Daisy Chain Bracelet

Now I'm really home! It's always bittersweet to come home. On one hand I'm happy to be here with my "things" (computer, Tivo, TV, bed, kitchen, tools, etc). I can move around or not as I please. I don't have to be nice to anyone.....except myself. On the other hand I miss everyone! I've been in the company of at least one of my grandchildren everyday for the past month and I miss them! I never get "too much" of them! My children and their spouses are all such good and interesting people that I don't tire of their company, either.
I've unpacked, organized and reorganized my jewelry making supplies and I'm gearing up for a full month of teaching! The picture here is of a bracelet I call Daisy Chain. It is made with the pattern Victorian Garden. My teacher, Linda Wilder, of La Mesa, CA taught me this while I was there in early December. It is a big hit and this is my version of it with all pearls instead of the pearl and crystal combo. If you're in the Fort Pierce, FL area I will be teaching this at Beads and Baubles the end of January. If you're in the San Diego area this pattern is taught at the Bouncing Bead in La Mesa.

Back From My Travels......Well Almost!!

I left home and Florida on December 1st. Since then I have been to California, back to Florida, not home but Orlando, then on to South Carolina. I finally got home last night. I had a wonderful time with my family. I saw all of them except for Nick and Nicholas since I wasn't able to fit NY into my travels this month!
While I was in California enjoying my son and his family we all took a day and went to the Ocean View Mine in Pala, CA. It cost $60 for each adult and $50 for each child. I felt the price was fair for the adults but $50 for a 4 y/o child was very unfair. He didn't do any digging or searching for gems. He did enjoy the mine tour and he's still talking about how he went "into the mountain". I didn't find any "gem quality" stones but I found some pretty tourmalines and aquamarines. My 8 y/o granddaughter is really into things like that and she found most of the nice pieces. I'm gonna make her a nice pendant from one of the stones. All in all it was a good time and worth doing. Now I need to find more adventures like this.
I had a Christmas celebration at each home I went to! We all opened gifts and enjoyed each other's company. It was such an uplifting time. Being close to family, no matter how many miles separate us, means so much to me! Now it's not over yet! Tomorrow I leave for Orlando and go to my daughter's home once again for the New Year's Eve celebration. It will be especially nice since Oliver's mother, sister and brother-in-law will be there from France! They will be in the USA for three weeks and I do enjoy their company, too.

It's been quite a while since I've entered anything! Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas holidays are fast approaching! I've been busy both making and selling my pretty jewelry. I did a couple of fairs and flea markets. I've been teaching classes. The Egyptian Coil was very well received and I'll be teaching it again this week. I got home from Oviedo Friday night and I'm just getting organized for my CA trip and after that, Christmas.

I'm, again, not putting up a tree! This is my fourth Christmas here in Florida and my fourth year not putting up a tree. The two trees I have are sitting nicely in their boxes in the shed. Last year I put up a few lights on the windows but I don't think I'll even do that this year.

The reasons that I haven't been putting up Christmas decorations are:
1. I'm never home very much to enjoy them.
2. My family, as I brought them up to do, stay in their own homes for Christmas. They and the children stay home and enjoy the spirit of family at this most family oriented holiday! I join one of them. I try to even it out and spend the holiday with a different family each year.

Well, the bathroom is all fixed and painted. My check list of things to do is getting a little bit smaller. Not small but smaller! My neighbor pointed out to me that the palm tree in my side yard is going to fall. It seems that the large amounts of rain loosened the earth so much that, in spite of the braces to hold the tree straight, the tree's roots are pulling up. I hear that palm trees have short roots. I had my gardener look at it and all he wants to do is chop it down! I'm hoping to save it but I can't spend too much money doing it! I hate taking down trees especially a beautiful palm! What to do? I don't know but I'll work on it.
The earrings are my tribute to fall. Even though there is not much of an autumn here in Florida I'm still in the autumn mood! There is a bracelet to match, too!

Jewelry Photography

I finally got it! At least I think I got it. I've been experimenting with photographing my jewelry. I use my small Canon Powershot and use the macro setting, no flash and a timer. I'll eventually get a tripod but for now I'm just trying to have very steady hands! I put the jewelry on a sheet of white paper. Once the photo is taken under my Ott Lamp the background is gray not white. I use Photoshop Elements to edit it. I use under Enhance, Brightness/contrast and go to levels. Use the white eyedropper and click on the background. It makes it white again! Then I adjust the color, also under enhance, using hue. I'm amazed that I figured this out myself! I'm pleased with my pictures now and not ashamed to put them on my web-site. Maybe I'll write a tutorial on this someday.
The example I'm including in this post is a Full Persian bracelet in sterling silver with a magnetic clasp and a safety chain. This particular bracelet resides with a friend of mine in NY.

Wow, this week has really flown by! I can't believe we're starting a new week already. I didn't accomplish too much this week. I just took it easy and finished unpacking, cleaning out things, incorporating all my jewelry making paraphonalia into one area of the house (oh, for a bigger house with more storage!).
I just stocked the fridge today so no hurricanes please! Last time I did that Wilma came along and I lost everything I had just bought after getting back from NY!
I finished a couple of orders and mailed them off. I'm working on a couple of more. I'm trying to get myself ready for craft fairs but I haven't registered for any yet. How do you find them? I've searched the internet but how do you find the small church bazzars and pre-Christmas craft fairs and flea markets? That's the biggest problem!
The necklace above, is made with a very unusual stone that I found in a Rock & Gem Club show in Freeport, NY. It's called a view stone. It's Japanese and you can see some kind of view in each stone. This one is triangular and looks to me like the mountains in the west. Beautiful isn't it? Better in person! The chain is made with bright aluminum rings and is very light weight. The chainmaille weave is called the Barrel Weave. I'm selling it but I love looking at it and will find it difficult to part with!

Interesting Weekend

It started on Friday when my granddaughter passed her divers test. She has this little red sports car waiting for her and she didn't disappoint it. She passed the first time! She's happy now that she has some freedom.

My daughter and her husband went away for the weekend and I stayed with the two granddaughters. They are old enough to be no problem and great company most of the time! The first day we went to play glow-in-the-dark mini-golf at the mall. Interesting but fun. Then out to dinner at Out-Back Steakhouse.

Yesterday we all went to see "A Comedy of Errors" at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival. Even the 9 y/o enjoyed it! They did a great job and presented it as very funny.

I'm home now and looking forward to a week of rest and jewelry making. I have some orders that I have to catch up on. I also have to mail my passport application. The cruise will come up quicker than I think!

The above picture shows a piece of Long Island sea glass, picked from a beach in the Hamptons, wrapped with bronze wire and hung from a leather cord.