My Early resolution

I suppose i can say for the one thousandth time, that I will make a conscious effort to keep at this blog.

But in the end, it is sadly neglected and I have no one to blame but MOI.

It it not difficult- nor painful, but it never seems to get done. So here and now i commit to at least once every 5 days- I know you cant see, but i am taking a blood oath (well, that would be nasty) but I am taking an oath.

So… winter- officially here, yet it is 80 degrees and sunny- And this is what I am escaping to go to Sri Lanka! I wish I was leaving cold and blustery but I am leaving warm and sunny. Yet i am still counting the days- officially 7 now!

Today was a fun studio day- I start out  lining up my stones and what i want to do, and some how things morph into something else, and that original like stays untouched!

Yet this is what happened today:

I had so much fun making this lacy box like structures- they came out really nice that I think I might be stuck on them for a while…

DOES PURE EVIL EXIST?

 

This has been a question causing debate for eons. Does pure evil exist in its truest form? Not just bad people or bad things happening, but i mean dogs fighting in the dessert , head spinning exorcist type things.

Well, I can with out a doubt  say YES. It exists and lives under my roof:

Its name is Santa- and today proved himself to be the devil himself.

After finishing a ring that i customized for a dear client, from a pendant to a ring- with the most stunning labradorite I have ever layed my eyes on- i put it on the counter after polishing it.  He looked at me- meowed loudly and swiped it off the counter- hockey style- so that the top splintered into shards. And yet he wasnt done- with a quick right paw, he drop kicked a pink tourmaline that i decided to splurge on for a particlar ring I had in mind- sending bits of pink shards into the macaroni and cheese.

Satisfied with his work he sauntered over to the carpet and went to sleep.

Pure evil exists!

a new toy!

   

 

Yes, i got a new toy! It is called a sinusoidial stake- I know, it sounds like some god awful medical instrument from the industrial revolution. What it does is bend metal in two different directions at one time.

Super cool and extremely fun to use. Granted the whole self teaching thing isnt my cup of tea in general, but I had no choice in this matter- because besides the fact that they dont sell this tool here in Israel, they also refuse to believe that it actually exists.

This is what I came up against when asking around for it. I was told I was making it up by several people- because that would certainly be a good uses for time: making up tools and then spending a whole day going from place to place asking if they sell my invention!

So I did a bit of on line research and decided to try it first in copper and brass- as silver has become way too pricey for experiments.

The result is amazing! Like pringles with gentle graceful curves?

 

                    

              

I had no idea that brass and copper could look so good!!!

 

               

Funky necklace day

  

Today was necklace day- funky, fun,weird and really cool There are just some days when I get caught up in a subject, and today happened to be necklaces!

This oddity started out as something so ridiculously differently and morphed along the way into an alient like creature in a little skirt and lace. I gave her a whole night out and decided to call it “karioke night on Mars”

                

She consists of a teardrop shaped yellow opal and silver

This next one is a fun little poppy jasper with dandling flowers. They each moved independently!

                   

The stone is called Guadaloupe Poppy Jasper

This next one is ocean jasper in an Asian like design

          

Next in line- rough tourmaline, silver and 18 karat gold!

          

               

Same concept here, except for raw aquamarine and all   silver.

             

             

This next one is with a gorgeous rough cut emerald

           

and this last one is just Lolly- refusing to put her tongue in for about half an hour! Cracked me up…

         

tomorrow I am devoting the day to learning  tech stuff- websites. photosharing groups etc. I feel like the whole world is connected but not me! it all overwhelms me too much!!

Two Very Serious Issues

I am going to step away from the usual in my blog- jewelry, life and other miscellaneous things, to address two very serious topics:

NUMBER ONE

What is the deal with people who look at you like you are crazy when you eat batter?

Seriously- have I gone through life thinking myself and my family are the normal ones, when actually we are not?

I was making cookies the other day when friend of my daughters passed by and saw me swiping from the bowl, and it literally stopped her in her tracks!

She stared incredulously at me and just said :What are you doing?" with a weird intonnation to her voice?

Like I just sat down and starting nibbling on a still warm animal carcas

I had no response except to ask her if she wanted a swipe- it was like I offered her the leg of an antelope!

And this is not the first time I have come across this.

In my family, batter is like another food group.

I probably used to say to my kids, "dont forget to include your dough eating in part of a healthy diet" (I just dont remember)

It is better than the cooked result, no?

I dont think I can trust people who dont unsderstand the concept of batter eating.

What kink of real grasp of the here and now can they have?

And how can they pass judgement when they are guilty of things like taking a bite of a sandwich and a sip of drink together in one swallow-

this can literally make me gag!

or dipping french fries in mayonaise- which I know for fact in certain countries is punishable to the full extent of the law

So next time a batter doubter glares at me- think twice please!!

NUMBER TWO

This next subject concerns a mystery.

Where do things go when they dissapear?

I know everyone wonders about that sock in the dryer thing.

But we have a bigger mystery going on here.

And ridiculous as it sounds, it is an unsolved mystery.

My son goes to sleep every night in his underwear, and    wakes up every morning without it-

and it is never found or seen again...

it is not stuffed behind a pillow-

not wedged between mattress and bed frame-

it is not in the bathroom, hallways or ceiling fan

It has just simply vanished.

It is getting to be a very expensive mystery.

I thought of setting up a video camera a la "paranormal Activity" but he is sure that we would see something way to creepy involving demons or worse

so the mystery continues.....

Posted by marajoyce

Take your daughter to work day!

I have been trying forever it seems to get my kids interested in learning how to make jewelry. And shocker of all shockers, they could care less about learing. My 16 years old son in still working on buttering his bagel on his own, so a fire and torch and saw, seemed a bit daunting, I suppose.

But today!!! Today I got my daughter to learn to make a ring with me. She picked out the stone and what style she wanted- she used the torch- she filed the metal- she soldered the parts and set the stone.

And this is the outcome! Isnt it great? It gave her a smile from ear to ear.

So we crowned her the ring princess!

Any my son did a hell of a job on the bagel, to boot! A good saturday...

And then there was one...

This is a very short tale of how our brain plays tricks on us.


I had two lovely larimar stones that I waited for weeks to get.


Beautiful sky blue...


I made the bezel... got everthing ready to solder.....


Then put my bezel to the side- my stone on the block- and applied flame


Well, to all sane people- this sounds WRONG!!!


Yet, I held onto that flame- even though something smelled weird- hmmm. what could that be?


I held it longer until I heard a popping noise- hmmm- what could that be?


Then I realized, I was essentially cremating my stone!!!


It was too late- and a big WHAT WAS I THINKING???


Now, the big question, should i be worried about this?


I prefer to chalk it up to too many things going on at once, and not call it early dimentia!!!


Yikes- and this is what remained of my lovely larimar...

This is what made me...

This is what made me.....

pull out my hair-

yell at the cat-

throw an apple against the wall-

eat about 25 marchmallows straight from the bag-

But in the end.....IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!!

All in a days Work

So... it seems I can no longer move photos around n my blog! They all sit on top refusing to budge! My love/hate affair with technology is leaning more towards hate on a permanent basis lately!!

But, all of the above are from todays work- just one of those productive days and I am happy with everything- except for my hair- but that is a different story altogether.

The long pendant with gems is my absolute fav- wore it last night and just love it- it is like a long string of jelly beans- I almost want to take a bite out of it!

Todays ends the endless- it seems- string of holidays here. The whole month of September has been hell! And if one more person says "Hag sameach" (happy holidays) to me- I will probably inflict bodily harm- not that I am the Israeli version of Scrooge, but ENOUGH! back to school PLEASE! back to work PLEASE!!! Just get life back to normal!!!!!!!

And while I am on the complaining subject- the heat can knock it off also. It is October, for gods sake, and it is 36 degrees (100F) today and tomorrow! I have leather boots crying my my closet- sweaters who bought bus tickets out of here!!! A cloud- just to see a cloud would be s lovely!!!

And on that note, my friends, signing off to search for clouds...

back to metal

I forgot how much I love working with metal- just metal- dont get me wrong- I adore stones- they are like candy to me- I cant get enough- but something about working just with metal- you can beat the hell out of it- it doesnt chip- break- or crack- it doesnt fly off the workbench and dissapear into thin air. It just is what it is!

Pliable- even though it doesnt seem like it should be- shining up even after it looks like hell- forgiving in all manners- except when i melt gold- other than that...

Today I went back to metal and tried a new idea I was thinking up in bed early this morning. In place of stone, I would make cabs from etched metal and then set them like stones in bezels.

Came out super cool- rustic and earthy- just the way I like it!

Continuing on with metal...

I would love t o show you the rest, but this blog doesnt want to cooperate with my pics- so for now...

The 25 Hour Ring

There are somethings that just dont work. They seem like they will- but at the last minute they play that nasty trick on you, and all goes south. Its like the souffle rising perfectly high and then deflating as you walk past the oven with heavy footsteps.

This ring- this tortuous- irritating ring from hell- was my souffle for the past 2 days- but in the end it rose... high and puffy, just waiting for a splash of ganache.. (no rhyme intended here). I kept my patience- I didnt throw it across the room- as I have been known to do- I didnt curse out the cats- I behaved myself and did it over and over- trying to find a solution.

The stone is beyond amazingly cool- it is a pale yellow and clear quartz with floating dendrites that look like miniture ferns caught under glass. Its problem was the angle that the edges were cut- a normal bezel wouldnt do the trick- not sure what did in the end- but it was a happy ending!!

I am really happy wth the results- sort of like antique meets- well, I have no clue- I just like it!

Now on to more supercool stones- this amazing rock is a plume agate- looks like layers upon layers of weird mountains underneath a cloud filled sky. Like I would imagine Mars to look like- if it were with atmosphere- as for some reason all sci fi movies like to assume.

And onto a classic, but always a favorite of mine- a big fat juicy checkerboard garnet. This ring took more muscle work than I have used in AGES! the base that the bezel is sitting on is solid sterling, that I felt the need to carve- not from wax first- carve the metal itself- exhausting- and then after I put the whole ring together, I noticed a small hole in the bezel- so I reheated it and took off the bezel- thus overheating the base and melting it- So... I carved another one- until my muscles were screaming- all this to avoid workmen in my house (bathroom renovations- but that is a different story!).

In the end, this ring kicks ass- it is a heavy, textured silver with a gorgeous red stone- looks like something that fell off a Spanish Galleon.

And I should never underestimate the OMG factor in Morgan Hill Poppy jasper- First of all, I love the name- which is a totally legitimate reason to use a stone- really-

And last but not least- a hybrid of a snowflake and a flower with a gorbeous citrine in the middle

So, one more day until my house full of workers go away- they have been with me for a week- each day bringing with them more destruction and mess- hopefully bu tomorrow, I can begin to organize- and not have to greet them at the door at 6:45 a.m.- WTF? What kind of contractors are so punctual- its making me nuts!! :)

Until next time...

Mara xo

This is my Muse

This is my muse...

It is not the memory of some long forgotten teacher

It is not an inspirational mentor I once had

It is mearly a ring

But, oh, what a ring!



It was dug out of the ground by my husband and given to me


It is about 1,800 years old


And I give it many different stories...


Maybe it was made by a jeweler, way back when, who was trying to find the perfect gift to give his betrothed. She wore it everyday after for the rest of their lives.



Maybe is was used as part of a dowry needed for the hand of some lovely girl at the hand of a less fortunate tradesman.


Maybe it was used as a bribe to keep some sinful secret hush hush

Maybe it was given to a daughter as a loving gift from a father
who had made it with his own two hands




I have an endless pool of ideas on this ring

All I know is when I wear it, I am wearing the same ring
that was in the hands of the jeweler who made it eons ago


and I feel a sense of historical comraderie


It gives me ideas when they arent always there.


It reminds me of why I love doing what I do


It makes me smile when I am frustrated


It helps me accomplish what can sometimes seem impossible

And that it the best you can ask from a muse

a ring for every finger

Well, at least every finger on one hand- couldnt make 10 rings today without pulling out too much hair- so 5 it is...

I can tell I am entering a ring phase- don't know why it happens, but it does.

And now onto serious matters. What if you were to change yourself completely. Step out of your self completely. Like joining the witness protection program.

What would you become? I have been thinking about this today while I was deep in ring production and my music ran out and I was too lazy to switch discs. There are so many possibilities in the world that are just not me:

1. I will start to grow organic veggies, weave my own shoes and learn to play the lute. My nic name will be Sasha and I will smile at people even when they cut in front of me in the bank.

2. I will finally get a sensible haircut for "my age" and get my tatoos lazered off. I will clip coupons and always carry hand sanitizer and cereal bars in my tote. I will always have a "tote" versus a handbag and I will always be in bed by 11:00

3. I will become permanently cranky and start pushing my way in front at the bank. I will wear half length stocking even with skirts and eat oatmeal every day and possible Metamucil. My hair will go way to silvery and i will wear clip on earrings. i might acquire another cat or two. My kids will start calling me Ma'am.

4. I will start wearing cothes about 2 generations younger than I should, but my legs let me get away with it. I will wear too much eyeliner and make purring noises at young boys. Enough said!

But these are just options.....

Mara xo