Jewelry for Gifts -- Do You Like To Receive It?

I am still in Edmond with ALL of my jewelry supplies, and some of my sewing supplies.  I have started making Christmas presents for the girls, although the entire time I am making them, I am thinking:

WHAT if they hate this?

WHAT if they don't realize the many, many hours I put into this, and they think it is junk?

WHAT if they SAY they like it so they don't hurt my feelings, but then they throw it away?

I can't remember any jewelry I have received as a gift that I really hated.  Of course, I haven't received much.

I am NOT kidding when I tell you that I have now spent over $5,000 on supplies to make jewelry.  I imagine I COULD sell some pieces in my store, but I don't really want to do that.  In THAT case, I'm not worried that people WON'T like it -- I'm worried people WILL like it, and then I'll have to make more and more and more ....  I don't want to HAVE to make it.  That would spoil all the enjoyment.

Good heavens!  I would have to charge $100 or more for each piece if you count my time making it.  I spent EIGHT hours on one silly cabachon, and since I'm still not happy with it, I will probably spend EIGHT more!

Here, I'll show you.  FIRST, let me show you what a "cabachon" is.  I never heard of one in my life until I started ordering jewelry stuff.

I ordered a COLLECTION of various-colored cabachons.  For some reason, Fire Mountain thinks "various colors" means all GREEN!  I was wearing a blouse that had green in it the other day, so I decided to TRY to make a pendant with one of these green stones.  There is NO HOLE in any of them.

I found a "pattern" on Craftsy from some lady that makes jewelry.  I paid $6 for it.  It was 48 pages long and it was titled "ADVANCED".  I looked at the picture, and it didn't look that advanced to me, so I bought it.

This is what the pendant looks like if you make it totally according to the directions:

I TRIED to make it totally perfect according to the directions
BUT
if you noticed,
my cabachons are NOT that shape.










The lady that wrote the directions mentioned that you need to be a mathematical genius if you use some other shape.

GREAT!  As if bending all that wire wasn't hard enough.

I decided the worst that could happen is I could totally screw up the wire, but the cabachon would still be okay.






EIGHT hours later, this is the cabachon pendant I came up with:

Notice how great it matches the green in that blouse I made.  That was actually the ONLY thing I liked about it.

The spirals on the bottom looked pretty good.

Look at the ORIGINAL pendant up above.  Notice the curly cues at the top of the cabachon that hold it in the frame.

I MADE curly cues, but they would not hold this stone in because my stone is a different shape.

Duh!  Guess that is where the math comes in.

I needed 4 instead of two.  I decided to take some wire and just wrap around from here to there and over there and over there.  It made kind of a star shape.  I thought it looked pretty good until I took pics of it.  I could see I had deformed the frame so it stuck out on one side and not the other.  PLUS, the wraps around the bail look HORRIBLE!

This is the BACK.

It looks good enough for a back,
but I certainly would not win any awards.

The cabachon sure wasn't going to fall out!

So today, after I made a pendant for a Christmas gift,
I decided to cut the "star" wires off and try to redo it.

I didn't do much better.

I will probably start over again tomorrow while I'm waiting for the lawn man to bring dirt for my garden.  That's always fun to wait for.













ANYWAY,
here is take two.

I cut off all the little wires, and I tried again.  This time, I ended up with 2 loops that look like hangy boobs, but I did manage to get a little spiral at the top.

One wire goes over -- then under.

One wire goes under -- then over.

I think that is why the shape is not the same.

I wrapped the bail some more, and it looks a lot better.






That project is still in the works.

It is for me, so I have the rest of my life.

Another pattern I bought turned out really cute.  It is also a pendant, but much easier.

I have made a silver one for my granddaughter,
and a gold one for my daughter.

I think they are darling, but you never know what they will think.  I am going to make myself some.

Here they are:

Need to make earrings to go with, just in case, the recipients actually like them.

I've GOT to get out of this chair, and walk or jump or something!  Too much sitting.  I can feel my butt spreading like warm butter, and it certainly doesn't need any more of that!

Hope you are enjoying FALL.  I love it!  Our brand new Sam's Club opens tomorrow, and I will be there!  Thank God, they don't sell jewelry components there!




















Hugs, Joy

Road Trip with Phylly

Phylly suggested we go to Tulsa today to buy buttons before the doors of The Cloth Merchants (TCM) close permanently, and while there were still buttons in stock.  Everything was 30% off.  We awoke to pouring down rain this morning, and I was afraid we would have to cancel.  Phylly doesn't mind driving in a downpour, however, and she wasn't about to cancel.  I am SO GLAD because we had the very best time.  The rain was over by the time we headed back home.

It looked like this or WORSE the whole way to Tulsa!  Phylly was as calm as a cucumber.  She said it comes from living in Seattle and Oregon where it rains all the time.

We left home at 9 AM.  We drove an hour and 40 minutes to TCM where we met my sister, Janice, who lives in Tulsa.  I don't get to see her very often, so it was a treat to meet her there.  Here's a pic of Phylly.  Janice asked me not to put her picture in my blog.

Here I am next to Debbie, the owner.  I'm sure she made her pretty outfit.  Notice the button boxes and fabric swatches.  I made up a bunch of 4x6 index cards with pieces of my Edmond fabrics on them.  It is sure a good thing I didn't do it when I was in Kingston.  We would have had to rent a U-Haul!!!

Here is a picture of the button wall.  You can see how many boxes we had to go through.  Phylly and I were in Button Heaven!

That is Debbie on the left.  The other two are customers that we wanted to go home so we could have ALL the buttons to ourselves!  They did leave later, and Phylly and I took their place.  It was raining, so some of the ladies had to kick their shoes off at the door, including Phylly.

It quickly became lunch time, so Janice took us to a great restaurant.  It was called "First Watch", I think.  We all had breakfast, but not just any breakfast.  The choices were wonderful.  I took a picture of Phylly's scrambled eggs on top of potatoes, onions and cheeses.  YUMMO!  Mine was kind of like that but had spinach in it.

We left the restaurant and returned to TCM where Phylly and I immediately went back to perusing buttons.  Janice went back home because she didn't want any buttons, and she had bought some patterns and fabric earlier. 

Since the buttons were between $2 and $20 each, we decided we better quit.  Actually, the really big buttons were the $20 variety, and I didn't buy any single buttons.  Phylly did though.  When it was all over, we had each spent $200 on buttons.  Crazy, huh?  Next time you see me, you better NOTICE my buttons!

I spread mine all out on the table when I got back home, and I took a picture.  I will keep the picture where I can refer to it so I might remember WHAT buttons I bought.  I left all my fabric swatches in Janice's car, so I can't match them up with those.

This is what $200 worth of 30% off buttons looks like:

Maybe they will look more exciting closer up:

Well, maybe not.  I don't know WHY they are so expensive, but I can tell you this.  You won't find ANY of them at Hancock's or JoAnn's.  And since I live in a NON-fabric-button-store town, I am DElighted to have all of these in my stash.  I hope Phylly will post pictures of her buttons in her blog.  HINT, HINT!!! 

Gotta go.  Hubby isn't feeling good.  VERY unusual.  Hope it isn't contagious.  

Hugs, Joy

Lu's Top and Matching Jewels

What a FUN day!  What a FUN last night too.  I drove up to Edmond by myself yesterday because I had to bring my car here to be fixed.  Last week when I went for my 6-week check-up from my vein surgeries, we were in a slight wreck.  We were stopped at a red light.  When the light turned green, the car behind us decided to start going -- not waiting for us to go.  She hit me twice, but she wasn't going very fast at all.  Thank God, nobody was hurt.  My bumper has the imprint of her license plate in it.  My husband, of course, acts like the whole back end fell off the car.

ANYWAY, Phylly got off work last night and decided to come over here for a slumber party.  I was SO SURPRISED.  She didn't even have a change of clothes.  I invented a pj set for her, and she wore one of the blouses I made to work today.  She got lots of compliments on it.  Funny, I never did.  I forgot to do the forward shoulder adjustment on it, so it kept slipping backwards on me.  It does that on Phylly too, but she doesn't care.  It fit her SO WELL too.  Funny how different our bodies appear to be from each other, but we actually have the same chest measurement and the same shoulder slope.

I was sound asleep this morning at 7:30 and I was just about to make out with Clint Eastwood.  (Weird, I know.)

It was Phylly's fault, really.  She was telling me about someone's teeth last night and how all his crowns had broken off, and now, all that is left is the pointed teeth that were under the crowns.  My brain decided to translate that into a dream of me being in a movie with Clint Eastwood.  We were sitting across from each other at a conference table talking to a bunch of other people about our parts in the movie.  He looked across the table at me, and he smiled a great big toothy smile.  All of his teeth were wrapped with gold on the edges, and the white parts in the middle of each tooth were super-shiny and sparkly.  I was about to walk around the table to give him a big kiss, when Phylly said, "Joy, I'm leaving now.  What door do you want me to go out of?"

HOW ON EARTH did my brain come up with Clint Eastwood for that dream???

Phylly went to work, BUT she came back for lunch, and she brought Lu with her.  I had Lu's new blouse and jewelry all done.  I fixed a gourmet lunch of Chicken Noodle soup and ham sandwiches.

Yes, I took pictures!

Lu wore the "muslin" I made her a few weeks ago to work today.  I brought the necklace and earrings I made for it, so Lu tried it on.  She loved it.  I thought the necklace needed more tweaking, but NOBODY is as picky as I am.

And here is a picture of her hair!  Isn't it GORGEOUS!!!!!  I told her I want hair like that when I get to heaven, and Phylly said she wants hair like that too.  I hope there is enough for both of us!

And here is the non-muslin blouse from the fabric purchased at The Cloth Merchant's going-out-of-business sale that turned out to be too orange for me, although I really LOVE the fabric.  Pictures do NOT do it justice.  It is the most fabulous feeling knit.  Lu commented on how great it feels.

Lu is my total opposite personality-wise, you know.  You would not even know she was in the room with you if she wasn't tall and if she didn't have all that hair.  She hasn't been around me enough to know she is supposed to act like a nut when I have my camera.  I asked her to pose, and this is what I got.

 The red and yellow necklace are NOT the ones I made.  They were in my stash from a package my sister gave me.  Seems like EVERYTHING matches this blouse.  I decided she needed both of those too.  The necklace I did make is too long for her.  I am going to shorten it so it hangs up close to her neck and off the blouse.  It is very pretty on her.  I didn't take a pic because you really couldn't see it.

Now look here -- look down, actually.

I am really loosening her up.  We only had a lunch hour, you understand.  If I ever had a whole day with her, I would transform her into goofball #3 -- Phylly and I being #1 and #2.

I told her she could put a rubber band inside and make the blouse look different.  She asked me to show her what I meant.  She really liked it this way, and I think she left the rubber band in when she went back to work.

Lu asked if I could make pants.

Of course, I can make pants, thanks to Sure-fit Designs.  She wants dark purple to wear with her new top.  She may have to come spend a few hours with me some Saturday to accomplish that.  I consider it a great compliment that ANYONE would want to wear something I made.  I love so much that Lu does!

And last, but not least, is Phylly wearing the blouse I gave her this morning.  She was supervising from the doorway as I was photographing Lu.  She got so many compliments on the blouse at work, I told her to keep it.  It is one of Louise Cutting's patterns.

Have to go.  Jerry is supposed to arrive with the 2 cats soon.

Hugs, Joy

Bugs for Dinner Anyone?

Good Evening on Monday, September 23rd.

I just came inside.  I was outside in my swing enjoying the fabulous weather, but the bugs in the trees decided to start "singing" -- more like croaking or moaning -- and I couldn't stand the sound.  I yelled "SHUT UP" once, and they actually stopped for a moment.

This is the year for Cicadas (?) -- those nasty creatures that hatch every so many years.  I saw a show a few weeks ago where some lady chef was actually EATING Cicadas.  She said they aren't too bad once they quit moving and with a little seasoning. .

GROSS!!!  Cooked or not, I don't want any!

I put a quilt on my longarm this morning.  It is Granny Parham's bow tie quilt.  The fabrics are from the 50's or earlier.  I found it when I was cleaning out Jerry's Mom's house last Summer.  Actually, I found 5 quilt tops.  I shared 2 with one of Jerry's cousins who also quilts.  I hope to start quilting tomorrow.

The rest of the day I worked on jewelry for Lu.  I KNOW.  I had two necklaces all done, but I had to make earrings to match.  Everything I do is like being in school, although it is kind of the trial-and-error type of school.  Keep doing it over and over until you get it right.  That was my Mother's mantra.  By the 4th or 5th time of Mom pulling ALL the bedding off my bed and making me start over, I LEARNED how to make a bed.  I can make a bed as good as any of those you see in the fancy pictures -- or better.  I've been trying to teach Jerry for 38 years, but I've decided he is probably as good as he ever will be.

The earrings turned out so cute.  I am proud of myself for doing something new and different.  I'll show them to you tomorrow when I'm on a different computer.

Peggy Sagers is on at 8 tonight.  I don't know WHY I always watch her.  Anything having to do with sewing, I guess.

My husband got home from work early tonight.  30 minutes early, but that is VERY early for him.  He had rock delivered today for our road back here in the deep woods.  Jerry and a former friend of ours built the road in this 40-acre development called Stone Brook.  We got to choose the first piece of land, and we chose 11 acres in the back corner that is surrounded on two sides by Corp Land.  That is land owned by the Government Corp of Engineers.  It makes our land look like it goes on forever, and we love it so much.  Anyway, our former friend -- the developer of this area - has moved away.  Therefore, Jerry inherited the job of keeping up the road.  He paid $2,000 for the rock, and he is out on his tractor spreading it over the road.

Jerry will TRY to collect from the 5 neighbors we have for their share, although there is no payment for his time.  Problem is, we only know 1 of the neighbors personally.  We know ABOUT the other 4.  One is a dentist who appears to be about 17 years old when we see him in his yard.  One -- we heard -- is a meth addict -- or was going with one -- or something.  We've never seen a human there, but we've heard.  Another couple is our age -- ancient -- and they live somewhere else most of the time.  Then there is another couple even older than us, and they live in Brazil sometimes -- in Colorado sometimes -- and here sometimes.  We have never met them.

Oh, well.  At least, we will have a nice new road that doesn't get all muddy when it rains and have ridges and bumps like a washboard.

Did I show you all my pillowcases?  I made 10, so far.  I sent them to Rhonda for her hospital project, and she emailed me that she received them today.  I think I will make some more for her since it is such a good cause.  Plus, it reduces some of my fabric stash, and that makes me feel very good!  Wrong computer.  Can't show you a picture of those either.

Until next time,

enjoy your day!




Hugs,
Joy

Sunday Joy and Lu's Finished Tops with Jewelry

Isn't it just WONDERFUL to be alive and healthy and happy on a gorgeous Sunday?  The weather is very Fallish today, and I love Fall.  Honestly, I am spending way too much time in my swing.  I left my Ipad at my other house, so yesterday I decided to try to get a laptop in my lap in a swing.  NOT easy.  I had to search all over the house for an extension cord with 3 holes in it that would reach to my swing so I could keep the laptop plugged in.  WHY didn't I think to have electricity put in the floor?  I DID do that in my house, and it is so nice.

Church was great this morning.  The series now is all about finances.  Jerry and I have Master's Degrees in managing finances -- not from any school -- but from learning it and living it.  Jerry was telling me this morning that in a few months, we will be TOTALLY out of debt.  HOW AMAZING is that?  Jerry and I both just happen to be savers -- not spenders -- and we actually listen and learn when preachers or teachers talk about money.  We started saving in our early 30's, and we are so thankful now.  We had only two vacations that I can remember, and I don't own any expensive jewelry or fur coats or fancy cars, but our "wealth" is to be OUT OF DEBT!  Have you ever heard those people on Dave Ramsey scream "WE ARE DEBT FREE!"  Sometimes the children yell it with the parents.  I am so thrilled when I hear YOUNG people say that.  We sure couldn't say it when we were young.  Go to www.getv.org if you ever want to hear the great sermons and wonderful music we enjoy every Sunday.

I just finished tightening the last jump ring in Lu's second necklace.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making jewelry for Lu.  Lu is tall and she has shoulders and long, thick, beautiful hair.  She can wear the biggest jewelry I can make.  When I try to wear big jewelry, it looks like I got tangled up in a giant chain, and if you separate the chain and the beads, you MIGHT see my head inside somewhere.  Hence, all this jewelry-making equipment, and I can only make little things for myself.

You saw Lu's "muslin" the other day.  Here is a picture of the fabric I had left and the necklace I made to go with it for Lu:

The cones are too small for all those chains.  I have ordered larger ones and will change them when the new cones come.

And here is the beautiful top from the fabric I purchased on line not realizing how ORANGE and AVOCADO GREEN it is.  That is why I decided to make a blouse for Lu out of it.  It is really pretty.  Can't wait to see it on her with the matching necklace.

And now I have to go.  I promised Jerry -- not that he asked -- that I would fold up all my new fabric which is resting all over the movie room and my sewing room after being washed and dried.  Jerry told me during church this morning that the fabrics all look really nice.  QUITE a compliment coming from him.  AND he told me the jewelry I made was excellent.

SO MANY COMPLIMENTS!!!

No wonder I am so JOYFUL today!

Hope you day is wonderful too.

And Anita,
I got your email.
I'll get back to you when I get a minute.






Hugs,
Joy

Come Swing with Me via Video -- Nida -- Lu's Sure-fit Designs™ Top

Good Morning!!!  How are all of you today?  Allergies are at an all time high in these parts -- or so I've heard and my nose believes it!  I have sneezed enough to blow down a mountain and my nose runs no matter how many drugs I swallow.  AARRGGHH!!!  WHY are people allergic to so much stuff anyway????

I'm making Lu's REAL blouse now out of the oh-so-beautiful fabric I bought from The Cloth Merchants at the going out of business sale.  I am sewing long distance via email now.  I need for Lu to try on this blouse as it is a drapier knit fabric than the muslin.

ALSO, I was pretty sure Lu has a low shoulder just like me, so I decided to have Phylly find that out for me yesterday.  Here is the picture I drew and sent via email to show Phylly EXACTLY what I wanted to know.

A picture IS worth a thousand words you know!

For some INSENSITIVE reason, I got an email back from both Lu and Phylly saying "YOU ARE CRAZY!"  Don't they know I have feelings???  (-;

I wanted Lu to stand against the wall.  Then Phylly was to GET ON A LADDER and mark on post-it notes stuck on the wall behind her shoulders where her shoulder tips were.  The Phylly was to measure from each mark down to the floor, and tell me the difference.

My picture must be pretty good, because she emailed back that her right shoulder was 1/2" LOWER than her left -- just like mine.  I then made the corrections to the blouse.

I sewed up the shoulders and the side seams.  The blouse was SO GORGEOUS -- and since it had the same shoulder adjustment I do for myself, I HAD to try it on.

Check it out:
A blouse on Lu.  A mini dress on me.  I TOLD you she is tall.

I think that even though this is definitely Fall colors, I could still wear it because it is so bright.  I might order some more of this fabric for myself.

And here is me -- in my swing -- this morning -- talking to you like you are right there with me on the patio.

I rushed up to finish this real fast.  Jerry is here, and we have to go to our doctor appointments.

Hugs, Joy

Lu's Sure-fit Designs Top Adventure Videos

Hey Everyone!!!

My goodness -- if I could just be two of me, I would have so much more to show you.  I had problems with the camera lady (not mentioning any names), and then I had problems with the video software I purchased not even starting so I could fix the camera lady's video.  Then when I decided to take my tripod to the store today, I found that lots of the bulbs in the ceiling fixtures in my store were burned out.  Stuff like that really upsets me because when I was working there, I always watched out for things like that, AND I hate dark rooms!

I have employees being paid very well to see to day-to-day maintenance, but ....  When the Cat's away.....  And what is with the employees working with not enough light overhead???  Does everyone but me have x-ray vision, or what?

Jerry goes to our store very often, but he wouldn't notice if there was an orangutan hanging from the lights, never mind whether they worked or not.  He WOULD, however, notice if there was a hairline scratch on the company van.  Weird!

ANYWAY, I tried to find a place where there was enough light to show you a video today of Lu's finished "muslin" top.  I decided my former office was the best place.

I finally calmed down enough to regroup and set up for my video.  I decided to drag Jerry into the office for a test.  Knowing I was already not too happy about the burned out bulbs, he came in immediately from his computer work in the hall, and he became my "Lu" for a test.

This video is ONLY for my blog readers, but I had to show you how my sweet husband endures me:

So NOW, I have to back waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up to several days ago or all of the above will make NO SENSE AT ALL!

It all began last weekend.  Phylly went to Tulsa to visit her daughter, Heather.  While Phylly was there, we both received an email saying that our most favoritist fabric store in the world was going out of business -- The Cloth Merchants.  They were having a special 4-hour 20% off everything sale last Sunday afternoon for their best customers.  I decided that just MAYBE -- since Phylly was up there -- that I could order some fabric on line and Phylly could pick it up for me.  Turned out Phylly WAS going to the sale for a tearful goodbye if nothing else, and she was happy to pick up my fabric.  Turned out Phylly bought a lot more fabric than I did.

Monday morning, Phylly brought my bag of fabric to work with her (she works at our store), and I asked her to lay it out and take pictures with her cell phone and send them to me so I could see a bigger swatch than the tiny squares on the internet.  She did.  That is when I discovered that one of the fabrics was WAY WRONG for me.  It was all browns and oranges.  I asked Phylly to show it to her boss, Lu, who is a pretty red head and looks AMAZING in fall colors.  Phylly did.  Lu loved it.  SO HERE IS THE WHOLE THING IN A SENTENCE:

I told Phylly to tell Lu that IF she would let Phylly measure her, I would make her a Sure-fit Designs top with that fabric.  Lu was delighted, and Phylly got the measurements and faxed them to me.

Here is the beginning -- day 1 -- when I filmed a tip for SFD fans:

And here is the next video I did with another tip:

And here is another video with another tip:

And another tip:

And Lu's muslin all done and the crazy place I decided to have her do her first fitting:

And THIS ONE is the video done this morning in my poorly-lit former office.  There are still some issues that need fine-tuning, but for right-out-of-the-bag, the fit is pretty good.

Lu has one shoulder lower than the other -- like me -- and I did not adjust for that.  I told her we needed to stand her up against the wall and draw around her.  There was no reply, but I could read her mind:  "You have GOT to be KIDDING!!!"  Little does she know the extent I will go to for a perfect fit.

AND, let me also point out that when I asked Lu:

"Do you wear the same bra every day?",

and Lu looked at me like I had lost my last marble,

I did NOT mean the EXACT SAME bra.  I meant the same STYLE of bra.  Poor Lu.  She was probably trying to plan a quick escape before I could ask her any more insane questions.

Got to run.  I may be back to tweak this later.  Jerry and I are going to Kingfisher to supervise Mom moving back into the Memory Unit.  I want to be sure all her things are returned to the proper place.

Here's a few still shots.  LOVE her hair!  Lu apologized that she was in shorts and didn't put on her makeup today.  If I looked that good without makeup, I'd throw it all in the trash!  I could just shake that gorgeous hair around, and I would be perfectly happy!

Would love to hear your comments!

Hugs, Joy