Look What I Found

My kids are pretty much grown now and I've never really been into sending out Christmas cards with pictures of family on - but, look at these beautiful kids ...

Find - Pinch of Spice - here.

Find - Announcing You - here.

New Purchases.

I've had my eye on Joy Tanner's pottery for a good while now and finally got around to buying some. These pieces are just beautiful and I can't wait to receive them.

Find Joy Tanner's Pottery - here.

And this piece from Loretta Wray is one of my favourite pottery shapes and the colour is just lovely - soft and subtle. You can almost imagine it sitting there just waiting to be useful.

Find Loretta Wray's pottery - here.

It is my aim, as I get older, to fill my life with simple pleasures and surround myself with beauty. I think these pieces are a great addition to that goal.

You can find the work of these potters by clicking the link below the pictures.

Playing with fire.

I've been enjoying trying new things with my torch. These are the first prongs that I've made. I was pretty pleased with them. I would like my leaves to have more dimension, however. And the copper, well, I just love it.

Rustic Goodness

'I love your rustic heart' by coldfeetjewelry

Rusty Heart Art Print fringefalcon $30.00	Robot Birthday Cake Top... RobotsAreAweso... $35.00	Rustic Copper Heart Art... JoLovesJewelry $22.00	SoLdEr aRt Rusty Heart ... katinn $22.00
Rose Pink Czech Glass a... BellaLinaDesig... $38.00	Dramatic Hammered heart... Starsbcreation... $36.00	Sterling Silver and Cop... coldfeetjewelr... $58.00	Artisan Rustic HEART C... cathydailey $11.78
Rustic Heart assortment... ChelleV2 $10.00	Rusty Heart Photography... autumnraincrea... $10.00	Red rustic polymer clay... thefunkymelon $30.00	Rustic Spice Hearts WanderingWhims... $7.95
Coptic stich rustic woo... crearting $95.00	Darya. Copper Fish in L... SimpleeYou $55.00	Burlap Pillow from Upcy... MarthyMay $28.00	Industrial Chic Wall He... jmrpottery $64.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Twittering

I've just joined Twitter.

I joined once before but didn't really use it and didn't really understand it - well, that's not strictly true, I understood the concept but not the ins and outs so to speak. So now I have 'rejoined' the twittering world in an effort to help my jewelry sales.

I have finally decided to commit to Cold Feet Studio.

For various reasons I have never fully committed to putting my work out there. I have had an Etsy shop for years now but never really worked it until recently. To be honest I don't really expect much from Etsy but I do know that I'll have to put a lot more into it to get anything out of it. And I only do one art festival a year.

But I love making things and I love it when someone likes what I've made. I feel happy and at home as soon as I walk into my studio and I have fought this for years with my lack of confidence. Well, that's getting old now and, frankly, who cares anyway.

So I have made my commitment. I have a website, I am blogging, I am committed to perfecting my craft and finding venues to sell it and now I am twittering - well, as soon as I can figure out what I'm doing that is.

The quilt I made for Nikki.

I made this quilt for my daughter, Nikki. It took me a long while because I tend to take long breaks.

I have so much I love to do and when I do them I tend to go for it with all my focus and time and nothing else matters. I cannot be distracted. And then something shifts and I stop. Sometimes for months, even a year, at a time. It might be ceramics, painting, quilt making or jewelry. It can also be writing. But, at least, there is always something there for me.

When I picked this quilt up again, I worked solidly on it until it was finished. All told, in work hours, I really don't think it took me that long - in real time, about a year.

I designed it with my quirky flowers, and picked bright, vibrant colours, because that is what is in my heart for Nikki.

My mind is now conjuring up designs and colours for Becky, my other daughter, but I know I will have to wait for when that quilt wants to happen.

New tricks

It takes me a while but eventually I get there.

After looking at work by artists I admire, I was baffled how they didn't get all the bumpy overspill of solder around their wonderful clean silver cut outs - until I remembered that you don't need solder if you are fusing two pieces of silver together. Definitely a 'duh' moment. Not quite as 'duh' as when it finally clicked that I could use my rolling mill to thin my metal to the gauge I needed instead of buying loads of different sheets, but pretty much up there!!

To say I'm a slow learner wouldn't be far off the mark, but I'm nothing if not persistent!