Here it is after 1pm and I have yet to make it over to my worktable. I’ve been circling it, but have yet to sit down and actually work.
I took a couple of pics of my to-do’s, namely forging sterling hoops. I made a huge pair last summer for my niece’s birthday and when Teresa at AOT saw them she had to have them for the gallery. AOT sells them like crazy – they were (still are?) THE thing. It seemed like everyone in Port Townsend had to have them – a good thing for sure. Only thing – whacking on silver kills my shoulder, so I haven’t made any in months. So, my shoulder has been doing much better and I’m giving it another shot. Here’s the before …
hoops in process
And the after (this is my own pair – one of the first pairs I made)
my hoops
I’ve got a short list of big things to work on … mostly business related. But, I’m a self-employed jewelry designer working at home. Co-mingling of priorities is unavoidable.
Things to work into the mix – I have GOT to get my hair cut. Before leaving PT, I actually bought some spiffy-doodle scissors from my PT stylist genius – the person I consider to be one of the best stylists on earth – Lisa I miss you! I had this idea that I would cut my own hair – chop the *@x# out of it – thought it’d be fun. Then, in the meantime, I got a bad haircut here in town that was like having the *@x# chopped out of it and I’ve changed my mind. Chopped just doesn’t translate well in my hair.
Tomorrow I’m going to visit Nina and her new puppy
Walter T Bagley
– taking things like puppy books, some sort of an enclosure to contain the little guy (in addition to his kennel), toys of course and maybe providing a short break from having her toes devoured. He can work on mine for a while. Puppy pics will ensue. Here’s Walter …
Well, I actually had more that I was thinking of and now it’s vanished since I didn’t write it down or type it out fast enough and I really do need to get to work and start whacking on hoops and maybe work on some stitched silk bronze pieces for Etsy and then there’s that copper pole for a bird feeder that I’ve been thinking about soldering together and then there’s that idea for a bird feeder cover out of copper roofing stuff and Danielle had some really interesting links on her post today and I’ve been sneaking some reading breaks with Ignore Everybody and it’s time to stop and GET TO WORK cause now it’s after 2 o’clock!
yikes!
with gratitude and blessings,
kvk
Kathy Van Kleeck 
3 comments
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23 June 2009 at 3:00 pm
Jeane
good morning Kathy – so nice to have you back on my blogroll – I got your email and all the catch up info – sounds like your world is making the transition quite well – feel honored that my painting received such a wonderful spot in your new world – yum on the hoops! I’m off to the studio – later :)
24 June 2009 at 1:17 am
Melanie
I thought I’d share something I learned from my grandfather — a lifelong throughout-his-very-long-life carpenter — about hammering. The trick is not to grip the hammer so tightly that the shock of the impact transfers to your body. You need a hammer with a good balance between the weight of the head and the length of the handle. (People often use a hammer that is both too short and too light for the work.) Then you use leverage and momentum and the weight of the hammer’s head to drive or flatten whatever the hammer is aimed at. You lift the hammer, hold it just tight enough to guide its falling, take aim, and let it fall. You let the hammer do the work — you don’t actually hammer with strength from your arm. I hope that’s clear. It’s easier to show than to tell.
kudos on the work. it’s lovely. so simple. I can see why everyone wants them.
24 June 2009 at 1:51 pm
Kathy Van Kleeck
Jeane – Thanks for visiting. Let’s do it more often! hugs
Melanie – thank you so much for the reminder and the kind words. I’ll be putting the techniques to good use straight away!