15 January 2012

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.

5 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm jealous... "arroyo sand" gave it away. I lived in the land of enchantment for 22 years and I miss it dearly. We moved to Virginia in 2000 to care for parents...seems like we stuck here now. Someday we'll return!

    I just landed here on your blog through fanci's blog. I'm enjoying my morning tea and muffin and reading your blog.

    Enjoy that lovely NM sunshine!!
    ...Jackie xo

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    1. thank you for your kindness jackie. i must say, today we have snowflakes the size of cars! so pretty. snuggle at home kinda day. enjoy yours for sure. best, darlene

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  2. I forgot to tell you that I'm loving your jewelry creations! I used to sell my jewelry at the flea market just above Santa Fe. Oh how I miss NM!!
    ...Jackie

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  3. girl! I love the stepbystep pix! actually, i especially love the one where you linked the buttons. and your wonky jumprings! theres a super easy (easier than this!) button link tute on lorelei's blog you could proly adjust for this: http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/2010/04/video-tutorial-buttons.html

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how delightful that you came to visit. i love your kind comments of all shapes and sizes. thank you very much indeed! darlene