wire woes 'til the copper explosion~

sterling silver wire~oxidized of course as i love the black. i can no longer afford it though. even traded in my handmade silver ear wires for personally transformed surgical steel as a result of the prices.

steel wire~started using it back when a friend showed me some squiggles he made with bailing wire. never worried about it 'til i bought a pair of earrings made from various sizes of steel wire and they rusted just from a small amount of moisture while hanging out in my car overnight (not me, the earrings). i then pulled everything i had made with steel wire and sealed them real well with wax or took them apart. now i only use the very thin wire to hold my silk in place on earrings and seal reallll good.

copper wire~spools of it! i brought some home the other day and oxidized it. what a mess! i have to wipe down the wire to remove some of the tarnish or else it transfers, but i love the look once i get the excess off! i recently decided on copper as i noticed more and more of the women i admire have been using it and i love the look. then a friend mentioned how inexpensive it was, so i made the leap. i think i can use the copper to hold the silk in place and i won't have any worries about rust.

well, here are my new attempts at prettiness using the copper wire~

copper wreath earrings~

kim and i gifted each other yumminess. here are some of her lovelies on my new lovely wire.

Sara~

these are me favs. enameled copper roofing material with vintage roses and vintage dress makers accents all on copper wire.

Trade~

matte chevrons and sterling silver with numinosity head pins. copper wire.

Charming~

labradorite, painted porcelain doll arms, little rosary connections from robyn and copper wire. i have a tiny stash of stones. not many mind you and i pretty much used them up (save some moonstones from kim) on these next three pieces. i usually stay away from wire connections as the silver was too expensive and the stones are not recycled, but i went for it and made sure to put something recycled with the stones.

inspired by robyn~

old belt buckles from uncanny artists and faceted garnet. definitely french circus inspired. oops, see a little copper tail, gotta go fix that! <3

lipstick love~

50's era metal lipstick case for your little treasures! double strand of orphaned stone beads with some accents ~antique metal button from fagins daughter, an italian coin from my buddy trent, a small charm from an old earring and a small spade charm from laura at uncanny artists~.
so, i say orphaned stones 'cause some of them are slightly chipped around the holes and most people wouldn't use them. i found them at a thrift store during the summer months and with the holes being so teenie, i had no idea what to do with them until the recent copper wire explosion!

hahaha funny life~uncanny artists is actually owned by laura from the recycled art show i do every year. i hadn't seen her there in the last two years and wondered what had happened. i love her stuff! doll parts, odd toys, tons of ephemera...  well, kim knew what happened! laura opened an online shop. funny, it took someone from far away to tell me someone close by had their own shop now. small world! visit her shop, ask her for specifics if something your looking for is not listed as she has thousands of items and not all are up in the shop. she is amazing. watch out kim, a ton of collage goodies are on their way!

cheers and happy new year everyone!

gifties, mercury glass & numinosity love~

happy holidays to one and all! met up with kim of numinosity fame. her fame. her glory. her smile and exuberant self. all here, all mine for one night. had a great din-din with family (her's and mine) then off to the cowgirl for drinks and some live music~didn't get to see much of the band, but certainly heard the excitement! i think she went back after tucking me in. <3

been playing with mercury glass from an old fifties garland that i scored through a vintage handmade shop on etsy.

not easy to work with. very fragile. i definitely smashed and chipped a few in the process of exploration.

these ones i really dig and will be gifted to a vintage loving friend for christmas. the little rosary components are from the paris carousel also of robyn paris and her french circus.

these ones have lovely little shell buttons from penny of fagins daughter and sparrow salvage fame

a departure for a moment. little discs and antique buttons also of fagins daughter. love the crisp blue of the tags. large holes allowed for the buttons shanks to pop through and nestle on the other side awaiting the ear wires. fun, fun.

now for gifties. my students spoiled me with cookies, chocolates, adornments and other goodies, but i wanted to share the handmade lovelies. shell heshi and turquoise. made by the mommy of a student.

malachite and assorted stone christmas trees made by the dad of one of my little bunnies.

a leather beaded cradle board neck piece with a little baby inside. wore this all day! made by the grandmother of an always-smiling little girl.

back to the mercury glass. forgot about these ones. by my hand and made for me for christmas eve. we have an open house every year with fire, fire, fire. a bonfire at the end of the drive. farolitos all over and a fiery hula-hoop dancing friend of mine. <3

 Cheers!

hangover and trash fashion~

 oi! too much really yummy snow day by new belgium brewery. silly girl.

 some new work.

 five days off.

maybe some more jewelry in my future. xoxo

first snow today~

Vatos Locals by local artist Arthur Lopez as seen in this weeks Pasatiempo. this represents the tri-cultures of Nuevo Mexico. just had to share!

i did list some new items today. some are actually not new to me, but new to etsy. thought i'd try to fill my shop in hopes of paying off the hospital bills. <3

 christmas bulbs and bullet casings

 old coins and labradorite

 bullet casings and tibetan turquoise

lamp worked beads with bike chain links

it is cool, crisp and wintery here today. just loving it. got the fire going and all the fam gathered around it. bonnie doing homework, forrest playing stupid zombies, tommy working on his bike and me playing on the computer. have a stunning day all!

weasel and fitz gallery~

all my tin earrings and a bunch of other goodies will be delivered to the only all recycled art gallery in New Mexico.

my friend crico runs weasel & fitz and he is an amazing soul. he has gifted me many cool antique porcelain doll arms that i just love. he is giving and generous. i gifted him back of course. sweet thing that he is.

it is such a fun and funky place and i have written about w&f before

i recently relieved them of all of my work so i could have stock for the recycled art show (as did many artists~yikes!)

so i'm off to fill it up again.

imma gonna show you some of the offerings at the gallery 'cause the creativity is so cool!

but first some words of wisdom from a new beer outta utah

and an old necklace of mine going up on etsy today. now for the feast...

Kenny Chavez

Mitch Berg

Kathleen O'Neil

Goldie Garcia

Crico

Lane Patterson

fun fun fun. can't wait to see crico!

trash~

today begins my three day weekend of art fun (my 9th non-consecutive year) at the Santa Fe Recycled Art Show. artists from around the country come to our small city and show their trashy best. it is an amazing feast for the eyes and such an eye opening experience to see what we really can do with castoffs. plastic bags, bike chain, old jewelry bits, cutting room floor scraps, paper bags, newspaper, found metal objects from along the river banks, bottle glass...all those bottle caps from the beers and bars...the metal from cars stuck in the arroyos or at the junker...the list of components is as amazing as the creativity.

buyers also come from all over the country. this show has really turned some heads and people come to shop, explore and get ideas.
children (young and old) come for the trashy make-and-take. always inspiring to see what a young artist has created from the scraps of life. you should see their proud faces! many of our local industries drop off cuttings or misprints that would go into the trash and the kids eat it up. my eliza gave me a bucket full of pop top tops. those will go in the make and take. a large eerie canopy that is ripped will also go in for the cutting and altering. seriously, this show is awesome!
tonight is the fashion show. i have seen this show go from three items to hundreds of extremely brilliant creations that are sought after by collectors. the founder of trash fashion in our neck of the woods, nancy judd, is an awesome force commissioned repeatedly by company's to showcase their efforts through fashion. unbelievable!
here are her 2009 garments made from the voting brochures, pamphlets and other obama ~get out the vote~ materials that would have been tossed after the election for which she worked. the jacket is all handwoven, cut and sewn from paper. it is now in the Smithsonian.

my buddy rick makes amazing artwork from scrap paper and plastic bags. he molds it, folds it, crushes, scrunches and holds it steady with a mix of materials to create beautiful artwork. his work is on display at pasqual's if your in town and the show isn't. he was even once commissioned to do a whole wedding with his paper and plastic bag flower creations. truly a deary.

here's to a trashy weekend of glorious righteous fun! cheers y'all.

it started out innocently enough~

he said "do you want a southern gentleman?" and i said, "you betcha" so into the coffee went the bourbon and baileys. then came the pancakes and bacon. what a way to start the day! especially when one acquires a stupid head cold...bleh!
a sari silk wrapped bracelet that has been sitting inside my head. we found the medallion in the parking lot of the local k-mart. here is is all listed  fresh.

so, i haven't listed in a long time. skulley here with numinosity drops. i came home feeling quite a bit sick yesterday and in-between naps i created. felt good to be back in the studio.

-

this is my fav. been sitting on the bench for a bit waiting to be fulfilled. a buddy of mine gifted me some porcelain doll arms. one was broken yet cried out to be loved. loved she is.

more numiosity love and bike part adornment.

then i made this little christmas doll for the recycled art show. i always make at least one doll, but this year there are two. this beauty and my little pin. they sell well, so i don't know why i make so few. weirdo me! <3

i usually give her a name and write it across the patch, but can't think of one. still waiting for a sign. cheers y'all!

s'more goodies~