Learning New Things

I feel badly for not writing anything before now. Hmmm, I probably say that a lot. Anyway, I've been busy learning how to work with polymer clay (like Sculpey). Since I've been intensely involved with that, I haven't had time for making much jewelry or at least taking pictures of anything. I can't remember what it was that gave me the "bug" for working with polymer clay, but I have it now. Hopefully, it's something my daughter and I can play with together this summer. I've learned how to mix colors and how to get this fantastic thing called a "Skinner blend." I played with molds and adding crystals; I've made some basic canes and a complicated kaleidoscope cane. I've sanded and polished and stamped and baked (and burned) a small collection of beginner beads. I really need to practice. It's a little more difficult than it looks in the books--for me, at least. It's time consuming too. But, it's a lot of fun!


The first clay technique I tried didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, but a lovely, swirly blend of glittery red and gold resulted. From that came a pendant of my own creation (plus the help of a mold) used for a necklace I call "Sunset."


Then, I was really eager to try some of the faux techniques. I don't have many colors in my collection yet, so I was a little limited on what kind of fakes I could make. I chose jade. I love jade. I don't know if it's the color of it or some romantic notion I have in my head about jade, but I do love it. A lot of mixing is involved and I don't have all the right tools yet, but I don't think it turned out too bad for a first shot. For the necklace I call "Garden Maiden", I used a rubber stamp for the image of the lovely lady and then etched it deeper into the raw clay to make sure it looked a little more carved than stamped. I cut out the pendant shape and roughed up the edges. I polished it with a rotary tool and now it has a fantastic glossy shine! The earrings underwent the same procedure.



I burned all the kaleidoscope beads I made. I haven't been that frustrated in a while. It took me forever to make the kaleidoscope cane! ARGH! My daughters loved the burned beads though. They didn't care if they were over-toasted. The older one made her own necklace this afternoon with the bead she picked out and I made a little key chain type of thing with my other daughter's bead of choice. They were happy, so I guess it worked out.

Looking through one of my new books of all things clay, I found a necklace that someone made with clay rings. It gave me the inspiration I needed for some shell disks I had in my stash. I used one of the disks previously in "All Things Bright and Beautiful" but I wanted to use a lot of them together. All my earlier designs seemed a poor fit. I think this works nicely. It's another necklace that needs a name. Any suggestions??

School's Out--Almost

Only three days left of school for my 2nd grader. Only three days left of reasonable sanity for me. I need to get busy and figure out ways to keep her occupied and still let her have a mostly enjoyable summer. Our Brownie troop already wrapped up the year with a party last Saturday. I hope the girls had a good time this year and are looking forward to another one next year.

There's been so much going on lately, that I just haven't had time or the space to work on much jewelry. I was able to put together a bracelet/anklet this morning, though. It's all glass with pewter charms. I call it "Current Events."

A Gift

Today was my turn to teach Sunday School. Even though it would have been nice to sleep in on Mother's Day, I was really excited to teach the Preschoolers about Pentecost. We made all kinds of crafts using the symbols of the Holy Spirit and then we had cherry chip cupcakes in honor of the Church's birthday. To His disciples, Jesus referred to the coming of the Holy Spirit as "a gift" from God. A Comforter to stay with them for always. In a way, it's kind of neat that Mother's Day and Pentecost Sunday coincided. I know we aren't God bestowing one of the greatest things ever for all of mankind, but still...a special gift for special people. It makes the gift that I gave my mom mean more to me. Does that sound silly? I mean, it was something created especially for her and I want her to feel comforted when she uses it. I also want to be remembered.


Below is the necklace I made for Mom for Mother's Day. It's called "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms out there: "Yay for you!" I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day. I haven't been a mom all that long, but I've already experienced some fantastic Days of the Momma and some really pathetic, icky ones. This year will be another fantastic one and if it isn't, I'll just have to twist someone's arm a little harder! :)


Now, I just need to figure out a great "thank you" gift for my mom. Of COURSE it has to be some of my jewelry. Not the macaroni-on-yarn necklace--I think I already gave her one of those when I was five. I like making stuff for my Mommy.


I want to share a few necklaces that I made so far this month. I bought a basket-full of mixed-stone beads and put them together in an asymmetrical, long necklace. The picture was taken in a hurry and I didn't align the necklace right--it looks like the green donut beads hang evenly on each side, but they don't. The one with the feather charms dangling from it is positioned quite a bit higher than the other donut. There's also a collar that can be wrapped and worn as a bracelet. The earrings are matched, but not identical to each other. When I showed this set to Mom when she returned recently from a short trip to Arizona, she said that it reminded her of Tucson. So, that's what I'll call it, "Tucson":






I think I have fallen for large pendants. I'm finding more and more of them in my bead stash. This one is made of wood and I love the contrast of the gold foliage outlines on black. Coming up with an assortment of colors that worked was tricky. I didn't want to keep it strictly black and gold. I really like how the teal and purple perk things up without taking over. The whole thing reminds me of a field that's been control-burned to prepare it for new growth. I'm having a hard time naming this piece. I don't know how to convey this image I have into a title that doesn't freak anyone out. "Scorched Earth" is just wrong on so many levels. "Controlled Burn" sounds so blah. Maybe something like "Before the Planting."



I saw these silver stars and gasped. Well, you know Independence Day is only two months away. Yeah, I'm ready for the 4th of July, but not Mother's Day. Hmmm...



Finally, I made this set today. It's a really wild, organic pendant (again, on the large side) with little spacers of flowers and leaves. I chose mostly milky-colored glass beads for this one. I've never done that before. I usually either go for completely transparent or completely opaque glass. The earrings use glass beads that are very similar in color, but one is fairly square and the other is pretty cylindrical. It's hard to tell in a photo. This one is also hard to pin down a name for. Something jungly would fit the metal pieces, but the beads just don't agree. They're too soft and gentle. Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of a jungle. I'll get it worked out. At this hour, my brain is too tired to be creative. It'll be a miracle if any of this post sounds sane at all!

Photo Shoot

I have been busy the last few days working on next year's catalog. I have to work on it this early so I can get good, outdoor photographs. Our indoor lighting is pretty lousy when it comes to shooting jewelry. I have one of those photography tents, but I still can't get the lighting just right. Since my tagline is "naturally inspired", I prefer to have outdoor shots anyway.

I've been using the pictures I've posted here in my catalog. The pictures are reduced to thumbnail size and so much of the detail is lost. :( I've discovered that some of the pieces disappear almost completely! Take that Jolly Rancher necklace (I call it "Watermelon Candy" now), for example. I originally had it on a concrete slab. After touting how great it looks with burgundy, Mom convinced me to take a picture of that look. The picture turned out soooo much better, but you can't really tell it's on a blouse. I used the same technique with a different top for the "Iris" necklace.

Updated "Watermelon Candy":

Updated "Iris":

Taking pictures of a lot of the stuff I've made previously is amazingly time-consuming. I hope the outcome is worth it. Here's just a few of the pictures I took yesterday:

"Midnight at Sea" (mother of pearl, freshwater and blister pearls, glass pearls, abalone)

"Sea King" (dyed shell pieces, glass seed beads)

"Ahoy" (this one probably needs to be modeled on a person)

"Happiness Is" (Czech glass, lapis agate, the bird was salvaged from a pair of earrings)

Taking pictures is a lot of fun. Photo composition is not my strongsuit, but maybe someday, I'll get better at it. I'm getting the itch to compose more jewelry though.

On A Roll

I think I recently tapped into a fresh well of inspiration. I've had one idea after another spring up. I just hope that it's not a shallow well...

Anyway, this last week has generated six new sets. The first one pictured is the last of the color scheme groupings shown earlier. I call it "Demeter's Joy". Greek mythology is something I've always enjoyed. If you're unfamiliar with the story, the Greek god of the underworld, Hades, kidnaps the goddess Demeter's daughter, Persephone. Demeter is basically a Mother Earth figure who is in charge of seasons and all things that grow and the lost of her daughter sends her into such despair that the world becomes barren. Zeus, the head honcho of deity-world, is concerned that the earth would die so sends a messenger to retrieve Persephone. Before leaving the underworld, Persephone eats six pomegranate seeds. Doing so forces her to return to Hades for six months every year. When Demeter has her daughter with her during the year, the seasons are pleasant and fruitful. When Persephone returns to the underworld, the earth becomes barren again. This explained the change of seasons. Anyway, I thought "Persephone's Return" would be too much of a mouthful. :)

Here is "Demeter's Joy":




The next set I made features some cute, glass, fish-shaped beads I found. I can't decide on a good name yet, but for now, I call it "Fishy Fete":



Friday, I started playing with my domino beads again. I wanted to make a bracelet, but I wasn't sure if memory wire or elastic would be best. Since the domino pips weren't going to be covered up, I didn't want it to be reversible, so I opted for the memory wire. Originally, I was going to paint them to match "Wishes" (shown previously), but I liked the idea I saw of using scrap book paper to cover the blank side of the dominoes. I had gone to a bead store in Raleigh, NC called Panopolie (LOVE that place!) on a trip last year and found a box of miniature tarot cards. I'm not into tarot or anything, but I really liked them for their size and bright colors. They're almost the right size for dominoes. After trimming the cards slightly, I adhered them to the beads with Mod-Podge, painted the edges with a silver pen and then strung them on the wire with glass beads. I chose cards that said nice things like "pleasant memories," "a good marriage," "a good harvest," and stuff like that. I call the bracelet "What We Want":



Next is a set I call "Earthen Wear." Its rectangle beads are wood and the blue and brown beads are ceramic. The necklace is long enough to wear as a belt. Don't go into shock with the change of background!




The "Good Fortune" ensemble's necklace follows the same idea as "Wishes" as far as the treatment of the domino bead goes. You can't see it in the picture, but this time I added some gold into the mix of alcohol inks. It adds a nice sheen. I couldn't believe I had enough "antique gold" findings to make the whole set!

Here's the final set (whew!). I fell in love with this pendant. It's dyed shell with a metal applique. I found a bag of coordinating beads, added some from my own stash and a bright, silver chain, and voila! "Spring Meadow" blossomed.

In other news, I just got my business license from the city and my sales tax certificate from the state. Unfortunately, I am still obligated by a contract that I have from another company to not sell jewelry for a year since I left them. My contract renewal date was the end of January and I did not renew, so that would make this "hiatus" year end January of '09. I plan to open my website and my business OFFICIALLY on February 1st, 2009. In the meantime, all (well, at least most) of my new creations will wind up here. I'll be figuring out a way to make a beautiful catalog to put these in for next year!

Where the Wild Things Are

My four-year-old daughter has really kept me hopping lately. She's at a point now where I have to be in the same room with her all the time to keep her from getting into trouble. She's poured salt and pepper all over the stairway, in drawers throughout the house and on carpet. I haven't quite figured out the fascination she has with salt. She also sampled some kerosene which prompted the first call to Poison Control I have ever had to make. She turned out just fine, but that really must have tasted nasty! A day or two later, my husband discovers a box of matches in one of the drawers in her bedroom. Fifteen minutes before our Brownie Girl Scout meeting starts (at our house), I discovered that my little "darling" has dumped two packages of seed beads all over the couch and carpet where we have our meetings. What is going on with this girl??

Anyhoo, that's why I haven't been posting anything. I can't sit at the computer for any length of time without something bad happening. She's taking a nap right now plus Daddy's home. I was able to snatch some time every now and then to work on a new jewelry project. I had everything I needed loaded on a storage tote lid and carried it around the house with me as I followed my imp/daughter. I did take an "in progress" picture with the intention of posting sooner than this. This necklace and earring set uses the glass rectangle beads and copper chain that I showed you earlier. I call it "Wildflowers."

Necklace in the making:


Completed necklace (about 20"):



Earrings:



I hope that despite this latest delay to get something posted, you will keep coming back to see what's new. I'm still in the process of starting up my SummerSun Jewelry business, so I don't have anything to show on my official website. I need to get my business licensed, registered, and all that legal stuff. I'll be setting up a PO box this week too, I hope. I attended a Small Business Association workshop last Friday and learned a grim statistic: 50% of all new business ventures fail. Eww. I'll be working hard to avoid becoming part of that statistic. If you ever see something here that you are really interested in, just drop me a line and let me know. I can hold it for you until I'm "legal".