heal and to learn? Hard.
Finally being free of that baggage and having knowledge that will give me more choices for my future? Priceless.

Let Me Tell You About My Blog Friend...

"People let me tell you about my blo-og friend....A warm hearted gal who will love ya till the end...."
Ahhh, did I just date myself there? Changed a few words around but I'm sure some of you will recognize that tune!

Well I do want to tell you about my blog friend, Cindy Forrester, who is one talented artist and I am lucky to call her a friend.

Speaking of Lucky, check out this amazing necklace Cindy made by that name:

And this piece titled "When Teardrops Fall", which moved me to even more tears when I found out that Cindy had made it with me in mind:

This October Cindy will be leaving her home in Florida and heading all the way across the country to teach In The Artists Studio in Seal Beach, California. How I wish I could be there to learn Cindy's techniques in bezel making and her signature heirloom bottles:

But if I can't be there, I can send you. Be sure to get in early. This girl is going places with her talent!

A Very Charming Announcement!

Over the weekend I ran out to Barnes and Nobles looking for inspiration on the bookshelves and nearly fell over when I got there! I've been eagerly waiting to make this announcement for my copy to arrive in the mail, but apparently it has taken a slight detour due to my change of address this year. I knew that it was available on Amazon, but wasn't expecting to see it on the shelves of my local book store already.

A Charming Exchange is a collaboration started by Kelly Snelling and Ruth Rae, inspired by a round robin charm swap involving 24 other artists. Ruth began a blog to have one place where each artist could give instructions on the charm she had created and from there the idea for the book was born.

How lucky to be included, not only in the initial round robin (which I managed to get in by the skin of my teeth!) but to have it turn into a book!

As the book project began I was asked to be a part of a round robin group project specifically for the book with 4 other artists. Each one of us began a necklace or a bracelet and sent it off, round robin style, to the next participant, who then added their own elements and passed it on to the next person.

Here are photos I took of each necklace or bracelet as it passed through my hands. Each of these are featured in the book and many have step-by-step instructions for creating some of the charms shown.

Ruth Rae, the host of the original charm swap and co-author of the book, created this wonderful bracelet and an equally wonderful felt carrier to keep it in. Be sure to check out her instructions in the book for both the carrier, and her layered centerpiece for the bracelet.

The little riveted wing charm below is my contribution to Ruth's bracelet:

"Gothic Romance" necklace by Catherine Witherell. Romantic to the very core of the felted heart centerpiece Catherine created. I can't tell you how intimidated this necklace made me. Of course, I felt that way each time one of these talented artist's works arrived in my mailbox!
In order to get over my fear of ruining somebody else's work, I would display the necklace in my studio when it arrived and "live with it" for a time. As I grew more comfortable with the piece, touching it and getting a sense of the artists style, I could let myself go and begin to be inspired.

My addition to Catherine's necklace is the peek-a-boo style charm at the center top. The antique religious charm swings to the side and reveals an antique image of a flower and the word "beauty". The word "strength" is etched at the bottom.

Here is the spread from the book featuring my necklace, "History Lesson":

Unfortunately the photos I took before I let it go were on the blurry side. It was such a flurry of activity to finish and get the pieces out by the deadline that I didn't stop to think I would probably never have these items in my hand again and lost the opportunity to get really good photos.

I am delighted with the way it came together. I created the centerpiece from an antique camera lens, which was empty when it left me. It was also swinging from side to side on the steel wire bar. But these were opportunities for the other participants to "fill in the blanks" and they did quite nicely!

Next Deryn Mentock's finely crafted necklace arrived in my mailbox. Deryn is an amazing jewelry artist and the one who recommended me to Ruth for this round robin. I bow to her talent, not only with working the steel wire with the ease of fine silver, but also with an eye for composition, which she has taken to an extraordinary level.
Be sure to stop by her blog to see her Shepherd's Amulet Bag, which she created for the Amulet bag challenge presented by Ruth for the book.

And finally this fantasy fairy necklace arrived by Jessica Moreau-Berry. I was one of the first to work on Jessica's necklaces so it looks a little bare in this photo, but the finished piece is so whimsical and I half expected to see elves jump out of the package when it showed up. I don't think I've ever wanted to dance through a woodland meadow as much as when I was working on this piece.
As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever wanted to dance through a woodland meadow before at all. But check out the finished project in the book and see if it doesn't make you feel the same way!

As part of this group of 5 artists, I was also invited to contribute to the cover project. To create my charm I used an antique earing, an old brown ribbon, and antique MOP button.

The bracelet has a story of how it came to be. Be sure to read about it in the book and watch the website for an announcement of when this piece and others from the book will be auctioned off for a great cause, breast cancer research.

There were other group projects that I participated in, including earring swaps, that you can see in the book, along with some other charms I created that wound up being used in some really cool pieces. Here are some photos of my charms, but you really have to get the book to see the finished pieces!

This piece "XOXO" was created from two antique wood printers blocks, two antique tintype photos, old wire and nails salvaged from other items, and one tiny link from an antique cuckoo clock chain:

Kelly, the author of the book, created a gothic style necklace to show off the charm and then Ruth stepped out instructions on doing something similar if you don't have genuine tintype photo's to use.

This side isn't shown in the book:

I brought these elements together:

And created this charm, which also wound up being used as the centerpiece for a necklace in the book:

And finally I was surprised and delighted to find that my amulet bag was featured and instructions stepped out by Ruth on creating the wire cage.

This piece was inspired by the scripture verse "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." 2 Corinthians 4:7

The top of the cage is designed to look like the crown of thorns.

This necklace is big and clunky and could never really be worn, but I really love it anyway and just thrilled to death that it was included, along with my explanation of the inspiration from Gods word!

To Him be the Glory.