Cheryl, the Slow Learner--Part One

Thank you everyone for your patience and well-wishes. I saw my doctor yesterday and I'm feeling a bit better. I'm not fond of taking medications, but I was desperate and they are helping. Thank goodness! Now on with my post.

Remember way back in my posts when I told you that I was grateful to have found a sewing machine to use because my hands were having difficulty sewing my bears completely by hand? And in the last post, I told you a bit of my saga in trying to find my passion. Well, today and in the next couple of posts, I'm going to show you what a slow learner I've been over the years!

Many years ago, I became enamored with wire-wrapped sterling silver jewelry. And, of course, Ms. Do-It-Yourself decided, well, to make some herself! With a book in my hand, silver wire in the other, and beads scattered about, I went to work. I enjoyed it. A local art gallery sold my work. The only thing I had to worry about was making sure our preschooler didn't collect the little sharp silver bits or our toddler didn't eat them. Well, I guess silver is pretty inert and she seems okay today, so....no harm done?

Let me show you some of my work from back then. Here are 2 bracelets using lovely lampworked beads. Everything was hand worked including the clasps and the large silver beads. The only things not made from wire were the silver bead in the clasp and the very thin spacers.

I made this necklace for my Mom using some beautiful agates that my paternal grandparents had collected and polished. My grandparents were known as "rock hounds" and they collected amazing specimens from across the country--particularly in the upper penisula of Michigan.

I'm not sure how well these photos show the jewelry, but in "real life" they were really lovely, if I do say so myself. However, I never bargained for the amount of strength, control, and coordination required to make these baubles. My fingers protected themselves with some hefty callouses. But nothing could protect my hands and wrists without interferring with the pliers and the range of motion necessary. So my hands and wrists finally let their opinion be known and I had to stop. The experience wasn't wasted though because now I'm really good at using a plier in each hand to turn cotter-pins for my teddy bear joints!

Tomorrow I'll tell you about my next step in the "art world."

Warmly,

Cheryl