new yesterday ~

carved stone 

 labradortie and metal buttons

 double above: bike links. labradorite. above: bike chain bracelet

assorted thrift store beads, found objects, stash of old. loving using the labradorite these days. so pretty. the bottom ones are a commission. fun to make but not a usual. been toying with steel. thinking of going blackened copper. price dictates.

in Madrid, NM you will find bike part jewelry and other odds and ends at Weasel and Fitz. Fun recycled art all around!

random items i've made ~♥

 inner tube hearts

wittle teenie knives

 glass shard box made from an abilify insert

 ribbon and lace

thimbles and old buttons

 lace and button back piece

tube earrings

each of us carries a light. this light does not belong to us, it is given to us to take care of. {joy harjo}

new work today~

been a good week. very busy at school with attentive students (yippee) and fun and engaging lessons. one of those winner weeks in the classroom. new mobi systems brought me into the new age of technology and i am sooo in love with my document camera. so much so that i use it every day instead of making copies and it gives me more flexibility all around. yippee twice.
but today is a day off. (yippee thrice now) and i'm loading up new jewelry and gearing up to make a stash of earrings. i updated some photos on my all time favorite brooch that i made, so i've included a new link for you body part enthusiasts. k. now to go play with some new beads and old parts. happy days all!

coral and glass earrings with tiny sterling silver donuts.

 teenie tiny hand formed steel pin with coral and labradorite.

steely antler shell button hand formed pin. ~

 steely arm pin. i love making these pins! very relaxing to form.

handmade steel wire pin with faceted crystal bead and labradorite

 vintage shell buttons. steel wire. mother of pearl beads.

 

turtles and bears. vintage purple dangles. pearls. yum.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. ~Chinese Proverb

3 day weekend! i totally get to play a bit this weekend.  i love playing in the studio just like all of my creative friends. right now is the perfect time as it is unheated and the sun is streaming in. yummy warmth on this lovely January day. hear it will get to 50 today. great day for a bike ride too! so, i took photos of my bench as fanifuldevices likes photos of other peoples stuff so i thought i would post some components and finished work. so, after a delicious cup of coffee and 12 hours of sleep, i'm feeling a bit manic and excited for the possibilities old buttons, keys and bike parts mean to me and weaving them together is the best part of the process. silly me, i forgot i need to grade papers this weekend. hmmm, perhaps tomorrow. ;) my mental health is what is important and creating is my mental health!

my messy bench. usually i am so neat, but yesterday i left it.

i have tins and tins of delicious buttons. mostly vintage and antique shell buttons. i used to created mainly with them many years ago, now they are lovely little accents.

my bike parts. i take apart bikes parts, tumble them with arroyo sand and sudsy water to remove grease and grime.  then i touch them up with the buffer seen to the right. they come out all satiny. like silver, they can take on their own patina after time.

 laying it all out.

 connections of steel! ;)

 one and two view here on etsy.

thimble necklace

i just love old thimbles! they are utilitarian and ornamental. some are lovingly decorated and some are very humble. one can find them in a variety of materials as well as colors. too cool for school! ode to the those that sew with love and gusto.

~vintage beads, pretty silver with old leaf dangles, thimble (i sew, i love sewing stuffs), bike chain links, steel. here's to a glorious day y'all!

crows~

i've been here listening, in the silence of my home, to the crows and ravens calling each other and, i'm sure, they're looking for something. their calls reminded me of a poem.

 

My House is the Red Earth

By Joy Harjo

My house is the red earth; it could be the center of the world. I’ve heard New York, Paris, or Tokyo called the center of the world, but I say it is magnificently humble. You could drive by and miss it. Radio waves can obscure it. Words cannot construct it, for there are some sounds left to sacred wordless form. For instance, that fool crow, picking through trash near the corral, understands the center of the world as greasy strips of fat. Just ask him. He doesn’t have to say that the earth has turned scarlet through fierce belief, after centuries of heartbreak and laughter—he perches on the blue bowl of the sky, and laughs.

~

i met Joy once. what an honor. she is so tall and graceful. beautiful ink adorns her hands and arms. what a treasure. it was a governors award ceremony and i was escorting my friend Myrtle Stedman who was also being honored. i was the one honored to be in the presence of these strong, fierce, talented women.

house break~

nothing like coming home to find that your house was violated. what an absolutely horrible thing to happen on such a beautiful day. went and washed the car (10 mins top) then went to the bank (1/2 hour tops) then home to find some small little dude came in through an 8x12 window light on a door and stole our stuff. my daughter was hit hardest. poor thing. she's handling it better than me though. trooper. so, i need some cheering up. maybe posting some jewelry pics to cheer up the post. can't just be all ~poor me~. need to be upbeat too.

 bike cog with antique shell buttons. crocheted choker.

my wedding garter belt. inner tube. vintage housecoat buttons. yup. rode my mountain bike 17 miles to my wedding in Lamy, NM.

 squiggles! bailing wire and antique wooden beads.

Me!

more body parts ~

teenie little pins (well, sorta teenie) ~

i went and taught myself how ta make little pins outta steel. here's a cute little number for valentines day. pearls, coral heart. love. compliments loose weaves on frocks, tops, ... ~

body parts~

~welcome new work of 2012~

i spent new years alone. all the family was away. i celebrated with chocolate cake and coffee. weee, i was up till 1 as a result and up again at 4. no more coffee at night for me! made me watch terrible tv as a result. so, there's a new years resolution i didn't know i had in me. lol. well, i've been mending things these days so i decided that today was a fabric day. i had some found and grab baggy items on my bench which ended up lending themselves well to these chokers. fun~