new stuff

Gotta say, I'm having fun.  It's pouring rain outside and I don't have to go anywhere or do anything but focus on my work.  Frankincense resin has been burning and my Zero 7 Pandora station is hitting the spot, although I may switch over to the Incredible String Band (60's British folk).   

My first pieces using my haul of gemstone gravel are in the tumbler.  I've been thinking about these for ages and I'm dying for them to be ready to play around with.  The current plan is they'll stack on either leather or ball chain and you can add to them and switch them around, which means I'm planning to sell components on Etsy - sort of, well at least that's what I'm thinking right now ... we'll see.  The stones are rubies and sapphires in assorted seriously yummy colors.

Fueling my creative burst are multiple glasses of a really good batch of fresh veggie juice, toasted almonds and this glorious discovery ...

... an enormous baked purple sweet potato, and I do mean purple.  Not even beet red, but dead on purple.  When I bought it, I had no idea what it would look like inside, so I wanted my first experience to be just the unadulterated sweet potato, well with a little butter.  It was kind of strange - eating it and tasting something familiar, looking at it and seeing something quite strange.  I'm thinking how much fun these will be to put with other things - they are just so beautiful.  Now I'll be keeping my fingers crossed they're still at the grocery store next time.

While I'm waiting for the new jewels in the tumbler, I started working on my stainless steel foil origami box to fire my PMC Pro.  I've got the steel container from firing copper and bronze clay, but in reading about the new PMC Pro at CoolTools, they were talking about steel spalling and making a mess and here was their nifty solution.  So I bought their high fire steel foil.  Of course, me being the pigheaded sort that I am, I said "pish posh" to the recommended gloves and went to work ...

 
Note to self ... follow the instructions.
So right now I'm waiting for the slice in my knuckle to stop bleeding.  Seemed like a good time to do a quick blogland update.
I'll be back soon ...  when my gemstone stackers are done.
Glorious anticipation.

ttfn
blessings - kvk

p.s.  someone recently asked me what 'ttfn' was ... ta ta for now!
p.p.s.  here's 7 1/2 minutes of exquisite viewing ... Human Planet slide show ... absolutely stunning