More Extension Updates

I wanted to start this off with a cute pictures of baby birds I found in my backyard under one of my bushes.  The momma bird built the nest on the ground under one of my bushes amongst the weeds.  They now have flown the nest because they weren't out there the other night when I went to check on them.   I really, really hope momma was teaching them how to fly!

Extension updates:

Plywood walls went up last week - so exciting because now it gives us more of an idea of how big the extension really is.  This is the backdoor going into the extension.  I do have a door coming out of the office into my bedroom so two exits.

The back of the house with plywood walls.

Looking in from the backdoor into the bathroom.

My sitting area with the window covered up for now :)

This is the next day where the wrapped the house - almost like a present!!!

The back of the wrapped extension.

Mom showing me where the window will go - she will kill me for
posting this pic!

This is what I came home to yesterday - a roof on the house.  Mom had to talk to the contractors yesterday about several different things.  Once of the things Jim wanted to talk to mom about was adding another window in the bathroom area.  He had an idea of a port hole window and mom and I could make a stained glass piece to fit into it.  I really liked that idea - now just need to find a pattern and see what glass mom has to make it (she used to make stained glass pieces all the time).

I was bouncing in excitement last night when I saw all of this - this is so freaking exciting and it is happening!  Of course I was still bouncing with giddiness because I had a wonderful day at work too.  Mom said I was just glowing!

The interior of the extension with a roof on it - it looks so different now with the roof on the extension.

Looking up through the roof at the sky - I love this picture!

mom walking through my bathroom

So, that is the update of the extension.  It sure is trucking along now and I can't wait to see what they have accomplished by the end of the week.  Will try to keep you all updated but we pick up the kids on Saturday, stay overnight in St. Louis and drive back home on Sunday with them.  I am sure the next two weeks will be a whirlwind with them here for a visit.

June ABS Challenge Piece - By the Sea Side

Jackknife Village, 1926

Franklin Carmichael

Watercolor on Paper

(Please note this art is copyrighted and is to be used only as inspiration.)

Surprise, surprise, surprise - mom and I actually finished a challenge piece before the end of the month :)  I think it is because this weekend we pick the kids (niece/nephew) up from my brother and they will be here for a two week visit.  Mom and I are trying to get things done before they are here since we know nothing art related will be done.

When I first see the challenge pieces on ABS I always send the link to mom to check it out.  A lot of the time it is mom who comes up with the idea for a pattern or sometimes it is a collaborative effort.  The idea for the lampwork beads is usually me - and boy did I have an idea this time. This is the pattern mom and I ended up using to saw out the pendant.  Mom did have two houses in the pattern but decided she didn't like it.  I think I like the abstract pattern because I really wanted to focus on the colors this month - love the colors and this is totally different from our usually color pallet - something new!

By the Sea Side

I seriously love how this piece turned out.  It is long enough to just slip over your head and I think it would look great with a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt.

A close up look at the pendant (oh, just so you know, we flipped the pendant when we made the bail and didn't realize it until we started enameling, it is showing the wrong side - but hey - it is abstract!).  I really like how the pendant looks - with the rocky ground below, with the water between and grassy hills and a blue sky above.

I ended up making the beads first - usually I make the beads after I have enameled the pendant so I know what colors to use.  I just loved the white, blues, greens, browns and gray in the painting - I found some frit that matched the colors and used white glass to make the beads.  Mom and I used Sodalite as accents with gunmetal spacers and gunmetal circles.

When I sketched out the idea for the necklace I knew I wanted a two strand of the lampwork beads but I had no idea what to do for the top.  Thank goodness for mom - she found some torch fired enameled beads I made and then finished it off with the Sodalite beads for accents and the gunmetal spacers.



By the Sea Side

So, that is how our necklace piece came together for this month's Challenge.  To see other pieces for this month's challenge head on over to the Flickr Group.

Focus on Life Week 24 - Green

Focus on Life Week 24 - Green: We are going green for this weeks Focus On Life photo.

GREEN! The color of balance, learning, growth and harmony! GREEN evokes feelings of calm and symbolizes self-respect and well being. What a great color to focus on!

Since this week's focus is on Green, I thought this would be appropriate because June 14th was the Army's 238th birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARMY - HOOAH!



via Google Images

My bestie and me the day we rolled in from the box - two weeks with no shower
that is why the do-rag on my head :) Of course the uniform looks brown
and not green from all the dust at NTC

The day I graduated from PLDC - mom and me.  I look like a baby and don't
you love those '90s glasses :)

And here are some photos of the moss on mom's front tree - I love this pics!

Head on over to The Studio Sublime and check out the other "Green" photos for this week.

Completed Enameled Pendants

Enameled Pieces - Two weeks ago - Earrings, Wolves, Sunbursts.

The above pendants are from an enameling session two weeks ago.  The sunbursts were made for a customer - we made three different sizes for her to choose from and she went with the larger pendant.  The two wolves are in black/gray/white color scheme and the other is a brown/white color scheme.  And the last set of pendants will be a pair of earrings in my favorite color scheme "Peacock".  That is what I call the three color enamels I combine to get that color and I LOVE it :)

This is what I enameled yesterday - the top is a Koi plate, a hedgie pendant, a clasp, four turtles and the piece for the June ABS challenge. 

Close up pics:

This is the clasp - white crackle enamel and purple enamel (already have a necklace planned for the clasp) and the hedgie pendant.

The Koi plate - hard to see but it is in yellow, oranges and a red.  Once I get the back cleaned up mom is going to put it in a shadow box to give it a more finished look.  Plus I think if it is in the shadow box customers have a better idea of what to do with the piece - hang it on the wall.

The June ABS Challenge pendant and beads to go with it.  I now just need to go through our bead stash to see what we have to finish this necklace off - hey we might even get it done before the end of the month :)

 

Four turtle pendants - two of them mom wants to give to our contractors because their company is called Terrapin Renovations. 

So, the next step is to clean up the backs of the pendants I worked on this weekend.  Once that is done I need to take pics and get them posted out on our Etsy shop.  Not sure when this will happen - it depends on the weather.  Mom and I are working on the outside of my house trying to get it curb appeal ready for when I put it on the market.  We started working on it Thursday night, Friday and Saturday.  I seriously don't like yard work and you can tell - lots to fix up.  Plus I need to start painting the trim of the house because that hasn't been done since it was built.  Oh, and the my niece and nephew are coming for a visit the last week of June and first week of July so trying to get a lot done because nothing will be done while they are here!

Please be patient while I try and get the long list of stuff done :)  I hope you enjoyed the eye candy I know it has been awhile since we shared enameled pics.  Have a wonderful week everyone!

Framing, Pendants, Beads Oh My

The framing of the extension is moving right along - this is from Monday night.  This now gives mom and I an idea of where I can put my things :)  The paper plans give you an idea of the extension but until it starts going up you have no idea what it is going to look like.

This is the kitty room and the bathroom.  The guys laid down boards so we can get an idea of the rooms.  In the kitty litter room will also be a furnace.  The guys also made an executive decision because I didn't have a door really going into the bathroom, it was off the kitty room and they thought it would be nicer for it to go off the sitting room so if someone comes in the backdoor (mom) you don't have to worry about someone on the toilet :)

This will be my sitting area - my comfy couch, credenza with the TV on it.  Maybe a bookshelf or my curio cabinet - not sure yet.  They also made another decision to move where we had the window.  It is going more toward the kitty room so I have more wall space for all my paintings (which mom told me she will measure and hang since that is something I just don't do - I slap them on the walls where I like them).

My walk in closet - actually a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

My bedroom - the window will be removed and a pocket door installed to go into the office.  They don't want to do any work on the side of the house until all the framing is done and the walls are up.  Yes, the siding will be removed from the house :)  I told mom I didn't care about the size of the bedroom it just had to have my big bed, I use a step stool to get into the bed, my dresser and a curio cabinet.  I think I will have to store all my books under my bed which is alright with me.

After we walked through the extension on Monday, ate the wonderful dinner I made, mom and I worked on sawing out pendants.  These are the pendants I sawed out.  The key and owls I plan on patina-ing after I have filed and sanded the pendants.  I have two feather pendants that will be made into earrings, one of those pendants I went through four saw blades in less than a minute.  They were tricky little boogers!!!!

Mom started sawing on this plate - it is a turtle with a skull and rose design.  I can't wait until she has it done so I can enamel it - it is going to be awesome!  Can you see the saw movement as mom is sawing?

These are the beads I made on Sunday and got out of the kiln on Monday.  Not exactly like I envisioned but still mom and I have an idea for a necklace.  Just so you know the bottom of the bead is a base of pink with frit on top and the top of the bead is transparent gray.

Yesterday mom had an event she attended after work so I went to her house to make beads. The June ABS Challenge was posted and I had an idea for beads to go with our pendant.  Mom has an idea for the pendant but she needs to finish drawing it up - maybe we can start sawing it out tonight.  Hey, we might even get our piece done before the end of the month.

Here is an image of the beads I am working on.  Sorry it is fuzzy but it was hard to hold the bead and try to take a picture with the camera.

I plan on stopping at mom's tonight to clean the beads and see how they turned out, maybe make more beads or saw out pendants.  I think there will be a big enameling session this weekend!!!

Giveaway Alert - Gaea Pendants

Giveaway Alert on Gaea Handmade Blog Site.

If you would like to win one of the new original bead sets and two pendants you need to spread the word: Facebook, Twitter, Blog or Pinterest.

You need to leave a comment for each way you shared and each comment will enter you into the giveaway.  You need to check back on Monday, June 10th to see who one.

What are you waiting for - go and start sharing :)

Extension, Sawing Pendants and Dahlia Flowers

The framing has started on the extension.  The guys were there when I pulled into mom's driveway on Friday.  They were soaking wet because it had rained but they said they have started the framing.  OMG it is finally coming together.  What they have started framing is where the kitty litter room, bathroom and part of the bedroom and sitting area.

Here is where the door will be to come in from the other side.  This back door goes right into mom's back door which goes into the kitchen.

This is where the window will be for my sitting area.  It looks right into mom's living room; so when I am sitting here with the window open I can yell at mom in the living room to get me something to drink :)

And here is where the bedroom window will be.  The little area with the grass we will tear out and make into a small garden.  Mom and I have been buying rose bushes because that is what we want to put in this area.

Mom drawing a pattern for a new plate - I can't wait to enamel this!

Yesterday we received a letter letting us know that we weren't accepted into one of the juried art shows in September.  This is a show where mom and I do really well at but this year we were not accepted.  This sort of put mom into a funk - mom does not handle rejection well.  I plan on calling to ask for the juror comments to see what was said - do we need to improve on pics, presentation or do something different with our pieces.  I had some friends comment it could just be that there were too many jewelry artists.  I do have to say it got me motivated to look for other juried art shows yesterday (found several we want to apply for next year in Indy, Covington and Fort Wayne) and we also applied for two other shows for the fall of this year.  So, maybe something good came out of that rejection letter!

So, to keep mom busy we did a lot of sawing yesterday.  I sawed out the perimeters of pendants and a new plate (I hate sawing the interior designs, that is all mom!).

Here is mom sawing out one of the turtle pendants.  I seriously don't know how she does it sometimes!

Here are the sawed out pendants and the turtle plate perimeter has been sawed out.

This is a koi that mom has sawed, filed and sanded.  It is ready to be enameled - which will be a big enameling session next weekend.  I want to have a large assembly line going with all of the pendants and plates.

Mom and I did take a break to go flower shopping.  Mom is on a Dahlia kick this year - she already has a yellow one planted in her front flower bed.

Mom bought two of these pink Dahlias and two darker pink Dahlias.

She also bought three dark red/orange Dahlias and dark purple Cali Lily that will go in the back flower bed.  I also bought four bushes for my house - I have one bush I need to replace and I have three places where I need to fill in blank areas in my flower beds (getting the outside to look pretty for when I put the house on the market).

One of the rose bushes we bought (Oranges and Cream) is budding.  I am taking pics as the buds slowly open up.  We also bought another rose bush yesterday - I think it is called White Licorice.

So, that is a recap of the weekend.  Oh, I did make up some beads for a necklace and I am not sure how they are going to look until tomorrow when I take them out of the kiln.  I also need to work on taking pictures of pendants that I enameled last weekend and get them posted out on Etsy.  So, lots to do and have to stop sitting on my butt and get busy.  Come on motivation!!!!