Beautiful Structural

Just had to put these pics in of two different stainless steel welding projects. This first picture is a stainless steel vase of flowers. It’s amazing and I took several pictures of it  but you have to see it up close to really appreciate it. It’s two stories tall. It has stainless steel bees on several of the flowers. Just the base of the sculpture weighs 1500 pounds. It was installed in several sections at the gallery I display in: The Flying Pig gallery in Algoma WI. The creator is a guy named Jeff Greening from Green Bay WI. He made two of these vases to be like pillars at an entrance. Amazing and beautiful and wow, really awesome!

This picture is of a stainless steel pool. Hmmm why a stainless steel pool? Well, you have probably swam in one at sometime or another and don’t even know it. This pool will get tiled. It’s on a roof top in Far RockAway Queens New York. Again the details to this structure are amazing as well. Beneath this pool and the on the sides of this pool are hundreds of pieces of steel welded together to create the frame work instead of pouring concrete. When pools are elevated the steel frame work is lighter than concrete and concrete eventually cracks and leaks. No one wants the pool leaking into their condo. This pool was made by WaterWorks construction Bill Kruse (my husband.) I will send some pics in the future of some radius pools that are true amazing because the stainless follows S curves on all the walls.

Two great examples of talent with metal and two really hard working people to make such awesome stuff. One is pretty. One is practical. Both awesome. Wish me luck this weekend. Off to Madison Audubon Art Show. Hopefully it will be fun.

Sad and Happy

BlackHeart Sold today. This is bittersweet because I love this piece but it’s going to a good home. The woman that purchased it walks the shores of Lake Michigan often and did so with her father as a child. It has special meaning to her and that makes me smile…. So good bye BlackHeart. It was a pleasure in the making.

Necklace for Lin

This is the beginning pendant for a customer who like another piece of mine but it was a little on the large size for her so she asked if I could do something similar and down size it a bit. This is the start of if. It will be prong set with the set of U shape pieces of silver you see in the photo. I cut the U shapes after they are soldered on to make the prongs.

Done Getting Ready

I am all done getting show stuff ready. It’s packed up and in the trailer: one week to go! First Show of the season in Madison WI, an indoor show and that will be all new to me.

The picture is of a ring I made yesterday. I really love making crazy prong settings for non-traditional Rocks! Traditional being faceted gemstones. This amethyst specimen I bought a bead shop local to me: Rocks of Ages Jewelry and Beads in Luxemburg WI. It’s a great place to shop for beads and a great place to take a class. Next on the list is cleaning the shop because I have abused it. Oh, yeah and making a few labradorite pendants for a waiting customer. Hope she likes what I have coming up! Have a great weekend everyone.

Like a bomb went off in garage…

Wow, what a mess. Got all my show stuff together… emptied the basement, my little trailer, and some things I had in an out-building. Some is going to goodwill. Some is going in the trash. My sign got a facelift with some fresh color and epoxy. My tables got sanded down and re-stained and sealed. I carpeted the interior of my trailer so I can slide things on it easier and kneel on it easier. I am almost done but it’s 5 o’clock and I am starving. So, quit for today and finish with my ‘bomb went off’ project tomorrow. Will feel very good that it’s packed up, clean, spiffy and ready to go down the road. Have a great Sunday everyone.

Classes At The Flying Pig Gallery

Class Schedule At The Flying Pig Gallery in Algoma Wisconsin. For the first time The Flying Pig Gallery has a ‘classroom’ for all kinds of classes! So check it out. Some are in metals like mine and others are in different mediums…. painting, polymers, and iPad techniques. Cool Stuff happening there this summer!

Earrings Done

These are gorgeous and simple… The topaz set is even sweeter being slightly smaller… Here is the links to them online: https://www.etsy.com/listing/97788174/hammered-circle-amethyst-briolette?listing_id=97788174&listing_slug=hammered-circle-amethyst-briolette

Great Amethyst! Got Lucky!

Got these beautiful Amethyst in from India. You can’t always know and trust product when ordering it from overseas… This company I have dealt with before in person and they assured me I would get the consistent quality I needed to make several pairs of earrings and not have a bunch of ‘junk’ gemstones left over. I was pleasantly surprised to get such a beautiful lot of amethyst. Each and every one of them is stunning. I also got some white topaz…they too ~ stunning. Really great to get a great product and I did not hand pick it at a show. That is what you usually have to do. I will show you the finished earrings tomorrow. Just took a pile the earrings out of the tumbler.

On a personal note I have a horrible cold…hitting the couch with a blanket the rest of the day…..

Rox’s Pendant

This is Roxanne’s Pendant. The original piece is the center and it’s moves freely over the back piece. It was boulder opals she got on vacation. She wanted a larger ‘back plate’ added to the piece to make it more dramatic. She has not seen it yet and I know her pretty well, so I hope she loves it. I think this is what she was looking for. Something different, fun, contemporary and that would stand out and not be so plain and simple. Let me know what you think Rox and let me know if you want it oxidized – darkened? or Aged? The back plate is attached with a jump ring to the bail of the original pendant. I could not really mess around with removing the opals from the original setting. They are way to fragile to even think about removing. Don’t need to break a sentimental piece, just need to find a way to work around it.

Bead and Button Show Ad

Hey everyone have not been blogging in awhile…. sorry about that. Kids had some spring break time off and it’s hard to keep a lid on things around here let alone stare at the computer or work or edit images or work…did I mention work! I have so much work to do and that is a great thing. I love it. Awesome news and not awesome news~is I did not get into ‘Art On The Square’ in Madison WI. It is one of the largest shows in the nation drawing 150,000 people. I was sent my ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ letter…. I friend of mine told me it took him a few years to get in and I am sure there is a ton of jewelry exhibiting. I guess 2,000 people apply and 200 get in- I was not one of them. So I will apply next year. Awesome news is that I will be a vendor at the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee WI. It’s a huge arena style exhibit and I am terrified as well as excited to be apart of the actual show. I will be teaching there as well. At the show I am sharing a large corner end spot with Tammy Rae who makes a lot of my lamp work boro glass for my own designs. We are happy to team up together for this big event… both of us never having done it before and we compliment each others work. I will include a pic of the ad we took out in the Bead and Button Program. Making that ad was like poking my own eyes out but what’s a girl to do? Will get back on the work wagon and get to making and repairing stuff. Have a great restyle piece to post as well!