Time for a change...

If there comes a little thaw, Still the air is chill and raw, Here and there a patch of snow, Dirtier than the ground below, Dribbles down a marshy flood; Ankle-deep you stick in mud In the meadows while you sing, "This is Spring."

~Christopher Pearce Cranch~




Aahh I think spring finally came to Fairbanks, AK. When I see mud puddles every where and finally the dead grass in my front lawn(since the snow is melting), and hear the Canadian Geese on its way to Creamer's field.

I just can't wait until the greenhouses are full of colorful flowers so I can finally plant my potted garden again for the summer. After a winters worth of nothing but grey skies and white snow I am so ready for green grass and colorful wildflowers and gardens.

As the season has changed so has some things with my jewelry. First of all the packaging. When I first started I figured matching my work with decorative papers would attract more attention at the bazaars or in store. And it did do its purpose but now as I am working more with incorporating glass with metal and also having precious metal clay that idea is not really working anymore. Plus, it was such a pain to do. So I turned to a more simpler way of carding my work. Here is how my jewelry was carded for 2 years.




Bo found a font he liked and we bought creme linen business card paper and went off with that idea. It looks more polished and professional. And as we progress and find a logo we can create off our name then we may change it again. Here is an idea of what it would look like. Picture was taken before bringing my work back into The Stash.


Against neutral paper the colors in my fused pendants and even in Bo's lampwork earrings and pendants pop out. Which is the effect we wanted.

We brought new things into the Stash and went ahead and took some pictures to show you all how neat this store really is. We have some very talented artists and if you are in town you should go check them out.

My little corner of the store...










A few pictures around the store.





















I hope you enjoyed my little virtual tour around The Stash. SMILE!

I am getting so antsy to get my hands dirty and plant some flowers. I usually go to the greenhouses and take pictures of the flowers and just take in the burst of colors before actually picking out what I want. A couple local greenhouses here that I love are Plant Kingdom off Farmer's Loop Road and Risse's Greenhouse up on Risse Road off Chena Hot Springs Road. I really can't wait!

Some pictures taken last year...









Some wildflowers I can't wait to see around the roadsides...




Maybe if we are quiet and stealthy we can see Mr. Fox multiple times again this summer. SMILE!



Have a great Spring season full of growth and renewal.


To-day the glint of green is there;
Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair,
No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there!
~L.H. Bailey~

Charmed...

Lately I have had some fun making custom work for some of my loyal friends/customers. Most wanted charms attached to their bracelets. So here are a few to share with you all.

Hearts...






Turtles..










Past Custom Ocean Bracelets





Past work of mine also had some charms that signified the bracelet to a certain theme. Here are some of those creations that are now proudly worn by the people that bought them.








Sterling silver charms bring life to the beads for a more themed look. Not everyone likes it but it does add another layer to the piece. Hopefully in the future the charms I attach to my work will be of my own work with metals or PMC clay.

I have been busy with re-carding my jewelry. I did start with a fun colorful way of doing it but now I am going for a more refined and polished look. Once all my work is done re-carding and re-inventory of my work I will be sure to share the before and after pictures.

This last week has been hectic on my schedule with all the boys events..sorry I have not been on much. I did get some time to at least enjoy a show. My husband and I enjoyed a Spring performance by the Lathrop Ballroom Dance Team. They were so entertaining and their skill and dedication amazes us. They were so awesome to watch and I wish the graduating seniors of the team a successful college career and I hope they keep on dancing.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter and Spring. Enjoy the moments spent with your loved ones.

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.


Robert Frost (1874–1963)
Two Tramps in Mud Time (1936)

Is spring finally in the air?

Picture taken April of 2007 at Chena Hot Springs Road

It has been nice to walk outside and hear drip drops of water off our roofs, see the snow melting in front of your eyes and feel the warmth 30 plus degree weather. The sun is finally shining full into our living room windows and that is what I look forward to after so many months of darkness in the winter. I can't wait to see blooming pussy willows, ice break up in the rivers, and birds flying to my back deck for food from the feeders.

With the renewal of energy I have been so busy. Track is under way for my freshman in HS, freestyle wrestling is still 3 nights a week for both boys, and in my free time I am still working on new skills and new designs.

I have had a couple opportunities for my jewelry to be showcased. I am not sure how that will turn out yet. So I will just leave it at that until I have more information. I am still playing with the idea of my own website through an art site, but I have to have dedicated time to it, so that is in the discussion works with Bo.

Bo has taken some time to just play with glass. Through that play he created one of a kind pendants. It is not made into jewelry yet but I do like taking pictures of them before and after. I always look at his beads as miniature works of art and always so proud of every piece he makes. Here are a few he has made so far.








This pendant was made a while back. I redid it to incorporate the dangles and the leaf charm. Nature always works its way into my art, always my inspiration.



As for now I have been busy learning a new skill. Precious metal clay. I had dismissed this technique a while back thinking it wasn't real. I took a metalsmithing class to incorporate metals into my work but then realized fast that I need more space, and patience for shipping some of the tools up here. But with the future move coming up, I decided to just wait to buy the bigger tools. Instead I realized there was such a thing as PMC.

Precious Metal Clay is small particles of metal mixed with an organic binder and water. You can sculpt and create small or large pieces of art then heat to a high temperature and with that the temperature change the binder burns off and you have an end result of the metal. The one I use will be silver.

Here is a little history on the product.(http://www.silversmithing.com/1clay.htm)
Precious Metal Clay was developed by scientists working at the Mitsubishi Materials Special Products division in Sanda, Japan. After years of experimentation the first patents were awarded in the early 1990s with many additional materials joining the family of products. The principle ingredient of PMC is gold or silver, reduced to tiny flakes smaller than 20 microns in size. As a point of reference, it would take as many as 25 of these particles clumped together to equal a grain of salt.

The other ingredients in PMC are water and an organic (naturally occuring) binder. After firing, the water and binder have completely burned away so what remains can be hallmarked as .999 silver or gold.Dried out or unwanted objects can be refined just like conventional precious metal.

You can imagine how far a product like this can go. I mean there is no limitations to your imagination. Although of course things like this do not come cheap. You pay the price for quality in your work and durability.

I have right now just been playing with the clay to be able to grasp how to use it. This clay dries up faster and so you have to work within a certain amount of time. I was able to get the first tools and some clay from a local store here but her supplies were limited. So after the first night of playing I knew I wanted to dabble more and ordered more clay and supplies. I am patiently waiting for that order at this moment. It was rescheduled for shipment due to our Mt. Redoubt acting up and then they had my wrong address number. I am hoping to have it by today or Monday, but of course I am antsy since I have been waiting for it. Shipping to Alaska is one of the frustrations most of us who live here have to deal with.

I tried to sculpt, and imprint images from stamps or texture onto the clay itself to start with so that I did not waste clay. When it dried up, I sanded the unneeded areas and sharp parts.




The other night I fired it in my kiln. Unlike glass it doesn't take long and you can remove it right away and quench it in water. Then take a steel brush to clean off all the binder material.
Here are my fired pieces. I am still not done with them. I need to clean it more, antique it with liver of sulfur and actually turn them into pendants. I am thinking of drilling more holes to be able to hang some crystal or glass beads. But so far this is what they look like after firing.



Not bad for a beginner right? Well I hope to put more time and learn more to be able to go off on my own designs when I am finally confident in working with the clay. I am also looking forward to the summer where I can collect my leaves and miscellaneous things through my walk through the woods or our hiking trails to be able to use as texture for my pieces.

I have projects to conquer today. One is maybe moving my beading table out of my room into my den area by one of the windows pouring in lovely natural light in. But I have to be creative in making a space without it being an eye sore in my living space.
Next time I will also share my collage pieces that decorate my place and new ones in the works.
I hope you all have a great and sunny weekend!

Organics and Silver

When molten glass is mixed with silver foil the reaction of the glass creates what I consider an organic look. Bo has been patiently working with that technique every chance he takes and experiments with how it reacts with different colors of glass. He also adds frit(crushed glass) and uses a reducing technique to create a more metallic look.
Here are some of the examples of what wonderful things can come out of experimentation.
Mettallic blues


Green Envy




When time is available he will experiment more with also copper foil. He made a couple beads with it but the copper was so thick it did not react right with the glass. So he will be researching that and playing more with that idea as he can.


I will be busy with working with Precious Metal Clay. Hoping to have some to share once they are fired and finished.

Ta-ta for now....

My Little Betta...

For weeks now I have been contemplating on getting a fish tank and fish. I just wanted something simple since we are moving in December and I did not want to have to give up something I put so much time and effort on since we can't ship a fish to our next duty station or take it on the plane with us.

3 days straight back and forth to Petco because it was hard to make a decision. I started off wanting a Betta because they are such hardy fish and don't need much and of course are beautiful. But then that seemed boring and we thought of the beautiful Calico Fantail Goldfish until the salesperson told us how big they get and how they cloud up the water and such. Then I wanted a Guarami but if I get that then I have to add other fish in the tank and a small one gallon tank will not be enough. We used to have a 10 gallon tank with Mollies and Tetras and it always ended up being me or Bo to clean and take care of the fish so I wanted something small this time and not too much maintenance. So disappointed I went home empty handed.

Last night when we left the kids at their practice we had to pass by Walmart to pick up some stuff and Bo reminded me of the fish again. Walmart did not have any Betta but we went ahead and bought a cheap $12 1 gallon tank and already the food then headed to Petco.

Petco recieved more Betta in and had all the little containers you can put them in. Well I have a pretty glass vase that would have done well but I wanted light on the fish so I still settled with my little tank. We looked and stayed in awe of how pretty some of the fish were and to think they come from mud puddles from places like Thailand. I finally picked a Crowntail Male Betta. The Half Moon Bettas were also gorgeous and looked liked they had flowing Ballroom dresses as they swam around.

Here is my little set up without the little guy in it yet.




My Betta has no name yet. With how much I love Twilight and their characters Bo was joking around I was going to name him Edward. I said naaaa...he is much prettier. So if you have any suggestions on what to name him please feel free to leave me a comment.

The Betta was so pretty in the tank last night and was such an entertainment for us when he realized he can see his reflection on the sides of the tank. He would flare up and display his beautiful coloration. Of course I was frustrated trying to take pictures without it being blurry. I do not like using flash and it takes away all the color so I think I took over 30 shots just trying to get a few to be able to share.

Here is the little addition to our family. My little guy. Isn't he pretty?


Looking at his own reflection.



Looking at us.


And my favorite picture of him so far.


I love animals and with us moving so much I can't really have too many. In fact I can't have a dog right now. But hopefully once we move I can.

The beautiful coloration of the Bettas inspire my work with glass....just like most of nature. What is a world without beauty from our surroundings and environment.