Birthday Present

My two teenage boys were invited to a birthday party sleep-0ver for a friend they are in band with. She is a really wonderful young lady. When the 16-year-old was getting ready to go (the oldest was at work and would show up later) he realized they did not have a gift for her. Even though she did not tell many people it was a birthday party, he still wanted to take her something. (She would rather have friends to hang out with than presents.)

Anyway, he asked me to make her a bracelet, since she has a necklace that she wears all the time, but nothing on her wrist. I decided to make here something similar to Ashley's Crystal Garden, but with a more sophisticated feel. I didn't want to crowd it with too many crystals since she does not wear jewelry that often. It just needed to be something that can carry the look on it's own.

Made with: Sterling Silver Toggle; sterling crimp bead; sterling crimp covers; 3mm Swarovski Bicones, crystal; 3mm Sterling Silver Spacers, seamless rounds; 3.8mm Sterling Liquid Silver; Sterling Silver beaded spacers; 2 - 4mm Swarovski Cubes, violet; 1 - 4mm Swarovski Cube, light rose; Sterling Silver wire guardians; beading wire.

I think it went over well. My son said that she and her mother were just amazed with it (and he didn't even tell them that is was handmade!). He even got a hug out of the deal!

Grandma's Yard

Recently, I got a new camera. It is more camera than I have had! The Canon S3 IS. It is still a basic point-and-shoot digital, but it is loaded with extras. I know, people think of Canon, most think of the Rebel Series, but I that is out of my league right now.

I have taken pictures in several different environments to get use to some of it's features; pictures of my nephews when my younger brother came for a visit; a band concert that my two teenagers were in (the last concert for my oldest...sigh); Regional Band Festival yesterday that had tons of area school bands attending. Today, I played in my grandmother's yard!

I was a sight! Crawling around on my hands and knees, getting as close to things as possible. I didn't have a whole lot to take pictures of because most of her flowers have stalled due to crazy weather. Traditionally, this time of year, her yard is a mass of colors! Hey, we work with what we have, right?

First Paid Piece!!

I have been teaching myself to make jewelry for about six months now. I started out, and kept on, using glass beads and basic base metal findings. Every so often, I would find a sterling kit that I could use for something without spending an arm and a leg for it. I did not want to spend a fortune on the better products until a felt comfortable enough with my skills.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to make something for her daughter's birthday. I sat down with her and her daughter for a design session. We had a wonderful time! Her daughter is in first grade and loved looking through my sketch book, bead magazines, and completed projects. After about an hour, I had a good idea of what she was looking for and was able to change some things on my sketches.

Fast forward to product delivery! I finally received all the items I needed, or so I thought! I discovered that the spacer beads I ordered had a hole in them that was larger than the entire diameter of the liquid silver tubes I wanted to use!! AAAGH! Quick change! Order more stuff, pray it gets here in time!

Arrival! Work! Still keep the family moving! Work some more! DONE!!

And...TA DA! Ashley's Crystal Garden.

Made with: 3.8mm Liquid Silver Tubes, 3mm Sterling Seamless Spacers, 3mm Swarovsky Bicone Crystals, 4mm Swarovsky Cubes in Light Rose & Violet, Swarovsky Butterfly Drop, 2mm Sterling Crimp Beads, 2.4mm Sterling Open Crimp Covers, 1 Sterling Chain Tag, Small Sterling Lobster Claw Clasp, Sterling Wire Guardians, Sterling SureSet Earstud, 4mm Pink Crystals.

I think Ashley will like the final design. But then, for a little girl to have her own custom-designed set of jewelry (that can withstand recess) that is pretty neat in itself!

Senior Year

Well, greetings. My oldest is graduating high school this May. He will also be moving out the weekend after graduation. He is moving in with his grandmother while he goes to college. His planned major is Video Game Programming and Design. I guess all those video games are paying off!

He has his last band concert tonight! It is so hard to look at him and not still see the little boy that started playing my brother's trombone in the fifth grade! He has grown so much. Not just in size but in his attitude, his maturity. So much of that emotional growth has occurred in the last six months. I am so proud of him!