Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. I know there are a few people who read this! LOL. May you enjoy a day filled with love.





My neighbor, a lovely old Italian lady brought over this cake for us. We're so blessed. This little ditty boasts some Jack Daniels. Whee. It's very good stuff!

Ask Stacie

Customers and friends regularly ask me questions about their jewelry. I thought I"d try blogging about it because many of the questions are the same. One day I suppose it would be a good idea to get an FAQ onto the website, but this really isn't the time of year to be planning new pages. Know what I mean! So here's the first question:

Which dip should I use to clean copper jewelry?


Whoa. Please don't ever dip your jewelry into any chemical. Some clean by stripping away the dirt, which also strips away bits of metal. And chemicals aren't good for stones of any kind, especially soft ones. And since you may not be aware of which are softest....stay away from it. Now- what you can do is this....put down your drink & swallow you coffee- I don't want anyone laughing & spewing their beverage onto the screen! Ketchup. Yup- you read that right- ketchup. Squirt a bit into your hands, rub it onto your piece (not on stones), rinse & buff with a soft cotton cloth. Voila- clean. Lemon juice works too but it's sticky. So there's your tip for today. ;-)

While I have your attention I would like to show you a beautiful treasury that I was honored to have a piece included:




This beauty was curated by TwoSilverMoons. Thanks so much for including an Azoho piece!

That's all for now....till next time!

Name your price sale!

Last sale before the holidays folks! I'm calling this one the "Name Your Price" sale. Here's how it works-
Purchase any item from either my Etsy or Artfire shop and you can name your price on a pair of tiny dots. Use the dots as a gift for someone else or a gift for yourself. You can name any price you'd like! $13, $10, $5, $2 or even FREE! Name your price in the notes to sender & I'll send off a revised invoice if it's necessary. So go on....take advantage of me as much as you'd like until Midnight Eastern time on Sunday December 13, 2009.





These are the tiny dots- wonderful versatile little things that they are- great for a 2nd or 3rd hole. Or even for a young person. So what are you waiting for??? Click away! And thanks for supporting an Indie Artist. ;-)

Special note: There's an Artfire Kiosk on my Azoho Fanpage so you can shop directly from there- without ever having to leave facebook or sign up for an Artfire account!

Can you believe it's December?

Where in the world is time flying to? This is crazy and it seems to be going at the speed of light. I'm not really prepared for the holidays. So what else is new? LOL. I's like to show you a piece that I'm proud of-



I cut the stone myself, then set it & ended up with this beautiful lariat. The stone is Sonora Sunrise, a few posts back I posted a photo of the rock. Earthy and organic looking with a "signature" bloom. One of my friends pointed that out to me recently....that the bloom has become my "signature". I have fun making them. Earlier today I listed the lariat HERE. I'm so very tired and in need of a good night's sleep, so that's what I'm going to do! Till next time.


S

Back in the groove baby!

I got back to my torch a couple of weeks ago. Felt good. I've got a few pieces that I'm working on that are angels with bezel set stones. And a lariat with a bezel set Sonora Sunrise. Beautiful!
I've got a sweet little ring with a green aventurine stone. Pretty. This one is in the shop already. I've fallen a bit behind in photographing it seems.



That all aside....this is what's on my mind today. I belong to a wonderful street team on etsy. The Starving Artists Team. A talented bunch who I've gotten to know better this past year. This month we're doing shop critiques. Today is my critique day. My teammates will be telling me how to improve Azoho on Etsy. I'm looking forward to it but am a bit nervous too. LOL.
Well I've got to get to the bench...I've got some filing to do!

Rest in Peace Daddy...

Last week, on October 1, I lost my Daddy. He spent the week in the ICU where they tried to stabilize him, but he was too far gone. He was a Husband, Father, Grandfather, Brother and Friend. Him & Mom were married for 51 years. I think it goes without saying that I'll miss him. Although strong when he was younger, the last few years had left him fragile. I will always remember him as a gentle soul. I'm like him in many ways except that I'm waaaaay feistier. And I'm not sure that anyone who knows me would ever use the word gentle to describe me.

Altimeter, Belt, Control, Cable, Canopy. He taught me this when I was about 9 years old. It's the things that you check before you take off in a glider. He loved to fly. Now why I still remember this, but can't remember to call my eye doctor to get a copy of my prescription- I don't know. ;-)

He wanted to be cremated and spend his eternity with his girls, down here in Florida where he spent over half his life. But well intentioned relatives started the process to bury his remains up north, in a place where his "girls" won't get to visit him. We (My sister & I) don't get to travel much & Mom's not going to be able to travel much either. So this really is goodbye. I am comforted by memories and can smile through my tears.

Please pardon this sad post....needed to get it out into the universe.

Cutting Rocks

When I was a little girl (I know, this statement brings on yawns & rolling eyes!) I used to collect rocks. They've always fascinated me. Fast forward to now. (I know- a really quick trip down memory lane) I'm a little obsessed with metalsmithing. And I'm loving my classes, although sometimes experiments can be costly- LOL. Anyway, I wasn't finding stones that I liked, in shapes & sizes that I wanted to work with. So...this semester I'm taking a cabbing class in addition to the metal fabrication class. There's plenty of new equipment & tools for me to learn how to use and I'm enjoying sourcing out rocks to cut. Last week I learned how to properly use the 12" oil saw. My hands were stinky with a foul smelling oil- but I cut a rock into slices (called slabs). Before class started I got some rocks to cut & cab- here's a pic of one:





This one is called Sonora Sunrise, a newish find from Mexico. (And from what I heard- "all the rage" at Tucson this year) It's Chrysocolla, so it's got lovely blues and Cuprite, so it's got earthy reds. With some black mixed in (Tenorite)