Good for the Soul

A couple of weeks ago I posted a message on Facebook that I was cleaning out my studio and had some boxes of beads that I no longer needed.



I had several responses, but the first one came from my best friend, Pam. She is very active with the Animal Advocates of Barnwell, SC to aid in rescuing, healing, safeguarding and giving new life to animals in need. One of the ways they raise money is through their "Pick of the Litter Shoppe". Income from POTL helps to fund various programs including their no cost/low cost spay neuter program.

The Animal Advocates are working with the Allendale Correctional Institute, where several of the inmates are making jewelry which is then told in the Pick of the Litter Shoppe. My friend Pam let me know that the inmates could definitely use the beads for their jewelry.

Today I received this email, forwarded by Pam, from Vikki, the President of Animal Advocates:

"Pam,
Please tell Debbie Bruce thank you for all of the beads she donated to ACI. The guys were so excited and told me to be sure and tell “the lady” that donated the beads thank you." Vikki took the boxes to them today, and she said you would have thought the boxes were filled with a million dollars…<3

I'm so thankful that my "trash" was another man's "treasure".

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Today has so far turned out to be a fairly productive day. I've spent bits and pieces of this week trying to come up with some earring designs. Today I hoped to see some finished results. Well......not so many results as I'd like, but headed in the right direction.

I drew a heart design for earrings, transferred the design to cardstock and cut it to make a template. I cut out four in copper. One set I embossed, then filed smooth, colored with alcohol ink and finally sealed with a matte coating.



These earrings have now been listed on etsy

I then took the other copper set and tried to solder a sterling silver design on the front. Well, that didn't work out so well. I need to brush up on my soldering skills :
The other pieces I've been working on were given a good cleaning in a pickle solution, then antiqued in liver of sulphur. So now I have a pile of dark black pieces that need to be polished, but I don't have the energy at this moment.

I also started playing around with photos on gradient paper which I obtained from a fellow SRAJD jewelry designer, Laura Bracken. These papers make jewelry photos much more interesting than a plain background. Here's a lanyard on the gradient paper:

A Weekend of Praise

This weekend I've had very little time to spend in the studio. I spent a little time Saturday morning while I was waiting on granddaughter Emma to take a nap. Once she was well rested, Emma, my daughter Natalie and I drove over to Augusta for a day of shopping. I mostly tried to keep Emma pre-occupied while her mom shopped for birthday ideas. We then "tried" to eat dinner at Buca diBeppo, the new Italian restaurant at the mall, but the wait staff there didn't seem to thrilled to have another table to tend to (I think we even got the "eye roll" in addition to a very verbal "UGH") so off we went to our very friendly Macaroni Grill for a delicious dinner. Then it was grocery shopping for fruit, etc. for fruit trays for our church program Sunday night. I was exhausted when I finally got to bed, but slept like a baby :-)

Sunday was spent singing, singing, and then some more singing. Awesome worship service this morning, then back in the afternoon for a "Night of Epic Praise" when our choir and orchestra combined with First Baptist Columbia's choir and orchestra. We had approximately 278 people in the choir loft! Over 100 sopranos!!!



And the good news is WE GET TO DO IT AGAIN THIS WEEKEND at their church :-)

Studio Time !!!

I haven't really been up to being ultra-creative for the last few weeks. I had surgery eight weeks ago which required lots of rest and I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, so I figured I couldn't even get too involved in my studio since most containers storing beads are pretty heavy. This afternoon was the first time I've really felt like spending some quality time in my studio. I've been hammering copper (yes, my arms are now very sore since I haven't used those muscles in a while!), making some fancy sterling ear wires, etc. Tools are everywhere on my work table and I can't find a thing, but it's still a great feeling to be working again. Nothing is picture-worthy yet, but I will post some soon.