I love to walk into a room and find this.

Looking for signs of spring.

N is on spring break this week, so I took a few days off. Yesterday we went for a walk on the trail.

We found pinecones.

And we saw a large, white rock in the middle of a field.

But, there was only the slightest hint of green everywhere we looked.

I discovered a surprise message for me on the trail.

We continue to wait patiently for more signs of spring.

Jewelry Inspirations by Sherri Haab

I have several of Sherri Haab's books and I really like her newest one, Jewelry Inspirations: Techniques and Designs from the Artist's Studio.

The book provides easy to follow directions for basic jewelry making, such wire wrapping, while offering an overview of techniques and detailed instructions for individual projects. In the beginning, and sprinkled throughout, she shares her memories and inspirations, as well as tips for remaining inspired and involved.

When we fear that our piece isn't going to turn out perfectly, this holds us back. creativity is the ability to allow ourselves to be okay with something spontaneous or unintentional. Sometimes this leads us to an inspired direction and to unexpected findings that help us to expand creatively.

The projects range from polymer clay to resin, to shrink plastic, to using vintage items. I found several projects to inspire me: making a pendant out of a vintage metal button, transferring an image onto sea glass, making a resin flower, and more. Even N was inspired when he saw me looking at the book; he's ready to break out the shrink plastic!

You can preview several pages of the book on the Random House site.

A peek.

A small glimpse of my current project.

It's coming along, albeit slowly.

Framed flea market painting.

Last summer I bought this painting at a flea market.

Two weeks ago I decided to get it framed.

When I got it home, I moved it to the foyer instead of the kitchen, where it's been since I bought it.

I'm happy with how it turned out and I have another framed painting to show you soon.

Silver vase.

I like silver (especially tarnished silver!), art art nouveau, and vases. How could I resist all of these things all wrapped up in one?

Photo from trampoline shop.

It arrived today and is as wonderful as it is in the photo. It's pretty with hyacinths in it, but I might have just the thing to make it perfect. We'll see.

On to the next project.

I pulled out some size 15 seed beads.

And set up my tray.

What could I be making?

A purchase.

I bought this Wildflower Necklace from Nova of Sweden.

I love the little flower in the Chinese Picture Jasper. Do you see it?

Warmer weather.

We've had some warmer temperatures around here lately. The snow piles are melting.

Time to break out the chalk and draw some roads.

Papercutting.

I have wanted to try papercutting for some time. It seems like it could be a relaxing way to spend an evening and I think N would be happy to keep me supplied in artwork to cut out.

I bought some papercut patterns from Elsa Mora and they were a great learning tool.

I find that I am gripping the cutter too hard and my hand gets sore. I also hold my breath! I have three more patterns left to cut out. I need to work on breathing and being relaxed next time.

Cherry Blossom Bracelet.

I have finished the Cherry Blossom Bracelet kit by Laura McCabe! I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

There are three flowers and a lot of fringe. The crystals on the fringe provide some added sparkle - always a good thing in my book.

Because I made the band longer than I needed to, I had to adjust the placement of the embellishment so that it's slightly off-center. On my wrist, it is centered.

I think the cherry blossoms would make cute earrings.

I decided to freeform the placement of the flowers and fringe instead of following the placement on the instructions exactly. I also changed up the layout of the flowers. The instructions called for the green-ish flower to be between the other two.

My flowers and fringe are also placed more tightly together than in the instructions. I like the look of them bunched up rather than spaced apart, especially when the bracelet is on the wrist. The kit for this bracelet was the mustard colorway. When last I looked, I didn't see this colorway on the Beads East site. I purchased it at Bead & Button last year.

Now I have to decide what to work on next. Another Laura McCabe kit? I have a few more waiting in the wings.

Wish list.

Butterfly Effect by Kathi Roussel

Moving on to embellishing.

The first flower is attached to the bracelet!

Looking back over the blog, I see that I planned to start embellishing this bracelet back in September! It's time to finish this project.