Clouds, Sawing/Filing, and Painting

For the last week or more we have been having a lot of thunderstorms and pop up rain showers. Mom and I will never complain about the rain because you never know when it won't rain again. But due to all the crazy weather we have had some amazing cloud displays. I love, love, love cloud watching. I don't know about you but I have so much fun trying to find shapes in clouds. Do you still do that as an adult?

On Saturday I worked in the garage by sawing out some pieces. I first had to glue the patterns onto the copper. That is the above picture. I use glue on the back of the patterns and on the copper I am going to attach the patterns to.

I then had my one pile of pieces to saw out and the other pile of pieces that needed to be filed and sanded.

I went ahead and sawed out several pieces and then started filing them. Some of the pieces are going to be folded and shaped - I will use a torch to soften them up so we can shape them. I let mom hammer the bowls into shape - lets her get out her aggression :)

On Sunday I helped mom finish up her painting of my old bedroom and bathroom. I think this is the happiest I have seen her since before the surgery. I will share final pics once we get the room back into order.

We are trying to get the painting done before we pick up the kids (niece and nephew) this weekend. They are here for their annual two week vacation with us. Don't worry - you will see lots of pics. Mom has a jammed pack two weeks of things for us to do. I just hope the weather will cooperate with all the plans - but if not - improvise, adapt and overcome!

Flower Thursday - Just for the Heck of It

Snapweed - I think

Mom and I have been going to the little hort park and taking lots and lots of flower pictures. I have also been taking a lot of pictures of the clematis that is growing outside our front door. It has really gone to town.

So - for Thursday I thought I would share some of the flower pictures we have been taking.

Enjoy!

I think these are California Poppies

Clematis picture after it rained last week

Clematis picture after it rained last week

Daisy - I used to not like daisy's but now I can't
get enough of them when I take pictures.

Iris found over where we go to eat breakfast. I love this
color.

A peony - I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted of them this year. The
bloomed early and fast.

I like how both of these are pictured together.

Another peony. I just love the yellow inside and the white petals outside.

I think this is rose moss.

More Beads Made this Weekend and a Seed Beading Question

Making test beads for the June ABS Challenge

This weekend was another weekend working on the torch. I am seriously in love with the oxygen concentrator. I don't have to worry about using up all the oxygen in the tanks and I can play with different colors now to see what we like for projects. Mom and I are kicking ourselves for not buying the concentrator sooner - oh well.

Two of the beads I was making on Saturday.

While I am sitting in the garage making beads - I can smell mom's lilac tree all the way inside. We think the tree likes its new location. The tree used to be in the back yard where the extension now is located - before they started working on the extension mom had two of her trees moved - the lilac tree to the front yard and another tree to the back flower bed. I am so glad she decided to have this one in the front yard - it smells so good!

These are the beads from Saturday's day of play.

These are the beads mom and I agreed on to use for the June ABS Challenge piece. I made more of these beads on Sunday and they are in the kiln waiting to be taken out and cleaned.

These are a set of beads mom wants me to make more of. She wants to use them in a completely different necklace. I am going to have make these beads next weekend or after we have the kids for a visit (my niece and nephew are coming up the 20th of June for a two week visit - I don't think anything will be done while they are here).

I made these thinking they could go with the ABS Challenge - but mom and I ended up deciding to use them for something else. I am thinking a bracelet - maybe with one of our stamped bracelet bars - not sure yet.

And of course - two test beads that will be used for a set of earrings. I am not sure if mom and I like how these beads turned out. But I am sure someone will like them as earrings.

And beads I finally cleaned.

While I was making beads and cleaning beads mom was filing and sanding A LOT of pieces we have had piled up. Of course while she was filing a piece she stabbed herself with a file. But we bandaged her up and she kept at it - go mom - go mom!

Okay - the Seed Beading Question:

Google Images

Mom and I are working on a large Kokapelli piece for a shadow box. There are three Kokapelli's I need to enamel and then mom will hang them in the shadow box.

Mom is wanting several pieces that are seed beaded in a chevron pattern with the colors we will use for the Kokapelli. The image above is just ideas - I am really not sure what she wants.

Is there someone who can seed bead these for us? If so, please email us and we will discuss what mom is looking for.

Bead Making Weekend

This past weekend was a bead making weekend for me. I was just playing with different colored glass and frit and just having a grand old time of it.

Butterfly Wings - bead type

A couple of the beads I made this weekend. I made up some test beads - two beads each so if we like them mom will use them to make earrings. I also made up a "butterfly wings" type of bead.

Saturday kiln haul

I really liked how the "butterfly wings" came out so I made up several more to make a necklace out of them. Those beads are still in the kiln from Sunday.

It also rained a lot this weekend so I was having fun going outside and taking pictures of the water droplets on the clematis out front.

I also made three of the cats really happy by putting out cat nip for them to roll around in and just having fun. Of course I am still finding cat nip every where, even after vacuuming several times. It was well worth it.