Dear Neighbor

As I walk my dog in the neighborhood this letter often comes to mind.  Its a letter I have never written and may not ever write but I think of it often:

Dear Neighbor,
It just occurred to me that we have never been introduced....  I see the look that your husband gives me when I pretend to walk my dog past your house while picking leaves, pods, twigs etc.  
My name is Anise ,  I am a metal clay jewelry artist. 
I know, I know,  you have never heard of it, don't know what it is.   All that you need to know is that I make jewelry using organic elements a lot of which I pick from your garden beside the road.   I promise you,  I mean no harm when I'm foraging by the road in front of your house.  I see you sweating in the heat of summer in your yard, working diligently planting things, while I am inside in my air conditioned studio.   It makes me squeal with delight when I see you planting something new, your hodgepodge of plantings around the yard.  My take on it is, I can't wait to see what it looks like when its neglected and dead in the winter time!  
So dear neighbor, please don't call the police, I promise I am harmless, I am not casing your house or stealing your mail.  One day you may find a little box on your front porch with a beautiful piece of jewelry created by your wonderful and crazy looking yard.


Your neighbor,
Anise

Harvest Time!

Its that time of year again, to everyone its the change of season that leaves change, fall then winter arrives.  To those of us that work with metal clay, its the time of year we harvest leaves, branches, and all kinds of things to store away and get us through till the first day of spring when all the buds come out and new leaves appear. 
HARVEST TIME!  Collect those leaves to imprint!!!  Flatten them in books of all kind, forget they're there and when you sit down for an interesting read in front of the fire this winter, discover that a couple made it back into your life to become a new creation. 
Collect the ones with breaks, worm holes, strange little patterns.  These are the ones that make the most interesting designs, the ones that you'll never be able to recreate because nature is the best handmade one of a kind creation. 
Don't forget those strands of seeded grass!  Those make interesting impressions in polymer clay that you can use for molds.

Anise  

Update on things!

Hi all! Things that have happened in the last few months! I got a rolling mill!! I've been so excited about my newest tool in my shop! A rolling mill is a machine that has two large rollers, that when metal is passed through it, flattens the piece of metal out. Not only does it flatten them out, it also can texture metal when something with texture is rolled through the mill with your piece of metal!
I love it! I have rolled leaves, screen, cardboard, sandpaper. I love rolling something through and feeling the excitement of my new piece of metal rolling out with a new design.
I've been using my jewelers saw alot in the last few months as well.

I also have found a way to fire metal clay that could only be fired in a kiln. Check out my other blog:
http://www.seavbeachdesigns.com/blog.html

It shows detailed pictures of how I fired "kiln only" metal clay.

I'm also in a Thing a Week Challenge on Flicker, of which I am week 40. Its been an up and down battle trying to keep up. I think I will join the challenge again once I'm finished.


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Metal Clay Artists Book Giveaway!

Fantastic book giveaway! New Directions in Metal Clay!
http://networkedblogs.com/ezASc

My Favorite Place

I'm in a group on Etsy. All of us work with metal clay. Every month we have a team challenge where the winner picks the next challenge theme. The last winner chose favorite places. I sat at my workbench today digging up new ideas for the challenge. Favorite places..... In my mind I thought of wonderful vacation spots, backpacking in Brittain... But as I thought of these places I couldn't think of one single place that was my favorite. I'm hoping as many people do, to see many more places in the future and how could I just pick one particular place out when there are so many more places that I want to see. As I'm sitting there I look to the floor next to my bench. Sitting there all quiet was my mom's old wooden sewing box. I remember when I was little it seemed like such a mystery to me. So many different buttons, where had they come from and why was she keeping them? Pink thread, red, green. I decided to sit on the floor and go through it once again. Looking through it brought back so many memories. I remember the orangeish thread she used for a pinafore she made me. I found a green button and wondered if it was to my girlscouts uniform. I saw dad's work shirt buttons. All of this put a smile on my face and it made me realize..... This was my favorite place. As a child anyway. So what do I do to put it in a jewelry design... Hmmmm. Taking a picture of it made me realize that this one thing probably will turn into many things for me. I think I will start off with one. A charm, a sewing bobbin. This will be my challenge entry for so many reasons. I like it. Now to get started!!!

New Things That I've Made

This last month of relocating the studio and setting up is almost completed. In the meantime I had to restock the gallery, here are a few pieces that I completed that were shipped out for the holiday!

I Love Life

I found this today as I was packing, its something that someone wrote that my mom had copied, but brought a smile to my face and a tear in my eye.....


I love Life

Things aren't the same
as they used to be;
my kidneys have failed
and I'm not as free.

I get a little tired
and my fingers are numb,
my blood pressure's low
and my legs cramp some.

My veins are bigger
and my skin is tan,
they poke needles in my arm
whenever they can.

I'm attached to a machine
three days a week
and hope to God
my blood doesn't leak.

They put in some Heparin
and then E.P.O,
a little more Saline
and away I go.

But I'm still happy
with what I've got;
I'm still alive
and it's better than not.

I can still hear the whistle
of the wind and the trees,
and the musical laughter
of my kids as they tease.

I can still see snowflakes
on a white winter day,
and smell the aroma
of a new mown hay.

I can still feel the breeze
as the boat gently sways,
on the lake as it ripples
on hot lazy days.

I can still see the color
of the sky so blue,
and look out the window at a snowbird or two.

I can still bake a pie
and some cookies too,
put on the coffee
and visit with you.

And what is more wonderful
than soup on the pot,
and bread from the oven
still fresh and hot.

Good food, good friends,
and a glass of wine,
memories of this
are still all mine.

By: Mardell Peters