Winter's Comfort Food

I'm going to start with the animal pictures today.

So this is what I see looking out my living room window.

A cow moose and her calf  noshing on what's left of our puny garden.

All that munching must have made them tired... 

Because they laid down and took a rest directly after the snacking.

How do you like my little raven bird? My husband HAD to get it for me at one of the local shows for my birthday

Alaska doll maker Mariska Wright of Mariska's Creations made these. You really ought to check out her page

So while the moosey's are getting their winter comfort food I decided to make some caramel and marshmallow candy.

This is my beater right before one of the whisks broke off. It said to whip it for 15 minutes until stiff.

This was about minute 7 so I thought it had to be good enough.

I was mesmerized by the gooey snail shape as it whipped.

Then I had to fish the whisk out of the marshmallow fluff.

It's always a mess no matter what I'm creating!

Not bad but it must have taken me over an hour to just cut and wrap these.

Back to the studio now. 

Here is my Pipnmolly talisman against the crystalized frosty window near my computer.

Don't put your tongue on it!

Let's talk about "product"

I happened to be perusing the Afro hair aisle when I spotted this can.

Ingredients: Petrolatum, microcrystalline wax and fragrance.

I'm thinking that it smells a hell of a lot better than Johnson's Paste Wax and might serve the same purpose for an application on metal like we do with our steel wire work and the like.

The smell was imperceptible the next day and seemed to absorb nicely too. The price was right as well for under $4

Cool can isn't it? So retro it could pass for vintage (except for the bar code on the bottom)

Then there was this  Australian Beeswax with petrolatum, iron oxides, mica titanium dioxide and fragrance. Smells pretty much like plain wax to me and it's black!

So there are cheaper options to experiment with.

You know how long it's been since I made any focal beads?

Long time. Things were hopping so much with my supplies there for awhile that I didn't take the time. It used to be all I did and I never made sets of anything. Things change and flip flop ebb and flow with this biz.. We're talking ebb currently but that's OK. I was losing my attention span for  the small stuff for a bit. 

I was spending most of my time making earrings for local shows and it seems like the newest ones are first to go. I didn't even get to document some of them. There's a really cool set on my phone that I clicked before I bagged them up. Now I need to figure how to get them  to my computer. Just send them right? Except we have no reception out here so I have to remember to do it when I'm away from home...which is like never during the week.

Oh yeah I did find some leeks at the local market and made some super potato leek soup.

Mmmm,  more comfort food!

Here's some  Alaskan inspired aurora beads that I used to make back in the 90's.

Wow, that feels funny to say that. I used to sell lots of these and then I got kind of tired of them.

Maybe I need to ressurrect the design, I don't know. I can't even figure out how to spell resurrect now. Oh must have got it because there's no red dotted line under it now.

Used to be a good speller too...and remembered names with a steel trap acuity.

So I was reading about double headpins over at Art jewelry Elements blog.

She gives a tutorial on  how to make double headpin connectors with copper. 

I took it a step further and did it with glass instead of just balling up  the copper.

So you can take this

And turn it into this ...so you don't get that flippy floppy business of a single headpin when you're trying to connect it. Think of the possibilities! I plan on making some more of these to sell but my lil ol' studio is on it's way to shutting down soon until I get south and then I can put some time into making and listing some new components then.

I left this one shiny because I used a good bit of silvered glass ( Double Helix for those of you lampworkers in the know) and it seems to lose it's ethereal effect when I apply the crustification.

You'll be seeing these beads popping up in the shop varreh sooon.

Now would you believe I thought I was using the same base glass for these beads?

I was using up ends and they looked awfully similar starting out.

They still make a good limpet set don't you think?

Some more double headpins but these are on heavier copper wire - 18 gauge

Here I'm showing you their belly buttons. It was a natural birth.

More  crusty "oobers"

Shiny stripy Double Helix... See now you know what 'm talking about.

Lookit that gorgeous ethereal metallicnessosity!

These ended up with a plethora of multicolored speckles against that fossily base.

S'nother focal bead. I actually did crustify the double helix here just to be daring and all that. It does tend to take it down a notch and with the silvered glass being upwards of $100 a pound you don't want to squander it,  knowwhatimean?

Ah yes, another stab at this style. I'm holding back on selling these cuz you know... I need to make more and then maybe one day I can aspire to get them in a magazine or something. It's on my list of to do and join the club with all of you's published types out there. You know who you are.

I have a mighty stack of the rusted metal tiles waiting for me down in Arizona.

Did I mention it's less than three weeks till we leave!!

I'm paying a small portion of my winter dues to get out of here with this subzero and wind and all. 

But there's so much beauty to the winter here too it really is astounding.

I leave you with a peek at the undersides of these limpets.

If that doesn't get you excited I don't know what will.

Headpinterest

If any of you have been glancing by my Etsy shop you may have noticed that I've been trying to stock it with crusty headpins... so much so that I this is as close as I've come to "real job" with my business.

I even ran out of my wire and had vowed not to make the big long trip to the city to get more.

It's 200 miles round trip and I made a challenge to stay home  for a few weeks.

Luckily my husband had some copper covered steel wire squirreled away so I was able to a keepa goin'

I'm doing my best to keep up but there's only so much torching I can do day after day when my body tells me take a break... so it's the matchsticks' turn this week over at NuminosityBeads

Trying to keep a good assortment coming

I thought I'd entertain you with my first attempts at sculptural beads I did way back when I first started.

I never did get the ears down but they did have a Simpsonesque quality about them

Doggedy

I decided animools weren't my thing

neither were snouts apparently but he's got attitood... we'll give him that

Here's a WIP that became a finished piece

Oh yes and I've been trying to beef up my vintage and supply shop in the meantime

over here

OK, I lied about taking a break from headpin making.

I made some *oober long ones

* yes I really did see someone seriously spell uber like that in the Esty forums recently

( of course I'm not savvy enough to figure out how to put the dots above the u)

and did someone say shiny?

No, no one did but these have Double Helix Glass spots all ethereal 'n' stuff.

They don't show up too well when I crustify them

this is my half crystal shape style that you may not have seen much of.

Barbecue lava longies part crusty with spots of shine.

I'm telling you about this here because you deserve to know first so you can have the first ones on your block...or in Germany, Australia, France or Canada

or the midwest US

Please convo me via Etsy if you have request for other colors or shapes.

Thanks, Kim