A little behind

I have been a little behind in my blogging this week, I have been filling lots of special orders and getting ready for the next show. I have also started another blog to document the progress on the new house.
Here is the link: http://grandecasabianca.wordpress.com/

All I really have this week is a photo of the latest bangle that was a special order and a photo of our cats.

Bangles

Lately I have found myself wanting to spend more time experimenting with metal. It really helps me focus and exercises my eye-hand coordination. I love working with sterling silver and copper, it's really rewarding to me when I can change the shape of something by using tools and fire. The rhythm of annealing and hardening the metal is soothing.  It also reminds me of my daily life, being sure to be somewhat flexible while staying true to myself.

I have been focusing on bangles and adding my glass beads to them. The first one I made was purchased by a customer who wears lots of bracelets at one time. It had several glass beads and some brass beads that were able to move around the bangle and make a nice jingle sound.

The next 4 bangles were quickly sold at my last show in Arizona before I could take any photos of them. They all had glass beads, but the beads were static. I personally like jewelry that makes some noise.

The bangles have been such a huge success that I have been asked to teach them at the yearly retreat for our bead guild Glass Act.

Here are a couple of my latest bangles:

Bead show

On Sunday I did my first organized bead show in Michigan. This show was put on by the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild in Southfield, MI. The show was great. I met lots of new people, and sold lots of beads. It was a really good jumping off point for me getting into the show circuit here. The next show I will be the Northern Michigan Bead and Jewelry show on April 13th in Cadillac, MI. I am really looking forward to doing another show. It gives me another deadline to work towards.

 Here are photos from the show: