Busy, busy

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all have a happy, healthy, peaceful and art filled 2008.

This year has started out in the same busy fashion as usual. I've been replenishing my jewellery stocks for the two galleries where I sell my work. Above are a few things I have ready to send, I still have quite a few more to complete. The above pieces seem to have a vintage feel, when I start out I never plan a piece, I pick up an element and then go from there. I have four huge roll out drawers full of beads and found objects and lots of containers with gemstone beads. I let the objects direct me, it's amazing how I will have something sitting on my bench and it suddenly jumps out at me, even though I've over looked it on other occasions.

I was very happy to sell the necklace in my previous post on my Etsy store. Thank you for all the wonderful comments.

I still have another week off from work so I will be busy with more jewellery and working on my latest ABRR, this one will be sent on to the US. We start the overseas exchange of books this month, I'm really looking forward to seeing what you gals in the US have created, something wonderful by the looks of the sneak peaks on our blog.

We have been sweltering in Victoria with temperatures in the high 30's to low 40's, that's centigrade. In New South Wales and Queensland (the sunshine state), to our north, they are having floods, our daughter rang tonight, she can't get home due to the river near her flooding and blocking the roads. She's a ranger at a wildlife park on the Gold coast so she might have to spend the night with the animals.

Back to work for me now, it's nearly ten o'clock at night and it's still 35deg, very balmy.

Pins and pages

The pin above is for a friend, this is the third one she has ordered and I still have another one to go. Jo provides me with the raw crystals and then I wire them and add the rest of the beads and objects. The pearl drop was an old earring I picked up from the 'broken jewellery' oddments jar in the local op shop, it has rhinestones around the top. I bought a real crystal necklace,three strings of pearls (I think they were imitation, I have to test them) and a necklace that was made of carved cream beads that are in the pin, all for two dollars, true finds.

The pages are two more backgrounds from my altered book. They are the basis for more added texture and layers. The bottom one again uses old torn up pages from the yellow pages phone book.

We had a great day today, we went into Melbourne for breakfast at one of the numerous cafes along the Southbank, which is on the Yarra river. A glorious sunny spring day. Then we went to the writer's festival at a beautiful old buiding called the Malthouse, which is what it used to be. There we listened to a talk by one of my favourite authors, British writer Alexander McCall Smith, who's visiting here at present. His books are about a fictitious lady who started the first lady detective agency in Botswana. He writes from the female point of view and his books are extremely light and as he says, there is so much violence and action happening in the word today that his books area bit of light relief, not a lot happens but they are enjoyable reading. I'm reading the third one in the series and was able to get him to sign it for me, he's a very entertaining and jovial character, with a beautiful, easy to listen to voice.

Back to the jewellery

I've finally got back to the jewellery making, I haven't made anything for over three weeks, so I'm aiming for a brooch a night for the next few days. I work in fits and starts, but I get there in the end.
I've been asked to teach another Altered book workshop in August at Hann Made Studio so if anyone's able to attend I'd love to see you there.
Now I'd better get back to brooch making, the nights ticking away.

Found objects earrings and pin

These are photos of some of the jewellery I sent off to the gallery at Sorrento today, I'm hoping they arrive before Easter as it's always busy down there. I also sent a couple of necklaces too.
I'm about to clean up my studio tonight and move one of my drawer cabinets. I'm glad I don't have a lot of built in furniture as
I'm always moving it around. I've lost one of my favourite old jumpers so I'm hoping I might find it in the clean up.