Me opening studio door after being gone 3 days:

   

So instead of cleaning I made this for my patronia.

Because the holes on these skulls are big, I used two eyepins in each. Easier than cutting my own from scratch in bigger gauge wire. Always the short-cuts for me.

 Also this cuff was fun. Tin from Uruguay, shaded tourmaline, scalloped edge from old glove.  In case you're curious about how I attached it:

You can make out some thin wire stitching if you click the image to enlarge. Then I wet it and the leather molded itself right against the cuff perfectly.

 Also some little boxes, insides leafed, with rough garnet and rainbow titanium druzy for the Patroness. She likes the leaf.
 
And they're in this vintage-y painted tin one of my students gave me.
That's all.
Oh damn! I forgot. I also finished this guy:

I'd been working on it previously then it got lost in the shuffle.

 I added some beads and strandy chain.

And darkened the putty the raku face cab was anchored with. Now that's all.

Back, wiser.

On the down side, every time you teach a new class, your students are basically guinea pigs so while I learned a ton, they... well, they learned a bunch too but next time I know a whole lot of things I can do to make it easier and make results even better.
Here's my favorite picture:

How adorable is she?

I didn't get pictures of everyone's. By the end they were exhausted and ready to head over to the pajama party. Yeah. Also, it was at the end of a week of 6-hour-long classes. How does anyone teach a 6-hour-long class? I was ready to pass out after 3.

Of course, since I do everything bass-ackwards, teaching a class before ever even participating in one of these art retreats as a student, I wouldn't know.

 Can you see here this amazing effect on the metal? It was this not cute, cartoony tin and it turned into this variegated rainbow.
Next time I will emphasize using only a touch or two of ephemera to not cover up all the awesome metalwork they'd just sweated over.
    It sounded like a stampede of horses and a few women wondered what the people on the floor directly above must've thought, lol.
 They all claimed to have had a ton of fun and to like their results.

Among the things I learned- a heat gun on wet oxidizer creates a whole range of awesome effects and I need to experiment with that.

Also, as illustrated by this picture, when you don't hammer it back super flat, you get some really cool texture.

What else? Oh, before I left I realized what these were missing-

GOLD LEAF!

Nothing contains me.

Nothing Contains Me II.

Isn't that better?

Coupon Code.

I couldn't leave you guys with nothing. Use code FIFTEEN for 15% off.

  "No, it's my pretty bead, leggo!"

The other day I rediscovered one of my all time favorite songs on the youtubes.

"I'm off to make some joolz!"

Really really

This is the really last post. Promise.

An Island.
Just to let you know these guys are up.
Abode of Ineffable Things.
Time the River.
And that I think my not-feeling-like-an-artist thing is about not experimenting as much, feeling too much like I know what I'm doing.
Nothing contains me.
Change.
Art requires discovery it seems.
Concentrate Your Way to Heaven.
That sucks, hu?
An Arrangement of Stars.
Soon enough I'm sure.
The Wind Through Your Mind.
Off to the library now.
Nothing contains me.
Intimate.
Let It Go.
Lost Star.

Blah blah.

This ought to be my last post before I go teach in Virginia Beach. So stressful! I mean, airplanes and shuttles and that... never leaving my house again! Anyways...

 The beachy things seem quite a hit, so the day I got my period, I made a ton more. These above are actually modern-day tintypes that a photography friend sent since she didn't like the photo results. They're quite dark so I'm using the reverse with paper, just for the tin.

  I like finding things that don't match but are what I think of as equivalent. The top bits above are a good example of equivalents. Though overall the simplicity of these is just the kind of thing that makes me not feel like an artist. Don't know if it matters.

 These are also equivalent on top, tin type backs below.

Here, very equivalent-y. Also an inverse thing going on- beach stone above in one, below in the other, victorian/non-tribal bit above in one below in the other. And room for solid perfume! Also, shaded moonstone.

 Here's what these y'all helped me with ended up like. A friend sent me all these hand-made white flowers so I stuck them everywhere. I forgot what she said they were made of. Some kind of paper clay? Flour dough? Cream cheese?

The sticks and focal globs here, as well as lots of other stuff all over this batch, come from Jorji's new supply store, 4ophelia, which is awesome and you should check out. She also has a beautiful new jewelry shop, nearlylost, which I've already faved the crap out of.

Here's some darker ones. The orange drops are Chinese plastic and the things above them are expensive Etheopian. I think it shouldn't matter.  Usually don't care, but when you have truly expensive bits sometimes it's hard to mix in cheapos...

 The blurry mop drop here was a bead but I used it as a cab after darkening it with alcohol inks. Does it matter if I do or don't feel like an artist?

 I think it may be that I'm not incorporating a bunch of old things that were intended for different purposes. I'm a little lost without my vintage bits, I think.

Maybe after my teaching gig when I finally get myself to organize, I'll find some little religious bits... Headpins above, 4ophelia.

I made two bright orange pairs since Sparrow sent me a bunch of bright orange things. What's funny is I forgot to add the earwire to the one above with the faceted bead and I photoshopped the ear wire in. I'm a nut!

I have a cuff from an escutcheon shipwreck sent me:

You see a different special bit depending on the angle so I'll just drop four pix here like I'm all about myself.

 Look, from this angle the cab looks green.

 The keyhole has a snippet of galaxy and the headpins are from Numinosity.

 That's it.