Well, I've decided to get back into blogging. Maybe it's the New Year and the start of a new half century (for me) ~ I really don't like those birthdays that end in "0"....but I have resolved to be more diligent in my blogging efforts. So.....here goes!
November and December were extremely busy months for me. A last minute special order for angels for Christmas gifts put me somewhat behind, but I was able to finish everything that needed to be done and all is well.
I was contacted by a very sweet lady who had her Grandmother's collectible plates (which were beautiful, by the way). These plates were blue with white winter and Christmas scenes depicted on them. She wanted to present her family members with angels made from the plates. As I normally do with a special order, I asked her to outline with tape or paper the areas that she wanted for the angel dresses. After receiving the plates, what she had outlined was larger than I normally make for my angel dresses. This only presented a problem because the nuggets I use for the heads usually come in one general size. After I scrounged around in my supplies, I found slightly larger nuggets and made the dresses the approximate size the customer requested. I was glad because smaller dresses would not have done the china justice.
So, here is just a sampling of the 10 finished angels. The customer was quite pleased with the outcome and told me that when her husband saw them he was quite impressed. (When a man is impressed with a project like this, what better compliment could I get)?
I also had some personal projects to complete: For my step daughter, who lives in NYC, I designed and created a stained glass panel of the New York City Skyline including the Twin Towers. I haven't done many design/create projects, so I think this turned out ok. Of course, I would make some changes if I were to make it again. (I'm always tweaking and not quite pleased with the finished product).
A fish sculpture: In my family, among my brothers, their wives and the adult "kids", we draw names for Christmas. I drew my sister-in-law, Deb, and she knew exactly what I would give her. During the summer, she had traveled down south and visited a street fair. She saw a "fish sculpture" that she fell in love with. I couldn't quite duplicate it, but this is my interpretation. Yes, that's real driftwood. My mother and I went to the St. Marks Lighthouse on a balmy and dreary day (actually the Saturday before Christmas) to search for driftwood and we picked up some great treasures. I plan to make some other items with the leftover driftwood.
I had been to the St. Marks Lighthouse only once in the 30 odd years I've lived in Tallahassee. It's only about a 45 minute drive. I don't know why we sometimes travel hundreds of miles to see beautiful sites across this country when most of it is right here in our own backyards. (Oops, that sounded a little like Dorothy, didn't it?) Anyway, while we were at St. Marks, there was a flock of birds sitting on some old pilings and I thought they were quite photogenic. No, I didn't take any pics of the lighthouse - that will be another day ~ preferably a sunny one!!
I made one other very special project for my new granddaughter, Alyx. Another one of my own designs. Unfortunately, I didn't snap a picture of it before it made it's way home to Ohio. But, to give you an idea of what it looked like, here's one I made for a good friend for her son. Of course, the one for Alyx was not blue, but a gorgeous dark fuschia. As soon as the new parents have time, I'll have them send a pic of it in her room and add it to the blog.
So, as you can see, I was very, very busy during December! I think all these projects allow me to excuse myself from blogging for a month!!
OK. From the looks of this post, it must appear I have plenty of time to write. Not so. A very nice Etsian had a whole cabinet fall off her wall and, unfortunately, the cabinet contained her special hand made pottery from Poland that she received for her wedding.
Stay tuned for the results from this atrocious accident.......
A wonderful customer contacted me about a special order. She said that a kitchen cabinet fell off her wall resulting in much of her wedding pottery handmade in Poland crashing to the floor. (Thoughts running through my mind are: What do you mean the cabinet fell off the wall? How does that happen? Do I need to check all my cabinets for possible wall detachment?") Can you imagine walking into your kitchen and seeing this on your floor? What a heartbreaking sight!! If you want to see her blog about the incident, take a look here: http://www.xanga.com/pinkgigglepants/678357208/one-way-to-remodel/
That's exactly what she did!! We worked out an agreement and I made a special souvenir of her precious pottery and got to keep the leftover shards (which was a lot)! To the left is a picture of what I made for her ~ a 5 tile bracelet (plus an extra little trinket)! With a few of the leftover pieces, I have made a business card holder, several pairs of earrings and some pendants. There's plenty of pottery left to make many, many more items and they will be showing up in my Etsy shop very soon.
Wait, there's more to this story!! As I was looking for some props to take photos of the finished jewelry, I opened a cabinet door and pulled out a piece that a friend had given to me years ago. This particular piece is called a "cheese lady". I had forgotten I had it and suddenly a feeling of deja vu washed over me. I mean the chills kind of deja vu!! I turned the piece over and guess what was on the back stamp ~ yep ~ "Handmade in Poland". My cheese lady is the same pottery that I had just cut up and made into a bracelet!! Here she is and, amazingly, she has the same expression on her face as I did when I re-discovered her!!
So, here is just a sampling of the 10 finished angels. The customer was quite pleased with the outcome and told me that when her husband saw them he was quite impressed. (When a man is impressed with a project like this, what better compliment could I get)?
A fish sculpture: In my family, among my brothers, their wives and the adult "kids", we draw names for Christmas. I drew my sister-in-law, Deb, and she knew exactly what I would give her. During the summer, she had traveled down south and visited a street fair. She saw a "fish sculpture" that she fell in love with. I couldn't quite duplicate it, but this is my interpretation. Yes, that's real driftwood. My mother and I went to the St. Marks Lighthouse on a balmy and dreary day (actually the Saturday before Christmas) to search for driftwood and we picked up some great treasures. I plan to make some other items with the leftover driftwood.
I had been to the St. Marks Lighthouse only once in the 30 odd years I've lived in Tallahassee. It's only about a 45 minute drive. I don't know why we sometimes travel hundreds of miles to see beautiful sites across this country when most of it is right here in our own backyards. (Oops, that sounded a little like Dorothy, didn't it?) Anyway, while we were at St. Marks, there was a flock of birds sitting on some old pilings and I thought they were quite photogenic. No, I didn't take any pics of the lighthouse - that will be another day ~ preferably a sunny one!!
Posts
