Into the Big Freeze

It was such a relief to have a computer again.  I started work on my next metal project, researching the hieroglyphics that I want and what I want them to say.  It is disappointing to me how much I have forgotten on reading my hieroglyphs, but parts of it did start to come back.  As usual, I'll have to skip-hop through my multitudes of alphabets to find all of the characters that I need.  This took me longer than I had anticipated, so I didn't get as much done during my day off as I wanted.  But, if I can get this together within the next week, I can get the metal cut and ready for the image transfer next week. 

I've been wanting to make a sistrum for several years.  Having

the Tut exhibit starting next month was a good kick to get this

made.  I'll etch the metal with hieroglyphics, but I doubt that I'll

enamel this, I don't think it will lend itself to enamel, although I'll

consider it. 

I got the bill from my Guru, and he was a real sweetheart, only charging me for 1-1/4 hours of work, even though we were on the phone with each other for almost two hours.  I'll get a check sent out to him by the end of the week, I have to make sure that I deposit enough money for this unexpected repair today. 

And we're into the deep freeze for the next two days.  Today it is sub-zero (-5F, -20C)and will creep up into the low teens for temp, but tomorrow we'll have overnight temps down to -15F (-26C).  Since my roof is "a disaster just waiting" according to my husband, I am not looking forward to the melt that will eventually come when the temps creep back up again. 

Holiday Letter 2010

For many years I have included an annual “Holiday Letter” with my holiday cards. In spite of the fact that these letters are usually self-promoting in the extreme, I decided that I would still compose a holiday letter to bring our friends and relatives up-to-date with what happened in our lives during 2010, but I also decided that I would offer it as a voluntary read, i.e., on my blog, on-line. Thus, it is a more environmentally friendly holiday letter, and I will work on minimizing the self-promotion aspect of the tome as well.

To start out with some basics, Jim and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary this year. As always, we are amazed at our longevity as a couple. We work well together, and we fight well together, and in spite and despite all, we care deeply for each other. Thus, we push through the bad times and concentrate on the good ones.

Jim shoveling snow during our Blizzard of December 11.

My personal Nanuk of the North.

Jim’s father is 92 now, and still in great physical condition. Of course his life has slowed down a bit, but he is just as mentally spry as he has been for many years and we are delighted that he is still here to spend time with. Jim drops by every morning to say “hello” and check up on him, and he helps him out by shoveling his snow and doing some errands for him as needed. I look forward to spending another Christmas with the two men in my life.


Our snow for the early part of the year was almost non-existent. But our snow for the end of the year has more than made up for that with more than 20 inches in less than ten days. Our snow blower has been non-functional for a few years now, so we are getting our exercise by wielding our shovels while clearing out driveways and walks.

Stormcloud's store front in warmer days.
The store is still there and functioning. It has been a hard year for us, as it has been for every small retailer, but we are hanging in there and hope to end the year on an up-note. There are so many aspects of the store that we love, and we have the best customers in the world, so we are reluctant to do much more than discuss retirement at this time. Even though I would love to do my art on a more full-time basis, I really need to interact with others and, I suspect, I would still get a part-time job even if I wasn’t working at the shop.

BFAC 2011 Jewelry Box - top.  Handpainted and beaded silk.

As always, I have spent whatever time I could creating my artwork. This year I prepared a two-layer jewelry box with hand-painted beaded silk and etched copper work on the lid. This was made for Beading for a Cure and will go up for auction sometime in March/April 2011. It is my hope that it will bring high dollars for the charity. I also had one of my bronze clay earrings published in a book on bronze clay by Yvonne Padilla. It was a thrill to have a project of mine in print again.

BFAC Jewelry Box - Interior.  Two layers and a pull-down
ring holder.  The plaque translates the Tengwar that is on the
round disc on the front. 

I attended Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee in June, although I shortened my usual stay to five days. And I attended the Precious Metal Clay Conference at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in late July, driving to Kentucky after the conference broke up to attend a two-day workshop in torch firing enamels at Thompson Enamel Company. I still love working with my kiln and enamels, but had little time to spend with it later in the year. I hope to return to it in the New Year.

The King and Queen on their Wedding Day meeting some
of their Royal subjects. 

We had Season Tickets for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival again this year and attended each Sunday of the Fest. We truly love being out there, away from the walls and roofs of our normal lives. My BFF Sharon came over from Denver again for the Labor Day weekend. We attended the Minnesota State Fair with her and took her to the Renaissance Festival for the King’s wedding ceremony (very posh). And, as usual, we had a terrific time sharing our space with our friend again. Our door is always open to her.


It is our sincere hope that all of you have a peaceful and joyful holiday season and that 2011 is a year of expanding possibilities, love, and extraordinary beauty for each of you. We wish you happiness with your families and careers, and the hope that you will achieve your goals. Thank you for your patience with my annual Holiday Letter, I promise you won’t have to read another one from me until next year.

Sandra and Jim

Weekend Looming

It's Saturday.  Yippee, skippee!  I really need a weekend.  Not that I actually get a weekend - it is a relative term.  I get a Sunday which I cherish, but I don't get a weekend.  I do get to leave work an hour earlier on Saturday though, and that's great.  I also get pasta for dinner on Saturday and that makes me VERY happy because I love my pasta.  What can I say? ... I'm easy to please - LOL. 

We've been enjoying the $5 footlong subs from Subway.  They are an exceptional deal and I can actually pile on the veggies and choose a healthy meat choice (usually I have either Tuna Salad or roasted Chicken) with a low cal condiment choice...it's pretty good.  DH is always happy when I bring home Subway, and I was lazy after a very busy day yesterday, so I had subs for dinner.  It may not be the best dinner in the universe, but we enjoyed it. 

And I've been playing around with a different kind of acid over the past two days.  My etched pieces need to have their lettering blackened, so I've been painting the lettering with some hydrochloric acid.  I'll hit the polisher one more time this morning and see how well the blackening stays.  It should stay pretty well and if so, the plaques will be complete except for drilling the holes that they need.  Pretty minor :-)  Pretty happy!  (The picture isn't one of my products - it's a commercial sign.  But isn't it pretty?) 

Week is Progressing

Thank goodness the week is progressing.  But what started out as a strong week of sales and a fun week of interacting with customers, has sputtered into two slow days in a row.  This is NOT what we need with the purchase orders I have already placed and the supplies that we still want to bring in before the summer.  I'm also busy trying to figure out how much money I will have for Bead & Button and for my PMC/Enameling conferences later this year.  These will deplete my ready funds a lot.  I save in my cash jar regularly for just these occasions, but it is always hard to spend the cash and then have to save up again for the next year.  Money is hard to come by (for everyone - not just me) and I am a high-maintenance kind of gal. 

My etchings turned out very nicely, but I will have to do some touchup on the lettering with a ball burr this morning before I blacken the text and polish the tops.  Then I need to drill the mounting holes and wiring holes and get the plaque mounted to the interior lid of the box.  I can't mount the top disk until the final step - it will mount over the handpainted and beaded silk.  That's the next step for my next studio day, so I need to get the metal finalized so that I can begin the fabric part.  I hear the clock ticking - my time is running out and I will need to give up some of my night computer time to bead.  That's bittersweet - I love to bead and to create, but I also love to read and I read on-screen.  I'll figure it all out somehow.  Enjoy your Friday!

Walking Wounded - LOL

It is not possible to make a project in my house without a blood sacrifice.  For my studio day yesterday, I stabbed myself with my craft knife and cut myself with my sewing shears (they are VERY sharp).  Then, of course, because I am a ninny (don't 'cha love that word? - ninny?) -- because I am a ninny, I didn't bother with gloves when I pulled out my finished pieces and neutralized the acid.  Ferric chloride is a mild acid (I would NEVER do that with other acids I work with), but the acid hurt all of my earlier injuries.  I'm pleased with the etch that I got even though I was still etching at 8:30 last night.  I had a lot of trouble getting the image transferred well.  It was transferring to the copper without a problem, but then it wasn't accepting the fusible protectant film.  After a couple of calls to Frank (he's the person who invented this particular system of image transfer), we determined that because my pieces were (1) larger and (2) using 20 gauge copper, they weren't getting hot enough.  He suggested a different thermostat, which I will order today, and a couple of little techniques that I hadn't thought of.  That gave me about a 96% fusing rate and I was able to paint the rest with my resistant ink.  He thinks that I should be able to get 100/% transfer and fuse with the new thermostat and I have never gotten a transfer that is that clean.  So I look forward to getting the new thermostat.  A friend has requested a particular image and, even though that one will use 24 gauge copper and, thus will be easier to work with, I will be happy to play again.  I also have my next project perched in my head just waiting for it's opportunity to play.  So today I'll polish my etchings and darken them, tomorrow I'll drill them and wire them, and I'll have them mounted by the end of the week.  Then I can concentrate on the silk. 

Breakfast with Meghan, Sebas and Chickie yesterday was a lot of fun.  Meghan is turning into a great Mom - very attentive, and obviously very much in love with the little man in her life.  She's looking forward to moving to the U.P. of Michigan in August to begin school.  Since money is always tight for single Mom's, I doubt we'll have the chance to see much of her once she has moved up there.  We were talking about maybe taking a road trip to Yellowstone National Park as a graduation trip.  That would be SO fine. 

Getting Down and Dirty with Copper

Today is my Studio Day.  I'm starting out by having breakfast with Chickie, Meghan and her wonderful little baby boy, Sebi.  We'll get all of the scoop about Meghan's recent trip to Peru to visit Fernando.  He's a very good looking young man, but rather unformed, still.  The way that many young men are without clear goals or a strong woman in their lives.  I don't really know why women tend to mature better and faster, but they do.  Many men don't really grow up until they are in their 30's or 40's, and that's too late in my opinion. 

After I drop Meghan and Sebi back at their home, I'll start my errands.  I have a 15% off coupon at Barnes & Noble, so I'll buy myself a birthday gift with that.  I need to drop by my box supplier, and I need a couple of things at the office supply store.  The grocer is also on the agenda.  Then I'll get home, start a load of laundry, and start transferring my images to my copper so that I can etch the images later this afternoon.  There is nothing I like much better than playing with acid.  It's just something about it - preparing the metal correctly so that, after allowing it to sit in agitated and heated acid, I get the impression etched out that I need.  This etching consists of two pieces for my BFAC 2011 project - a round piece featuring two lines of Tengwar script, and a rectangular plaque for the inside of the piece that translates the Tengwar words.  The project itself is called "The First Sunrise" and those who are familiar with "The Silmarillion" of JRR Tolkien will have an idea of where I'm going with my imagery here.  If I can get the etch to work properly, I should be able to stretch and paint the silk next week and begin the beadwork portion of the challenge after that.  My goal is to have this finished by the time I leave for Bead & Button.  It's a tight schedule that doesn't leave a lot of leeway, but I think I can do it if everything clicks into place. 

DH really came through for my birthday last night.  Even though he was angry at me for the past few days (that means speaking the bare minimum and ignoring/grumping around the house), he focused and got it together.  He bought me a dozen red roses, two very nice cards, and cooked me dinner of stuffed chicken breasts, rice and veggies.  We had some marzipan bombe cake for dessert.  I put on 2 pounds from all of that - guess my treadmill time today will be longer than usual , but it was worth it :-)  Have a creative day! 

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday - I have survived another year and am looking forward with hope for another creative year to come.  I will be printing out the transfers for my copper etching when I get to the shop this morning.  I need the laser printer for that - an inkjet won't work for this application.  If I ever don't have the shop, I'll have to break down and purchase a laser printer for my own use so that I can continue etching (I like the quality of laser printers also ). 

In history, May 11 is a remarkably uneventful day. Even in the Catholic Church, there are Saints on the 10th and on the 12th, but nothing on the 11th, although there is the Commemoration of SS Philip & James the Less, apostles. I'm not really sure what a Commemoration is, but it happens on this date :-) Irving Berlin (composer of White Christmas) was born on May 11.  That's a good one.  Choreographer, Martha Graham was also born on this date.  My aunt, Vera Sears, was a compatriot of Martha Graham.  Salvadore Dali, the artist, was born on this date.  Maybe he gave me a small part of my eccentricity.  I share my date with the fashion designer, Valentino.  I wish I had a bit more of his fashion sense.  I also share a birth date with Louis Farrakhan - oh well, I can't win them all :-)  In 1751, the 1st US hospital (Pennsylvania Hospital) was founded on this date.  And in 1858 Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd US state (guess that's important, since that's my state of residence).  It is International Mother's Day, so if you missed giving your mother a phone call on Sunday, call her today!  And just to rub salt in the political wounds of the current world, here's proof that politics always is a disaster.  On May 11, in 1682, The General Court of Massachusetts repealed two laws which had been passed two years earlier: one forbade the keeping of Christmas, and the second mandated capital punishment for Quakers who returned to the colony after being banished.

Have an excellent and creative day.  I enjoyed walking through history a little bit with all of you. 

Weekend Beckons

I mounted the hardware on my box yesterday morning.  I had ordered it from Home Depot and had to drill the hole and cut down the screw so that it was the correct depth.  It looks wonderful.  I would do better on a second try for this flip-down door, but I really can't complain too much - I think it looks good and I had purchased a second pull-down knob so when I want to do my second box, I have the component to do it.  I've been ruminating about handkerchief hems and other methods of finishing my fabrics now.  I will be getting into working on the fabric very soon and I want to make sure that I know the direction I need to go.  I will need to make sure that I have precise measurements marked off - no margin for error here.  The fabrics for the top must fit exactly. 

I'll be focusing on the copper for the next few days.  I want to get these ready to etch on Wednesday so that I can progress to the next step.  I have the Tengwar text finished and it arcs around a circle in two lines.  It looks terrific.  I want to put the translation on the interior box lid so that whoever buys the box will know what is being pictured and what the Tengwar actually says.  So I'll be trying to get things finalized so that I can print the transfers on Monday and etch on Wednesday.  I can hardly wait to play with acid again :-) 

Back to the Grind

I completely finished the wooodworking portion of my BFAC2011 project yesterday, and I got the Tengwar placed properly so that I can make the final and etch the copper next week.  There are a couple of tweeks that I need to make to the text so that it will read properly, but it is unlikely that anyone other than me would even know if the letters were backwards or not :-)  But to me it is the same as any other language that I have etched in the past, I have to make sure that it will read properly. 

I purchased two books for myself as an early birthday gift for myself.  The Future of Fantasy Art by Aly Fell and Duddlebug is a wonderful compendium of cover art and fantasy art over the past four decades.  It is stunning art with small accompanying descriptive paragraphs for each piece.  I wasn't going to spend the money, but I fell into the "I just can't be without this" after I spent a half-hour looking through it carefully.  The thought of putting it back onto the shelf was too sad.  The other major item I purchased is actually a workshop/magazine called Fantasy Art produced by the publishers of Imagine FX.  Imagine is a magazine specializing in digital art techniques - a technique that I really want to learn.  This workshop has tutorials, interviews and features for using Photoshop and Painter.  My version of Photoshop is ancient, but I can't afford to update it.  I'll have to see what I can do with my limited tools.  It will be fun to try, anyway. 

Today's Beading For A Cure auction items are by Sue Harney (top) and Nikki Ryan (bottom).  I've never met Sue, but I have met Nikki and she's delightful.  She works for a friend of mine in the bead business in California and she's grown into a fine beader and designer over the years.  This is the final week, so please look over the items and place a high bid. 

Studio Day - Yippee!

Wednesdays are always special for me - they are my studio day.  It doesn't change my basic schedule - I still get up at 3:30 am and leave for the shop at 7:00 am.  I still work at the shop for an hour or two most Wednesdays, but then I can grab some breakfast, go to Barnes & Noble or Michael's, check my box source for new boxes, and come home and work on my art.  A 5 hour or longer period to work on my art.  That's as close to heaven on earth as I can imagine.  Today I will continue work on my BFAC 2011 box.  So far I'm VERY happy with it.  Since I am planning to etch some copper for one part of it, I will probably continue working on the transcription of exactly what will go onto the copper.  I have half of it translated, but the other half remains to be done. 

I really needed to try and do something about my weight and my physical wellbeing.  Although I keep trying, I just can't fit a workout into my morning schedule - there just isn't time.  So I've decided that I will just have to exercise at night when I get home, 3X a week.  It means that I will eat later - usually around 8pm, which generally isn't considered a good thing.  But it's that or nothing, and I think that getting the exercise will be more beneficial to me.  My main problems come when my schedule gets disrupted - especially at Bead & Button.  But this year I'm only going for five days, so it will be less disruptive than usual. 

Today's featured Beading For A Cure auction items are by Kathy Koppinger (top) and Catherine Bond (bottom).  I don't know either of these beaders personally, but their items are beautiful.  Please visit the auction page and bid high for an excellent cause. 

Money, Taxes and Experiments

I'll start today by mentioning the two Beading For A Cure auction items that will finish up this week's offerings on eBay. I encourage you to follow the link to the auction page and put in a bid for one of these wonderful items. The top photo is Jennifer Shibona's wonderful beadwork, the bottom photo is from my friend Colleen Theodore. Colleen was the wonderful person who took over my position as Treasurer of the BFAC Board of Directors when I resigned. It's a thankless job and she does it with grace.

I have been pushing the bills off because of a shortage of available cash and because my tax refund still has not come through. I'll have to ask my accountant if my taxes have been filed yet because I really thought I would have the money in my accounts by now. I'm also waiting for a small royalty check from my Dad's publisher - these are monies that will go towards my workshops this summer. And I just got my checks from my DH last night to pay the Health Savings Account for the year. Now to get things arranged with the bank so that I can get these funded on Wednesday. One more thing to do on my "day off".

But, on a positive note, I was trying something new with metal, wirework and rivolis yesterday. After trying things out on paper for several days, I finally figured out a weaving method that will allow me to entrap the rivoli within the metal and it looks really fun. I can wear the one that I finished as a pendant and see what other people think of it. But I will be etching some of these out of thicker metal and possibly adding these to my 2011 BFAC project (which is why I am not showing pictures of what I am doing at this time). I'm trying to work out exactly what I am doing here, but things are starting to come together in my head. That's at least one step in the right direction - LOL.

Expensive Experiments

Well, I managed to transfer my bracelet image over to my slab of 18 gauge sterling silver yesterday and, after some touch-up, put it into the ferric nitrate. I knew it was a weak solution, but I didn't realize how weak it was. At 8pm I added the last of my acid to the solution to try and get some action on the etch. At 10:30pm I finally pulled the slab from the acid, neutralized the cutting action, and took a good look. NOT happy. I might be able to salvage something from this, but it might be easier to just put a different image on what was the back, order more acid, and try again with an image that has a different side element. The center element will etch OK, but the sides were too close to the edge and didn't work well. I also need a couple of new containers, but those are inexpensive. I can't get new acid for a few days - I need to get some reimbursement for store expenses that I incurred during my errands yesterday.

Take a look at this wonderful project by Jan Atherton. She did a great job on the 2010 kit. I hope that you enjoy her project, as well as the other projects that I have been showing for our current Beading For A Cure auctions. I'll be spotlighting the weekly items throughout the spring until the auctions end. Please take a look at all of the projects at the BFAC website, or check out the weekly auctions on eBay by following my weekly links in these texts.

Income Taxes and Etching Silver

I have my personal income tax appointment tonight . It's never my favorite appointment, but I think I have everything packed to take with me. It might take a little bit to find each individual piece of paper, and I'll be going through paperwork in the morning before I open the store (it is helpful to be able to sort documents and papers on longer counters than I have available at home). Even though I know I'm getting money back, I still hate this. Crazy, I know :-)

(Badge holder by Julie Ethier)

I'm working on a new piece for etching. Last week was the first time that I had ever etched silver and I loved the way that it turned out. Now I want to etch more of it before my etchant goes bad. I've been told that it has a short shelf life, and it wasn't an inexpensive chemical. So I began working on the graphics last night and I'll try and have something ready to etch on Wednesday.

(Necklace and earrings by Melissa Bell)

And here are two photographs for items up for this week's Beading For A Cure fundraising auctions. I encourage you to take a look through this week's auctions, place a bid, and continue watching the auctions weekly until early May so that we can raise as much money as possible to help erradicate colon cancer.

Getting Into the Groove

I've been working on my 2011 Beading For A Cure project every night this week. I've been trying a variety of different solutions to the problem of what to make and where to put things. I know what I want to make as supplementary items - some glass, some enamel... That part will be excellent. But, the beaded parts are taking too long. They are looking great, but they are taking too long. So I need to figure out some alternatives and what I can cut back on. But I also need to get into the groove for beadwork. And frankly, I'd rather read the next chapters in my latest fanfic than pick up my needle. I have to whip my artistic beading muse into line because I want to get going on this projet. I don't want to be scrambling at the last minute, and I don't want to spend the year working on this. I have had projects where I put more than 100 hours into previously, and the time is never recognized or rewarded with large bids. It's all appearance. So I want my project to work. But I also want it to take less than 80 hours total to make. But I pick up my needle, bead for 15 minutes, put my needle down for another 30-45 minutes before I pick it up again. At that rate, I'll be working on this past deadline! So I'm trying to get myself into a beading groove. And here's the last picture for items up for BFAC Auction this week. This lovely necklace is by Carol-Anne Wilson. Remember, new items will be going up on Sunday afternoon, so get your final bids for this week's items in quickly, and good luck!

I suppose that finishing the last bits of my cloak pins would also free up my mind. I did some paper templates for the prongs yesterday, and those will work out well. I also designed some fretwork for my "test" piece - a piece that I was testing out to see what kind of detail I could get with my etching. It turned out great, so I want to take it to the next level and decorate it as a pendent. I would like to enamel it, but I'm not 100% set on this yet. I might resin enamel it, or just liver-of-sulphur it. Ah....the possibilities - LOL.

Progress Report

I got quite a lot completed yesterday. I still need to get my financial information finalized before Tuesday's appointment, but I got the reports printed out yesterday and I think I'll be OK. I have almost everything that Eleanor needs together. I worked on my BFAC 2011 project and yes, I think what I want to do will work. The problem with it is the time. Things are taking too long - the time will need to be cut down. But best of all was the progress that I got done on my etching.

(BFAC piece above features beads and stained glass and is made by Dulcey Heller)

I have etched metal for many years now. The system that I currently use allows for a great deal of detail, and I wanted to use 24 gague metal - much lighter than I usually use. The images transferred beautifully and didn't need a lot of cleanup. I taped the backs and painted resist in those few places that needed a small touchup. That was very minimal. And then I set up two acid baths - one for the copper and one for the silver. I put the bubblers into each and added the metals. Two hours later I was happy with the depth that I got and pulled them out, neutralized the acid activity, and pulled the back tape. I'm really happy that I was planning on a stiffer backing that will hold the pin mechanism because 24 gague etched becomes VERY thin. But the detail I was able to get...I'm absolutely thrilled. I recall that I was told that the silver etch will degrade quickly, so I need to get another design fixed and etched quickly before the etchant dies. Today I'll clean up the etchings at the shop and determine the exact method that I want to use for setting the enamels into it and the exact shape of each of the backplates. I'll solder on the bail, the pin hinge and the pin holders, then I can set the enamels and rivets and these will finally be finished.

(BFAC image above by Deborah Gray-Wurz)

And don't forget to check this week's Beading For A Cure auction items. Dulcey Heller is a local beader who is so talented. Deboral Gray-Wurz lives in New Mexico and practices beadwork and silverwork with equal skill. New items will go up on Sunday. Bid high, bid often, and help us erradicate colon cancer through beauty.

Hard Work Ahead!

Three days of hard work loom in front of me. That's because Chickie is attending a conference for the next two days, so I'll be working with Jim only for Friday, Saturday and our usual Monday. It's not that Jim isn't capable of working. He works well - on his own agenda. He is not what I would call a good team player. Chickie and I have developed a great team-tag method of working over the years and we can easily bounce customers from one to the other and pick up the slack for each other. Jim has never been able to mesh well with that. So he'll help a customer, but he won't help more than the one. If we're busy, I end up overextended because I need him to work with more than one customer and he is incapable of it. I'll get my revenge on the Chickie when I take my vacations this summer though.

So I reprinted my images for etching yesterday morning. I'll try to get the images transferred by the end of the weekend. I did print two copies this time, just in case I don't get a good transfer. When the system works, it works extremely well. It's just a matter of getting my act together and getting the images onto the metal. I'm really looking forward to this though. I always have loved etching and I'll be pushing my envelope by not only etching the copper that I've worked with for years, but also etching silver for the first time. It's always fun to learn something new. I hope you have an opportunity to learn something new today - learning helps keep the brain active, so help your brain get some exercise today!

Technology Issues

Yesterday was not a good computer day. For some unknown reason, I was unable to get into my main screen name and thus, none of my daily e-errands got accomplished, including no blog post for yesterday. Sorry about that!

Today I'll cut my silver and copper and print my transfer. When I get home, I'll heat up the transfer mechanism and get the designs onto the metal. I'd like to get the metal ready to etch today, but I doubt I'll have the time to actually do the etching until next week. I'll try though. It would be very nice to get that step finished. Of course, this may just lead to another piece of destroyed silver , but I'm going to be optomistic and say that the etching will go well. I did buy a different set of calipers that will allow me to check the depth of my etch so that I can keep a close eye on it. I'm not sure how quickly the ferric nitrate will work, so that is a new twist. If this works, however, I'll be absolutely delighted and I have a bracelet in the works.

I also purchased a sandbag. I wanted to try and do a little edge hammering and needed a sandbag. I could have actually saved quite a bit by ordering it from one of my suppliers, but we weren't planning to put an order in for a while and felt that I might need it for this project. Anyway, I've been wanting one for quite a while. So overpaying by less than $20 could be worse and at least I have one now. Today will be a very busy studio day and I'm SO looking forward to it!

Focusing

I'm finding it very hard to focus lately. It seems that winter has gone on forever. I am wrapped up in the Olympics and several on-line fan-fic novels that I find as hard to put down as a good paper copy novel. And I'm just not inspired to catch up with my friends on other chat boards. That's really not good. I don't like losing contact with friends...I'm just relatively uninspired by things outside my immediate sphere. I know I'll crack out of this, but I also know that I'll end up skipping some notices and messages when I finally get back into my standard groove. What I really need is a vacation, and that's something that I won't get until Bead & Button in June. I have a LONG time of work still to go.

I did order my Ferric Nitrate on Wednesday, as I mentioned in my blog yesterday. That's going to allow me to etch silver. So I do have that project ongoing. I need to pick up my needle again and continue with my embroidery on my cloak. That's probably going to happen after the Olympics wraps up on Sunday. I do need to get my glass grinder on order. I don't need it immediately, but I do need it. I have some projects pending that require some fused glass and the glass has to be a precise size and shape, requiring grinding to get there. I know I'll get back into my creative groove and that this is just my winter doldrums....but sometimes that can be a deep pit to crawl out of. It'll happen though - I have every confidence.

Back to the Designing Board...

So, after e-discussions with a fellow enamalist, I decided to order some Ferric Nitrate for etching silver. I did buy two small containers yesterday to be used with silver. I don't need to go as large as I do for my copper etching since I very much doubt I'll be etching the quantities that I tend to do in copper. I standardly use a large quantity of etching solution for my copper and usually am etching up to 20 good sized pieces at a time. But, I figure since I'll be etching silver for my trees project, I should probably design at least one other piece to go into the etchant also. So, I'm going to design a cuff bracelet to get etched also.

Yesterday I set up my new photography lights. What fun! They are awesome. They aren't making the shades super hot, they have long life full spectrum bulbs, and I get great lighting. I should probably get some new scatter sheets because the ones that I own are small for the diffuser that I use for my products. I also want to look into some different lighting and positioning for my items. But for a first time, I'm happy. I'm posting one of my "Peter Rabbit in Hieroglyphics" etchings that I did two-three years ago. This piece was etched on 20 gague copper, hand painted, and then protected with clear epoxy. It was a very intense project, but a lot of fun.

The Olympics are starting to wind down. Not that there aren't still many events to go, but we're in the final days. My body will be happy about that - exhaustion has been amplified with extended hours.

I got my supplies for my copper etching earlier in the week, and I think I might do one of my backplates in etched silver because Telperion really needs a silver back - copper just won't look right. That means that I need one more type of acid and a bit of investigation to make sure that I can etch with this stronger chemical. It won't be a major expense, but will push the etching back a bit. Since I still have not received my translation, I guess I've got the time.

But I did get my new photo lights this week. I can finally set up my photo set-up and get some decent photos of work that has been waiting for good photos for more than a year. I may try and get a few photos done this afternoon. I would really like to get a gallery set up for my work on my website - it's a bit sparse right now and I have a lot of work that I have done over the years that still needs to be uploaded. But it's a studio day, and I plan to studio - LOL. Have a creative day!