Got It

The bracelet I promised to get a picture of is here! I call it "Parlez-en a la Main" (literal French translation for "Talk to the Hand"). I made it using a rubber stamp on shrinky plastic and coloring and cutting it into tiles before baking.

I doubt that it's time to vote already, but I have my latest piece for submission to the Stringing magazine's design contest. The theme is "Magical Forest." I used all kinds of elements including rainforest jasper, fruit pits (trust me, I bought these as beads at the bead store), peridot, ceramic (teeny gnome beads that are just too cute!), sterling silver, pewter, Czech fire polished glass and jade. The leaves are more rubber stamped shrink plastic that I colored using alcohol inks. The clasp isn't pictured, but it is a lobster clasp that is in the form of a little bird! I call this "I Do Believe."

Many Goings-on Going On

Okay, I just typed out a whole paragraph detailing my newly developed addiction to Facebook and then deleted it. The basic point was that I am addicted to Facebook. Aaack!

We had a very overcast day today which I hope made for great photography. I've been a bit behind in getting shots of my latest work (but you knew that). I'll start with a project that I made a long time ago. The length of the necklace was a problem and it just wasn't a high priority piece. But, I love this necklace! So, I gave it some much needed length. You may remember "Ahoy":


For Easter, I mentioned that I was making a jewelry set that would go with a new dress. "Celtic Glow" is almost completely hand worked (the jumprings and clasp were already made). Have I told you this before? It's all copper with rose and padparadsche Swarovski crystals and fire-polished Czech glass. I absolutely love how it came out. I just learned these techniques in a great wire-working book. Ta da:


April 24th was our 10th wedding anniversary. Probably as a result from wishing we were on a tropical beach, I put together some shell and wood beads for a set called "Coastal Tokens". The long necklace doesn't have a clasp and I made the clasp (the bar anyway) for the bracelet:




I finished the bracelet for Coastal Tokens and went right on into the next project. The focal bead is a mosaic abalone piece. I used a complimenting array of Swarovski crystals to bubble up from the center. It was tricky giving this piece a name. My head was filled with dazzling images from the ocean as well as from deep space, but a name would not come. Suddenly, I pictured mountains. Great, purple mountains with treacherous crags softened by distance and a valley where a clear, cold lake resided. At this point, I have to say that I am not smoking, inhaling, drinking, snorting or in any other way consuming drugs. Hey, I'm good at daydreaming. Although, I should be night dreaming right now. Sorry, I got distracted again. Here is "Mountain Pool":


OOPS! I just realized that I forgot to get a picture of a bracelet. Rats. Tomorrow, er, later today, is supposed to be pretty rainy, so no promises. I will try though. It's off to bed for me. NOW! Um, right after I check Facebook...

Change of Venue

Okay, I know you all love hearing about my chickens and seeing their photos, but I think I'm going to start keeping them on my FaceBook page instead of here. You are more than welcome to come see me there! Search for Summer Eaton in Wichita, KS. I am surprised at how many Summer Eatons there are on FaceBook!!

So, back to some jewelry stuff. I made an Eastery necklace with Swarovski crystals. It is a bit late now, but there you have it. Here is "Hyacinth."


I think everyone is waiting on me, so I'd better skedaddle!

Bird-Day

Happy Birthday, Auntie M! Hope you had a great day!

Now I can post pictures of the birthday jewelry I gave my Auntie M this afternoon. First is a necklace and earring combo using red and amethyst glass called "Holland Spring."

This set is called "Portrait" and uses glass and acrylic beads.

Chicken update: I brought our final chick home yesterday and I'm certain she hatched the day before. She's a silkie and I'm pretty sure she's going to be a white one. Silkies are crazy looking! Marco Polo wrote about chickens with hair and it's believed that he was referring to silkies. If you don't know what I'm talking about (pbth--I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time!), check out this site for a picture http://www.mypetchicken.com/Chickens-Silkie_Bantam_White-P250.aspx. Her name is Cotton. Here's a current picture of the big girls (Cheetah decided that she needed to be more prominent in the photo, so she crowded out the two black stars, Hen and Bucket). Marshmallow is on the right.