Play time!

In between junkin’ with a friend this past weekend, had time to work on these pieces-tell me what you think.

Try number one..not quite right-

Back to the treasure chest-

Finally a keeper!

This last piece was the end result of several failed attempts with this design. I finally started over from scratch and ended up with this-I just love it! It’s much shorter than other pieces I’m currently working on, was a nice change of pace. Should be a fun piece to wear with blue jeans…

Two days later, this piece and I still don’t much care for each other.  I’ve torn it apart no less than 5 times-that I remember, and it’s still not right.  It’s time to give it a rest, dump it into the “fix later” pile and move on to friendlier components….

I love that making treasures is like that, it’s OK to not be perfect all the time….

Dan has been working like a mad man getting the shop/studio finished.  This week he was set on finishing the window trim-it looks just fabulous!   That’s my corner….see how clean it is?  It will never look like this again-…ever.

The southern views over the valley are gorgeous,and the lighting is spectacular.  Could not wish for more- so excited to get busy in there…

The highlight of my weekend was this particular piece..an old vintage broach has been sitting in my pile of odds and ends for some time and mixed and matched with a few other items from the same pile resulted in this necklace.  The large crystal is also vintage-from someone’s chandelier….it went to a good cause!

I am not sure I can part with this one, but several others should be posted to my Etsy store in the next few days.

 This is my current “Stash” And this is the beginnings of my next project..

 The chaos that is my work bench…my Mom would not be impressed  …..

And this one too–am on a roll!

A few smaller projects I’ve just finished….and they are not cuffs….I know, hard to believe.  Some are finished with vintage rhinestiones, and the others feature silver embelishments-all have sterling silver hand crafted ear wires, and these five are etched brass  with an antique patina.  These will be available on my Etsy site later this week-hope you like!

Fast forward to 1992 and we found ourselves in Victoria, BC…gardening mania took over and transforming our little 1/4 acre city lot kept me busy – and broke for many years.  It satisfied my creative urges until we sold in 2010-and started planning and building our new “retirement” home in the gorgeous Creston Valley.

The Valley is where my great grandparents were among the original settlers to the area.  I spent many of my early years here-especially in my teens when I cooked for the summer hay crews on my Uncle’s huge farm.  Being related to most of the area residents and loving the life style, made it an easy choice for our permanent, final roots. 

A large workshop was on the top of our “must have” list, and we even have a view!  It overlooks the valley, and is bordered by the Selkirk Mountains to the west, and the Purcell Range to the east.  Heaven….

When I say “we”….I mean my husband Dan and I.  He’s a very gifted woodcraft person-and looses sleep when I ask him to build something for me to “antique/distress…”.   He’s sharing the shop with me right now-will see what his sense of humour is like when I move in full time….

For over 40 years I’ve been bouncing around the countryside, and in each town, city or village,  I was immersed in their Arts community.  Dawson Creek, BC was where I firstr became enamoured with rocks-their Lapidary guild was a treasure trove of information and inspiration.  Our trips to the south usuallty involved carting back boxes spilling over with rocks-really, really heavy ones.  The photo here is one of the few pieces I kept from this time.  It’s a moss Jasper agate, and it originally went into a silver broach finding. Since I’m not exactly a “broach” type, it’s been repurposed into this necklace, along with some Viking Knit silver wire.  Sure wish I’d saved more of those finished stones…

This was also where I first tried throwing clay-that turned into a life-long love affair with pottery that continues to this day.  Although I no longer practice, I sure support and admire the works of those that do!

Our next move was to the Hazeltons – stunningly beautiful and so rich in Native culture. My pottery pieces from that time reflect the strong influence of the carvers and artists who so willingly shared their talents and encourged and supported mine.  I’ll always remember the Hazeltons as the place that has no sense of time or schedules….many nights my husband would come home after a late shift at 3:00 a.m. only to find half a dozen ladies parked around the wood stove in the basement-buying pottery and chatting away, and cetainly in no hurry to leave.  We saw lots of sunrises in those days, as I waved goodby when they finally headed home.