New bracelet and some resin work in progress

Just finished a bracelet. Focal is patinated etched copper, with a soldered bezel - filled with resin - and a vintage red brass flower component soldered on.

I have a couple of resin pieces in the works. This is an etched copper focal with soldered bezel, filled with lichen and resin and treated with patina.

An object I found at  the flea market a couple of weeks ago - a little tin praliné form; inside inked paper, a real leaf and text, filled with resin.

Found object earrings

After posting my Sunday flea market finds, I went off into my studio. I wanted to work with a couple of the objects I brought home. You might remember the two beadlike thingies?

They reminded me totally of pomegranates and so I turned them into fruitlike earrings. 

Then there were those hollow silver beads, formerly part of a piece of jewelry from an exotic place.

I knew the moment I saw them on the vendor's table, that I wanted to make earrings with them. They are battered and worn, with dents in the beads. These conjure up visions of a nomadic enchantress in my head. (I know! Just where do these ideas come from?)

So, the beads have been repurposed - reborn, so to speak. I replaced the wire going through one of the beads, as it was an unsightly repair (thin wire), added chrysocolla beads and handmade earwires.

Sunday flea market

It is raining. It has been raining since sometime in the night. Bad news for the flea market. But we decided to go anyway. As was to be expected, the flea market was half empty - meaning there weren't many sellers there. Some that did come, didn't even unpack their cars. Others had opaque plastic covered over their tables, so there was nothing to see. Still others had antiques out in the rain - such as old dolls and lovely old laquered tables. Such a pity! Sometimes, I just don't understand people.
Nevertheless, I was able to find a couple of things to bring home. Bet you're surprised.

Two chains, one silver, the other bone or perhaps horn - I'm not sure - and tiny garnet beads.

 A bunch of silver plated base metal dangles, some of them with rhinestones and/or faux pearls.

Some gorgeous grey  mother of pearl buttons and two little metal beadlike thingies, that might have been intended as studs.

A sky full of facetted glass stars in various colours.

Two hollow silver beads with bits of chain, possibly from a jewelry piece from an Arabian country or Afghanistan.

I am glad to be back home, after wading through deep puddles and trying to dodge people's umbrellas. It is warm, the kitties are all cozy in their respective sleeping places and I am going to try to be creative in my studio. Hope you all have a great Sunday!

First frost

This morning, everything was coated with crystals. We had our first frost last night.

 

 

The leaves are all falling off the trees at once.

 

My husband has been cutting down trees in the forest, for our wood supply in one or two years. It will take that long for the wood to be sufficiently dry to burn. These logs still need to be cut into stove sized pieces.

 Just look at these gorgeous lichens, growing on one of the branches. Guess we have clean air in our rural area. Lichen is generally a sign of unpolluted air.

Sunday - but not a flea market post

"All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey..."

 
Well, the leaves are not all brown, not really. But the weather has turned, it has been drizzling for 2 days and the temperatures dropped to around 8°C (around 46°F). Drab cold weather. I am glad we have the wood all stacked in the shed. The cats have all decided to turn into house cats again. There is something so cozy about seeing a cat curled up, happily asleep.

While it is Sunday, there were no really interesting flea markets taking place today, so I decided to stay home. Sorry - no flea market treasures today!

But I can share a couple of new pieces with you.
A necklace featuring one of Nan's (Spirit Rattles) beautiful ceramic hands. I combined it with bone, new jade, picasso jasper and a resin rose bead, all in muted shades of aged ivory to match the glaze of the hand. And, of course, a vintage mother of pearl button.

You might remember I brought home some moss samples a couple of weeks ago. Well, I was playing with resin and a couple of moss fronds found their way into some copper cups. Somehow, these make me think of mairedodd's inner sanctum.

Like a puddle of clear rain water in the woods, with submerged moss.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!

What I did this weekend

 

We had wood delivered this weekend. 25 cubic meters. Those piles up there are only 16 cubic meters. The other 9 were already stacked in the shed, when I took these pictures. The last photo is our woodshed all filled up - there are about 33 cubic meters total of wood stacked in there. The cold weather can come; we are ready.

But, oh man, do I ache all over now.

Goodbye to Ghost - but I am sure I will see her again

I found out where Ghost belongs and she went home today.

Yesterday, the weather was too wonderful and I was being inspired by some fall colour combinations. Now I am trying to think of a way to use these colours in my jewelry...

Sunday finds plus an update on Ghost

 

Another Sunday and another trip to a flea market. This time I 'only' found lace doilies and table cloths. This particular piece in the photo above - was given to me for free!! The lady said it has a couple of stains, but if I liked it, I could just take it. How could I resist? Otherwise, it is in perfect condition.

These doilies are much smaller and were all paid for. But gorgeous. All of them.

See?

After the flea market, Max wanted to take a walk down to the woods. I was, as always, fascinated by the different kinds of moss growing underneath the trees.

I pinched a fingerful of some of the different kinds.

This one looks like tiny little faery ferns.

Even tinier moss!

Moss covering a twig.

Yet another kind.

Also found some lichen.

 And some acorns.

 Elderberries, not quite totally ripe.

Found object - a tattered piece of copper I found half buried in the wood road.

A short update on Ghost. Photo taken today. She is starting to look like a cat again. Her fur is coming back in nicely. But everything is still touch and go. The unusual growth in her mouth was getting bigger again. The vet says if we can't reverse this process, we will be not be successful in saving her, because eventually, she will no longer be able to swallow anything. She is not eating too well and has been refusing cat food. Currently, we are giving her cortison. And hoping for the best.