The September / October issue of "Cloth, Paper, Scissors" has posted the results of the "Charm and be charmed" swap. They have chosen one of my charms to be included in the article "Beguiling Baubles". The top photo of this blog post shows my "home" charm and below that, the other charms that I sent. 
And so begins another season at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I can't believe it, but this is our 17 year there ... where does the time go?! We are off to another slow start, but hopefully things will pick up as the season progresses. The first 2 weekends are historically very slow.
Just having a bit of fun with mermaid and doll photos. I thought they looked rather interesting all put together. Photo enlarges to show detail.
The new issue (Summer 2009) of Belle Armoire Jewelry has come out and I am honored to have a few photos of my Vessels in it. They are beautifully photographed.
Another new Vessel design. Just listed in my ETSY shop. Photos enlarge to see detail.
Well, it has taken awhile, but I finally made my 100th ETSY sale. I'm pretty excited! I'm still trying to figure out all the ins and outs, but seem to be getting the hang of it. Now between my Website and ETSY I am rather pleased with the sales of my Vessels and other "parts" I have somewhat recently added to the mix.
1 - Portable Time Machine
Today I'm catching up on a few commitments I have made. These are for a charm swap. The one pictured above is a portable time machine with tiny golden glass spheres in the copper wrapped glass tube. It also has a working spinner and is just under 1 1/2" long. The one below is shown from the front and the back. Both sides of the charm are glass and it's 1 3/8" in diameter. Photos enlarge.
I was able to get a few more of these metal purses. I look forward to making more of the purse necklaces and incorporating more beading in them. I have an outstanding order for more of the silver ones, but apparently the machinery to make them is broken. I have been waiting for weeks and was only able to get a few of the silver ones. Now I am getting nervous that I won't be able to get them anymore, so I bought several gold tone ones as well. I have some beautiful beads that should work well with the gold. A couple of these purse necklaces have been listed in my ETSY shop along with "parts" that I use to make my Vessels. I have been having so many requests for the parts for various mixed media applications that I decided to go ahead and list some. Curious what people will make with them. 
I just finished up these little Fairy eggs and have to admit I am pretty excited about them, they are just so enchanting and magical. If you enlarge the above image you can get a better look at the tiny fairy captured inside. She is floating among tiny silver stars with clear and golden glass spheres. The quote reads "Give her wings so that she may fly". The egg is 5/8" X 1 1/4" and about 1/2" thick. This will be my new item for the Michigan Renaissance Festival for the up coming season. What fun these will be in all different colors! They will be available in my ETSY shop and on the website (after I am able to rework some areas on the website first).
The egg shown above has just been added to my ETSY shop. The quote inside reads "No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings" by William Blake. This egg has wings and inside contains a bird with tiny gold and glass spheres. The metal has a gun metal finish and the 20" chain has a lobster claw closure. Size of the egg is 1 1/8" X 1 3/4" Approx. 3/4" deep.
I just finished up some new Reliquary necklaces. This is the first skull Vessel I have made available. The quote inside is taken from a 16th century epitaph that reads "What you are now, I once was. And you will be what I am now". Inside are tiny clear and gold glass spheres, metallic stars, a bone and a key metal charm. The skull measures 1 1/8" X 1 3/4" and is approximately 3/4" deep. 
I have added a new item to my ETSY store. It's a small speckled egg with the quote "Adorn me with wings so that I may fly". Inside is a small bird charm with tiny clear and gold stars and spheres. The size of this egg is 5/8" X 1 3/8" and approx. 3/4" deep. I took this photo with an old bird nest that I have saved from several years ago. It was found in our Christmas tree with an empty egg shell in it, very similar to the ones shown. I'll slowly start adding new items now that The Renaissance Festival is drawing to a close and I have more time to concentrate on the Vessels. 
Today DH made a wonderful wall mounted display case for my Vessels at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. It's a great sturdy case with a nice closure on the side. This is exactly what I needed. I have just put a few pieces in to get an idea of what it will look like for the photo, which is a bit distorted, but that's my fault. I found some great fabric in my stash to line the inside, just enough texture to add a bit of interest. The dimensions are 20" X 26". Just the perfect size. With my other display case (Blog entry from June 4th), I should now be all set. Another thing I can mark off the "to do" list! 
And now I know why the little kiln was set aside and forgotten for all these years. The darn thing never came up to temperature, After 6 hours it stalled out at 1350 degrees ... a far cry from the minimum 2000 degrees I needed to achieve for these parts. Quite a disappointment. Now I remember that happening before, even after a new heating element was put in it. I have an email off to Paragon kilns for suggestions at this point. My husband suspects that he was sold the wrong element he replaced years ago. Perhaps he's right. If we can't get it running I will just fire these tiny little parts in the big kiln, but I will wait a few weeks as (my sister) Tricia is sending me a few "old doll parts" molds she is making. I'll cast and fire them and then send them back to her. So, quite a bit of a delay on this. I REALLY am looking forward to having these parts to play with. 
So, I am wondering ... how does a person get so wrapped up in life that they can "forget" that they own a kiln?! I just think this is really ridiculous. So after "remem- bering" that I own an addition kiln, we pulled it out, cleaned it up, checked it out, loaded it up and have it firing right now. It's full of tiny doll parts ... reproductions of antique dolls. I plan to grungy them up and incorporate them into the Vessels pieces. It's so funny, seems that every time I come up with something that I think is new I start seeing it everywhere, just as with doll parts in jewelry. I am pleased to have "found" this little kiln so that I can fire up these parts before everyone in the world is using doll parts. I Think this little kiln is going to be a life saver as it takes FOREVER to fill up the big kiln, especially if I am working with such tiny pieces. For now I guess it will sit on top of the big kiln. I have my 220 outlet and exhaust fan there, so I guess that'll work. Highly doubt I will fire both kilns at the same time. If I find that I start using this little kiln a lot then perhaps we'll find a permanent location for it, but for now this works.
I'm pretty excited. I am in desperate need of an effective way to display my Vessels for my Michigan Renaissance Festival (which is coming up far faster than I am willing to admit to) shop. I need to keep them safe, dust free and displayed in such a way that is appropriate for festival and will do justice to the Vessels. I think I have found what I need. This is almost 4 feet tall and 12 inches across and has a nice door that opens and closes. It will look perfect on the corner of my counter at Festival with the door towards the merchant seating area. I will put in 2 glass or Plexiglas shelves in it. It is quite large unit and and will display quite a few pieces. Quite an eye catching display if I may say so myself! I get pretty excited about these kinds of things. I think we can now just make a small wall mounted unit to showcase the Vessels and we
I have been working very hard on my "Secret Keepers". I have made them with a colored glass on one side and clear on the other. It adds a very subtle but nice effect to the piece. Very intriguing actually. So far I have made them with the Amber and the Rose colored glass. I will see how people react to them and hopefully there will be enough interest that I will make them in other colors as well. These are the smaller size of 
1 1/2" in diameter. I like this size better than the larger ones. They are actually more difficult to make, but I believe they make for a nicer finished piece. They all contain a different somewhat cryptic message inside, it is of course a secret. I will make them available on my ETSY site and hopefully on the website soon.
I had a request to supply of photo of someone wearing one of my vessels for a better idea of how it actually would look being worn. I was happy to comply. It worked out well as we were getting together with Tricia tonight anyways and she was happy to help out. If you think she looks good here, you should see her in Renaissance garb. She makes for a mighty fine looking wench. She may think what her Mother does is on the strange side, but she's always happy to help out. In fact her handsome husband is also ... gotta admit he looks pretty darn sharp in a ruffled shirt selling those little fairies. hmmm .... bet I have a photo somewhere...
Welp... I'm on to another idea for my vessels. This morning I was messing around a bit and came up with this. Usually an item is first made and then a title is made according to. Instead this time, I have a title that really appeals to me and I made a piece to work with that. I think I am on to an interesting concept here. I will most definitely expand upon this idea. The inside of this piece holds tiny glass spheres, golden glass balls, stars, golden metal thread and charms including a lock and key. I might add some beading or additional embellishment where the chain and the piece meet, I'm still working on it. It's glass and wire wrapped on both sides, giving a rather interesting glimpse into your inner most secrets. SOOOO many possibilities! 
