sad Sunday

Yesterday  - yesterday... my heart aches, I am devastated. Yesterday I witnessed one of the cats being hit by a car. The person didn't slow down, didn't stop, just kept going. No - I won't tell you any details - bad enough that I will never be able to forget what I saw. And no, it wasn't one of the kittens. It was Mr. Babysitter.

Well, while trying to keep my mind off what I saw, as I lay in bed last night - I realized I needed to express my sorrow in a constructive way. I decided to make something like a prayer bead. Don't know if that is the best term for it. I can think about that later. So, this morning, after feeding the cats/kittens; starting the fire to heat the house; I started work on this:

A piece of etched copper sheet, hammered into almost tube form, containing a piece of  handmade paper (with some words that have meaning for me on the paper) - sorry, I don't know who made it, it was a gift my husband brought home from a business trip to Australia - and a piece of dyed silk rod. Beneath are an Ethiopian prayer bead and one of the jasper beads I brought home on Friday. It is still a work in progress...

Wishing everyone a happier Sunday.

Wild-life and a gem and mineral exhibition

It has been a crazy week. Life has been a bit wild and there has been plenty of wildlife. One of my cats made me a present of a (dead) juvenile rat; there was a young weasel being chased by a gang of cats last night and I still haven't solved the riddle of who put the live vole in the beverage cooler of the fridge... guess somebody wanted his fresh vole chilled. And then there was this guy - hawk or a falcon - that flew smack into the neighbor's window and fell to the ground, stunned.

He was a bit 'fuzzy' in the head for quite a bit. I carried him around in my hands to keep him warm and away from the cats and was finally able to set him in a tree. But not before he showed me just how powerful his talons are - ouch! Glad I'm not a mouse or a sparrow. Anyway, he apparently did not receive any drastic injury, because he did fly up higher into a tree on another lot before it got dark.

Yesterday was the annual mineral und gem exhibition in Munich. I didn't have too much time to spend there, since I had to get the kittens to the vet's in the afternoon, but I used my time well - at least, I think so.

Ivory coloured bamboo coral sticks - they remind me of bones. So cool.

Matte jasper beads, that look like they are part of a prehistoric cave painting. Gotta love something like that.

Etched and faceted agate beads - I would have loved these in matte. But even so, they are quite something.

Tiny faceted briolette beads, probably jade - although they were labeled prehnite.

So in love with these amber pieces. Nice matte finish.

Some treasures from Africa - a couple of new sand cast focal pendants, a lot of old coins, some very old agate beads and two very old worn ring focals.

Gorgeous matte (notice a trend here?) labradorite nuggets and matte (!) hematite beads. Love how the matte finish on the hematite makes them look so much more interesting.

Big raw tourmaline crystals that have been drilled.

Black tourmaline (shorl) that have been cut and polished into a crystal shape and drilled.

 Some more lovely jasper pieces.

Some prehnite cabouchons. For some reason, my camera refuses to depict the gorgeous glowing green of these. You will have to take my word for it.

Sunday flea market

It was cold this morning - really cold. Minus 4°C cold. So, we waited a bit before starting out to the flea market. To no avail - there was thick fog and it stayed cold until the sun finally found its way through just before noon, to make +5°C seem wonderfully mild. Did I just say mild 5°? See what going out in the cold can do to you?

I did make some interesting finds today...

Slightly rusted silver plated bracelet, possibly 1930's.

A small collection of large turned bone rings, although a couple of them look more like antler.

Various sizes of vintage pressed glass flower shapes and beads from a chandelier.

These are a rare find - glass eye cabouchons, some partially painted.

I want to thank everyone that commented (and with such kind words!) on my challenge piece - thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think. Your feedback is so appreciated.

I will leave you with a bit of cute - a photo of two of the sick kittens, which have now taken over my livingroom. Apparently it is a great playground and so many comfy places for a nap... and I can't leave sick kittens out in the cold, can I? These little ones are now approx. 8 weeks old. The eyes are looking just a bit better, but they are still sniffling and sneezing...

Hope you all have a wonderful sunny Sunday, where ever you are!

Deryn's challenge

Last week Deryn of Something Sublime posted a challenge on her blog - you can read it about it here. It was sparked by an inspiration room on Interior Alchemy. Head on over to Deryn's blog to see all the eye candy this inspired.

 
Well, I was inspired and wanted to play along, but I haven't finished my piece yet. Not quite... the necklace is still missing the closure. But I want to share my take on the inspirational challenge with you inspite of that.

Obviously, it was the mirror that sparked my take on this. I placed a distressed vintage piece of mirror behind a vintage belt buckle, layered a woman's image over it and finished it off with sari silk, lace, antique rosary beads, garnets and vintage glass nail head beads.

Thank you, Deryn, for the creative challenge - this was fun!

another pair of earrings...

I did manage to get in a little time in the studio this weekend, while most of my time was spent doing something cat-related. The temps have been dropping to around freezing at night, so it was time to do some insulating of the cat house (other people have dog houses - I have a cat house...) and organize some other warmer sleeping possibilities for the other kitties. And today, my adorable husband built a door for the cat house, to keep out the wind. Pics will follow... The kittens aren't doing as well as I would like - they have cat flu, which is why the eyes are so infected and they have runny noses. Cat flu is a rather serious sickness and can be fatal. So we have been getting antibiotic shots and a new ointment for the eyes, which seems to be more effective. Two of the kittens are still full of energy and all are still eating, but one little guy is spending most of his time sleeping - so this is a turn for the worse. But I am hoping we can get him through this.

But it is definitely autumn, which must be the reason I keep working on fold formed leaves in copper. These are combined with labradorite. A necklace is also in the works...

I hope to be able to show the necklace sometime this week.

new earrings...

I finally have been able to put in a couple of hours in my studio to make jewelry - being a part(most of the)time kitten mama has really taken its toll on the other areas of my life. I actually finished a pair of earrings - yay!

Fold formed copper leaves with bone beads, red aventurine, garnet and chalcedony - really long earrings in autumn colours.

 

The weather has turned - we are having a high of 8°C today, to say nothing of the rain and hail showers... the kittens and their mama have moved into the cat house, next to the front door. And because the nights are getting pretty chilly, they have been joined here by Mr. Babysitter (I think he is a sibling of mama cat) and one of the earlier kittens. Everybody is snuggled up to keep warm.

Aaaawwwww - look at that face! Unfortunately, the kittens are having problems with the eye infection again, meaning antibiotic ointment in the eyes several times a day. They are about 6 weeks old now and full of spunk and curiosity. But I will be glad when they are finally weaned and all eating cat food...