Colours

Look what the mail man brought! A package from Sherry... she's been playing with enamels lately and she sent me some of her experiments along with yummy tea, some metal parts and cinnamon gum. Thank you so much Sherry... they will be put in good use in the coming year! :)))
I had some scraps of fabric left from past projects... too small to make anything with... so I thought... then I made two pendants with it...
A heart shape one :

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and a kind of a Russian doll one:

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May you all have a HAPPY AND CREATIVE NEW YEAR! :)

december salsa and an amulet

A cousin of a necklace I made 2 years ago...

The focal is a ceramic pendant I made, the bronze thingy is a piece of a long forgotten and lost medieval purse, there's one of my ceramic bead, some raw Baltic amber, turquoise, coral, bone, ostrich egg shell discs, vintage African brass heishis, Mexican amber, labradorite, an ebony bead, seed beads, copper wire, brass toned chain and leather...

And an amulet necklace with a bit of everything...

Joyeux Noël, Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope you have some quality time with those you love!

Things

speechless...

I just can't find words to describe what I felt when I opened the box Gayle sent me... Box that has been given by her husband... a treasure chest of a cigar box... inside it, a very old beaded pouch to add to my collection, a vintage African comb, a very old photo (ambrotype?), a bone carved pendant (not on the photo, on my voodoo necklace now!) and some salve she made with the red oil she made this summer ( my hands are thankful... the weather and the clay are not kind to them). Thank you so much Gayle... Mille mercis du fond du coeur...
There was another package to open.. and again... I lost my ability to talk... this was from Alek... Pieces of wood... Carobe, vine, cypress (I'm addicted to its smell now), olive wood ... and pebbles ... and an antique porcelain door knob... and some Greek paper ephemera... and an olive wood bowl... and a cast of an olive branch to use with my clay... and a charm for my voodoo necklace... this charm started as a custom order and then Alek decided it would be better as a gift... ευχαριστώ Alek ;) Thank you so much... Mille mercis à toi aussi! Make sure to check her etsy shop : infinity stop

These are in my etsy shop... they have been high fired and I will have some more high fired pieces in the coming weeks... I always preferred high firing but only learned last week that the place where I fire my stuff is offering that option...

les gens heureux n'ont pas d'histoires...part II

random

When I was in Arkansas last Spring, Bobbi told me that she'd send me "some" stuff to use in my jewelry... this huge stash was waiting for me when I got back home yesterday... Thank you so much Bobbi, my "vengeance" is brewing... ;)


Better photos of the other day's beads

Two rings from my collection, I got them a while back (3 years ago, I think), I decided to wear them... they're a bit large so I made them smaller with some silk rags... The ring on the left is Roman and the other one is Greek... they're over 2000 years old... I wonder who wore them, who lost them...

And I tell you, nothing's like using a tripod...

big

Hollow beads from today's batch... will take a better photo some time next week ... and they won't end up on etsy... they're for me ;) !

les gens heureux n'ont pas d'histoires...part I

unfired clay, don't let the color fool you, they'll both be white-ish after the firing... but then I'll get to play with my ceramic paints...

busy hands

on etsy

The latest stuff in the making...

not fired yet... and I'm about to add up to the collection...

It's cold here... Winter's at the door... so better keep warm and busy inside...
Hope you are all keeping warm (or cool if you live down under) and creative! :)

new batch

Just got them back today... still have to add the final touch ...

Below is the raku bowl I bought last week. The artist name is Dominique Matagne and she owns the studio where I fire my pieces.

The photo doesn't show the true beauty of its colors... crappy november light...

chanson du jour...

thank you...

Happy Thanksgiving to you! .... hold on a second... you're not American and not what I'd call a religious person... what are you thinking???? True ... and false... I may be or may not be .. who cares... I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday, a great opportunity to say thank you to those you love...

Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?

Richard Bach

This has been a roller coaster of a year for me... but life taught me a wonderful lesson of friendship. I am blessed with wonderful friends...

I don't think miles can separate you from friends... I just have to close my eyes and there I am in Arkansas, sipping a glass of wine with Bobbi or making stuff out of polymer clay with Jay... just by closing my eyes and there I am in Tennesssee, sipping another glass of wine with Sherry and Eric or creating stuff with Sherry, or helping them cutting wood... eyes shut again and there I am in Chicago with Lindsay and Emily ( and yes ... wine is still involved... but so is art !). And if I don't want to close my eyes... I just have too look at my necklaces ... yes necklaceS... because there are three of them...it's like gremelins... And on those necklaces you find more friends : Lucinda, Dorcas, Suzanne,Gwen, Laurence, Lucie, Mireille, Gayle ( another friendship "gift" life had in store for me this year), Alek ( remember that tiny stone with a bird on one side -makes me think of Maiastra), Steph ....

And there are more friends... Leyla, Neri, Keith, Luc, Sharon and more, many more...

So THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart... THANK YOU for being in my life

merci Docteur, aussi... :)

alek

I don't usually buy jewelry... I usually buy supplies to make jewelry...but when I saw these earrings... I could not resist ... And their name "Tous les matins du monde" is the name of one of my favorite movies... And their designer is an artist I admire...
Not only these earrings are awesome but the packaging... look at it...

Aren't they gorgeous?

Please, check Alek's shop... you won't be disappointed...

bUsY bAt

It's been quiet over here... but I was busy.. these are some of the stuff that have been fired last week... got them back yesterday... gave them several washes of ceramic paints... some are already spoken for.. I still have at least twice as much to work on...looks like I'm going to be busy again...

Oh the place where I fire my pieces had open studio yesterday, I bought the most amazing raku bowl... will show it next time...

Hope you're all had a creative weekend... Guess that my friends over the pond are getting ready for Thanksgiving... :)

vLaD tHe BaT from the Far West

Thank You, Gayle! :)

in the making...

This is the reason why I'm making room in my drawers...

speaking of that...I listed a few more items on etsy

Making room

I am sorting my clay collection. These beads and pendant were made a few years ago... Yesterday I decided to make some more but after making a lot more (it's kind of addictive), I realized that once the new ones are fired, I will have no room for them... So today, I packed a few "old" ones, took their pictures and listed them on etsy... I will list some more soon... might even list some polymer clay things too... we'll see...

A BIG THANK YOU for the visits and comments on the previous post and a BIG THANK YOU to Steph from Rodrigvitz Style for Dia de Bloglandia!

Dia de los Muertos matchbox

primal

fake ear stretcher, beech, silver, epoxy clay

pendant, oak(?)

hand forged rusty barbed wire from Tennessee

hand forged rusty nail

hand forged rusty nail

shipwreck

oak, beeswax, bone

raven

oak, 3"

practicing

beech, about 4" tall

More to come, forgot how fun wood carving was...

and more...

wood, thread, epoxy clay, metal beads and wax.

I should have checked Sheila Paine's book when I wrote my post yesterday, the wooden amulets in her book are from Kenya... I'm sure I saw some from the Middle East that are similar ... can't remember where...