Jewelry for an autumn wedding

I recently had the opportunity to create custom jewelry for a friend's bridal party to be worn in her autumn wedding.  Aside from the bride wanting a pendant style, gold-toned necklace with matching earrings I was free to create what ever I wanted.  I gathered up images of a broad range of styles and materials and showed them to the bride to gauge the aesthetic that she was going for.  She ended up really loving the idea of using chocolate and ivory fresh water pearls to match her ladies' chocolate, ivory and mango colors. 

Lina

September was another incredibly busy month.  One of the highlights was cat sitting Ms. Lina for a week.  Lina, our neighbor's cat, was the perfect guest as usual.  We adore her and always welcome the chance to watch her whenever we can.  She spent most of the week on Dan's lap but I was able to steal some quiet lap time for a little while on her last night with us.



Turkey Chili with White Beans

Okay, I admit it-  I am in a sad state of denial that we are still in the deep throws of summer.  It's just that we've been having such crisp, pleasant weather I had nearly convinced myself that Autumn had arrived.  I've been drinking hot tea all day long, wearing scarves and long sleeve shirts.  We've even been sleeping with our bedroom door open to our patio.  It's been wonderful. But of course I was kidding myself, for when I stepped outside this afternoon I was reminded about how wrong I was.  Today it was a solid ninety-one degrees and the air was thick with humidity.  A classic Philadelphia summer day.  But it didn't matter because I had already decided to make this Turkey and White Bean Chili and no sweltering summer heat was going to stand in my way. 

I am so happy I did because it turned out delicious.  Dan and I adjusted the recipe slightly- we added a bit more cumin and chili powder, one jalapeño pepper, fresh sweet corn and approximately one third cup of maple syrup, which might sound odd, but it sweetened the chili ever so slightly while rounding out the flavors of chili, cocoa powder and cinnamon quite nicely.  I will make it again, but there better be crunchy fallen leaves on the sidewalk and gourds sitting on my window sill.

A new necklace

Here is another necklace I recently finished.  One of my favorites, it is a double stranded necklace composed of handcrafted polymer clay beads and vintage brass components.  The brass spacer beads came from an amazing brass necklace made in the 1970's that I picked up at an antique market in July.  I love them so much.  They've incorporated quite well into my new work and I will be sad when they are all used up.

The polymer clay beads were featured in a previous post as they basked in the sun after a final dip in the glaze.

Again, I promise to take more professional photos rather than using my Hipstamatic app and my iPhone :) But I must admit, the Hipstamatic photos seem to have captured the warmth of the brass rather well.

More to come! Be well dear readers.

Resin and Polymer Clay Pendants

Well, I am delighted to write that I survived my very first craft fair.  I plan to post a nice recap for you, but I think I'll save that for Saturday morning when I am sitting on my couch all cozied up to a giant cup of coffee and a blanket.

Today, I thought I'd share a few photos of the pendants that I made.  If you remember from this post, they were constructed using the Klimt cane.  The cane slice was then set in an antique copper bezel and encapsulated under resin, which domes above the cane, magnifying and slightly distorting the design.  I just love them and am happy to report that they were a huge success at the Celticfest this past Saturday.  I wish I had made more, but they were, initially, an experiment.  Since they were such a success, I have plans to make a slew in antique brass as well as copper and sterling silver.  I can't wait to get started.

New earrings, fresh off the work bench

(And by "work bench" I mean to say "coffee table". :)  Dear proper work space, we shall be together one day.  I promise.)

Here is a little peak into what I've been working on these past few days.  Lovely, dangly earrings.

A weekend in the country with my Motormatic

I'd like to share a few photos I took with my Motormatic camera while enjoying a quite weekend in central Pennsylvania. 

My mother's wild flower garden.

I adore this photo. 

 

Mama goat sharing a quite moment with her baby, born just a few hours before. 

Union Country Fair

Union County, Pennsylvania