Why I Love my Job

I get to play with a torch and hammer.
No one makes comments about gender roles if they see me with a pair of pliers in my hands.
I can blast Alice Cooper at full volume all day long and no one can tell me to turn it off.
I get to play with rocks.
I can shop for lots of little toys and call them tax deductions.
I get to play with a torch and hammer.
I don't have anyone breathing down my neck talking about deadlines.
I can sing along with 100 Monkeys all day long (at the top of my lungs) and no one can tell me to shut the hell up.
I can hang out in my bath robe all day if I want and nobody cares (or even knows).
I get to play with a torch and hammer.
If I mess up I can say "I meant to do that" and nobody knows I'm lying.
I get to do something different everyday.
Even if I'm doing something I've done before, I still get to learn something new at the same time.
When I'm really pissed off at someone, I get to play with a torch and hammer.


Yep. I love my job. ;)

Waiting

I'm the one in the shadows, no one ever sees
slinking through the forest, hiding in trees
searching for a glimpse of me
among the dead and fallen leaves
I see my dreams fly through the air
only to find them dying there
water running beneath the ground
carries my soul to places unfound
through branches I catch a flash of blue
and wonder if it's really true
that the sun may shine upon my fears
but in my face it laughs and sneers
there is no light, no hope, no peace
so I wait again for the rain to cease

____

The ear cuffs and the poem both inspired by a picture I took last New Year's day (below).

Demon in the Dark

She guards the dark with silver light,
the wind blowing through her hair.
Forgotten souls filled with fright,
no one again to care.
She holds out her hand to all who would fight,
beckoning them to her lair.
Woe be to those in their endless plight
hence she lured them there.
Her smile, a knife as she returns to the night,
seeking another to ensnare.

New Free Tutorials

As I said in one of my previous posts, I've done several tutorials since I last kept this blog updated regularly. I posted the ones for sale yesterday, so today I'm posting links to the free ones.


How to make a coiled frame for an undrilled stone
This is a very quick and easy wrap for an undrilled stone. It works great for crystal points (both single and double terminated) as well as tumbled stones. The pendant pictures only took about 30 minutes to complete. I've done some smaller ones in less time than that. This is a style that is great for men's jewelry because it's simple and not overtly feminine, but can also be worn by women as well.


Beaded Spiral Earrings
This lesson teaches you to make a pair of dainty earrings that can be worn for almost any occasion.

Cleansed by Fire

I've walked through the fires and have returned
My soul cleansed in the flames of truth
The guilt of days gone by
The confusion
The fear
The anger
The hatred
All have burned in the blaze
The innocence of youth
The love of a child
The light
The hope
Are once again inside of me
And the flame continues to burn

Most Recent Tutorials

I've done several tutorials since the last time I posted here, so instead of wasting time with a super long intro promising that I'll post more often I'm just going to get right to business. Hope you enjoy them.

All tutorials are available on my web-site, http://Tutorial.Gailavira.com

Long Time No Blog

As usual, I'm running a little late with everything. That includes keeping up with my blog. So, here's a quick update on a couple things that have happened in the last few months.

I released two more tutorials since the last one that I blogged about. Both of them are available in my Tutorial shop on Etsy: http://gailaviratutorials.etsy.com


Odyssey Pendant Tutorial


Lace Pendant Tutorial

I've also opened a new shop for the holiday season. This is where I'll be listing all the cute little stocking stuffer items that I had been putting in my main shop the last couple years.

http://stockingstuffershop.etsy.com

Etsy StockingStufferShop

Newport Aquarium

I spent the day yesterday at the Newport Aquarium (Newport, Kentucky) with my daughter and my mother. It was a long day, and a long drive, but my daughter loved it. When I came home and emptied my camera I saw that I had taken 955 photos! lol

Ok, so not all of the 955 photos turned out all that great, but about 253 were at least passably decent. Of course, that's still a bit too much to post here! I've narrowed it down to the best 25 shots. Hope you enjoy them.

The Carnival Pendant Tutorial is Finally Finished!

Available in my Tutorial Shop on Etsy:
http://gailaviratutorials.etsy.com

At certain angles, the pendants made in this style remind me of the tilt'a'whirl my friends and I used to ride at the fair every year when I was a kid. At other angles, for some strange reason, I just want to tie dye them. They make me remember all those times when I would burst out laughing for no reason at all, and keep laughing and laughing and laughing. For me, they evoke a feeling of sheltered innocence. The kind of freedom you feel as a child running through the county fair, looking for the next “thrill” to ride, or twirling round and round in circles until you become so dizzy you fall, laughing with glee.

So far I have not been able to duplicate, exactly, any of the designs I have made in this style. For that reason, please do not think of this tutorial as directions that are set in stone. They are really more of a set of techniques combined in a certain way to achieve a certain type of look. These pendants can end up elegant and graceful, fun and spirited, modern and industrial, or anything in between!

You will need the Basic Weaving Techniques tutorial (available free on here: http://www.gailavira.com/tutorials/basicweavingtechniques.pdf) as a reference for this lesson.

Skill Level:
Very Advanced

Material List:

* 25’ of 28g Round Dead Soft Wire
* 7” of 20g Half Round Half Hard Wire
* 54” of 20g Round Dead Soft Wire
* 1 25mm round cabochon

Tool List:

* Chain nose pliers
* Round nose pliers
* Wire cutters
* Flat nose pliers
* Bent nose pliers
* Ruler
* Marker
* Tape (optional)

New Tutorial - Woven Cage Pendant

I've finally done a new tutorial. This is one that received many requests over on jewelrylessons.com, so I figured I had to do a tutorial for it soon.

This lesson teaches you to make a woven cage to show off your beautiful focal beads. There are many ways to alter the final look of the cage.

Skill Level:
Advanced

Material List:

•24” of 22g Round Wire (dead soft or half hard)
•13’ 28g Round Wire (dead soft)
•1 5’ headpin 20g or 22g
•1 10mm focal bead
•9 4mm spacer bead
•1 accent bead (size depends on your personal taste)
•8 2mm beads


Tool List:

•Wire cutters
•Round Nose Pliers
•Bail making pliers or mandrel that is the desired size for the bail
•Needle file or wire rounder



I hope to have time to work on another new tutorial sometime this week. If I do, it will be for the technique I used to create the two pendants below.