a few adjustments

Make that, feathers necklace almost finished, from yesterday's post. OCD overcame me and I took the single leather strand off. I tried this necklace on as I had it yesterday and it just didn't lay right. The lone mustard strip was just not enough, weight-wise, to balance out the other side with the heavier (although fine) chain and amethyst strand. It bothered me so much I went to bed mad at myself last night that I couldn't seem to get it right. Grrr....

A new day today, lots to do other than this necklace but into the studio I went and just sat down and went to work. Mango, of course, put in his furry two cents worth... Of course he agreed that mustard was still the color to use. ;)

He's usually on top of whatever I'm working in, not laying on the bookcase when I'm in the middle of jewelry work.

Anyway, instead of just going with more chain and thus jacking up the price, I took the leather off (thus tossing the carefully wrapped silver wire into the recycle bin, which is pretty full to begin with...), cut three more strips off the hide, slid a few lovely mellow yellow lampwork beads onto the slimmer two strands, made a larger wrapped loop, re-attached both ends of all leather strips, and voila! It looks more balanced, is sturdier, and most important, has a very lovely non-droopy drape when worn. Ahhhh.... I feel ever so much better. Now, to get it on Etsy before midnight is the question http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com. It's getting late and my household is still pretty lively. My husband has classical music booming in the living room where I'm typing this and the television blasting from the bedroom. Mango is dragging a toy mouse on a string around the apartment while howling his head off, and Lucy is on the bed barking for me to come to bed and sit with her (this is her old dog thing. why else would I have anything to do but sit with the Lu on the bed all day long?). How do I think at all?? Plus we have resolved to start walking again instead of coming home or finishing up work and just flopping like we've been doing for months. So we're walking soon as I'm done with this blog entry even though it's 10 pm oh yes we are. I am determined to lose ten pounds before Christmas!

Super cool necklaces coming later mid week. I promise you probably haven't seen anything like them anywhere...

feathers necklace- finished

We are back from our trip and somewhat back in the groove. This week, other than recuperating from a pretty exhausting whirlwind schedule, I worked this pendant up into a necklace. It's a rather dramatic piece and I wrestled with whether the mustard leather meshed with the rest of the piece but the idea is to pick up one color in the bottom stones. I put it with green leather first, then decided not. Then brown and it was too plain. So I picked the deep yellow hue of the citrine briolette and found a lovely mustard leather to match. Four strands of fine sterling round chain and linked faceted amethyst make this a lovely assymetrical piece.

Isn't the fine silver textured circle to die for? I got a packet of them on etsy a while ago and have been wanting to use them. Look for them and more lovelies at Prolifique on Etsy.

The pendant is hand stamped and edged with texture. The stones dangling from the pendant are stick pearl, citrine, amethyst, watermelon tourmaline (at the bottom), spinel, yellow and green aquamarine.

All chain is sterling with patina. Here is a closer shot of the mustard leather and the chain. For added interest I put in a strand of faceted amethyst.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. AND I got to sign my name on the back with my new etching pen. I have a hand stamp that I use as well that my husband designed and had custom made but using it on thinner metals causes a shiny spot to appear on the front of the design. Not cool. The etching pen is so useful and fun to work with and it's perfect for signatures on finer metals.

This piece will be available http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com tomorrow.

Hope is the thing with feathers...

This is a pendant I worked up last night. Emily Dickinson, one of my favorite quotes. It'll be on etsy next week when I get back from a five day getaway with my hubby.

Week two of self employment netted a commissioned piece, finished and mailed yesterday. One of these days soon, hopefully, I will stop referring my self employment to "week whatever" and it will simply and seamlessly become my life without time to mark its passage.

I'm working hard on some submissions for magazines and some totally radical designs for necklaces but once I got in my almost finished studio and got to work, the setup just didn't work for me. Everything was in my way and after a day of that it took several days to move things around, arrange tools, silver, copper, beads, wire, and all my book making stuff and fabric so that it wasn't quite so overwhelming. At one point tossing everything into the garbage bin outside seemed a realistic and stress reducing option. Of course I came to my senses.

Off for a few days now with my husband. We need a few days away from crazy, although Michael may think he is taking crazy with him. See you next week with some cool as cucumber salad jewelry to post.

hey, hey, my, my....

hey, hey, my, my... jewelry making hasn't died.

in fact, it's taking off...

because my new job wasn't what i was lead to believe...


and i left after a week...

even with the recession, even with benefits, even with, even with... i left anyway.

should i stay in bed and sleep?

eat junk?

cry?

watch the days go on by?

nope.

i have a different plan.

i'm now full time making jewelry and coptic bound books (new etsy shop for this passion coming very, very soon...)

day two of my new life is here on this post. four pairs of lovely earrings. go see them on my etsy site http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com.

happy trails, old jobs.

the time inbetween

In between jobs I have had a little break from it all.  The last eight days I've spent trying to relax (it's hard for me) and not do much of anything, other than things that are enjoyable (and also of course, get caught up on laundry, grocery shopping and so on).  I've gotten spoiled this way, not working and having a vacation where we pretty much stick to an area within a hundred mile radius of Richmond to look, tour, drive, hike, photograph, explore and a little shopping and jewelry work thrown into it.

Here is Michael (above) with Maggie at one of the nearest hiking spots on Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Waynesboro, VA.  This stop had an adjacent trail, where the two dogs went wild with excitement to finally get out of the car.  Lucy found a chipmunk to chase but she's an older dog and was on the leash to keep her from hurting herself slipping on the rocks.  As it was, Mom ended up carrying her forty five pounds up a near vertical set of stone steps at the end of the trail since her hind legs don't allow such things anymore.  No worries, she loved it anyway, and so did I.

Lucy and Maggie, Greenstone Trail.  Blue Ridge Mountains, July 16.

On the way to Skyline Drive, we found a needlework shop that was fantastic in their inventory (I wanted dozens of patterns but had to be semi-realistic) and their dog friendly policy.  It was a very hot day in the town of Waynesboro and we appreciated the kind attentiveness of the Cross Stitch Station, allowing Lucy and Mag in and giving them water and also little bandanas for their collars.  Pictured above, patiently waiting for me in the air conditioning.

No trip anywhere on a hot day is complete without a stop at McDonald's for ice cream.....  Got milk?

I started a needlework sampler...  Mary Wigham from Ackworth School series, an internet-based group project.  It is a large one and I haven't had much time other than after crawling into bed in the evening to stitch much on it.  But the silk threads are to die for & every time I pick it up, it's hard to put it back down again and go to sleep.

I spent two days filling this order for a "love your dog" necklace.  Hand drawn etching on copper, with stamped silver banner and glass, turquoise, and coral beads. 

Ah.... home again, home again.  

Seriously, though, this is Westover Plantation, a Georgian mansion and grounds maintained by the National Park Service, off of historic route 5 in Charles City County, Virginia.  It was once the home of Admiral Byrd and family and although the house is privately owned and not open to public, the lawn, gardens and outbuildings are fair game for wandering at leisure.  I am sitting overlooking the James River.  This is a plantation not known to many people.  Perhaps because there is no home tour, it is often overlooked on the plantation tour circuit but for anyone with an interest in early American history, you must make a stop here and visit the grounds and especially the cemetery located 1/4 mile walk from the house where some of the earliest tombstones and graves (some from the 1600's) in the United States are located, on the site of the original Westover Episcopal Church, which is no longer but moved up the road to its present location in 1800.  

After touring everything, we walked the trail to the beach and I filled my pockets with interesting beach glass.  It's fun to imagine some of the heavily weathered blue and green glass coming from the old church or the house...

Now I have but today and tomorrow and Tuesday and then I begin my new job.  In spite of being glad for the job, I have a heavy heart about it, having had a touch of the ease of accomplishing tasks, shopping, cooking and working on jewelry and other interests such as I was privileged to experience for a year and half prior to my last job.  Life runs easier when I am a household manager and business partner without a job to go to and come home from.  Very soon I shall be those things and work full time again.

But there is still today and I must get back to it to enjoy all it has to offer before time gets away from me too quickly.  

sometimes i mess around with other things

I can't help myself.  I love making books.  The book above is one I just finished last night.  It has beautiful papers in variation patterns of black and silver throughout.  The interior has seven coptic bound signatures with fine Irish waxed linen in lavender.  This book I have submitted for jury to a Richmond art gallery that is having a book arts exhibit later in the year.  I call this one The Glitter book.  If you could hold it, you would know why.  The back end paper has glitter on it that is flaking off like confetti.  It literally leaves a trail its wake...

End view of lovely silver insert papers and coptic binding.  Isn't the lavender thread pretty?

This book for some reason it just sticks in my mind to call it Sturbridge.  The covers remind me of something organic.  In fact the boards are covered with some of the piles of papers purchased in Italy last January.  So wonderful to work with.  Not too heavy, not too light.  Black, vintage ivory and rich brown papers with lokta end papers, again seven signatures with fine russet Irish waxed linen threads in a coptic binding.

This one was such fun to stitch up...

art paper postmarks in black and browns cover the interior boards...  I accidentally turned the postmark paper on this side the wrong end up.  The ripped paper is intentional to add interest. 

A few more finished boards are being flattened right now under heavy books.  I'm on a roll...

Thank you everyone for your kind comments, encouragement and congratulation wishes for my new job and journey in life.  I appreciate it so much.  I'm sure it will be an interesting adventure!  

A Whole New Life

In a move that has shocked even myself, in a good way, I am leaving my job with the Commonwealth of Virginia and am pursuing private industry in an entirely new career direction. I was hired two days ago to work full time at Hoover and Strong, a jewelry manufacturing company in Richmond. Check it out at http://hooverandstrong.com. I'll be working in the findings division at first and then lost wax thereafter. To say I am excited to be paid to do this full time, with benefits, and learn how to do so many things I probably would never have had the money to pay someone else to teach me, is an understatement!