A Quick Book Review - 101 Wire Earrings

What a great book! If you love earrings, you need to get this book!
This book takes you from basic techniques to more complicated ones using wire to make earrings.

Denise Peck presents the basics, then she shows how to apply the basics with projects. The earrings are shown with easy to read step by step directions. Designers, Kerry Bogert, Denise Peck, Jane Dickerson, Lesie Rogalski demonstrate easy and exciting projects in this book.

If you love wire, if you love earrings, you need this book!

Time for an Etsy search!! Weird!

I found 15,849 hits after I searched Etsy using the word weird. It was an interesting search. Here are some of the results.

















What is this? Silly, it's a Salvador Dali TShirt from Vortex Trading Company. My vote: Odd but not weird.

















All right, I vote: weird on this one.
It's a squid hat from Obey My Brain Creations. I have to admit that until I saw this listing, I had never seen a squid hat. Weird!

















This one is absolutely weird! It's baby doll soap from Stinky Bomb. I've never seen anything like it! It IS weird!
















Last but not least, and this is a piece of jewelry, believe it or not. The name of this piece is "At the end of the roll." It's a pendant made from polymer clay. This does get my vote for weird! You can find this at Close to Your Heart on Etsy.

Go ahead! Try it! Plug in your favorite word, and I'll bet you find items on Etsy that match. By the way, what did you think, weird? or not!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
Do you remember Mr. Rogers singing that song?
I do.
As I walked today, I realized,
it really is a beautiful day in my neighborhood.
Join me in my walk.
Roses are still blooming.
My garden is mature!
Trees are just starting to turn.
We're starting the transition.
The milkweed is ripening.
The brown eyed susans are blooming!
The thistles are mature.
Even the weeds look pretty!
Crab apples anyone?
Time for this welcome wreath!
Isn't it a beautiful day?

OMG! Have You eVeR Worked with Liver of Sulphur?

I actually read directions for using liver of sulphur several times. I also checked 3 different sources for directions. I followed safety precautions by using good ventilation. I was, and I emphasize was a liver of sulphur virgin, that is, until today. I thought I knew what to expect, but, guess what, I didn't! OMG! The smell was rank. I think I've smelled rotten eggs that smelled better than LOS. I'm getting a headache just thinking about the smell now. Then, I dipped my copper charms into the solution, and I couldn't believe what happened within seconds!
What happened to my pretty copper charms? ( I now understand why the directions said to use a small piece of LOS. I thought the chunk I used was small, but, I guess, it wasn't small enough!)

After my initial panic, I began to clean the copper using the directions I had read. I used my steel wool. I also tried a bit of CLR mixed with water, but don't tell anyone! I should have used more CLR, but, like I said, I was a liver of sulphur virgin at that time.
Batch one is a little darker than I would have liked, even with the intense cleaning I did, but as I look at them now, the charms don't look terribly ugly!
With Batch 2, I used a teeny, tiny piece of LOS. I liked the results a lot better. Clean up was easier, too.

Lesson for today:

When using liver of sulphur, think small, very, very small.

Also, don't try to patina as many pieces as I did. You can work faster.

Go to the hardware store and buy a metal brush.

This can only get better!

Getting Life Back to Normal

I understand that he was just a dog. I honestly do. That didn't change how I felt when I had to take him to the vet to put him down. Now that this is over, I realize how much time and energy I had spent trying to make his last summer a happy one for him. I think I did that, though.

Now, that Spike is gone, I'm still crying, but not as much. I really miss him, a lot! Yet, it's time to get life back to normal. I came home from visiting my daughter. It was good to get away. Now, I have to begin sorting through the messes that Spike made. Remember the chair he ate? Now, I can take care of that. Now, I have the time to get my life back to normal and to do the things I wasn't able to do when I sat outside because Spike was outside by his tree.

Soon, I know that I'll even start looking at other dogs. Right now, I still feel that it's a bit unfaithful to do that. Soon, I know I will. It will take a bit of time, but life will get better again. I have no doubts about that. I'll never forget Spike, but it is time to move on. Soon, more blogs about beads and beaders. Just like it was time to take Spike to the vet for one last time, it's now time to take a step away from him. I'll always cherish the memories. He'll have a place in my heart, but it's time to move on.

Tomorrow, I'll take my second walk without him. It wasn't so bad today. The walk felt good. I look forward to tomorrow.