Focus on Life: Week 44~ Saints, Souls, Sugar Skulls and Scares

The prompt from Sally over at The Studio Sublime for Week 44 of Focusing on Life: 52 Photos was this:

 

 

 

Saints, Souls, Sugar Skulls and Scares

 

"Whether 'trick or treating', celebrating the spirits and souls of loved ones that have passed, or having a scream from a scare, this week take a moment to capture a spirit, spider or other spectacle of the season!" 

 

We're celebrating  Dia de los Muertos,

so here's the only thing I captured this week.

 

 

 

 

Sorry, no cool sugar skulls!

But you can see my post about it HERE!

 

Time to hop-along and see what everyone else has captured this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Celebrating the Season!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus on LifeL Week 43 - In the Shadows

This week's prompt from Sally over at The Studio Sublime for the Focusing on Life: 52 Photos weekly challenge was this:

Week 43 - In The Shadows

 

 

"For this week we will be focusing on Light and Shadow!  Capture what you find intriguing about light and shadows." 

 

What an appropriate prompt with Autumn upon us and Halloween coming up this week.

 

Although I wasn't able to capture any photos of ghostly shadows or light orbs or anything like that, I did capture these two photos of some shadows.
 

 

 

 

Shadows produced from light shining through glass objects - always cool!

 

 

 

 

Hop around today and see what 'shadows' every one else caught a glimpse of, won't you?!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Shadows of Light!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus on Life: Week 42 - All In A Day

This week Sally's prompt for
Focusing On Life: 52 Photos Challenge was this:

 

 

 

Week 42 - All In A Day

 

"There are many things that can happen in a day. Let's focus on 24 hours and see what goes on during your day!"

 

Well, all days at the Buettner household are pretty normal (for us!) yet not one of them is actually normal, if you know what I mean. 

 

Monday was "Fall Break Day" for our son and we had lots of thing scheduled for that day.

 

First, the soft water system decided to rupture last weekend and spray tons of water all over the garage, the workbench, Mike's old desk and the ceiling (good thing we know a mold guy and he knows how to clean things up - I actually moisture mapped the garage later in the week for training!!) and so Monday our new soft water unit arrived - it's pretty nice. And and I love having my soft water back (my boys hate it - they tolerate it just for me!)

Click any photo to enlarge

 

 

Then, Logan's QX4 had the air go out -again- so neither he nor the hubby were happy they had to return it to the shop but Logan "called" the convertible (Our son loves Mike's BMW - even though it's practically as old as he is and he drives it as often as possible!) and so Mike hopped in to the Q and they drove down to the car place to drop it off and then grab a bite to eat on their way home.

 

I heard tons of sirens no too long after they had left so I texted Logan (Mike was driving them back home) to see if they were okay.  Did you know you can pick GOD up at Taco Bell?  LOL!!  I didn't either! :-)  Auto-correct can be a hoot!

Text between Logan and me

 

 

Then there was work stuff, filling an order, afternoon tea, folding laundry, and putting things aside for when I would eventually get the time to create with Kristi Bowman's awesome component for the  AJE October Component of the Month Give-a-Way that I'd been fortunate enough to win. (The reveals is on the 30th,...so plan to stop back by!)

 

So, just normal stuff around our house. 
What's a typical day look like for you? 

 

Anything but typical, right?  But it's All In A Day!

 

Now, hop on over to The Studio Sublime or scroll down to the bottom here and see what everyone else has going on today!

 

Oh, I almost forgot - TODAY I get to devour Cindy Wimmer's new and ultra-super-cool wire-work book, "The Missing Link"!  (Insert dorky looking happy dance here!)

My joy for Today!

 I can't tell you how excited I am to try out some of the fun links this weekend and play with my wire! (my wire feels a bit neglected because I'm usually playing with cord and pearls!) and then tonight we're having our annual neighborhood Cul-de-Sac party with our ultra-fun and cool neighbors - it's gonna be a super day!!

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Having Fun "All Day"

Cheers,

~Shel~

Can I Dip My Pearls in a Liver of Sulfur Solution and Other Questions,...

 

 

 

The Pearls! Pearls!! Pearls!!! Blog Hop is coming up this Sunday, September 15^th and I’ve had a few questions from people who are participating, so I wanted to get some answers out to everyone and also give you some helpful hints and places to go for information. 

*Clicking on the highlighted links through out this post 
will take you to other sites/videos with helpful information.

Plus, I will have a 'Link List' at the bottom of this post with websites and video links full of helpful information for you!

Okay, here we go - one question I received was:

“Can I liver of sulfur my finished wire work piece with my pearls, or do I have to oxidize my metal first and then create my piece?”   

 

Great question!  And, safety first here, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions on any solution(s) you are using whether it’s Liver of Sulfur, Silver Black, etc. and always wear protective eye gear.  
 

Here’s my answer:  You should not place your pearls or other porous gemstones (such as turquoise, etc.) or fragile beads (painted, AB coated crystals, etc.) into a solution of Liver of Sulfur.  
 

Technically, you should oxidize your metal (silver, copper, etc.) prior to working with or assembling your piece.
  

Now, have I ever placed my finished piece along with my pearls into a solution of Liver of Sulfur – yes.  
 

Should I have? No, not really.  
 

Why did I do it? Because I was lazy (just stating the truth here folks!) and I wanted to see what would happen to my pearls. (Granted, I didn’t do this with my ‘super-good’ pearls!!)
 

 

So, what happened? 
 

Well, my pearls came out just fine after about a 30 second dip in some LOS. Absolutely perfect. Not a problem at all. 
 

See?

 

Pearl, Turquoise and Sterling Silver Wire
Wrapped Pendant "Freya"
Before and After an LOS Solution Dip

 

 

Although, another time, when I left my pearls in some LOS solution for a couple of minutes, one of them had a dullness to their nacre that wasn’t there prior to the LOS dip and one time it even turned a white pearl a rather dull, gray color. It was hard to see right off the bat, but in certain lights you could tell it had lost its original white color and that something was a bit ‘off’. 

It's a bit hard to see here in this photo, but the pearl on the right has lost
a bit of it's beautiful luster. If I had a before and after pic, it would
probably be a lot easier to tell the difference.

 

So, if you have poor quality pearls with extremely thin nacre or chipped nacre (think large hole pearls that have chips around their holes, etc.) you will want to LOS your metal prior to assembling your jewelry if at all possible. If not, then a quick ‘dunk’ might be okay – but then it might not. So, ‘dunk’ at your own risk,…or well, at your pearl’s risk! 
 

A great alternative if you cannot oxidize your piece until it’s finished and you have stones in your design that you are afraid may be affected by a Liver of Sulfur solution is the eco-friendly, boiled egg method! 

*The highlighted link above takes you to
Rena Klingenberg's site and also has a video!*

 

Yes, you can boil an egg, peel it, cut it in half and pop it in a seal-able plastic bag or plastic Tupperware type bowl, seal it up, and the sulfur in the egg yolks will eventually oxidize/blacken your piece without harming your stones/beads.  Now, this does take time,…20 minutes to 2 hours or more, it just depends on the eggs.  So, this is not for the impatient crafter, but it is a great alternative that doesn’t harm your beads/stones (at least none that I know of so far anyway). 
 

*One word of caution if you use Silver Black to blacken your work: don’t let it touch any of your pearls/beads/stones.  Or anything else for that matter – clothes, fingers, your desk, etc. - I’ve had it turn mine black,….well, dark gray/brownish. It wasn’t pretty. So if you’re just using a dab of Silver Black to blacken some stampings you’ve done on metal and you’re just touching it to one small area, that’s fine, just make sure you avoid all of your pearls, stones, beads, etc.  

If you're interested in further info on darkening your metals (silver copper, brass, etc.), hop on over to the Artisan Whimsy site and watch a little video by Cool Tools that Linda Younkman posted about their Patina Gel.

Okay, some other questions people have asked me recently in regards to my pearls are: 
 

Q: What cord do you use to hand knot your pearls? 

 

A: It really depends on my project(s) but I use Griffin Silk or Griffin Nylon in various sizes to hand knot most of my regular strands of pearls or to string vintage and antique strands that clients give me to re-string/repair and preserve.   

 

I love using C-lon (my pref!) or Superlon nylon thread/cording  (oh the colors of both!) for my ‘tin-cup’ style of hand knotted necklaces and I’ve used both C-lon and S-lon along with different sizes of tuff cord for my beaded wrap (Chan Lu Style) bracelets, too. 

 

 

All of these products work fine with little to no stretch or color fading and it’s a personal preference and usually depends on the stones I’m working with and the flexibility or stiffness I need/want with each project. 

 

 

 This past year, I’ve become a major fan of the waxed jewelry cord that Sandra over at “The Knotty  Do It All”  has to offer vs. the waxed linen or cotton I’ve found every where else (Etsy and more).  There’s three major reasons why I like the waxed jewelry cord that Sandra offers over other cords. 

 

First is its ability to be melted/cauterized with a thread zapper or lighter – a great alternative to snipping cord and using glue – woo hoo!!  Even though I’ve had people tell me and I have even seen them use their thread zapper in videos on regular waxed linen, I’ve never really had success with it – just burns it, doesn’t really ‘melt’ it into place -  but with the spools of waxed jewelry cord that Sandra offers, you can ‘zap’ away with success because it’s a synthetic, and not actual linen or cotton.   

 

The second reason is it’s large enough to hold up to some really large hole pearls, yet small enough to fit through some smaller holed ones. And, if you twist it just right, you can pull the strands apart and knot/string with them separately for even tinier holed beads and then join them back together. Awesome!
  

And the third reason is that it comes in a nice array of colors that don’t bleed/fade and it’s just waxy enough, but not overly waxy, which is wonderful.

 

 

 

So, if you’re into waxed linen cord, go check out Sandra’s Knotty Do It All shop – it’s awesome. So’s the Knotty Do It all Board. I’ve had my board for three or more years now. I use it all the time and I LOVE it!  And, she just came out with a smaller, more compact and portable size called the

Little Knotty Do It All board, too – way cool!! 
 

Plus, Sandra's got a bunch of videos showing you how to create various designs using the Knotty  Do It All Board that are just great, too. 
 

Another Q:  Where do you get your larger holed pearls? Do you purchase them from someone or drill them yourself?
 

A: I do have a couple of places I purchase my large hole pearls, but this year, my hubby started drilling them for me and he's starting to become my main 'supplier'.  

 

 

 

 

He drills them with my foredoom flex shaft using a little drill press that I purchased from Connie Fox several years back (If you ever get the chance to take a class from Connie - DO IT - She's Awesome!!).

He uses titanium drill bits (and yes, he goes through a lot of them – so diamond ones would be better I think), and goes very slowly, so as not to burn or chip my pearls, (my babies!!) and makes sure they are moistened with water while drilling. 
 

I asked him to do this for me so I can provide them in my Etsy shop to sell and he said ‘NO WAY’.
(What??!??)

He says it’s too hot in the garage (especially this time of year here in the AZ desert) and that it’s a slow and tedious process that takes patience and he only does it for me because he loves me and I pay him in Beer! LOL!! 

So, sorry, unless I want to start drilling them all myself I probably won’t have any large hole pearls for sale in my Etsy shop.

Or, if I ever do, it will be in extremely limited quantities and possibly only once or twice a year. 

I'll give you a 'heads-up' here on the blog and over on both of my Facebook pages should I ever have some listed.

 

Now, as far as where I purchase my large holed pearls that we don’t drill ourselves,…well, come back on Sunday to the Pearls! Pearls!! Pearls!!! Blog Hop to get a list of my suppliers! 

(or, check out the link list below and browse through a few of those sites and you might spot some!)

Sorry to make you wait, but part of the blog hop is listing our suppliers and where we get our pearls so that afterwards we can all check out new shops and suppliers and shop for more great pearls!  (Fun! Fun!)

I hope this has helped with some of the questions you had about working with pearls in your designs.

For information on how to mix them with various materials in your jewelry designs, if that’s what you’re creating for the blog hop, (but remember, it doesn’t have to be jewelry) you can check out the February 2013 issue of Bead Trends Magazine. I have an article I did for them in their Jewel School Section on using pearls in your handcrafted jewelry designs. 
 

And, feel free to click on over to my ‘gallery’ section here on the blog (button across the top up there under the header) and see some various designs I’ve created using pearls and other materials.

 

 Or you can check out my Pearls! Pearls! Pearls! Pinterest Board for some really cool ideas on using pearls in and on just about everything! 
(Gotta love Pinterest!) 
 

If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to post them here in the comments below or email me (email button at the top right side of the blog) and I’ll answer you as quickly as I can!
 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearl Talk!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

Link Love:

Gemological Institute of America (GIA)

The Pearl Guide

Artisan Whimsy

BeadShop.com

Beadaholique

Ayla's Originals

Connie Fox / Jatayu

The Knotty  Do It All / Sandra Younger

Knotty Lessons (Videos)

Nina Designs

Leather Cord USA

Rena Klingenber's Jewelry Making Journal

The Easy Knotter



Various Pearl and Bead Knotting Videos:


Beadaholique Pearl Knotting

Pearlescence (UK company) Pearl Knotting

Fire Mountain Gems - Pearl Knotting

Jewelry Supply.com - Pearl Knotting

The Easy Knotter / Knotting With Reenie

Knotty Lessons - Sandra Younger / The Knotty Do It All

Knotting with Beadalon's Knotter Tool

Nina Designs - How to Knot Pearls on Leather
 

Pearls! Pearls!! Pearls!!! Blog Hop

*Sign ups for the blog hop are now closed*


Are you ready to ROCK SOME PEARLS?!

 

 

 

I am! (Always!)

 

So, let's have some fun and do a PEARLS blog hop. 

(Like, y'all didn't know that was coming sooner or later, right?!)

 

www.MiShelDesigns.blogspot.com
 

 

Okay, here's the Scoop:

 

1) Gotta have a Blog to post the reveal on.

 

2) Make something (doesn't have to be jewelry *Gasp!*) with pearls in it. A lot of pearls, a few pearls - your choice. 

 

3) They can be real pearls (freshwater, saltwater, Tahitian, South Sea) or imitation (Swarovski, Czech glass, plastic, shell pearls, etc.)

 

4) What you create can be any style or pay homage to any era/age/region, etc. (i.e. Modern, Ancient, Rustic, Vintage, Boho, Cottage-Chic, Cowgirl, Southwestern, New-England Classic-Stuffy, Trendy, Art-Deco, Tribal, Beachy, Glam, Grunge, Goth, etc.) You name - you can make it!

 

5) Post the reveal of your creation(s) on Sunday, September 15th, 2013 on your blog and come here to see the list of participants and hop around and see what everyone has created. (I'll do the Inlinkz thingy so it's easy for people to link up and hop around, okay?)

 

6) Mention WHERE you got your pearls in your post and why you like to shop there - and provide a link if you have one - so that way, we can all shop for pearls after the hop!

*If you've had your pearls for years and/or can't remember where you scored them, or if they were gifted to you or something like this, that's fine - just mention that in your post.

 

That's it!

 

 

 

Sign up: Now through Sunday, August 25th.

Leave a comment below on this post with your

name, email and blog url and you're in!

*feel free to email me at Shel@asicj.com

w/your email if you don't want anyone to see it.

 

 

"Freya" - Wire Pearl Goddess Sculpture by Michelle Buettner of MiShel Designs

 

 

For inspiration (jewelry and accessories wise) you can hop over to my Pearls, Pearls, Pearls, Pinterest Board and check out all the cool pearls there or just search Pearls in general on Pinterest or Google and you'll find a whole slew of neato things!

 

"Cotton Candy Pearls" by Michelle Buettner

 

 

So, get to creating with your pearls, because as you know,....

 

Pearls are for any person, for any reason, any time, any place, any season!

 

"Falling For You" Pearl Bracelet

 

 

Until Next Time,

 

Peace, Love and PEARLS, Baby!!

 

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

Oh, and feel free to copy/paste the little pearl pic below to throw up on your blog if you'd like.

 

Just link it to www.MiShelDesigns.Blogspot.com

 

 

www.MiShelDesigns.Blogspot.com
 

 

See you and your gorgeous Pearls on

September 15th, 2013!