20 September 2009

Build a Strong Foundation

"There aren't enough days in the weekend."
~Rob Schmidt
Ain't that the truth!

My days are so packed during the week, the last thing I want to do is rush about on the weekends. But that is, unfortunately, what happens for me. So when it should seem that life takes a breather, it is actually more accelerated, and I can see no difference between the weekdays and the weekends, except that I get to linger in my bed a bit longer.

Two weekends ago it was actually more hectic than usual. Our annual Pacelli Panacea fundraiser was that weekend. This is like a county fair, on the grounds of our Catholic high school complete with a midway with overpriced games {like pick a duck}, the chance to win a fish {for no less than $5, and I could have purchase three for that price at Petco, and that will promptly die of bliss once it has escaped the confines of it's plastic bubble o' solitary confinement}, yummy treats {I think I ate my yearly quota of cheese curds, cotton candy and funnel cakes}, and raffles galore {I really wanted that laptop...iPod touch...or the bright cherry red Chevy Camaro...I got none of it....but I made a great donation to the school system!}. My husband and I worked the beer tent on Friday night.

Lest you think that was all we did, my son, Sport-O, played his first football game of the season {he is a quarterback...and we won!} and my daughter, Tiny Dancer, had her first Saturday morning "Power Hour" at dance. And I had to sing at church that night. And the next day I had to work the Silent Auction {that I had set up on both Thursday and Friday that week}.

So, yeah...we had one busy weekend. {Can anyone else relate to that?}

And to top it all off, we were procrastinators as well. We had to make a brick for Sport-O's school Social Studies project.

Yes. A brick.

We could only use materials that primitive peoples would use. And a lot of manual labor. Since we of course waited until the last minute {due Tuesday} we had to accelerate the usually 2 week sun-curing time. That is where the grill comes in.........

{I wrote about our experience for Watch Me Create. I invite you to read all about it here.}

This weekend was not much different. But I actually had time to create. {In between trying to tidy up my work space and suck up deceased buzzers with the vacuum...thank you Bee Whisperer!}


I am working on a bunch of pendant necklaces for my one show a year coming up in October {I don't think that I can pull this off in one month, but maybe I will surprise myself!}



I received a package of goodies from Rings & Things this week for my Blog Partner program. This month they gave us a gift certificate to purchase what we would like {Thanks, Dave!}. I bought components that are essential for building a strong foundation in any jewelry design.

I have spools of chain from Rings & Things that I purchased over a year ago. {It is about time that I start using them! I am an e-tailer's ideal customer because I always buy things and then it takes me some time to use them...} I bought 6 spools in different finishes like gunmetal and antique copper and bright copper. Now that I am making my "Seeds of Inspiration" pendants, I have the perfect use for these chains.

I bought gunmetal trigger clasps and a full gross of these really great hook & eye clasps {my new favorite}, assorted sizes of gunmetal jump rings, headpins and eyepins, assorted Beadalon crimp tubes in silver, gold, copper and gunmetal {can you see a color trend here?}. I also bought a strand of yellow jade faceted rondelles and hematite faceted rondelles. I plan to use them in my bee-yootiful bee-themed jewelry piece. {Still catching the bees, but they are slowing down....}


I love the look of mixtures of metal. I particularly love the patina on Vintaj components. But I am also partial to antique copper, and gunmetal really makes things pop. I love the contrast and the grungy nature of mixed metals and I am not afraid to pair copper with silver and gunmetal and all sorts of patinas. I like things that look old and worn out {I just don't like to look old and worn out...finally rescheduled my hair appointment that was supposed to be on August 25! Those "witch hairs" have got to go!}

Here is an example of a mixed media pendant that I created. I am making bunches of these to be sold at that one event {A.R.T.S. Night... A Reason To Shop... a fundraiser for the Women's Fund of Portage County}. What do you think?

{Vintaj stamping blank and eyepins, dapped in a bowl shape, stamped with Staz-on ink in black, embossed with hematite powder, Swarovski crystals (in olivine, copper and watermelon) from FusionBeads, gunmetal curb chain and trigger clasp from Rings & Things}

What does your ideal weekend look like....and what does your actual weekend look like? Do tell!

Check It Out::Watch Me Create

Enjoy the day!

11 comments:

Sherry said...

I think that necklace is spectacular!! And for a worthy cause!!

No weekends are never long enough and because of that we seem to cram as much as we can into them.

You certainly had a VERY busy weekend...lots of fundraising and spirit in supporting your children.

The vision of a weekend is rarely ever how it turns out!! I managed to do some decluttering, caught up on some errands that needed to be run, and watched my son play hockey in a tournament. Mostly I enjoyed the gorgeous weather we had for the last official weekend of summer.

Esther said...

busy busy busy.. i can't belive this story of brick.. maybe i have not understand..
Your goodies are so pretty.. and your mixed media pendant.. hummmm!! delicious!!
Passez une bonne journée!

Joy said...

My ideal weekend is a mixture of children and friends and an activity we all enjoy, church and worship, and all of the surprises we have time to enjoy in between. I strive for that every other weekend, because the opposite weekends I work. By choice. Temporarily I hope. On my work weekends I try to fit my ideal weekend around a night shift, and am usually completely exhausted and trying to regain my balance on Monday. Even as I write this the blatantly obvious stands out to me--change my work weekends. Which I am in the process of doing, but not very agressively yet. Wow:)

Barbara Lewis said...

Geez, Erin! I felt like I had to take a nap after reading about your weekend! But you know what they say about busy people and getting things done. I love the pendant and the cause! I really enjoyed your post!

Alice said...

I enjoyed reading your brick story! It's great that you the entire family pitched in for this.

My ideal weekend would be one where I didn't have to lift a finger to clean ANYTHING, or remind anyone for the umpteenth time to put things away. I would have plenty of time for an outing with the family, reading a book or magazine, creating some fabulous jewelry, and ending with a delicious meal created by an actual chef, including a to-die-for decadent chocolate dessert.

OK, now for the real thing--cleaning, working on my charity projects (and getting frustrated at having to prod and beg other adults to do their job), trying to drum up some inspiration to make a piece of jewelry, more cleaning, trying to figure out supper, then falling asleep on the couch in a stupor.

Cindy said...

Hi Erin
What a recap of your weekend! You're always on the go!! My ideal weekend would involve having the chance to sit down and create some jewelry...but that rarely happens with the activities of having young children.
I love your pendant...I think they'll be big sellers at your upcoming show. I just happened to buy some additional Staz-on colors and embossing powders today. So many ideas but no time. :-(

Anonymous said...

love those yellow jade beads, so pretty!

my life is also very busy, i need some advise on how to schedule it all in, hee hee.

my ideal weekend would be to have a clean house, husband and kids off having fun and me enjoying my art alone at home.

my real weekend is taking each of the boys to a soccer game, cathechism, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning. my real weekends stink, hee hee.

Lance said...

Hi Erin,
Having kids in school, I can completely relate to this. Do you remember SuperWoman? That's you! Wow!!

An ideal weekend is a leisurely day or two, relaxing and having things just kind of flow.

An actual weekend is much more structured. Soccer. Football. Basketball. Some sport most of the year that we're off to. Church. Sunday School.

Right now, I'm liking those moments that are unstructured and just happen...

peacockfairy said...

Hi Erin! Love your projects in The Best of Stringing! I did see that peacock bottle that Andrew is selling.... I would be all over it if I didn't already have it! LOL! My friend got it for me for Christmas last year!

Silver Parrot said...

I loved the brick story. I just found out today that I'm supposed to send my son to school on Friday wearing a cooking pot on his head (they are learning about Johnny Appleseed) and I'm thinking that none of my (incredibly heavy) Circulon pots are going to work so I am actually contemplating buying a NEW pot just so the kid can wear it as a hat. And I wonder why I don't have time to create anything LOL!

A Beaded Affair said...

What a great weekend. Love the necklace at the bottom. My ideal weekend is peace, quiet, lots of wire and stone and a clear head to create. Those weekend are so few and far between. lol
Lois
http://www.abeadedaffair.com

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