Kalaya Steede

I'm having a whole lotta fun making cards. Thanks to Amber I think I have a new obsession! Here are some of the cards I made this weekend. Burlesque is my theme. Sexy is my name. There's nothing more sexy then confidence!   What will I do with these? I found myself asking this question over and over again. Etsy? Nah... I could always use a unique card. Maybe winter solstice gifts or just wrap them all together for that anytime gift. Somebody's gotta like it, right?    Here is a leather wrap bracelet with my new hand made end bead. The last picture was taken by a bright window. The first two was with my Photek set up. They are so different. I think the true color of the lavender is somewhere between the first and the last.  This two wrap leather bracelet is a gift for one of my step daughters. Can you guess her favorite color? Well, that's it for now.  Namaste Kalaya

Leather Bracelet Thanks to Sue, a friend of mine, I was inspired to make this bracelet. It fits me perfectly! Who'd of thought? Anyway the focal point is some sort of carved stone. I'm guessing nephrite but I could be wrong. Materials: 1. 1 yd. 1.8 mm leather 2. Focal point with four holes drilled 3. Brass 4mm roundel beads 4. African brass end bead 5. Two skulls for accents at the end I used cross knots in the design. It has a good weight to it but not too heavy and it's all for ME! I will show it off today and see if anyone notices it. Merci Sue! My Very First End Bead!  Oh how I wish I took a picture of the process for you but I didn't. However, it wasn't very complicated. Start with a 16mm silver disc. Dome it slightly, or not. It all depends on what tools you have. I have a small wooden block so I couldn't make it too deep. A small jump ring big enough for 1.8mm leather to go through.  1. Solder the jump ring on to the disc. Do this carefully. On my firs

Bonjour!  Hope everyone is having a fantabulous weekend so far.  I placed some new tabs underneath the blog title for those of you who love paper art (because I know I do). There is a tab titled "Paper Art" which is where I share some of my journal pages and anything new that I make relating to paper. The other tab is titled "Just For You". Under that tab you will find my personal collage papers that I put together to share with all or you can just click on the image below and save it. Feel free to download or print it out and use it in your own artwork but please don't resell these images in digital art form or in your own collage sheets or as single images. Add your name to my followers list to receive updates.  Click on the image above and save the larger printable version. Enjoy! Yesterday I hung out with the awesome Amber Leilani ! We were neck deep in paper. It's surprising that we didn't get a paper cut. Hehe...yeah, I know, bad joke. Anyways,

I've been working on a few things for you but first things first.  Aren't you wondering how Fire Spirit turned out? Below is the enameling process. I sifted with a 100 mesh sifter. All enamels are  Thompson Enamels  and firing was done in Wall-E, kiln's name, at 1500 degrees F for about 1 minute and 15 seconds. All kiln's are different. Wall-E likes to get things done fast and furious. I'm only going to enamel the top piece. The bottom piece will be left alone to allow fire scale to form at will. I removed excess enamel from the bottom piece after each sift with a paint brush. 1. Sifted 1996-Black and 1850-Pumpkin. Fire. Rinse 2. Sifted 1870-Orient Red. Fired once more and thought to myself...why are you doing it this way?  I should of been layering the enamels. Ohhhh how I forgets how to do things.  Rinse. 3. Sifted some 1820-yellow, 1870-Orient Red on top of that. Then I removed some of the enamel here and there with a paint brush, letting the Fire spirits gu

With some help from my friends I managed to pick out my new packaging. I LOVE to package jewelry or gifts up in nice delicious bags. It makes me happy! This package is all wrapped up and ready for Kim. Can you guess what's inside? Namaste Kalaya

Your mission Ms. Steede, should you decide to accept it is to make a pendant that captures the Fire Spirit.  At least that is what I thought when I was commissioned to do this piece.  At first it was going to be a single piece that would be enameled reddish orange for the flame effect but I wasn't feeling it. I didn't like that it was so flat. I like  depth, texture, and movement. So I spoke with my partner in crime and we came up with this...  There will be two pieces cut and then soldered together and domed to give it depth. What about the bail? Isn't that always the question? Ran the design past Kim and got the green light, so let the cutting begin! Lots of pictures of the process, here we go... 1. Two pieces sawed out prior to soldering together (note the piercing) 2. Used white out to prevent the solder from running out from under the inner piece. Eww...how ugly! Time to clean it up. Now to attach the bail to the back. 3. What the...Oops I placed the bail too low!

Introducing the Knew Concepts Saw So this is the latest acquisition. I truly believed that this saw was going to change my life and make my art fantabulous. My piercing skills would improve exponentially and I will never have to go hungry again! Really? Well, sometimes those thoughts go through my head. I think it goes back to that post about stuff. You remember...how we think that if we buy this or that material then our art will somehow improve miraculously.  Well, that's how I felt about this saw. At first I was a little intimidated by it. I had to read and re-read the directions to get a handle (no pun intended) on it. The first thing I noticed was its weight. I couldn't believe how incredibly light it was compared to my first saw. Here was my first piercing of something very tiny. Check it out. That hummingbird is so itty bitty but not as tiny as Beth Millner's pieces. I don't know how she does it! I could hardly see the lines for this piece as I w

I've been meaning to talk to you about. I failed to mention this in one of my previous posts about what I like to call, "technical difficulties." The whole purpose of this blog is to share my experiences with all of you on my journey in metalsmith. There are no secrets and I encourage any questions you might have.   So don't be shy. :-p As you can see both parts are patinated prior to connecting. This is how I've been taught.  I connected the two using rivets.  While I was hammering the back side to secure the pieces the patina came off where I was hammering.  Sorry, no pictures of the back.  Remember...the backside has a secret message.   Okay...so the patina came off.  Which means I had to remove the patina, clean, and patina again.  I must of done this at least 2x.  Moral of the story... I'm thinking I should rivet BEFORE applying the patina. I'll tell you how that goes later.  It just goes to show you that there is always a learning curve, at lea

You shouldn't have left me that night. Because that night i found a new love. Namaste Kalaya

Happy Friday everyone! Tada... Introducing my latest commissioned piece... Ooh La La The dimensions of this piece is...I think 1 1/2" in height and maybe...Ohhhh I don't know.  I didn't measure it!  Bad Kalaya! Anyway,   I started with 22 gauge copper and silver.  Both pieces were textured and the silver was used to cut out an African symbol, Gye Nyame   (jeh N-yah-mee), except God.  Translation:  No one lives who saw its beginning and no one will live to see it's end, except God . Go here to read more about it. After doming both pieces for depth, the custom bail and jump rings were soldered to the copper piece, cleaned up, patinated, and then joined by brass rivets.  It hangs on a 2 mm leather cord 19" in length. The back carries a special message but only the wearer knows.  I bet you want to know what it says! Hehe. Well...have a great weekend but FIRST have a fantabulous Friday!  Namaste Kalaya

Something I've been working on.  I was wearing my boots when this happened... Note the sharp points at each end.  This is the way it landed when it fell from my bench.  Last week a small, but still heavy, anvil fell on my foot.  In both cases my boots saved me.  Merci Boots!  Hmmm...I think Studio Turquesa is trying to get my attention.  Anyway...   Have a great Monday! Namaste Kalaya