Spring Fever

I'm totally a victim of Spring fever. I've been in the cabin for too long and I'm about ready to burst. I do have some new things brewing so once the sun comes out, so will the new stuff. Here's a sneak peek.

With a lot more to come! Stay tuned.

Zen and the art of surfing

I went to Hawaii last week. It was raining the first two days but I've come to accept rain on vacations as part of my family curse. So what did I do? I surfed. For the first time ever. And I stood up. Every. Time.

I can't take all the credit though, I had a fantastic teacher who also happens to sell on Etsy. Click here to see he and Kristin's amazing work. Seababe offers jewelry that is chic and cool with an edge. It's all handmade by them in Hawaii. They are also super smart and sweet to work with. I love their work, please check out their shop!

Wax carving

It's something I never thought I could do, carving. I was never any good at working with clay or even carving Ivory soap bars on camping trips in Girl Scouts. Even now I still surprise myself when I finish a wax carving, that it turned out looking like what I intended it to.

Here's a brand new piece that I carved last weekend. It took me about 3 1/2 hours to carve it, but I had to take little breaks in between. Usually when I start swearing I know it's time to walk away from my bench.

Step one, start with a block of wax:

Step two, saw off a slab and trace pattern onto the block:


Step three, saw out a rough shape:


Step four, shape with files, fingernail, rough cloth, whatever ya got:


Step five, using burrs carve out the back of the piece and create a bail:


Last step, smooth it out until it's perfect and ready for casting:


Stay tuned for the final piece...