The Blessing of a Snowstorm

With twelve inches of snow falling softly and blanketing my world in fluffy white, my birdfeeders were busier than they have ever been.

This sweet Robin came to feed on snow covered seeds. I was fortunate enough to capture him with my smartphone. Robin's don't seem to migrate away from our area any longer.

My visitors were doves, titmice, chickadees, cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, wrens, finches, cowbird, starling, woodpecker, flicker, and a robin.

I cleared my feeders of snow covering throughout the day so the birds could find nourishment. It's our agreement. I supply the seeds, nuts and suet and the birds will allow me to marvel at their beauty. I feel that I am getting the best end of the agreement.



One of my favorite birds is the Flicker which are one of the most beautifully feathered birds with spots on their breast, a red V on the back of the neck and bright yellow on the underside of their tail. He came to enjoy the peanut suet feeder throughout the day.



While the bird's enjoyed the buffet I presented, I have been honing my stone setting skills.

The above stone is a variety of opal that I have had in my stash for quite some time that I had picked up at our local gem and mineral show.




What attracted me to these stones was the tree like shapes. It reminds me of silhouettes of trees in the snow.


I love large jewelry in general, primarily because I have long fingers and large rings just suit my hands.

So, the rings are coming along nicely and I would love to create special ring boxes for them similar to this vintage version below.




Commercial ring boxes never fit my large rings and their wide bands, so a custom box would be perfect for my rings. Something to add to my list of things to try.

For those in my neck of the woods, enjoy the blessing of being snowed in...snuggle in with a good book, sip your favorite tea, do a little knitting, watch your favorite feel good movie, put on a pot of hearty soup, make cookies, enjoy a yoga session, pet your furry friend, and breathe in bliss.

I am currently reading, The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morten. It's a delicious mystery of three generations of women. Without giving anything away, it has fantastic fairy tales interwoven within the novel, a lovely walled garden, takes place in Australia and England and will take your breath away.

Blessings to you - Julie

I'll Keep You Safe Ring

I'll keep you safe, You keep me wild.

It seems I have less and less time to create new designs from my sketchbook these days.




I finished and shipped jewelry yesterday which opened up the day for a few projects I have been yearning to finish.

The ring features a large stone of a beautiful stone called chryptase. It reminds me of the sea.


The silver band 3/4" wide and handstamped with a bit of texture.

I made the band adjustable to fit the finger snugly.

Happy Valentine's Day!



Blessings to you - Julie

Mending With Heart

Mending with heart is when you cannot bear to toss out those favorite jeans, but they are falling into a state of "I can't leave the house in them anymore".

Needle and thread girls! Have some fun with thread colors and fabric swatches. Your local Joann's Fabric has a great quilting section that you can browse for inspiration. But, even better how about feedsack cloth?

While you are in Joann's browse the embroidery thread section for fun thread to coordinate with the fabric.

An embroidery hoop will also help as will fabric glue to hold the patch in place as you sew.

Let your heart lead your hand.





I hope this inspires you to give those dungarees an overhaul!

Blessings to you - Julie

Just One More Spoon Bracelet

This spoon has been sitting on my bench for possibly a year.

Today as I was cleaning and tidying up the studio and once again I saw this spoon bracelet just sitting there waiting for me to finish it.

Needing a project to try out a new patina I want to try, it was time to finish the spoon bracelet.

I really like the simplicity, the turquoise color and the silver heart dangle on the side.

I also put together a ring, necklace and another bracelet that I will share with you in a future post.

Blessings to you - Julie

Violets

Violets remind me of you.



Instagram


Original

Ah, the learning curve. Don't you just love it?! I love the mental and physical struggle involved in learning something new. This usually involves a new art technique in my case, as those are the ones I enjoy the most.

It's a good pastime during the cold Winter days we have in the Midwest. I am working on enameling, handspun yarn, iphone use and plant based fabric dye. Really takes the blah out of cold and dreary days. Highly recommend it.

What are you working on this month?

Blessings to you and enjoy the day, Julie

Good Morning Kisses

MollyGirl kisses me Good Morning. Have a blessed day, y'all!



Blessings to you - Julie

Thread Love Necklace

Thread love spool necklace made using soft yarn and vintage thread spools found during a junking jaunt.











Enjoy the Day!

Fabric Dyed With Plants

On my list of soulful projects is learning to dye fabric with plants. My hand being guided by the uber talented India Flint.



I purchased two of her books, reading them cover to cover and then went foraging.

This time of year it is very difficult to find any plants with dye giving juice, but I did find leaves from my sage bush and juniper berries. The local grocer provided organic blueberries.

This is the result of my first two dye baths...





I love the sage green tones from the sage with random stains of the blueberries.

The pink tones were from hibiscus flowers.

I am off to sunny California in May to attend India's dying workshop - so excited about the journey!

Bear with me as I master blogging from my iPhone...

Enameling Steel Wire

A wren couple came to live with me via my screened in porch years ago and we have enjoyed one another's daily company since. I provide the seeds and the suet - they in turn, provide me with delight as they flick here and there.



We raise new offspring together every Spring. Again, me providing food and bugs from my nearby garden. I delight as I witness their teamwork to bring forth new little Wrens, who quickly take flight to someone else's garden.

During an enameling workshop with Herb Friedsen it came to me that I would like to experiment with steel wire and enamel.



Herb Friedsen


I formed this little wren in steel wire and added a sterling silver branch as a perch. Off to class to ask Mr Friedsen if I could test fire the steel wire. He said, "Yes, let's try it!"




It worked brilliantly. Back in my studio, I added brass nubs to the branch and coral berries that dangle from the Wren's beak.

I added a pin apparatus and I know have a beautiful broach.

I hope that you are well and warm.


Blessings my friends - Julie

How to Create Lamb's Ear Roses

 

Happy Holidays, all!  I had the most beautiful lamb's ears this year in my garden and I decided to use them as ornaments for a simple pine wreath combined with sea holly and wild dark blue berries gathered from the farm.

 

 

As centers I used the fuzzy pods from my Star Magnolia tree.

 

 

I used three lamb's ear roses and one unopened blossom at the top.

 

 

Simple and fun to put together.

 

How to make lamb's ear roses for your home.

 

Gather lamb's ear leaves in all sizes.  You will use the smaller leaves for the centers and the larger leaves for the outside petals.

 

Begin with a stem cutting from your garden.  Look for unopened buds or seed pods on your shrubs and trees.  You will need a stem approximately three inches in length.

 

Fold a small lamb's ear leaf in half and wire the leaf at the ends onto the stalk of the woody stem you selected earlier from your garden.  Continue folding small leaves in half and wiring onto the stem.  Once you have petals all around the stem select a larger leaf and fold in half and add as the next layer of petals on your rose.

 

You will continue working in the round adding petals until your rose has reached the desired size.

 

I used thin floral wire to wire the petals in place onto the woody stem.

 

For the unopened blossom you will just add a round of small petals - no need to fold in half.  Use your smallest petals.

 

You can use this same method using any plant material that will hold together once folded in half.  Corn husks, leaves, etc.

 

Blessings,

 

Julie