We Say Goodbye

Saturday January 3rd 2009 we lost our dog Petey. She was 13 years old. She passed on us suddenly at 5:20 pm after eating her dinner and going out to go potty. She came back in and collapsed on the kitchen floor like she was having a seizure. She never came out of it after that. After 20 minutes of seizing up and relaxing she seized up one last time. She had been acting normal that whole day. She followed me around like she always does as I took the down the Christmas decorations and cleaned the house. She always would lay right where I would need to vacuum and she would always have to move. Now she's gone. We all miss her terribly. Tom and I haven't been without a dog for 15 years. It's a very strange feeling. As a family, we've been doing all we can to keep her in our memories. I made a picture collage for the kids so they can show Petey to all their friends. I'm working on a memorial video slideshow of her pictures. I hung the scratchboard portraits of both Petey and Tootsie up together on Saturday before Petey had passed. Now they are together again on the Rainbow Bridge with all of their other canine pals!

I just found the video making program on my computer! It's so easy and so much fun that I quick made a video slide show of my jewelry to show on youtube. It's been suggested to get on youtube to help advertise but I didn't know exactly what to post. I don't think I'm ready for tutorials yet. I think whatever tutorial video I could make is already out there. Then I discovered the video maker and it gave me the idea to showcase my photos in a video format for everyone to enjoy!




Here's the link to the video on You Tube.

In Memory of Tootsie

For Christmas this year I decided to do a scratchboard portrait of our very first dog "Tootsie" for my husband. He didn't have any idea that I was working on this portrait. I would work on it while I was at my work or while he was at work. He was very surprised to receive his gift and got choked up. He and Tootsie were very close. He misses her terribly. She died suddenly when she was eight years old. She seemed to be in perfect health but one day she was running around the yard with our other dog and she suddenly collapsed and died. All we can figure is that it was her heart that gave out. We won't know for sure but at least it was fast and she didn't suffer with years of heart failure. That was eight years ago and after making a scratchboard portrait of our other dog "Petey" my husband mentioned that a scratchboard of "Tootsie" would go well with it. He got his wish!

Open House Season In Full Swing

The next few weeks are jam packed with open houses! Mom is having one today at her house. I'm having another one next Saturday night and so on! Very exciting! I will get to show off my new creations in fine silver fusing! Custom pieces are always welcome. I really enjoy doing them and I get to do creations that I would not typically think to do!
Here are some earrings that I custom made to go with this necklace that I did not make. The necklace was a great design and I had a lot of fun doing it! The necklace was made with freshwater pearls, amethyst beads and czech fired beads, and sterling silver components. I already had some matching fresh water pearls already in my stock but I had to go on a hunt for faceted amethyst beads and sterling silver components that would compliment the necklace. Here's what I came up with. I was very pleased! Along with the earrings I had a request for a fish bead bracelet so here's what I came up with. Really fun piece!

First Open House of the Season

Tonight I'm looking forward to Sparkle n Stone's first open house of the season. I'm not sure how the turnout will be but I'm looking forward to it. I'm been trying new techniques lately including fusing silver wire so I'm anxious to show off my new creations including this necklace which includes my new homemade fused and hammered fine silver rings and clasp. This necklace also includes gemstone, fresh water pearl, and Swarovski crystal beads wire wrapped together.

Labradorite Pendant Triplets

Here are some new pendants I made. Though not a new design, the labradorites are really cool with lots of shimmer! Here are three different colors. Labradorite is one of my favorite gems. No two are the same. They are so cool I just want to keep them all!

Smokey Quartz Ring

I made this ring custom for someone who wanted a ring but wasn't interested in the rings that I had made already. I showed her my loose stones and she picked out this Smokey Quartz Briolette. She loved the color and cut of the stone. Even though it was a briolette it didn't have any holes so I didn't think it would be a problem setting it in a ring. She wanted gold so I used goldfilled wire. I really liked the way this one came out!