In love with Blue Agate

I’ve been on a creative streak the last couple of weeks and have moved from crochetting undrilled gemstone nuggets to reviving my rosary bracelets to wiring agate slices.

Along the way, I’ve fished out some long-ago stashed away supplies and stumbled upon some new ones which continue to get me on road of experimentation that has produced quite a few creations I am very proud of.

Some are still “in development” which is that phase of production where even when you have a finished piece, you “test drive” the product by wearing it.  I do this for my more unusual pieces to what comments I get and if the integrity of the piece will hold together.

For the “conventional” designs, it goes straight from the production to photography to posting.

Pardon the grainy photo but there wasn’t enough light when I took it, I guess.  There are times when my iPhone cam is all I need to come up with a spectacular showcase, but other times, I’m reminded it IS just a phone cam.

I’ve been so enamored by these blue agate beads which I have found in various shapes and sizes in flat faceted form — and I have been wearing the above pair for a while now simply because I love it.  A real shoulder duster pair, the agates are very airy and light because although there are three major chunks of agate in this piece, they are held together rosary style by gold findings which makes them sway with you as you move about while wearing them.  They have a very regal shade of blue that makes you look and look a second time.  I don’t even have to add any other major embellishments and voila — such a statement piece.  Coming soon to the Etsy Shop, I have several configurations I’m putting together and hope to post this week..

The Store is slowly getting back on its feet again which is good.  It has taken me long enough to get back to tending it and growing the inventory again.  Traffic is picking up as well, which is good.  Now, if I can only make things pick up in this corner… (First, I have to keep posting, I know.)

Thanks for stopping by…

Things I have been up to

The previous week(s) have been rather busy but I’ve been trying to get things done on the creative front.  The will is there, but there are days when I am too exhausted or just need to skip the creative time altogether.  I know I must find the time, even just a few minutes each day, but not everything I want to do can be done with the snap of a finger.

But the point is, I’m trying.  It has given me a sense of accomplishment somehow.  It’s a concrete sign of being able to move forward, no matter how slow it may be.

The good news is that I  have been successful in keeping my art journal up to date, and as I’m writing this and trying to make some chicken salad of some leftover KFC, I am also working on some backgrounds that need “gesso”-ing. But more importantly, I’ve managed to scribble something rather regularly even if not literally every day.

My gesso is a little old so I’m thinning it with water. The idea is to cover the back of the layouts below because the black ink of the text and the color shadings had seeped into the back of the next page. I was initially thinking of covering it with chalkboard black paint, but I nixed that for gesso first. I still might do the background in all black — but I’m having second thoughts right now.

My first attempts at using gesso were rather a disappointment, and I realize now that it’s probably because I used too much of the gesso.  I like it when it’s applied a little thinner btu still enough to be opaque.

I’ve also been trying to create accessories again, this time trying my hand at wire-wrapping. I’ve found a lot of inspiration online and am trying to learn from the various tutorials available on YouTube, while trying to create my own way of getting things done. My first attempt after several yards of wasted wire is below. It’s a work in progress literally but I like the way this came about. I need to watch more videos.

The shop is beginning to get populated again little by little.  Slow traffic but I know I have to keep posting to bring the people in.  Even this little corner of mine isn’t exactly bustling with reader traffic but I’m telling myself it’ll come if I finally come around to devoting enough time to it.  Then I quickly remind myself that I have to accept that there is only so much that I can do.  A day at a time…