Birthday loot

I met a friend for dinner last week, she's a great friend who's amazingly talented, and she went a little nuts for the b-day gift. Seriously, I've got the pictures to prove it! She gave me a bag filled with really lovely beads and crystals and I've gone a little nuts with it all.

I made a 3 strand necklace that is really pretty, if I do say so myself, but the beads really did all the work. All of the beads and crystals are shades of white, pink, black and gray (if you don't count it as a shade of black). I love how it all works together with different textures and colors. The hubby was very skeptical as I was putting it all together but he came around in the end. I still want to make a few soldered pieces to add as pendants to some beaded pieces but I'm having time management issues again. I love my new job but the commute is still a beating and when I get home I want to veg out or go to the studio for a few hours... hard to do when you have a bed time! :) Oh well, it'll work out. Maybe I'll try to figure out a way to do art riding the train downtown. How many odd looks could I get?

Birthday recovery

I had a great birthday weekend. Dinner at Jasper's was lovely and my salmon was cooked perfectly. My gifts added up to a fortune in gift certificates to the bookstore, I have 3 shipments coming in the mail... online is much less expensive, and still a little saved back for upcoming new releases! I worked in the yard today and scorched my upper arms and shoulders so I need to remember to put on the sunscreen!

I did manage to get a few things done in the studio. I re-worked a bracelet I had made previously into a necklace and I love the new version of the materials. I used Chinese porcelain beads in turquoise and red with alternating black jade. I also made a longer necklace with howlite and inexpensive beads from the discount store. You can really stretch materials when you alternate pricier items with less expensive ones and it makes the less pricey items look better. With all my new clothes for the new job, I wanted to have some unique jewelry to dress up the relatively stuffy business attire.

My friend, and new boss, saw my ATC I made for my b-day and declared that she too wanted art so I made the ATC for her. She's an amazing artist who used to work in costuming for films, theater, etc so I had to use my corset stamp. I layered it over an earlier version of the stamp in chestnut to give it the look of actually being on a dress form. I really struggled with what else to include so I left it simple with just text. Also, she's one of the strongest people I know so I wanted to just give her a little push to reminder she doesn't have to do it all herself. I hope she likes it.