Milestone Weekend

Happy Monday!

I'm feeling pretty good today.
This weekend was a great milestone in my Etsy shop!

I finally reached my magic number of 100 listings! Yup, you heard it right...
After all the work, whining, and postings, I've finally reached that magic number.

Here are the pieces that finally pushed me to my goal:

Beautiful Blue Starfish with Swarovski pearl.

Glistening Green Starfish with Swarovski Pearl.

Soft Silk Shade Starfish with Swarovski Pearl

LOL... do you sense a theme here?
I admit my mind has been strongly thinking of warm... no, HOT weather, surf and sun.

We had some glorious warm weather a week ago which I absolutely loved.
Alas, it's now in the upper 30s today and will be cold for the next few.

For now I guess all I can do is dream of warmer days...

Next goal... 150 listings.

Mood Music... My Dark Side

It’s time for the Aspiring Metalsmith Team’s monthly blog roll.
This month's topic is: What do you listen too while working at the bench?

I’ve always had something of a quandary when listening to music while I work. I don’t have a separate studio; it’s a little corner of our family room on an antique drafting table I’ve lovingly named Colossus. Most of my odds and ends fit(?) here quite nicely with the occasional spread to my desk, kitchen table, floor, etc.

That being said, I have to be somewhat considerate of the rest of the family when I’m working at the bench. Before I got an actual jewelers block I used to hammer on an old railroad tie. Believe me, the ring on that when you’re hammering is a real attention getter.

My long suffering family has been very tolerant over the last few years.

When I’m lucky enough to be alone, I almost always have Pink Floyd in the background. For the past 20 plus years my all time favorite and my TOP art-creating music is “Dark Side of the Moon”.

It’s perfect for mental creativity. I might vary it with a bit of Yes every once in a while, but find I can’t listen to Yes for long while I’m working. I start to get annoyed. I always come back to this.

An interesting thing about “Dark Side of the Moon” is that contrary to popular belief, there is no song of that name on the list/ album/ CD.

Here’s the playlist:

Speak to Me

Breathe

On The Run

Time

The Great Gig in the Sky

Money

Us and Them

Any Colour You Like

Brain Damage

Eclipse

You are welcome to stop by my ArtistiKat shop on Etsy or my ArtKat shop on Artfire to see what I make when I'm listening. Better yet, take a peek at the rest of the awesomely talented Aspiring Metalsmith’s Team and their creative music by following the links below.

Stacy - http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
Clarity of Scrollwork Designs - http://www.thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com
Brandy - http://thefrogspond.wordpress.com/
Happy Tortoise Designs - http://happytortoisedesigns.blogspot.com
Claire - http://brightstar109.blogspot.com/
Silver Pearl Jewelry and Metalworks - http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com
Autumn - http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/
hemlockhollow - http://gloria-hemlockhollow.blogspot.com/
Beatriz Fortes - http://cjbf.blogspot.com/
Resurrection Silver - http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com
RadianTrace - http://radiantrace.blogspot.com/
nancycreations - http://nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ Abella Blue - http://www.abellablue.com/blog

Fabulous Fluorite

Was lucky enough to snag an assortment of fluorite points a few weeks ago and have been trying to figure out how to best incorporate them into jewelry.

I was not pleased with the standard top wrap and I wanted to make something that would show off all the wonderful rainbow colors.

This is what I've come up with so far.

This one shows mostly purples and lavenders.


Nice blend of all sorts of purples and blues.

Like the simple style of the arc. Its secure, plus I get to see all of the fluorite colorful goodness.
;D

I've got many points of various shapes and sizes (some may even work for earrings) so expect to see more of these in the near future in my ArtistiKat shop.