Loose Leaf

I'm sitting here enjoying loose leaf for the first time in my life, so I thought I should share how delicious it is. I'm normally a coffee drinker, but I've been intrigued by loose leaf tea for some time now. I was really excited when I opened a Christmas gift from my parents that included an adorable teapot/cup and loose leaf tea! My mother brought some Darjeeling tea back from her trip to India. I was a little skeptical drinking it without sugar or honey, but it actually has a really nice flavor, and I don't feel it needs the added sweetness.

Here is the cute little teapot my mom picked up in London with painted scenes of the city. The cup fits under the teapot, which warms it before pouring the tea into it.

I'm really looking forward to trying lots of other kinds of teas. What a nice, relaxing way to start the weekend!

Christmas is Fun

After the Christmas rush died down, I was able to spend some time in Lancaster, PA with my boyfriend and his family. It was so great to be able to just relax without worrying about what time it was. I love to cook and bake, but I don't often have the time or opportunity to make anything really special, so Christmas Eve I decided I would make a nice breakfast. My family exchanged gifts on the Saturday before Christmas, and my sister-in-law got me an awesome cookbook called For Chocolate Lovers by the Tanner brothers. Definitely an appropriate gift for me. The very first recipe caught my eye immediately: "Banana and Chocolate Souffle Pancakes". I decided I needed to make this, and Christmas eve would be the perfect time. It ended up being a little time consuming, but that was okay, because I was having fun.

Here they are right before going into the oven. I made the pancakes larger, and perhaps thicker, than I was supposed to, since it was supposed to make 12 and I only got 4 out of it, but that was okay. I also think I filled them a little fuller than I was supposed to, but that was okay, too, because the filling was heavenly.

Here they are right after they came out of the oven. Mmmmmmm... melty, gooey, banana and chocolate goodness!

Even my mug of delicious coffee was eyeing up the goodies:

Hopefully the next time won't take me as long to make them, since I'll know what I'm doing.... and there will be a next time!

Christmas Rush

Well, I'm definitely feeling the stress of trying to get all of my orders filled and shipped out so they arrive by Christmas. My custom linked bangle bracelets have become quite a big seller. It's exciting, but it's more time consuming getting those orders shipped out than items I already have in stock, since each one has to be made specifically for each customer. It's fun to be able to make something so personal that will have special meaning to the person giving, as well as the recipient.

I'll leave you with an image of my messy workbench...

Mmmmm, Felt

I'm very excited about the coming year. I have some new ideas for my jewelry that I'm excited to get working on. Plus, I can't wait to release my new line of felted pillows!! I really wanted to get them out this year, but I decided it was getting too close to Christmas, and I wanted to take my time to tweak a few little things before releasing them. But, I'd thought I'd give you a little teaser by showing some of the pieces I've done.

I LOVE felting so much! It's like having a blank canvas that has endless possibilities. I just wish my time was endless, so I could work on all of my ideas!

Snow and Resin

Wow, December has barely started and we've already had our first snowfall! I wouldn't mind it so much if I could just stay home with some hot cocoa and look out at the prettiness, but having to go out and drive in it makes it not as much fun. This was my backyard yesterday afternoon:

I finally got around to step 2 of my resin ring, which was encasing Durelle's artwork under another layer of resin. I had to trim around the edges of the drawing a little, but I think I should have added another coat of Mod Podge after doing that. It seems some of the resin soaked into the paper, and I'm guessing that is the reason. It hardened up nicely, though, which makes me happy. I'll have to add another layer of resin because it doesn't quite come up to the top, so I will update again after I've done that and polished it up. (Sorry for the dark, blurry photos... I wasn't much in a photo editing mood today :)

While I was at it with the resin, I decided to do a trial run of a project that I've had on the back burner for quite some time... drawer pulls! I poured the first layer and it has hardened up nicely, so now it just needs the second layer. You can't quite tell in the photo, but the first layer is a dark plumb color, so I'll have to decide what other color I want to pair with it.

Decoupage

On Monday evenings a group of girls (okay, women, but that just sounds too old) get together for Bible study or some other activity. This past Monday we had fun doing decoupage. Everyone had really creative ideas with different papers and surfaces to cover.

Here's my messy workspace:

One of my favorites was this hand mirror Jillisa did using cut-outs from magazines to create a collage:

I covered a tin using wrapping paper:
















I love all of the possibilities decoupage gives... with just some cool paper and Mod Podge you can give a whole new look to something that you may otherwise just throw away. It's a great way to recycle old boxes and other containers to give gifts in!

My First Attempt at Pottery

Well, I'm just now getting back into the swing of things after spending my Thanksgiving weekend in Lancaster, PA. On Friday my boyfriend Durelle and I went to his friend Phil Kreider's studio to make some pottery. We had a lot of fun, but I found out it's a lot harder than it looks!

Here is one of my favorite pieces of Phil's:

Looks easy enough, right? Okay, maybe not.

First, I had to pound the clay to get the air bubbles out.

Next came forming a cone-shape with the clay... took me a while to remember my form.

Receiving some wisdom and guidance from the master:

Almost finished with my.... plate? tray? Not quite sure what it was.

Unfortunately, it did not survive, because it was too thin on the bottom :(

Durelle had a little more luck with his... cup?

Luckily, I did have one piece turn out okay... a little candle holder. I tried to make a vase, but that didn't turn out so well. I'm excited to see the finished product. I have to wait for it to dry out, then add a glaze, then fire it in the kiln. Actually, I'm not exactly sure of all the steps, but I guess I will find out when the time is right. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do it again some time. It was a lot of fun to create something out of a lump of nothing, watching it take form, even if you aren't even sure what you're making when you start.

Collaborate

Allow me to brag about my awesome boyfriend for a minute. He is an incredibly talented musician. He creates really cool drawings (check some of them out on Etsy). He learned to knit after I showed him how just one time. He always brings me flowers to fill the beautiful vases he made me. And he's incredibly funny and fun to be around.

I could go on and on, but I really just wanted to talk about my collaboration with him to create some rings using his artwork. He created some drawings that I could cut into small portions to incorporate into my rings. I'm still working on the prototype, so I'm not exactly sure how the finished product will turn out, but I'm excited to find out. I've made the ring and poured the first part of the resin. I just have to wait for that to finish hardening, and then I'll add his drawing and top that with more resin. I've coated the drawing with mod podge, so hopefully that will be enough to keep it looking nice in the resin. I haven't done a whole lot with making rings before, so I'm looking forward to expanding into this area of jewelry-making.

It's Personal

If you checked out October's issue of Lapidary Journal's Jewelry Artist magazine, you will have seen my step-by-step tutorial on how to make my linked bangle bracelet. That was a fun and challenging project for me, and it was exciting to see my work in print!

After a special request from my sister, I've created a personalized version of this bracelet. She was searching for a more modern version of a mother's bracelet, so I stamped the bangles with the name and birth date of each of her children. She prefers a high-shine finish, which was great for this, since it made the lettering really stand out. I plan to offer these soon in my shop... they'd make a great ID bracelet or a gift for a loved one with a personalized message.

My New Venture

I've decided it's finally time to start a blog to journal my creation of pretty things and running my business. I've been making Sterling Silver jewelry for several years now, and perhaps you may have run across my shop on Etsy. I love working with metal to create beautiful and timeless pieces of jewelry that I believe my customers will enjoy for many many years.

Now, as much as I love making jewelry, I also love making lots of other things. I love creating things and learning new techniques in the crafting world. One such love is felting. I've taught myself the classic technique of wet-felting, and I am so excited about all of the possibilities it has. I have decided to create a line of home-decor items using this ancient technique and am very excited to share my creations and experiences as I begin this journey. I will be posting pictures of some of my work soon, so be sure to check back to see what I have in store!

In the mean time, here are some of my recent creations in the jewelry world: