Vacation Countdown

I leave tomorrow - early - because I have a dinner date with a bunch of friends at 6pm.  So I have to hit the road no later than 6am to be there, checked in and unpacked on time.  I still have 1-2 loads of laundry to push through tonight, trash and recycling to do tomorrow, and I still have to pack my clothes.  I think I purchased everything that the store will need while I'm gone, and if the computer gods are smiling on me, the store computers will work properly for a week!  I have a ton of work to do today, and want to squeeze one last mail order out of the door this morning so I'll be hitting the store running.  A nine hour drive will seem like a vacation in itself after the last few days of rush, rush, rush. 

The PMC Conference Logo

I finally got my charms for the conference finished.  Starting with more than 40, I ended up with less than 30 that were useable.  It was a project that was cursed from the beginning with my PPP light not working properly, then the attempted firing schedule didn't work correctly - TWICE.  I finally used a different firing schedule for the metal clay and that worked, but I had a lot of extra prep work to do because of that schedule.  A day or so later I realized that enameling on the charms wouldn't be possible (I was VERY bummed about that) but that made me focus on alternative coloration and I ended up deciding to Liver of Sulphur the charms.  Which caused my glass bowl to fracture, spilling Liver of Sulpher all over my workbench and floor.  The charms dried and I hit them at the polisher the next morning, attached crystals on Sunday and Monday morning, bagged them and attached them to my business cards.  So...they are ready.  Now all I have to do is remember to pack them - . 

Getting Ready...

I leave for my conference next week and I suppose that I should start packing ...  I'm really bad about sitting down and getting things into my suitcases.  I have a pretty good idea about what I want to have access to at the conference, but that is followed by a workshop that I really don't have any idea about.  And I still have to finish my charms.   Oh - my charms.  There is a charm exchange at the conference. I really enjoy participating in it and getting a variety of wonderful charms from fellow jewelers.  I made my charms (after many difficulties) out of Art Clay Copper.  I had planned to enamel them, but time constraints made me shelve that idea.  Then I was going to darken the sigil on the front and paint some of the back - I scrapped that also because I wasn't getting the look that I needed.  So after having repickled the metal and tumbling the metal again, yesterday morning I decided to liver of sulfur the charms, then I can hit them with the polisher and get them assembled.  I was dipping the charms and they darkened well.  I had the acid in a glass bowl on my hotplate to keep it warm.  When I picked up the bowl to dispose of the LoS, the bowl cracked into two and LoS went everywhere!  What a mess.  Of course I work in copper a lot, and I had pieces on my bench for other items I was working on.  I had to rescue them from the solution very quickly, then mop up the mess.  The studio, of course, smelled like sulfur.  Today I start polishing these cursed items and I hope things work well on this because my patience is coming to an end (as is my time - LOL). 
 

Mark Cavendish wins again.  He's one of the highlights of this year's Le Tour de France. 

Today is the final time trial for Le Tour de France.  Mark Cavendish won the sprint yesterday - the man is simply amazing.  Show him a finish line and he will accelerate to cross it first, no matter what.  That kind of focus is a good lesson for all of us in life.  Show us the finish line - goals to be achieved - and then focus on crossing that finish line first.  Of course, he wouldn't be as successful without a team to make sure he is in a good position to make his strike.  So while you are focused on achieving your goals, don't turn down the assistance of those who will help you achieve your success.  Have a creative weekend and enjoy the final ride into Paris on Sunday.  Vive Le Tour! 

Decisions and Deadlines

I leave for the PMC Conference next week.  I have charms fired, but no enamel on them.  They have a top hole for a jump ring and a bottom hole where I wanted to attach a jumpring.  Given my timeline and my general level of exhaustion when I get home from work, I have decided to not enamel my charms.  I will darken my sigil and selected parts of the backs, but I'm not going to play with a kiln when I'm exhausted.  That would be a recipe for disaster.  This will be my first charm without enamel and I am disappointed in my decision, but my timelines just aren't allowing that flexibility.  The only time I would have to be able to enamel safely is Sunday, and I have to spend Sunday packing and getting my act together for my workshop and conference.  This has been a project marked by small disasters and I think it's time to wrap it up and go on with my life.  I can play with the technique and material in more detail later in the year.  I still have 50 grams of ACC available for me to play with. 

Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador exchange looks.

No Tour today - the riders are taking a well deserved rest.  It's been a heck of a Tour so far - it has a variety of stage winners, an acrimonious pair fighting it out at the top, and Lance trying for a comeback.  We'll have one more day in the Pyrenees on Thursday, a relatively flat day on Friday, the second individual time trial on Saturday and the ride into Paris on Sunday.  Contador will win this, but it's been fun watching Contador and Schleck fight it out - they are very well paired.  Contador is the faster at time trials, though.  It's so hard to believe that July is almost over - where is my summer going? 

Charms and Computers - Challenges...

So yesterday I gave in to the inevitable and shelf-fired my charms.  That seems to have worked - at least the charms are sintered now.  I took them to the shop on Sunday to put into pickle while I checked the shop for water damage.  The shop appeared to have escaped our wild Saturday night weather unscathed.  Considering it was raining sheets of rain with high winds and tornadic activity, I was happy.  I took the charms out of the pickle, brushed them under soapy water, and put them under water for the night so that they wouldn't oxidize overnight until I could get back to them.  Now I need to tumble them and boil them in ammonia.  I brought ammonia and a glass pan to the shop - I have a hotplate there that I can use to boil them.  That, which I had originally thought I would do on Monday morning, has now been pushed off until Tuesday morning because....

Just a simple Start Button - but SO important.

Stage 15 of Le Tour de France.  Gotta LOVE those Pyrenees!

Last night, while I was waiting for my computer to power up, I decided I wanted to check something quickly and went to my DH's computer to do so.  I pushed the ON button - no response.  Tried again - same result.  I pulled the CPU away from the wall and checked the power cord.  Everything was attached and the power block was receiving power.  So, I will need to bring his computer up to my computer guru, Dale, and get his starter switch fixed .  That will cut into my Le Tour de France in the Pyrenees time and really doesn't make me very happy.  I would have called Dale last night, but I have two Dales in my cell phone and I'm not sure which one is him.  I need to look at his last invoice to make sure who I need to phone.  Then I'll have to drive WAY north and drop the computer off.  I won't be able to wait for this one, so that means I'll have to pick it up later in the week.  Wednesday would be ideal - it is the rider's next rest day. 

The Charm Gods Strike Again

So, yesterday I said that my charms (at least the first batch) had fired up well.  That was before I had washed them.  While washing them, I realized that the charms hasn't sintered properly.  For those of you unfamiliar with metal clays, when they are fired, the clay binder burns off leaving sintered metal - 100% metal.  The binder did not completely burn off and two of the charms broke in my hand.  This was NOT good.  I had fired according to the directions on the website...  I went to work and put a call in to Jackie Truty, the head of Art Clay World, US.  Jackie and I discussed the firing schedule and possible causes, etc.  All we could come up with was to lengthen the firing time, so I put a second batch in last night and I'll check it this morning and see if I got better results.  I really liked working with the Art Clay Copper, but it needs to fire up correctly also. 

Isn't this a great poster?  It shows so graphically
that the Pyrenees await the riders.

Today is the last of the flat days for Le Tour de France before we hit four days of hell in the Pyrenees.  Andy Schleck is still in the yellow, but due to a last minute attack by Alberto Contador yesterday, his lead has dropped to 30 seconds.  Not a lot of time with the mountains still ahead of them.  The crowds at Le Tour this year are larger and more enthusiastic than ever, and they are always totally crazy in the Pyrenees, so I'm really looking forward to Sunday through Wednesday, even though Chickie will be on vacation and I won't have a day off next week.  I'll make up for it during the following weeks when I get my own vacation to do my workshop and conference.

All Cylinders Firing

It seems as though I am always working on art projects while watching Le Tour de France.  I remember working on a set of Bead Artist Trading Cards while watching Lance crest mountains.  I remember working on the wooden under body of "Rocking Horse Dreams" while Lance fought again for dominance.  And yesterday I spent my morning in front of the office TV refining my charms and readying them for firing.  I left an interesting brown/copper dust smudge on my carpet, but it's the office - what goes on in the back room doesn't really make much difference.  In fact, it was rather amusing to see the small dune that my sanding had caused.  Last night I buried the first group in charcoal and began firing them.  I need to wait until the temp is down to 200 before I remove them, and the kiln was only down to 425 when I awoke this morning, so instead of being able to sandwich in one more fire this morning, I have to wait until tonight before I can do the nest batch.  I packed 16 into the first firing.  At that rate it will take three firings before all of them are ready for the next step.  And I'm really curious about how well they took and how much shrinkage I got.  I still have work to do on these charms. 

My Paragon SC2 kiln

The well in the gulf is finally capped and oil is no longer gushing out into the water.  There is so much that went wrong with this oil well, it is impossible to list all of the individual problems.  But what concerns me is the environmental impact of this spill - something that will last for many years to come.  I suspect that even into several more generations, this disaster will still be affecting the Gulf environment - the birds, fish and other wonderful critters and the ocean.  I see the impact of ocean pollution daily.  Shells that I used to be able to purchase and sell are no longer available because of decreased populations due to pollution, and those that I can get have their prices much higher.  I can't blame all of the price increases on the crappy economy that we are also living with right now. 

Children coloring.  When was the last time you spent time
with a box of crayons and some paper?

But in all of this negativity, there have to be some positive strokes, after all, I am basically a very positive person.  That can come from art and personal expression.  I firmly believe that everyone has a talent that will make them happy.  It could be craft/art in nature - painting, drawing, sculpting, throwing a pot, quilting a blanket, or beading a necklace.  It could be more practical in nature - inventing a new recipie or arranging plants in a garden to maximum visual benefit.  It could be interpersonal - adroitly causing people with diametric views to come together and work for a common goal, finding common ground and possible friendships in the journey.  Find your talent, express it and work with it to allow your wings to furl and yourself to fly.  Have a creative day! 

The Week is Progressing

I hope all of you had a good Bastille Day.  I almost ordered French Silk pie last night in honor of France, but broke down and got Coconut Creame instead.  "Despicable Me" was absolutely delightful - we laughed throughout the movie and the littlest girl's eyes could rival Puss 'n Boots' eyes in Shrek.  It is most certainly a movie that I will buy on DVD when it becomes available.  One thing that appealed to the adults in the audience - Gru (the main villian) goes to the bank for funding for his current evil ploy.  The bank is the "Bank of Evil, Formerly Known as Lehmann Brothers".  All of the adults in the audience were laughing over that one.  If you have a chance to see this one, do so.  It's not just a kid's movie, it is a movie that you can take a kid to but still enjoy as an adult. 

"Despicable Me" is a definite winner.  Go and see this movie!

Le Tour de France hits the flats today transitioning to the Pyrenees by the weekend.  It's a day for the sprinters, and although there may not be much change in the overall standings, it will still be a fun stage to watch.  The fireworks of mountains and men on bikes will reconvene on Sunday.

It's very orange out of the packet, but clean and easy to
work with.  I like the product so far.

The saga of my charms for the PMC Conference continues, but at least I'm getting somewhere.  I was finally able to make my PPP of my sigil by purchasing a new light fixture from Home Depot yesterday morning.  Putting the new bulb into the new fixture resulted in success.  I made a positive and a negative image, chose which one to use and started work with my Art Clay Copper.  I added too much oil to my first 50 grams, so opened another packet and started working without adding anything.  It is tough to start working with - but once I got it rolled out once, it was an absolute dream to use.  I made more than 40 charms and put them into the dehydrator.  I know that some of these won't survive being vetted after sanding and refining, I'm hoping that I will get between 30-35 usable charms out of the batch.  After I refine them I'll start firing them.  With the heat we've been having, I'll run the kiln overnight to keep any heat overage under control.  And since I do want to enamel them, I'll charcoal fire them.  This should be fun!  Now I just need time and that's going to be hard with my having to work all next week while Chickie is on vacation. 

I'm Doomed!

It's a little dramatic, but it's also the best description of the past 24 hours of relatively fruitless activity.  I need to make charms to take with me to the PMC Conference in two weeks.  I plan to make these from Art Clay Copper and enamel them.  I'll have to do the enameling during my evenings and/or Sundays, because after today I will have no more studio days until after I return.  My original plan was to make a PPP (that's photo-polymer plate) of my egret sigil - the symbol that I use to sign each piece and drawing that I make, and bas-taille enamel it.  I purchased a system for PPP from my friend and former customer Gwen last year at Metal Clay World, but I hadn't used it yet.  I took a refresher class from her last month at Bead & Button, so I was very confident about what I wanted to do and the process to do it.  Then fate stepped in. 

Despicable Me - I'm King of the World?

I got the image ready to expose without any problem - both a positive and negative image.  I assembled the light fixture - I certainly knew how to do this, I had helped Gwen assemble the ones that she needed for her class just a month before, and I plugged it in.  So far, so good.  I turned on the light - no problems here, until after 30 seconds when the center of the light bulb went dead, leaving a non-functional fixture.  So...I needed a new bulb.  Now, this is not just any bulb.  It is a specialty bulb that even Gwen finds difficult to locate.  But, I did find a place with a bulb for me, drove out there, purchased it, put it into my car, and worked for the day.  Last night, I put the new bulb into the light, and....nothing.    Gwen is sending me a new fixture and bulb, and I need to shift gears and figure out what to do for my charms now....

Andy Schleck in Yellow - What a wonderful sight!  Hope he does well today on
Le Tour de France.

But tonight I get to play a bit and I'm going to watch "Despicable Me" with Chickie and Claire.  I'm really looking forward to this.  We decided to watch the normal show - not the 3D one.  Next week I'm going to see "Inception" with Meghan and Chickie.  That one we will see in 3D - that one deserves the extra money.  I hope your day will go a bit better than my Tuesday did. 

The French Flag - wave it proudly today!

Oh, and I almost forgot - Happy Bastille Day to my friends in France!  I remember fondly celebrating Bastille Day in my youth in Aspen, Colorado.  Our resident composer that summer was Darius Milhaud, so rather than celebrate Independence Day, the town celebrated Bastille Day.  Later in my life, while working as an archaeologist, we celebrated Bastille Day while working with Cynthia Irwin Williams.  Many happy years with many good friends - many happy memories.  So Happy Bastille Day to all of you!

Cable, Copper and Le Tour

I phoned ComCast yesterday.  One of my customers who has become a good friend over the years works in their customer service department.  She's my "ace in the hole" for me when I need to work with them.  So I phoned her and left her a phone message.  By the time the day was over, I had an appointment scheduled for installation of a different channel box than I had originally been shipped, and all of this will happen after I return from my end of the month workshops, enabling DH to have time to build the new stand that he says he needs to make for all of this to look appropriate in his eyes.  Oy veh!  The things I do for peace in my house - LOL. 

Captain Phil Harris

I have a day to get my charms made, fired and enameled for the PMC Conference.  A day is stretching it a bit - I can't work into the evening on Wednesday because I have to go to "Despicable Me" that evening with Chickie.  I got the image of my sigil done last night and printed out on the photo emulsion film this morning.  I'll make the PPP plate today (either within a half-hour now or as soon as I get to the shop) and I'll start working on the copper tonight while watching "Dangerous Catch".  It's Captain Phil's final episode.  He died earlier this year and was one of my favorite Captains on the show, so I don't want to miss this.  Hopefully I'll have at least one batch of copper ready to fire overnight. 

Stage 9 - Gotta Love the Alps!

And Le Tour de France resumes today in the Alps.  Stage 9 had the hors-cat Col de la Madeleine and that's a real nasty climb of 25km with a 2000 meter summit.  The major steep climbs are at the lower reaches, it mellows out a bit towards the top, but it's still nasty.  My favorites are the Pyrenees and we get to those at the end of the week.  But we have Tuesday and Wednesday in the Alps and mountain stages are always great! 

BFAC 2011 is Complete

A detail view of the bronze tree in the first sunrise.  Note the constellation Orion on the left.

Yesterday was photography day for my box.  My "When Anor Rises" Beading For A Cure project for the 2011 auction is finally complete and I wanted to get the photos done yesterday.  Of course, nothing comes easily in my life lately, and this was no exception.  I used the small camera that my DH has for one set of photos, and grabbed my small carry-along camera for the other set.  Except....my carry-along camera, which had worked perfectly the previous week when Seth and I went to the zoo, suddenly didn't work at all.  I thought...."Maybe it just needs charging."  So I plugged it in and recharged the battery.  But the power switch still didn't work correctly.  I finally gave up, ran to my local Best Buy, and purchased a new Olympus camera carry-along.  My rule for carry-along cameras is that they have to have good macro and they have to be as close to $100 as possible.  This new one ended up at $139 with the tax and has a great macro, even though there are other features that I'm not that crazy about.  But, I got the new camera back home, charged the battery, and took the second batch of photos using the new camera. 

The fully beaded silk of the top has the sun rising on the right,
flowers blooming below and the tree highlighted by the sunrise.
The Big Dipper constellation is closer to the sun.

I'm pleased with most of the photos, although I still need to do a little bit of additional shooting, hopefully over the weekend.  Some of the photos are scattered in this posting.  The box itself is very large - almost 18" long.  I'm SO happy to be done with this and be able to go on to a different project in my list.  Copper clay, here I come :-)

The interior has two layers and a pull-down front with ring-holder
padded cylinders.  The smaller jewelry tray nests on top of the
deeper tray and lifts out via the center bar (handle).

Final Decision Times

So, I'm at a point with my cloak pins that I have to make a final decision about any stamped decorations I am putting on the rim. After that step, I will solder on the bail and the pin stops, polish, and be done. That means that I need to start planning for the next enameling project. Although I want to do some small cloisonne squares for a bracelet, I also want to design my charms for the PMC Conference and see if my internal vision will work in reality.

I'd like to make life easier for me, but the charm that is coming to the forefront for me is something that will use plique-de-jour. This is an enameling process that I haven't used before, and normally that would not be a problem, but I also want to use a product that I haven't used before. I want to use Art Clay Copper. I will need to experiment for this one since charms are made in multiple. We'll see - I'm sure I'll need to refine my design to get this done successfully, but I'll play in February and see where I can go. I should also be receiving my Beading For A Cure kit sometime in February and I'll want to get going on that ASAP so that I can send it off and clear one more project from my 2010 calendar. So, things are progressing....now...about those stamping decorations on the rims of my cloak pins........

Progressing and Designing

I am trying to get my scheduling nailed for the year. I know that I will complete an item for Beading For A Cure, the charity against colon cancer that I have been involved with for many years. And if my friend Shruit gets our application in and accepted, I will be participating with her in a second competition piece. But I think those are the only two beading competitions that I will produce beadwork for this year.

In metal clay, I will be making charms for the charm swap at the PMC Conference in July, and I will be making some Art Clay Copper pieces to enamel and test out because it's a new product that I actually have owned for a while now and just haven't had the time to play with yet. I may or may not do more with metal clay this year - it's still very much in the air. I love the product, but I also need to work on my fabrication skills which have fallen by the wayside.
For fabrication, I will be setting enamel pieces. I need to finish my cloak pins. Then I would still like to do the center heron for my heron and chrysanthamums piece that I started more than a year ago. And I want to make more enamel. Lots more. I really love playing with enamel.

And I'll be drawing. Because my fingers are itching to pick up a piece of graphite and a sketchpad and draw. And many of those drawings may make their way into color and finally into glass because the projects that I have in the works are into sketch mode now.

And finally I'll be sewing - I'll be hand embroidering the borders of cloaks and machine sewing the cloaks themselves. I still want to do a new corset for Renaissance Faire, and I want a new skirt also. I have had the fabric for that for a couple of years, I just need to actually make the items.

Well - it looks like I'll have a busy year. Guess I'd better get going on my art front!

Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe

So many things to tempt me with, so little time to play with them. Now that I'm working a full week, my time is very constrained. This has cut into my evenings and I have had to spend the past couple of evenings working on things other than playing LOTRO with my DH or reading fan fic. As an example, last night I....

Put the 250 grams of Art Clay Copper that I just received onto my desk. It can sit there and mock me for a while because my free time has to be taken up with holiday gifts right now. But I have a plan for the copper, and I also want to test how well it will hold up to enamel, so I'll let it mock me. It won't be able to do so for long (evil and happy laugh extending through the room).

I also punched and assembled Chickie's holiday gift. It is now done. Could I have done better? Absolutely! But I'm pretty happy with it - I've never made a project like this before and it turned out better than I thought it would. I do have to buy two things though - shorter assembly posts for her gift, and a cast iron weight for my enamel work. This was made clear by her gift and I want to have one in my tools repertoire.

And I spent two hours editing the next chapter for my German friend, Iris. This story is engaging me, and the chapters are not massively lengthy, but doing corrections from a different language is always more labor-intensive than correcting a native speaker's syntax. I need to get working on her next chapter next week.

So there you have it - a typical night at my alternative workdesk in front of my computer screen. Tonight though, I will put myself back into Moria and continue to kill things with my DH as we work our way through to Lothlorien :-)

Studio Day - Time is Running Out

Looking at the calendar, what once seemed so far out is now breathing at the back of my neck. Holiday gifts are running close to time, and I really need to concentrate on getting as much as possible done on those today. So, I'll be working on Chickie's gift and Sharon's gift today. But I only get to start work on their gifts after a very long list of errands to accomplish, including a physical at my local clinic. Ick.

I generally don't mind doctors and clinics. But they can cut a chunk of time from my schedule. My December is peppered with doctor appointments over the next two weeks , but it has to be done. I have tests and dental appts and my annual check-up, and my annual is running out of days :-) So, just like time for studio time is running away, so is the year!

I put an order in for some of the Art Clay Copper yesterday and I am looking forward to receiving it before next week. If I get a lot finished today, I might be able to allow myself to play with the new clay next week. That's the goal, at any rate :-) So, I have to get moving - time to gather the trash, hop into the car, and get those errands checked off my post-it note!

Accomplishments

What gives you a feeling of accomplishment? For some it could be as simple as receiving the smile of a child or wiping down a kitchen counter. For me it's crossing one more step off longer projects and that's what I managed to accomplish yesterday in between three tornado warnings.

The cape is stitched together, totally edge stitched (to give it some increased stability) and I cut, marked, and pinned the hem up last night while listening to Ghost Hunters (the TV was behind me). I need some seam binding before I actually sew the hem, and then I can start the embroidery. I'm very happy with how the cloak turned out and can't wait to get it hemmed so that I can start the fun part. I'm still finalizing the design, but now I'll have a corner to put my scrolls into - LOL. It does look like I'll have to be cautious with the cloak though, since the moths put a nice hole into parts that were cut away while it was on my mannekin in a back corner. I'm not happy about that, but at least they had the grace to chomp parts that were throw-out. I do plan on wearing this cape quite a bit, so it may be OK. And I'm still trying to decide if I want to put slits into the side for my arms or just flip it over my shoulders instead. I also have to make the bosses for the neckline. I may purchase some for this season, but I really would rather make my own from metal clay. One more project for my clay list :-) It'll be fun though!

What items can give you that wonderful feeling of accomplishment? Remember...it doesn't have to be huge, or even be a completed project. Just a step along the way can be just as important. So, go out and accomplish something today. You'll feel better about the entire day:-)

Saturday - Happy Day!

Saturdays are always a favorite day of mine. I get to look forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. I get to work one hour less today. And I get Bascali's Italian food for dinner. Tonight we'll squeeze in mowing the lawn at the small house before dinner to get one errand out of the way. That means I'd better get my fusing glass and the restock paper products out of my trunk so that there is room for the lawn mower.

My mind is busy working out connections for a twirler that I want to make. OK - I know that's as clear as mud to all of you - heck, if I didn't know what I was visualizing I'd be scratching my head and wondering what in the world I was referring to also. But I'm trying to figure out the best way to contruct a multi-level, independently mobile, hollow-form pendant. And rather than saying all of those words, I'm just calling it a twirler for short. It's an interesting project that I probably won't have a lot of time to devote to, but I can do the concept drawings and figure out the constructions techniques with the help of books by Alan Revere (Professional Goldsmithing: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Jewelry Techniques) and Charles Lewton-Brain (Hinges and Hinge-Based Catches for Jewelers and Goldsmiths). I'm always amazed at how much I rely on these two books to get my projects from paper to reality.

I'm also trying to figure out some metal clay projects. Most of the projects I currently have on my drawing board are fabricating projects, not metal clay. And they are projects that actually will work better in fabrication - faster and easier. I can't say that for all items, but these particular ones will be easier to work in sheet metal. But I need some metal clay projects on my burner also, so I keep running through mental projects, sifting the possibilities, and I know I'll come up with something before too long. After all - I have 500 grams of copper clay just waiting for me to open and play with it and enamel waiting to be applied.

Forging Ahead

I brought my finished enamel charms to the shop and have started attaching them to jump rings and including business cards. I think I'll print tags explaining the process for each bag as well. I have culled the best seven out and I will choose one for myself from that group, as well as one for my roomie, Shruti. I'm starting to look forward to this next trip, even though I need to figure out a couple of things. Primarily in my mind is what I want to do for my bronze clay class. Gordon and Louise are teaching what they call a "Sea Witch". The techniques are most certainly going to be helpful to my own work. But I don't do human representational work. So I'm trying to figure out how I can wiggle here. I'm thinking my best bet may be to work with one of the Egyptian gods as my imagery instead of making a more human-styled mask. I don't really have any good reason why I tend to not make "human" or "doll-like" images, but I have steered away from that for many years. I'm sure there is some subconscious reason for it.

And Le Tour de France is turning into a great race this year. Yesterday's wonderful catch-up and breakaway by Columbia was incredible to see. Only those riders who were very aware and up front were able to keep up with it, including Lance and Fabian Cancellara. Mark Cavendish won another sprint stage (the man is absolutely incredible as a sprinter) with the Hammer - Thor Hushovd, coming in second. Lance moves up to third place overall, and today is the team time trial. Lots of great racing still to come - call me HAPPY!

Charms, Charms, Charms...

I have 49 charms fired and ready for their enamel. I have a kiln that has a coating of icky black fine dust from the activated charcoal and the stainless steel firing container that I used for said charms firing. So, after I get my outside errands done today, I'll be hauling the vaccuum downstairs to vaccuum out my kiln. Then I'll get to work putting a back and front onto each charm so that I can begin working on my enamel painting. I'm cashing in my Holiday certificate (take one extra day off work of my choosing) that my DH gave to me because I need more time to accomplish this. 49 charms is a large amount when each one needs four separate firings. I have a total of Wednesday, Friday (my certificate day) and next Wednesday to accomplish all of this since I would rather not work on my enamel work on Sunday. I guess we'll see how efficient I can be today, but there is also drying time to take into consideration.

Since the charms are copper clay, they are more porous than standard sheet copper would be. So I have to be very cautious with pickle. Therefore, I will be trying to fire both the front and back of the initial firing at the same time to get a coat of clear on the copper. After that, I can do one side at a time without a problem. I'll have to mix up some gum arabic to hold the underside properly. The top will be totally transparent colors, but the bottom will have its' second coat be opaque, so I can hide a bit more with that. I've run through the process I need to follow in my head over the past few days and I think I have the procedure and order nailed. I guess I'll find out as soon as my kiln is ready to go today. I am also very grateful that the temperatures are mild today. Working the kiln when the temps are in the 90's or more is extremely uncomfortable, to say the least, although sweating through the process might allow me to lose a pound or so. I'm just so happy to be able to get back to my enamel work!

A Bad Time To Be A Celebrity

The deaths keep rolling on. Within the past 30 days, the "entertainment" industry has now lost five people. This started with David Carradine (so Bill was finally killed ) Then Ed McMahon passed followed by the double-day deaths of Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. And then, yesterday, pitchmeister Billy Maze also was found dead. I think I'm suddenly glad to be a relatively unknown woman living in the Midwest of America.

Over the weekend my kiln was busy working for me. I will pull out the last of my copper clay charms this morning and stick everything into the kiln. Then, on Wednesday, I can begin the enameling phase.

And I also had the cable guy over on Sunday morning to hook up one TV that I forgot about when I had my internet service cared for 1-1/2 weeks ago. I never watch the TV in the den - it's a room that I have my sewing materials in, but when I'm using those I usually am not listening/watching the TV. My DH uses that TV though when he's on the treadmill and he was not happy that the cable was off. Now he can be happy again. Then we had a lovely dinner and purchased a few items at our local Barnes & Noble. And, since the weekend was so nice, I'm SO set for a smooth and creative week. A good thing since I need to have the charms finished by the end of the week.

I'm Pushing Boundaries Again...

Apparently I'm an enigma. Or at least am pushing boundaries. I went to see the bone doctor yesterday morning. First his PA poked his head into the room to tell me that the doctor would be there in a few minutes. He looked closer at me and asked:

"Where's your sling? Did you not get one?"

"At home", I answered. "I wore it for about 20 minutes, took it off, and I haven't put it back on since. It gets in my way."

He shook his head, left the room, and shortly afterwards the doctor arrived.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Pxxxx. Where is your sling? Did we forget to get one for you?"

"No, I have one. It's in my drawer at home. It just doesn't work with my lifestyle."

Looks of disbelief cross his face. "But you broke your elbow. In fact, you broke TWO bones."

"Yes.....?" said I, wondering what the point was to this dialog.

Apparently I will live, even though I am not wearing my sling. In fact, because I have been working my arm as much as I could, he said that PT wise I'm "in the advanced class" and, if I keep on working things slowly but firmly, I might regain as much as 95% of my arm function. My personal goal is to regain 99%. We'll see... I return to see him again after MCWC, so I can now concentrate on the conference and worry about my arm later.

After a few errands I returned home. I had decided to make my charms for MCWC out of the new Copper Clay. I sat down, punched out lots of charms (used almost all of 200 grams of Copper Clay) and today I'll start to refine them. I want to get them fired on Sunday so that I can start the enameling next Wednesday. I want to use sifting as well as painting to do these, so I'll be trying out some more new techniques to get these finished. I think it'll be a lot of fun and I only hope that the firing will actually work :-))