Back from the sunshine

Back from a lovely relaxing holiday in a Red Sea resort in Sharm al Sheikh - healing for the mind and body after a turbulent end to 2011. Unpacked and sorted and ready to go. I looked at a lot of Egyptian jewellery and have come back with a stash of ideas, sea shells, and pictures for inspiration. 
My kiln has arrived, but I am yet to fire it up and get started. Have also got all my bits and bobs together for the stuff I intend to make - will have a go next week I think.

The Paragon SC 2! - my new toy.

Am a bit fearful of it and all the programming I will have to do and the manual I will have to read and digest to prevent me from burning  the room down! I also have these memories of cake making in childhood when my sister and I got out the blender and mixed ourselves a bunch of stuff and baked it into a mess - of course the oven was rubbish - that's my story and I'm sticking to it - but I hated the anticipation and the almost inevitable disappointment - I wouldn't want a repeat performance - but, on the other hand, I now have the kit and will have to use it sometime - and use it I will!
 I will, however wait till during the week so that the guy from Cherry Heaven who sold it to me will be available to me on the other end of the phone, when I scream for help.

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Egyptian Spiral Wire bracelet

In the meantime, here's something from my comfort zone - wire - I just love the endless stuff you can make with a piece of wire - each of these spirals are made from a 16 inch length of wire - amazing! A friend of mine said I should learn to solder and then I wouldn't go near wire again - perish the thought! - anyone can stick 2 things together - with glue or solder - wire requires a thought process - the whole piece has to be thought through before cutting the length of wire, how the clasp is attached, how the dangles are placed - wire wrapping a cabochon is an art in itself and the possibilities are endless. There is no right or wrong way with wire - it just has to be neat and tidy, and without bits of sharp stuff sticking out of the piece. I have of course been to jewellery classes that entailed soldering and possess a torch - but have never seen fit to use it - I love my wire work so much.
I made this bracelet using silver wire and a turquoise bead, and then antiqued the bracelet with Liver of Sulphur.
So now, I have inspired myself to go off and create something. I bought some pendants a few months ago and have done nothing with them - I will have something to show you all next week. 
Am also reading a book called 'The crafter's guide to taking great photos' - will try to crack it this weekend and sit down seriously with my camera, trying to coax it to work with me, rather than obey me grudgingly. 
Have a good week folks!

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