It has been quite a while since my last blog.  We have been busy here.  Cliff's step-mother was diagnosed with liver cancer and in about a week she was gone.  It moved incredibly fast or she just didn't want to fight it.  My mother took about 7-8 months to pass away from the same thing.  I am so glad that his step-mom didn't linger, it is just hard on everyone in the family.  It is so sad to watch someone slip away month after month.  

Some new pieces to post and a contest that I have entered.  B'sue Boutiques is where I buy many of my pieces/parts.  She would like us to talk about some of our favorite pieces tha t we have purchased and used from her.  Here is the url for one of my favorite pieces: http://www.bsueboutiques.com/item/Raw-Brass--Extra-Large-Square-Lacy-Filigree-62mm-9082.  I have used this piece lots of times.  It is fun to add a larger piece to the center of and I have also done some wire beading around the edges of it.  It can be colorized, painted, stained and used so many ways.  I have a few new pieces on my Etsy site and here are a couple of them.  I am trying my hand at tie tacks/lapel pins made from bottle caps and using a clutch pin on the back.  I have several styles at the Etsy site and plan to see if they sell at all.  Trying to manufacture another type of tie tack and if it works I'll post them later.  I also made a couple of brooches and listed them on the web site as well.  They are pictured here.  They are frames that I've added either a necklace piece to or some scrapbook paper.  They both have a pin back on them and really look nice.  We'll see how they go as well. 

 

 Christmas has crept up on us and suddenly it is here.  My jewelry sales have picked up some so I've been busier this year selling and shipping jewelry.  This last year has been a real experience for me.  Selling to the public on an Etsy site, having jewelry in a shop in town, and selling it at the high school is a totally new experience for me.  I have enjoyed every minute of it.  There is such a feeling of satisfaction that comes from selling something that one has made themselves.  It is an affirmation and boost to the ego when someone chooses to purchase something and give it as a gift or keep it for themselves.  It is a really good feeling.  Makes those slow times less upsetting for me.  I love making jewelry and hope that my success continues to grow.  I'd love to complain next year how it is so hard to keep up with the sales and how I've been so busy shipping and making jewelry that it is hard to do much of anything else.

 I also took up knitting recently and have had a great time learning all the stitches and knitting different things.  I started with fingerless mittens and dishcloths that I have given as Christmas gifts.  I'm going to keep practicing and see what else I can knit.  I never thought that I would enjoy knitting.  Jeremy said that I've finally really gotten into grandmother mode.  He can just see me sitting in a rocking chair, knitting, and listening to Ozzy Osbourne while I knit.  Funny kid.  But he is correct.  Just not about the rocking chair....

 I have included photos of my latest pieces that I listed on my Etsy site.  Go there for the descriptions of the pieces and prices.  I hate trying to write descriptions and don't do a very good job of it.  If I could just make the jewelry and have them magically appear on my Etsy site with all the "paper work" done for me that would be great.  It seems like it just takes forever to list things.



I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.  I sure wish we had a longer break so that I could get more stuff done, but at least we aren't under 12 feet of snow.  Just hope we get the snow later.

We had a really good time on Thanksgiving Day.  We drove to Boise and had dinner at a restaurant so NO COOKING!!  We got to visit with my dad, my sister and my nephew.  We also got to visit with Cliff's sister, her husband and his nephew.  It was so nice to reconnect with everyone.  I'm so thankful that our respective families are so much fun to be with and we love them all.  Afterwards some of us went to see "Hugo Cabret" at the 3-D movie theatre.  It was visually stunning!  What a fantastic movie.  This is one movie that was meant for 3-D.  We stayed the nite with Cliff's family and then shopped all day on Black Friday.  We weren't crazy enough to get up at the butt crack of dawn though.  Hope everyone had a fantastic Turkey day and hope your holidays are everything you wish for.

                                                                                                                                                    
                                                        Mr. Canyon Ridge 
 





For the last couple of years Cliff and I have been involved in the fundraiser for the DECA Club.  They have a Mr. Canyon Ridge "Beauty, Brains, and Brawn" contest.  It involves about 5-7 of the senior boys that have been selected to compete.  Cliff has been asked to be the Master of Ceremonies for the last two years and I have been asked to judge the competition.  Cliff gets to wear a tux for his part and he looks great in a tux.  I think that this year he looks even better than last year. 
We always enjoy watching the boys strut their stuff and show their talents (I use that term loosely with some of the boys)  but it is always enjoyable.  One of Cliff's debaters won again this year so he was really pleased with that. I just love seeing Cliff in a tux, he looks so very handsome!

Working with Polymer Clay

 I finally got one of the pieces that I've been working on for a long time done.  I had the face for the piece done and got it on a filigree then put a coating of resin over it.  I just didn't know what to do with it next.  I found some leaf cookie cutters and decided to use them.  I got the clay mixed and kind of bent the leaves before I cooked them.  I really liked how they turned out.  I put them on a copper necklace base and then added the chocolate ox leaves.  The flower branches came next and I added orange crystals to them.  It really came together when I wrapped the chain around the face and had it hang down over the forehead.  I put a small gem in the center of the forehead as well.  I really love the fall colors in this piece.

 Here are some of my newest pieces.  They are all listed on my Etsy site.  The first one is actually a locket.  It opens and has a picture of an octopus attacking a ship and on the other side a picture of steampunk gears with one metal gear attached.  I put resin over the pictures to protect them.






This piece was featured in B'sue's news on her website.  It is a stack of metal flower pieces and a mix of colors.  there is a crystal bead in the center holding them together.  I used 3 chains on each side and ran a piece of silk ribbon up thru one of the chains.  I added a dangle at the bottom with amber colored beads.

I've been playing with polymer clay and having some fun with it.  This necklace in made from polymer clay and stamped with a Celtic design.  The larger beads are also poly clay and stamped.  I added copper colored plastic beads and some opal colored stone beads for color.  I made the piece on the main focal with a large pearl bead and some copper chain.

 This is a really simple piece.  The polished stone is a pretty yellow/gold color.  I added a gold leaf charm to the front and 2 gold circles to the chain.  Pretty fall colors.















This piece was an experiment.  I poured ICE resin into a mold that I had made.  Then I painted it with perm. inks and then sealed it.  It is attached to a square pendant.  I beaded the chain with green pearls and crystal beads.  I think it turned out very nice.