New Blog!

I have decided to create a new blog to showcase my artisan jewelry, my newest passion. I am not forsaking my passion for watercolor, but felt that it would be more appropriate to separate these passions with their own blogs. What is one more blog for me to oversee?

I will add the link to this new blog to my links list or you can see it at: http://lovebeadsandwire.blogspot.com/. It is in its infancy at this stage, so watch for changes and additions as they happen.

I hope to see you over at Artisan Jewelry by Susan Roper!

Kinda/Sorta Poppy

I was in the mood this morning to paint something "Springy" so I chose this poppy. I love poppies and their large petals.

Here on the desert it is nearing our first 100-degree day (could happen this afternoon!) so it will soon be too late for delicate flowers to bloom so I guess I will have to settle for painting them.

My next flower painting will be a tulip....

ArtChix Sale

This photo was taken by our monitor during the Saturday morning ArtChix sale session. I was making wire wrap pendants at this time. It was so enjoyable to see people's reactions to my jewelry and art. I think being able to participate in art sales is so enjoyable for this reason, the rewards for hard work in creating what I feel I need to create.

As an interesting note, only 40% of my sales during the weekend were for paintings, 60% were from jewelry! So, while I will not forsake painting...EVER, it is good to know I can be successful in another creative venue.

Thanks for sending my photo, Ursula!

Newest Jewelry

As reported earlier, I took an all-day workshop on Artisan Jewelry yesterday. It was a great day, lots of fun and I got lots of tips and techniques. Here is one of the necklaces and earrings sets I made. It is made on memory wire. The centerpiece of the pendant is made from my husband's grandmother's concho belt, which was made of old silver. I am taking the belt apart and reusing the links individually in some of this jewelry. Since it was in the family, I won't be selling any of this, but instead enjoying wearing it myself! I also made some pendants in the class as well as a "stretch ring". More to follow.

I will have my jewelry on display at the ArtChix sale this weekend, as well as many of my paintings. This will be my last sale of the season to participate in so if you are in the area, do stop by and have a peek at what I have been creating.

Cactus in Spring

These are some of the cactus blooming in our backyard currently. It still amazes me that a dangerously prickly plant like this can produce such beautifully delicate flowers such as these. I love how the buds start out that great peachy color and then turn to the yellow when open.


The one pot is filled with the yellow flowers right now and it is situated near the cactus with the purple pads. Mother Nature must understand the color chart by showing these complementary colors together! I am waiting for the purple cactus to start opening the buds, I can't remember quite what they look like when open. Photos to follow when that happens!

One of the things I enjoy about blogging and reading the blogs of others is I see what inspires each person and it tells us a little something about them. I am not sure what these photos say about me, but I do know they inspire me!

Easter Tulips

This is one of the tulips in the pot of tulips that my son and his family brought me on Easter. We had a great dinner with them and enjoyed our time together. I loved the purple shade of these tulips, very Easter-y!

Discovery Through Blogs

I am constantly amazed at the discovery aspects of having a blog and how many people search through the 'Net for common interests. I had a comment from Lois about my wire wrap jewelry, which led me to her blog, which led me to others she has links to on her artisan jewelry blog. This Blogdom is a wonderful world, filled with countless communities of shared interests. This is a good thing!

Artisan Jewelry...Still

Hopefully, this will be a better image to show off what I am doing. The bracelet on the left is the copper one I mentioned earlier. The multi-colored bead necklace on the right had one of the charms flipped up from the pendant when I snapped the photo and I didn't notice it. So, envision that one with the two center charms so they are all hanging down.I love making these.

The pendant in the center has a stone we "mined" in Franklin, NC two years ago and tumbled and polished ourselves. I love how the wire mimics the shape of the stone, and no....that was not by accident!

Artisan Jewelry... again

Lest anyone think I have been sitting around twiddling my thumbs (unless twiddling means wrapping wire!) I will show some of the pieces I have made this week for the ArtChix sale next weekend. I want to bring your attention to the copper bracelet near the center. I, personally, coiled all those links from hardware store copper wire, 20-gauge! I made it so sell but like it a lot so maybe it won't make it to the sale table. It is hard to tell the wire wrap detail on these so next time I will take a few close-ups of that.