What's Your Vision?

A couple of Sunday's ago I got a call from Lincoln, Nebraska. When I saw it on the caller ID, I thought, "I just sent some earrings there a this week." It was the lady who bought the earrings and she loved them so much that she wanted a necklace to match. This is what I came up with.

I posted it on Etsy and she immediately bought it. I sent it out the next day. It's a good thing I got a photo because it didn't stay around long. Does it ever seem strange to you to create something and then send it out into the world and never see it again? Sometimes it does to me.

You Could Kiss A Lot Of Toads If You Need To Find A Prince

You can tell that Spring has sprung around here. Love is in the air. You can hear it all around you...toad's love songs. I hope that these pictures aren't too risque'. I guess it's not any worse than the Animal Planet channel. Our pond seems to be the rendezvous location for all of the area toads. I was amazed today when I walked down there! They are everywhere! There are trails and trails of eggs! They are paired up and several seem to be having a foursome. There must be a shortage of females. They were almost oblivious to me being near to photograph them.
After walking around the pond, my DH and I took a walk in the woods to look for morel mushrooms. No luck, but the wildflowers are starting to bloom. This one is a trillium.
Maggie enjoyed the walk with us. See her new tag that I made for her? By the way, I was going to keep Tootsie, but a lady that I know called and had seen the poster that I put up and had fallen in love with her. She is going to keep her in the house and will take her camping and all kinds of things that dogs love. I thought I would cry when she took her, but I know she has a good home. It's easier now with two dogs instead of three. On a sad note, one of my sister's dogs died today of kidney failure. She had been unwell for a long time. Maybe I could find her a puppy like mine.
After the walk, we took our little boat out in the pond and went fishing. I caught 5 fish. We let them go.

In spite of the beautiful weather, I managed to make some jewelry. I made this bracelet this morning. It is brass, faux pearls, silver-toned wire, and recycled beads from some old earrings. I kind of like the way it turned out.
Long post...long day, but fun.

Fun Outing and New Jewelry

Every once in a while it is good to go on an art field trip. It kind of gets the creative juices flowing. That's what I did on Thursday. A local artist had bought some of my jewelry and emailed me and introduced herself. We sent several emails back and forth but had not met in person. She has an event at her house every second Thursday, called Studio Thursdays. I went to my first one last Thursday. Her business is called Silo Studios because their house is built around an old grain silo. It is the most beautiful and unique house that reminds me of a lighthouse. She makes wonderful, whimsical, colorful furniture, signs, and other cool stuff. I had a blast! She also asked me if I want to bring some jewelry to sell next time so I'd better get to work!
Two other new blogs are added to my links today. My daughter-in-law is launching a blog for her jewelry and my son is doing one just for fun.



I have been venturing back into soldering. I haven't done much of it since many years ago when I was doing stained glass so it is taking some practice to get proficient again. Here are some new necklaces that are collages under glass. A couple of them are sold already. Yay!

They're Staying!

Tootsie

Maggie

Hallelujah! I get to keep both of the puppies...that is unless some deserving family comes along that can't live without one of them. They have names now. Maggie and Tootsie Milo is extremely jealous, but we are working on that.

Guess Who Followed Me Home

I was driving home from town on Monday evening. It was just beginning to get dark. I was about half a mile from my driveway when I saw a pair of eyes glowing. They were low to the ground so I thought it was a rabbit. When I got near, I saw that it was a little puppy! I stopped and she was running around the car whining and so I picked her up and put her on my lap and she just laid down as if it was the most natural thing. I drove into my garage and put her out. Then I went inside and told my husband, "Come look at what I found." I went back out to pet her and a couple of minutes later I heard scratching and crying at the door and I looked out and it was her sister. She had followed us somehow and thought that she should be in my house. So, now I have two extra puppies. I want to keep one of them, but I need to find a home for the other one. They are so adorable! I think they are Doxles- (Dachshund /Beagle mix)


I called all of my near neighbors to make sure they weren't missing any puppies and they weren't so I'm sure that someone dropped them. People do that here frequently because we live in a remote area. I'm sure these puppies would have been coyote food before morning. What a sad thing. I'm glad I found them. My problem now is which one to keep. They are tooooo cute!

Finds Inspire Jewelry

I was browsing at a local antique mall last week and came home with two interesting finds. One was a tea cup full of old metal jacks and the other was a bundle of vintage silver plated spoons. Each inspired a piece of jewelry and hopefully will become other jewelry in the future and not just disappear into the chaotic void of my studio.

The first piece that I made was a necklace using the handle of the spoon. The design is a tall vase of flowers with a pierced design around it. I surrounded it with faux pearls and crystal beads.



The jacks inspired me to make a necklace of game pieces in the style of Susan Lenart Kasmer, only not so full as hers.
These two are now listed on my Etsy shop.