More Poetry and Daggers

As promised, the third poem or stanza - third written but would be the first if it becomes all one. There may be more yet, I thought it was finished but now am not so sure. There may be a dragon to slay yet.

She talked to him into the night

and helped him fight the tears

She fueled his anger and his lust

she made him forget the fears

She handed him a dagger 

 and whispered in his ear

They created a wave of destruction

 smashed his marriage like tiny mirrors

She smiled as she thought she’d won

and began her reign of terror

This nightmare was his error

~~Dana 2016

Speaking of  daggers. Remember that cool little box from Endless Leather  It had some great black cord  and some beautiful sterling cord ends in it. 

You know I’m a member of the Artisan Group  and one of the things we do is supply various costume stylists with accessories they can use on the tv shows or movies they’re working on. I created this dagger piece, largely inspired by the poem and sent it off the stylist for the Originals  tv show on the CW. I’m very hopeful it will get used and you can say you saw it here first!

Black Velvet Choker and Silver Scimitar

So there you have it, what’s been going on in my world. Like I said before, Smoke and Mirrors and ....more swords and daggers! 

Thanks for stopping by!

We’ll see you next time!

Dana

of Smoke and Mirrors and Missing Muses

Smoke and Mirrors

Every time I’ve sat down to write a blog post I’ve sat and stared at a blank page and it’s blinking cursor. Nothing, Nada, Zip
The world has gone crazy, my life is upside down, and Facebook seems to be in an awfully ugly political fight. Even Year of Jewelry can’t help this one, my poor Muse is sitting in the corner in tears, it’s all just too much.

*I’ve managed to hold on to my sanity because even though I’m not making a lot of new pieces, I am selling and making those pieces.

*I’ve been working on the house, mostly tape and texture work. Hoping to layout the tile for the Master bath this week, we shall see but I am hoping to.

*I have managed to make a couple new pieces for The Artisan Group, I’ve sent in submissions for Bones and the Originals, blog posts coming for those in the coming weeks. And I’m thinking I’ll send pieces for the Press gift bags for this years Emmys - but I still need an idea for that and the Muse is still over there, sigh. Hopefully we can coax her back out again.

*New Kitten, omg what a sweetie he is. He just appeared on the door step this last week and has just filled all our hearts with love and laughter - it was much needed. He answers to Boogie, so we call him that. Or Boog, or Boo, or BB. He’s one of those kitties that stares into your soul and is so chill about everything which makes me think he was dumped and not feral. And he’s also extremely gentle with his paws.

*I’ve been having some very interesting conversations with friends but I’m afraid they may be what triggered the ugliness to appear in my feed. The algorithm thinking since I had one conversation I want to see all the ugly there is on it - sigh. I really don’t need to, or want to for that matter, it puts me in a dark place that I don’t like.

*The Hay House group on Facebook is a life saver, the constant positive up lifting posts there are just amazing - best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.

*I’ve just joined a copy writing group - when you stare at a blank page long enough you realize a little help every now and again is a good thing.  Once I was accepted into the group the first thing I saw was introduce yourself, use a graphic NOT yours, NOT of your product, or your art, or of yourself. Show what your aspirations are, who do you want to be? What inspires you?

I’m still working on my introduction, the above is the photo I’ve chosen. My tagline is Artisan Jewelry with a Touch of Boheme but the words that come to mind as I think on this and the photo are Sexy, Strong, Exotic, Sought After, Loved. Now we ….. well I …… need to decide how those fit into my aspirations and inspirations, some are easier than others.

So there you have it, what’s been going on in my world. Smoke and Mirrors and ha! more swords and daggers! Speaking of, I do have another stanza for the Nightmare poem/series. Yes, it has a name now. There may still be more to write but my Muse, in the corner, yup. Maybe look for the new stanza next week….. or a choker ….. or hey! why not do both!

Thanks for stopping by!
We’ll see you next time!
Dana

of Torches and Rings

Thank goodness for the Year of Jewelry project. I’m feeling less than chatty and like I have no words again this week so it’s Year of Jewelry to the rescue.

Thank goodness for Lavender Oil

If you follow me on Instagram you saw the burn on my thumb. I was a little careless and lost in thought rather than paying attention to the location of my hand. Ouch. A little lavender oil and my thumb healed up beautifully. 

Since then I’ve noticed my torches flame is flowering. My awesome son cleaned the tip for me but that didn’t completely solve the problem. I switched over to using my butane torch but it has always been hit or miss. (I think it was a bit of a lemon) My son being the wonderful kid he is, went out and bought me a new tip. My husband being the loving man he is, went out and bought me a new butane torch. I was one Happy Camper!

So this weeks post brings to you a simple band of sterling silver. Lightly textured and soldered with the new torch.  And the Kiddo claimed it immediately as payment for the modeling session!! Ha!  I need to steal it back for a few photos to create a made to order listing. She wears it stacked with another ring she purchased and they look beautiful together.

Sterling and Ruby in Fuchsite

I also shared on Instagram a pendant I had made a few weeks back. I dropped it and the cab/bezel popped off. The new small torch went in and tacked it right back in place!! This one has a good solid pin point flame the other one never had. The hubs did really really well!

That's about it for the week!

Thanks for stoppin by!

We'll see ya next week!

Bell Flower Earrings

Week 15 of Year of Jewelry is a sweet pair of earrings. Bell flowers made form little brass bells.

Once upon a time I used to get daily e-mails for the Beading Gem. I’m not entirely sure why I don’t anymore upgraded servers on her end or mine, I dunno. I don’t seem to get a lot of mail that I used to…. Anyway one of the last e-mails I remember was for a tutorial for some really sweet earrings. The original poster had tried to use bells but didn’t quite like how they turned out so she had dissected the bells to create her own. I actually liked how the bells looked so I stuck to that part of the tutorial in making my own. I may try the rest of it some day in the future but for now I’m happy with these.

Here’s the Beading Gem blog post

and the original post by Judy Larson

Thanks for stopping by!

We’ll see you next time~

Poetry and Daggers

Her broken heart never mended, the shattered pieces were stored.

She went about her life but her spirit never soared

She pulled the dagger from her heart so many years ignored.

She kept it to remind herself, of how her love was torn.

Drawing her last breath, her heart battered and forlorn. 

I love you still, she whispers, though her heart has been outworn.

~~ Dana 2016

Sometimes you need to dabble a little in other art forms. It’s been years ahem decades since I’ve written any poetry and this one started out much much darker. The kiddo didn’t like the way it flowed, so I’ve been working on it tweaking words here and there. I’m not sure if I’m done with it yet, I think I’m happy with the way it reads and I may write a sister poem of him, how empty his life was without her, the regret he felt at not stopping her, we’ll see. Maybe I’ll add some artwork, watercolor maybe or just a drawing. hmm I dunno. But it has been kinda nice to switch gears for a little bit.

This is week 14 of the  Year of Jewelry project. I missed last week - life happened and I kept thinking I’d get a post written all the way until it was time to write this weeks, and I just had to admit it wasn’t getting written.

Lima Beads had these really cool looking Tibetan horns  in their newsletter and they inspired the brass dagger I made this week. Originally I had thought I’d make up an arrowhead or a sharks tooth in brass and or copper  to hang from the stingray leather I got in that awesome box from Endless Leather but somehow this dagger (could be a claw now that I look at it lol) and its matching beads seemed perfectly suited.

I drew out the shape on some brass sheet, cut it out, annealed it, ran it through the embosser and then started dapping and forging the curves. And of course all edges have been filed smooth as well. I actually had a lot of fun creating the dagger and it allowed me to take a breather from all the tax stuffs and deep serious conversations with the hubs. We've needed to have them and it feels so good to really talk with him again. He has always been my rock and I'm so grateful to have him. 

Thanks for stopping by!

We'll see you next time!

Leather! I’ve Got More Leather!!

I received this glorious box of leather from Endless Leather last week.

 Just look at all the gorgeous goodies! I can’t wait to get in there and create some beautiful jewelry with it! You can’t really see it in these pictures but the cork has gold and silver in it, it is sooooo pretty! 

I have ideas, oh do I have ideas!!

Here I am with this box of gorgeous cords and still kind of stuck for an idea for this weeks Year of Jewelry piece. We even have color prompts for stuck weeks and that didn’t get the ball rolling. I looked on the desk at my UFO’s and meh I don’t feel like stringing, or weaving, I made simple earrings last week, what to do what to do? Hmmm what do I have left in this basket? Oh yeah! The embossed butterfly…… I wonder if some of the blue leather will match the turquoise color of the glass beads. 

Perfect match!

This is a Nappa Leather cord  and oh my, this is some of the softest leather I’ve ever felt, and it lays along the neck just beautifully.

I’ve got all kinds of ideas from bracelet wraps to necklaces for this gorgeous gorgeous stuff! You’ll be seeing lots more of this as I have a couple different colors and I’m really excited about using more of it.

Before I leave you for the week, let me share a little funny.

The hubs and I have been having some very serious discussions as of late, this morning was no exception. I got up walked over to him. Held his face in my hands and raised up to tip toes so I could look him in the eyes. I say to him "I love you. I need you to know that I know you have....F'ING CALVES!" Both calves cramp up dropping me to my knees, still holding his face in my hands we both twist over. The hubs cracks up, this intense romantic moment has been turned into much needed comic relief. He looks me in the eyes and says  " We are a pair, and this is our life"  I do love that man.

Cherish these moments, these are the ones that keep you going when all else feels lost.

Thanks for stopping by!

We'll see you next time!

on Creating Efficiency, a Theme on a Goal

My new posts will feature the things that inspired my jewelry.

One of my goals this year is to be more efficient with my time in order to free up more time for the family. 

I’ve noticed more posts on FB doesn’t necessarily equate to more interaction. In fact I increased postings before Valentines and my stats dropped. So a high frequency of posting isn’t necessary at all, but a good quality posting still is. 

I opened a Hoot Suite account for scheduling purposes but I still haven’t used it. I have however started working on putting together some posts and trying to work out a schedule that doesn’t put the same post everywhere at the same time - no one likes that either, or at least I don’t, maybe no one else actually minds and I’m just weird that way. What “my” audience does seem to really like are in progress shots and inspiration posts and gasp posts about me? lol I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. I kind of like it though. It’s like I’m finally finding that little something I’ve been hunting for.

The whole less posting thing has freed up a bit of time for me, and I feel more productive with my time when I am online and posting. More importantly my family is happier with my increased presence and availability for them. And THAT is what it’s all about. 

Aventurine Gemstone Donut & Silver Stampings

This weeks Year of Jewelry piece is a green Aventurine donut adorned with silver plated stampings, a sterling rolo chain and a couple sweet crystals in a matching green. I believe this one is running off to live on the east coast fairly soon but if someone were interested in a similar necklace I can easily pick up another gemstone donut or two…. or more. As pretty as it is in Aventurine, think how sweet this could be in the soft pink of a Rose Quartz! Or how fun a composite Turquoise would look with it’s metallic veining! I might have to buy some just so I can play with it now, I wonder who has some Mojave Turquoise available?? What do you think? Blue, Purple, Green? Or the heavy black matrix with pops of blue/green turquoise? I am really going to have to check this out as soon as I'm done posting here.... or after I get back from the post office... customer service first, shopping second.

Thanks for stoppin by!

See ya next time!

on Looking Out the Other Window: Perspectives

This morning was gloomy. Dark and stormy, and I was feeling sad and lonely. I was reading my e-mail and drinking my morning coffee feeling smaller and smaller as my troubles started feeling overwhelmingly large. The tears began to fall down my cheeks and I was on the verge of a complete meltdown.

Something moved in the wind outside and I caught it out the corner of my eye. I had been sitting sideways in my chair facing the back windows, I turned to see what it was and there to the front of the house were plenty of blue skies and sunshine.

It’s funny how simply seeing the sun was in fact still there can immediately turn your attitude around. And I remembered something I said just the other day. Happiness comes from within, you can’t depend on someone else to create it for you. How you allow the words in your head to speak to you genuinely impacts your feelings. And since you are the voice in your head, you have control over what you say and hear.

I am dealing with some deeply personal things at the moment and I do need to allow myself to cry as it is part of the healing process but today it was largely the words in my head. As the skies got darker so did the negativity of those words. When I turned and saw blue skies, my spirits lifted and the words began to focus on the positives again.

Just a simple shift in perspective. Same sky, different view. A simple reminder the sun is still there. An invitation to send those clouds packing on a gust of wind.

I missed last weeks posting so you get double YoJ postings. I was really busy on the jewelry front last week and I’m hoping this is just the beginning of an upward trend. All indicators say it is and that’s definitely something to be happy about.

Weeks 8 and 9

Coral & Obsidian

Crystals Brass & Vintage Glass

Thanks for stopping By!

We'll see you next time!

On Revisiting a Charmed Piece

Before: Charmed I'm Sure
Apologies, slightly under exposed here.....

Week 6 Already! Wow time is speeding right along! This week’s “A charm”  You might recognize the charms on the necklace. I made them for my loop tutorial found HERE. As you can see, I had put them on a leather cord but I was never quite happy with that. It just seemed too heavy for the dainty charms so I just set it aside.

I realized I had some ball chain hidden away that I thought would be a better weight visually for it and I think I’m much happier with it now!  The funny about this is, it’s pink. January’s prompt if you got stuck for an idea on making for the week was Pink lol but now that we’re in February, the color is red! Ever the rebel!

After: Doubly Charmed

The second choker takes the leather and the wooden bead I removed from the first and shortens it just a little bit for feathers. You might remember some of these from another blog post as well. I discovered them again while cleaning up my desk and really like the idea of them being charms. They remind me of my best friends and that makes me happy.

Speaking of happy, this was in my Facebook feed the other day.

I would decorate my domicile, dine on delectables, and discuss things with the Dalai Llama on a day trip to the Dutch Antilles and I could dot the landscape with Dahlias, Daisies, Day Lilies, and Daffodils…..

This was a lot of fun! It almost reminds me of the plan a day in your future life, but using only one letter instead of scheduling time slots makes it easier. I almost want to go through the alphabet just to see what I can come up with! Could be a fun pick me up on those days where you feel a little blah. 

Thanks for stopping by!

We'll see ya next week!

I Rocked the 30 Days of Infinite Possibilities!

Infinite Possibilities Project Week 5

Day 26 Put your skills to work. Manifest something - make your desire known to the Universe and then do your part. Want a smile from someone, put a smile on your face first and have a happy attitude - watch how quickly that brings smiles from others.

Day 27 Write an I Rock Because list. This sounds fun! Feel free to include things you aspire to rock at. Even more fun! So fun it became this weeks blog title!

Day 28 Look ahead 5 yrs in your life. Write a letter to yourself from there and tell yourself of all the successes you’ve had. How your life and the lives of your loved ones have changed because of it. What surprised you and what dreams do you aspire to now?

Day 29 What 5 things would your future self want you to know? example Be more forgiving, Spend more money, spend less money, Don’t be so afraid etc

Day 30  Look over your entries and reflect on the past 30 days how do you think this will help you in the coming months/year?  

A few of these I did off blog for a couple reasons, one my posts would be a mile long lol and two some of them required a little more thought and time than the quick line or two I had going on here and there are a couple I really think are worth revisiting.

This was a really fun way to start the year! I hope you followed along either informally with me or with the daily e-mails from TUT. As a reminder you can find all 30 days on TUT’s website along with Mike’s videos for each day.  

http://www.tut.com/index/infinitepossibilitiesproject

Year of Jewelry Project Week 5

While I was cleaning up my studio a few days ago I found the missing hollow bead from week 13 of last year 

My first hollow beads - well second and third. The first flew across the room when I was polishing. This time I left the pretty red patina or most of it

It was actually not across the room, just a foot or so away hiding in plain sight in Lola’s chair. I moved my old office chair into the corner and she curls up and naps there while I’m working. I probably never would’ve found it but I had set some photos on the chair while cleaning. Ha! Too funny! But perfect timing for me as I was scratching my head for an idea for this week. I have all my UFO’s pulled out as I intend to finish many (if not all of them) during Year of Jewelry. Including the heart I started several years ago! 

I'm trying to be mindful of what I make this year in that it can be worn with any number of other pieces I have already made. So far so good!

Speaking of mindful cohesion, this years Build a Line Master Class had their first hop this weekend. If you’d like to swing by the B’Sue badge on the right here will take you to Brenda’s blog where you can find this years participants. I’ve peeked at a few of their blogs already and I’m looking forward to the next two hops!

Well that makes for a busy post this week!! Whew! 

Thanks for Stoppin by!

Infinite Possibilities Week 4

Day 19 Imagine how those you love will benefit from your success. This one is easy, the kids will have been set up in their own businesses and will be little successes in their own rights. The hubs can spend more time with the kids as they build their businesses. We all get some toes in the sand time.

Day 20 Meet your peers. Make a list of those who are where you wish to be, add your name to list. Sounds like my screensaver :) 10 days left and I was already doing so many of these on a daily basis. It’s nice to hear I’m heading in the right direction.

Day 21 Have a chat with someone who gets your dream and speak to them as if it’s already reality. Make it celebratory …. for each of you.

Day 22 List 20 things you love from the simple to the exotic if you love to do it, list it. Just a little reminder of the wonder that is in your life or could be. *I love puttering in the garden and around the yard with a butterfly perched on my shoulder. *Feeling the sun on my face and shoulders. *Snuggle time with the hubs. *That he brings me my coffee in the morning. *That 25 yrs together feels like no time at all.  *Listening to the birds sing, *watching the sun rise in the morning and *set in the evenings, *being awed by the immenseness that are the stars and *the curve of he world. *I love the satisfaction that only comes from doing it yourself and well.* I love being goofy with my kids *I love toes in the sand, waves at my feet, salt air in my face *I love listening to the chirpy purr of the Siamese and the instant deep I love you purrs of the other cats. *I love no matter how many times you give the dog a biscuit he ALWAYS takes it and puts in in the kiddos shoe before he eats it….. no matter where that shoe is lol *I love that we built this house together to live our lives in and we’re creating memories on a daily. *

Day 23 List 10 things you are deeply grateful for.

Day 24 Write a letter to yourself from an admirer, what wonderful qualities/inspiration/talents do you have? Shower yourself with love and appreciation. I see the potential for a revamp of my about page here. Like several of these activities I think I’ll work this one privately. I think this one has a great amount of potential.

Day 25 set your intention for the day. I already do this daily. I have a little pop up reminder that is set to run when I’m reading my e-mail. It says what do you want today? Some days it’s to get something done, some days it’s to enjoy the quiet moments, some days it’s about attitude. It’s really a nice way to focus on the days priority, whatever it is. Today I’m going to schedule this blog post, download tax forms, and decide on this weeks YoJ piece. I have several UFO’s and a handful of ideas for refinishing some pieces. Sometimes the taking away process was ended too soon and sometimes the piece was finished too early, either way it was called finished but it niggles until you realize it isn’t truly finished, hence re-finishing. I believe all pieces have someone who will love them, and being properly finished helps that along :)

Speaking of Year of Jewelry:

This week I kept it simple with matching bracelets for last weeks necklace set. Red Creek Jasper with a Shell focal and brass. And a skinny bangle of twisted copper and brass.

Over on my Facebook page I’m sharing hearts and flowers everyday until Valentines. Giving you a virtual bouquet, pop on over anytime you feel you need a pick me up or a flower to make you smile. If you haven’t already. hit that like button and receive notifications to get those flowers on a daily!

See ya next time!

It's Still January

Whew! It's Been a Busy Busy Holiday Weekend

Week 3 Year of Jewelry = Coral    I had coral pulled I really did, paired it up with turquoise for a really pretty necklace but then this Red Creek Jasper said it wanted to play pretty pretty please. Isn’t it just a gorgeous stone?! At first I was going to weave a bail for it but that just seemed too plain. I’ve been trying to clear off my desks and found some small pieces of brass that I set aside and I had one just the right size for a bail. I’m pretty pleased with the results, and I kind of want to keep this one for myself.

*Red Creek Jasper* *Picture Jasper* *Black Lip Shell* *Cedar Berries* *Amber Heart* *vintage brass roll chain* *hand crafted bail* *hand crafted rosary chain* *hand crafted vintage style hook and eye clasp* *hand twisted jumps* *roughly six hours in the making including design time and where did I put that/where did it go now time*

I finally managed to wrestle the checkbook away from the hubs and was up to my eyeballs in doing bookwork, balancing the checkbook and having anxiety attacks over deposits not being written in even though the amount was added to the balance so I get to find a $2000 discrepancy because 600 plus 800 is 1400 not 3500 and blah blah blah I think he cut a year or two off my lifespan with that one sigh 

In the midst of all that I see in my e-mail I have a notice…..

	Stephanie Drapeau mentioned you.

	Stephanie Drapeau @stephanidrapeau Jan 18   Simply love these designs!❤️❤️ @MeiFaithStudio @DanasWindDancer@HeidiLee_Design @2LittlePs of @theartisangroup View conversation

ah, just warms the heart! She likes them, just made my day - and then I found the missing deposit in the bank statement and all was right with the world once again.

We've headed into Week 3 of the  Infinite Possibilities Project 

Here's what we've been up to with that.

Day 12 Plan the celebration for achieving your goals - sadly when this one came in I was pretty mad at the hubs, A Party was not anywhere on the list. Maybe I can revisit that one in a day or so.

Day 13 Share the Love, today spend a couple minutes and Pay it Forward with a Random Act of Kindness - That I can do

Day 14 Create a daily planner and fill it with all the things you wish you’ll be doing. - My first thought was I’m an introvert, the only thing I want is to hide away on my hill and make pretties.l Then I looked a little deeper into my hearts desires and realized Jamaica isn’t on my hill. Vacations are a blessing and toes in the sand is really quite necessary to recharging batteries, and since I’m not angry with the hubs anymore he can come too =grins= 

Day 15  send thoughts of love in small and meaningful ways, even if you don’t say it out loud think it. I love how you’ve read this with me, thank you! I like this one too. It fits in with my goal of being kinder and replacing those negative words that have crept in. This works for me. HEY!! We’re half way through already!

Day 16 Almost missed this one, notes don’t come on the weekend and I kept watching the inbox for it. Was in bed before I realized It was Saturday! lol Technically I did miss it lol But you didn’t know that! Create a pleasing ritual…… hmmm I was thinking 15 minutes on the Stairmaster every morning just to get the blood pumping, but maybe a gentler start that won’t be so tempting to brush off on off days would work better for my purposes. I’m thinking a morning stretch, or maybe a little bit of yoga that can be done even before getting out of bed while still warm and cozy. This I like! I need to do a little research to find what I can do but it sounds like a really nice way to start the day. I can hit the Stairmaster after coffee, once my eyes are actually open and my feet are no longer stumbling.

Day 17 acknowledging your amazing self. Another nice one! We say and do good things all the time without acknowledging the good we do in the world. Take time to look over just the last 24 hrs and take note of the kindnesses and good things you have done. They do make a difference in the world and in doing them so do you!

Day 18 Going back to the calendar, pick a day and visualize everything wonderful going on. From the moment you wake up on…

This really has been a fun way to start the year and I'm looking forward to the next 12 days. It's been really intriguing how well it ties in with my goals for the year. If you've been following along I'd love to hear how well it's been matched to your goals too. Please let me know in the comments!

Valentine's Day is coming up, I think I'll post some hearts and flowers over on the FaceBook page for the next couple of weeks, show you all how much I appreciate you!

See you next week!