Hand Tailored

 

I LOVE old dress forms! There was a time when I could find them anywhere and I would buy and sell them so quickly. Now that I want one for myself I can't seem to find one! So when I saw that Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire had made some awesome porcelain pendants with a dress form image I just had to have it!

Vintage mother of pearl buttons are stacked and wire wrapped. Coils of copper along with some wonderful enamel beads Barbara surprised me with  add a bit of whimsy to this funky long necklace. Three different chains are used as well.

 You can find Hand Tailored in my Etsy shop. 

Where thou art

I can not tell you how good it feels to be home after a months absence. My bed, my shower...spring, green grass and my three loving purring kitties. It feels like a vacation!

 In the past month I have made a whole pile of jewelry..lots of necklaces and earrings and a few bracelets. I also acquired loads of antique brass stampings for jewelry making, some will be available in my etsy shop later this week 

. Here is a bracelet I call Cliff Walk. This was my first time using waxed cord. I knotted some fabulous Czech glass beads and used copper wire to wrap the strand.

I made a coil loop for a closure and added a antique mother of pearl button. I love this design and will surely be making a few more.

My concerns are with the waxed cord...how does the cord hold up over time? I am sure lots of you have used it before and if you have any suggestions as to a good quality cord, I would so appreciate it. 

Where thou art, that is home.
Emily Dickinson 

Ginger

Christmas 2010

Ginger, Lee, our son Nick, myself and Ed my DH.

I am still here in Connecticut and will be for a few more days. Ginger my mother in law passed away peacefully on Monday surrounded by her loving family, she was 79 years old. My words can not tell you how wonderful of a women she was, she did not know a stranger. A week before she passed she dictated thank-you cards to be written to her friends for all of the years of friendship, only a truly amazing women does that. I was honored to be able to take care of her for the last month, she was my mother for the last 30 years. We all will miss her terribly. Thank you all for your kind words and prayers, they have meant so much to me.

Nick and his Grammy

December 2010

Ginger with her daughter Kara and son Ed

December 2010

May peace and light be with you my dearest friend and mother.

Love you always,

Judy

Naked Lady

Ha! Made you look!
Isn't this amaryllis just beautiful? Did you know it is also know as Belladonna lily or naked lady? So far there has been 8 huge blooms and two more are on there way to open. How does one small stem have so much beauty?

I have been busy working with some of the brass stampings I got at the flea market. Since I am not home and do not have my good camera I am relying on my I-phone. So these pics will have to do.
The brass stampings are loaded with lots of natural patina, a little buffing from some fine steel wool brings out some of the highlights so nicely.

I forgot to share these crosses with you the other day, they are from the same vendor at the flea market. Great detail and I think they are made from some type of pot metal as they have a softness to them.

Here is another piece I am working on, it is rather simple in design. All the glory lies in the connectors. Czech glass beads with simple loops. Still trying to figure out a good clasp. Any suggestions?

Flea Market Sunday

What a find! I am so excited over these antique brass findings. Even though it was a bit chilly at 39 degrees and I have a head cold we ventured out to the Mansfield Flea Market in Mansfield Ct. The sisters stayed with Ginger so I could have some time off. I found a few neat things for my antiques booth but when I found this booth my heart skipped a beat and I squealed for sure! Boxes after boxes of authentic antique solid brass stampings. The dealer said he made a huge purchase of the findings from an old jewelry factory.

Two people in particular came to mind when I saw these beads (sorry about the very poor cell phone picture)...it does not do the beads justice. Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire and Shannon Levart of Miss Ficklemedia. Enamel and patina would be perfect on these solid brass gems! The bead caps are like little pinecones,solid and extremely well made, they don't make things like that anymore.

Check out the detail on these grogeous crowns! I dug a little in the box and found two with totally different natural patina's.

Now that I have had some time with my selections I know that I need more...so hopefully next Sunday I will go back and get some more. Hopefully everyone had a great weekend.

All the best,

Judy



Laptop or I-phone

Laptop....please! Since I am on this extended stay in Connecticut taking care of my MIL, my dh left me one of his  laptops to use. For whatever reason it stopped working on Monday, I could not figure it out nor could he help me over the phone, so I had to wait until he returned to Ct. to fix it. I knew it was probably something stupid and it was (don't ask)...anyway I am back in the cyber world and looking forward to catching up on some blogs and shopping on Etsy. Although I can do a lot on my I-phone it is just harder to read blogs and shop.

I brought a work sack with me and have been keeping busy making some jewlery. I am doing mostly wire wrapping and more time consuming pieces, all in the comfort of my lap. Soon I will have some interesting pieces to share with you.

I am missing the Tenn. weather, it has been 80 degrees back home and around 35-40 here.

One Lucky Elephant

I have had this fascination for elephants ever since I was a child and had read a poem my Dad had written called "Elephants never die they just go away". My interest further intensified after reading the book Moduc (a beautiful elephant story),it is one of my favorite books. So when I came across this film trailer on You-tube I thought I would share it. It seems like such an amazing story and I will look forward to seeing this film when it comes out on the Oprah network.