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

Back in the Studio...

Climbed back up on the horse after looking at late 2012/2013 year in review and seeing how few pieces I posted. No wonder I've been feeling "out of sorts"!! To much what I call "work-work" not enough creative play = "out of sorts" Cindy.

Fine Silver Locket...

I took a "hinge-less locket" class at the Memphis Botanic Garden in mid January and after making my piece I have ideas for how to change it up, improve on the piece I did (example - I did a deeper curve on mine so it was a bit smaller than the rest in class so my bezel should have been smaller... next time I will take all that into consideration. :o) ). I love taking classes - even if it's a repeat which I do quite often - I tend to learn something new each time OR get ideas on how to tweak projects and make them my own. (Next class is spinner rings! :o) )

earth prints in Sterling Silver...
On Jan 9 - 31 I took part in the Memphis Botanic Garden "Incognito Artist Silent Auction". The idea is that

 all pieces submitted are not "signed" (as most of them are paintings that is easy to do) and bidders are encouraged to "bid on what you love, not who you know". I created Sterling Silver versions of my "earth prints" in the form of a bracelet and an earring/necklace set. I loved every minute of creating these pieces! They speak to me and the "clean" edges on these - as opposed to the more organic look my latest bronze pieces have been was a fun different look for these. 

The pieces were pretty well received - they were on display from 9th thru the 31 with a big Gala event the evening of the 31st when the silent bid auction took place. My necklace and earring set brought in a winning bid of $125 and my bracelet brought in a winning bid of $50. Not a bad donation for the Garden Education Department.

Bronze earth print:
Cilantro w Amethyst ...
On even better news - I posted the Bronze Cilantro w Amethyst crystals earth print I wore to the Incognito Gala on Facebook to show how cool it looked with some organic ceramic beads and SOMEONE ASKED TO BUY IT! - Ok I know, I have sold pieces before, and even shipped to Australia but ... ::giggle:: it never gets old! ;o)

The piece had two Amethyst Crystals (little pieces that chipped off when I dropped an Amethyst Druzy piece on the floor by accident) fired in place in the Bronze. They clouded in the kiln - which I expected something to happen because Amethyst should not be fired - and let me tell you - they were soo cool looking. They clouded, did not fracture or break, just ended up looking almost like Moonstone. I paired it with two twist tube organic textured, ceramic beads with a slight turquoise coloring on them. Strung it all on a brown leather cord and created hand-coiled end caps and "S" hook. It was restrung and is now in the loving hands of it's new owner. 

Heart Felt
& Simply Understated...
My latest piece was a custom Valentine's Day gift. Now I know this gifter and they let me pretty much have my own way but I wanted them to be able to have a hand in the piece also so when they told me the receiver's favorite color is green so I went thru my stash of lampwork beads and pulled out three types of green beads....

1. "cutesy" green - like cupcakes
2. "love" green - hearts of diff shapes, sizes and shades
3. "dressy" green - more modern take on green lampwork beads - long focals, swirls, etc.

Without even asking for more the large heart focal was picked. No second guessing - just perfect. It has an opaque almost Emerald green bottom and transparent green top with silver swirled where the different glasses meet. The heart focal is one I had gotten from Principessa Jewels & Glass.

I went for a "simply understated" look and highlighted the colors on the bead by using 4mm Swarovski Crystals (sand opal, olivine, emerald and peridot) and added one for the gifters birthstone and one for the receivers birthstone. I hung the pendant from a black leather cord (also requested by the gifter) with Sterling Silver hand-coiled end caps, "S" hook and then added a 2" chain to allow for it to be worn at varying lengths. I finished it off with a clear crystal Swarovski heart. 

I have been back in the Studio this weekend too - started and finished a project that went INCREDIBLY SMOOTH! :o) Right now the pieces are in the tumbler so more later!! :o) 

Thanks for "listening". :o)

A year past?! 2013 Year in Review...

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! 

No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"
- White Rabbit, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Oh, my goodness!
- Shirley Temple, Poor Little Rich Girl'

I couldn't choose which to use as the title to this blog post! Because Oh, my goodness! I'm late! I'm late! it has been over a YEAR since my last post - Oh, my goodness! 

So what do I do? Do I try and update in order or do I show you what I've created in the past year? I'm thinking a "quick" (seriously have you ever found me to be QUICK on this blog?) "Year in Review" is in order - so here we go!

December 2012
Custom Mother's Pendant - Intertwined Lives
Three children, three circles, intertwined
as their lives are intertwined.
Sterling Silver hand-forged open
filigree design. Lab created stones:
Topaz and Emerald with Pearl (all 6mm).
Manufactured Sterling Silver chain w/
coordinating 3 circle links connecting long link.

December 2012
Mother's Love
Special Mother's Pendant - Sterling Silver with Amethyst, Emerald and Aquamarine stones (CZs or lab made) representing three children. It hangs on a hand-dyed, black silk ribbon.

This is my first Mother's Pendant in Filigree and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I'm working on a design that will allow me to add additional children.

December 2012
Custom Mother-In-Law Set - Heart Vines
Two Sons and Daughter-in-law vining within her heart ... her heart of hearts.
Sterling Silver hand-forged open filigree design. Lab created stones: Sapphire and Tanzanite
with Pearl (all 6mm). Earrings are 6mm Sapphire and 4mm Pearls. 

Pendant hands from manufactured 20" Sterling Silver French Rope chain.
A beautiful compliment to the vining heart. 

December 2012
Custom Filigree "Initial" Earrings...
Sterling Silver earrings hand formed,
forged and soldered. 

December 2012
"Family Pendant"...
Sterling Silver wire, settings and chain. 

This is a small piece I did for my Great Aunt...
Hand-shaped, and forged sterling silver wires
forming two hearts. The top stone is my
Great Uncle's stone (Turquoise),
bottom stone is for her daughter (my God-Mother). 

My Great Aunt lost her husband last year,
and just recently lost her sister - who was buried
on what would have been my Great Uncle's birthday.
I thought I wanted to make her
something special this year for Christmas.

January 2013
Sterling Silver St. Brigid's Cross
Designed to look like grasses
in the form of a cross.

January 2013
Bronze* St. Brigid's Cross
Designed to look like the grass ends
are tied.

January 2013
FINISHED! Remember Moe from class in 2012?
In Jan 2013 I had a great set of
custom beads made specifically for this piece and
combined them with beautiful black
 and brown leather bolo cord, sterling silver
hand-fabricated end caps.

June 2013

Something Blue Ankle BraceletHemp, Lampwork Glass and Sterling Silver. 
Made for a bride's beach wedding. The hand

formed closure is sterling sliver heart w hook.

June 2013
"earth prints... Cilantro"
Bronze (Goldie 50/50), Kumihimo Cord, Sterling Silver
This was created from a mold I made of a sprig of cilantro that had just barely started to go to seed. I purposely left the edges "unfinished and uneven" to help with the "fossil" look. It has a fold-over bail on the back. The pendant hangs from a hand-crafted 20" kumihimo cord I braided using embroidery floss to get the small diameter - bronze, brown, cream and green were used. Finished it with sterling silver coiled ends and hook.

July 2013
Fold-Formed Copper with Mini Hessonite Garnet cluster
Created this copper piece in Fold Forming Class at the
Memphis Botanic Garden last weekend with Brandy Boyd.
Brought it home and added the Mini Hessonite Garnet
cluster. It was going to be a bracelet but it really
didn't want to be - sometimes you just have
to listen to the piece!

July 2013
Remembrance Crow...
Sterling Silver, Yellow Sapphire
This crow was created as a
remembrance charm representing
a much loved grandparent
who LOVED crows!
The yellow eye represents his
November birthstone.

August 2013
Race for the Cure Golf Tournament
Sterling Silver Pink Ribbon Heart Charm w/ Golf Ball
on Sterling hand wrapped bangle with glass lampwork beads.

My new obsession... earth prints

earth prints are designed to look almost like a fossil found on a dig! Some of them have crystals poking thru others are set with birthstone czs. 

August 2013
earth prints... "Sapphire Ocean" Pendant
Bronze, Blue Leather, Sapphire Crystal
This "Sapphire Ocean" pendant is approx 1 1/2"  across by 1 1/4" high and is crafted using two of my own custom created mold. This is shown shown straight from the kiln with heat patina acquired during firing with only a slight brushing to bring up some sparkle on the high points of the piece. The Sapphire Crystal fired perfectly and looks wonderful in the pendant. The look fits my idea of earth prints perfectly. It is currently hanging from a length of blue leather cording.

August 2013

earth prints... "Ocean" Key Fobs
Bronze, Leather, Bronze WireThese 
"Ocean" Key Fobs are approx 1" diameter using two of my own custom created molds and textures. They are shown straight from the kiln with heat patina acquired during firing. Some even have specs of carbon on them. The look fits my idea of earth prints perfectly. They hang from my hand-cut/bound leather cord fobs and have a purchased bronze colored key ring .

September 2013
Took a wonderful Mask Class with UK Metal Clay &
Enamel Artist - Joy Funnel
Fine Silver with Enamels, CZs Shows front and back of my Sea Queen

October 2013
Larimar & Sterling Silver
A wonderful artist friend of mine cuts cabochons
and creates beautiful jewelry. He sent me the pretty
Larimar set pendant with a cabochon order.
I loved it so much I asked him to cut me a couple
of small triangle Larimar cabs so that I could
try setting my own post earrings. I LOVE THEM!!!

December 2013
Dreamcatcher Sterling Silver Filigree EarringsSterling, Pearl 

Special custom order Christmas present for a bestie from her bestie. Both girls share the same birth month (June) and an inside joke... hence the 1 and 2 on the back of the hearts. Designed to fall slightly "off center" the dream catcher part of the earring is approx 1" diameter. It hangs approx 2 1/2" long from removable posts. This allows any "stud" like earring to be used.

The feather and hearts were hand-crafted from sterling silver PMC.

This was an incredibly fun project to design and create. Thank you to the "bestie" for allowing me to make her friend's Christmas present!!

December 2013
Sterling Silver Filigree Leaf Mother's Pendant

Hand-formed, customized Mother's Pendant featuring Mother of Pearl cab for June and Yellow Topaz for November birthdays. Hangs from doubled 1/8" hand-dyed black silk cord with hand-formed coil end caps, hook and a sterling silver (pmc) artisan tag. 

This is my first international order and is wing it's way to New So Wales, Australia!! :o)

December 2013
Bronze Mitten Christmas Ornament
This ornament went to my family members in lieu of a gift this year...
The card below explains the meaning behind it.

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