Me: What will we DO WITHOUT DADDY FOR ONE WHOLE WEEK!
Ethan: Eh. We’ll get by.

I wrote a lot of words… about rearranging my studio and my new height adjustable bench. If you don’t want to read it all, there are some cute kid pictures and a video – just scroll down!

Now for all the blather blather… It seems like as SOON as I get my studio set up in a functional manner that I’m happy with, something comes along to SCREW IT ALL UP!

My studio is a small room on the main level of our house, which was called a “bedroom” when we bought the house, but really is an office. The room has to serve several functions – our family computer sits on an Ikea desktop with 2 drawer units (which I LOVE, SO much space!), which the kids use daily for homework and playing. It’s my main computer as well for printing packing slips and shipping labels, as well as daily email, etc. A second Ikea desktop, solid wood, sanded and then lacquered by me is my main bench for cutting & bagging jump rings, and filing orders.

It works very well for 80% of what I do, but a traditional jeweler’s bench has a higher surface (as they say in Cougartown, about boob-high!) with a cutout for a bench pin, and a drawer underneath for catching filings, etc.

So when I wanted to do some metalwork — especially piercing, which requires sawing on the support of a bench pin, I was lowering my chair way down, and then hunching over my bench pin trying to saw things out — not extremely ergonomic or convenient. And any dust or filings just fell on the floor.
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… finally! The old one said winter 2012-13 — and it’s hot and JUNE! Jeepers, Amy, get on it!

Since I’m reorganizing my studio, I thought this banner showing how MESSY my bench can get is somewhat suitable.

Here’s all the things I can see in this banner:

pickle pot, container of water for quenching, bottle of flux, copper tongs, lamp, charcoal soldering block (with rings on it to solder), cannister of butane, glass, scrap jars, third hand, fresh cut coils of jump rings wrapped in blue painters tape, blue painters tape, scale, bench pin, electronic torch lighter/sparker, carmex, cup of brushes, tweezers, tongs, dividers, scribes, cup of pens/markers, empty pliers board, green finger tape, packing slips, wire wire and more spools of wire.

All I can think of when looking at this banner is, “OMG the pickle pot is going to fall off!”

You can see all my old banners here!

We had a lovely weekend this past weekend – Jocelyn turned 9 on Sunday. Saturday we had a party at the local skating rink with a handful of her friends and classmates. One boy she invited from her class loves Doctor Who – he arrived wearing a tshirt with a bow tie that said, “Bow ties are cool!” and the card he attached to the gift was beyond awesome:

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Here’s another tutorial that was posted to youtube a few weeks ago. Making mobius rings (love knot, infinity knot, flower knot – it has many names) and connecting it to byzantine. I love this combination and use it often. One may want to familiarize oneself with my byzantine tutorial as well.
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I have posted a couple of tutorials up on YouTube but neglected to pos tthem here!

This one is best watched AFTER one has mastered the Jens Pind chain. This video is for a graduated jens pind chain – going from a very small gauge, up to a large gauge. I make a pair of earrings in this tutorial, but one could use the same technique and apply it to necklaces/pendants/bracelets if wished.
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This January, as everyone is wont to do, I looked at my life and made some squishy resolutions — squishy because I knew I was not likely to keep them! More like, goals to head towards.

When we moved to Colorado, I left my full time web designer job, with the goals of making a good solid go of this jewelry stuff full time. Be successful enough to contribute to our family’s finances, and be here in our home so our kids aren’t in daycare.

A year and a half later, it seems like those goals really are happening! I don’t seem to need to go looking for web design work, so that’s a plus! Starry eyed visions of me at home getting all the laundry done with dinner on the table at 5:30 every night have kind of gone by the wayside.. but overall, this home business of mine is working out nicely for our family.
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Late last fall, we lost our dear 15 year old kitty, Friday.

I went to put the kids to bed and noticed that Friday was panting, as if she couldn’t catch her breath. I took her to the emergency vet and the news was not good. Heart failure, fluid in lungs and chest, not a lot we could do. James and I got her as a wee kitten when we first met, and lived together in Georgia. It is hard to say goodbye to the pet you have had your whole adult life.

The kids took it OK, we had some sad teary moments for a while.

Soon after, we adopted 2 sibling kittens from the same litter from our local animal shelter.

Friday was named after a Robert Heinlein book of the same name. We decided to go with the same sci-fi book character theme.

Introducing Ender and Valentine – named from Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game.

Ender is mostly black, and has a very pronounced little face, kind of angular and hard. He is aggressive, and knows what he wants, and goes after it.

He often jumps straight up to my lap, and then my chest and starts licking my face. I will be sitting quietly, reading on my phone or watching TV, and then SUDDENLY THERE’S SOMETHING ROUGH AND WET RUBBING AGAINST MY CHEEK. It actually got to the point where it was unpleasant (kitty tongues are like sand paper!) and I had to teach him not to do that anymore. He needs no coaxing to purr, he is affectionately called “the purr bomb” because he just drops on you like a bomb, and purrs when he LOVES YOU, aggressively.

His coat is shorter than his sister’s, and had a rough, not very soft feel to it when we first got them. I researched cat food and we started them on what I think is the best (blue buffalo FTW!) and now, while his coat is not as soft or as fluffy as his sister, he is sleek and very shiny.

Valentine is about half white and half black. She is a skittish little lady, who talks and meows to let you know what she wants, even when I think perhaps she isn’t sure herself.

We debate on whether she is smarter than Ender at times — in the beginning, we thought for sure she was, but on reflection, I think that is because she is more cautious and will hang back whereas Ender rushes in without any reflection on the consequences of his actions.

She is a love, and a dream to hold, with her super soft fur, a slightly longer length than Ender’s. She meows and gives you her approval when you pet her, and sometimes deigns to curl up on your lap, but more often she prefers to sit on the couch by herself, or on the kitty furniture where she can curl up unmolested (even by petting). She can sometimes be a puzzle, letting you know with her meows that she wants SOMETHING, and she wants it NOW.. but then following her does not show empty kitty food or water bowl, so that wasn’t it, but still she will look up at you and mew incessantly.

They play together, sleep together, fight each other — which inevitably turns into bathing and grooming each other, and one is not far from the other at any given time. These pictures were taken in their first month with us, but now they are about 6-7 months old, getting teenagerish, a touch less playful, and more set in the day to day routines.

This photo is more recent — taken in December. They can be found in this box on my desk most of the time during the school day — I had to make them their own spot on my desk lest they knock everything over. They still sometimes jump straight to my shoulder while I’m working at my bench — very dangerous when I’m doing torch work!!

Our new kitties are a welcome addition to the household. And we will always miss our dear sweet Friday.

I can’t believe it’s November already. Halfway through, in fact.

We had a nice(ish) 4 day weekend. We went down to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature and saw the new Day in Pompeii exhibit on Sunday. It was beautiful, eerie and sad. Pompeii was a bustling city of 20,000 people when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and covered the city in volcanic ash — and then lay undisturbed until sometime in the 1700s.

So much was recovered from the city – frescos, statues, columns, ovens, earthenware – it was amazing to see.

Of course I didn’t start taking pictures until I got to the jewelry (no flash, I wasn’t breaking any rules!)

That looks a lot like viking knit.

I loved seeing the clasp on this bracelet. Amazing.

Fortuna on her throne

There was lots to see, but the most touching were the casts made in the hardened ash that showed where people had died.

It was a stunning exhibit — I highly recommend it if you are in the Denver area.

A new banner!

Featuring some of my latest earrings (which can be purchased here!)