Earrings, Bullets & Doilies, Oh My!!

In 2003 a tornado hit my parents house. At the time, my mother had taken my father to a last hope cancer clinic in Mexico.

The next day I flew down to Tennessee to help my sister reclaim my mother’s house, as we knew that Dad was coming home to die. They lived in a log home, so much of it was spared less the 20,000 gallons of water from the lake that replaced the roof. I spent the next week trolling through everything they owned cleaning up and clearing out.

In time a pattern emerged. In every nook and cranny of all things small, little tokens of those who lived there became apparent. My father’s tokens were ammunition (remember urbanites, we are talking about a log cabin in Tennessee.) I don’t know what kind they were, all I saw were little bullets everywhere. My sister’s stamp was earrings. Not necessarily in pair form. Just a lonely earring, abandoned over the course of 15 years, tucked away for me to find. And my mother, little crochet doilies everywhere. She didn’t make them, but when you live in Tennessee they aren’t hard to come by.

Open a drawer, look in a teapot, on top of the bookcase, in the bathroom you will find a bullet, an earring and a doily, parts of my family.

And now I’m stuck. Crocheting these little wire doilies that keep reminding me of that time. A time when everything was coming apart at the seams and comfort was found in the familiar signs of everything that annoys me about my family.

Horray, my mom will be so proud!

Just in, the Bead & Button Show 2010 just revealed their cover for the class catalog. I am humbled to jump up and down and point excitedly at my Leaf Cluster Pendant as the wire representative! Many thanks to Kirstyn Russell for learning how to photograph jewelry, who knew it was so different from landscape photography. Nothing feels as strange as having something you made on a poster or front cover. No biggie, except that I will need to print out 100 copies and distribute them to everyone I know.

Now we just need to wait until they send out the catalog so that we can all drool all over their 600+ classes offered in a mere 7 day span.

Call it what you will, just don't call it the garage!!

I've been in my new house & studio for a month now. In the battle of time my house has been the winner so today I'm shifting gears. My new jewelry digs are alas, located in the one car garage. We just bought a duplex and our tenant has a garage beside mine. She uses her's as her Letterpress studio so I have high hopes that we get positive creative juices flowing between our walls.

Today's project was to photograph the setup of the space. Ah, all projects have ulterior motives, mine was to create a reason to put things away and unpack a bit more and take to take the garage out of the garage. After painting every room in the house I have elected to wait out some time before I paint the studio. A student of mine from San Rafael inspired me to express the mood I desire while working through paint. Another day another project, I'm still young.

So here goes... The Studio in Progress.

My bead cabinet is my pride and joy. I purchased it about 10 years ago at an antique store for $500. (Worth every penny) There are 24 drawers that measure 18" x 36". Inside are all my single bead treasures, clasp collection and lovely things to touch and behold. Each drawer is removable from the cabinet so I can spread out.


Of course what thrifty beader could do without IKEA? Each of these cabinets and wooden boxes came from that lovely DIY place. The little drawers served me well in the move. I labeled each drawer as to what mess was inside and just packed up all those loose beads, findings, chain, hoo-haas that seem to pentrate every crack and crevice of a beaders life. From the photo you may think everything is nicely put away but every good wire worker knows that there is often a mess hidden behind the embellishment.


Then we have the jeweler's bench. I purchased this at Otto Frei years back for about $750. I LOVE my bench. I'll admit, a dining table works fine but there is something to be said about having a table top surface that no one else in the house would use. My tools love the bench too. Someday far, far, far away, when everything is organized, I will make a photo tour of all the tools that live inside it.


And just like life, there is often a dark side. Behind all things cleared away and organized, I have a wall of boxes waiting for attention.

Metal Arts Association of Silicon Valley

All these years I have lived in the Bay Area and only because of Maureen Delema did I find out about MAASV. I am so excited to see such a great local organization that I have posted a few pics from their website, click any pic and it will take you to the website.


My latest jewelry obsession these past couple weeks has been crocheting with wire. MAASV is offering a two day workshop with Arline Fisch on October 10-11th in San Jose. I have had a secret artist crush on her for many years. If you aren't familiar with her work get to the Google search bar right away.

The Last Grandparent Standing

Grandmother exhibited many talents, from gutting fish to knitting a knobbly sweater, all in a day's work. There are remnants of her exhibits around my home, minus the scaled fish. A quilt she made me in college, a denim apron with my nephews handprints painted on it (great for chemical patina protection), to a pillow that converts into a throw. When I was little girl I resented her encouragement to learn these finer female crafts. Outside was always more fun.

Grandpa was a welder. By the time I was born his 4 car garage was a wonderland of greasy dark finger chopping tinker tools that provided no hope for a car seeking respite. Against Grandma's wishes us grandkid's loved to sneak a peek at the urinal in the back of the garage. It was a porcelain idol for men who knew tools and drank beer in the afternoon. When Grandpa would weld, the orange sparks would fan out but we didn’t dare look as our eyes might shrivel up as if we were looking into an eclipse.

After the final funeral my heart went out to my grandmother and the activities that I refused her. I wonder if I told her that I can garden, knit and crochet, learned long after I set up my own home. I see her sewing machines, left now abandon, and wish I had had her teach me to sew. So I collected my inheritance from her studio. Her scissors, needles, crochet hooks, a pin cushion (because like a good woman she had three) and a collection of vintage German glass buttons I gave her many years ago that I am sure were a bit too fancy for her work.

And now I stand on the other side of that life. That generation has passed and now my mother is the grandma and I am no longer the granddaughter. Grandpa, I'll see your metal with some wire and raise you a crochet hook from Grandmother and may I build a strong family fabric to bring it all together.

The Computer Monster

I get quite a bit of flack at home for not posting often enough on my blog. After a bit of soul searching I recognize that I have lost direction in my work. Maybe it is that word alone that has misguided me. WORK It has been almost 2 years since I worked full time for someone else, so I must question why has my brain applied that dirty little word to my favorite thing: making jewelry.

There is a new day dawning here. I am about to move (keep your fingers crossed that all goes well on this front) and I have decided to take the computer out of the studio (can you hear the record scratch in the background?). For me it's like I just said when I move I won't be taking the TV along.

The hope here is that I can separate myself from the noise of tempting clicks to be had and refocus on the quiet inside that guides me to make and create and enjoy the activity that drives me most. While I'm at it I would also like to leave my big beader's butt in the studio whenever I leave. Hmm, it's gonna take a while to figure that one out.

Wire Hand Tools & Me

I'm a tool junkie, I can admit it. I have so many tools in my drawer and each one has a special place in my heart (and hand). Writing about them is like taking a trip down the Lost & Forgotten Love Memory Trail.

Take my roundnose pliers for instance. My first pair was bought in Boston at Beadworks when I was 20 yrs old. I worked at this beadstore for about a year and it was a slice of heaven for a new beader. The pliers are German with a red rubber coating on the handles. One may think I am fancy as my first pair were German pliers but alas, before this tool was welcomed into the fold I was using a serrated chainnose plier to make "triangles" on the top of my earrings. I still have both of those tools.

Then came the German Ergonomic handles. At first sight I was excited by their sexy red and black striped handles, teasing me to hold them and spin then about inside a loop of wire. These I picked up about 9 years ago at my local store. They are still my favorite for working wire that is 20g or heavier.

Next came the Lindstroms. When you read Lindstrom think diamonds. This lovely tool features a light weight, cool-blue and black ergo handle with such fine tips on the jaws that wire wrapping with 28g wire is a miniature lovers dream. These are my babies, they are always in play for wires smaller than 20g.

Of late I have developed a secret lust for a 1/2 round-1/2 chainnose plier. I know, I know it's not a "normal" tool but I just love how that chainnose jaw keeps me from dinging the outside of my loops on heavy gauge wire. Mock me if you will, this tool will one day be a hot ticket item.

But this is just a list of my roundnose; let us not forget the wire cutters, nylon-jaw flat nose and chainnose (with it's bent-nose cousin in tow.) Move aside files and hammers, this post is about Wire Hand Tools!

What kind of hand tools do you love and why? I'd love it if any reader would like to share your tool stories via comments.