Okay , where did January go?

If someone could please tell me where December and January went, that'd be great. 

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.  The summer here in Australia, so far, has been really mixed.  We've had pouring rain but also some incredibly hot weather leading to major bushfires, thankfully none close to us but my thoughts are with those impacted.

Bermegui Blue Pool, NSW

We also took our first family holiday for years and travelled up the coast from Victoria to southern New South Wales.  My mum, over from the UK, travelled with us so we rented an absolutely fabulous house overlooking a lake and only five minutes from the beach.   Whilst we often pop down to Melbourne for the weekend I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to get really get away.    We took two cars which meant I was even able to take some supplies with me and make a few things. 

Both of these necklaces use window sash chord wrapped in sari silk ribbon. Rather than modpodge, I used ordinary craft glue to preserve the softness and color of the silk. The large washer came from a flea market, the stall holder was astonished at my preference for rusty as opposed to shiny new and gave it to me for free! I was inspired by Kimberly at Numinosity Beads to call the piece 'Rusty Karma'.

The little grungy washer for the found wrapped stone necklace below came from the salt water lake  we overlooked, the stone  came from outside the property. I used hemp to 'loop' the stone. Mary Hettmansperger covers the this technique in her wonderful book 'Fabulous Woven Jewelry'.

Lately, I find myself drawn to natural elements like rocks, raw and unpolished gemstones (particularly carnelian) at the moment.   This bangle stack uses a slab of crazy horse stone along with bone, shell and kuchi.

And this charm bracelet has red and white coral, carnelian, agate, beach glass, fossilised stone and a lovely clay foot from ScorchedEarthonEtsy

I was looking at the balance of items in my shop the other day and realised I hadn't made any earrings for a while.  The bells in these are little versions of larger ones I used in the necklace up above. 

I realise that I've been a bit slack on my 'blogger' blog posting lately.  I've just started using tumblr (quisnam.tumblr.com) and instagram (@quisnamjewelry) to post photos of pieces as they come off the work bench so it's a bit more immediate and up to date work wise but less conversational than my blogger blog if that makes any sense.

'til next time