My Hammer and I have been very, very busy

I have not worked with metals for a long while; I have been blissfully wrapped up in seed beads, beadweaving away, when not tending to a sick puppy.... but more about Tigger later...

I taught a cold connections workshop a couple of weeks ago, and made a few things while I was teaching:

Mixed Metals and Kyanite Necklace, available on Etsy

This contemporary, geometric necklace combines sterling silver and copper, my own enameled headpins, and a beautiful piece of kyanite - I love this necklace!

Also during that workshop I made a pair of long copper and sterling earrings, very similar to this pair:

Long hammered copper earrings, wrapped with sterling silver; available on Etsy

The pair I made during the workshop sold in my B&M shop within 10 minutes of the time I listed them on Etsy, so I sat down last week and made another pair (seen above), plus some other stuff - I hadn't forgotten how much I loved working with metal, but it was hard to pull myself away from the siren call of the seed beads!

Here are some other creations from last week:

Three different chevron necklaces:

Copper, Aluminum, and Brass Chevron necklace, on Vintaj Natural Brass chain; available on Etsy

This one combines copper, aluminum, and brass chevrons, hanging from dark Vintaj Natural brass chain - I really love the contrast of all these metals combined!

Hammered copper double chevron necklace, available on Etsy

For this one, I simply stuck to copper, and I think the result is very nice!

Hammered copper and brass chevron necklace, available on Etsy

This chevron necklace combines hammered copper with a thin brass chevron. I used Vintaj Natural brass jumprings to connect the two, and hung the chevrons from copper rolo chain.


Lastly, these hammered copper earrings, wrapped with artistic wire, available in 3 colors:

 Hammered copper earrings with silver wire wrap

 Hammered copper earrings with aqua wire wrap

 Hammered copper earrings with royal blue wire wrap

The last pair isn't on Etsy yet, because I forgot to take photos of them hanging - I'll get that done, probably tomorrow.

I noticed, while creating all these listings, that my camera has something foggy going on - I hope it is fingerprints or dog slobber on the lens; something I can fix, because I cannot afford to get this camera serviced AGAIN. It was MIA for over 3 months the last time I needed repairs! The flash has quit working on it, so I need to get it fixed, but there's no money!

Can someone with a critical eye take a look at a couple of these listings on Etsy, and let me know in the comments below whether you think I need to retake THESE pictures? I really don't want to, and the blurry spots in them really bug me, but I think the photos are clear enough for the product listings, but I'd love a second, and third, and 4th opinion!

I'm going back to the seed beads this week (I've missed them!), but I have an idea for a series of metalwork pieces, so I'll be starting with that soon - I'm still in the sketching phase right now.

So, back to Tigger. He is doing much better now. He's healed and recovered from his surgery, but his diarrhea never resolved, so he is now being evaluated for inflammatory bowel disease (little guy just never gets a break!). He is on an extremely restrictive diet (no treats!), and the diarrhea is much better, but still there. The intestinal gas is finally gone, and I can tell he feels better. He is SO active and energetic! He has started obedience classes, and is doing well, although he can be very stubborn and uncooperative (much like his mom). If he doesn't feel like coming when called, he is Just. Not. Gonna.

We see the doctor day after tomorrow, to see what the next step is after these 2 weeks of extreme dietary restriction. I'm hoping we can start to add back some dietary elements, trying to find which ones really upset his tummy and which ones are OK. School is very hard with no treats for reward! Plus, he is going nuts watching me eat Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, and not share with him - it bugs me, too! He's so cute!

There are still tutorials and kits available in my Etsy shop, where all proceeds go to help with Tigger's ever-mounting medical expenses. And, of course, all jewelry purchases from my shop also go to help with the bills!

Thanks for taking the time to read this long post, and have a great week! If you have a minute, leave me a comment, and tell me what you think about the blurry photos!

Thanks!