Tinacious~ NuministaChic Earrings

Remember all that vintage tin I got from Suzanna at Sushipotparts?

Well I've been workin' it in between orders for crusty rusty bits in my Etsy shop.

You guys are keeping me hopping with the orders. This is a first for me I'll have you know.

Somehow it doesn't matter how many orders I get in the vintage and supply shop it just isn't the same glory as selling my own stuff to you all. Many thanks, I know that there will be some more torch days coming up.

So this is what I've been doing with the tin.

I am discovering something about designing assemblage style pieces...

that they don't necessarily hang the way they look all nice and flat on your work table.

In fact they tend to flip around quite a bit.

I decided to solve the problem on the previous earrings by adding a bit of bling to the back side so they won't be just one sided earrings ( especially with the big blank white space on these.)

Wouldn't you know I just happened to have some of my beads that matched the tin, already made and waiting on my work table?

I have lots more tin left and some pieces cut out in the queue waiting for me.

I had a mishap the other night which involved rescuing an elderly man on the roof.

We were enjoying a warm night on the patio with our friends when one of us heard someone crying "help me!"

In house downhill from us lives a man that has obviously suffered a stroke before.

It's dark and I try to find where the voice is coming from and he's on the roof! ...and it's dark out!

Well I basically had to run around the block while I was on 911 so I could determine his house number.

Meanwhile the guys were trying to find access to his yard which was quite a heap of obstacles.

I went through his house to get to the backyard while my other neighbor climbed up to help get the man down. Meanwhile I was directing the cops to  his location and they were having a time of it getting up the steep ladder. One had to take off his bullet proof vest because it was getting snagged on boards and nails. I went to assist holding the ladder and didn't realize there was a ditch between me and the ladder and fell snagging my ring on some wire that was holding the ladder to the was. It practically yanked it out of the socket. The old man got down and we ascertained that he had been up there for a half hour and presumably was fixing his antenna. ( he has speech problems from his stroke) He was uninjured just stuck and I have a numb ring finger that doesn't seem to be keeping me from making stuff so all is well.

It was an exciting night though.

Utilizing Gem Show Finds

I wanted to share with you a few of my newest creations with some of my finds from The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. It was the first time since we got our little co-op unit in Tucson and I was actually able to ride my bike to one of the shows.

I was particularly drawn to bone Tibetan mala prayer beads this time and gravitated to more tribal looking pieces of bone and even wood.

This pair has my own swirly headpins that can be found in my Etsy shop NuminosityBeads.

I found some delicious pyrite chunks that were small enough not to add too much heft but add some understated bling (is that an oxymoron?) I have been waiting to use my vintage buttons, perhaps hoarding them. Taking a lesson from fancifuldevices I am going to let go and use some of my favorite collections now.

Here are a few of the strands I've broken up that I'll be listing in my supply shop Numinosity.

I have plenty of these so if you want to shout out for some now before I list, have at it!

These top mala beads are a bit larger than the ones I already have listed in my shop.

In case you're confused, I have two shops. One for supplies and vintage things that I didn't make  and the other is all of my own creations including some supplies I have made such as headpins and beads

My photoshop on my laptop is groaning from all of my India photos and won't let me edit any more due to a lack of RAM memory at the moment so I'm sharing some unadulterated photos here, please forgive me.

buttons and bones

Amber swirl headpins... small ivory color mala beads.

I hope to be adding more once I get my memory back!

I have one more thing to add here, do you folks prefer me to answer your comments here or via email, I've always been unsure about this. It has been kind of fun to see responses on other blogs so I may consider switching to answering here, Whatyathink?

A Winner! ...or two

Well once again I have picked a winner and the winner is Lorna from Artymess.

We're both pretty sure this random number generator is rigged because it's the third or fourth time she's won a giveaway here.

I decided to pick another in addition to assuage our  collective guilt for her winning so often so my arctic sister/neighbor Kim Henkel  of Letting in the Light is the winner of another set of clips.

My husband could practically drop them off at her house as he's driving south next week.

She's a mere 500 miles away but lives off of the same highway as us in another country.

                 

I was also a winner on my very special birthday.

I got this handmade pendant from my new Finnish friend Heidi that was taking metal-smithing at  the University of Alaska as an exchange student.

My friend Heather of Mountain Heather hats found this treasure trove of old nails in the Adirondack on her recent trip. My friends really know what I like!

You should check out her winter hats if you're in the market for a new warm hat this winter.

One of our friends was on a trip to France and spotted and recognized one of her hats on someone there so they're becoming international.

My other Finnish friend Reija put in an order with her mother back in Finland and I got a couple of pairs of toasty handmade socks.

Lucky me as it was below zero this morning!

I've been buttoning up... quite literally last minute projects before I fly south next week.

These are a design I came up with a few years back with antique buttons and silver. I made up a hefty batch of these.

Now it's time for emptying the fridge, packing up non freeze-ables from the studio and the house, figuring out which tools need to make the trip with me plus getting ready for one last show in Fairbanks.

Since it's a two day show I'm going to try out featuring my jewelry and lampwork one day and altered art the next since I don't have room  anymore for all of my creations on an 8 foot table anymore! 

These will be up in my Etsy shop after the middle of November.  Currently it's on vacation stop while I make the move south.