My husband and I have enjoyed two weeks here with our daughter’s family, including a two year old, and five days with my son and his fiancé plus Daisy Mae, their dog. For those of you with a large family, this probably doesn’t seem like many people, but for us, it was a very pleasant house full. We are fortunate that we all get along so well and enjoy many of the same things. I looked in the den one evening and saw five adults on either computers or IPads and the two year old on an IPad also. I was the lone non-tech person since I was working with wire on a bracelet.

At other times, it wasn’t so quiet with either Daisy Mae, the Blue Tick Beagle, baying at something outdoors or my grandson working on his high pitched scream. Thankfully, it was a happy scream, albeit shrill.

Then, by ten o’clock Saturday morning, it was suddenly quiet again. Today, things are back to normal with the only loud sounds coming from my hammer on the bench block. I’ve completed a good deal of whacking and am hurrying as I prepare for a show tomorrow evening. Here some new earrings that just hatched. These are made from small squares of copper sheet that I annealed and thin rolled, starting at one corner. I used a hole punch on the bottom and now they remind me of faralitoes. These little lanterns are the focus of one of my favorite children’s books, The Farolitoes of Christmas, by Anaya. You might visualize these as little tin lights wherein a candle can shine through the holes.

I made a similar pair a couple of weeks ago and they left home before I took a picture. That pair didn’t have the holes, but were wrapped in half round sterling wire.

 

I was hoping to show you the texture on this second pair of earrings, but it’s difficult to see in the photo below. My friend gave me a new little hammer which I happily used to tap dents all over these discs which I then domed.

Today, I finished the cascade of beads and mixed metals shown below. I’ve made this necklace before and have always said I wouldn’t make another one. Alas . . . I gave in. It’s quite time consuming with all hand made chain and jump rings. Then, as you can see, each bead is attached with an individual head pin and wrapped loop. I thought I was finished with this twice, but then kept going back and adding more beads. Today, I’ve promised myself that I WILL NOT add any more beads! It’s going in the traveling display case right now! I hope this blog entry finds you relaxed after a quiet (or noisy) Thanksgiving weekend and that when the real world calls you back Monday morning, you’ll be ready for it.