Hair Twist

 Sometimes great ideas come out of nowhere.  The other day I was busy making shawl pins as was requested for my upcoming shows. As I made a spiral pin I wondered "hmmm, I wonder if that would hold my hair? So killing time as usual, I took the newly named "Hair Twist" gathered my hair up into a loose bun, inserted the twist and just kept turning it, it easily grabbed the hair as I twisted into my bun. I let go and voilà the hair twist.

I made a YouTube video, isn't that what everyone does  when they have 1 million other things to do? LOL

 So here goes. I'll be post others soon, stay tuned. FYI I typically twist in starting at the top now. Both work though.

My favorite piece of Jewellery

So, on the bus ride to Regina last weekend (first <a target="_blank" href="http://www.manitobafearless.com">Fearless</a> game of 2015) my good friend Brenda Bourns asked about the ring I was wearing. 

I make jewelry for a living so I have tons of choices everyday, but this one doesn't come off :) 

It's a ring that I made for Anti Bullying day. It may not look like it is well suited on the surface, it says "love hurts", but it really speaks to me.

My son is amazing, he is very smart, but sometimes he has issues identifying certain social innuendos, part of it is that he is only 9 but part of it is because that part of his brain hasn't developed yet, needless to say, he gets his feelings hurt.

At school they talk about bullying all the time and personally, I think  that the "concept" is often pushed too far. Kids are kids, they need to learn that their words can hurt, and they need to learn to think before they speak (a lesson we can all learn). But more often then not, the intent isn't bullying, it's carelessness and insecurity, masked as confidence, I try hard to teach him that. Don't get me wrong there is certainly bullying. It happened to me as a kid, I understand all too clearly what can and does happen, however we have to be careful to not paint with too wide a brush, kids need to learn to think for themselves and react to situations with confidence of understanding. 

I try to teach my son that not everything that people say it intended to hurt you, sometimes it is meant as a joke, and as bad of a joke it may be, it wasn't done with malicious intent (lol, he speaks like this was so he understands when I do, I told you he is smart) but he sometimes has a hard time grasping the concepts even though he understands the words. Hopefully the link will form. 

I made the ring because it is difficult growing up, learning about how people work and think is hard. Even as adults we interpret intent that isn't there. As a parent there are things that you can talk about, give examples of, explain what it is and explain about empathy for others, we can help prepare them, but there are things that are out of our control. 

Hence the ring, I love him more then life itself and I would do anything to ease his pain; when he hurts I hurt, however there are things that he has to learn, and they will hurt. I can't take that pain from him, he needs to endure it to understand and grow from it. He needs to learn these lessons to become a more mindful, and considerate person, he needs to learn tolerance for others that aren't like him and that all actions have consequences.  He needs to learn that if he acts in a disrespectful way to others they will feel as bad as he does when it happens to him. 

I will dry his tears, give him a huge hug, and talk about what happened. Spin my ring a few times and remember that this is good for him even though it hurts. These lessons will make him the man he is meant to be, but it still hurts. 

 

Stay tuned and wired for style!!

A few new designs I whipped up last week

Mega Asymmetrical Purple wrap

Mega Asymetrical Teal Wrap

Mega Asymetrical Purple and Opaque Wrap 

All come on a 20" rubber cord.  Total statement pieces all measure approx 3"-4" long. 

How does this happen, I sit down to blog, have my ideas all ready. Get up to grab a cup of coffee and voila, brain disengages. I return with a cup of coffee, to a different room, one of my studio spaces and start building and creating 

Hence no blog posts for the past 10 days. On the bright side, lots of new fun things. I have posted a few on Facebook this past week, I can remember to do that... Any way, here goes. 

Patina silver link bracelet with feature toggle clasp

Matching earrings :) this is big for me, I usually forget that people (not me) like to match. 

Patina necklace, with alphabet theme. Yes I realize it doesn't match the other two, variety!! I do have a necklace to match the bracelet and earrings. I am creating collections. :) 

Another alphabet themed bracelet. Simple silver in a 2" wide cuff with copper rivets. Love this piece. Reminded of my love for school and learning, (still learning new tricks everyday) 

This is a fun cuff for my addict friends. Ya, ok we lead a boring lives, coffe and coke (a cola) are our only addictions. My personal addiction is to making Jewellery, so I understand. This two inch cuff was created using it EMK- Erin Kembel's "repurposed" mini coke zero can. She was done with it, couldn't let that cute little thing go to waste. Have I ever told you that 80% of my designs/creations are recycled/up cycled? The base for this bracelet is an off cut from my good friend Chris Cale's trophy/award business. He saves the ends and small bits for me in a box, I bring him coffee and save the unwanted bits from the landfill. If only I could find a way to incorporate the used coffee cup... Focus!! 

This one says "always choose you" I was having a particularly bad self pity day. Men, bah, that's another story altogether. Anyway I realized that I needed to stick to my guns and not give in to others issues. It is their problem not mine, so in my head I thought, you need to choose you! A bracelet is born, I wear it everyday and look at it in the morning to start the day right. I think everyone needs one of these. :) 

Ok, time to get out of bed. I've realized that this is the best place to blog from as I don't get distracted by my surroundings. Squirrel!!!!! 

Have a great Thursday and kick the crap out of this weekend! 

Tannis

I can't wrap it around my finger so I made a Bracelet instead

Not sure what happened this week. I couldn't help myself, I just kept making bracelets. I started to make a pair of earrings and made a bracelet instead. It's like when I used to go to the gym, I always planned to lift weights but I put on my bathing suit and hit the pool. Not sure why, I just did. This first one was for me, MC1R is the gene for red headedness. I learn new things everyday about being a ginger. Cracks me up. Even better to see the traits in my son.






Ya, I was having bad day, men troubles. I started to get inside my head,
I tend towards unavailable men. This was made to remind me to always choose me. Do what is best for me, not what I think I want, no games, just me. Ya, bad day. I figured I'm not the only one, if your needing reminding, let me know. We can all use a good pep talk every (day) once in a while .





Addict anyone (Erin)? My traveling partner traded in coffee for coke zero, and I follow around behind collecting her trash (cans). I love this bracelet, the mini cans work best! Do you have a favorite beverage that comes in a can? Let me know, you drink it and I'll make it wearable for you.





While I was cutting the aluminium, I found my metal ink, then I had to search for my heat gun to,set it. My office is getting creative (cluttered) again. I love turquoise and brown, so I made the leaves a nice dark chocolate.





Ah, this one was actually planned. It is for a cool girl named Andrea that I met on the weekend. Her friend had given her one of my barbed wire bangles earlier this year, but it wasn't the right size, so I made this to replace it. Her business colours are lime green. :) She bought a lime green wrapped heart to match (her friend actually bought it for her birthday). You have to love your friends.






I have to finish up a few orders tomorrow after I teach my Aquafit class. Let's see where the brain guides my hands tomorrow.

Oh, ya. Stay tuned, the St Patrick's day draw is tomorrow. If you win, I'll need your address ASAP so I can get it to you by St Paddy's day.

I was chasing my tail today...

Today was the day of multitasking, or tail chasing, depending on how you look at it; a little bit of Facebook, little bit of jewelry, little bit of bath and body, a little bit more Facebook, and then some custom jewelry. Always fun to mix it up, but it still feels a smidgen unproductive, however it is how my juices flow. Creativity can't be scheduled!

I've been trying to decide what to do as a St. Patrick's Day special so my friend Lori made a suggestion about having another giveaway. Check out my Facebook page tomorrow. Also, if you have a peak at my website, www.covetdesigns.com, all green jewellery is discounted for March. Hail to the leprechauns.  

 See if you can guess what I'm giving away... These are pieces I was working on today! 

All pieces are aluminium, all different, but kinda the same :) the shamrock is actually ink applied to lime green aluminium. 

This is part of my new "be" line. It will have bracelets, necklaces and rings.  There are endless possibilities as we can "be" anything! 

This is my favourite piece!! It is a silver aluminium base with 5 different colours of ink and then sealed. Again, the possibilities are endless. I'll see how it does this weekend in Kenora. I have feeling it will be one of my new best sellers. 

Just a quick blog shot today. I'll show you my custom pieces tomorrow, don't want to show you before they see them :) 

Sleep tight and stay wired for style. 

Tannis

Tried this three times, got distracted, here goes

Wow, sometimes I actually scare myself. I start one thing, get distracted, move to the next, get distracted, move to the next and sometimes never actually finish anything.

I'm currently working on creating a personalized etched bracelet, a leather bracelet, marketing material for my "I'm the Balm" solid lotion bars for a local retailer. and attempting to blog at least 3-4 times a week. Hmmm, so far none have been completed. :(

The marketing stuff is almost done, the bracelet didn't work on one type of aluminium so on to the next, the leather bracelet, well I can't find the leather, however here is the blog, one down 100 to go. But...I made a list!! Yup, I have a list and I haven't even lost it yet.



On my list is; researching how to write a better blog (one needs all the help one can get), reading up on a new way of eating and ideas for a new tattoo, lol. Yup a bit of an eclectic list but that is me.

It's funny, I have this thing about crows and daisies. Strange combination I know but it is still fun to think about how to incorporate both, if I actually come up with an idea I'll make sure to post. I like this one but it isn't quite me. TANNIS@IMTHEBALM.COM talking arebelami@gmail.com both the tattoo now, come on keep up.



The bracelets have now been re cut, different type of aluminium, this one isn't anodized, seems I can't etch on anodized aluminium. Who knew, well someone probably did, just not me. I'm soon to look for my white leather. I have so much stuff, sometimes it's hard to find what I'm looking for, but eventually I'll find it, ok maybe not. Organization isn't really my forte.

The marketing and packaging material is driving me nuts. It is so close but every time I think I design something I like, I walk away, and when I go back and I'm not sure. I had some awesome designs a while ago, I need to find the files and translate into "mac" lol. Or just remake it. It is a bit of an homage to my Swedish heritage. The new label will labels Ätbara though for edible, lol the Ät mig which actually means "eat me", oops. Lol, it could lead to interesting conversations though.



Well, I better be getting on to that list, if I could only find it, aaaa, gotcha. It's here somewhere. Lol, below is my first attempt at the bracelet. I'll show you the finished one next post. Did you know that colibri is Portuguese for humming bird??


Here's a little homage to my brother who always says, "it's your day, make it a great one"
Tannis

Location:Covet Designs

Social Media Help me out Here, I'm Doing My Best

Ok, how many "do this, not that" articles and books can one person read about optimizing your social media presence, yet still not quite get it. LOL



I realize that these things don't happen over night, sure wish they would!! Kind of like diets, it would be nice if they happened overnight (I digress, another book I am trying to ingest right now)



Oh well so right now,  I'm doing my darnedest to blog 3-4 times a week, post to Facebook, twitter, Instagram and continue to list items on my Etsy store (shameless self promotion). Not to mention trying to clean up and get my website looking up to snuff. Oh wait, somewhere in there I need to actually make the jewellery I'm trying to sell. (one of today's creations)

I am the queen of distractedness, the actual person they have in mind when they yell "SQUIRREL". I had crackers for lunch today, gluten free, see what I mean. Good or bad, that is how my brain works, leads to some cool designs, but then I have to remember to tell people about them. LOL, or remember to make more when I get busy telling everybody about them. Yikes, head spinning, is it too early for a glass of wine? Or a jug!!

Ok, enough of that, I know you don't have the solutions, even if you did, I need to find my own balance. I created a list of things to do and when to do them but I can't find it. Surprise. 

So today I figured, I would post a few of my designs. The daisy above is one of my trademarks. It is an oldy but a goody!! I made this one this week but the design isn't new. I just can't help myself but make them! Spring is coming, this is my reminder.

Love these glass pearl earrings, they are made with one continuous wire. I think that is cool, lol. With this in mind, I decided to lessen the amount of packaging on my earrings. Instead of the large earring card I use now, I gonna try something smaller. I'm hoping to create a new little tag like the daisy, however I haven't given up on the daisy idea yet. I may even make a small stamp to put on it to make it even more Covet like. Hmmm, so many things to do. Then I have to figure out how to display them. So much fun coming up with new ideas. For those of you that know me from craft sales, my booth is always different. This year I may simplify, I always try to make it look awesome, but I'm not sure that helped sales this year. :( I'm going for "cool but simple" this year. Hopefully less set up and less to carry but knowing me it will be more lol. Help save me from myself!!

Why is it we are so attracted to circles? I love glass, I love circles, and I love aluminium, so I guess I love everything about this necklace lol. 

Seriously, how can you not love hearts. Lol, I used to hate hearts actually. Until I found myself making them. I was set up at the St. Boniface Hospital one day and a little girl asked if I could make her a heart. I have no idea why but I never say no, or rarely say no when someone asks me to make something for them. So I made her a heart, her mom wouldn't buy it for her, so I gave it to her, lol. She was so darn cute. Hey, I make stuff, and sometimes I like to give it away. Can't help myself!! 

Have an amazing weekend. Hopefully for all my friends out east, it will stop snowing and start melting, for us midlanders, I hope the temperature continuously gets closer to 0, and for the west coasters, enjoy your early summer!

As Nike says, Just Do It!!!

I discovered writing a blog every day is a challenge. I thought how difficult can it be, sit down, right some stuff, get up go do some more stuff, life is good. But to create a blog post each and every day with unique information that people might actually want to hear is more of a  challenge then one might anticipate.

That is probably the reason that I haven't posted since the 15th, oops my bad, but I am working on it. Sorry, Brenda... Step one, admit your mistakes.

I have a little notepad now that I write my ideas on and a few different websites that I can use to look for some cool information. But today as I was driving to my son's orthodontist to drop off the third retainer to be replaced, and I realized that today my post was going to be bad winter drivers.

Not exactly sure why it is that winter creates such bad drivers and lets not forget the plain ignorant drivers arrgghh. As I was pulling out from the end of my street, just about to cross halfway across the road and a car pulls in front of me and stops forcing me to completely block two lanes of traffic. He sat there and looked at me, gave me the finger and then proceeded to sit there a while longer. I honked, he looked at the cars that I was now blocking, pointed to me, shook his head and then proceeded to drive across the street that he blocked, I was already in the intersection when he drove in front of me, he could have waited 8 feet back as a normal person would do, but he thought it was cool to block me and then blame me. Idiot, but I wasn't going to let it ruin my day. I thought it's only one old man with a grudge and some bad driving habits, so I drove on.

As I continued to drive towards the orthodontist, I got cut off by three separate people one was going extremely slow, I'm sure it was one of those drivers that requires getting into the lane they need a minimum of 3 miles before they get to their destination. The other two we're going ridiculously fast, Which is not great when the road is slippery, one of the two speedsters slammed on his brakes as he went into a yield and went up over the curb. So trying not to swear, but what a dumb*ss!!

Then as I was coming off of Bishop Grandin onto Pembina Highway the lovely gentleman in the lane next to me turned into my lane and almost hit me. I guess when there's no lines on the road, or they're covered by snow people think they can drive wherever they like. Thankfully I had mitts on and no finger was revealed, so unsatisfying. I finally made it home after a number of other ridiculous drivers that really got my ire. So I have decided that this week I should hibernate and say off the road, or I might become one of those idiots out of revenge. It is a great excuse to make stuff, anything and everything.

Okay I'm over it!! phew. Back to the reason I have this blog; this week I am building up my stock of jewellery for spring shows and online sales, (fingers crossed, no jinx) but I get bored easily, LOL so I have created a few watercolour prints with quotes. I love allowing my creative juices to flow in a number of directions. I'm like a cracked window, as pressure is applied the cracks deepen in all directions. It is my joy, please don't try to fix me :(

I'll have a few more on later this week, also, check out my new items on Etsy, I't trying to get an Etsy gallery on both my website and this blog but my technological strengths are being tested. I did however succeed on getting an Etsy store onto my CovetDesigns Facebook page, yay!! Now all I have to do is get more items listed!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday, whats left of it.

Tannis

Had tea and a chinwag with a good friend today

It's been a number of months since my friend Erin opened her boutique and I have been remiss in the fact I hadn't made it there before today. My bad...



Well, I must say, it is the sweetest little boutique around. I love the look, layout and design. It has crisp clean white walls with a funky painting on one wall and the minimalist clothing racks and heat ducts giving it that cool industrial chic look.


I absolutely love Erin's clothes, my favourite are her shawls, I seriously think I have one in every colour.


I love that she makes all the clothes she sells in her boutique, but of course she carries some funky accessories as well. I'm fortunate enough to be one of her go to girls for cool jewellery and funky key chains.


Here are a some of my signature wrapped hearts and a couple of junk drawer necklaces, lol, I wasn't going to put them in the post but Erin insisted. Twist my rubber arm.


The creative space
Erin has an awesome sewing room just up and behind the storefront. It is a truly creative space where chaos can erupt when required. It is the complete opposite of the crisp clean storefront. I LOVE IT. It's my favourite space there. But I'm a bit of a clutter bug so maybe I feel more at home with someone else's chaos as well. It's still tidier then my work space.


I had purchased a cool little sling bag, but the waist band was too small, yikes, so my girl was nice enough to fix it up for me, and it wasn't even one of hers. Gotta love crafters. We are like guys that trade there mechanical and building skills. We trade our crafting skills.

Not sure if you noticed Erin's sweet little collection of needle point flowers on the wall. It is her new obsession, so, if you have gramma's old needle point flowers and don't know what to do with them... Erin's goal is to fill that wall.


We are a bunch of crazy carny crafters, we live and work in a different world. We often say we should write a book or make a movie about the crazy lives we lead, there is humour, sorrow and always enough drama to go around. But, no matter what, our little band of gypsies, we stick together, like a family.

If you are in the West Broadway area, stop in and say hello, pick up a pair of tights or a cool dress, and maybe even a necklaces to go with. You won't be disappointed. EMK studio boutique, 142 Sherbrook St. Winnipeg, and don't forget to say hi for me.

Tannis

Location:EMK Studio Boutique, 142 Sherbrook St, Winnipeg

Today I am Feeling Blessed

Offer extended till Feb 28th. :)

Well today was humbling. I was given a tour of the Siloam Mission where my friend Brenda Bourns works. It was wonderful to see the inner workings a such a worthwhile place. I learnt that over 110 people can feel safe and warm each and every night, that they have places to put what few belongings they have somewhere secure so they can sleep with both eyes closed instead of having to sleep with one eye open on the streets just to stay safe and not lose what little they have. They can shower in the morning and start the day afresh, and then eat a healthy breakfast to start their day. There are over 1400 meals a day served at Siloam, breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's a lot of food.






They have somewhere to get clothes, maybe a sleeping bag if they still live on the streets, a blanket to keep them warm during the day or nights in our frigid winter weather. If they are sick, or hurt or have trouble seeing there is free medical, there is a weight room for them to rehabilitate from injuries, a mail room to get mail as most have no fixed address. How do you gets job, a social insurance card, or anything without an address to send it too? How do you get a job without clothes for an interview, or an address to put on the application form.





Everyone of these things we take for granted everyday, because we can. There but for the grace of God go I. As many of you know I'm not religious but I can't sum this up any other way. One month of not having enough money to cover my mortgage, buy food for my son and I, put gas in my van to get the things we need to live and work and I might might be in the same position. I'm extremely fortunate to have parents that can help me when I need, but many if not most of the people that seek the safe haven of the Siloam Mission don't have the safety net that many of us do.
It was eye opening and heart lifting experience today, yes heart lifting. I saw hope and friendships and people looking to change their lives. The Siloam Mission gives them the most basic safety net; a bed, a warm place to seek shelter and a meal to nourish them, I take that for granted, that many of us take for granted everyday.

I came home and realized that as amazing as Siloam Mission is I still need to make a living because I don't want to be there as anyone other then a donor or volunteer. I thought, how can I help. What can little old me do, I don't have a ton of cash, or food to give but I make jewellery, some people even like it :)
I decided that this week, that as we all spend copious amounts of money on the ones we love, that I would give 20% of the proceeds from all of my heart designs to the Siloam Mission. Their logo is a heart, I love to make hearts, it is almost Valentine's Day the heartiest day of the year and this is what I can do to give back.





Help me to give back, all you have to do is decide what design you want to give to your hunny, there is no extra charge to you, heck if you live in Winnipeg I will even deliver it to your door. Let's give back and continue the tradition of being the most generous city in Canada.





All of the hearts are on my website, www.covetdesigns.com right on the front page.


Tannis

Snow Day and Sunscreen

It's strange that on a day filled with snow that I'd be sitting here thinking about sunscreen. But it's hard not to think about a nice warm summer when I'm watching the snow pile up in the front yard. We were going to skate at The Forks today and see how many KM we could get in, however with all the snow I don't think it'll be too much fun.

So I was checking out one of my favorite blogs, the wellnessmama, and saw a great post about eating your sunscreen, so I had to check it out. It was great to read, and even though I've read a number of different posts on similar subjects, it was a great reminder. I seem to have brain soup lately. Anyway the wellness mama was talking about eating your sunscreen, not actually eating sunscreen but eating foods that will allow you to stop using all of the chemical laden sunscreen available today. Must say, it struck a chord with me as my junior carrot top and I tend to burn in the summer, the joy of being redheads.



Having red hair is definitely a gift, however it's the gift that keeps on giving when you step into the sun, doesn't everyone want pink skin, really who wants a gorgeous tan anyway, I do!!!!!!! Besides the never ending cycle of white to pink to white to pink, my guy is just starting to get freckles as well. Which we've been told by our dermatologist is skin damage, oh what a bad mother am I.



So this summer, yes I know it's a few months away yet but a girl can dream, we are going to use natural sunscreen, (that I make) with coconut oil and a few other awesome natural ingredients, and we're going to eat our sunscreen (starting today). Yep we are going to eat the foods that will give us natural protection so we no longer require the lovely chemical laden crap that you can buy at the store.

Who's going to join me?

Ok, time to get out of bed, it's Saturday and I want to spend a little quality time with carrot top junior, maybe we'll have another nerf gun war, better get my eye protection on. Any who, have an amazing weekend and we'll catch you on the flipside.

Tannis

Location:Winnipeg

Friday is MyDay

Im gonna try to make Friday, MyDay from now on. I'm gonna use Friday to post things that interest me, catch my eye or just feel good talking about.

So here goes, MyDay Friday take 1.

So, my son, my one and only, turned nine today. He looks like he's 12 but he's only 9, sometimes it's hard to remember that. This morning after his orthodontist appointment we went out for breakfast, he should've gone back to school however it's Friday, it's now MyDay (our day) and I wanted to spend some time with my guy, so we went for breakfast and had a good old time chin wag at Sal's, for you Winnipeggers you know what I'm talking about, for non pegger's, Sal's (Salisbury House) is the greatest breakfast place ever, a true Winnipeg tradition.

Not sure why there are Police lines, not there this morning!!

After breakfast we went skating, it is actually a part of the gym at Rock's school, so it's been a pretty decent birthday for my boy. Left him at school for the rest of the day, dropped off some solid lotion at my friends house and came home to create.

I read a few of my favourite blogs. Onegoodthingbyjillee.com is a daily read, I really like wellnessmama.com and runningwithspoons.com. Just recently, through my girl Brenda Bourns (life guru), found another great read at lovelife.typepad.com. This one is written by a friend of Brenda's named Kal Barteski a local Winnipeg artist. Love her stuff.

I also try to spend at least 10-15 minutes a day on Pinterest, checking out the trends, recipes and just plain old cool things, it isn't hard spending the time lol, but it is pretty hard stopping. I get so lost in my journey I have to set a timer or I'd spend all day. When I first learnt about Pinterest 4-5 years ago, I thought "good lord another thing to steal my time", back then you had to apply to belong, seriously, now I am addicted. I never got the Facebook addiction, I am not a great personal sharer, at least not on social media. Never thought I was "so" interesting that people needed to know how and what I was doing all the time. Same with twitter, I subscribe to a bunch of people but can't find the time or interest to read all the tweets, oops, did I say that out loud, sorry to my subscribees, not sure that is a word but it it is now.  So, I am gonna try to blog, Brenda lit a fire, I'm gonna try hard to keep it lit! Hopefully my writing gets better as we go, but hey, who knows.

So back to Pinterest, Doesn't this look good, as a Glutard (gluten intolerant) I often check Pinterest to figure out what I can make for dinner, I used to be a cookbook addict, now I save my money and check out the "source that be..."

However, tonight, no cooking for me!! Gramma and Grampa are taking the Rockstar out for his birthday, Boston Pizza here we come. They have a great gluten free pizza, yum. Friday is MyDay (except today is Rocky's day too)

Have an amazing weekend, maybe we will see you on the Red River tomorrow for the "Great Skate" lol, thats what Rocky and I are calling it. Not sure we will make it all 6.1 KM but we will give it our best shot. I want to check out the river mural by none other then Kal Barteski. Maybe we will get gramma it pick us up at the St Vital bridge, only a few blocks from home, wish us luck!

The loop at the St Vital bridge. We are gonna get here!!

Couldn't Wait till the Morning

Okay so I played today, I wasn't sure if I could etch on agate. I wanted that "etched glass" look but I wanted it on an awesome slice of green agate that I had sitting on my desk. Someone had asked me to make something that I never made before... YES... dream come true, I had myself a challenge.

So of course, I went online and asked the Google gods if they knew anyone that had etched on agate. Couldn't find a soul that had successfully done it, just lots of "others" with similar questions, the had gods let me down. Did I uncover the wholly grail, an answer Google didn't have, or was I just to lazy to keep searching...

Never one to be daunted by others failures, I thought what the heck I have a lovely piece of blue agate  that I'll try on in case I ruin the green agate. (I really prefer blue but my friend wanted the green one and i didn't want to ruin it, yet.

Etched Agate Slice

So, here is the blue sacrifice, looks ok to me. The problem now is my mind won't stop spinning with all of the fun things that can do with this bag of agate slices that I've had sitting in my house for two years.

The question is how does one sleep with all these ideas running the half marathon in her head?

So I opened a bottle wine and started contemplating, then I began day dreaming about of all the cool things that I could etch on the wine bottle.

Okay stop drinking wine, hmmm, this glass would look awesome with a picture of a football etched into it. Okay stop, put the wineglass down. You're supposed to be thinking about etching on agate. Wait wasn't I having a drink so I would stop thinking about etching. I'm so confused now I think I'm going to go have a bath. I'll show you tomorrow all fun things that I might create if I have a sleepless night. Oh don't forget I have to make six solid lotion bars for the girls tomorrow. Goodness how I'm I going to sleep. Night...

Day 2, so far so good!

I've been experimenting with etching metal using common every day products available in one's kitchen. Yesterday I made a really cool piece for my friend Kim. She likes big so I created a 4 x 3 cut aluminum rectangle and then etched an asymmetrical stripe onto it. I love the way it turned out. It is 36 inches long and still light as a feather. As you can see it's what you might call a statement piece.

Today I'm going to see if I can etch onto agate, this will require a different method however.. I have a friend looking for a unique necklace for his wife. He wants to green stone with the number four on it. Always fun to have a challenge, and seeing that stones don't naturally come with numbers on them I'm going to have to find a way to get that number on one for my friend.

Hopefully I can post my results tomorrow.