delicious acquistions

So I'm still on this blue thing.  I just cannot get enough blue.  Case in point ... my trip to the gem show in Franklin, NC last week.  Notice a trend?

ghana glass, blue labradorite, iolite, mystic blue topaz, moss aquamarine, blue flourite, more moss aquamarine, 2 regular labradorite and 2 pyrite cubes.

And the other thing is, I want BIG stuff.  I've been buying teen-Intsie gems for the last two years and now I'm obsessed with this big chunky stuff.  Go figure.  Here's a closeup of some of the new treasure.

If I haven't blown my budget at the gem show, I like to get a little treat.  Well this time I went into my 'secret stash' and bought these ancient Indian coins.

They're quite small, about the size of one of our dimes.  The one in the package is about 1500 years old and the other one is 2500 years old.  I saw these at the last show in May and I couldn't get them out of my head.  I went online and researched them a bit, downloaded pics and have not stopped thinking about them since May.  Of course, the one I really wanted was $600 - minted by the Buddha's father - not going to happen, but this little one I could do.  It's the shape that gets me mostly, but the patterns in both coins are pretty compelling as well.

 And one day last week I popped into one of my favorite stores - the Screen Door - to look for display props.  I've been wanting something body-like to hang necklaces on for photographing.  I'd love to have a dress form, but I don't really have any room and the only cool, inexpensive one I let Nina buy - it was just too perfect for her.  Seems all the interesting ones I see these days are in the $300 - $400 range ... not a chance.  So what I found instead was an old grain scoop - for $24 ... much more better.  What do you think?

Then there was that little parcel of blue tourmaline I found on Ebay - very inexpensive, so I didn't feel too guilty.  I have no idea what I want to do with these, if anything.  They may just sit on my worktable in a nice little pinchpot.

And then somewhere along the line, I got obsessed with vintage French textiles - mainly homespun grain sack yardage.  I got a 2 1/2 yard piece from here.  I cut a yard and a half for a kitchen table runner.  I pulled several rows of thread for a fringe and then zig-zagged the edge.  Just beautiful!  Here's the one yard piece that's left.

 And then doesn't everything look ever so beautiful all together?

This would be me, such a happy little camper!
And even more amazing than all of this gorgeous treasure, I'm giving myself the day off!  I'm not working AT ALL ... and even better, I don't feel guilty about it one bit.  I might even read my no-redeeming-value novel.

bountiful blessings to all!
l i g a - kvk

no cigar but lots of potential

I've got a bunch of new additions to the Talisman Elements series, but first I thought it'd be fun to share the evolution of a one-off design ...

It started here - a fragment of an angel wing shell from St Augustine.  I made an impression of it in polymer clay and then used a big piece of my sterling silver metal clay to make the pendant.  I tried to make it fairly thin to test the strength of the sterling - I'm happy to report, it's very strong.  I love that the pendant hangs kind of off kilter.  Plus it's very ... well all I can think of is that it's very wabi-sabi.

So I've got the pendant, next I started gathering potential elements.  I've got gemstone nuggets - rutilated quartz, then the amber and citrine from Andrew, a few ochre trade beads, my stash of Basha beads, unbleached linen to make into cord, hand cut and dyed silk ribbon, silk thread, oh and some big honkin bronze pearls.

I worked on the layout and how many strands of linen cord and tried different stones with different hole sizes - I wasn't in the mood to drill any stones or pearls - and pondered closures and lengths and ended up here ... 

close, but no cigar ...

It's just not quite there.  Don't get me wrong, there are elements I like, but overall, it's just not done.

For instance, I do like the closure, I like it off center and the loose ends with the linen wraps - it reminds me of Zoe Keating's hair!  BTW, been listening to her CD's non-stop - so so so very excellent.

And I like the trade bead and rutilated quartz nugget together on the linen cord ...

But the jumbo citrine nugget doesn't hang quite right and overpowers the pendant and the rest of the piece.  I do like the little stack of copper and silver spacers.

I'm also not sure about the linen cord.  I've been thinking about grouping linen cord into something for days ... just not sure this is the best application.  So, this piece is still very much a work in progress.  I'm going to take it all apart and start over.  I'll keep you posted with my progress.

But I also wanted to show you my latest additions to the Talisman Elements series.  The overall concept is finally starting to come together.  I got all inspired to do some carving in polymer clay, which lead to the idea for the Medallions.  I've got a chalice, a crown, a compass, a portal and a spiral.  I also made a couple of unicorn-looking horns.  Then there's the reproduction of the little eastern European vintage cross I bought from Cool Vintage on Etsy - really love everything in that shop! 

Also, I've really hesitated about the use of text, but decided to dig out the rubber stamp sheets I had made way back in my ArtFest days of early 2003.  So some of the medallions have ready made messages stamped into the back and some have individually stamped words.  

I am pretty excited about all my new Medallions.  

Oh, there was one more piece from my sterling silver firing - Eros ... another stamp from my long-ago rubber stamp making days. Pretty sure  he's destined for another one-off piece, but that remains to be seen.

So that's where I am right now.  I'm probably not going to get anything else done in my studio this holiday weekend.  Dave and I have this idea we're going to re-stain the deck, which means taking everything off the deck - like those bloody huge, fully soaked flower pots of mine and all the other not so heavy stuff, a bit of sanding and then painting.  WOO HOO - Boy howdy do we know how to party!

I guess that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a wonderful, fun and ever so safe holiday weekend.

blessings - kvk

lucky girl

Funny thing ... I love doing things for other people, being the sleuth, creating and mailing off little surprises for friends and loved ones.  It just never occurs to me that anyone would do that for me.  So I let out a bit of a squeal when I checked my mail yesterday.  For parked right there in my mailbox was a little surprise package from Andrew.  I dashed inside and headed straight for the scissors to slice open my unexpected goody.  An even bigger squeal came when I emptied out the contents - carefully labeled ziploc bags with beautiful gemstone nuggets.  Oh my, they are so very lovely ...........

There's two kinds of amber, smooth and really rough and crystal quartz, jumbo faceted and hammered nuggets, jumbo citrine, amazing green garnet and top-drilled sunstone - just check out the copper shiller of that front piece of sunstone and how translucent the amber is.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled.  I've got my new cache of treasure sitting front and center on my worktable, visions of new creations beginning to form in my little head.  Delicious!
Thank you Andrew!  You are a gem.

with deep gratitude and many blessings - kvk