Ready to come fly with me?

Every day, since this past Friday, has been my "last day of jewelry orders for the holidays".  And every day since this past Friday I've gotten emails, phone calls, and Etsy convos imploring me to fit in just one more last-minute order, please. How could I say no to peoples' Christmas gifts??  So, I gladly fit in every order possible.  I met a few local Atlanta people throughout the weekend at various coffee shops up here in my neighborhood for hand delivered orders.  And just a wee few hours ago I finished my absolutely, for-real-this-time, very last order of the year.

Is it really Tuesday already? Where did Monday even go?

Now I'm done as done can be. The pickle pot is unplugged, the hammers hung on the wall, and the torch turned off until 2010.

You know the workshop is closed when I've put nail polish on my fingers.  Red nail polish.  These hands are ready to relax and just look pretty for a while.

On Sunday, though, I did find 2.2 minutes of uninterrupted time wherein I managed to knock out a brand new piece.  Based on the butterfly drawing I was working on the day before, I finished the belt buckle I've been meaning to make for months. And when I say months, I mean like 10 months. I made the leather belt for this buckle back in February.

Come Fly With Me

Haven't butterflies always been the definitive symbol of
 joy, freedom, and self-actualization?

The butterfly teaches us that transition can be rewarding,

that change is the stepping-stone to personal growth and accomplishment.

Hand drawn, based on a photograph of a real papilio blumei butterfly.

Every last swirl and squiggle embellishing her wings, the flower, too,

from my very own imagination.

Deeply etched in sterling silver, and given a vibrant patina finish of blues and purples.

Every step done by my hands.

This one is pour moi, but I shall make one for you in the New Year.

Now I must excuse myself and start packing for this trip we're leaving on tomorrow!

We're headed up to my hometown of Toronto, Canada for a few days. I've finished shopping for gifts. The fridge is well-stocked for my gracious house sitter Vyviane and her family. And all I've left to do is pack for cold weather. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for snow up there.  Not just so my SweetPea can make a snowman, but also because I haven't gone for a run in the snow in about 5 years.  

I am looking forward to: 
having time to relax, 
spending time with family, 
reading a book, 
taking in a few movies (Avatar, anyone?), 
parties, parties, parties,
fun, fun, fun,
lots of delicious food and drink, yum yum 
sleeping in, 
no multi-tasking, 
Tim Hortons coffee,  
catching up with old friends, 
reflecting on the busy and fulfilling year that's drawing to a close, 
and 
looking ahead to a bright and promising 2010.

I wish all of you a super relaxing, peaceful, and joyous holiday season. 

If your plans take you someplace far away this week, I wish you safe travels.

I'll see you back here in a few days... 

Finally....time to play

O frabjous day!
Callooh!  Callay!! 
 I'm all caught up on holiday orders.

Custom orders for friends are DONE. 

7 custom jewelry orders were hand delivered to 5 friends yesterday.

Thank you, friends, for coming to me for holiday gifts

*waves at friends*

*blows kisses*

And. Every last one of my online orders is in the mail,

even the 2 that were placed this morning.

!!! 

I can finally take a little time to sit

and do one of my favorite things...

New designs are in the works, my chums.

Drawing a butterfly from an online picture of a papilio blumei specimen. 

In a couple days that drawing will metamorphosize itself into something
silver and shiny and fit for a leather belt.

Let's hear it again :
Calooh! Calay!

No work today.
And tomorrow we bake cookies :)

Work in Progress Wednesday - a custom made lucky charm for Delilah

I love making jewelry for friends.  This one's for my playmate, Delilah, whose everlasting support of my art I'm very grateful for. Thank you, mon amie, for appreciating my shiny silver artz.

So, according to her request, she wanted a little horseshoe-shaped pendant with a specific inspirational quote stamped in it.  Here it is, made this morning, with love and friendship, all while in my pajamas. 

Materials in sterling silver:

10 gauge square wire, rolo chain, 20 gauge round wire.

Stamping the words.

Halfway to finished.

Drilling holes.

Soldering jump rings.

All done!

The front.

Reversible and extendable -
the back is plain, and the chain can be worn at 16" or 18"

Fin 

(that means the end, en francais)

Hope you're all having a great middle of the week! Toodle-oo for now.

xoxo,

Alice (aka Alicia, making the slow and bumpy transition back to my real name)

How to Tuesday - make yourself a festive cocktail

I have a fondness for salty.  Whatever the opposite of sweet tooth is, that's me. I am a lover of saliferous anchovies, briny olives, full-sour kosher dill pickles, marinated eggplant (melenzana sott'oglio), capers, good pickled okra...the list goes on. I could live off of a quality Italian antipasto platter for the rest of my days, and I'd be happy as a clam. I like clams, too, ooh, steamed little neck clams from the New England coast, now I'm hungry.

So it goes without saying that my cocktails of choice fall within the same palate.  Dirty Vodka Martinis, Salty Dogs, classic margaritas with hunks and chunks of salt on the rim.  And the Bloody Mary is high up there on my list of favorites.   Here's my very own recipe for it.

Bloody Mary a la Alice

2 oz. good vodka (Grey Goose, Ketel One, etc)

V8 vegetable cocktail

celery salt to taste

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 scant Tbsp horseradish

dash of Tabasco sauce

dash Worcestershire sauce
good olives for garnish

ice

Ingredients

After adding ice, lemon juice, the 2 sauces, and horseradish, add 2 ounces of vodka.

Add V8 and celery salt.

A little wiggle of the wrist.

Throw some olives on a skewer.

And how Christmasy is that?

Bloody Merry indeed!

Mmmm, it's so tastly-licous...

Cheers to you, my friends *clink* 

Wish you were here.

A Holly Jolly weekend

This weekend we decked the halls with boughs of pine tree and had a fa la la la la la lovely time :)

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this out loud, but the gloriously real fir tree that's in my living room right now is the first non-artificial tree I've ever had.  Did I really just confess that to you?  Yes.

Don't ask me what the deal was with my otherwise normal childhood or why it's taken me this long as an adult to finally do Christmas with a real tree.  I can't believe what I've been missing. It makes me a teeny bit sad that 34 Christmases have come and gone, bereft of this evergreeny scent that's been beautifying our home all weekend.

Saturday night we brought her home, our fragrant little conifer. With the child asleep in bed, Bing Crosby on the radio, and a heavenly Bloody Mary in hand, we got right down to the business of decorating. Our ornaments this year are varying shades of crimson, cerulean, and gold. I think the colors compliment each other. What do you think?

SweetPea hangs her own handmade ornament on Sunday morning.

Made by the sweet little hands of a 2.5 year-old, this glitter encrusted pine cone is more precious to me than any other  sparkling thing on that tree.

This vintage 1970s ornament from my grandparents' tree is a close second.

 

Sure, and while we're on the topic of Yuletide festivities, I successfully stamped, addressed, and stickered 75 holiday cards....going out today.

Off to make jewelry now. If I manage my time well today, and the key word is "if", I'll do a How To Tuesday blog post tomorrow on my yummilicious Blood Mary recipe, for all the savory-cocktail-loving friends of mine out there.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Today is Wednesday.

Work was done.

Progress was made.

But I can't show you any of it.

Because approximately 100% of the no less than seventeen pieces of jewelry I made today are gifts to be sent to the four corners of the earth.  I don't want to ruin Christmas for anybody.

I had fanciful ambitions of dedicating today's post to showing you the makings of a belt buckle, including how I make the leather belt part, too. Sigh. This, in the middle of my absolute busiest and insaniest time of the year. Alas, it could not be done. I may be Super Woman, but I'm not super human.

Here's what I can show you.

Me, at 4:52pm, putting the last of today's packages together.

And I did make it to the post office in time.

How to Tuesday - herbal infusions

I do so like to imbibe strange green concoctions. This is something I started doing recently.  Having herbal infusions.  It's different than herbal tea because it's made with lots of herbs, lots of water, and it steeps for at least 4 hours.  I make them in the morning, and drink them late in the afternoon. 

And this is how:

All you need is herbs, a mason jar, and boiling water.

My favorite infusion is a blend of nettles and oatstraw.

Sometimes I add a pinch of elder berries if I feel a sniffle coming on. 

And now I'm tapping my knuckles to wood as I tell you that 

I have yet to get sick this winter.

 

One ounce of herbs to one quart of boiling water.

Lid it, and let it sit for at least 4 hours.

Strain the leaves.

Every hot drink is made better by the Mirth Mug.

Squeeze out the last bit of liquid.

Enjoy! 

I believe in the healthful properties of herbs, but please do your research before you start taking herbs.

Weekend recap and daydreams

How are you? Did you have a good weekend? Mine was fab.  I was at the Telephone Factory Art Show all weekend down here in the ATL.  Met a lot of great people, did the very dopey thing of forgetting my camera both days, so no pics...sorry, had a good time overall. Thanks to everyone who came out, shoppers, friends, and new-found friends alike.

I think what I really, really enjoyed about this weekend's show was twofold: a) being in the city and therefore in the company of hip city folk, and b) being at a different kind of art show, and therefore in the company of some especially inspiring artists. Artists such as Todd Alexander and Alex Leopold to name a couple. Click on their names to see some of their work.  Am-a-zing.

Back to a) It was great to be downtown all weekend. My heart and soul are that of a city girl, but in my current incarnation, I'm a suburbanite.  Love my house and the parcel of land that comes with a house in the burbs that was built in the 70s, but I never realize how much I really miss the city until I spend a weekend in it.  Sigh.  Not complaining, merely reflecting.

This suburbs stuff is temporary-ish.   I know I'll have the city back some day.  When we retire at 55 and have an apartment in Paris half the year, or one in San Fransisco.  It's good to dream, isn't it?  Things don't happen unless you dream them up first.  Who was it that said "your imagination is the preview to life's coming attractions"?  Albert Einstein, I believe.   That's my life's adage, right there.

So what else...?

Ooh, can I show you my new boots? 

Ok, enough daydreaming.  

There's a lot of work waiting for me...

So, we're about 2 weeks away from the big day.   I know it, because all the last minute custom orders are surging in.  I'm wading through them right now, I'm about neck-deep.  Not quite drowning yet, but almost. The cut-off for custom orders, even for friends, is about any day now.  I said it was December 1st, but I keep extending it...we're cutting it close though.

As long as we're daydreaming, let's fit one more in before we say goodbye.

I wish I had a pack of elves to delegate tasks to.

Here's what I'd say to them this very moment:

"Hey Etchy, I need 6 custom pendants etched by tomorrow, the silver's over there;  

Hey Washy, the clothes are piling up, get to it, please;  

Hey Chefy, what's for dinner tonight? Organic sausage, lentil, and kale soup, you say? Delish! Well, it's 6:04pm, better get cookin'; 

Hey Cleany, it's that time again, so haul out the vacuum, thanks; 

Hey Shoppy, I left the grocery store without beer, can you please go pick some up?;  

Hey Cardy, there's a stack of Christmas cards waiting to be addressed and stamped, here's the fancy pen, have at it;  

Hey Bloggy, what should I write about tomorrow?"

::snaps out of it::

Alright friends, it's been a fun chat, but all that work really needs to get done, so here's me pulling myself up by my new bootstraps.

I'll see you back here tomorrow.

What are you doing this weekend?

If you're in the Atlanta area, and you're looking for a fun thing to do this weekend, might I suggest dropping by the Telephone Factory Art Show and Sale.

Now in its 14th year, The Telephone Factory Art Show is one of the city's longest running art events. The setting is an awesome building that used to be an old telephone factory yes a real telephone factory,  which has since been converted into loft apartments. Every year around this time residents open up their lofts and host dozens of local artists in a building-wide art show.

It's a great way to see art, support local artists, and get a peek at what loft living in Atlanta is like.

Come find me up on the 3rd floor in loft #301. Wine, beer, and finger foods provided (can't beat that!).

This will be my last festival until the spring, so come on over, get some last minute holiday gifts crossed off your list, or just come by to say hi and have a little glass of wine with me. I'd love to see you!

Feel free to spread the word. The more the merrier :)

This weekend:

Saturday, December 5th, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Sunday, December 6th, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.

The Telephone Factory Lofts

828 Ralph McGill Blvd. Atlanta, GA 30306

Check out the show's website for details and directions or email me at aliciaATistanbuldesignsDOTcom

Work in Progress Wednesday (one day late) - For Feisty Females

One day late, but better late than never, right? Here's yesterday's Work in Progress Wednesday post. Hope you enjoy.

The piece I've got for you today is a bit of a departure from the usual themes in my jewelry.  Inspired by my friend Rosy Revolver whose incredible jewelry is the perfect blend of the toughness of the Old West and the beauty of a rose in bloom. This ring is my interpretation of that tough femininity. 

I don't own a gun, and this might be the closest a real gun will ever come to being in my hand.  But the pistol here is a symbol, emblematic of bad-ass women in history.  The Annie Oakleys, the Calamity Janes, and every other woman who wielded her own power with confidence and paved the way for the rest of us.

I give you my latest creation.

For Feisty Females ~ sterling silver Revolver ring

Here's a little play-by-play of how the ring came to be.

Pencil drawing based on a photograph of a Colt single action revolver, the legendary gun of cowboys and outlaws, aka "the gun that won the West".

Ink drawing.

by the way, showing you my drawings from my sketchbook feels like I'm showing  you the inside of my diary...just so you know...

Stamping words into the ring shank.

Filing the edges of the face of the ring that has already been etched with the design.

Forming the shank on my mandrel.

Soldering all the pieces together in one shot.

Post-torch.

Polished and ready for patina.

Finished ring. Yahoo!!! or should I say YeeeHaw!!

The inside of the ring band is inscribed with

life shrinks

or expands

in proportion to

one's courage

~ Anais Nin

Requisite pose.  

BAM!

Requisite pose number 2.

Poof!

Old West inspired filigree on the back of the ring band.

Sneak peek: belt buckle for Feisty Females coming soon!

Ring available in my Etsy shop now.

Have a wonderful day, ladies.  And don't forget how feisty you are.