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