The Gate of Life and Love

OK so maybe it is a door but I found this really cool book text that said gate so I just had to roll with it :) this is one big book the pages are 11x14,(if you want to view them large you can at my flickr)
I have really never done anything this big but I went with it... I worked in the book for a change. The page is all acrylic... I did use some gold stamping ink and rubbed it around the heart then embossed it which gave a very cool raised effect that I would use again. The butter fly's are also raised as well.

The Gate of Life and Love

The Gate of Life for Lovers Meeting

one day a hand touched mine-
a hand different from all the rest.
he touched me, and I loved him.

-He kisses me. always after that-
when he came- I knew him.
There was no one ever touched, and held, like he did:
none kissed like he did.
-I loved him.


Gate of Life(closed)

"my beloved"
"His loving passion"
"their heartbeats"
"depths of love"
"she whispered"
"ecstasy forever"

The Gate of Life (open)

I started looking for you , not knowing how lind that was, lovers dontfinaly meet somewhere they're in each other all along.
~rumi

preview of my charm blog

Etched copper Hearts

I wanted my charms to be something easy, because I was going to be making 21 of the 25 charm bracelets but after posting my how to's I see that maybe it was not so easy :)
please note that etching is a trial and era thing ... it does not always work and it does take some practice and the chemicals are hazardous and do require special handling.

MATERIALS:

* "Etchant" (ferric chloride)
* liver of sulphur
* black stazon ink for resist
* glass or plastic container with lid,
big enough to hold piece of metal
* baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
* fine sand paper, superfine steel wool, or brass brush
* methyl hydrate or isopropyl alcohol
* rubber gloves, plastic tweezers

1. Clean metal to be etched. Should be grease free with no scratches. Final finish should have a slight tooth (ink seems to adhere better than to a highly polished surface), but scratches which are too deep allow the Etchant to get underneath the ink and lift the ink off the surface. An ideal finish is achieved by rubbing with wet 600 Wet & Dry paper (emery or corundum) or scrubbing with wire brush, or superfine steel wool. Scour in a circular motion and rinse under clean water. Surface must be very clean and grease-free.

2. I used rubber stamps and black stazon ink for resist. Where you put ink it will resist the etching action of the chemical. Areas that are left free of ink will etch. The inked areas will remain in relief. remember the DESIGN WILL BE REVERSED. This is important if you are using letters or numbers. Remember to reverse the design. Hold design up to a mirror to check everything is the right way around. allow ink to dry for about 20 minutes.

3. Put etchant in glass or plastic container. Read the label for safety precautions. Submerge piece into Etchant with the design facing down (to allow particles of copper to fall away and not interfere with the etching process). It is best to suspend the piece in the solution, so it is clear of the bottom of the container. Either hang the piece from a wire strung across the container Agitate the solution frequently by gently knocking the edge of the container.

Depending on how much you have used the solution, the piece will be ready in 30 minutes (for new solution) to up to 2 hours (old solution, used many times). For quick action, do not dilute the solution.

4. IMPORTANT: When the piece is etched to the desired depth, remove the piece and wash immediately with water and scrub with an old toothbrush or brass brush and baking soda (or ammonia solution). The baking soda will neutralize the Etchant and stop the etching action. If the Etchant is not completely neutralized, it will continue its etching action.

5. antique with liver of sulphur

charm making in my studio

my saw and copper wire

jump rings wating to be sawed

I am hosting a charm swap with the most amazing group of 25 mixed media artist!
and today I started a blog where we will show case all the charms, but as the swap is now just about completed, and I wait for just one more set of charms, it was time for me to make my charms for the swap :) the light was streaming into my studio onto my jewelry work bench as I was sawing the jumprings that will connect my etch heart charms with dangling turquoise and garnets, it made me remember that I truly do love to create jewelry, and all the work and all the tiny details that only another jewelry maker could ever understand are worth it!

fabric page for Patti

I started the day working on this fabric page for Patti but the felt that I normally use was not thick enough to work as a door, so I went on a mad cleaning spree of my studio looking for something thicker. In the end I have a clean studio, thanks to Patti :)












her them was girls with wings in the shades of white, off white and pink.
I hand painted all the pink fabric and fibers with water downed acrylic with supper fine glitter mixed in I printed the images of the girls onto fabric, I used a feather for one girls wings and velvet leaves for the other girls wings, I used vintage lace, pearls and resin paper that I made from a old jewish prayer book.

behind closed doors (deco)

this is my little 5x5 deco that I made, 5 other girls are going to play in it. I am on a door kick so I decided to make my them "behind closed doors" the page on the bottom is the sing in page, I want every one to put the pitcher behind the door and tell me a little some thing about them self's, my little something was that my closet is a mess and I have way to many shoes and my clothes must always match!














OK, so maybe I am having a little to much fun altering myself! (but, I really like my hat!)

Creative Soul Blue Book

I am so over committed on RR art right now! I don't know what on earth I was thinking!... oh, wait I was not thinking! the BIG daddy of them all is the RR calendar with 3 spreads a month, as outstanding as this book will be I must say that after its over it will be both sadness and relief, but I must say that I have really grown with this project so yes if I had it to do again I would :)





I just did this page for a true colors style RR its just a one page spread so its not that much work... but we all know just how long it takes us even to do a small spread, Hey, if you dont tell any one, I won't!

September RR calendar pages for Sue

This calendar has some of the best art in it! Usually we get to keep these book for a month but the girl before me was late, so I only got to have it for a few days... I was happy with how the pages came out, I was really happy with the door spread I had to play with it a little but once it came together, it really worked out well, poetry was the team of this book so I used all my favorites! I will be sending it off in the morning.


"Beloved... I stared looking for you. Not knowing how blond that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
There in each other all along." ~ Rumi



"Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion"



One went to the door of the beloved and knocked.

A voice asked, "Who is there?"

He answered, "It is I."

The voice said, "There is no room for Me and Thee."

The door was shut.

After a year of solitude and deprivation he returned
and knocked.

A voice from within asked, "Who is there?"

The man responded, "It is Thee."

The door was opened for him.
~Rumi


I made copper frames and used resin papers, transparencies with painted papers, paper toweling, cheese cloth and fibers, with machine stitching.