Happy Birthday to me

How will I spend my birthday this year?

Will I go play in the park with my daughter?

Maybe have a delicious dinner with a glass of wine?

Cake?

I don't know, but I bet it's going to start with breakfast.  Maybe I will make myself a sweet latte, too.  Probably not.  The coffee is enough to have me buzzing around.  I wish I could spend the day relaxing with my husband along with my daughter.  We will have no such luck, though.  I should find places yo go that give you free stuff on your birthday!  Hmmmm.  The only thing is, the guys have band practice at night, so if I want in on any birthday freebies, I have to start early.  I am really hoping the ice cream shop partakes!  

Meanwhile, I spent some time at my bench yesterday.

Spinning.

Red.

Dot.
Check Etsy, it might be there!

I do feel like I am finding my style again. Not that I had lost it, but I wasn't making work the same as I used to.

It usually comes down to movement and color. (And any combination of dots, geometry and symmetry.)

At any rate, it was kinda nice.  I feel like I am doing something productive, and it's even possible someone will like what I made!

Mom-in Law got me this for my birthday.

ICE CREAM!

And a few years ago, they got me a grill.  (These things are all for Us really, but that is ok by me!)

I'd just like to say that I lucked out with some of the best in-laws out there.    

And I'm not saying that because of the great gifts (but they are great), but because they are just so NICE, too!

Anyhow, the job hunt continues. 

What should a  super smart, jack-of-all trades kinda guy do for work, after he has been teaching alternative ed and emotional support for TEN years?  
He was even told twice yesterday that he is the model teacher, by people who have been working in that setting for years.  
The problem is, it's been 10 years, and he is ready for something 
New.  
Different.  
Better.   
Less stressful.  

Time to get the little lady who is singing to her animal friends up in bed!
Wish us luck in the hunt for a new career.

New Sock Knitting

This will be my first try at knitting socks!
I am looking forward to it.

It all started back in December when my mother gave me some beautiful blue, and ultra soft sock yarn for Christmas.  Since then, I have been a little bit busy with life, so I just started looking for patterns.

There are so many great ones out there, I am not sure which to choose, but I think I have narrowed it down to three choices.

Brienne

Kontio

By the Seine River

Like I said, this will be my first try.  I shouldn't get too crazy.  That's not to say I didn't consider doing these…  But let's be kinda realistic here!

In addition, just because I am about to choose a pattern, that doesn't mean that I am going to get to making these anytime soon!
There is still jewelry to be fabricated and polished and photographed, and there are jobs to be found, and laundry to be done and cheerios to vacuum.  But I'm getting there.

Weekend Wins.

Silver and chrysoprase.

What do I like more than that combination?

Really high carat gold paired with a really deep green chrysoprase. 

But lately, call me crazy, I am going for the more realistic, somewhat more "economic" route, if you will.  

Don't get me wrong.  I will happily make things with gold!  As of now, though, I would want to work on the designs more, to make them really *Pop*  with the placement of color combinations.

But these fun ones are done and waiting to be snatched up by the first lucky bidder.

I also finished a fun spinning ring and some sparkling square studs.  A new endeavor.

 *More Fun Things To See Here*

This weekend was a bit crazy.  

Saturday we had a great dinner with some wonderful friends.  

Apple and Brie soup, followed by rabbit, polenta, fennel, and roasted garlic.  Then a cheese plate with some coconut gouda, cambezola bleu, midnight moon (if I remember correctly), and a mustard one, which I can never seem to remember the name of, from The Savory Gourmet.   Then we had a carrot cake that I made and decorated.

Did I take a picture?  Of course not.  I was too busy trying to clean up the kitchen that was littered with cake making and decorating stuff, as well as scraps from making a marinade for indian food.  That was my husband's doing.  

Because… Sunday, we had an indian food fest.  We did chicken tikka masala, toasted chickpeas, rice, and made the naan.  Our friends made pakora and chicken makhani.  

It was a delicious weekend.  

Now back to the week.

Laundry is already going.  

I hear little sounds coming from the wee one. 

And my coffee is getting cold, as always, while I type!

Here's to good things to come.

Foggy Spring Morning.

Cars whir past as I sit waiting for my daughter to wake up this foggy, grey, first day of spring morning.
Hazelnut coffee, still warm in the press, but already chilled in my mug.
The hunt for a new job for my husband continues, but I must take a short break to say hello here.

Thoughts of gardens dance in my mind.
Watermelon, cantaloupe.
Zucchini
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.
Fresh salad greens!

I do believe that is one of my favorite things about my backyard garden.
The fresh salad.  A little bit of this, a little bit of that.  Some spinach, a handful of beet greens.  Throw in some swiss chard, too.   (It's even better when it is sautéed with garlic, then tossed on top!)

There are tiny sprouts of spinach in my makeshift greenhouse outside.  The half inch sprouts somehow seemed to weather the winter cold, and now they are starting to grow taller.  Signs of life.

For now, the thoughts of spring are brought to my home by flowers.  Mom-in-law brought us the purple plant a couple of weeks ago.   I couldn't resist the bouquet of yellow and orange daisies yesterday at the grocery store.   They were on clearance, like their days were numbered.
SOMEONE had to save them from wilting all alone in the store.

Time is tick-tocking by quickly today.
Off to get ready for work and make some yummy oatmeal for the wee one.
Plans taking over my mind and my bench for some spring jewelry designs and creations.
Excitement for life.  And sincere hopes for good things to come soon to my amazing husband.    
Happy spring!

It just hit me. Again.

I want to win the lottery.
Because
I want to open my own jewelry instruction studio.
Along with a pottery studio.
And heck, while I'm at it, throw in a few rooms for painting, drawing and all of the other 2-D stuff.
The lottery thing- that's just for start-up money.   You know, having a place to call my own, and furnishing it with all of the necessities.
And geez.  While I'm at that, I want to have my own shop-front in that building.  And be able to get people in there to "help" Eh, hem, Work.
And, I think it would also be nice to have a room that stays "Clean" where kids can play and create their own fun stuff.  A room where they can still be seen while I (or any other parent there) work.  
I want to teach.
I want to make.
I want
I want
I want.

I have a not-enough-used sketch book, and lots of shiny, sparkly goodies that I need to put to good use.

I can feel spring.
It is somewhere in the air, making me want to clean my home and my studio and start fresh.
New designs, new photos.
New life.
New.

What, these ol' things?

Just before we left home to head to a whiter Christmas location, I finished a few things.  

I had just learned how to do herringbone stitch book bindings, and with my freshly made sewing frame, I thought I would make my mother a book for Christmas.

It wasn't the best of the best.  I even redid the covers- they were that not good!  And a press sure would have helped, but it turned out pretty nice in the end.  I think they can only get better in the future, and it is one of those things, that I wanted to let the stitching show, since I'm pretty sure that's why it was designed to look nice, but at the same time, I feel like it made the cover look unfinished.  For the future, I think I am ok knowing that the stitching looks nice, even if it does get covered up!  We will see, though, if I find or create other good solutions.

Also, I made these:

Not the best photo ever, oops!

But they are the first two iterations of leather and silver shawl pins- also intended to my mom. (Yes, I made lots of gifts this year, and left my mom's til the very last minute...). 

My dear husband looked at the first one i made and said "you've done better..."

At least he is honest!

So I made a second one, which I thought turned out better. (Mom wondered if whatever she was looking at in the gift box was finished, so apparently, I didn't sell it too well!  When I told her it was two separate pins with a single stick, she believed me that they were done.  Phew!)

Next on my list of things I made...

My daughter's Christmas stocking!

(My mother started it before we got there, and did the top stripes.)

For my first real colorwork, I am super pleased!  I did the name, then designed (with the help of some other patterns) the moose and tree, then got to figure out how to carry that many colors.

It was all good fun.

Now we are home with the new year leas than 8 hours away.

We shall see what 2014 has to bring.

Cheers!

Why I wasn't at my bench today...

I was making this.

It probably doesn't look like anything much at all to anyone right now, because it isn't done.

My friend sent me a text today, asking if I have a sewing frame.  

Many images flashed in my head, forcing me to ask for clarification. 

It turned out as I had thought: he was looking for a sewing frame for bookbinding, and while I didn't already have one, it has been on my list of things to make.  Way,  way down, pretty much at the bottom of the list, but it was there!

So the bambina went in her crib for a nap, and I began on a scavenger hunt, in the truest sense of the word, for pieces to use for this frame.

What I found were some old pieces of threaded rod that I had used with circles of plexiglass (I wonder where those went...) for a show that I did in college.  If I ever find some photos of that, it was pretty damn stunning, if I do say so myself! 

 *sidenote on the display*

People were playing ping pong in the common room, just over the half wall where my work was displayed, (it was college) and a stray ball knocked one of my pieces off of it's stand.  I don't even recall exactly which piece, but I do remember almost having a heart attack when it hit the concrete floor...

Back to today.

I found a strip of wood in the garage that I planed down to be slightly nicer.  I also found some nice plywood that was previously used for a built-in desk, so there were Plenty of screw holes already in it.  Score!

I took my loot down to the basement where I grabbed my (husband's) trusty razorsaw (one of the best Christmas gifts I've gotten him) off the wall and cut away. 

Then I couldn't find the coping saw, so I put my project on hold and chopped some veggies for dinner.

The end.

Stay tuned.