Hello again... a new bathroom!

Hello friends,

I have been missing in action from this little blog (yet again!) for some time now...
I have no beads or jewellery to show you, I am afraid! I can, however, tell and show you something that I have been working on these last couple of months.

Actually, the last 6 months or so have seen me very busy, settling in to my new home and all that that entails, re-establishing my work and building up my client hours again and generally learning about and living in a new location.

We have been working on the house putting our "own stamp on it".... renewing and repairing.

The first room to have some major work done to it was the small ensuite bathroom. While the room was  essentially functional, it was quite outdated in appearance and I think, did not have either a very satisfactory layout or storage.

In the old bathroom configuration, the toilet was the first thing you noticed when the door was opened (not nice!) and the vanity had very small drawers and a skinny top with not a lot of storage either inside or out.

Old vanity... toiletries still waiting to be unpacked here!

New vanity... still only a single sink, but lots more storage. It is also the first thing you notice when coming through the door, (much nicer than the previous toilet!) The doors and drawers all "soft-close" as does the toilet, a wonderful little luxury.

 I love the spacious "farm-house" style sink and lever taps.

Sorry about the reflections... the floor is all one level.. and has been carefully sloped so water drains away.. it works so well.. does not come out from under the frameless shower door at all. The floor tiles are a medium 'mink' type of colour, the shower tiles are a gorgeous damask design and the rest are a coolish beige. All very neutral, but they look quite good together even if I do say so myself!

The damask feature tile is gorgeous! It is textured and both reflective and satin and has about 4 different muted colours throughout. This covers two sides of the shower recess.

The shower niche has a base to match the vanity marble top..This wall is in the plainer coloured tile.

The window will soon have white plantation shutters to match the ones you see reflected in the mirror which are in the walk in wardrobe. Crystal, look- a- like lights are on each side of the mirror. These are more modern in style as I did not want the bathroom to be TOO traditional in appearance.

The toilet is now located where the old vanity once sat... a much better location.

So that's it! I hope you think it looks better! My brother-in-law, Robert, (from Bayline Homes) and team did a great job.

Next year we will attack the main bathroom... and that will be another post!

Until next time,

Drilling Sea Glass

Hello friends,

Continuing on from my previous post about the wonder of finding gorgeous sea-glass on my local beach, I decided I had better do something practical with it!

I decided to drill some holes through which I will thread a jump ring.
To achieve that, I used a 1.5mm Diamond core drill bit (from Rio Grande) with my battery operated dremel to make a hole in the glass.

I rested the glass on a piece of wood which was immersed in water (just covering) so the glass and drill bit were both slightly covered when drilling. This keeps the drill bit from overheating.

The core drill bit was 180 grit... next time I purchase, I may look at a rougher grit, as it did take a while to drill through the glass... but maybe I was just being too impatient!

The one with the red mark is waiting to be drilled. I used a permanent marker so I could see the exact place to rest the drill bit underwater.

Next stop... jump rings and jewellery!

Hope you have had a lovely weekend,

Beach Treasures

Hello dear friends,

You probably think I have died or given up on the blog... or something along those lines!
Well, obviously the first is not true and the second... well... let's just say I have had a long hiatus!

Part of the reason for my absence was selling and moving house.  Yes, a big adjustment for anyone after 25 years in one home.

I have moved from a suburb close to the city to one a little further away, but also within walking distance to a beach. This is very new for me and I must say I am really loving that aspect of my new location.
While I have never been a beach worshipper as far as sunbathing and swimming goes, I have always loved strolling along the beach at any time of the day or weather. (It is still Winter here in Australia.)

Recently, I have discovered a little bay that seems to offer up little "treasures" on every visit.
I have always been on the lookout for beach glass ... long before moving here. I have never had much luck finding beach glass, and the few pieces I did collect over the years, have been carefully kept with the thought that I would add to the collection.. one day!

Well, let's just say that collection is now growing (almost) daily and at a rapid rate! I will soon have enough that I can actually make something with it ...possibly a mobile, possibly jewellery?
Here are a few photos of items collected during today's beach stroll.

Today's beach glass.. I am thrilled with the colours!

Pottery shard...I also love to collect heart-shaped rocks... but this was a real find today!

Interesting texture on this shell and some glass pieces, previously clear and now aged by the sea.

Sea urchin shell remnant, still with spikes. (sorry about the blur!)

A lovely old plank. And an almost, heart - shaped piece of glass!

A few more things!

As well as doing an (almost) daily walk to the beach, we are working on our new home.

There are, of course, many things to be done, adjusted and changed... so I will be posting soon about that too. 

Meanwhile, I do have to say, it feels good to be back!

I will see you again soon,

love,

Jenni

Choices!

Hello friends,

Sorry I have been missing in action for so long! Ghastly hot weather has left me flaked on the couch and devoid of energy. 

Photo from Fleaing France.tumblr.

I have recently sold my old Victorian house. I have lived there for 25 years.

I am on the hunt for a new home and have been looking at houses, both modern and more old fashioned in style. Sometimes I think I love modern and convince myself of it.. and then I see a house with character and nooks and crannies and delightful kitchens like the one above, that is full of interest and charm ( well it is French!) and I fall in love with old once again. I wish I could make up my mind! An older style home is just winning the choice by a nose at the moment..

I have a yearning to find old bits and pieces to put in a home and to plant a garden again… can’t help it… that is just who I am I think… and maybe I just shouldn’t fight that!? I did say I would not ‘do’ an old house again…. they are expensive to maintain etc etc. But yet….?! Charm  just might win in the end!

I will keep on with my journey until I find something that I think is probably a compromise of both old and new… for the right price of course!

It is not an easy task… wish me luck.. I need as much as I can get!

So tell me, have you ever felt this difficulty, this battle between old and new? This decision between what might be easier and what you are drawn to regardless. I’d love to hear… it just might help me with this continuing battle that circles my brain constantly…!

Goodnight for now,

Jenni

Focus On Life - Can you feel the Love?

Hello friends,

It is now week six of Focus on Life.

Sally from the Studio Sublime sent us the challenge this week to see if we could 'feel the love'.

I snapped this one last night... we are all besotted by our little Miniature Schnauzer dog, Pepper. This is her with my daughter.

At 12, ( is that 84 years in human terms? ) years of age, Pepper is such a little fighter. She has Lupus, Diabetes and now has started to lose both her vision and hearing.

I can hear some of you say..."surely it would be kinder to let her go?" Well, even though she has all those formidable health issues, she seems to enjoy her day. She is still reasonably active, enjoys her food and is in no obvious pain.

Most days, ( unless it is too hot or rainy... sensible girl! ) she still loves her twice daily walk.
She loves being where we are and follows us from room to room just to be part of the action.
Today she sat with me in the studio, quite comfortably while I fiddled around (no gas or loud hammering noises) with a piece I was working on. It was nice to have 'someone' to talk to!

So, she is with us for a bit longer. We all know her time is probably short, so we hug her constantly! I think it is the love of "her people" that keeps her going.

Laura and Pepper - February 2013.

Hope you are feeling a bit of love around your neck of the woods, 

Hugs,

Changes are coming...

Hello friends,

Do you remember my dressmakers form? I called her Collette.

She sits in my bedroom and I think she looks pretty good here.... everything is pretty neat here ( well I think so)  as we are selling our home after 25 years! Scary thought really!

There's also our Bridge of Sighs painting and the old Japanese calligraphy box.... I love to have things with a bit of character around.... the bedside cupboards belonged to my parents-in-law and the cedar chest was my parents.

Next time around I am hoping to buy a more modern home.... I don't mind a mix of new and old although this room is definitely weighted towards the old.

I hope I can still fit these old favourites in our new home... we shall see!

Until next time,

2013 Photo a Day - a January collage

Hello friends,

This year I am attempting to take a photo a day, that has been pertinent to my day. These days when most of us have camera phones, it is a pretty easy task to take a snap or two.

I have joined up to the Flickr group 2013PAD (photo a day) and so far, have managed to keep on track. I attempted to do this last year  but only managed to get to the end of July... this year will be different!! The power of positive thought....!

Here are two collages that I put together on Pic Monkey, a very easy and free photo processing site.
I use it as I love the collage feature... I just wish it had a collage option for a whole month at a time!

You can see my photos each day by clicking on the Flickr banner on my blog side bar or from here.

January 2013PAD photos

The rest of January 2013PAD photos!

If you haven't thought of this, I urge you to give it a go. It is fun. It makes you more observant. It encourages you to think and appreciate your day and what has occurred in it. A bonus is at the end, you have a wonderful record of the year gone by. It is not too late.. there are still 11 months to go!


Hope you are having a wonderful start to your week,

I Heart Macro - a beady cup!

Hello friends,

Nine years ago, I made the exciting journey to the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The trip entailed flights from Melbourne, Australia to Sydney to Los Angeles to Chicago to Milwaukee. I cannot remember exactly how long it took, but I do remember it was LONG!

The last leg, on a smaller plane, was made delightful by the meeting of a lady on the plane who was from Milwaukee. She drove me, with her family, out of their way, from the airport to my hotel doorstep.
I cannot remember her name, but I will always remember her kindness.

The beads I purchased at this wonderful show have long gone but I still use this cup daily.
It is covered with the pictures of talented and celebrated American lampworkers and was released by the Bead and Button magazine to celebrate their 10th anniversary that year.

Occasionally, I think it is time to do that trip again... next year will be 10 years.... hmmmm....Might need to start saving now!

Today, I am linking up to I Heart Macro at Studio Waterstone for those who like to take up close and macro photos. Please do join me over there.

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday,

Focus on Life - week 5 - Capture our hearts.

Hello friends,

It has been a while between posts. Preparing my home for sale has kept me busy!

Today, I am joining in to  Focusing on Life - 52 photos- a photo a week throughout the year. The prompt for the week was 'capture our hearts'. I have interpreted this in a literal sense... so here are a few I found.....

A heart made from vintage velvet hanging on a cupboard in my daughter's room.

Hearts made from an old atlas... you can see more about these here.

A glass paperweight.. you know how I love my paperweights!

And because I missed out on joining in last week, here is a little something I made during the week....my first stone set in a sterling bezel which I made by following the instructions on a DVD by 

Lexie Erickson. ( The stone is a dendritic agate)

Last week was all about creating art... making jewellery is where my creative heart is at the moment, it is my art.

Here is a heart I made a while back from copper and resin.

And if you pop on over to the studio sublime you can check out all the other lovely hearts.

That's it from me today, folks,

have a good weekend,

Wax Carved Ring - a work in progress

Hello friends,

It's exciting to start resuming class again. It's only once a week for 3 hours, but I really look forward to it.
This term, I have been bumped up to the intermediate jewellery making class which is a little scary.

Our first project for the year is a wax carved ring. The beauty of this process is that there is very little loss of metal ( and expense) and multiple copies can be made.

I am not at all familiar with the process... but here is my understanding of it so far....

A jewelry item is made from wax by sawing/filing/carving. In our case, the class project is a ring prototype.

A mould is then made from the finished wax ring with plaster and then molten metal (silver in my case) will then be poured in to the mould. Somewhere in the process the wax is 'lost' during firing... this gives the process it's name........'lost wax carving'

The beginning of my rings. The fatter one will (hopefully) be a signet ring.

As you can see, I have not made a lot of progress! The larger one, which will be a signet ring, has been sized to my finger and partially shaped. It still requires a lot of refining... the top piece needs shaping and the ring band needs shaping and thinning out..... a lot of work ahead.

The thinner one is going to be more experimental.... holes and melty bits added to it... nice and organic... a bit of a play toy just to see what the wax can do when you have fun with it.

Well that's it for me today, hope your day is a good one.....

I Heart Macro - cabs!

Hello friends,

Two posts in a day...  playing catch up!

Yesterday, I had a day away from preparing the house for sale and took a trip to the country for a Lapidary and gem show at Yarragon, Victoria.

I have always wanted to try and set a cab in silver but needed to buy a cab to try it! I couldn't help myself and bought a few cabs to try and also the tools that help fold/push the metal over the stone.

Next step... the silver, the bezel and the instructions.....
I have no idea if these are 'good' or not.. I just chose a few from the ones available that I liked.

Fossilised coral x 2, dendritic agate, Botswana agate, Purple Chalcedony and an Australian Garnet

Tools for pushing the edges of the metal over the cab.

Now to make the time to put these babies together!

Linking up to Lori's for I Heart Macro

Cheers for now,

Focusing on Life - week 3 - relaxing time

Hello friends,

Books have always been a joy in my life. I was raised in a family of readers and writers. Reading will always be a way for me to relax and spend a bit of time to myself..  there is not a day that goes by without me spending some time with a book ( or e-book often ) these days.

A lot of the books I read these days have to do with jewellery making/silversmithing/ as that is my passion. This book is an exception... it is more for the sheer joy of looking at Angie's wonderful designs and the mix of colors she uses so well together. It is just total inspiration to me.

Front cover

How beautiful is this! Colour and design is always a challenge for me........this book is just full of beauty!

Today I am linking up to the studio sublime where Sally is hosting Focusing on Life over this year. 

Until next time,

I Heart macro

Hello again,

I love pomegranate juice. We drank a lot of it when we visited Turkey a few years back. The fruit in Turkey were massive.. the size of grapefruits.

To open a pomegranate, score it through the centre and twist to open it. Turn it upside down and hit it with a wooden spoon and hopefully, the fruit will drop out.

The juice and seeds of the fruit are said to be a high source of vitamin C and a powerful anti-oxidant.

Some say one of the benefits is reduction of high blood pressure. 

Pomegranate seeds and shell.

Today I am linking up to I Heart Macro. Head on over and join us.... for a look at close up and macro photography.

Until next time,