I'm learning a little more about jewelry

I have seen so many nice pieces of jewelry on Etsy.  Something that kept catching my eye was the soldered pieces.  I decided I had to get myself set up to solder.  I have hardly done anything yet but I'm pretty happy.  The more I get into making jewelry, the more I love it.  For years I prayed that the Lord would show me something I could do for a business.  This is IT!!!  I love to make jewelry!

The first thing that I tried soldering that I actually felt was good enough, is this tilted heart necklace. 

OnWinterberryHill.etsy.com

Not only am I soldering, I'm cutting metal with shears and a saw.  So I was pretty happy with this one.  Today I listed two more.

Mother's Necklace with Little Soldered Heart

Apple for the Teacher Necklace.

These were also hand cut by me.  :)

I've also done some cutting out holes shaped like hearts in the discs

Remembrance/Memorial Necklace
I think of my mom every time I look at it, for obvious reasons.  Ten years later and I still miss her so much.

Okay, I'm going to share one more technique I have learned.

Etching metal!

Etched Grandma Locket

This opens up and...

there's a heart inside!

Well, that's what I have been up to lately.  The Lord is blessing me with orders.  I'm still praying for more...daily!

Try, try again!

Every time I try to write this blog I get sidetracked!  It's really not good to have ADD and try to be a blogger.  I'm going to give it a go again today and maybe this time I will keep up with it.

I have started a new business!  I'm making and selling hand stamped metal jewelry on Etsy!  Right now I'm doing pretty well.
 

I hope it will keep up, but much of my sales have been for Father's Day key chains. 

 I have graduation necklaces available too.  It seems like the rest of the country graduates earlier than we do around here so I've probably missed the boat on this one. 

One thing you can count on is mommies!  People love the mother necklaces.  I must admit that this is what made me decide to do this in the first place.  I just fell in love with the stamped mother's necklaces.

I also had to reach out to those dedicated teachers and parents of autistic children and adults.  My best friend is one of those.

 The top one is in sterling silver and a bit more expensive than most of the things I sell.  The bottom one is in stainless steel.  I decided to offer a cheaper version because we all know that teachers are underpaid.

 Then I have a few inspirational items.

 do justly

love mercy

walk humbly

with your God

I actually just sold this one!  Yahoo!

Then there is:

I have found the one whom my soul loves.  My soul just loves that verse!

Then finally:

The Lord will fight for you.  You need only be still.

And this picture is upside down.  I don't know why this came out that way.  Grrr!

So that's about all the excitement in my life at the moment.  I love doing this and selling things is helping me a lot in the self worth department.  I'm helping my husband out a little bit with the income.  I hope to help him out much more some day.  Time will tell.

Well, see you all again soon I hope!

A Little Catching Up

Today is a finish what I started kind of day. 

Well, one thing is anyway.  I started painting a bookcase last Thursday.  I made my own chalk paint and everything.  One problem though...I ran out of paint before it was done.  Bummer.  I went as far as I could that day.

On Friday I went to buy more white paint.  This time I got a gallon.  There will be no running out for a while.  Too bad I decided to make a day of it.  I just had to go to Christmas Tree Shops to buy these willow branches with LED lights on them.  I figured I would hit Home Depot after.  There is one right in the same parking lot.  When I checked out I had a cobalt blue sugar bowl and creamer that I never intended to buy.  How could I pass up my favorite color for $2.99 a piece?  Not only that but I found all kinds of cool Easter gifts for my favorite three year old.  Then I left...without the branches that I just had to have.  I loved the price of the branches but I just couldn't stand the thought of buying all those batteries.

After blowing the whole day Friday, I told myself that I needed to finish painting those shelves before Monday.  Did I do it?  Nah!  So today is the day.  I've painted the doll bed pink.  My husband needs that for a baby photo shoot Saturday.  Now to muster up the energy for that bookcase. 

Dinner?  Feels like a takeout kind of night to me.

Oh, and I have to share this!

Guess who's going to be a Grammy again?

Unexpected Changes

My efforts to start a new blog got a little sidetracked very unexpectedly.  It's not a bad thing.  My grandson is never a bad thing!  You see I am now watching him a few days a week, while his parents work.  It's hard to get things done when you have a three year old around sometimes.  I certainly can't paint the cabinets while he's here.  I just don't want to ignore the little guy. And we are potty training.

I have managed to get a few things done other than that though.  He allows me to work on my new favorite craft while he plays with play doh.  I have made two image transfer projects.

I made things that I like, but will list them on etsy.  If I sell something I can always make another.  My sweet husband has been making the wood panels for me.  I love the rustic look.  So the picture in my mind is of the rooster picture on my kitchen wall.  It will be a grouping with a black shelf that displays my egg sign and a wire basket with ceramic eggs in it.  Ummm I still have to paint that shelf.

Oh and speaking of eggs!  We made these this week!

I don't recommend this method with the paste type food coloring.  We pretty much rubbed it directly onto the eggs because you could hardly see anything on the eggs after we took them out of the shaving cream.

Grammy should have taken some precautions before we started this project.

Sorry Mom!

After learning our lesson the hard way...

We suited up!

And TADA! The masterpiece!

Just pretend you don't see the wires and the plastic stuff that is supposed to be attached to the wall to hide the wires!  This place needs some TLC in the decorating department.  I just keep telling myself it doesn't matter.  Ummm...don't sweat the small stuff?  Sounds good to me!

I'm really hoping to change my ways.  Someday!

Just For Today

For today...I will just start with something simple. No pictures or anything fancy.  I have started a few blogs, but I was never really happy with them.  Especially the names I chose.  I'm pretty sure this is the perfect one for me.  Finally!  You will find that I change my mind...a lot!  I think I need to fine tune my decision making process before I drive everybody, especially my husband, insane!  We have been renovating our kitchen for...uh hmm...a few years.  Designs have changed a few times.  At this point I don't dare to suggest one.more.change.  At least nothing that involves my husband doing more work.  My issue now is the color of the cabinets.  Right now they are burgundy and have been for quite a few years.  As my husband has built more cabinets, my mind has changed.  I don't want that color anymore.  The walls are a very bright yellow.  My plan was going to be to paint the cabinets black.  I decided against that for two reasons.  First, I feared it was going to look like a bumble bee with that color combination.  Now I just worry that it is too dark.  I only have two small windows and a glass door.  There is not a lot of natural light coming in there.  The sun only comes in the windows in the afternoon.  Not a good idea.  Then I moved onto a faux finish that I saw on BHG.com.  My husband loved it!

 

(Oh, I said I wasn't going to post any pictures.  I guess that's just another example of how I change my mind.)

  I went to the paint store and asked a nice man for help.  He set me up with everything I needed with full instructions.  Very nice of him.  I think he may have been on commission though, because the price just bowled me over.  I think I paid over fifty dollars for two quarts of paint, one quart of glaze and a small bottle of paint thinner!  Does that sound right to you?  I brought it home and wasn't sure about testing this on my actual cabinets.  I decided to go buy my three year old grandson an unfinished step stool and try the technique on that.  I believe I heard him tell Grampy last weekend, that Grammy got black on the red and needs to fix it. This really got me thinking.  Did I really want to paint them this way? 

At the moment I am considering an ivory with some antiquing.  It will really lighten up the room.  Well, stay tuned for adventures in my kitchen renovation.  At this point I am waiting for my wonderful husband to make me some cabinet doors and a few more cabinets.  It may take a little begging to get him to focus back on the kitchen after a long...uh...rest.  Yes that's it!  It has been a rest!