Let it Fly

Thanksgiving

Thankful for:

 

This lovely book I found a few years ago. The illustrations are beautiful and the sentiments are perfect for reflecting on what we are grateful for in our lives.

Thankful for:

 

Chocolate chip cookies and a warm home to bake them in :)

Thankful for:

 

Invitations to spend time with family during the holidays.

Thankful for:

The good health, happiness, laughter and sweet company of family and friends throughout the year. I am grateful for all of these.

Happy Thanksgiving~~

~Andrea

New digs and pendants

Hello! There are more piles to be organized, but this corner of the studio is set-up enough for me to start working in.

 

The lighting is not ideal right now but I am going to make a portable overhead fixture that can hold daylight bulbs. Can you tell that my work table is in a former double-door closet? I kept eye-balling the size of the closet and thinking that my table would fit perfectly inside if I just removed the doors (and about 7 years worth of stuff stored inside!) This solution saved quite a bit of floor space and feels cozy.

The jewelry-making class that I just finished at The Fuller Craft Museum was wonderful. My instructor is an accomplished silversmith and had lots of great tips to get everyone comfortable with the tools and equipment. We weren't able to cover everything in a three week time frame so I am signing up for the next session. What we did learn was how to saw metals, soldering, fusing, drilling and polishing. Have I mentioned how much I love tools? Yes, I think I have ;) SO much fun. If you've ever had an interest in metal work, you should give it a try. The little I've done so far has been very satisfying.

These two pendants are not quite finished but I thought I'd give you a peek. If you've been reading around here long enough, you probably have a good idea of the plans I have for the holes in both pieces ...

 

An old guitar was my back-drop and I now realize how much the smaller piece resembles a guitar pick although that wasn't my original intention. It's a nice surprise :)

I hope your days are going well and you are warm where you are.

Swim Across the Sound

Hello! Thought I'd drop in and give you an idea of what has been going on around here:

 

Selling ornaments for this foundation.

 

And wrapping, packaging and sending them out. Thank you to everyone who has purchased the ornaments this year and in past years. The cancer patients at St. Vincent's Medical Center will benefit from your generosity :) I am almost at the end of my supply of ornaments but there are more to be had at the SWIM website, so if you'd like one, head on over there!

My new in-home studio set-up has made great progress this week and I hope to have everything in working condition by the weekend. I haven't forgotten about the Fall postcards although I know we are quickly coming to the end of the Fall season, I WILL make it happen.

Also, my last jewelry-making class is tomorrow and I can't wait to finish the pendant I'm working on! I didn't want to show any uncompleted work so I will give you a look at what I came up with after it's finished.

Hope you are enjoying the calm before the holiday "storm" that will be in full swing in a couple of weeks. I know I am ;)

Word

de-cal-co-ma-ni-a   :DECALCOMANIA -  the process of transferring designs printed on specially prepared paper to glass, metal, or other material.

Yes, I picked up the dictionary that sits on my computer desk, while waiting for the water to boil for tea, and began to read. Loved this word :)

Off to learn how to solder in my jewelry class today!

Have a good one :)

people in my head ;)

Little scraps of paper in my car. The back of old receipts. Napkins. Cardboard boxes. All worthy surfaces for sketching. I start drawing ...eyes, lips, shadows, nose, hair, ears.....and a face appears of someone I've never seen before. A product of my imagination. This happens almost every day and although I know the faces are unique, they are created out of all the faces I've ever looked at and the features that grab my attention while I study what is in front of me. I sometimes sense a person's discomfort when I look at them that way. It can be kind of intense when someone is looking at you, unblinking, for minutes at a time. I understand this, but I can't seem to stop staring. It's like mental picture-taking. I'm trying to record what I see and commit it to memory. Bone structure, skin color, small chin, large eyes, narrow eyebrows. Sometimes I can immediately create a likeness and other times it all just goes in the mental "file" to be pulled out again to be combined with other information collected from a different day.

Here is yesterday's "brain child" :

 

The number and letters have no significance. It was just the closest piece of paper!

I start my jewelry making/metal-working class this morning so I'll catch up with you soon.

Hope your day is productive and peaceful :)

Holiday Ornament

Hello out there! I thought I'd show you this year's Swim Across the Sound holiday ornament. I've donated an ornament design to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT. for the past 7 years in order to raise money for over 30 Cancer programs supported by the SWIM Foundation.

I've already started drawings for the 2009 ornament so I thought it was time to give you the link to the 2008 version! You can see a photo of the ornament, find out more about the SWIM and, if you are so inclined, how you can order an ornament here.

Back soon!

Just do it

Make your voice heard.

Vote!  :)