The Project Empress is back – almost!

To those of you who know me, you know that “Project Queen” is not exactly my correct title.  I prefer to be referred to as “Her Royal Highness, the Project Empress”.   Since early January, we have been busy renovating our kitchen, removing walls, installing a fireplace and looking out at Burton’s Pond in wonder through our newly installed bank of wonderful bird viewing windows.  With the help of the ever faithful Aaron Rogers, our  contractor, and a lot of our own personal glistening sweat – we have almost emerged from this winter ritual.  Pictures will be arriving as soon as we can decide on a fireplace surround.  For the last two days, I was able to spend some quality time in my studio working with copper.  Those pieces are in the kiln, and awaiting the final finishing.  I did, however, finish a piece I have had components for for some time.  The piece below is in fine silver, with one of Holly Gage’s wonderful titanium focal pieces.  http://www.hollygage.com/  I love making window framed pieces, but Holly taught be the importance of taking your time and doing multiple firings.  She also re-introduced me to the wonder of Oil Paste for connecting already fired pieces.  (You can order this directly from Rio Grande or from Tonya at http://www.wholelottawhimsy.com/)

Here’s the final pic of the necklace, with the titanium element and some matching pearls I found in my stash.  It will be in the Etsy shop this afternoon.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Barkingdoggallery?ref=si_shop

My Precious…

How many of my jewelry folk out there have quietly been stockpiling pieces of Holly Gage’s titanium over the years.  I know, I know, she is an amazing jewelry artist (http://www.hollygage.com/) ; but when she whips out those trays of tiny, practically luminescent pieces of metal, no one can resist digging through for the perfect piece. Whether it be at PMC conventions, or a class in the wilds of Pennsylvania; there we all are, standing in line to buy just one more piece.  I swear it is crack for metalsmiths!

Of course, after you have accumulated enough pieces, you have to actually make a piece of jewelry out of at least one of them.  Apparently, hanging around in your studio turning them over in your hands and mumbling, “my precious….” over and over does not support good mental health.  To that end, this past weekend I signed up for the perfect class – Holly’s class on prong settings and bezels.  For two days, we co-addicted metalsmiths ran our hands over the trays of rainbow colored metals, and tried to listen carefully as Holly taught us some amazing methods for setting titanium.  Alas, my phone was slowly fading, but I did manage to get this pic of one of the trays, and another pic of two of Holly’s stunning pieces.

Holly's work - not to be confused with our efforts.

Shades of gold, blue and purple - Heaven!

I’ll always treasure the vision of Holly leaning over a student’s work, looking over her glasses, and somehow through her hair – and telling yet another student that “You’re almost there.”  Of course, my pic of my final piece will have to await another post, since it is more definitely not there yet.  Thanks Holly – another great class.  We’ll be scheduling the Titanium Anonymous meetings soon!

I Wanna Be Wanaree

Wanaree Tanner always creates the most beautful and unique pieces.

Examples of her work from her Etsy site.

Now she has posted this great instructional video.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpVXqDbnb4Po%26feature%3Dyoutu.be&feature=youtu.be&v=pVXqDbnb4Po≷=US

After watching, I only have one question …  How does she keep her nails so clean!

Barking Dogs Spooning

I couldn’t resist sharing pics of our Golden, Taiga and our newest, Fletcher.  Everyone asks where I got the name Barking Dog Gallery, and although I don’t remember exactly, I can only assume that the exact moment years ago when I was choosing a domain name coincided with the doorbell ringing and all hell broke loose.  Those of you with dogs will understand.

Taiga and Fletcher's morning

We have been doing all the usual holiday chores —  the semiannual attempt to clean the dog smell from the remaining carpets in our house, the Christmas longhaired cat shaving .  What?  You don’t shave your cats for the holidays?  You really should try it.  Not only does it keep them from getting mats if you have a cat who can’t be brushed regularly, but it pisses them off so much they don’t come downstairs and climb the Christmas Tree.

"Don't even think about coming at me with that shaver again!"

I have had several people stop by to choose some handmade gifts.  I love it when people can spend time with me in the studio picking out just the right piece.  I can size the necklace, or substitute a different chain, so that everyone gets exactly what they need. And they get to visit with a slightly angry shaved cat!  I will be offering free shipping in the Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/Barkingdoggallery?ref=si_shop through December 20th.  After that I will do next day shipping for a reduced price for those people who really like to wait till the last minute.

My latest - Not even in the Etsy shop yet.

The right tool for the right job

If you read this blog, then you already know that I am a self-described tool whore.  Forget a closet full of shoes, I’d rather spend the money on the latest texturing hammer or a new dappling clock.  Imagine my excitement when I discovered a newly purchased tool could have a dual use — to trim clay and to slice my homemade almond swirl Christmas cookies.

Today was “cookie making” day on the pond.  I made candy canes, flowers, and finally gave up and used the rest of the dough to make red, green, and white swirls.  I tried slicing the dough with a knife, and was very frustrated with how distorted the swirls became.  Then I remembered that I had splurged on some new pottery tools at The Ceramic Shop http://www.theceramicshop.com during our trip to Philly last week.

I found the tools still in the bag on the high shelf where I had hidden from our new Lab in the faint hope of saving them from disappearing into the yard like all of my wooden spoons, most of our dish towels, and several bunches of bananas.  The wire on the aluminum clay trimmer was perfect for slicing my holiday cookies.

Now my cookies for the holidays are done, and in the freezer until the Christmas party begins.  I have a week of cleaning furiously, and several people are scheduled to come by the studio for some custom jewelry for the holidays.  Oh – and I have to clean the cookie dough off my pottery tools… 

The Wearing of the Plaid – On Black Friday!

You may or may not have seen this sign.   I am just learning about this movement, but I am already in love with it. Celebrate Plaid Friday this year! In an all-out rejection of the “785 inch LCD wireless TV and food processer” non-local mall shopping that sends wads of cash outside of local creative people in your community. Spend this friday closer to home, patronzing local stores or even better, local artists, for your holiday shopping. Wear your favorite plaid shirt and hit the neighborhood bookstore, favorite town restaurants, and businesses that offer gift cards and put tax dollars right back into our community.

I can’t be the only one out there who thinks the only secure economy means a more local-based system. So why not embrace that in style? And for those of you unable to get out and shop at all (because of the weather or your own inability to miss “The View”) support independent businesses online!   Join the hottest growing social movement in the country, and celebrate independence, individuality, and creativity.  Join a growing effort to reclaim the spirit of holidays, and of community.

And just for funzies, if you are shopping online try this — go to http://www.etsy.com  and put the word “weird” in the search.  You gotta love the creative spirit!

This was the only cat toy I could show. The others were "somewhat" reminiscent of the male anatomy.

 

OK - I confess -- I already own this one!

It's vegan!

The selection of knitted beards is amazing.

Did you really expect me not to plug my own items? Check out Barking Dog Gallery on Etsy.com

 

 

Shop often and handmade!

Goggle Analytics – Useful or early indicator of Attention Deficit Disorder?

After spending the last few weeks photographing everything in my studio, and dutifully placing each item in my Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/Barkingdoggallery , I finally had to pay some attention to marketing the items in the shop.  Now you must know that I consider myself pretty e-marketing savvy, but just to make sure I didn’t miss anything, I got Derrick Sutton’s book “How to Sell Your Crafts Online”  http://www.amazon.com/Sell-Crafts-Online-Step-Step/dp/0312541260  .  Great book, in nice simple terms for those of us who are… well….simple.  I few good ideas I had not thought of, and finally a cogent explanation of why I needed to begin using Google Analytics to analyze what was going on with my sites.

The problem is — it is almost too much information!  Now I am stewing over questions I never had before.  Like — Why do am I more popular in the Ukraine and Russia than in Europe or South America?  What is it about my jewelry that appeals to a people  best known for nesting dolls and delicious if original recipes for cabbage?  Why is my “bounce rate” so much higher today than yesterday?  At 55 years of age, I thought I would have to adjust to a lower bounce rate every day – now I find that it varying from day to day!

I probably spent at least an hour perusing the search words used to get to my shop.  ”Art Glass” I can understand, but “Organic Lesbian”!    I finally went to google.com and entered the words “organic jewelry” to see how many pages would go by before Barking Dog Gallery would show up in a search.  I could almost feel my mind going into a REM state as I surfed over waves of spiral this, and goddess that.  I was somewhat startled to see handmade bronze doggie armor in the midst of my search, but at least it brought me back to reality, and the realization of how much time can be wasted trying ti figure out the impossible.

I have reached the conclusion that Google Analytics falls in the same category as weighing yourself, or calling your parents in Idaho.  It is important,  helpful, and even required, but you should definitely not fixate on it, and no more than once a week, at most!

I am, however, enjoying having an Etsy shop full to the brim with new items.  Linda’s art glass looks lovely, and the alcohol inks I have started using on some pieces really add a touch of color that can easily be missing from an “all silver all the time” type of shop.  So, my friends, enjoy your web seaching this week, just remember to keep it in check.  Here’s hoping your “bounce rate” is improving every day!