~*~*~Vine Post Series~*~*~

Super quick entry today, I really need to get moving! Post office, shopping, and back to pick up the boys at the mountain by 4pm. I need to leave here at 4:30 to meet Ma for poker night. So, it's down and dirty.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21566297

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21566941




http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21566727

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21566536

later taters!

ATOMIC WEDGIE

I had to pop out of the house for about an hour this morning and this is what I came home to........

Danny gave little William a monster wedgie. Now I have so sew his beloved Mountain Dew PJ bottoms. Apparently this wedgie was so powerful it ripped the crotch. Ya gotta love school vacation......

In other news I have been working on 4 new pairs of turquoise posts similar to the vine posts I made last week. These are all larger posts and I just love them all! Currently they are staring at me from the bench patiently waiting to be buffed and made all pretty because they are thrilled to be having their picture taken tomorrow. Maybe large posts will make a come back maybe they already have? Chris spent the day priming our bedroom ceiling. He refinished it last week and I picked out the colors for the walls and trim. Hopefully after he gets back to work we will be able to put in a new carpet. Oh, I'll go take a pic of the bedroom as it is right this minute..... be right back.....

So yea, everything is yuk, but the ceiling looks goooooorgeous!
I am trying to finagle taking tomorrow off, or most of the day. I do have orders to pack and ship in the morning and also I will be adding the new line of Vine Posts to the shop. I need to grocery shop and all that jazz then meet Ma at 5:30pm for poker with "the girls". It's "get your own" night for supper this evening so I don't have to cook. I LOVE "get your own" night!!

Later taters!

I ate too many dried apricots.......

I just finished a snack of dried apricots and the rumbly in my tumbly is telling me I ate too many, perhaps. Anyway..... I am cleaning the studio of all the beads, cabochons, chain, bead caps, etc that I am not planning on using or that I have so much of, I will never use them all. Today I listed a 16" strand of Sleeping Beauty Turquoise rounds for $65!!!! That's unheard of. I think Rio sells them for $115 (4mm). Also 2 huge 54x42mm Chinese Turquoise Cabs. That's all I had time to list today. So if you are looking for some great supplies WELL BELOW retail (what I paid for them) stay tuned!!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21486880

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21487533

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21487249

I have not listed these yet....... hopefully tomorrow.


I read Jaime's bog entry the other day talking about her new nose rings and it motivated me to list 2 new noserings that I just had not gotten around to listing as of yet. They are very sweet and simple...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=2148652

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21486529

later taters!

i am not blogging today. so there!

Not much to report today. I did add some new designs to my shop moments ago. I am really pleased with their uniqueness. They figuratively scream LISA!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21387106

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21386525

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21386870

I simply do not have a favorite, they are all very different. The vine posts are precious. I don't see that many larger posts out there, I just adore them!

Later taters!

My ma......

I was on Face Book yesterday to read a message an old friend sent me and I noticed that my dear Ma that's what I call her, it sounds just like you would imagine Maaaaaaa. She calls her mother Ma as well and it sounds exactly the same. Chris makes fun of me all of the time because of my "Yankee" accent when I say Ma. Oh coarse it sounds more exaggerated to him because he is Southern Changed her profile picture. It previously was a picture of my gorgeous Niece Kate.Ha! Do you see where I get "it" from now???? She's such a doll. She "normally" is a very beautiful lady, I fear she was dipping into the sauce when she snapped this dandy. She does not read my blog, probably because she does not know how to get here (Ma is not too swift with the computer. I am super impressed she actually uploaded a pic on Face Book!)

Anyway.......

Yesterday I had a big ole fashion "freak out" on my son Danny (the 15 year old). He had a friend with him and when he addressed me he was very rude and his tone was incredibly disrespectful. I treat my wonderful teenager with oodles of respect and I don't really expect it in return but this was over the top. His friend left and Danny was super pissed of because they had made plans that fell though (such is life, but Danny has a nasty temper when things do not go his way. I tell him frequently that most of the time his "reality" does not match the "real" reality, and when it doesn't he explodes) So, he whipped the basket of remote controls and guitar picks across the living room and I (usually the calm voice of reason) got nuttier than a shit house bat. I began screaming and cussing like no one should EVER cuss, especially not a lady/mother. My emotions were so high and raw it scared me. I did end up leaving and when I returned everything was okay after awhile. It did all end with smiles, apologies, and hugs. I would rather not repeat this behaviour no matter how difficult other's behaviours are in this house (Danny is not the only one!) I think much of it is from stress. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make enough money for Chris and I both (his work is very sporadic right now). When I do put this kind of pressure on myself I become an emotional roller coaster. If I am making money, I am in a good mood, if I am not, I am stressed and very serious. I have been praying and praying about this. God has NEVER let me down and has NEVER not provided even in the worst of times. But when the going gets tough, where oh where is my faith?????? If I had one wish it would be to trust in God completely without reservation. What would your only wish be?

The red carnation is a Valentines day present from William :)

I successfully finished my ring orders yesterday without incident, whew! I completely remade the vine ring, the setting could not be salvaged. I made a Dry Creek Mountain ring (not pictured), and a coral fossil ring. These are all custom orders and on the way to their new homes!

Do you ever get so "into" what you are working on that you forget you can not take a sip of your coffee with a mask on???? I worry myself sometimes......

Yesterday I purchased a spinner ring from Carolyn! She was having a giveaway which I did not win what's new , and I just love the ring she was giving away and just had to have it, and now I will. I can wear it all of the time because I had her size it to my middle finger on my left hand. Anything on my left hand stays pretty clean. I NEVER wear stone rings on my left hand because my wedding rings are there, but Carolyn's Tomboy Spinner will look lovely next to my wedding ring! Here it is.... I can't wait to receive it!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21227325

Oh, and lastly, I made a Treasury last night. I almost never make them but I thought a treasury featuring many of you who have posted comments in my blog would be a nice idea! I would take a screen shot, but I do not know how and can't be bothered with that right now so here is the link....

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=40646

later taters!

here is the screen shot! Thanks "Little Lovables"!!

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAHTZEE!

Chris and I played Yahtzee with our little hero last night, I won ;P

nice face Will......

In other news I added two listings in my shop for custom PICK YOUR STONE turquoise rings. I did this before Christmas with much success so I thought I'd give it another go. I receive many requests from customers to view stones that I thought I'd save a step and offer a selection.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21182626

The stone in the upper left is AMAZING! It's my favorite out of these.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21182033

I have a boat load of work to do today. Three rings to custom make along with my regular orders that are due to ship tomorrow!

ttfn

So I did not keep the jade stone for myself. When the ring was finished and I looked at it, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the stone and the super wide beautiful band I made. I put the ring on my finger and it fit perfectly. I looked at my nasty silversmith hands and thought to myself, "this just is not right". A ring like that should be worn ALL OF THE TIME! I would never be able to wear it while I work. It is incredibly comfortable but I would kill it with the flux,pickle,steel wool,silver dust,sulfur etc etc......

I pray that who ever purchases this ring cherishes it. It is not often that I find it difficult to part with anything I make.

Here she is....

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21180419

This is the Red River Jasper stone I showed a few days ago....

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21180622

Hold on, I'm not finished. I have not told you all about my morning. I woke up at 5:50am to get the boys off to school. After coffee, prayer, reading I drove Danny to the bus stop. When I came home William was claiming he could not go to school because his wrist hurt (he sprained it snowboarding last Friday night). Will is famous for being "fake sick" so I encouraged him to go to school and he refused. I then went to my computer with coffee in hand and looked at my email. Sigh, no sales since Saturday. Well, no biggie, it happens. I then see an email from PayPal telling me that a payment of $160 had been taking out of my account because a report of unauthorized credit card use had been reported. I sent the ring to Canada last week. So, I have no money and no ring. I emailed the buyer and asked her what was going on. I then began to print my mailing labels for today's shipment, that went fine. I had to set one stone in a ring that was fresh from the tumbler and send it with the days orders. WELL, I did not notice that I had fused the vines to the top of the blessed bezel wall.

Exhibit A

This is what the ring would have looked like if I did not make such a mistake .....

Now my customer (sorry Lindsay) will have to wait 2 more days for her ring. I need to send her a convo because I printed her shipping label so PayPal has notified her ring has been shipped. Doh!
Shipping blunder #2......
I was putting the oxidized chain on my tumbled caged pearls (I don't tumble the chain, it is too fine) and a link in the middle of the chain broke out of nowhere (better to have happened to me than the customer). I had to cut a new section of chain, oxidize it, and then while putting the lobster claw clasp on I gave it a little tug and the clasp flew under my bench. I freaked out and Chris (who has been in the studio with me this entire time) said "it went under there" so I found it, but the jump ring came off and went flying and I could not find it, mind you these are both oxidized pieces. I finally get the necklace assembled and I hold it up and one side is longer than the other, apparently I reattached the broken piece. I was slamming things around at this point. I was on my last package when I noticed i was out of business cards. I have another box under my computer table. I go to get it and I can't find it. I look everywhere and realize I used that box already. I AM OUT OF BUSINESS CARDS! SO, then I slam my drawers under my computer table and it ranks the cord to my pot of pickling acid which is FULL and the acid spills EVERYWHERE. on my bench, down the wall, all over my tanks and hoses, down the floor to my jewelry boxes etc etc. Chris and I got it all cleaned up. Chris took the hoses off of the tanks to soak them. We left and went to a much needed meeting. The meeting helped A LOT (they always do). Chris and I walked to the van after the meeting smiling and talking. My cell phone rings and it is William crying telling us that the carbon monoxide detector was going off. He was outside and had the dogs with him (smart boy). We rush home and just knew the one of the tanks to my torch was not all the way off. We opened all the windows and doors (it's 10 degrees outside) and turn on all the fans. It took about 20 minutes before the detector stopped beeping.

It is now a couple of hours later and the house is warm and we are all happy, safe, and healthy. Thanks be to God.
So, how was your morning?

Yesterday was truly lovely.....

Sheesh, I have not blogged in a few days, I don't like that. For those who are interested in my day to day festivities, I'll catch you up. Friday I did not end up working in the studio. I shipped packages and did some work on the computer but I did not finish my rings. I went grocery shopping and drove the boys up to the mountain when they arrived home from school then met my mom at her house. We drove to bingo together and had such a great time no, we did not win. Saturday I worked most of the day. Chris and I did not have anything planned for Valentines day so we just bathed early and snuggled on the couch watching a movie while the boys were up at the town gym rollerskating. It was special. Chris and I woke up for church on Sunday morning but the boys were not into it to say the least. Chris and I have a Sunday morning rule, it keeps us from arriving at church in tears, if you are not seated in the van by 8:15am you are simply grounded for the day, no discussion. This takes much stress off of us dealing with teenage boys who don't want to go to church. BUT yesterday my sweet angels did not care about being grounded. They were not in the van on time so Chris and I went to church alone and I'll tell you it was so nice! We just say together quietly in the pew without the normal disturbances. Now, don't get me wrong, I would much rather that the boys went to church but I have to admit it was so nice just being with my husband. After church we went skiing/snowboarding. The day was just beautiful. Crystal blue ski's and the temp was nearing 40 degrees. The boys stayed home of course (no church, no fun). After arriving home and cooking a quick supper we played "Life" with Will then watched some TV and went to bed. Now Monday is here a bit too soon for me.........

Later Taters!

Working hard.... looks like I am the only one?

I have been hard at work in the studio today. Everything is going very well. Tomorrows shipment is just about ready to be polished and packed up and it's only 1:30pm! I love days like this. Chris did not have to work today as he was meant to work outdoors and it was actually raining this morning the past few days have been very mild! So, I am getting ready to start 3 rings. One is a custom order. Lindsay selected a gorgeous round china blue turquoise stone with intricate black matrix. I am creating it with a vine setting like my Charlotte's Web ring. The second ring is a Red River jasper piece. I think I may create a plain bezel and garnish it with a little pile of bubbles and place them where the stone curves off to a point. I think this ring will be gorgeous worn with the point on the bottom (if any of you are interested in this stone/design, speak now before I create the band in a size of my liking!!) The third ring I am going to create is FOR ME! yes, you heard me correctly. A large round and nasty expensive vibrant Jade cabochon will be set in a scalloped bezel without further adornment for little ole me. I spent a fortune on this stone.

So, while all of this is going on I have had some lovely company in my studio!

All kidding aside, Chris works extremely hard for our family and deserves each and every nap he can get! God bless him.

onward and upward....

I awoke feeling much better this morning. I went to bed at 8pm last night! I just realized that I never posted about the 4 new rings I added to my shop on Sunday. The labradorite ring sold yesterday! I also just got in some really incredible Red River Jasper stones and I can't wait to make more rings. Anne scooped up the first one I made last week. I am really enjoying working with new stones. Don't get me wrong, turquoise will always be my true love but the bright vibrant colors I have been purchasing as of late are very inspiring.

SOLD

Sold

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20794525
This is amazing on!! I love the way it slenderizes (is that a word?) my chubby digits.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20793976

This ring just says "fresh & yummy" I really am in love with it :)

I am hoping to go on another ring making spree in the next few days, we'll see. These little buggers take a lot of time and love to design and fabricate. Okay, now I need to finished packaging today shipment and go and pick up William's snowboard from "the shop". YES, his snowboard that is 1 month old. He buckled the top a bit. The men in my family are going to be the death of me!

xoxo