Flores immortalized...

I've been wanting one of  Carrie Tasman's pet portraits ever since I saw her work at Art in the High Desert about 4 years ago. Carrie's portfolio goes beyond pets, it's colorful and charming, a delight for the eye. Her pet portraits are all that, plus the pet!

Here is our lab, Flores. He sits in our den, with his favorite teddy on the couch. Two "photos", one of Lizzy who passed away several years ago, and shown at the river where she loved to swim, and Jay,  Flores' dad.  The blue hydrangeas in the vase, grow all around our house. The view out the window is our backyard and a shed built by my husband, who was the recipient of this painting. Happy birthday, Bruce! 

I can't resist showing off just a few of Carrie's portraits. Check out lot's more here.

one of my favs. I bet he chases that Frisbee for hours on end...

thank you Carrie!

brooch-a-week continues

Having just completed brooch #7 in my quest to meet etsymetal's challenge of 1 brooch a week for the year, I feel like I've gotten into the groove, and the ideas seem to stay at least a week ahead of me. So far so good! Here are brooches 4-7...

#4   rhyolite, hessonite garnet, sterling, 14kt gold

#5  17+ ct amethyst, sterling, 22kt,18kt,14kt gold

#6  ocean jasper, .24ct rose cut diamond, sterling,18kt, 14kt gold

#7 sterling silver, 14kt gold

 I'm glad for this challenge, I had forgotten how much I really love making brooches. #8 is on the drawing board!

From a different perspective

I feel really grateful to have work that I love, and can't wait to get to every morning. My daily work seems so familiar and normal, nothing glamorous, in fact, downright dirty! When Deanna Piowaty asked to interview me for her online arts magazine, Combustus, I thought, what could I possibly have to say that people would find interesting? Well, Deanna crafted a beautiful piece out of our interview, and I got to see my work from the perspective of an outside observer which was quite wonderful!

This is the interview for those interested, and I urge you to peruse more of Combustus, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

This is brooch #3 in the etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge. I thought I'd just slip this in, and as I'm currently working on brooch #7, I'll post that along with 4, 5, and 6 in my next post! 

Fresh Faces

I decided it was time to bring in some new faces to add to the prop department. If only they had some soldering skills...

Such eager faces, I'd better get working! 

Brooch-a-Week, can she do it..?

OK, I resolve to make one brooch a week (BAW) for each week of 2013.

And I'm not alone in this resolution, 140 others have taken up the etsymetal BAW challenge...  

And if 52 brooches just isn't enough, there's a renegade group stepping it up to a brooch a day (BAD). That's 365 brooches by the end of the year. Those are the truly possessed... and I admire the heck out of them.

Week 1

A piece of Australian opalite set in sterling silver with a bit of 14kt gold. I decided  to make a piece that did double duty as a brooch or pendant. This one shown on a 16" sterling neck ring.

Looks great with the Neesh wool blazer I scored at the Goodwill a couple of years ago...

Here is a small sample of the first week's entries from some of my etsymetal teammates:

Quercus Silver

Danielle Miller Jewelry

Simply MegA

Week 2

My simple brooch in sterling, with again, a dot of gold and a sparkly druzy agate.

And a few more cool brooches from some of the other players in week 2:

donauluft

Evelyn Markasky

citizen objects

This link will get you to photos of all of the entries from the last 2 weeks, and the variety is endless. I can't wait to see what week 3 brings!

give this a Glanz

When a customer purchases a piece of my jewelry, it comes to them in a beautiful handmade box, made by Portland paper artist, Debra Glanz. I get so much great feedback about the "beautiful packaging" that I sometimes think people are buying my jewelry just to get the box!

Well, I may be putting myself out of business, but you can get just the box in Debra's etsy shop which is full of all kinds of unique boxes, just ready for something special.

bit boxes

medium boxes

tall boxes

book boxes

ring boxes

boxes with spiders...

wild and wacky boxes

and as long as we're talking gift giving, check out Debra's supply shop, Reminiscence Papers and pick up some great gift wrap, also designed by Debra.

Have fun with your gift giving this Holiday season!

(And for those in the Portland area, Debra is having her yearly studio sale this weekend along with several other artists! Check her blog for details... http://www.dglanz.com/wordpress/?page_id=19)

dreaming in turquoise

I just had to share a recent turquoise purchase... All from Nevada, and mostly boulder turquoise, one of my favorite materials to work with. So keep an eye out for new work to be arriving in my etsy shop as well as my local galleries!

I can't wait to get my hands into this stuff! 

A few completed pieces from the past couple of years...

and a lot more here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/betsybensen/sets/72157626172661687/