El Soldado/The Soldier

This is a new piece that I created with soldiers in mind. The image comes from a Loteria game card. This particular image is popular here in town because of Fort Bliss. This is the last one I have (for now). I am still bogged down trying to pick up my inventory, I have so many new ideas that I want to try out but havn't gotten to. I had planned to do it during my week off but I have no idea where the week went! Hopefully having a little more time during Christmas break will give me a chance to complete new pieces.

I am also in the works of putting together a new exhibit for my UVAs group. As soon as the holidays are over it will be full speed ahead trying to get this 20 women show together.

I spend so much of my time trying to take better pictures, all to no avail. I have now relinquished the task to my husband. Hopefully he will have better luck than me and I also hope to have more free time to do some jewelry making instead of fussing with the camera. These pictures are his first attempts.

This is "La Sirena" from the Mexican game Loteria! She is the most popular image from the Loteria game. I will be posting her to etsy soon.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out in blogland!

Pink

I've made several stained glass necklaces but mainly for my own personal use. I put this one (Pink) on etsy Sun. and it sold today! I guess I better start putting a few more on etsy. This particular necklace is really pink, but the lighting is not that great on the dictionary.

The green necklace is a remnant left from a stained glass project that I had. I liked the shape so much that I decided to make a necklace out of it. I will put it on etsy this weekend, hopefully someone else will like it as much as I do.

I have a few more stained glass necklaces that I am working on, I will post as soon as I finish.

Tag, you're it!

I've been working on designing new tags for my jewelry. These are just a few examples of what I have come up with. The one I am leaning towards is the squared pink tag. I've gotten one of my graphic design friends to add the finishing touches to it. I can't wait! Now I have to decide what materials to use, I also havn't decided on how I am going to attach the tag to my pieces. I want the tag to stay towards the top of the necklaces and not down by the pendants. I guess I still have some work to do.

What a mess!

My cat Frida loves spending time in my studio and loves to climb onto my workspace. Unfortunately for her I have been working frantically all week and I have the mess to prove it. She sat on the seat for several minutes contemplating the mess and was perhaps hoping I would get the hint and clean a space for her.

I have a very good reason for working so frantically. My jewelry is now being sold at Galeria Azul in Historic Old Mesilla in New Mexico. This is the third gallelry that sells my work besides the two shops that also carry my pieces. I'm so excited and I pray that it goes well. Besides my full time job as a high school art teacher, making my jewelry for these places is taking up what little time I have left. My Etsy shop is very empty and I only have a few pieces. I'm hoping to create new pieces this week specifically for my Etsy shop.

Something that I really need to spend time on is designing new tags for my jewelry. I can't seem to make my mind up on one specific design. The ones I use now are very plain. I want something that shows my personality & culture. What kind of tags do you use and do you make them yourself?

Michael Jackson in my classroom!

The students in my school district were out of school today and will be out tomorrow so the students were allowed to dress in their costumes on Wed. A student that was dressed as Michael Jackson was creating quite a stir through out the school. I had not seen the student and didn't think I would catch a glimpse of him. Well, I didn't have to wait long, he turned out to be one of my very own.

LoteriaPieces.

I've been working on several projects at the same time. I have several jewelry orders, some for individual orders, several for the shop where I sell and I would like to show my work at a gallery in a neighboring town. I have to complete three paintings by Feb.for an exhibit that I am putting together for my artists group. If that wasn't enough I have put together a clay workshop and pit firing workshop and I would like to make some clay pendants for the pit firing.

Whew! It is no wonder my studio looks so messy. I find it difficult to work when my studio starts looking cluttered so I am going to stop from creating and start cleaning. I do this about three times a month and everytime I say , "I won't let it get so messy again".

The pictures are close-ups of my work spaces and some new Loteria necklaces which I will be posting soon. I never thought that I would one day be making jewelry out of game pieces that I grew up playing with.

This is my latest creation. I found a little heart printed inside an old dictionary and I just had to put it inside this pendant. I have been looking around other blogs to get some inspiration on how to photograph my jewelry. I am also going to look into getting a new camera, but in the mean time I will continue to experiment with my old camera.

I have also updated my business cards. I uploaded a picture that shows a variety of pieces in the front and a more simplified look in the back. I can't wait to get my new cards!

I will be having my next UVAs meeting this friday and I am looking forward to it. This month's swap is a piece of jewelry incorporating some type of textile. I can't wait to see their creations.

Skeletons

Finally! I was finally able to take better pictures of my Day of the Dead pendants. They didn't all turn out great, but a few came out o.k. I don't know if I will ever master the art of photographing my jewelry, I have tried everything short of standing on my head. Oh well. I had planned on taking pictures all day today and post in etsy, but my mom called and invited us over for a small cook-out. We ended up staying all day at moms.

Hopefully I will be able to take pictures tomorrow, or Monday since there is no school on Monday. Thank you Christopher Columbus!

Anyways, these pendants are made out of pieces of fabric in between two pieces of glass, I then gave my pieces a copper patina.

Clay beads

I'm still playing around with clay and trying to come up with some different images for my beads. I started making these for my daughter and her friends and now I can't seem to stop. They are mostly for fun but I'd like to perfect my technique. I'd like to make the transition to porcelain, but I have never worked with it. What cone do you fire porcelain? Does Stroke n' Coat work on porcelain?

I am on my way to Cloudcroft NM for an art festival where I will be selling my jewelry. Wish me luck, it has been a long time since I have sold at an art fair. I mostly rely on the shops here in town to sell my work.

Have a great weekend everyone!