Lazy Sunday Goodness

After copious amounts of tea (I've discovered flavored Green Tea....mmmm) and some naps, I think I'm coming around to my 'normal' self (I use the word loosely!). It's pretty nippy out, yet I even managed to make some new stuff!! Last night was a very good night, so let's all keep our fingers crossed that this is the beginning of the holiday rush! I know I'm still pretty scarce, and I promise that after this show this weekend, I'll get back to blogging on a regular basis and actually blogging about interesting things (I hope!)

Cheers!

Dragonfly in the Vineyard.....Something New...

Today I wasn't feeling very creative. It rained here for the last two days, the economy is going down the crapper with the gas prices, and quite frankly, this whole summer vacation thing with kids being home 24/7 is getting on my nerves. I'm pretty sure that someone isn't going to survive the summer...and it just may be ME! There have been several instances that I've been ready to duct tape the three children in this house together and find a pool to throw them into. I'm quite sure my 8 year old hasn't shut his pie hole ONCE since he's been home, and it's gotten to the point where I'm sending them outside in shifts..you know that whole "two's company but three is a crowd" thing.

So anyway, I have digressed (pardon me, I'm on the brink of insanity here)....back to the not feeling very creative.....Finally at about 4 PM, the creative juices started flowing a bit and I made this beautiful bracelet. Despite the fact that it was ready to thunderstorm outside, I couldn't hold off on taking a picture, so I went outside and braved the thunder and lightning and took pictures. I'll have to take better ones tomorrow.

I was sitting there thinking about what I could do to create something that wasn't quite so pricey for those that still wanted a little treat for themselves, or needed a gift for someone else. I decided to try using copper wire, since it's less pricey and still looks fabulous! I hammered the clasp myself, and used once continuous piece of copper wire otherwise. I used mostly Czech glass beads, with a lampwork focal bead and two Swarovski crystals. All in all, I think it came out lovely!

What are you doing to lower costs lately, and pass on savings to your customers?

Relics

So today I finished this necklace. I am really enjoying working with copper, it came out much better than I expected. The Buddha is a resin piece, and the beads are Czech glass that I hand wrapped on 20 gauge copper wire. I also hand formed the clasp myself. So what do you think?

Something New

So today, I tried something new. Here's the result....

Very simple, but it's the first time I've worked with copper. I like the looks of it, AND I like to work with it. It's very user friendly. And I also made my own clasp! Another first for me. The stone pendant is simple, and it's got a great mix of glass beads, Swarovski crystals, and lampwork beads.

So what new things are you experimenting with? Give a shout out and let a sista know!