A Few April Creations

I've been writing so many text-heavy posts lately that I thought I'd throw up an image-heavy post for a change with photos of some things I've been working on lately. :) Which I can DO since our big computer is back up with new photo-editing software (which I am slowly-but-surely getting used to!)!! Hooray!!!!

Here are some more charms I made for another swap with some Inspired ladies. (And oh my goodness I love my 50mm 1.4 fixed lens! Which I only used for this shot out of all of the ones that follow, for some reason; I need to play with it more.)


Another Inspired swap. This one is for art journal pages, designed for people to be able to draw and write on, focused on our personal One Little Words for 2009. It's hard to tell in the photo but the pattern is made by glimmery-inky spray (made by me) sprayed onto each page over a flower template (Maya Road Sheer Sheet). It's really shimmery in real life; see how there are variations of greens and yellows in the photo? Really it's just one color but the more yellowy parts are where it's reflecting the light more. Then I stamped my word on top.


I kind of wimped out on the back and did the definition on the printer instead of by hand, but as you may know I'm kind of anal precise about words and their definitions and I just imagined myself writing all this out 31 times and I almost passed out. So the printer won out, and then I stamped flowers in the top corner. Also, the outside edge is punched with a new EK Success mini scallop punch which is apparently so new that it's not even on the EK Success website until May 1 (as I found out when I tried to embed the link and there isn't one). Little did I know I'm such a trend-setter, ha ha! (The slimline punches are all AWESOME, by the way.)


Sweet, sweet Claudine lost her beloved adorable puppy Toby to cancer this past Thursday. Claudine was an instructor at Inspired last year and we've stayed in touch via Facebook and Twitter. (Yes, for real.) For the past few months I've been reading daily (and sometimes hourly) updates on Toby's status and was so, so sad for Claudine when she announced that he'd passed. She was so, so good to him and she is such an animal lover that I wanted to do something for her. This is a photo of Toby that's mounted in a sterling silver bezel setting and then covered in epoxy.


I gave this to her at the class Michelle and I took from her on Saturday but told her not to open it until she got home (she was doing a remarkable job--via avoidance--of staying upbeat and super-professional considering she lost her dog two days before!). I got an e-mail from her later saying that she loves it and was wearing it non-stop. Man-oh-man do I love to give gifts that touch people and that they enjoy.

Speaking of gifts, I've been busy fulfilling orders for Mother's Day. Here's one I just made (ordered by the grandma) for a mama with four kiddos. The crystals represent the kids' birthstones.


Here's another order for Mother's Day that my sweet friend Marliss ordered for her daughter. David is the husband/father and the three little hearts each bear the first initial of her triplets. (Triplets? Mamma mia!)


Remember when I had to get industrial? When I tried every-damn-thing and still couldn't fuse until I broke down and got propane? GUESS WHAT?!?! It was the stupid brick I was fusing on. Long dumb story, but I bought a new brick while I was in Seattle and now I am a fusing freaking expert. Okay, so maybe not expert. But holy crap, what a difference! I've been so busy I hadn't even had a chance to try fusing until this week and within a short time of using my new brick I'd made this sweet bracelet:


I freaking love it. I made it out of silver wire! It was a spool of silver wire and then a while later it was a bracelet! That's so freakin' cool. I put three little birds (which I did not make) on the end of it to remind me to not worry (if anyone knows why this is you get a prize. No, really, the first person to comment with the correct reason--and why they know it, and Google does not count--gets a prize!) but I'm going to have to take them off because they get caught on everything. Seriously. Today I was driving and when I went to click something on the GPS the birds got stuck in the air vent. The light was turning green and my right hand was stuck to the dashboard, which was a problem considering I drive a stick shift! I had to reach over with my left hand and unclasp the bracelet to change gears. So the birds are coming off. This is also a good reminder that I should personally field-test all my new designs before I sell them! :) But I still love the bracelet.

I took these last two photos while walking my 10-mile training walk on Tuesday. I love walking under these trees. I'm so tempted to bring a chair and a book and a glass of wine and set up camp under these trees!


I don't usually pick random people's flowers, but I must admit that on my way back home I snapped off one of these beauties.


They're this gorgeous for such a short time and I wanted to enjoy it fully. I kept smelling it and putting the blossom up against my cheek. Divine. Soft and fluttery against my cheek and all the more gorgeous for being so short-lived.