Done finally - the last of my charm swaps

ok - these are the charms for "arttechniques". I made 20 of these,the danglie parts are all different. They are made from hand cut and rounded brass - drilled, stamped and sealed. The danglie is made from an electronic chip that i beaded. Then i stuck them both together with a ring.

this is the 2nd one i made for the group. It is a take off on the tribal tee necklace, only a charm. It is only about 3/4 inch long....

A bit of rambling

Today I did no art. I was up late last night finishing and packaging the last of my charm making (well, for now!).. Going to bed is a real favorite thing of mine lately. I find myself planning art projects and this eventually puts me to sleep. It's like my quiet , all to myself, indulgent , no interruptions time - and i can think and plan and create, all in my mind for as long as I like. I actually come up with some pretty concrete ideas, and some real losers too that turn out to be great experiments, but they worked much better in the planning stage! Sometimes I dream solutions. Does anyone else do this?

Well, I'm too lazy to transfer the pics of the new charms from my camera to the computer, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. My DH and I got up early to go into town to do some shopping (love love love that Costco!) and while we were gone the realtor showed the house to yet another prospective buyer. This is the first time I have not cleaned up my shop area for a showing. I just had too much stuff all over the place and I am in the middle of multiple projects and my sweet DH said -"don't bother!" so I very guiltily - DIDN'T! Today was mow day too, but the property is so soggy from too much rain that we have to wait until it dries out. yeah! anything to stall that trice monthly all day affair!

Here's a pic of the property, so at least you'll get to see something, although today was dreary and overcast. The blue building is the "shop". The house is actually a guest house, only 480 sq feet...so we don't have a lot of belongings in it. I am ready for a real house. you know, guest rooms, a real oven, a CLOSET, etc.

hmmm...some people on horses came by and their horses pooped all over our front driveway! I was not happy. I had seen them ride by, but it wasn't until I went outside later that I SMELLED it. When they come by tomorrow (probably tourists) i'm going to tell them to CURB YOUR HORSES! haha.

Tribal Tee Necklace.....

Well I finally finished my "tribal Tee" necklace. It was inspired from making fopund object charms and also by the work of Susan Lenart Kazmer

I drilled golf tees across and down, and then wired them with wooden beads and wood danglies. I attached the charms to a broken piece of vintage brass chain. O.K. I lied. It's not done....sigh! it still needs a clasp - i may have a vintage one somewhere in my inherited MIL's stash of 50's broken jewelry, but ...manana....

my mama's birthday

yesterday was my mama's 85th birthday. she was born 2-22-22! Pretty magical numbers. It was the first time we celebrated her birthday - without her. 2 of my sisters and my dad got together with mom's ashes ( we are weird!) and sang to her and then had ice cream and cake. one of my other sisters went gambling - by herself....she said she said mom was going with her - and she won $250! (my mom loved to gamble). Lots of relatives emailed and all of the family celebrated mom in their own way. It seemed so normal to celebrate her and didn't feel morbid at all. I miss my mama.
Today I worked on a necklace i am determined to finish., It is made of wooden beads and golf tees on a vintage brass chain, all wired together with brass wire and embellished with glass and wood bead danglies. It is ala susan lenart kizmer.....I love her stuff! I would have finished it, but my DH came into the shop and brought me my favorite drink- an "absolute sin" (Chambord and vodka) and he had bbq-ed me a piece of salmon - so what could i do? i came inside, ate my late lunch, drank my drink - and the day was history - well, tomorrow, i guess. i'll post a pic when it's done....
It has been pouring rain here in paradise since about 3 this afternoon. lots of thunder and lightning. Monday is mow day - so i hope it dries out - i hate mowing in the mud.

charms...

pencil charm for AU

so, getting carried away, as usual, i joined 4 different charm swaps....20 for AU, 42 for ICE, 24 for Divas, and 40 for arttechniques. so far i have gotten the ones from AU back - they are really cool.

Here are the other charms i have made. i still have 2 more to finish up for "arttechniques".

hands for ICE


bugs for ICE

"sunshine and joy" and "bird in hand" for Altered Art Divas.....
i haven't taken pics of the set due for art techniques yet. Well, that's it for me and charms. anything else i make like this i will turn into earrings, i think.....

Valentine .....a bit risque.....

For Valentine's day i spent several weeks attempting to paint a self portrait for my husband. yes i, who have not done a painting since i was 10! I used tissue paper and micro beads and dryer sheets for texture, and then painted flames that were to envelop the photo - i made several prints of myself enveloped in flames on tissue paper, a transparency, epson matte paper - you name it i tried it - but i could not get the picture to transfer right - so i gave up and in desperation (i mean, now it's the night of the 13th and i have nothing!) i took my photo to paint shop pro and made this. this is the inside of the card.

I'm back!!!!

Well i decided to try blogging again. Originally it was set up as a place to post assignments from an online class i was taking....i never finished the class. Instead I went off to Phoenix Arizona for a 3 month job and I never posted again. But - I'm going to give it a try again. I have been very prolific lately making a lot of nothing, starting a lot of projects and then not finishing them. I swore I wouldn't do any more swaps - but then I got hooked on CHARMS! I will post pics of them, but first I'm going to post a few other things I did so that there is a better progression up to the present...the only exception will be the valentine i made my DH- I will post it now, in case anyone perusing this blog doesn't like nudity....

so here it is - again, don't look if you are offended by nudity. this is an area of art i am investigating, and i personally love working with nudes and body parts.