my proof of angel love

these 3 glass containers hold feathers from my zebra and society finches.

  the glass container on the right holds a variety of feathers, all different sizes, shapes, colors and patterns.

the glass container on the left holds the special tail feathers from zebra finches that have hearts on them.   most zebra finch feathers have 2 - 3 stripes and it is usually in one of those stripes i have found my hearts, like these.....

i have treasured these special feathers and have thought about soldering each one between glass and making a necklace or bracelet out of the charms.

God, angels...they work in their own special way.    my normal daily routine is to clean the finch cage and give them new food and water, then i search the floor for good feathers to use in my art and i always hope to find a special one, then i vacuum.   it is amazing just how far from the cage the finch seeds and feathers travel.    today a series of events distracted me and before i knew it the hubby was home and we sat and watched the birds and tried to get a peek at the newest batch of babies.   before we knew it,  a couple of hours flew by...ha....get it....we were watching the birds and time flew....ok, funnier in my head....anyway.....i started to go get the full size vacuum to finally vacuum and i checked the floor, for a 2nd time today, for feathers and found nothing.   again i was distracted and next thing i knew i found myself cleaning the bathrooms and i use a small hand vac for them.  on the way to take the hand vac back to the laundry room i decided to hand vac the area around the bird cage instead of lugging out the big vacuum.   while bending over i thought to myself just how ridiculous i was being....this was more time consuming, and not a good idea considering i was bending over with the meniere's beast looming in the background, not to mention it was not doing the job....  as i turned to vacuum the dark corner between a table and the cage i saw 2 zebra finch feathers.....

i got down on my hands and knees to retrieve the two feathers and discovered a third.   i also discovered while on my hands i knees i need to wipe down my baseboards as well.   as i picked up the largest of the three feathers i saw a dot that i just knew was a heart.  i ran....uh, walked quickly, to grab my reading glasses and saw this.....

the most perfectly perfect heart.    last week while looking out of my kitchen window thinking of what was our life now and what i have hope and faith for our life in the future i asked that i be given a heart in a place or way i have not received one before.    today i had a serious case of the blahs i just could not shake and was trying to replace thoughts of the situation that caused the blahs with good thoughts and today that just was not working....just a wee bit later i found this.   this is my sign.   this is my proof.   this is my angel.   this became my joy and peace.

this particular feather is in the middle glass container.   in its own special place.

here is a bit more angel love i have received over the last couple of days...

a leaf while out shopping with my daughter friday night

a shadow on some folded laundry friday night

more laundry from friday nights

this chip from friday night

i usually take a few pictures of each heart i find just in case one turns out unfocused and in this case, when i uploaded them on to my computer this evening i found a small hole in the chip and guess what.....

another wee teeney heart.....

a super up close and blurry view of that small hearty hole on that hearty chip.

while making pumpkin bread....there are actually two hearts here.....i am too pooped to photo edit and draw circles...there is one up top and one at the bottom.

another heart in the batter mixing bowl

one in the batter after i poured it in the pan.

one in the bread after baking...this photo uploaded all distorted and i am not sure why.

see the heart 'fold' peeking out of the sweat jacket, again friday night.

there are 2 hearts, 1 right side up and 1 up side down.

dough for homemade pizza and cheese garlic bread.   i found 3 flour hearts on the dough, but i spared you the thrill of looking at 3 shots of pizza dough.

back side of cheese garlic bread

this wash cloth i found on a trip to the bathroom at 5:30am.   i only had 1 eye partially open, just enough to find my way....this proves how serious i am at trying to photograph these gifts!

found this piece of paper standing upright inside the nest that held a baby bird that fledged friday evening,  found this piece of paper this afternoon.

a hearty pale orange spot on kitty's leg.


these are just a few that i have photographed over the last few days.  there are twice as many more, but they need arrows and circles to help guide your way to see and this girl is getting pooped.
i don't usually receive quite this many every day, but i have noticed there are times when my angel knows i need to feel the love in a big way.

this is proof that life continues on beyond this world.   our loved ones are close by, we are loved and guided and protected.   i think i know who sends me these hearts, and when i get a rush of them i think i understand why, but i sure would love to know for sure.  someday  maybe i will get to meet theresa caputo and find out for sure.

i have lots more to talk about, so maybe tomorrow, especially since i hope to get back to blogging daily.  

psssst.....i'm back

for those who just come for the art of it all there will be pics below all the blabbering of my life as  it has been nearly a month so bear with this girl while she gets her blog bearings back.

i really have a good excuse reason why i was gone.....i have gotten out of the house in the last month more than i have in a year total....sick, sad, and pathetic.....and so cool all at the same time. 

i was out and about with my mom and sister....twice.  no pics because i was concentrating on not falling on my face.  apparently the beast thought it was invited as well. 

as many of you know my sister was one ill puppy and in the hospital...remind me to show you the vase i soldered up for her to hold some of my home grown flowers to help brighten her hospital room.....  and i want to say THANK YOU again for all of your prayers and thoughts and well wishes....and she thanks ya too.  i know they were heard.  she is at home now and healing from it all, slowly but surely.  thank God. 

i finally got myself back on an almost normal peeps sleeping schedule which meant no late night blog posts.   i had been trying to find that perfect 'blog' time alternative and once i did i realized the end of the school year is just days away and i need to rethink it all over again.   i so need my peace and quiet in order to blog.

we changed from charter to at&t.  ugh.  maybe i should save that story for another decade. 

i am posting now in the wee hours of the morning.  i have been in bed for 4 days now.  i think my butt is growing roots in the mattress. since i have not done anything, besides spin, for the last 4 days and i am starting to feel a bit better,  i am wide, wide, wide awake.  just like i had a dozen or so pots of coffee. and i drank 'em with a straw...oh wait that only means something with alcohol doesn't it...   i have known for the last week or so that beast was going to get extra nasty, and on thursday night it did.   instead of sending an email, or giving me a call it causes intense pressure in my ears that is very painful along with bouts of temporary deafness in one or both ears becoming more  frequent than normal along with the 'ringing' in my ears becoming even louder.  this time headaches came along for the ride, even while popping 4 motrin every 4 hours. 

ohhhh....and we have a new member of the family.   it is a long story.  everyone has wanted a second cat, again.  as if the first second cat we had was not enough of a nightmare.  i have said no.  they have said puhlease.  back and forth and back and forth.   especially now since the hubs job situation and financials and all.  the daughter went with a friend to a pet store.  clarence was a rescue kitty needing a home.  his top is pure midnight black, his belleh is brownish black.  and he is cross-eyed.  big time.  he has some depth perception issues.  lots and lots of other peeps applied and were denied to adopt.   we applied...yes i gave in...figured the cat lady  would say no and i would not be the bad guy.  uh...she said yes.  we now have a second second kitteh.  he is sweeter than sweet.   moan-uh is just now dealing with him and has come out of hiding after 2...or is it 3 weeks now.  oh...hold on i gotta get the pic my sister took of him off facebook......be right back.  

ok...this does not show the full extent of his crossy-ness.  it is next to impossible to get a good photo since he is all black.  but it gives you an idea.

he mostly sleeps like this....actually with all four legs kinda up in the air like bloated road kill....he kinda fell over to the side here. 

he is a few inches over 3 feet long nose to tail.  we are thinking he is part maine coon.   he looks like a panther when he walks and stalks through the house. 



ok...lets see.....oh yea.  the vase(s) i made.....

it started life an just a plain old spice jar

i so love the texture.

i soldered a charm and used some green sari silk to attach.   i was not quite sure if i was in love at first, so i decided to make another, just in case i liked the second one better and could give that one to my sister instead. 

i decided to keep this one for myself.  see the 'thorns' i soldered on the charm?  yup....figured the last thing my poor sister needed was to get jabbed by a 'thorn' and end up in worse shape since she is allergic to everything and with our luck end up with solder-patina poisoning.  not that it exists in the normal world....with normal people. 


so....anybody in the mood for a tute on aging a mirror?  i was not sure if i would be up for it, but here i am still wide awake and thinking my beast induced brain fuzzies might cooperate.

i had a couple of different types of mirrors. 

some had grey backs, the others terra cotta.  

the terra cotta ones came from hobby lobby.   dunno where the grey backed ones came from.

a little back story on how i figured this all out.   i have been wanting to do this for quite some time, but when i read up on it here, there, and everywhere on the internet it involved a really super icky chemical and from what i could tell what expensive...like 30 - 60 bucks kind of expensive.  

one day i came across a tute from someone who actually ages mirror and sells them...like seems to make a living doing it from how i read it.   while reading this latest version the teacher mentioned using a product to eat the silver off that sounded like a patina.....hey i have some of that....i wonder?   what do i have to lose, right?   and besides the novacan patina is icky, kinda bad icky but not super icky which makes it not as icky to use.  right?   

first you have to strip the paint off the back of the mirror.

i seem to have misplaced the photo of the stripper i use.  i only use citri strip.  it is orange.  much less icky scary than the other stuff. 

the mirrors from hobby lobby...the terra cotta backed....stripped off in just minutes.  the grey backed mirrors took hours.  the neat thing is the stripper actually started to eat some of the silver off of the grey backed ones. 

once the mirrors are washed off then grab your novacan black patina.   i also had cotton balls and a straw, some paper towels and a vinegar/water solution, and don't forget the safety glasses and rubber gloves. 

the mirror on the left has been wiped down with patina, and then i let the cotton ball sit on a part of the mirror.

the mirror on the right has a puddle of patina sitting on it.  i used the straw to grab some of the patina out of the bottle.  you know how you stick the straw in the liquid and use your finger as a stopper to hold the liquid in. 

i spent the next several hours experimenting.   the first mirror i did this to, the patina ate the silver off in literally a fraction of a second.  others took several minutes.   some needed some elbow grease with the cotton ball, others not so much.  all i can say is wait for the mirrors to go on sale at hobby lobby and buy a bunch and play and practice.

after you have removed the amount of silver you want then you need to neutralize the patina.  i used just plain water and used a vinegar/water mixture.  both worked just fine.  

i then sat the mirrors outside to make sure the were completely dry for a bit.

the next step is to spray paint the back.  i think photo goblins raided my album since i seem to be missing the photo of the spray paint i used as well.   that is what happens when you let a month go by between the photo taking and the photo using.  

i used a charcoaly grey color.  it was also textured, so it dried to a very flat finish. 

this is a sampling of some of the mirrors i aged.   thinking i did a so-so job, considering it was my first time and all i was pretty happy.  i went back to the site where i found the info and much to my surprise, surprise, surprise  (imagine goober's voice here)  my mirrors looked like their mirrors....the ones they sell!  yippee!

this is the first mirror i did....the one that took only a fraction of a second for the patina to eat the silver off.  it is a bit over done...but i like it and hung it in my bathroom.  i will take a photo of it tomorrow and post....tomorrow.

the frame of this mirror was a pukey gross green.  when i used the stripper on it i found the green paint had soaked deeply in to the wood and there was no removing it all.  it left the wood looking almost mossy!  i added a coat of antique walnut stain to age it a bit.   i think i am in love!

this is the back of one of the mirrors after i applied to spray paint.   this mirror had been glued to an antique silver platter.  i had used a heat gun to release the glue and much to my surprise found a heart...see it?  right there...see!   i have since re-glued the mirror back in.  need to take a photo of that one too tomorrow.  

okey dokey...i think that about does it.   the brain fuzzies are getting a bit gnarly.  if you have any questions you know where to find me!  

if tomorrow is better i will play show and tell with giving metal a patina with a.....drum roll.....torch! 

sweet dreams....much love to you.

back in the soldering saddle again....giddyup

yeeehaaaa.  ohhhhh i just wanna solder EVERYTHING! 

my next project is to figure out just how i am going to assemble the sacred bone necklace i started on some time back.

so this afternoon i thought

 sacred bone makes me think head hunters and jungles....lost civilizations.  

medicine man.

vintage pharmacy labels

so i cut glass just a bit larger than the pharmacy labels. 2 days in a row now i have cut glass.  i have got the nack back baby.......uh....pretty much.

nope, you are not seeing double.

yup, if you know me you know what this means.

this is one of those -  one for me, and one to sell pieces.

one of the most important steps when you are assembling your piece to solder - make sure you clean clean clean the glass.  you do not want to find a schmere or fingerprint after you have it all taped up, or worse yet, after you have soldered the piece.  i use plain old vinegar and a paper towel, followed up with a shop towel....um...errrrr....usually  my shirt though.

next...repeat after me

flux is my friend.

the flux will clean the tape.  trust me if you miss a spot you will notice the solder refusing to stick to a spot.

too much flux though and it will loosen the tape, or ruin the piece because it can seep underneath the tape and get sucked between the layers of glass and destroy what you smooshed in between the layers, especially if you used something printed on an ink jet printer.  trust me, i have done this.

soldering jump rings.  this can try the patience of a saint. but, if i can do this i know you can. why do i know this?  because about 37 years ago i had surgery on my ear to make a new ear drum.  i woke up in the middle of the surgery, and i am guessing somewhere in the process it caused some damage and my hands shake. 

i also did all of this with the beast acting naughty as well. 

(the beast, if you are new here, is vertigo caused from positional vertigo and meniere's disease)

 i hold my jump ring with an old pair of needle nose pliers, and i say old pair because the next step will kinda  corrode them,  dip the jump ring in the flux. 

 

if you don't need to open the jump ring to attach the piece to your whatever...like chain, then solder the opening of the jump ring down. 

if you do need to leave the opening to the jump ring exposed to attach it to your chain, then solder the jump ring closed after the piece, or charm, is attached.  i have received many compliments from buyers and gift recipients for taking the time to do this. 

soldering dots....i can not tell you how many times i have soldered dots and boink...they pop off and roll off my soldering table.  

flux is my leetle friend.

i flux the spot that i want to place the dot on before do this.  all i can say is that over time they have stuck more and more.  i have not lost a dot today, and only 1 the other day when working on the easter ornaments. 

i still want them to look more.....dot-ier.  but, i have come to accept that maybe this is just gonna be my 'style'.

i love all things old, loved, worn and used and that is why i love the novacan black patina.

before you patina you must clean off the flux, i use vinegar on a paper towel

to get the shiny silvery look on the tops of the dots i go back over the dots after the patina has been applied, i use my leetle friend...flux and dab the top of the dot and then touch ever so lightly with the soldering iron for a fresh shiny tidbit of solder.  

i always wear these when soldering, and like i have said in the past i pretty much don't even cut a piece of paper in my studio without these one.  getting a chunk of metal i was cutting in my eye just one time is all it took for me.

after i have given some patina to my piece, i then give it a coat of this

the plan is tomorrow to start assembling the sacred bone and the medicine man necklaces. 

i ran in to a issue with some of the beads not having the size holes i need which has forced me to rethink the hows of it all.

let's hope i will have pics of the necklaces well under construction to play show-n-tell with this time tomorrow.

hope you had a beautiful day!

nighty night. 

smooches.