Earring Extravorgazma

I'm going to go backwards in time with my earring making spree.

I wanted to start with the pair in which I'm most proud.

( how's that for proper grammar?)

These were made with some metal tile that I found out near our desert property.

I brought a few of my pre-cut pieces back with me from Arizona.

I have a goodly stash to return to November but for now this is it.

Look how the light comes through them

Those are faceted pyrite lashed on with silver wire.

I can't keep hoarding my silver stash just because it's expensive now.

Yeah I kept these little torch fired copper enamel rounds for myself so far.

Revisiting my "roadsmithed" design with smashed bottle caps that I find on the streets in Bisbee.

Those of you that have followed for awhile might remember them.

Oh, we have litterers here in Alaska but it's a big highway with lots of wide open space.

I think there are more can people here that litter anyway.

And huge ditches and lots of brushy stuff, not so convenient as curbed pavement for searching.

And big snow plows and road graders scrape the roads clean.

Got some new and different supplies in a trade with Kim from Flotsam Tide

I find it's best to put newly gifted supplies immediately to use.

And you just might be able to see how she influenced these.

I haven't done much of the chainy work before.

Spacing is important I realize now.

How many times did I have to fasten the charms so they didn't overlap too much?

Found some old supplies that I made into these simple earrings.

Somehow little perfect frames aren't me anymore but I tried to funk them up with some lava and trade beads. Put on some extra long silver earwires to glam them up a bit so they weren't too pedestrian.

There was a time when I was going to sell out all of my tribal & trade beads since my style had veered away from that style. Imagine that, they've come back  'round to me again

 I finished this pair with NKPbeads

Petra of ScorchedEarth's ceramic rings, Kristi Bowman's charms

and my last set of baubles- double ended headpins on copper.

I do need to make more of those again sometime.

This is where I riffed off of an amazing design of earrings that I got in a trade with Darlene of DarliciousHouse

( I said riffed off, not ripped off and am happy to say she feels the same way. I checked with her to make sure)

My headpins matching the faceted carnelian

Multicolor matchsticks with some faceted opal

I finished these too. You know how I was squawking about doing custom pieces?

I just needed one criffle to match the other one.

Did I get it right?....no!

Different sizes and different colors. I ended up using a different stray orphan from my work table just because I wanted to finish these.

I'm at the end of my outdoor shows now and will be stocking some of the local galleries and shops in addition to several nice warm indoor shows.

The next one will be  "The Bad Girls of the North" in Fairbanks at the end of the month.

Great name eh?

They serve cocktails and hors douvres and the women they are happy cruising through with their wine glasses.

Oh, and one big question for those of you  that have the new activity feed on Etsy.

What do you think of it?

I happen to absolutely love it but was shocked to find that so many abhor it.

Must be because I have a Mac and follow such great folks because it all looks scrumptious to me.

Maine Trip

Back in Alaska again, returning to the turning leaves and threats of frost already.

Harvesting what's left of my pathetic garden and trying to get my mind back in gear for business.

I brought a few components along on my trip back east.

I'd won some of Kristi Bowman's wonderfully texture copper dangles. I knew they would look great paired with my copper enamel drops and lampwork. She had already shown me how she had paired some of my criffles with her snakeskin bails.

I had the hardest time selling these yellow crystal shaped bead earrings when they were hanging alone. I had actually dismantled three different pairs in this color scheme and tried selling them as a bead set.

Then I took apart the bead set and gave them a matte finish...still couldn't sell them.

and now I've put them together with the enameled copper and the sea urchin rectangles and sold them immediately to my sister who never ever wears yellow.

Unfortunately I didn't bring along enough of the metal elements and spacer beads that tie a design together. It's so hard to pack everything you think you may need  for designing.

I used up what I could and saved a few ideas for when I got back to my stash.

But I did come up with these.

Once again these are Kristi's textured feathers paired with my criffles.

My limpet bead caps and some shiny leaf shaped headpins.

I have no idea where I picked up the brass stampings.

That's so unlike me too. I usually remember where I pick up stuff.

Criffles and lampwork and an experiment with trying to do the baking soda effect on enamel drops.

I found that it tends to eat the enamel and make it rather sticky so I put a layer of sealant on the drops.

Another limpet bead cap combo with Kristi Bowman's leaf shaped textured headpins.

Now to show off some of my loot...

Vintage paper beads already made from the Super's Junkin store

A very malleable plaque that I think I can cut up for earring pieces

A most wonderful tin ( I have the bottom too) 

but it's almost too nice to cut up for earrings isn't it?

Some organic matter. The barnacle had a snail stuck inside it.

I had to free it so it wouldn't stink

I found a great antique bottle seaglass piece too with a snail stuck in the neck but I had to give it to my husband when I realized I didn't have any presents for him.

He always brings me presents.

Cool snips

I had planned on journaling but only managed a few collage pages

I had a cousin that I hadn't seen in 40 years or so that knows how to translate Greek and Sanskrit

and was able to discern some of the text that alek had sent me

It's been such a long time since I made any ATC's

I love the  used carbon paper that I found in a drawer at the camp

This one is begging for some more layers I think

This one's my fave

And this one

More loot. I just love the local ephemera from an old Maine store from the 20's

One had the entire order of fireworks for  4th of July

Theengs!

I'm still scratching my head about the "Clerk Of Course" pin

Everyone need theese

Now for some Maine scenery.

This bridge goes to Campobello where the Roosevelt's spent their summers which is in Canada now.

My folks' passports expired so I didn't get to go over.

A new (old) boat showed up on the bay in front of our place this year.

It's a lobster boat and I was told by our lobsterman that it's a "Novy" boat

which means Nova Scotia style

Went to Lubec to visit an old friend that I hadn't seen in 20 years.

Nice fog lifting.

They had some really good dulse for sale in this town.

I'm having it shipped back with the some of the best potato chips I've ever had.

They are crack chips called UTZ Dark Russet Gourmet.

I'm telling you these were good enough to ship back to Alaska.

Speaking of good, I had my share of these babies. There's a lobster glut going on so they were super cheap this summer.

Ah, fresh bloobs!

I'm partial to Maine blueberries but have grown to like Alaskan blueberries now.

The Alaska ones are much more tart and reportedly have higher antioxidants plus I know where to find them here for free.

So this is my Uncle Manley.

He said he didn't want to drive to visit us but if he could get his friend to drop him off across the bay they would kayak over for lunch.

He's 85!

I got to see another uncle turn 89 too.

Nice to know there's a bit of longevity in the fam.

This is his older brother, my Dad that can't quite get around as well but he's always up for a game of cribbage or crab picking or stripping fir balsam boughs for his daughter because the needles smell so good.

Poor guy has been through so many procedures and over 60 doctors in the last few years.

He was doing quite well though this visit. And Mom she's always cooking up something good for us.

He told me a funny story that I think he finally agreed to let me share. ( I think... don't tell him I told you)

He went to yet another clinic and the nurse wanted him to list all of his procedures and previous ailments. He got a bit confused at one point when he was trying to remember that he had gangrene and told her he had been treated for gonorrhea! He got a pretty strange look from the nurse

although mom got a good laugh out of that one.

This way I can bring a little of Maine home with me.

I returned home to this bounty.

I'll be smoking some up tomorrow with my special sake and soy sauce brine.

Announcement

There's a giveaway going on over at Kristi Bowman's blog.

It's not these earrings but I just wanted to show you how she paired my criffles with her snakeskin bails.

Pretty cool I'd say!

Some new stuff going up over at my Etsy shop.

I was on a bit of a lull in my head. I wish I could blame it on the heat  but it's kind of the opposite up here in the subarctic 64th parallel.

waking up to more grey and rain and 49 F degrees.

Oh, let's see it's up to 59 today, woot!

In any casee I'll be off on a trip back east to Maine in a few weeks to enjoy some perfect summer weather by the bay hopefully.

moose toothily crusty nail bit

I was so excited by my new sampler pack of enamels.

I still have the same enamels that I started with back 15 years ago.

I wasn't going through them all that fast just rolling my beads in them.

But now this copper enameling operation is using it up much faster.

There were all these new colors that I hadn't seen before!

Turns out they were transparent rather than the opaque I had always been using. 

So the effect was a bit different, some may work. I rather like the way these came out.