Updates coming...

It sure has been a long time!!

I have updates coming... in the mean time here are a few photos of pieces I've created - including a before, after and NOW picture of my last foster. 

This is Plum... now known as Sage - she came to our home a week after being
pulled off the streets of Memphis where she was living with a pack of dogs.
The pic on the left is her an hour or so after being caught at her first check-up
and the pic on the right is her a month and week or so later after her last
check up before heading north to live a wonderful life with her
canine sister and a great Mom and Dad.
She stayed with us from Halloween until early December.

THIS is Sage a taken 6 months later with her sister.
She is big, beautiful and LOVED.

Pieces currently in my calDESIGN Naturals etsy shop include but not limited to these -
EXCEPT the bracelet on the blue denim - which was a custom order. 

Not a Tattoo...

Initial starting design

A friend wanted to get a tattoo to memorialize her family members, but she knew her dad would not approve of a tattoo... so she asked me about making a butterfly bracelet. 

As we spoke about the bracelet I asked about her parents and grandparents and found the love of roses and irises were as strong as butterflies. She also wanted to include their birthstones on the butterfly.

An idea began to evolve. I instinctively leaned toward sterling silver metal clay - because that's my first go-to... and then I thought about my new classic metalsmithing skills and wondered about doing it in sterling sheet... and then it hit me - sterling sheet w/ enamel! I could add color to it to really bring it alive. We hadn't considered color in the initial discussions.

More discussion and I found it was yellow roses and purple irises. As I worked the design, filigree seemed to fit perfectly allowing the wings of the butterfly to be open and fragile looking like a butterfly wings would be.

The focal is less than 2" wide approx 1" tall and the spaces for the birthstones were very tiny so I opted to "create" the colors using my enamels. Turquoise, Garnet and Peridot - got those pretty quick, the opal concerned me but with some "fiddling" I got an opal I was pretty pleased with!

Some process shots ...

Layers cut from sterling sheet

Pieces stacked to test fit

Pieces soldered together, cell
wires added and filigree wing wires

Fired and pickled many times
in prep for enameling

Initial layers of enamel

Additional layers of enamel

Finished focal with enameled
"birthstones"

Chainmaille bracelet w entwined
rings, birthstone dangle & mag clasp

Once the focal was finished we looked at sterling wire bangle, leather, ribbon and finally decided that it needed a silver chain - so I created a chain including two pair of entwined larger rings in a "love knot" style on each side of the focal to again incorporate the family members being remembered - I added a fifth one near the closure to represent my friend and dangled HER birthstone from the focal.

This was truly a labor of love and I used almost every skill I have learned and loved every minute of working it out. I am thankful that she allowed me the freedom to create this piece for her and I enjoyed sharing the process with her along the way - loving the "ohhhs and ahhhs" she gave me in return! 

So happy she opted to NOT get a tattoo! :o)

Finished piece on the wrist of a pleased
daughter and grand daughter

Awareness, Studio Update & New Studio Kitties!

Hope, Love & Golf

Hope, Love & Golf...

On August 16, my sister and some of her friends participated in a Rally for the Cure golf tournament in Concord, NH. They were selling "spots" to play and looking for donations for the raffle table - so you know where I fell in those choices! ;o)

I created an artisan-crafted bracelet which features my own custom designed Heart & Awareness Ribbon. Crafted from Fine Silver (.999) it was customized for the Rally with a tiny golf ball. I added color to the charm by hand-enameling the ribbon with a light pink Japanese enamel and the heart was patina’d to bring out the details.

The 2-1 hand-crafted chain is sterling silver (.925) interspersed with beautiful made in the USA artisan-crafted lampwork beads by Canyon Echoes Artisan Beads flanked by vintage Swarovski Clear AB crystals. The lampwork beads look like pink ice cubes. So beautiful combined with the charm. The bracelet measured approx 7”-7.25” long.

I heard from my sister later that day that one lady really wanted the bracelet and bought a number of tickets. Apparently you bought tickets and the numbered order in which your name was drawn indicated the number of the prize you won... The lady that wanted it had her name drawn FOR that piece. It was a little miracle all of it's own - I'm SO PLEASED that she loved it enough to buy tickets and then was the lucky winner!

Thank you to my sister for the opportunity to be part of such a worthy cause!!

Studio Update!!

Studio Layout

DONE!!! Cleaned up, cleaned out, and re-organized!! I love my studio - it's walls are Hydrangea Blue (an Eddie Bauer paint color from Lowes), the woodwork is an off white and the floors are honey brown. Add in my display credenzas for books, display and now packaging area; a small drafting table with storage on top, child's desk with incredible work space, a computer armoir again with incredible work space that can be closed up, toss in a 6' Aruba Cat Condo and a "Pent House" kitty bed on top of the armoire and you have my absolute favorite room in the house!!

An earlier blog showed my shame at the condition the Studio was in during the summer. It's no wonder I struggled to create. NOW let's see it as I SEE IT every day.

Storage, Display and Packaging Credenza's

Welcome to my Studio... we are going to stand in the center of the room (more or less) and rotate clock wise around to each of the areas. 

Credenza & Display Hutches with books, magazines, shipping supplies, display pieces, storage drawers for my finished jewelry, packing station and display area for some of my favorite things.

(That little stool... it's an idea I have to make my work area at the Botanic Garden classes higher... we'll see how it works next weekend for the Copper Enameling class!)

Studio Kitty Condo & Toy Area

The all important Studio Kitty Condo area. I have had this Aruba Cat condo for years... probably going on 14 or 15. It has served me well. 6 kitties have played on, laid on, slept on, and scratched on this condo (as you can see from the lower legs) and they have all loved it.

I originally took this and realized there were no Studio Helpers in it! Needless to say when they wandered back in I re-shot. (Shadow is lump on top, Sissy is under the beading station (lower right) and Hanna is laying on top of my pink and brown rolling bag (lower left).) Nubbles was being smart and sleeping in the bedroom!

Bead & Wire Work Area

Bead & Wire Center...
This is the drafting table that I started with in the closet of the guest room. It fit perfectly in there and now fits perfectly between the white "post" and the window. Like it was made for those spots.  The white storage piece sitting ON the table is actually upside down! I flipped it so that I could use the "poles" going across for wire storage instead of ribbons as originally intended by the creator. Little "canning jar-esq" glass bottles hold semi-precious beads on the rest of the shelves. I got creative and added a bar across the front of one of the bead shelves to hold my tools. (they use to be in stands on top of this storage unit but it meant up and down while working on projects. Project boxes, a dapping set, my Ultralite kiln "just incase", soldering tools are also on this table and YES there is still plenty of room to work. One of my favorite areas in this corner is where I keep my bead hoarding umm I mean bead STORAGE area ::cough:: All those drawers have little

Computer, Extra Work, Sculpting, Molding

plastic bottles of beading goodness (lampwork, Swaros, small semi-precious stones, more wire, more tools, chains, and so much more. The black drawers are my cabs... oooooh yes my cabs and my crystals. ::sigh:: love this area. ;o)

Now a quick turn to the right and you see the 1/3 wall between the Studio and the Living Room (yes, this was supposed to be a dining room - WHO NEEDS A DINING ROOM? ;o) and you see my wonderful score - a CHILD'S desk (really - it's huge, I KNOW) that is tall! it has a large work space, a HUGE pull out area that, when used with a wireless mouse and keyboard gives me even MORE work space.

I use this for my computer work, design work, extra beading and wire work and I've been using it as an area to make my

Studio Kitty Pent House Access

molds and do polymer clay sculpting. This desk is perfect - enough space to put my computer, some display pieces, a laser printer (another bargain!!) my fan... such a wonderful piece.

The 1/3 wall is how the boys get up to the Pent House on top of the Armoire. At some point they discovered they could jump diagonally from the short wall to the top of the armoire. They have even gotten so that they can do it if the door is not fully pushed up against the side. Very coordinated they are!! :o) (this shot shows the jumping angle.

Metal Clay Armoire and Studio Kitty Pent House...
Here is where I make the metal clay magic happen. I love this piece! (who am I

Metal Clay Armoire - partially open

kidding I  love ALL the pieces in this room). It allows me large amount of work space, two pull out areas that have enough space between them and the
work area above to allow pieces to be pushed safely away without being moved! When fully opened you can see all the storage, drawers, shelves, I added peg board on the inside and that allows for added wire storage baskets and hooks. Plastic drawers, metal shelf risers, plastic photo holders and more allow me to store everything I need close at hand. You will notice that there is no trim on top of this piece - it should have a piece across the front and side to match the credenza. I was so excited to get it up and filled that I never added the trim... THANK GOODNESS! I later discovered that Nubbles got so comfy up on top in the Pent House that he ROLLED OFF three times in prob 9 months.

Metal Clay Armoire - fully open

The walls are angled so it doesn't fit snugly against the wall - he rolled off the BACK! I pulled the large trim piece that should be on the front and leaned it against the angled walls behind and POOF instant kitty bunk bed bar! No more rolling off!

I hope you enjoyed my tour of the Studio!! Wait... what?? what is missing? The Kiln? OHH YES! The kiln! I have a separate area - you access it just to the right of the Metal Clay Armoire and around the corner to the door to the garage. In the garage I have two work stations for my kiln, torch work, polymer clay oven, and photo booth with lights.  Thank you for visiting my Studio!!

Studio Kitties...

New Studio Kitties!

I would like to introduce you to our two new Studio Kitties.. Miss Hannah Mae and Miss Magic Sissy. They came home in late July after a visit to the Memphis Animal Shelter. I went to see Miss Hannah after seeing her picture and while waiting to see her I was "selected" by Magic Sissy (we call her Sissy). She was an adorable black kitten in #13 cube. I thought that was kind of funny... black cat, #13.. Well... after Mikito passed away last December our house was missing that little black kitty. And #13 is my lucky number. She didn't have a name just "Unknown". We finally were able to see Miss Hannah and hmmmm now I was sucked in... BOTH girls were adopted that day. They were chipped, had their surgery and came home 3 days later. I can tell you that it was the smoothest introduction I've had. The boys finally took to them, the girls took to the boys and soon I caught Mr Grumpy (ok his name is really Nubbles but he played grumpy when they came home) giving kisses to the kitties and trying to play with them. I knew then that it was going to be OK!

Shadow & Hannah Mae

Hannah Mae

Nubbles & Sissy

Sissy

Studio Evolution

Studio Evolution...

"Art Closet

My "Studio" started out as a little work-area in my spare guest room closet. I called it the "Art Closet".  I found a drafting table that slid perfectly into the closet and allowed me to close the doors to contain it from my 4-legged helpers.

When I really discovered Precious Metal Clay I realized I needed a bigger area AND an area that would allow me to SAFELY use a small butane creme brulee torch to fire my fine silver pieces... I had yet to purchase a kiln. And let me tell you - firing with a torch - even that small... in a small closet is not wise!! (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!)

Section of the Hutch/Book Shelf

I looked around and thought - hmmmm my "Library" which is approx 12' x 12' and supposed to be the dining room of my house might work. BUT it's wide open. No doors. Half wall between it and the living room. I didn't use it as a dining room because the kitchen breakfast area is perfect for my table. (The people before me used it as a music room - it had a piano in it when I saw the house so to me it was never a "dining room".)

It started out w/ some nice bookcases with hutches on top. A rocking chair and the boys Aruba Cat condo. Paint color - gorgeous shade of Hydrangea Blue and Eddie Bauer color from Lowes.

Metal Clay Work Center

It slowly became my Studio...

First I added a metal clay work area - really it's a self enclosed Computer Armoir - purchased to match the book cases and hutches already in there. ... it was perfect - "tons of room", a slide out work area AND a slide our second area where the keyboard is supposed to go. PERFECT... This is what it looked like when I naively thought it would contain all I was going to do for jewelry. >

The bed was added to the top because he kept getting up there. To the left of the open unit is a 1/3 wall between the living room and the "Library/Studio" he would

Sleeping Babies!

jump up there and then jump up to the top. They both (and Mikito did to) spend a lot of time up there. Directly behind me - while sitting at this desk - is the 6' Aruba Cat Condo that has been in our family for many, many years.

I then moved my home computer into this room - one of the "book cases" became a computer center. I moved the small drafting table from the guest room closet into this room too. THEN I purchased a kids computer desk that is really tall - and approx 36" long. It too has a pull out work area and a drawer inside that area.

Beading Area...

I used it as a work center then decided it would be better to have the computer set up there, have room to work on some wire work also and clean up the bookcase area a bit.

NOW we start... the great Studio Reorganization... 

I didn't remember to take photos of the entire room before moving things around but I do have some. Please be warned - these are not PG13.. they are very messy. ;o) The picture below is a wonky, pieced together photo of what is behind me in the room when I sit at the Metal Clay Work Center. Two corner windows w/ the Aruba Cat Condo, my beading area to the immediate right of those, and the packaging section and old computer center in the book cases.

The Messy Studio. A little wonky based on how
I took the pics and pasted them back together.

The picture below is how full the Metal Clay Work Center is now. As I work on cleaning up the studio I will add to this post.

FULL Metal Clay Center

I can tell you that the section you do not see (where I'm sitting when I rotated around to take the images in the long photo above) is set up with a new slim 20" monitor that allows for plenty of work area in front of it. The Beading area is cleaned up, the bookcases & hutches are cleaned up. I created an "Inspiration Board" of finished pieces I have bought from fellow artisans. It's a wonderful place!!

All that's left now is to clean and reorganize the contents of the Metal Clay Work Center and then clean up the corner of the garage (right around the corner from the Studio) where I have my kilns, enameling set-up and photo booth. Wait til you see it. It is as organized as the pic of the Beading Center above but soooo much better!! It's a great space and I'm so pleased to have it to use.