Kalaya Steede

Bonjour beautiful people! I usually start off the year with big plans of making many pieces for the holidays.  Meaning for winter solstice!  I know...it is at least 11 months away but before you know it, it will be the end of summer and then panic will ensue!  Hahaha!!! My most recent piece I made was for that special lady who travels in a caravan with her ' Sisters on the Fly ' group.  I only had a week to finish this project but the idea had been simmering in my brain for at least a week prior to the deadline.   First the rough draft... I decided how big it was going to be and made a sketch with notes on what I was "planning" on doing.  So far so good.  You can see the cut out tin, a button for the wheel, and a glimmer of what will be the door.  That small window was cut out prior to cutting the shape of the trailer because it makes it easier than cutting it out later.  Trust me...I know!!!   The back pl...

Ooo...how exciting to receive a package from Mary Jane Dodd .   Look at the delicious packaging.   I just could not wait to unwrap it.  It was like opening a flower.   One petal at a time. I was sooo lucky to win this beautiful petal by Mary Jane.   And it could not of come at a better time.  I can remember that day clearly.  I came home after a REALLY difficult day.  At the end of it all I went to Mary Jane's blog and there I was, #22, the recipient of this petal, and a picture of a petal stamped "Lightly" and a passage from  Aldous Huxley's book The Island 'lightly, child, lightly. you've got to learn to do everything lightly. think lightly, act lightly, feel lightly. yes, feel lightly, even though you're feeling deeply.' And with that my day just became better even though there was only 4 hours left until that day was over. In gratitude... Namaste Kalaya

Oh I think summer is on its way.  Those days of hot and humid and feeling like you are swimming in sweat.  So I took advantage of it not being quite here yet by swinging on the hammock, reading a lovely book, and feeling the breeze sweep across my face and hair.  What a lovely start to Friday, huh?   Our Auntie and Uncle are back home here in New Orleans from their new home in California.  I tell you this because on my bench lies a piece of copper with a hummingbird cut out of it and it has been sitting there since last summer.  My intention was to mail it out to her...A Year Ago! Hehe! I was kind of paralyzed with the piece.  Thinking it had to be perfect and my skills were not up to the task.   I wanted her to have this piece today.   It must of been the fastest piece I have ever made EVER (~2hrs)!  Remember the humming bird was already pierced ahead of time and has been aging on my jewelers bench for months. ...

(progress not perfection is what I am after) After years of buying crimp ends for leather I thought it time to start making my own.  I ran across this wonderful blog by Objects and Elements showing how easy it was to make your own ends for leather.   I used 16 gauge copper wire instead of their suggested 14 gauge.  I had some 12 gauge bronze but was not going to touch that!  I find bronze hard to form but the tutorial said you will get accustomed to working with heavy gauge wire.  Okay, surrre. :-) It was pretty simple to do and I like the look.  I did not want to ruin my leather with my liquid patina solution and so I left the copper to patina naturally.  The tutorial used Gilder's Paste to "mellow out the piece".  Hmmm...time to buy a new toy!   Surprisingly the ends were secure.  Yay! Milagros (mostly hearts) These came from The Bead Shop . I went through all that they had with help from Sue and Sarah. ...

It's almost Winter Solstice and I haven't done much.  But I tell you what...I'm having a blast at doing it!  Eeeee!!!  I'm so excited around the holidays. So here's what I've done. Made bracelets... Made this one for my guy cousin. Taught a class... Nice color combination! AND made some earrings... I'm really diggin' the rivets. The stone has to be changed in the last picture.  I'm not feeling it so out it goes!  There is no pop action going on.  So...I'm going to use a white pearl instead.   It's warm, muggy and rainy here in NOLA right now.  It's one of those days where you first wear short sleeves, then use an umbrella, and then wear a sweater because after that front moves through it's going to be chilly darlin'.   Stay safe and have a great weekend. Namaste Kalaya

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 F...

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 pl...

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

Happy Friday everyone!   I thought I had an entire month to finish a piece but I didn't.  I only had until Friday, which is today!  It was time to stop procrastinating (which I do REALLY well) and get busy so I could send this baby on its way up north for a very lucky lady.   Like I said in an earlier post I had to design a pendant with an Ankh. Erin gave me total artistic freedom.  Merci buttercup! Anyway... The Ankh is an Egyptian symbol of eternal life. Another theory is that the loop represented the sun rising above the horizon, which is the crossbar, and below is the path of the sun ( The Ancient Ankh, Symbol of Life by Taylor Ray Ellison) .   Wow! So many different interpretations.  Which do you believe? The finished piece.   This was so much fun to make. What will I make next?  Stay tuned...but in the meantime have a FANTABULOUS Friday!    Namaste Kalaya

Tonight I am getting Night Star ready for her journey home.  As I'm polishing her to make her all beautiful, I can't help but to feel a little sadness to see her go.   Night Star was designed in the fall of 2010 as part of the Amulets of the Goddess Series.  I had loads of fun designing the pieces. There were three in the set and now all three are with their Goddess.   Night Star was the last to go. Night Star Being, Knowing, and Becoming I Bring You Strength and Growth I'm all for letting go but sometimes it's just so hard.   Hold onto Night Star while looking up into the night sky and make a wish.  Namaste Kalaya

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE... Last Thursday I got to spend some time with my friend Amber.  I wonder what could be in these bags?  They are so lovely I didn't even want to open them... Inside... These are the goodies that my friend Amber made for me.  Don't know if you can tell but I totally LOVE Frida.  That brass necklace is made by using resin. It's such a cool technique. And what am I going to do with those tags?  They are just too nice to put on packages.  I guess I have to meditate on letting go.  One day I am going to get there.  Amber is so talented.  Go check out the rest of her pieces either on Etsy or her blog Yellow Flower .   Gracias Amber! I made another one! This is a three wrap bracelet made with faceted carnelian stones. It is a talisman and brings good luck to the wearer. It also gets rid of anger, envy, and hatred.  I favor carnelian for it's reddish color. A good stone all around.     Finally a nec...

I'm experimenting with torch firing enamel once again.  Last year I torched some small copper discs that weren't too shabby.  But that was ages ago.  So I decided to try again.   The discs started out as a sheet of raw copper, then was fold formed, and the circles were cut out with a disc cutter.  Here is the sequence of enamels (Thompson Enamels): 1.  Clear Flux #2015 on both sides.  Done in a kiln. 2.  White, opaque #1055.  Done with a torch, front side only. 3.  Raspberry, transparent #2836 on front side. Two times. The enamel was torched from below (enamel powder on top), although I did one from above but that was a disaster!  DISASTER!   It didn't come out like I expected because I expected a rich fantabulous raspberry, good enough to eat kind of color.  Instead I got a pastel color...oh pooh!   I asked my torch firing girlfriends for help.  I bet they will be able to rescue me.  Yay!  Wha...

Happy Monday Everyone! I already wish it was Friday so I can experiment more.  But why rush the days?   I'm working on a series of "Dipped Dangles."  They are so much fun to make AND wear. Made with 18 gauge copper.   The price of silver is outrageous and forcing me to shift to other materials.  However, the ear wires are still silver.  Don't want our ears turning green.    I had torched enamel mocha on the balled ends.  The picture couldn't capture the color but trust me it is there. I think the reason it is so dark is because I burnt the color off.  The whole piece was then patinated and polished with a brass brush.   This is the prototype.  I would like to use heavier copper but I'm on the fence about that.  I don't like to wear heavy earrings.  Does anyone?   So...this weekend I'll be making more Dipped Dangles with lots of different colors. I also experimented with enameling different colors on bal...

I'm so excited!!!  I received this great Totem from Becky Burt last Sunday.  I have worn it everyday since then!    The piece is a great example of cold connections.   Materials are textured silver and copper, patinated copper, turquoise, and magnesite.   Magnesite's mystical properties is its ability to awaken the mind to communicate with the heart.   To see more of Becky's work click here .  Her pieces are so much fun with a touch of whimsy.  She is a local artist and friend AND will be making her debut at Jazz Fest this year!  Way to go Becky!   So if your in town stop by her booth and say, "Bonjour".   Merci Beaucoup, Becky!  I'm such a lucky girl. Namaste Kalaya

Being, Knowing, and Becoming Amulets of the Goddess Series This baby sold last week.  Yay!!!   The spiral is a symbol of being, knowing, or becoming.  For me it is all three and I tried to address this with the circles moving in a spiral direction.   My hope was when it was worn that it could serve as a reminder of being in the moment and knowing we are a part of this universe.  Which I forget every now and then. I had a great time designing and making this piece and hate to see it go but at least I get to see it every once in awhile.   Namaste Kalaya

Maybe not a thousand but at least 100.   I had to of cut over 100 copper circles on Sunday and textured some cooper using a rolling mill.  I think I've gotten quite good at cutting out circles now but at the end my arm got tired.  Instead of 3 whacks it took me 6 whacks at the end to cut out a circle.  It was time to stop.   Anyway I've been trying to design some earrings that look like the Maori Koru Leaf.  I found out that the Koru fern leaf is found in New Zealand and stands for new beginnings, growth, and harmony.   Here are some of my drawings. I like the left middle drawing.  How about you?  I must admit that I don't draw circles very well.  Since this is all new to me I decided to start off with copper and this is what I got. From left to right is my progression.  I would like to get a more smooth rounded shape.  I guess I'll just have to practice more.  If anyone has any tips I would be grateful for them.  ...