a couple new rings i worked on over the weekend and finished up today.
the sagey green one is a beach pebble and the orange is a vintage piece of glass.
a pillow kinda weekend
this past weekend when we were forecast to get tons of rain from hurricane ike, chris and i rented a handful of movies and hunkered down only to not get any rain at all. we had a couple sprinkles here and there but nevertheless i watched movies and sewed my heart out. "little britain" (the series) and "what happens in vegas" were a highlight, but i must warn you. i am in no way a movie critic....quite the opposite actually. i like a movie that is light hearted and will make me laugh...unless it's a documentary on art, then there is a whole other set of criteria, but for a regular ol' movie i want just those two simple things, funny and with enough "sweetie parts" as i like to call them. for me, movie watching is simple i don't like to be frightened, become sweaty from panic, cry, or feel like i want to take a shower with my toaster after watching a movie. i figure there is enough out there to elicit such emotions so in movies i walk the happy line. anywho.....some new pillow colors. the blue is from a beach ball. i have used it once before but haven't photographed them....i love them because they are shiny and take on a whole different personality by being so......they seem much more like candy to me :O)
and the yummy green is from a blow-up pool turtle toy...yeah!!!! i love this green.
pink cabbage patch kid show pendant
i heart pink cabbage patch kid shoes..especially pink ones.....so i was really happy to be making a commission piece using the pink yumminess in a necklace for a customer and friend as a birthday gift from her husband. jay and i have been secretly planning and pulling strings behind her back so he could surprise her with it before they leave on their vacation to portland and california. here is the piece in all it's cabbage patch shoe glory......
thanks jay and anastasia, you guys rock!! i hope you have wonderful time on your trip.
"ornament" pg. 42 & 43
have you ever had that moment where something crazy exciting & euphoric happens. when you feel like 1. everything in the room stops and 2. someone stole your breath away. last night i had this exact experience. chris and i went into book people the most amazing book store here in austin. i was browsing the magazine section to find a few craft/art/jewelry magazines that i could find "call for entry" information. i picked up the ornament: the art of personal adornment magazine and was flipping thru to see the images as i made my way to the back of the magazine. i noticed a few ring images that looked familiar from "the ring show: then and now" and as i flipped one more page there was a picture of my "cake pillow ring". hot damn, "what the frogs", i think my heart stopped for a moment. i had know idea. i couldn't belief my eyes. my piece was right there in the magazine with my name and everything. i ran over to chris to share the excitement. i was so ecstatic i didn't even bother reading the article.........i was too busy having a party in my head. the article says, "and jaime jo fisher won third place with Cake Pillow Ring, an oxidized silver ring that features graduated stacked pillows of bright pink plastic from a rain poncho with green stitching, capitalizing on her interest in using repurposed materials and her experience as a cake decorator." pick up ornament: volume 31 no. 5 to read the whole article. thanks for listening to me toot my own horn.....toot toot!! happy saturday :O)
here is the magazine....
i love the allison bone ring in the lower right corner below my ring and i also wish i could try on the ring by yael krakowski (upper left corner). i was fortunate enough to actually see yael's work in person at a charon kranson trunk show that happens here in austin in november. her work is off the charts amazing....but they didn't have any of her rings there so i am extra curious about this one. plus it's absolutely my colors :O) i love that it's opposite my ring in the magazine.
chocolate truffle ring & recipe
this new ring looks good enough to eat. it reminds me of a chocolate truffle in all it's fancy chocolate sprinkle or chocolate ganache lace piped glory. the chocolate truffle is made out of polymer clay. i am hoping to set aside some time to make one of these for my collection. i will soon post it as a listing on my etsy page.
here is my favorite truffles ever:
dark chocolate rum truffles:
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream.....i made these before i stopped eating dairy so if i tried to make this recipe now i would use coconut milk or soy creamer in place of the heavy whipping cream and see what happens.
3 T unsalted butter, softened and cut up.......... now i would try margarine or soy butter and see if that works???? if anyone tries this modified vegan version let me know :O)
2 T kahlua or 1 T of instant coffee crystals
1/3 cup nuts (of choice) toasted and finely chopped
3 T unsweetened cocoa
in food processor with knife blade attached, blend chocolate until finely ground.
in saucepan, heat heavy cream to boiling over medium hight heat. with food processor running, and hot cream, butter and kahlua and blend until smooth.
grease 9 x 5 metal loaf pan; line with plastic wrap. pour chocolate mixture into pan--spread evenly. refrigerate until smooth, and cool enough to cut (about 3 hours) or (freeze 1 hour)
remove chocolate mixture from pan, lifting edges of plastic, remove chocolate and discard plastic wrap.
cut into 32 pieces.
roll pieces, one at a time in nuts or cocoa. store in tightly wrapped container, with waxed paper between layers in fridge.
these are so decadent and delicious.......my dear friend christine made these as our dessert of choice for our after wedding picnic party celebration. sooooooo good!!!
another
pair of earrings in the lineup for the fall line. this pair is for an order for gallery 360. i hope to make a pair for myself before they leave. they are super lightweight and fun to wear........and go with everything...yippy!! the gallery owner ordered a few pair that were metal only, so that's been a fun little experiment. i love having subtle requests for things, sometimes i find myself liking those items the best. it's exciting when it creates another dimension, direction, or line in my work.
more new earrings....
sterling silver, fiber glass
sterling silver
sterling silver, low fire ceramic glaze
new earrings
this is the first of my new line of earrings for the fall. the "stones" are vintage round buttons that i shaped to have a scalloped edge. the scalloped buttons are my favorite but they are not that easy to come by.......so i shape away.
beach pebble ring
i was browsing a website of a customer that just bought a pair of my sale earrings. i was uber flattered that she had a pic of this ring and another single pendant necklace of mine on her blog. i was so excited that she had this ring pictured...eep, eep, eep!! i love this ring. it is one of my favorites that i have made. you know me and rings :O) i should keep one of mine once and a while as a physical catalog of my ring adventure & progression (mental note). the stone is a beach peeble that is set off center on the band. the little piece of tubing detail makes the ring feel alive.......like it has a little eye and he's heading north.
jen, you're a peach thanks for posting about my work. visit jen's great etsy shop for a variety handmade books, linens & cards. love these tea towels.
new pendant for.....
a male client. a women i befriended at the yoga studio asked me to make a pendant for her boyfriend for his birthday. originally we were going to use a piece of red coral that she had until i showed her a few pics. of some "stones" i had around the studio. she picked this really cool ancient roman coin that i was leaning towards myself. so i was really happy to push in a bit of a different direction making the piece more masculine.....
old favorite
i wanted to share an older favorite piece of mine made of chrysocolla drusy, turquoise, and a piece of found glass. (2004)
new float pillow earrings
some new float pillow earrings: the brown ones are a new color from a cleaner's zip-up garment bag stitched with the moss green thread.
the red material i have used before from an estee lauder bag with a new stitch color in electric strawberry red.
more polyps
i just finished up this new acid green polyp necklace today.......
3rd ward here i come.....
i shipped the order out to 3rd ward in milwuakee, wi yesterday. yippy!!! the work should arrive friday or saturday at the latest. i am really happy with the collection of pieces going to 3rd ward: the overall assortment of colors and shapes will display really well together.
well beaser, i forgot to get a picture of the red necklace after i added the red stitching on the lower right hand side..........next time!!!