Busy needles!

Eegad, 2 years since I've updated. But, but....I'm still busy like a bee!

My son got married, and I have the most wonderful daughter in law, and so one of those years was spent hand quilting their wedding quilt. A tradition from my their grandmother T whom I loved to pieces. She taught me how to quilt when I was a newlywed and restless in Tennessee. :D

Dil and I went shopping for the fabric together, and she chose the pattern. I machine pieced and hand quilted in a standing hoop frame.

Then there was knitting. Everything from ornaments, Christmas stockings, socks, slippers, toe warmers, and learning how to double knit. Closest thing to magic on needles~

...and of course, antlers for the adorable grandpuppy!

Now that I'm looking 60 in the eye, I don't find myself of a bucket list in terms of what to experience or places to see. It's things I hope to be blessed with the time to make. My daughter's wedding quilt, future baby quilts and sweaters, things that warm and comfort and will last long after I'm gone.

I'm not Cheap, I'm Frugal

If I say it enough, it'll be true, right? 'Cough cough' politics aside, I'm talking cloth.

I cleaned my now small fabric stash. Organized it by color. And I noticed a number of scraps.

I couldn't throw them away. Odd, jigsawed pieces, with skinny bridges from one section to another, most sections not being bigger than a 5" x 5" mini.

Surely, I could make something with them!

I introduce to you: Jewel Bug.

Oh, cute overload!

Yes, I did it. A tiny omiyage cicada, just big enough to hold a wire wrapped pendant. A gift in a gift~ recyclable, re-giftable, bright and friendly!

My scraps are used, and the left-over scraps-of-scraps, of the size I can easily discard with a clear mind.

Happy camper.

Royston Turquoise Mine Tour

One more thing off my bucket list!

Ever since I've learned of Royston Turquoise Mine Tours, I've wanted to go.

This past weekend, we packed up the car, and headed out to Tonopah, Nevada for my chance!

Our destination was the Mizpah Hotel for lodging.Avoid the 5th floor unless you want to tempt a visit from the ghost of the Mysterious Lady in Red.

Talk about taking a trip into the past~ this was a turn of the century luxury hotel of the Wild West. Ornate, and...small! Small rooms, wide halls, lots of copper fixtures and carved features of a time gone by.

Our 'Queen' room

We checked in and walked up and down Main Street for a bit. Lots of closed shops, but with the help of Google, we found a great pizza place down a ways. Delicious crust!! That's how you judge a pizza, right?

Next morning, I, with 22 others, stood outside the Otteson's Turquoise jewelry shop inside the lobby, at 9:30am. By 10:00 am, we were all accounted for, had our yellow sack in hand, and were headed out to the mine.

I got a ride there with Tom, who was born and raised in Tonopah. (Thanks Tom, for the ride, company and conversation!) Also with us was Lane, one of the Otteson family, and as he says, 'I've looked for turquoise ever since I could walk!' Awesome guys, both, they escorted us to the tailings, which were mounds, and mounds of  rock moved out of the active mine made while they search for large veins of high grade turquoise. The 'tailings' get moved out with heavy machinery and surround their dig. Our job, as guest rockhounds, is to try and search these mounds, and look for a glimpse of brilliant blue for a piece of turquoise. We keep anything we can find and carry back.

That's Tom on the left

We were lucky! At around 6000 ft. elevation, the temperature that day was a high of 85 degrees. It had rained a lot earlier in the week, washing off layers of the white dust, making it easier to spot the blue.

Among us were repeaters, a few who come regularly, Although I was told they no longer allow 10 gallon buckets and give you the generous bag instead, these folks had their buckets, and were prepared! Knee pads, tools, covering from the hot sun. However, I was quite happy with my bag, and I was in bliss looking for hints of blue, and throwing it in my bag. It was getting heavy. I couldn't have carried a 10 gallon bucket filled with rocks if I wanted to!

I mostly surface grazed. I would see a piece of turquoise to pick up, sit, and mosey along, from piece to piece. Any blue. If it was pretty, I put it in my bag. Others sat in one spot, and would dig, dig, dig. Most were down near the active mine, I moved from there, where the rocks were large, back to where the tailings were a few months old. That area had smaller rocks, and I was happiest finding blue there, and moving little bits of rock with my claw hand tool, provided by Lane.

There's blue in these rocks! Really!

They let us look for 3 hours. I was getting weary at about 2 1/2 hours in the sun, and made my way to the truck, still casting my eyes on the ground, putting some last additions to my stash, as I waited for Tom and Lane to gather up the rest to head back. All looked happy and loaded with rocks.

When all were accounted for, we began the long, dusty ride back to town. Usually, they take you down to the basement of the Mizpah Hotel,  and work a bit of your turquoise for you, but Tom has been gone for 2 years and has just returned, and the equipment was a little worse for the wear during his absence. Worn blades, no drive band for the saw. I'm not sure what happened with the rest of the group and Tom down there, as I made my way back upstairs at that point, I was hot, dusty, thirsty, hungry, and ready for a hot shower

After a cleaning up, Rich and I  had excellent bbq and an amazing craft brew, Mucker Irish Red Ale at Tonopah Brewing. Rocks, and then a delicious dinner! It was the best day EVER!!

The next day, Rich laughed when I insisted on bringing a rock to keep me company during the long drive back home, just to gaze at and enjoy.

Soon enough, we were home. We emptied the car, put things away, and started laundry. There were still a couple of hours of daylight left, and I spent it outside, going through my treasure!

Remember I said I picked up anything that was pretty? Apparently size didn't matter either. I'm not sure what I can do with these!

One of my favorite pieces:

Of course, one of things I do first with a new batch of rock is grab a few small rocks and bring them straight to the Genie for some creative freeform cabbing.

Thank you to the Otterson's for opening up their mine for folks like me! If you have a chance, you must give it a visit!

Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine!

Yes, when it comes to eye candy, this is one of my favorite magazines to go through, cover to cover.

And I'm not just saying that, because in this issue I'M IN IT!!! /jumping up and down with joy

The editor was going around in Etsyland, and came across my shop! She posted me, I posted back, and the rest is history. ;)

I love the way they photographed my pieces. I wrote up a short bio with the help of my better half, and there you go! I'm thrilled.

Thank you, Belle Armoire!!

Lumps of coal!

...I grew up with the belief that I could get those horrible, dusty, dull, lumps of coal in my stocking if I misbehaved. At least that's what I thought coal looked like. Like bbq briquettes, right?

Until I saw this on ebay. THIS was coal?

Gosh, It's kind of pretty. And shiny, and interesting! A pure form of carbon, it's called Anthracite, from the Eastern Middle Coal Fields in Hazleton PA.

Out came the wire! I just HAD to wrap some. Out came the Workhorse to cut up a couple of lumps of coal into more manageable sizes. A bit of sterling, but mostly colored copper. Fast, fun, and perfect for the holiday gift giving~

ARIZONA HEATWAVE

 
We made the bi-annual trip to purchase turquoise and other rough, with a stop-over in Kingman. We spent the morning with my better half talking chickens with the friendly folks there, and giving ME more time to look over the overwhelming room of turquoise goodness!

This time I came back with rough, slabs, and cabs! I think it's a good thing that I'm not a local. It brings to mind the feeling I had as a young child going to a bead store with my mother. Infinite possibilities and magic everywhere I looked.

This year, after Kingman, we headed to Tucson. Tucson has loomed large on my bucket list as the location of the world famous Tuscon Gem and Mineral show that happens during 2 weeks in Jan/Feb.

We were able to hit a couple of local rock shops, since we were there at the end of June~

More than that, we've dreamed of Tucson as being the place for us to relocate and retire to. We love the desert, the open sky and spaces. We found the friendliest people, delicious food, (including the BEST barbecue we have ever had), and a charming city with a small town feel.

This was the trip to make that decision.

The first night we were there we saw this:

A rainbow! I knew then that Tucson would be the place for us. And to make sure, we survived a trial by fire from experiencing a week of 110-112 degree weather. And...it wasn't too bad. Dry heat really does make a difference. :)

A nice pool to dip in in the afternoon doesn't hurt either. Ahhhhh.

Gift for a Student

Although my degree and passion is design, that's not how I earn my living. For that, I followed the observation of a psychic over 30 years ago.

She said a had a big place in my heart for children.

I'm a public school teacher and have now taught for about 22 years. All told, I've had over 600 students share my life, and I remember every face, if not their names. :)

Some stand out, for one reason or another. Such was the case with this particular child.

She was a pixie of a girl. Wide set eyes, and short brown hair. In a nutshell, she had more artistic talent in her little finger than I had in my whole body! She was keenly observant, often wearing black furry cat ears to class,

One of her observations was my wire wraps, unbeknownst to me. Because one day, she solemnly handed me a big bag of shell pieces. The kind you buy at a craft store, for filling jars. I can't imagine how she convinced her mom to buy her teacher a bag of shell pieces out of the blue, but there it was.

That was 3 years ago. Now she's about to 'graduate' from my school as a 6th grader. I don't see her much, being on the other side of the campus with 2nd grade.

But at this year's school auction, I was thrilled to see that her family had bid and won my teacher auction of handknit socks. Simply, the winner gets to dye yarn with me one afternoon, and I knit them a pair of socks with the yarn.

Here are the socks:

And with the socks, here is a special wrap. I hope she likes it!