Two Projects and I'm Back!

Well, I'm back. It was a great trip. I want to show you a couple of pieces that I made (some very pretty things that I had a LOT of fun making), but I also gained six pounds and feel like a slug. I'll be back in the pool in a bit less than an hour, getting those pounds back off. Travel! ICK! I love travelling, but hotel and restaurant food - no. Not healthy.

When I look at the Artemis Heart that I did in
high resolution and magnification, I can see all of
the errors I did and things I would change the
next time around. But it's still pretty, even thought
it's a class sample. So I'm actually pretty happy
with how this pendant turned out. 

I know some of you have seen the pics of my projects on FaceBook, and I'm tight on time since I have a week's worth of emails to catch up on, but I'm putting the two projects I feel happiest about up here for you. The top piece originally was a bunch of wires, a backplate and a stone cab, and ended up becoming an interesting pendant after soldering and weaving many feet of fine wire. I've never woven wire before and I'm looking forward to doing this technique again.

I really enjoyed the etching and using alcohol inks class. She
likes a more rustic look and I like extreme detail and exact
etching, but it was a lot of fun and I thought the inks were
an interesting addition. I've been wearing the Anubis piece a lot. 

The pieces in the above photo were made via chemical etching on copper, a process that I've done for many years. The class added alcohol inks to color the metal before sealing. That was a new twist to my metalwork and I was really happy with the end results. I've been wearing the larger of the pieces and like the reminder to "Breathe" because Anubis waits for us all.

So, my week in a nutshell ... I saw a lot of friends, walked a lot of steps, tried a lot of things and looked at a lot of really beautiful work produced by some extremely talented people. I didn't really buy anything, one tool and one piece of exceptional stone, so I'm calling the trip a total win, except for the weight gain which was not unexpected. Now to get to work getting those pounds back off. Hope all of you had a great week, and have a wonderful Monday. It's good to be back home!