A Mother Of a Load, A Mother Of a Bead

Thanks to Lorelei Eurto www.lorelei1141.etsy.com and her lovely spread in the current BeadStyle magazine (page 48!), I am selling etched pendants like hotcakes. The above are but a few of those already shipped, on their way to their new homes and eventually featured dangling around someone's lovely neck. I made most in copper with French script etching as seen in BeadStyle. Due to lack of time (I leave for work when it's dark and get home when it's dark) a few orders were delayed. These folks got an extra goodie as a thank you for waiting, in the form of a brass version of the Starry Night necklace pendant. Also you will spy an etched Chaffinch bird pendant and some etchings in Italian (imagine that... I'm still stuck on Italy). For all of these pendants and connectors, beads and other goodies, they are listed on my etsy site www.jenniferstumpf.etsy.com.


This Mother of a Bead is one I created last weekend prior to leaving to go to my parents. I felt in the mood for a big huge bead and this is it. I think it's about four inches long. A mokume flower is wrapped in the middle. I can see it on a shorter multiple chain with lots of charms dangling from the bottom. Maybe. Not sure yet. Should I put it on Etsy or make something with it myself? hmmm...

Opposite side of Mother Bead.

Mother Bead and a few other tubes and rounds. The darker color didn't turn up well, but it is a dark purple, in between the yellow stripes and swirls. I thought all week I would get home in time to get some good daylight photos but it never happened so these are the flash under the kitchen light versions.

For Lynn, who asked about my trip journal, this is the one I made for myself. I got a bag of small art and handmade papers from an artist in California a few months ago and just picked and chose bits I liked for front, inside and back covers of this small square coptic journal. Art = Love. Don't you agree?

First page was written on the flight over, when I was still gripping the pen with fear of plunging into the ocean... Oh, wait. I did that the entire fright, I mean flight... :D

I wrote in the journal and also collected lots of tickets, scraps of interesting papers, maps and business cards to glue in. It is a work in progress still.

Somehow I had to capture the moment of standing where ancient Romans stood at the Colosseum. In my bag of supplies were some fat colored pencils. Leaning against the outside wall of the Colosseum, I placed a single sheet against the heavily pocked surface and made a rubbing of it. Also filled pages with green, black, yellow and blue pencil rubbings from other spots at the Colosseum.

Inside back cover. Giraffe, anyone? In it's own weird eclectic way, all the pages seem to go together in my mind.

The whole sha-bang. I'm off for the next three days. YES! I will be, as Heather Powers put it, a busy little copper etching making bee for a good part of the time. Also some new etchings are coming soon to my etsy shop so check back over the latter weekend. Right now I'm off to an art openhouse where my husband has his paintings. Happy weekend, everyone!

Tribal Dance

Tribal Dance with Inclusions. I worked with paints on this one, mixing paints, layering and then sanding, then painting some more. I like the ancient look of it, almost aboriginal. Makes me want to take the same paint and put my hand print on the wall but I doubt our landlord would appreciate it.

Reverse side. This is a larger pendant, with copper inclusion at hand of figure on the right, brass inclusion on top left.

Gold swirl tube beads. I'm going to start making more finished works to submit to magazines since it's been two issues since I've been in Belle Armoire Jewelry and I've long wanted to submit to Stringing and other jewelry magazines. One of my pieces will be seen in BeadStyle March issue on Lorelei's design so be sure to check it out. The component she used will be in stock on my Etsy shop within the next few weeks.

Still using up clay from previous projects. This was a lentil bead gone wonky, so it stayed in this shape with bronze bead inclusions on both sides. Sanding to 2000 grit, then polished with a soft buffing cloth for finishing.

Heather Powers' tutorial on shell logs helped these tube beads along. Seen here with metallic teal base. An infinite combination of colors combined makes these patterns particularly interesting and fun to make.




And finally, for more color inspiration... gelato, anyone? Florence, Italy, January 2009.

Back In the Beading Groove

After a lengthy sabbatical, the clay finally came back out into the open last night. I have alot of leftover bits and pieces of this and that for polymer projects, so it got put into these tube beads and some others. I felt totally discombobulated making beads again after such a long time trying to make other things work and working on other art projects, had to think a bit to figure it out again.

This bead of dancing figures seemed plain, even after picturing it all painted, so I added some brass and copper inclusions and put a sterling bail on top, plus poked holes and put other little marks on it. Now it has a more celebratory look to it to match the little figures. It's cookin' right now...

"In the Pink" beads. These mokume beads remind me of poodles with little pink bones.

I was glued to this spot on the Ponte Vecchio for a while, admiring all the incredibly beautiful necklaces. I didn't buy anything, though. So expensive.

I didn't buy anything here either but just look at that display! Amazing... Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy.

Another photo from Italy. I am a huge fan of all of Frances Mayes' books (Under The Tuscan Sun) and have long wanted to see her restored house in Cortona, so we took a day trip from Florence and walked from one end of Cortona to the other without finding the house. Finally we nabbed a taxi and it took us right to the front gate. Isn't it lovely?? The colors were much prettier in person. I can imagine this house in summertime overflowing with flowers and sunshine. Of course what you read in the book and what is in person was slightly different in my mind. The house was fabulous but in my mind it was more of a giant that in person. It seemed a pretty typical country home, albeit a famous one. No, we didn't see Frances or Ed Mayes. I read after we returned to the US that they had been there for the olive harvest about two months before. *sigh* I don't know if they were there while we were or not but the house looked pretty shut tight and also, I know they have another restored property that is more remote, away from prying tourist eyes like mine. Too bad. They have terrific olive oil, though. Go to her website and look into ordering some Bramasole extra virgin oil. Yum!

Finished beads to come tomorrow...

The Breathtaking Beauty of Vatican City

Leaving St. Peter's Basilica mass on 11 January, this is the view that greeted us...
Many people gasped "La Luna!!" Including us, but not in Italian. A full moon hovering over the Vatican Christmas tree, covered like a blanket with gold and silver ornaments and my favorite color combination, blue and green lights. The star on top of the tree literally pulsed. Below the tree was an elaborate life size nativity scene. We had no idea, going to Italy in the second week of January, that Christmas season would still be in full swing. Every city we visited was festooned with simple twinkling lights, nativity scenes and everywhere, the image of Mary cradling Jesus.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica, below, was another elaborate nativity scene, too big to encompass one Nikon lens, even moved far back as possible. The centerpiece was this lovely baby Jesus.

Vatican City with St. Peter's Basilica dome in background at night 11 January.

A small portion of the nativity scene (the left side, not pictured, had a mill with running water..) inside St. Peter's Basilica 11 January

At Vatican Museum, we saw many wondrous sites. Naturally the Sistine Chapel was the main attraction and many people blew by these incredible works of art to get there. For those who ran to the Sistine Chapel, they missed rooms right adjacent to it that housed these treasures. Below, a beautiful sculpture by Henri Matisse.

Salvadore Dali's rendition of Christ. I was mesmerized by this painting. It literally glowed.

Papal wallpaper, painted by Raphael.

My husband laid on his back to get this shot of the ceiling in one former papal apartment room. Painted (yes, this is all paint, nothing else!) by Raphael, it depicts the triumph of Christianity over paganism, as seen by the column of pagan statue lain crumbled on the floor and the passion of Christ above. Absolutely amazing. I can't tell you how many times we both looked at something in awe and said, how did they do that, let alone how did they do that five hundred years ago??
Everywhere at Vatican Museum, one walks and looks side to side and above at lovely works of art. However, as we meandered along the four miles of museum , we failed to notice until we saw a specific sign pointing out that all along we had been walking on mosaic tile dating to the first century AD, as seen below. There was no gum on it, or cigarette butts..

Hall of Tapestries. I particularly liked this one, showing Christ emerging from his tomb. The guidebook pointed out quite correctly that the eyes, feet and stone under His feet follows you when walking past this enormous tapestry. Quite haunting.

View from of St. Peter's Basilica from window of Vatican Museum.

Egyptian papyrus.

Mummy of a woman.

Baskets and sandals, grain and bread, four thousand years old...



The Stumpf's at Vatican City Museum 12 January

Bellissimo!

We have safely returned from Italy! New job is started! Jet lag lingers! Inspiration is flowing! It's time to get back to the jewelry bench. Here is a date-wise jumbled up taste of photos...

Colosseum at night January 12.

Michelangelo's Pieta. St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. 5 p.m. mass January 11.

A room with a view- from our hotel window, Florence, Italy January 7.

View from top of Brunelleschi's Dome, Florence, Italy January 9.

First full day in Florence January 7, on Ponte Vecchio, happily lugging all my handmade paper purchases...

Michael photographing Ponte Vecchio from window of Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.


Feeling serene after mass and music at Vatican City January 11.

Happy New Year everyone. More to come.

Christmas Photos

Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day and Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a lovely and relaxing holiday and if you had to work, that it was a very slow day with lots of cookies and cupcakes (and nice customers, bosses, co-workers or what have you..).

Our little household was supposed to have been at my parents house Christmas Eve and not home until tomorrow, but the flu struck and I've mostly been prone in bed or lounging on the futon since a week ago. What timing... Anyway, we hadn't decorated much since we planned to be where there are much prettier decorations and quite a bit more room, but after the decision was made for me to stay home, we got out some things from storage and my husband found a wowser deal of a little tree for ten bucks at a mom and pop stand outside Richmond, and we had a very fine little Christmas of our own. Lucy, above on her roost, is excited about the presents. Yes, she thinks they are ALL for her.

Mango is entranced by his gift. Lucy looks on without enthusiasm. This gift obviously isn't for her...

Merry Christmas! Our tiny apartment is just that, but it's still a cozy space I always look forward to walking in the door...

I've been working on a project for a special someone that I will post soon as the item is delivered. Otherwise, in my recuperation I've been enjoying reading a gift from Michael-- Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. I haven't enjoyed such a voluminous book as this one in a very long time and I highly recommend it for those interested in Lincoln, life in the mid 1800's, anti-slavery issues. It's extremely engrossing.

Today we headed out for a bit to look over after Christmas sales. My coat closet is busting out with jackets and coats but all of them, without exception, are rather vintage and not in such a good way. My other coats are ones my dad gave me from his former working days, and while very warm, serviceable and well loved normally, are not the pinnacle of fashion. So, my husband, who has a better sense of what looks good on me that I do, picked out a lovely alpaca coat for me at a shop in Richmond. It's on hold until close tomorrow since I couldn't make up my mind to spend the money for it or not. I had no idea stylish coats were so very expensive so I'm reluctant with our trip less than a week and a half away. Anyway, I can't make up my mind.

Michael has made popcorn now, this is kind of a boring and unintended post anyway, so it's bedtime with good eats and tv, animals all snuggled in bed with us. Good night!

Time Escaping

Due to time constraints, commitments and other pursuits, my blog is on hiatus indefinitely until my new life sorts itself out a bit and I figure out how to balance the load.  Everyone have a happy holiday and a healthy new year.