Shiny New Things

Carved Labradorite, copper and brass

Rainbow obsidian, sterling silver, copper, and brass

I needed a break from sewing so I sat down and made these two metal thingys.  Both were experiments but I like them enough that I think I may make more. 

All Sorts of Things!

My newest piece in copper, brass, and glass

So, the last I wrote, I think I was in the midst of our move to a new apartment.  We are now mostly moved in to a smaller and more expensive, yet, cleaner, drier, and less cruddy new place!  I have just started working again!  I am bouncing between metal and leather right now, trying to get some ideas that have been crawling around in my brain out and put down on paper, metal, leather, etc.   I hope you like the new stuff that I am putting together, I am excited to share it.  Any of the metal pieces I make now will be going in to my Princess Lizard shop on Etsy until I get all my crap together and move the leather pieces too.  So for now, one shop for leathery things, and one shop for metal thingys.  Enjoy!  and a very belated "Happy New Year"  to all of you. 

Trying Some New Stuff

Sometimes playing around can turn out awesome! 

             Dichroic glass cabochon set in copper.  The bubbly, colorful look on the face of the copper,    is the patina solution I applied to the copper doing it's work.  The finished piece will be coming up soon:)


Thanks for looking!

N.

The Last One for A Little Bit

Necklace in Copper and Brass with Lapis Lazuli

I finished this piece up this weekend and it will be the last for a couple of weeks until I catch up on my wallets and such.  I have had a blast making all of my various metal piece and I hate to put down the saw, drill, and hammer, but,  I really need to get back to sewing so I can keep my shop stocked full of fun leather stuff too!  So goodbye for now my copper and brass goodness:)

More Newness

Copper and Brass necklace with carnelian and turquoise

My second necklace!  This time with carnelian and turquoise beads.  This one is now listed in my Etsy shop  and ready for it's new home.  I have a few more of these cut out and hope to have them all finished and up in my shop within the next week or so.  I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get them all done!

It's Riveting.............

Playing with rivets is fun!  I'm still getting the hang of making them super neat and pretty, but they work!  So this is my newest piece all ready to go in my Etsy shop, all made by hand by me!  Metal and rivets are fun and make me feel all happy and bubbly on the inside:)

I am off to help Grampy move out of his house and hopefully back to the lab this evening for a little more creative escape.  Happy Sunday Everyone!

A New Possibility.........

I started work on this many, many months ago and needed to get it finished up for a special gift for a very wonderful friend.  Made with appliqued recycled leather pieces, copper, brass, iolite, green adventurine and amethyst.  I think it turned out pretty okey dokey and I will definitely be playing with the idea more and listing some of these eventually.  I love my copper, brass, and leather, that is for sure!

Got it Done!

I finally finished this cuff that I started way before I got sick.  It turned out pretty darn cool and I am pretty darn proud of it.  I am making another one of these for myself too but I chose to use some purple and teal for my cuff part and my cuff is going to have a secret pocket in it too!  Just because.  So now that I have this one up in my Etsy shop, I get to take the kiddos to the park on this gorgeous day!  Have a great weekend all!

50 Items in my Etsy Shop!

I feel pretty awesome right now!  I finished up another snap up billfold and it turned out AWESOME!  I think I'll keep the design as is for now unless I figure out a way to make it easier to use.  I modified the ID pocket and the over all length and it seems to work just fine for now.  I'll have to see how it goes over before I make a ton.  Maybe I should do a give-away for a critique kind of thing, so I can get some constructive feedback on it. 

My other awesomeness is that I have finally reached my goal of having 50 items in my little Etsy shop!  I get to celebrate by working on some of my new ideas for metal/leather cuffs and such:)  I am also working on a stack of large pouches to add too.  It feels good to not be stressed out about making things to fill up the shop.  I hope I can keep it up.   I am crossing my fingers!

That's it for now, back to work and all that:)

Busy Little Bee

I am working on a lot of little things these days.  I am trying to get as many little copper/brass pendants made as possible AND I am cutting out and gluing things at the same time.  I had such great momentum going until everything in our apartment broke at once.  Not to mention, all of us have been sick non-stop since Ciaran started school.  Now, things are almost calm and with the exception of a still broken oven, a leaky roof, and a shower and floor that need to be replaced.  I can actually concentrate on something else! 

I am actually going to try to do a spring show this year too!  I just need to buckle down and actually sew some of this leathery goodness up!  Hopefully, the kids will let me work here and there and the endless phone calls and visits from repairmen will calm down.

What I Did This Weekend

I went into the secret lab and came out with these!  None of them are completely finished but here you go:) 

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My goal was to finish up five of these so I could finish each one over the course of the week and list them by the weekend.  But, my hands are blistered and sore and I think it may take a couple of extra days to finish up.  I still need to attach the bails and decide if I want to add chain or cord to them AND some coordinating copper and brass charms at the end of the cords to make them super AWESOME! 

I read somewhere that this year was the year to work hard, and I'm trying to.  I'm trying to minimize the time I'm on the computer so I can get more done in the lab.  I hope this is a step in the right direction.  Right now I am so excited that I got to do some metal work that I don't even care if anything comes of it.  I missed my metal so.

Until we meet again............

Newness

 A new pendant in copper and brass.  This one is for a friend but I will be adding some similar pieces to my shop soon!  Oh metal I've missed you sooooo!!!!!!

New billfold!

Last but not least, this is actually one of my favorites, it's so soft and purty!...Oh!  I mean handsome:)

Playing with Copper and Other Nonsense

 So, this last weekend after trying to come up with a good idea for a custom item for a good friend, I opened up my box of copper and brass scraps and started playing around and came up with the piece above.  I like how it turned out and I'm thinking that I want to utilize this type of work in some of my collars and cuffs as well as make a few pendants and such for my shop.  I forgot how much fun it is to play with copper and brass, I miss it so much!

While I was playing in my studio, lucky Abner got to go for a ride in the Tonka dump truck with Ciaran and Edolie.  I'm not sure if he had fun or not.  I thought it was great that Ciaran put a small piece of wood over the opening in the back of the truck so Abner didn't have an accident and fall out.  It's nice to see the kiddos getting over their fear of the tortoises and wanting to spend time with them.  I'm not sure how anyone could be afraid of, or creeped out by a tortoise, they are to damn cute!

So that's it for now, I have to go organize the lab so I can make it messy all over again!

I'm Still Here

I have been preoccupied with the pretty little being in the pictures above.  Her name is Nutella, and she's LOVELY!  She just came to us on Thursday so she is making herself comfortable in her quarantine enclosure(which I made myself!)  and getting used to the noise and craziness that comes with living with us.

Life has been a little nuts this summer with my two children who seem to have more energy than they know what to do with.  There is lots of wrestling, screaming, getting into things, and laughter.  I am also trying to keep my dad company, since he is completely alone now and is really feeling the absence of my mom.  So, my work in the laboratory has been in little teeny spurts here and there.  I am hoping that once my oldest starts school in a week, I will have a little extra time just to create.

I have been creating some new designs and playing a little bit with copper and brass too so that's been really nice.  I hope to keep it going and show you all something other than cute geckos in the near future!