Kalaya Steede

Get out of the studio!   You know...my a/c has not stopped running since noon!  I believe it is just getting hotter and hotter here in NOLA but you know what? It would not be NOLA without that summer, HOTTER THAN HELL, heat! Okay enough of that.  What have you all been up to? I have been making this and that. Mostly making rings and etching my heart away. When I sit down to make a piece I often think about what I want to say or what kind of energy I want it to have. Do I want to attract love or do I want to invoke inner peas...hmm...I mean peace? Maybe I want to provide protection? Since prehistoric times metals, crystals, stones, and symbols held power and mystery. When I make my pieces I like to incorporate some sort of protection for the wearer, usually there is a piece of turquoise somewhere. This past week I started off making my mother her long awaited bullet casing pendant.  On the casing I etched the Rune symbols for Journey and Protecti...

Bring back any memories...anyone?  hehehehehe!   Well summer days are drifting away but memories linger and my step daughter wanted to make something  for that special someone.  She came home last night asking, "can you help me make something?".  Can I?  Well...it is 7 o'clock at night and we have not much time but let us go into the studio and see what we can create! We started with a focal round copper that I made many moons ago and some random beads... So what do I do first? It was a lot of...what bead should I put on and how many and what order...blah...blah...blah! hahahahahaha! Look at her concentration! Here is what we ended up with... Used my etched bronze for the clasp.   Umm...why did I do that?  I should of used copper!  Booooo!!!!! And there you have it!   It all started with that copper washer like thing that was patinated a long time ago and grew from there. She did su...

What does one do when if one gets in a creative slump?   You just keep swimming...that is what you do! Hehehehe!!! Well...first you take pictures of your favorite herbal tea. I just love the color of the lavender.   And then you go into the studio and do something...anything! I started with this... and ended with this... It did not come easy.   I must of wire wrapped over 50 carnelian beads!   The first 25 were not up to my standards and I got so frustrated...argh!  Sometimes you need a little help and so I spoke to my friend Sue and she gave me a little hint and that is all it took.  Then I was wire wrapping like a pro!   Merci beaucoup Sue! And then...you meet friends for coffee and talk about art and the ideas just pour in from there.  Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Namaste Kalaya

It all started with an acorn button and grew from there. In an earlier post I mentioned this button swap blog hop, that I am participating in, and how I was immediately drawn to the acorn button.  Every day I would hold it in my hand, feel its essence, exam it, and then put it down.  This lasted for about 2 weeks. Then I remembered I had etched an oak tree on to brass when making buttons for my partner Kylie of Lotus Out Loud .  And... so begins the journey of creating something with this wonderful acorn button, which only started yesterday. Haha!  Etched brass was copper riveted to a piece of oak.  Merci beaucoup Papi for finding some oak!   I am using what Jesse taught me in his workshop .  It was the first time trying his technique.  It worked beautifully! The riveted brass was then captured with a piece of pierced copper. Voila! And then the day came  when the risk to remain tight in...