Kalaya Steede

Bonjour! Today is a special day...because two of my favorite people were born on this day.  So...Happy Birthday Nicole and Jesse!  Wishing you two the very best...ALWAYS!!! Now back to creativity!!! I picked up some labadorite and peridot stones a while back for a bracelet.  A particular design had been in my brain for quite some time.  I had all the materials...so get on with it, yes!? But...one thing that paralyzes me is if the stones are high quality, and if I am using large amounts of silver, I become fearful of messing up, and so the stones just sit, and sit, and sit.  Anyway I decided that it did not matter if I mess up and jumped right on in! First I had to make some silver end beads as a clasp. I liked how they came out.  They were about 1/2" in diameter, textured, domed, and patinated. Then I wire wrapped a thousand beads with silver wire!  Ha...not really...only 100! Just a little peek of the silver clasp. N...

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. ...