Roxy

my .........uhm.............studio

This is my temporary studio set up at my half of the dinner table. Needless to say we do not eat at this table anymore instead we are using the coffee table in the living area. Ah the perks of living in an Apartment . I cannot wait to get back to the house in New Mexico and to show it to you guys when it is all decorated and made up. i will have part of the garage set up as my studio with a real table and some shelves were i can put all my tools. No more boxes and looking ages for things. No more having to put everything away or leaving it on the dining table. And the best thing is in my house i can make noise and hammer to my hearts contend until midnight if i wanted to.

Eddie

Eddie the blue beetle bug
needed a big beetle hug
so he wondered if he could find
someone to be so kind
to give a big beetle hug
to Eddie the blue beetle bug

Eddie the blue beetle bug
searched high and low for his hug
even to the top of a tree
he went to be able to see
the one that would give a hug
to Eddie the blue beetle bug

Eddie the blue beetle bug
still needed a big beetle hug
when he saw high in his tree
a big big black Bumble bee
may be he thought this one will hug
Eddie our little blue beetle bug.

African Violet

When my hubby and i still were living over in Germany , before we got married and moved to the States ( New Jersey boy ) he got me an african violet, He hates cut flowers, he will not cut any and he will not buy any for me that are cut. It makes him sad that we have to basically kill plants to tell somebody we love them and somehow i agree. Anyway, that violet was a iddy biddy tiny plant and one day it fell out the window from the 4th floor in a storm while we were away. When we found it it was half eaten and all broken from snails, lets just say it really did not look good. Well we saved it and lo and behold it grew and thrived. When we moved to the states we were not allowed to take it ( against the law ) so we gave it to my mom. And she swears that she can tell by the plant how i am doing. I was sick a couple of years ago and mom told me the plant got all sick too and revived when i got better. Now 8 years later the main plant died but it sprouted 3 other plants that my mom potted and they are doing beautifully.

by the way

No work for me tonight. I was canceled ...again.. Like i was canceled every day for the last 2 weeks. Why do i even bother . I had 2 small sales on Etsy though and one on ArtFire. Not enough to pay the bills but at least i made something. I sold 1 guitar pick ( go figure ) 1 guitar pick pendant and 1 Hemp bracelet. I do hope that the economy picks up soon so that people by the expensive stuff, like my beautiful flower ring :)
oh well i made new guitar picks with different text and i used my totally  new and awesome fond letter stamps. A purchase through Etsy. Anyway. here are some pictures.

new

This is a new ring i made last week. It is a copper flower ring with a Sterling silver ring shank and a sterling silver butterfly. That was a whole day project and quit fun to make. This time i choose a Lapis Lazuli as gem stone. They are beautiful and dark blue one of my favorite colors. I think this one came out nice. The day before i made one from all sterling silver and hubby wanted that i make one from copper and silver as he likes the contrast. I did grumpled a little bit. But now i am glad i listened to him. I love the result. Even though i had trouble soldering the butterfly on the flower. I always have a little problems with joining copper and silver. So the first butterfly melted away. LOL. Can you picture my disapointment and i used a couple of choice words that i do not want to repeat in both languages nonetheless.

ah the joys of selling online

Today my shop is dead, deader then dead in fact, and i do not understand it one bit. The last week has been awesome. I made lot of sales and cranked out items fast. Today not one sale. nada, none, niente, nix..........
I don't get Etsy or ArtFire. Now i am sitting here thinking if i should put my tools away and call it a day/week/year or whatever. The apartment looks like a bomb exploded and i need to clean up, but somehow i cannot bring myself to do this just yet. I am still browsing around and look into Etsy every 5 minutes to see if i sold anything. I think i am obsessed. Selling online is like a drug and i want and need it. LOL.
The weather is quit beautiful today and hubby went for a mountain bike ride. So here i am all alone sitting in front of my tools. What to do what to do. I am on the schedule today for work if they need me they will call at 5 pm if they don't need me  they will also call. So i have 2 1/2 more hours to wait until i know. This is driving me nuts slowly but surely. I need to do Laundry too. Ah sweet procrastination. ...


this is me by the way with hubby out and about hiking. That was made in winter last year.

boy oh boy

have i neglected my blog lately. I have been super busy making Guitar Picks from Aluminum and selling them on Etsy. They are a great success . Go figure no one wants my jewelry but everyone wants alu guitar picks. Not that i am complaining. Hey maybe i will be even able to quit my day job . Yeah right. As if i would :).
here are some of my picks of those guitar picks. tell me what you think or maybe even give me some ideas for quotes or guitar picks i can try to make .

Survivor

“I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wondering awed about on a splintered wreck I've come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air, whose bloodied and scarred creatures are my dearest companions, and whose beauty bats and shines not in its imperfections but overwhelmingly in spite of them...”  Annie Dillard

I am in a Treasury way cool

over on Etsy, that was a nice surprise
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTI0Mzg3MDd8MTEyMDUyMjc1Nw/last-leaf

Broiled Fish with Spring Onion and Tomatoes

This is what i made today for dinner and it was actually really good. I never follow any recipes so everything i make is a total surprise when we eat it. I used wild caught cod as the fish and this is how you make it
1/2 pound Cod filet, 1 Tomato , 1 bundle spring onion, 2 Garlic gloves
you also need to preheat oven on broil to 350 degrees, medium rack and aluminum foil

cut the fish in half, put 1 half in aluminum foil, salt, pepper, ( any spices you like really), rosemary, on both sides, cut some spring onion and half the tomato in little pieces and mince the 1 garlic glove , put on top of the fish, a couple of drops of Lemon if you like, then fold the foil over the fish to make a pouch, leave a little area open for the steam to escape. repeat with the other half of the fish,
put in oven on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes, it may vary with the thickness of the fish, voila ready to eat. Now you may have noticed that i did not use any oil. Nope you do not need any with this kind of recipes not even a little bit, The fish itself has oils already so you don't need to ad which makes this dish very healthy.
As a side dish i used steamed veggies and i used the same spices on them.

Tutorial #2

2.) Second part of the tutorial. After you have finished cutting out the outer shape of the design you will need to cut the inside of it. drill a hole in each and every part you need to cut out. On the one i am showing i only needed to drill one hole and i actually did not drill i used a hole punch pliers one of my favorite tools. They work up until 18 gauge metal sheets if you use thicker gauges you will have to drill as the pliers will brake. Now, we have our hole in the inside of the design on the part that will be cut away. Loosen one end of your jewelers saw and thread the blade through the hole. Re-tighten and start sawing the inside. until you cut it out completely. If you have more then one cut out repeat until you are done.  My shape was a Maple leaf Pendant were i did not wanted a solid piece but rather the so called pierced and cut design. You are now done cutting out the shape and you can peel the paper off. I found that if i use rubber cement it will come off easy when i am done and will hold out through the whole cutting process

How to make a pierced and cut design pendant from sterling silver

1.) Choose a metal sheet that you like, you can take any kind of metal, like sterling, copper, brass, aluminiu, gold, titanium.............you get the picture? I use for my pierced and cut designs always 18 gauge sheets because it gives you a nice sturdy piece for your pendant so it will not bend so easy. I have noticed that when i take a 20 gauge sheet the metal is so thin that it will bend if you are not careful. I take 20 gauge metal sheets however when i am making earrings as you do not want them to be so heavy. After you chose your metal sheet i draw out a design on a sheet of paper with a ball point pen. Don't use a pen that you can erase with an eraser they can smear while you are working on your metal. Cut out the design and glue the paper to the metal sheet. I use rubber cement, it will not leave any residue when you remove the paper from the metal and it drys really fast. Usually i can begin cutting after 15 minutes. My jewelry saw is a standard size and the saw blades are a 1/0 which is very small. When you start sawing do not push with the saw you want to have not a lot of pressure on the saw blade . They will brake very easy. Slowly saw out your outer shape of your design. If you have to go around a corner you have to "jog" in one place with your saw and slowly turn the metal in the direction you are going.
Tomorrow i will post the next chapter of this tutorial

new new

I just made them and i could not wait to photograph and show around. I used 18 gauge sterling silver and cut the circles out by hand , dabbed them a little in my dabbing block, soldered on the posts, pickled, cleaned, patinaed and wire brushed. Oh boy, sounds like a lot of work for something so small. But they were quite fun to make i think i will make some more.

Water,water...........................................
If you are ever in New Mexico you have to visit White Sands. It is an area in between Las Cruces and Alamogordo were you have Gypsum sand which gives it that white color. You will need sun glasses though due to sun glancing off of the sand and hurting your eyes. White Sands is beautiful. The sand dunes stretch for several miles in any direction and you have several hiking trails that lead you into them. The sand itself does not get hot it is actually very cool when you walk without shoes even in over 100 degree weather. A lot of the local go there with their kids to sled down the slopes on plastic disc sleds it is quite fun and fast. We went there a couple of times and will never tire of it. Once we visited after the rainy season and the water stood on several spots knee deep in little lakes . Lots of kids and adults there that day, splashing in the water.

the second picture is my hubby and i on one of the sand dunes, horsing around. As you can see they are very steep.

Meet my Great-Grandpa, isn't he a handsome one? My Mom found that Photo and send it to me via e mail. I never met him but i wish i had. However i can still remember one of my Great Grandmas. I remember visiting her in her apartment in beautiful Leipzig, Germany my home town or actually City. She was living in an old old building with wooden floors. I remember the smell kind of old and musty but oh so comforting, at least as a child. I liked visiting her in that apartment which always seemed somewhat dark and mystical to me. And i loved that old wooden chest with the old toys in there. She had a tin bird with a key to wind up and it would move and hop about the floor. I don't know how old i was but she was very old . I have to ask mom but i think she lived to about 96. I still remember her smiling face so full of wrinkles and crevices and so beautiful.

fresh and hot and "manly"

Well hubby wanted me to make something more " male and manly" so i did this one today and a couple of others that i still need to finish. I took an arrow head as an inspiration for this piece. The base is sterling silver 20 gauge and an 18 gauge copper piece that i appliqued. It is about 1 1/4 inches long. I like it because it is kind of rough looking. The edge of the sterling is chased and the copper was hammered. I used a very dark patina on it also to give it that aged cave men look. I think it came out pretty nice. R.J. likes it.
It better sell quickly. I cut my finger on the darn thing before i filed the edges now they are nice and smooth. I got some leather from my supplier and used that with a slip knot that i just learned. I love slip knots you can adjust the length on the necklace with it and make it longer or shorter. If they only knew here in the complex what i do. I was hammering away on the balcony today. I don't think we are well liked in this apartment complex. Oh well, got to make a living. We are thinking about moving back to New Mexico , back into our house. The people that live there at the moment are looking for a house and we will pay them the moving cost. R.J. ( my hubby) wants to go back to the University to finish his master in engineering. I want to go back because i am sick of the apartment. I cannot make to much noise here. Who would have thought hammering on steel could be that loud ( LOL). Like i said i don't think anyone likes us here. The other day the manager came by while we were working on the Jeep. She wanted us to stop immediately because people had complained. Well the Jeep has no water pump, radiator, belt , fan and no cooling fluid. She wanted us to drive it of the property. Yeah right, that Jeep aint't moving. We towed it in a back alley of the complex with the working Jeep. ( yes we have 2 ). That was fun. Now no one can see us working on it. There are only Garages.

Magical

I found a magical spot in the forest. I am always expecting a little fairy with rainbow wings to sit on one of those little mushrooms. These pictures were taken at Pyramid Rock in New Jersey this summer, where hubby and i went for a nice hike.

Roxy

That is Roxy our lazy Black Lab as you can see i am up and she is still in bed. Roxy came to us a couple of years ago when we found her in a Shelter in El Paso Texas. She was 9 months old and a bundle of energy. She is now 8 1/2 years old and still going strong. When we first got her they just fixed her and on the way back she started throwing up in the car. So we had to take the new dog to the vet were she got something for her stomach, that i had to give her twice daily. Mind you she was already 75 pounds with a large snout and big teeth, very big teeth and i had to stuff the pills down her throat. I never owned a dog before , my hubby had, but i never did. I had in my child hood, 1 mouse, 2 rats ( yes i find them cute ) , we had a little bird his name was Oscar and he lived until he was 13 years old ( they usually only live 2-3 years) but he is another story for later . And we had a big fish tank in the living room. Wow , i just realized if we would have had a cat, she would have been very happy to be with us. But back to Roxy. I survived the stuffing pills down her throat and we have repeated that several times since then. At 9 months she was also in her chewing phase , remember big snout big teeth? Yup. She got my not cheap Italian shoes that i brought over to the states. Oh those shoes were so darn cute and my favorite. A couple of pillows and other stuff and you know the worst thing was that not one of my husbands things were destroyed not one single shoe, pillow or anything else, no all mine. Even though i was the one feeding her, taking her out, brushing her fur, giving her water. I even had to fight for my spot in the bed a couple of times in the beginning. Now i only have to look at her sternly and she will move to the end of the bed were she belongs. Yes i know what a lot of people say , you should not let your dog sleep in the bed with you. I don't care. She is fine at the end and we don't have any problems.
So that concludes the introduction of Roxy our black Lab. I will write more about her later.