Blessings, Sorrows, & Coincidence

Shortly after I wrote last night about the 'spinner' pendants, we learned that my husband's uncle had passed suddenly and very unexpectedly early yesterday morning. A wonderful man with a colourful and fascinating life, 20 years in the Air Force, a WWII POW, a Viet Nam vet, a pilot, a long haul truck driver, a champion bowler, a volunteer, a driver of red mustang convertibles, a father of 6, and partner of Kathryn. A life lived all over the world.

This morning I read Erin's comment about the spinner pendants and likening them to blessing beads that you could hold in your hand and use to be mindful of those things that give you joy. Is her comment a coincidence?

This pendant is larger than I might normally make and the chain is longer so that the beads are comfortable to hold and turn in your hand. Six beads for six children, blues and purples for tranquility and harmony, green for balance, and a splash of red for strength. And a little piece of turquoise for the cycle of life. I reckon after you have lost your life partner of more than 60 years you might could use a few blessing beads. This is for Kathryn.

We'll be leaving in a day to drive to just out of Tuscon where Kathryn and most of their children live. We will do more than pay our respects to Uncle Bob, we will celebrate his life. And we will think of the joy that having Bob in our lives has brought us.

A blessing.

Stacked Spinner Pendants

Some time ago I made a lot of little flat beads in circles, squares, and oval shapes with the vague intention of using them in bracelets. And maybe someday there will be bracelets. Instead, for some odd reason known not even to me, I started making these little stacked bead pendants. It all happened when I was using a piece of wire to have a look at different combinations of beads. Then out came the torch to make head pins, the bench block to make paddles, and well the bracelet idea had pretty much flown away by then.

These are actually quite fun. If you squint just right some of them look a little like pagodas. I think of them as interactive pendants because all of the little parts spin. Because of the different shapes of beads you can change the profile by twisting the beads into a new position. I think about those old days when I had to sit in meeting for countless hours, bored to tears, and I would have loved to have one these to play with while I tried to keep from yawning.

These ones are off to First Friday and market this week. All except one that I'm claiming for myself. I'm thinking it could come in handy waiting at the doctor's office or better yet when I'm having my 'oh dear I'm at the dentist anxiety. '

Thanks everyone for stopping by the cranapple post. I had no idea there were so many cranberry lovers out there.

So many cranberries.....

So little time......


If your household is at all like mine, right now you are probably staring at a large container of cranberry sauce left over from the Thanksgiving feast. We love cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without it. But a little goes a long ways and there is always way too much. So it usually sits there quietly in the fridge until it just really has to go.

This year I said things would be different. I figured if those folks over at Ocean Spray can make cranapple juice, I can make cranapple crisp. What I like about making a fruit crisp is that it does not tax my non-existent pastry skills the way a pie does. It doesn’t require a lot of exact measuring, a bonus for the pastry challenged. And even if the crisp isn’t perfect, it can always be fixed up with a generous dose of vanilla ice cream.

So here’s what I did:

3 huge Granny Smith apples, peeled, sliced and coated with 1 Tbsp flour, mixed with about 1 ¾ cups of homemade cranberry sauce, spread in an 8x8 greased baking pan

Topped with ½ cup old fashioned oatmeal, ½ cup flour, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ stick softened butter, ½ tsp cinnamon, all mixed together until it was crumbly.

Baked at 375F for about 30 minutes until bubbly on the bottom and golden on the top.



Ocean Spray, move over.....Hot out of the oven, with a generous dose of vanilla ice cream, this was seriously delish! Quite frankly we were suffering from desert withdrawal so it was necessary for our mental well being. And all those antioxdents had to be good for us. In fact this was so good I am thinking of making cranberry sauce specifically so we can have this crisp whenever we want. A big step indeed for the woman who does not make desert, not ever. (that’s what the bakery section of the grocery store is for).

Hope you've all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. And if it wasn't Thanksgiving for you, then I hope it was a great weekend.

Robotogami and the Birthday Boy

It’s funny to me that when I ask my son what he’d like for a home cooked birthday dinner, we both know that the answer will be lasagna. But it is a little ritual we go through each time we have the opportunity to celebrate his birthday. Last night we had a late birthday celebration and the fine opportunity to relive Cole’s childhood Transformer days. I do believe that he may have owned every version of Transformer available. It was a passion. In fact I am quite enamored of those small vehicles that become either heroes or villains.

A couple of weeks ago we were at the art market hosted by Tornado Gallery each month. Their current exhibit was of sculpture by Dustin Wallace. He’s a draftsman, machinist by day and an artist by night. Dustin creates these incredible transformer like sculptures with movable parts that have all hand machined gears inside and water jet cut parts. Among these were these little flat copper “Robotogami” pieces. They come flat and are cut from a single sheet of metal with small hinge points so that you can fold them into a 3 dimensional sculpture posed to your own liking. Perfect gift for the transformer loving son.

Cole’s eyes sparkled as he bent the robot into shape, got out my jewelry pliers to refine the hands and other points to his liking. And in that moment we were transported back to his childhood days of endless construction of young dreams. I think it’s the holiday season coming up that is making me so nostalgic. But I do love these magic moments.

Butterflies and Pinks

One of the things I promised myself when I had finished the shows, was dedicated time to work on some designs that have been floating around in the back of my mind. Well, today I woke up feeling the best I have all week, looked at the dining room chaos, and said to myself, " no sense in wasting this positive good feeling on organizing." I love Japanese kimono textiles and the rich patterns that many of them are decorated with. I have this book of Japanese textile designs and several of them have been nagging me for years to translate them into bas relief ceramic design.


So I sat down and 'plucked' elements out of 3 textile patterns and arranged them in a way that felt right to me. Many of my designs start like the sketch above. No, I'm not going to make black butterflies. What I do is 'black' in the major elements, scan to my computer, reverse colour, and then add detail later. I am sure there are more efficient ways to do this but I like using my markers and mechanical pencils. It feels like my ancient days of drafting when I studied landscape architecture. I'm not entirely sure which parts of this particular design will be made into jewelry components. That will come later, days, maybe even weeks from now. Eventually, the design will be made into a model, probably several, and cast to make pendants. It may even be abandoned. Today it was just so very nice to sit down and sketch. The dining room can wait till tomorrow. In fact it is my experience that chaos will always patiently wait for you to attend to it.

Have a happy weekend all!

Thanksgiving Treasures - Tesori Trovati

Such a great pleasure I had when I received my earrings from the secret Thanksgiving Treasures swap hosted by Leslie at Bei Mondi. You see I have been a long time admirer of the designs by the talented Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati. I was over the moon when I saw the return address, and even more so when I opened the package. Inside, beautifully packaged was this pair of earrings that I absolutely adore.



These earrings,called 'Singin’ the Blues,' are made of aged brass earwires and chain, Swarovski Montana Blue sapphire crystals and faceted peacock pearls. They are light as a feather and both the crystal and the pearls catch the light and sparkle as you move in a way that a photo doesn't come close to capturing. I love these!

Thank you so much, Erin! These are perfect. And be sure to check Erin's wonderful blog where she shares her designs, inspiration, and observations of life. Definitely worth a read.

Last but not least, thank you Leslie for organizing this very fun exchange and letting all get to know each other a bit more. I've truly enjoyed this.

Tiny birds

One of the last things I made for the shows last weekend were these tiny little porcelain birds. I've been playing with the idea off and on since spring. But being the skillful procrastinator that I am, I put them off until just a couple of days before they absolutely had to be ready. I'm not entirely sure what happens to me sometimes. 'Cute' is not really something most people associate with my work. But, you know, these are getting pretty close. Just so you know, I've opted to label them as sweet. I'm actually feeling a little obsession coming on with these. Rolling small lumps of clay, pinching and poking them into tiny birds is quite therapeutic.

I'm still trying to get back into the routine of things but I am still tired. I think that might have to do with the enormous pile of plastic tubs, table drapes, props, and general chaos that is happening in my dining room right now. Making little birds is just so much more enjoyable. Reading a book, napping, anything but taking care of that mess. It's just too much like cleaning.

OK, I am going to be brave now. I am off to unpack one container. If I do one thing at a time it will be done in time for the New Year.