The Latest Obsession

So, this is the pair of earrings I made to wear to the choir thing. I'm calling this design the Icicle - I've left the t-pin long so that the beads dangle at the bottom of it, and the wire is visible above the beads. Not sure if I've ripped this design off or if I thought of it myself - sometimes I'm unclear about my sources of inspiration. But that is a Czech glass bead with a small silver plastic bead beneath it and a swarovski crystal above.




These are the others I made that day. They are pretty difficult to photograph when they are packaged. The white card is actually my business card, so they have my contact details. The last one on the bottom right isn't conforming to the Icicle design, but it sold anyway. And I've used a combination of beads, atho most of them have at least one swarovski crystal in there.

You can tell that this is not labor intensive. All I have to do is choose a nice combination of beads, feed them onto the wire, and make the loop. Making the loop is actually the hardest part, but I am getting pretty good at it.



Here's the second batch. Did I mention they are hard to photograph? But almost half of these sold yesterday. I expect to sell more today. And then I think I will quit, altho I am dreaming in swarovski crystals. But this is all hobby stuff. As soon as we are settled in our new place, I intend to get back to quilting. And I think I will set an assignment for myself - like one a week or something, depending on how much of my time is spent out of the house. Boohoo. The thing I keep thinking is: you can't sell your artwork if you don't have artwork to sell.

The End of an Era

I did it. I finally finished hanging all my previously stored quilts on hangers. All that could fit in this garment moving box and in the closet. Not one more piece could go in either place. The bag is semi-full of old unfinished work, work from other artists,like Brooke, and strange bits of stuff that I really should throw away. The storage box holds almost double what is you see on hangers since they are smaller and therefore two could be squeezed into one hanger. There are more small quilts in Rubbermaids, and on shelves, walls and on couches and chairs about the house. I estimate the total to be near 200 pieces.

This is my moratorium. I am not making any more quilts. I’ve done what I wanted to do and now I feel the need to move on to other artistic pursuits. Painting probably.

New Stuff

The last time Dave went to Atlanta to play ball I made him come home with the last Billy. I put it together today and it wore me out. I guess I am not so recovered as I thought. But I had a good long soak in the bubble tub (and later Dave joined me) and that made me feel better.

I decided yesterday to get myself a nice tv for my studio. I like to have it on while I am fussing with fabric or getting stuff ready to paint, or just while I am sketching, so I justified it by remembering that I still have $1000 in my paypal from painting last year.

This is our old old old microwave cart that used to hold our computer and now it will be my taboret for painting. The turps and brush cleaner and gesso go in the cabinet part and the paint and palette go on the slider and the top holds whatever. I am glad we didn't get rid of it.

I will be moving the wire shelves from this spot because I also ordered a wall mount that comes out from the wall and can be angled to view from all sides. It won't be staying on the fireplace, in other words.