We usually take at least one field trip towards the end of the school year, in truth, to save my sanity as we push through these last few weeks. Of course the kids gets something out of it too so its a "win-win".

This is the first time we've ever used the hand held "personal tour  guide" things. 

I'm glad our Baltimore Museum of Art trip had to be re-scheduled because of snow because the day we ended up there was gloriously spring-y and we ate our packed lunches in the sculpture garden amid a sea of daffodils. Ah yes, this was just the kind of day I needed!

I have always loved the mosaics of Antioch and the slanting spring light makes for the perfect experience in this gallery.

 

I think this made my day

I woke up this morning, checked Pinterest during coffee and found that Eileen Fisher had pinned my Cypher necklace to her board "adorn". Oh yeah, that is certainly a good way to start the day.

Thanks for stopping by here today - have a great weekend!

Taking SHAPE

SHAPE,  the organization that we volunteered with last summer, has posted a Vimeo about what they do.  Its great to see them growing! We really miss them and I think I've watched the video about 5 times already.

 
SHAPE - St. Helena Island from pillar2post productions on Vimeo.

Tripled carved

My single strand of carved beads has grown. Thankfully I like to carve…

I added three dividers that keep the elastic strands in places and hide the knots while also acting as another design element. I might try adding two more in fact and incorporate the idea into the magnetic necklace thats slowly coming along too.

The bracelet is made to work with the Fragment earrings that are already in my Etsy shop. I think the line could use dangle earrings as well but I'm not quite happy with the prototype yet.

Business cards

I was clearing out some business cards I had collected, just saving the ones I like the best to hang like mini art work on the wall beside my desk.

This one won't hang well but I'll definitely keep it because its just so very clever.

Slits at either end let you bend and connect it. 

And ta da…its a ring! 

Be sure you to check her website to see Judith Kinghorn's exquisite work.

Change it up

I've been investing more time and energy into the concept of changeable jewelry, sketching, working with paper models, thinking through the engineering.

I returned to my Translate Earrings which I decided need some alternate back pieces.  Whats the good of changeable earrings if you can't really change them?

So I made a two sided back piece thats pale blue on one side and dark blue on the other and a pale pink/burgandy set. What other colors choices do you think people might like to see? I'm thinking maybe green too.

Each piece has only had a preliminary sanding - they'll some more sort of finish. Maybe some highlighting of the scratched surface. And I'll probably add some minimal carved texture to each - maybe just one of those single dots placed asymmetrically, like on the grey ones. ( The front "bell" shape can be worn alone or with one of the colored shapes which slide easily onto the back.) 

Tiny Textures

A customer, who's now become a good online friend and gracious sounding board for ideas, sent me one of her pieces - such a delightful surprise!

One of the things I love about polymer clay is its ability to take texture. Marcia capitalizes on that fact brilliantly here, with each and every small bead. She lives close to the sea and told me that most of the textures were made with seashells which makes me like the bracelet all the more.

Marcia Simpson sells her work in galleries and you can find more examples on her blog and her Facebook page.

Thank you Marcia!