Artful Stones I just HAD to wire wrap this week....

 I wrapped some beauties this week!  When I was at the gem show last weekend I also found some gorgeous cabochons I couldn't resist wrapping --in between my clay creations.  All of them have amazing scenery or artful patterns within ...and they're all natural! 

The pieces I wire wrapped this week (so far) include Shattuckite, Bumblebee Jasper, Porcelain Jasper, and Morrisonite.  

The shattuckite reminds me of a view of earth from outer space, complete with a blue sunset on the horizon.  The bumblebee jasper has a mountain scene within.  The porcelain jasper & morrisonite have intricate, abstract patterns like works of fine art.  All of these colors, scenes, and expertly created works of art are compliments of Mother Nature ...and skilled lapidary hands.  Oh God, am I a stone nerd or what? 

I'll have an update soon with pics of some of the clay pieces I'm working on with the stone slabs I found at the show too.  Soooo many stones, so little time ...what's a girl to do?

My Heart is Singing and my Hands are Itching!!

Ohhhh ......I found some treasures at a local Gem show yesterday (and today, I couldn't stay away)!  One Lapidary Artist's scraps are this girl's treasure!  :)  These are polished stone slabs, end cuts from Greg Graup, a local cab cutter, lapidary artist.

My creative heart is singing and my hands are itching, as I'm SOooOO looking forward to working with these!!  So many beautiful colors and patterns to work with.  Oh, this girl needs to calm down and focus!  LOL.

I'll be sure to share what some of these beauties become. 

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year filled with Inspiration, Blessings, Peace, Love, and Joy!! 

Thank you for all of your kindness, support, and inspiration this past year.  Counting my blessings this holiday season and so grateful for a wonderful year ...filled with amazing friends, family, fur-balls, and artful endeavors.  I have no idea where the year went ...I hope 2014 is a great one too!! 

~with Love,

Kristie-Lou SWJ

It's that time of year again!!  30 degree temperatures, a morning snow flurry, and 24/7 Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel are working their magic.  This artist has quietly started humming carols and creating little holiday designs!!

I was first inspired to go to our storage unit and dig out a tub of ornaments and decorations.  I dug thru them, smiling like a kid in a candy shop, and spread them around my office.  I just couldn't put them all back in the tub and it's a little early to go Christmas Crazy in the house ...so I made myself a little Christmas office, "Santa Kristie's workshop."  :)  Santa's workshop is quickly spreading ...my clay workbench has tiny snowflakes, angel wings, Santa's, and reindeer everywhere!!  I still need to find my ipod to get the Andy Williams playing -LOL!

I made these little pieces on watch faces first ...started with them because the days are starting to FLY!!  Where did the year go??  Oh my!    

Summer!

Today was a beautiful summer day!  We've had a lots of dud weekends this season, today was definitely a winner.  Ian and I visited Brecknock Orchards, a local farm and market.  We bought tons of farm fresh fruits and veggies and splurged on some u-pick flowers. 
I'm glad we did!! It was so much fun wandering thru the garden amidst the flowers and endless butterflies.  They were dancing about and so beautiful to be amongst.  Inspiring and the house is full of zinnias, black-eyed-susans, a sunflower, and INSPIRATION!

  

Back to Wire!

 

 Finally getting back to my wire, it's been awhile.  I'm having fun playing --I have stones all over my bench again.  It's been a long haul since eye surgery, but the eyes are finally settling down (knock on wood), cooperating, and allowing me to enjoy working with my wire and stones a bit more.  Hooray!!  I'm slower than I once was, but who cares!!  I GET TO CREATE AGAIN!!!  Something I feared might not be possible a year ago. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day!!  

Hope your day is sweet, and perhaps a little spicy.  

Don't forget to to take a few moments to pamper or treat yourself today.  

You deserve it!! 

Sisters!

Just finishing up a batch of floral, paisley, butterfly ladies.  They look like a beautiful gathering of sisters on my bench at the moment.  Some look a bit art deco, some as if they have bonnets or caps on, one looks like she likes to play rough, and one looks rather persnickety!

I had fun creating them, each has lots of hand detailing and many, many elements composing them.  I kept the painting subdued as there is so much going on with each.  O, I wish they could talk!  In my head, they do, but please don't tell anyone they might come to take me away.  LOL!

Dreaming of Warmer Days!!

Ohhhhhhh I'm ready for warmer days!  The beach, butterflies, warm breezes, the scent of flowers.  As you can see warmer designs and colors are creeping back into my designs.  It was a nice day today, for Pennsylvania in January.  But 20 degrees tonight, with a good wind whipping --BRRrrRRRrrRRRR!!!  

--How did I ever land in Pennsylvania after 11 years in South Florida???????  No wonder I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather these days! 

New Leaf Ladies on Wood Tiles ...a suggestion for capping the holes...

Yipee !  A new design ...leaf ladies on wood tile beads.  The tiles I used for these leaf ladies were once part of a wooden placemat.  When I saw the size and shape of the tiles, I couldn't resist re-purposing them into leaf lady beads.  They are the perfect backdrop!

Each wooden leaf lady bead has 4 larger (2-3mm) holes ...2 running vertical, and 2 horizontal.  I have not capped any of the holes in the pieces I have for sale as they allow for many design options.  But, I know many of you will not use all 4 holes, and may want to cap or cover the open, unused holes.  My solution ...3mm beads, they look great and cover the holes perfectly. 

3mm beads fit perfect in drill holes.

Most of the holes in these leaf lady beads are 3mm in diameter at the surface ...allowing little 3mm beads to fit perfectly inside them and cap/close them off.  You'd think the wooden beads were drilled purposely to add the 3mm beads -so they could become decorative elements.

If you'd like to cap the holes I'm sure any 3mm beads will work, I used copper.  I suggest trying each of your beads inside each hole you're planning to plug, to make sure they fit good before gluing them in.  Helpful Hint: when testing your 3mm beads for fit, make sure you have them on thread or position their holes in a way that you can pop the bead out with a needle if it falls into the hole of your leaf lady bead.     

3mm copper beads inserted into holes.

Once you know all your beads will fit, add a little epoxy (or glue of your choice) to the inside edges of the holes with a toothpick, and pop your beads inside.

If your 3mm beads do not fit in one of the holes on your leaf lady, try a few beads from the same strand ...there's always variations in the size of each bead and/or hole.  Or.... 

Top-side view of copper beads in holes.

• For the holes that were a bit small for my 3mm beads, I used an excato knife and/or a fat bead reamer to shave a bit off the very outside edges of the hole, just enough so my 3mm copper bead could fit inside.   

• For the holes that were to big for my 3mm beads, I balled up a tiny piece of tissue paper, added epoxy, stuffed it inside the hole.  I then added the copper bead ...the tissue plugs the hole up a little, preventing the copper bead from slipping all the way into the hole.   

Hope this helps if you're scratching your head trying to figure out what to cover the extra holes with!!  Thanks for reading and Happy Creating!!!

Getting a bit silly with the Pics!

This morning I had a little fun with my pictures for etsy!  I found this little mannequin in my office and she was begging to be in a few pictures.  What do you think?  She was a little stiff, but I think she's a natural!! LOL


I spent some time learning and mastering gilded and leafing effects on the clay surfaces.  FUN, and soooooo addictive, and pretty!!  I'll be playing with this technique more in the future.

Have a GREAT week and thanks for visiting me here on my blog.

Guess What's in the works?????

 

Hope you had a wonderful holiday and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Now that the dust is settling from holiday chaos, I have lots of new faces finished and more in the works.  I've been playing with new paints, glazes, supplies, and techniques that I gathered up and received over the holidays.  I'll be experimenting with them for a few more days and then back to reality and the custom requests I have lingering out there.  I could not get them all finished over the holiday. 

It's always fun, and much needed, to take a little break and play.  It brings new ideas, discovery, inspiration, and renewed love for what I do.  I look forward to sharing new ideas and designs for 2013!!  Your inspiration is always welcome too.  Keep the pictures and suggestions coming!

Wishing you a wonderful holiday and a Blessed New Year!

Just wanted to take a moment to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and a joyous New Year, filled with blessings.  I can't thank you enough for your support in 2012 and look forward to 2013.  This has been a wild and wonderful year in many ways; I can't imagine what this coming year will bring!! Lots of hugs, love, and puppy dog kisses,
Kristie and the fur-kids

2 Days After Eye Surgery....

Okay, here's a bit of my eye surgery story ...something I promised myself I would do, as going ahead with this surgery was 2 years in the making --the last couple months being the most extreme, as I debated 24 hours a day as to whether I was making the right decision!  I researched online for months, there was lots of scary pictures of operations & surgical studies ...but little "average person" information available, and almost nothing from an adult patient's perspective.

I have a hereditary eye condition called Convergence Excess Esophoria (CEE).  It was not diagnosed until I was 38 years old, and was not given a comprehensive diagnosis until now, at 40 years old.  Strange, I know, but I never complained, and I did well in school when I was a kid.  I just stunk at sports and was a klutz who bumped their head and tripped over things all the time.

Me at the OP Center, pre-surgery

So, my experience with CEE  ...my eyes begin to cross when looking at anything 20 feet and closer.  The closer the object, the more they cross, in fact they cross to infinity ...if my eyes could trade sockets, they probably would at times.  Then, when I look in the distance they uncross.  With constant crossing/uncrossing needed as I drive, walk, or do anything that isn't at a fixed point.  BUT, as I have gotten older my eyes slowed down and were not crossing/uncrossing fast enough, causing constant blurred vision, loss of 3-D vision, and a world of eye fatigue, and crazy visual issues.  I tried progressive lenses and anything the doc suggested with poor results.  They would help for a few months and then back to the same complaints.  So on June 12, 2012 I scheduled surgery for August 6, 2012.  I was to have Bimedial Faden Sutures to correct Convergence Excess Esophoria.

In my own words, not surgical jargon -both eyes would be cut open and one of the muscles in each eye would be sutured to the back of the eye, to weaken the force of the muscle, and limit my eyes' ability to cross.  The procedure will limit the amount of crossing, so I can get special glasses/prisms if needed, to completely correct the problem and fine tune my vision.

That's my story... now here we go!  PLEASE keep in mind, I am writing this on DAY 3, Wednesday Aug 8th... it might not be perfect, as I'm still healing, but I wanted to share the process while I was recovering and going thru it....

Monday August 6th was DAY 1: 
I had the procedure at 12:30pm at our local outpatient surgery center.  My surgeon was Dr. Lee Klombers, MD, Neuro-Opthamologist.  I walked in, they put me under, did their thing, and I walked out, all within a couple hours.  Here's me, just got home from surgery, with my eyes covered and swollen shut.  It hurt, but I was still medicated, and able to smile :).

 

That night, I had to put medicated salve in my eyes, so this was my first look in the mirror.  Pretty dramatic --red eyes, bloody tears, purple hemorrhaging, and puffy lids.  I felt awful... the night was rough, VERY rough, as all I was given was tylenol.  All I could think is what did I get myself into?????  I wish I had insisted on something stronger for this first night as I was in PAIN and my eyes were having spasms, my head was jerking, and I was freaked out.  I can handle pain, but the spasms and jerking of my eyes was pretty intense.  I could not tolerate the weight of the ice packs this first night, I tried, but just set the ice on my brows.

DAY 2, August 7 2012
I survived Night 1 HOORAY!  I looked awful in the morning, but felt better than I did the night before, ANYTHING was better!  I gingerly washed my eyes and added more drops to get them moving.  They were sore, swollen, and there was a thick layer of gel over them that was making it hard to see. It was hard to tolerate light.  The purple rings in the whites of my eyes went away.  Every now and then I would get a glimpse of clear vision and it would go back to blurry.  Ian (my guy --let me clarify, my wonderful, patient, caring guy) took me to Target to get GenTeal Gel-drops eye drops, washcloths, and frozen peas.  I was nearly blind, but went just to get out of the house.   Then, Ian tells me that the doc told him days 2 & 3 will be the worst --Grrrrr, I think how could it get worse than Night 1??

When we got home, I put the gel-drops in my eyes, and napped with my frozen peas all afternoon.    Frozen peas brought the most relief!  I have gained new respect for frozen peas.  You can arrange them so they rest where you need them and elevate above the areas where you don't want them.  I call it pea tetris, a beautiful BEAUTIFUL thing!

When I woke up from my nap, the difference was profound, my eyes started to clear!  The cold peas and GenTeal drops helped A LOT!  This is me after my nap:

A BIG difference!  MY eyes were still a little blurry and ached like they were bruised, burned, and sprinkled with glass, but it was tolerable.  (believe it or not)  Tinted glasses and the ice-packs (peas) really brought the pain level down.  You can see my eyes are a little off, or slightly out of alignment, but they are working again.  They are working VERY well for things a few feet away, I am beginning to see in 3D, in a way I have NEVER seen things before.  The flowers outside the front door keep fascinating me, they are like jungle vines that look like they are going to reach out and touch me!!   It is slightly euphoric!!  Sounds silly, but it is really something!

With my new eyes I took the dogs for a mini-walk with Ian, washed a load of laundry, and watched a little TV.  Enough to tire me out for bed.  I slept with my peas and eventually my tape-on goggles.  I was restless, but slept MUCH better than the previous night.
 
DAY 3 August, 8, 2012  --TODAY:
Woke up early, washed eyes and they were much improved and straight.  Today they feel like they were stung by bees, burning itchy.  Right eye hurts more than the left.  Not bad, all things considered!  I can see... like, I can really see, in 3-D!  I look like crap, but who cares.

We headed off to the doctor for my Post-op follow up at 8:15am (too early).  The doc was VERY pleased; he said I am a fast healer.  He tested my eyes and there was NO crossing or jumping around.  And, at close-up I did not need my full bifocal rx!  He also numbed my eyes and trimmed the sutures that are on the surface of the whites of my eyes, MUCH relief when he trimmed them.  I follow up with him again on October 17th, when I will be completely healed, so I can get new glasses to fine tune my new eyes.

I took a few close-up pics today so you can see my eyes as they heal.   You can see where they were cut open and a hint of the fine purple sutures on the surface (near the bottom of my eyeball, if you click on the pics they should enlarge, if you're dying to see the close ups :)).  The sutures will dissolve over the next few weeks.

I would prefer not to go thru this kind of surgery again, but given the results in 48 hours IT WAS SOOOOOO WORTH IT!!!  I hope and pray all continues to go well and I will be sure to post an update here and there to let you know how things are going.  If you have a question please feel free to contact me.  I am happy to share or help if I can --from a patient's perspective, I am not a clinician.   

I am looking forward to getting back to my creative endeavors over the next several days.  I can't wait to see my clay and jewelry in 3D, clearer, and better than I EVER have!!!!  I am limited for awhile as I can not expose my eyes to dusts, powders, chemicals, soaps, etc for 10-14 days.  But I'm going to see what I can do in the meantime...even if it's cleaning my bench off with goggles on!

Eye Surgery on Monday!

It's been a long time!  I wanted to take a moment to give everyone an update, and thank you for your support and patience, as my creative and computer time has been limited over the last few months.  Many of you know I have been struggling with my vision over the last couple of years.  Well, after MANY, many visits to the doctor, a ridiculous number of prescription changes and specialty lenses, they finally figured out what was going on with my eyes.

I have an unusual form of convergence excess esophoria and strabismus... A lot of words (and there's more) to basically explain that my eyes cross, and the closer the object I am viewing, the worse they cross --to infinity and beyond!  As I have gotten older, their ability to uncross and refocus has slowed down, causing blurred and double vision.  The more close-up stuff I do, the worse it is, as it stresses my eyes having them crossed for long periods of time.  Driving, being on the computer, watching TV, looking across the table at someone, and simple things became difficult as I can not focus well, I lose my depth perception, and then my eyes start freaking out.

So, I am scheduled for surgery this coming Monday (August 6th).  I wish there was an easier, more affordable, way to correct the problem, but I have tried everything, and this is the last chance I have to restore my vision.  They will be suturing the muscles in both eyes, adjusting how they work, limiting their ability to cross.  If all goes well, it takes 8 weeks to completely heal and get fitted for new glasses, to fully restore my vision.  I will have my sight back much quicker, but I have no idea how much I will or won't be able to do right away (especially close-up).  So, custom orders and creative time are on hold for a bit until I get my new eyes ---or these old eyes fixed!  I am not one to have idle hands, so I'm hoping I can create soon after surgery.  I bought bigger stones and supplies, so I can create bigger pieces if my ability to do fine detail is impaired for awhile.  :)

The thought of eye surgery is slightly scary, and yet, I am kind of excited.  The doctor said I have had this defect all my life (and I just learned of it at 40 years old).  Who knows --I might see better than ever.  I may open my eyes and go ...OH MY GOSH, I can't believe how much better everything looks ...or I may see the way I was always supposed to for the first time!  What I think is normal might not be "normal" at all.  That's a pretty wild thought.  I will be sure to keep you updated through my surgery, as best I can.

Please be sure to take care of your eyes!  Don't take them for granted, particularly if you do lots of fine detail work, like I do.  Wearing out of date, or drug store glasses, is not good for your eyes.  They can cause you many problems and hardships down the road and it's not fun.