Long Time - No Post

It's been so very long since I've posted, - a year or maybe more - terrible. I vow to do better from now on.

So much has happened - most of it wonderful - in the past year, that I have a lot to catch up on. For the next few days, I'll try to bring my blog up to date and then I can move forward a bit.

Jewelry"wise", I had another wonderful happening. Shortly after winning 4th place in a juried art show, I decided to submit an application for an exhibit at the Capital Arts Houchens Gallery. The great news was that I was accepted and was a part of an exhibit called "A Celebration of Food and Wine". The show was a "team" effort - I joined with a wonderful artist named Misha Ambrosia who works in various media - acrylic, oil and watercolor - and occasionally others. She had some of the most beautiful work that all related to the theme. My jewelry occasionally stretched the theme a bit, but most of my pieces also fit.

I had a collection of jewelry pieces made from sterling silver table
wear that was one of the most popular of my work. Here are a
couple of the silver wear pieces: This piece is made of hand
forged and hammered sterling silver circles and faceted black
onyx rondells. The center focal is the spoon end that I've annealed
and hammered flat. I added strips of sterling stamped with the
French phrase, - Cest' si bon (it is good!)

The second picture is of an antique serving spoon that was so thin on one side that it had cracked. After planishing with my hammer, the crack opened up - so it had to be "patched". I made the patch with a piece of copper and sewed it with a piece ofsilver wire.
It's stamped to say "A broken heart means you have loved".
I love thinking of the lady who served food to people she loved over and over for the many years it took for this silver to become so thin on the broken side. And, I love the rustic look to the cold connected patch.

The night of the opening of the exhibit, our Capital gallery held a lovely reception for us and the attendance was marvelous. I will have to say that the majority of people came to see Misha's work. She is so well known in Bowling Green and has a wonderful following of "art fans". However, many of her friends and followers sought me out to tell me how much they liked my jewelry. One of her followers, David Francis, asked me about the possibility of being featured in an article in the fantastic "SOKY Happenings" that has taken Bowling Green and the surrounding are by storm. We made plans that night and before long, Carrie, David's adorable wife, called and we put everything together. When I saw the final product, I was thrilled. I think I'll keep that copy on my coffee table forever!

If you live in the Bowling Green, Ky area, be sure to pick up a copy of SOKY Happenings - it's a fantastic magazine, full of upcoming events and articles about people and places that you'll find interesting.

Artworks 2nd Annual Fine Arts Exhibition

I can pick the absolutely worse times to be sick. Actually, I'm never sick - but let something I really want to do come up - and, there I am - totally sick!!! I entered the Artworks members exhibition again this year and was excited about the reception and first night of the show.

Our judge was from the Speed Museum in Louisville - and I received word the next day that I had won 4th prize in the 3D category. I do so wish I could have been there to receive the award, but to have won was so exciting.

The hammered heart is forged of a silver and copper alloy called shibuichi. It is sometimes referred to as "pink silver". I was unable to locate shibuichi in the US, so I contacted a friend in Japan who found it and shipped it to me. My necklace is entitled Setsuko's Quest in honor of my friend Setsuko Tsugihara who was so wonderful to find it for me.

You can see many of the entries of the show at this link - to see my necklace, you will need to scroll down a long way. http://www.artworksinc.org/events.html

Here's a picture of Setsuko's Quest:

I hope to have a close up picture later - but if you are in the Bowling Green area, the necklace is still on display at The Gallery at 916 on the square in downtown Bowling Green, Ky

Life certainly brings about change! It's been a busy couple months and I haven't had time to turn around, and definately no time to post.

In October, my mom suffered a fall and broke her hip. She had a total hip replacement and has been working so hard to get her health and strength back. It's been a difficult road, but she seems to be improving a little faster now.

Looking in on her and helping a bit uses up a good portion of my time, so my jewelry work has taken a back seat for a while. I kept up with Christmas orders pretty well, but haven't pushed to do much since then.

I have an exhibit coming up in June and I need to make several "pieces of note" - which means I really need to get it in gear and get busy NOW! A "piece of note" doesn't come easy and each will probably take 2/3 days ore more - so I need to devote lots of time to creating.

Here's hoping that this new year will bring about growth and improvement in my smithing skills and my ability to concentrate on the creative aspect of jewelry making.

The World's Greatest Studio Tour and Art Sale!

It Was Great!

I'm looking forward to next year. Saturday was a bit of a bust. There were many things going on in town and I had a slow morning. I got to thinking about my mom and sister, and I got really lonely - so I closed up and left a note on the door that I would be back at 2:00 Sunday. Low and behold, Sunday afternoon, I had people coming in the minute I opened the doors of my studio. I was busy the rest of the day and it was wonderful. I met so many great people and had friends stop by that I hadn't seen in such a long time. And, of course, who doesn't love hearing compliments on the work they do and take pride in. Such a joy!!!!

=============================
Here are the descriptions of the artists who participated.

And - last on the list - but hopefully your favorite - #19!

My studio at 1909 Lyda - the street behind Rafferty's - watch me make silver bracelets and sterling silver wire rings. Free necklace and also several pairs of Earrings for give-away. No purchase required - just register

Breast Cancer Awareness Celebration - Kentucky Monthly

What a day we had ! ! ! !

I was contacted several months ago about being interviewed as a possible breast cancer survivor for the October issue of Kentucky Monthly magazine. This is a wonderful magazine that promotes the wonderful things and places that Kentucky has to offer. It's full of articles about little shops, eateries, old hotels, small town wonders and artisans of our state. I thought, what an honor - so, I said, "fine". I didn't think about whether there would be other people or not, but later I learned that pretty much the entire issue was going to be devoted to breast cancer awareness. Wonderful!!!

I make a line of jewelry for BC Awareness as a fund raiser for The Kentucky Cancer Program. It's always available - but I really push it for the month of October, so that was another reason to do the article. Later, I learned that there would be a small group of us and they would be featuring all our stories of survival.



We all arrived around noon on Saturday and were whisked off to "E-clips" for a mini-makeover in preparation for our photo shoot. I hope to have a few snapshots of that event a little later. the stylist who did my hair said, "I see you as spunky and spiky." I wasn't too sure about that, but I just went with it and let her have her way. I will say that I definitely have an interesting hairdo. Needless to say, the whole day was a hoot. Pink was the color of the day.

The magazine had ordered black tee shirts with a bold pink word on the front of the shirt. Amanda Hervey, the author of the article had asked us to think of one word that seemed to symbolize our experience. I thought it was amazing that we had all experienced the awfulness of cancer - and all of our words were positive. Faith, strong, humble, sisterhood, growth, blessed, love - how interesting - I don't know if that says something about all cancer survivors - or just about this particular group of women. I chose growth - that was the first word that popped into my mind. I wish I had chosen something that sounded really profound, but I just went with my first instinct. My experience forced me to grow in so many ways; my faith, my emotional stability, my inner strength, my faith in myself and my abilities - and many more ways.


The photographer took individual photos of all of us and they were put with our articles. Amanda interviewed us separately, but she was amazed that there were great similarities with all our feelings.

There were a few tears shed during the interviews - Amanda could put Barbara Walters under the table in bringing your sensitivity to the surface. She has a way of putting a question to you that causes you to sort of dig through your feelings. It was a bit like a therapy session. Amanda can be seen below - she's the only one without a WORD on her chest.




Our photographer made us all feel like top models as he put us in various poses for that large individual picture. "Give me that dreamy look" - - - "Look right into the camera", "That's perfect", "Let's do one more really good one". Vogue, here we come!!!!




Time for a quick group hug and then it was off to dinner at the fabulous Italian restaurant the staff had picked out for us. This dinner was not only for us, the survivors, but we were joined by Steve Vest - the editor of the magazine - and his beautiful wife Kay. They wanted to be a part of the celebration and that served to make it even more special.


All in all, this was a most wonderful experience and I've since heard from some of the other ladies in our group. I'd love to add updates to this section of my blog as I hear from some of the other women who were part of our group. We all thank Kentucky Monthly and most especially Amanda Hervey for her professionalism in the preparation of the article and to Steve Vest for making it all possible. We all thank you, and we hope and pray that all the positives in the article will be an inspiration for all women who are in the process of diagnosis, treatment and/or recovery from the treatment. This, too, shall pass. Thank you, Kentucky Monthly.

The Saga of the Keys

Fantastic Stress Reliever~

I'm so happy to have one of the greatest constant stresses of my life discontinued!

Losing My Keys!

You can't imagine the constant irritation of always stressing out about where I've left my keys

- - - or, maybe you can!

Maybe you even have the same problem. If so, read on - maybe you'll find the solution!

Nine times out of ten, when I'm ready to leave the house, I can't find my keys. Even if they are in my purse, I still have trouble finding them amid all the little zippered compartments - and the dark recesses in the bottom of the bag. My panic moments have been so lessened - and all it took was a fork. Yes, a FORK!

Here it is!

Above, you see the fork as it has been re-purposed into a great key ring. First, I use my torch to anneal the metal. This softens it so I can bend the fork in half and curl up the center two tines to hold the key ring.

After attaching the keys to the ring, I simply slip the fork, aka "key ring" over the edge of my purse - always ready to use and never to lose again. Now, if I can only keep up with my purse!!!!
You can find my silverplated key rings in my etsy shop or at The Gallery at 916 on the square in Bowling Green, KY. At only $20 these will make a fabulous stocking stuffer this Christmas, which means you probably need to get two! . Ask Lynnn or Melissa to see the "keyrings by Kay" and they will show you how great they work.

While you're there, check out the other hand crafted jewelry. I will soon be taking some fantastic hand forged silver pieces that will make a very special gift for someone special. My silver can be personalized with hand stamped names or special words and phrases. Here's an example of some of my hand stamping on hand forged jewelry.

This collection of cuffs and ring demonstrate the rustic style of hand stamping. The one on the bottom is my personal cuff which has become my constant reminder to end WORRY! It says, "pray over all things, worry over nothing". The ring says "hope peace love". But you can choose your own words! Wear what you want to say! See more of my jewelry at www.kzoretic.etsy.com.

Calling All Pet Lovers

A New Etsy Artist . . . for Your Pleasure

If you love your pets and want something special - check out kidesign.etsy.com. I am now the proud owner of paintings of my two adorable "grandpugs", Lily and Channey. Actually, I only get to enjoy them for a couple days and then they are on their way to Georgia for a birthday present. Christi is the artist at kidesign.etsy.com and she has been doing a number of types of painting for years, but recently embarked on pet faces. She does emarkable work - and I wish I could see my son's reaction to his birthday present. Both Bill and Paula will love the paintings of their cuties - I just know it! These little paintings are on 6" ceramic tiles and she furnishes the easels as well. If you have pet lovers in your family, bundle a grouping of pictures and email them to Christi. She has a fast turn-around time, but she really likes to have a large grouping of pictures to get a good representation of your pet in the painting. I expect her to get really busy before long - these will make wonderful Christmas presents.

Always keep an eye out for the interesting and wonderful on etsy and let me know when you find something special. I love helping promote hand crafted items - especially those from Kentucky.

Check out kidesign.etsy.com and see some of the other examples of Christi's work. She has also saved lots of old windows from certain death in landfills by reclaiming them and painting on them - providing beautiful wall art and saving room in the landfills for some of the non-recyclable items. That's a double good thing!!!!

Another of My Favorite Etsy Artisans

Speaking of special - another special etsy artisan is Linda at poppypatch.etsy.com. Linda makes a great variety of hand sewn items. She does wall hangings, credit card holders/wallets, Christmas Tree skirts and table runners - but my favorite of all are her "baby blocks". These are fully washable (in the washing machine) fleece blocks rangeing from 3 " to about 6 ".

These are wonderful for encouraging the early crawler. Baby will crawl to get the block after he/she flips it away.

This charming little lady is holding the 6 inch one.


I got the set of these for Ryan, the new baby in our family. From what I hear, he loves them - and he notices the sound of the little tinkling bell inside each polyfill stuffed block.


Your favorite baby can have fun tossing the block without the banging or clanging of nosy toys and without the worry of injury. And, how nice to know you can occasionally toss it in the washing maching to keep if fresh and clean.