lost in the mayhem mountains...

I've mentioned before about the 4 words that my sweet husband hates to hear from me........."I have an idea".  Poor poor Andrew Henry hears them quite often.  You see my head is always swimming with them.  I am inspired by almost everything.  Usually I can't even keep up with all the dinner parties I'm scheduling, crafts I'm executing, vacations I'm organizing, menu's I'm planning, jewelry lines I'm creating, books I'm starting to write and rooms I'm redecorating blah blah.  These are all only in my head you understand.  Sometimes as quickly as they've come, a new one takes it place and the previous idea is packed away with the other gazillion ones occupying the ever decreasing space in my head.  This often results in insomnia but that's another post.

There is one that has been nudging me for several months, whispering in my ear at first, then shouting at me and finally chasing me to the point I am worn out by it.  I can't work in my office anymore.  It's the smallest room in the house save the powder room and we (Andrew Henry) has modified and manipulated it over the past year but it still doesn't work for me.  I spend 10-12 hours a day in here.  This is just a portion of my desktop...

I am asking this little room to do perform too many functions and honestly it can't hold the ever burgeoning amount of jewelry I pile in here.  It's a mountain of mayhem and that's not a good place for a girl with an alphabetized spice cupboard to work.  Do you know what this means? 

It means we are clearing out the gym (which is a spare bedroom that we use as a gym) and I'm setting up shop in there.  We're selling the equipment because there is no more room for it.  This makes me sad because I love using it but the preservation of my sanity has taken priority.

I am going to have a studio/office space with some breathing room and I'm crazy excited.  I have no idea how I want it to look and for the first time, possibly in my life, I kind of wish somebody else would just come in and design and decorate it but I have control issues and a limited budget so planning I will be and executing Andrew Henry will be. 

This is the counter behind me right now because the cabinets are full of more jewelry, mailing supplies etc.  I don't like clutter....

seriously, something's gotta give.

in my jewelry box...

Last week I answered an email question with a post showing you what the inside of my vanity drawers look like.  In response to that, someone asked what my jewelry box must look like seeing as I make and sell jewelry.  As is with most things in life, my Etsy shop is much more glamorous than my real life.  Seriously, my own stuff is quite boring.

I don't wear much jewelry.  I know.  I shouldn't even be saying that.  I do wear more now that it is my job and I need to advertise.  I also have some nice bits and bobs in my personal jewelry box but mostly I stick to a few pieces.

I alternate between these two pair of earrings, depending on whether I'm wearing silver or gold.  I have very short hair, shorter than Andrew Henry's, so I kind of need earrings or I could be mistaken for a man.  Not that that's a big deal and not that it hasn't happened (thank you passport guy in the Switerland airport!), it's just I like being a girl.  I think Andrew Henry prefers it as well.

Thrilling I know but it's what I usually have on.  Let's move to rings.  I have several but don't wear them often unless if I'm feelin' fancy and if I do then I usually reach for one of these.  This is an Art Deco garnet ring I got about 20 years ago from an antique shop my mother owned.  The shop was called "The Enchanted Cottage" and she carried great jewelry (it's in the blood).  My mother has an great eye.

This is my other garnet ring.  This was my mother's ring and she wore it for years before generously giving it to me.  Nice huh?  It's kind of big and chunky, fun.

Now, these are the 3 pieces most special to me.

This is a gold chain with the locket my father's father gave my grandmother for their wedding.  My grandmother gave it to me when I was a little girl.  I wore it when I got married and I feel very lucky to have it.  The ring was my Nana's - my mother's mother.  My mother gave it to her and I can't think of her hands without this ring on them.  Both of these women were beautiful souls, beautiful.  I would grab this in a fire.

This bracelet has a 'Liverpool' charm that my mother, obviously from Liverpool, wore for decades, and a shamrock that reminds me of her mother who was born, raised and is buried in Ireland.  Other than my wedding ring, this is my most worn piece of jewelry.

Of course probably every married woman's most treasured piece is her wedding ring.  I only wear the one ring - not really a double band kind of girl.  I wanted just a band but Andrew Henry wanted something a little more and he usually wins, it's okay, he's adorable and doesn't ask for much.  I love it.  It's simple and classic, but it's what is on the inside (like everything in life) that makes it so special.  "Be good to each other" is our motto and what is engraved inside both our rings.  Also simple and classic I think.

Now, my house is BURSTING with jewelry.  Almost every square inch of our kitchen is covered with jewelry (I like to work in there), my desk is ridiculous (I'm leaning over jewelry to type) and the drawers and cupboards in here are full of items waiting to be shipped, cleaned, photographed, researched or even repurposed, but these few pieces are the main pieces I wear.

I so enjoy these questions from ya'll.  If you are wondering anything or would like to see something - send me an email jeanette(at)evertonterrace.com.

What is your favorite piece of jewelry (if you're married, I mean other than your wedding ring)?

how to make a necklace...

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for this necklace.  Thought you might enjoy seeing how it's made.

The ingredients...

We'll need a set of metal stamps

Now, tape it down and start stamping...

Remember to turn it over every few letters and pound it back into shape with the rubber mallet...

Check your spelling (sadly, I say this from experience) and get ready to solder on the sterling silver heart...

Apply the flux stuff, it's like the paste that bonds the two metals together (that's Andrew Henry's hand).  Get the torch and the block out, heat 'er up and be careful...

They will now be scorched, but those cute little hearts are on there for good - gotta remove all that black. 

Dunk them in the pickling solution you have sitting in a crock pot on your kitchen counter.  No big deal, it's just acid stuff.  I think it's dangerous and possibly not supposed to be sitting on the counter next to your bananas.  I hardly ever read instructions so I'm not sure, so it is indeed, on the counter next to the bananas.  It does clean those babies off nicely though...

Isn't that amazing - think it would work on my skin????  Joke, seriously, that was kind of a joke.  Punch the hole in the top...

Now, believe it or not, we have to put some black back on there.  We want to oxidize this metal so the indentions in the letters will turn black and provide a nice contrast.  For this, we get out the foul smelling liver of sulpher and mix up some solution.  It REALLY stinks.  Also doing this in my kitchen.  I think it's toxic (I should know that don't you think - but I don't) so don't breathe in while we do this part.  Oh, and put on your gloves...

That one is nicely oxidized but here we go again with the black.  This is the part I don't like so much.  It's messy and my arm gets tired if I'm doing a big batch.  Time for the steel wool scrubbing.  I do that on this tray, look at the mess...ugh.

but look how pretty it's getting...

Just finish up the scrubbing, polish it on the buffer wheel and attach the chain and little copper bling and you have a necklace to give away...

GOOD LUCK!

vintage finds...

Part of my trip to Chicago was planned around being able to go to the Kane County Flea Market in St. Charles, IL.  I will not bore you with the hours of driving to get there and back from downtown Chicago - nope.  Sparing you all those details because I love you that much. 

I also love flea markets.  I try to hit them wherever I travel.  I can tell you the one I went to in Rome was proabably the most disappointing ever - have no idea why.  Okay, back to St. Charles ('cause rating them all is another story entirely).  This is my first time hunting and gathering as a person who makes jewelry.  It was a whole new experience for me.  What fun I had digging through bins, all the while thinking "I could make a cool necklace with this".  

Do you know what happens when you are a gluten-free vegetarian and you go to an out of town flea market without stopping for healthy snacks to bring along?  You find only one thing to eat for lunch.

What else did I find?  Very old keys, metal tags from liquor bottles, discarded bits and bobs of vintage jewelry and get this..........pieces off old cars and old car keys.  Who knew?  I could care less about cars.  I have no idea what year or type of car I drive.  It's white and the air works, that's all I care about, but these car parts called out to me - "Jeanette, save us - make us into something pretty".  What was I to do but oblige?  Remember, I feel bad when I put a piece of bruised fruit back in the grocery store.  Here are the few pieces I've put together since getting home last weekend.

  

Fun no?  There's more to come, so much more...

My messy houseguest

As I mentioned before, I’ve been missing my old friend – creativity. So, when she showed up I invited her in.

Be careful when you invite someone in. You just never know about their manners. Will they politely come in, wipe their feet and hold up their pinkie while they sip cocoa? Will they dab cookie crumbs off their mouth with your vintage monogrammed linen napkin? They might, these old friends of yours, the ones you’ve missed so much, they just might. Mine didn’t.

She flew in like a tornado and has turned my household upside down. Creativity is a welcome guest, regardless of how she arrived. I’m glad she’s back, but low and behold that girl takes up quite a bit of room.

I was looking for something to get my creative juices flowing. I found it and boy are they flowing! I went to a huge trade show in Tucson and loaded up on supplies. I started this blog and I’m going to open my Etsy shop later this week. Now, can we talk about my kitchen?



That’s a portion of my countertop. I design and make jewelry. Right now I’m creating it in my kitchen. Hopefully the tornado will wind down and I will be able to get some of these pieces out of my kitchen and into my new Etsy shop. I used to like my kitchen. It was a great place to cook and play cribbage (we do a lot of that around here). My kitchen is gone. It’s been kidnapped by this thing I’m calling “creativity”.

Last night my husband had a banana and cereal for dinner and a free cookie at the Spelling Bee for dessert. He ate the banana in the car and the cereal on the little sofa in my office because really, I can’t cook in there right now. It looks like it was hit by a jewelry tornado. I suppose it was. He never said a word. He’s a trooper that guy. You’re going to love him. I promise. I sure do.



I also love vintage jewelry and will be posting some in my new shop as well. Isn’t it pretty? Isn’t it awesome? It’s unique and each piece has a story. I digress. This is not how it walked in the door. It was dirty, very, very dirty. This is how the pile looks after my loyal, devoted and very supportive mother gets hold of it and cleans it. That woman can clean anyone under the table. After that, she’ll clean the table! Then, after she cleaned the crown jewels she did this.



She got it organized. The cataloging starts and it gets “staged” for the portraits. That’s the other side of my kitchen counter this morning. The tool chest photo is on the left side of my cook top and this is on the right. There is still a little room to put a glass down next to that pencil so all is not lost. No, not all is lost but the rest of the pearls that came off this vintage piece are. They are somewhere here in my former kitchen (I think).



I’m not lost anymore - my old friend is here, she didn’t wipe her feet and she dropped crumbs all over my floor but I’m going to let her hang around anyway.