Spring in East Tennessee 3.31.12

Well, this looks like last year's post!  But here are pictures from around the house and in the woods - all the wildflowers are up and blooming at once!

We started this walk in back of the house at my potting bench and finished up at my work shed!  Hope you enjoyed it!

On A Walk In My Woods

 

Loki and I started our walk in the backyard where this beautiful Bleeding Heart is blooming.  We then continued on into our woods along my trail. 

All the anemones are up!

I think that this is a new tree starting to grow.  Don't know what it is until the leaves unfurl.  It may be a horse chestnut.

Dutchman's Britches

Trillium, they are soooo pretty.  This is the first one to bloom, others are poking their heads up.

 Bloodroot

There are more this year than I have seen in previously seen here.

A pretty patch of three different violets! Purple, white and yellow, along with a nice fern.

This little nature created terrarium has been in the woods since we moved here.  I just leave it and it continues to thrive!

More bloodroot.

Oh so pretty white violet!  Some violets are great to use in a salad or as candied violets on cakes.

Henbit just starting to get it's buds.

More violets, different white and purple ones.  These are actually sweet to the taste!

These are growing all over the front of our house - wild grape hyacinth, I think.  They have a nice sweet fragrance.

Very tiny blue flower with hairy leaves.  Corn Speedwell, a member of the snapdragon family. The flower is less than 1/5" wide!

Ending our walk today is this tiny flower of the moss family.  I have no idea what kind of moss it is.  If anyone knows, tell me please!

And another picture of the moss.  This is growing on the ground with lots of rocks.

Listen While I Work

Right outside my window in my workshed studio is the creek.  It makes the most wonderful sounds!  The sounds can be almost like folks talking, roaring, babbling, rushing - all depending on the amount of rainfall we have had.

The birds are now all singing and making delightful sounds.  In the evening, the frogs chime in.  I even listen to the sounds of the insects around the studio.

And I listen to the sound of my torch.


Now here are some of the other blogs telling you what they listen to!

Kat - http://artistikat-scratchingpost.blogspot.com/
Stacy - http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
Clarity of Scrollwork Designs - http://www.thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com
Brandy - http://thefrogspond.wordpress.com/
Happy Tortoise Designs - http://happytortoisedesigns.blogspot.com
Claire - http://brightstar109.blogspot.com/
Silver Pearl Jewelry and Metalworks - http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com
Autumn - http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/
Beatriz Fortes - http://cjbf.blogspot.com/
Resurrection Silver - http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com
RadianTrace - http://radiantrace.blogspot.com/
nancycreations - http://nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ Abella Blue - http://www.abellablue.com/blog

Links to Our Posts

Forgot to include the links to everyone's posts, so here tis:

Jessica - www.abellablue.com/blogClarity - www.thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com
Claire - http://brightstar109.blogspot.comStacy - http://formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
Pennee - http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/Brandy - http://thefrogspond.wordpress.comGloria - http://gloria-hemlockhollow.blogspot.com/Joy - http://www.joypeckjoy.blogspot.com/
Autumn - http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com
Gayle - http://www.thisartistsjourney.blogspot.com
Esmeralda - http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com

It Was All The Turkey's Fault

I had to come up with gifts for my girlfriends at Christmas and had no money to buy a thing.  I was 13 years old.  What to do? What to do?  Somehow for some odd reason known only to myself I had saved the turkey wishbones from feasts in the past.  Turkey wishbones? Could I make these into necklaces? Hmmm.....metallic gold paint.....hmmmm.  Yup, I painted those suckers ever so carefully, drilled a hole in the top part of the bone , used a ribbon and lo and behold: necklaces!!!  Yes indeedy!  I gave these as gifts that year and had one for myself.  I think my friends thought that I was cccrrrraaaaaazzzzyyyy!  I thought it was clever and cheap.  And that is how it all started.

Then I noticed that I had some turquoise nuggets!  Which I promptly wrapped in silver wire (it was cheap then and Tandy was the only craft place in town)  Wish I could find that nugget today!  I know it is somewhere in this house - I never threw anything out.

So then I went on to scavenge sea glass, now mind you this was in the early 60's!  And there was lots out on the beach when I was 15.  These were wrapped in copper wire. And pebbles became pins.

Finally, I moved on to sea shells and making earrings for everyone and myself.  I was an earring hog!

The discovery of polymer clay lead me to making some awful stuff!  And my mother wore them!  But not all.

I continued making earrings, but it just didn't feel creative enough.  I needed something hands on, so I took a metalsmithing class last year and this was my first piece

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That did it I was hooked on metal!

What Do I Want To Learn Next?

Okay, so what do I want to learn?  Hmm....that is a toughy.  I am already learning so much in my metal smithing class at East Tennessee State University.  This semester we had to do 3 samples - a perfect cube, a river rock, and a 4-sided pyramid. 

The pyramid had to scored and folded into its shape.  I learned that it is not easy to score brass if you have the wrong tools!  It is not quite finished yet - that is this weekend's project as it is due on Tuesday morning.  The rock shape needs more sanding to remove the excess solder.  These exercises were all about soldering and shaping.

So, now, I would like to learn the art of coloring metals!  Whether by colored pencils, paint, or patinas.  I love colors.  So now we need tutorials on different methods of coloring metal!

Asapdesigns has a beautiful example of colors done on etched metal at:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/58605727/.  Go take a look!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63891695/unisex-copper-foldformed-cuff-free.  This one is colored by the use of flame by WabiBrookStudio.

I also really really really need to learn cold connections better.  I am not very good at it and need more work and instructions.

But the biggest technique I need to learn is designing!!  I look at this:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/9023267/doppler-effect
by Joyfulcrow, and realize that I don't know a thing about designing stuff.  So I will be taking a 2-D class next semester in addition to another metal smithing class.

All in all, I want to learn everything there is to learn about playing with metals. Maybe even welding!

My Very Messy Work Spaces!!!

Here is my workbench inside the house.  It is part desk, part workshop. Sawing, and hand stuff go on here.

And here is the outdoor workshop.  Here I do my soldering, repoussee, and kiln firing.   It is a small place as you can see, but keeps the explosive stuff outside.  No heat or air conditioning!  

And now you see the outside of my workshop!  Cute, eh?  Sometimes I wonder how I get stuff done!

The small desk (an old very vintage manicurists table!) is my metal clay work space.  Also in this room is my computer and Stev's computer, along with the wood stove. Very cozy in the winter!