HOW DO YOU SLOW DOWN A SUPER CRAFTER?

You slice off a piece of finger. Not just any finger, her THUMB!





This is what I used..............A MANDOLIN
IT KINDA LOOKS LIKE A MINI GUILLOTINE!

It comes with a guard (I was not using this brand I only borrowed this image) that I started to use, but since it had plastic nubs instead of tines to hold the potato I chose my hand as a better grip, and said only so close and no further.....I went one pass to many......OW MAN, that Hurt!
Luckily it does not hurt ( unless I slam it) Whether that is due to the prayers or the gobs of bacitracin I don't know, (It hurt when it happened though)....And I can now use my grips to keep making jewelry.
So I have a bunch of pics to be added hopefully today of things I have done some before and a few after.

Christmas In The Making

We are getting it done. Well I AM! Here is a preview of some of my things so far........Please remember I am using a crappy webcam..... Do ya Hear me now SANTA? *HINT HINT*

These are my lite blue and silver swirly dangles.

I wish you could see how pretty this bracelet is. It is garnet, or Siam colored Swarovski bicones with silver flowers with a garnet center. I only hope it is long enough. Michaels took ALL their metal jewelry down when the Company who makes these did a recall of some pieces.
That is also a pink and blue seed bead ring.

One of my blue swirly lentils I did over the summer attached to a silver neck chain

Dark blue swirlies on the bottom of these blue and clear earrings.

I made these over the summer. They are bi-cones I made with polymer clay.

Another polymer clay bead with silver spacers on twisted silver colored copper wire.

Rose beads earrings. I bent some memory wire ( that was fun....)


Pink and Lite or lime green alternated on a memory wire bracelet.


I have plenty more in progress still, that I will post this weekend hopefully.

Update: Christmas

Well My youngest is 12 going on 22 or 2 depending , and she is getting into the jewelry, hair accessories, you name it, so beads, bangles, and baubles. I will be busy creating what I can before Christmas.
Meanwhile to keep myself in practice I have been practicing, my wire wrapping for making danglies , and also using up my yarns and making throws/lapghans.

Yesterday I whipped up a beaded ring, which took me half the freakin night....EASY? Not for me, I got 2 left thumbs.......While this looked easy....For me it was work. I am sure with the proper beads it will properly be easy. I used bicones, and they would not sit right, and the thread I was using, while it was beading thread, started to fray. Then I had problems with the needle sizes... Eventually I finished it.

My current work in progress, typical granny square throw.
Finished striped lapghan.
Blue Fiber Optic Swarovskis on a silver hoop with Silver fish hook.

My blue chandeliers. I wrapped the Dangles myself. I love these. Also Swarovski

Here is that ring.....

Cherry tree Completed.

I finally finished and assembled the 2 cherry tree. Sorry about the pictures...I am still using the crappy webcam.
Maybe Santa will bring me a new digital....

Cherry Tree #2 in Progress

I have started assembly on the branches. As you can see there is no need for another layer of wire on the branches as opposed to the first one. But I do need to build up the trunk. 22ga. wire was used, I took a strand and doubled it, then twisted it, I repeated this 3 times then braided the three piece for each leg. So I repeated that process 3 times.
BUT IT IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT.
It is top heavy. I need to to what I did with the first tree. Take the 16 gauge annealed wire and double it up and twist it in the drill, to make the feet and trunk.

Holding it up.
A close up of the "Buds"
Here are the three annealed 16 ga. wires I will use for the trunk and feet. This should offer the stability needed to handle the heaviness on the tree-top.


After I finish the assembly I will take more pics.

2 Months is a Long Time....

...To be gone.......I just needed to take some time . I spend entirely way too much time on the pc. I took some time away to try to gain control of my blogging. ( I have other blogs, that I RANT on).

While I was gone I was working on my crocheted lapghans and also some beaded cherry blossom trees.

The tree I have currently assembled and am working on fixing is this..........









I made each bud by hand. It consists of 5 loops of ten pink seed beads with a small pearl in the center.

The Leaves were done in similar fashion , except I only used One loop of ten, and I varied between dark green rocailles, and a lime green seed.

My mistake was not wrapping each branch before assembling to the base which is made of 3 strands of 16 ga. black annealed wire that I picked up at the local home improvement store, I doubled up the strand ( folded it in half) and stuck one end in my drill and pounced it litely to twist the wire. I did this 3 times then bent the feet so it would stand.

So now I go back and floral tape then green paddle wire wrap the branches and stems ....Alot of work indeed.......However it is my prototype and I am keeping it as a reminder as to NOT make a tree.

The corrected way would be as follows......



While I really like the beauty of the detailed buds of the first tree, I like the ease and continuity of this type of tree.

Kimberly Chapman has the instructions on how to do this type of branch. ( my idea was the first, based on pics I had seen, and someone had a tree similar to this but I dont recall the site where I saw it)

When I get it assembled I will post some pics.

I have Not been clay working. But I am getting the feel to start up again.
I just need to focus on what exactly I want to do. Last time this happened I ended up with boo coo baskets of beads of which I still have not used. Most of them have been sanded and either polished or varnished/ acryliced.

Also I started experimenting with different types of paper on my bowls. However I'm not really sure about if and how much I like them. They are still an ongoing experiment.

Yes I am still Here...........Waiting for school to start.

I lost 10.1/4 inches total body fat in 13 days.............WHOOT!

My New Toy

OK so this isnt craft related, exactly....


But I got a new toy. I FINALLY got me one of those Gazelles, that Tony Little is always hawking at 5:00a.m.



After finally putting it together....That was a workout in itself, I am on my way to hopefully reversing my diabetes and getting my blood pressure under control.

See I don't do Drs. I have very little use for most Drs.
Some are ok and neccessary, like my daughter orthopedic. I needed him to reset her arm, and he is a nice person. Not like the aggressive snot I saw last yr, who through drugs at me without testing me.

Did I mention? My mother died at the hands of those who were supposed to heal her.
I listen to these drug commercials on tv with all their scare-or-ism...*OOOO You have this disease or that disorder*...I see them know in all their wisdom telling young woman to take these drugs to stop their periods for months at a time.....*HELLO? GOD and Nature designed us to have a period every 28 days...Just like the Lunar cycles... IDIOTS!*

I digress.

Anyway...I am a holistic practioner. I have learned the link between nutrition/environment and illness. I am always learning. Nobody knows more about MY body then me. After having Drs. dismiss me , laugh me out of their offices , and treat me like crap, I have decided to make my body MY Responsibility.

So dear readers.... I need your prayers, your words of encouragement, and anything else you can throw at me...LOL... I need to take this weight off so I can live a lil longer.