Buckles, Brooches and Bills

I have spent a busy week making custom order rings, fixing rings that didn't turn out as I hoped, wire wrapping lovely stones, working on the Thedford Commemorative B.R.A.N. belt buckle (and the pins) and freaking out over power bills.

I also had a few really nice sales! Hallelujah!

The B.R.A.N. buckle is finally nearing completion. The hills, windmill and road are on the front, with the lettering as well. The silver trim is fitted and just needs to be soldered. The back apparatus needs to be soldered. Polish the whole thing up and it should be good to go! Whoo hoo! Finally!

I wire wrapped a gorgeous charoite pendant the other day and mixed it with charoite, amethyst and sterling beads. Absolutely yummy!

I finished the leaves and vines custom ring without the CZs -- huge improvement! I also ground off all the ugly little czs from the original ring and then hammered the ring -- also a huge improvement!

Tomorrow I will get a shipment with new silver solder (to finish the buckle) and some fine wire for weaving. I feel the need to weave some awesome new jewelry!

I also hope to make a Viking weave necklace to hang my first handmade bezel project on. The pendant is copper, with a tiger iron cab set in a sterling, plus a sparkly cz at the bottom. I made the bezel by hand, which was not easy for the freeform stone I used. I think a silver Viking weave section, with copper end caps would be nice to go with the pendant.

I have a friend who suggested I turn it into a brooch (pin). She is right, it would make a GREAT pin! However, the stone is already set and if I try to heat the piece, the stone would blow up. So, it won't become a pin.

I have been struggling so hard with high heat bills this winter, but when I received my latest power bill, my heart dropped into my stomach. How could it cost $450 to heat a 10x30 space inside a Burlington Northern caboose for one month?

It didn't. I noticed the bill said estimate, so I called to have them refigure it with the reading I had sent in with my payment. Glad I did -- it is now $235. Still h igh, but certainly better than what it was before. :)


I continue to work on my website -- adding new inventory to store as often as I can.

I had better get to bed.

Happy creating!

White Rock, Sidewalks and Western Art

My wonderful landlord came by last weekend and dozed off all the sandburs out front of my shop (without even being asked) and then dropped a load of white rock on the sand for a parking area.

Earlier this week he talked with some people doing cement work and asked if they would mind dropping any extra off for a sidewalk in front of the caboose. This week he formed up a sidewalk and a cement truck came by and filled in one third of the sidewalk. Hopefully some more will be coming later to fill the rest in. Hey, the price is right, I can wait a bit for completion!

Today he came by with more white rock for the parking area.

Business was quite slow this week, although I did sell one of my Prismacolor painting pendants. I had an off week as far as creating, as nothing seemed to go quite right.

Now I have several special orders and one repair to do, so I had better get started on those.

I also had a woman come in and see the shop after her pickup broke down. She was carting horses to Kansas to a rodeo. She is having a horse sale the first weekend in October and is having a few vendors (invitation only) during the sale. She invited me! No cost to me whatsoever, other than gas to drive 65 miles one way -- and I do believe I will go! :)

I am trying to find a good mother's ring tutorial because I would like to make my sister a mother's ring. She is a single parent and deserves to have the sort of things most mothers would get from their hubby's (guess big sister will have to step in). Anyhow, I'm having a hard time finding something that will accept two facted stones, yet still be wire wrap, and not be too advanced for my limited wire wrapping skills. I found one and bought the tutorial, but it only gave instructions for adding one stone. I don't know if I am good enough to figure out how to add the second stone.

My REAP (Rural Enterprise Assistance Program) representative was here yesterday to take my photo while working inside the caboose and another of me outside the caboose, to put into a book they send to all the state legislators. He is also recommending me for a national video being made about micro business loans. He said they were looking for color and the caboose is definitely colorful!

All the information has been sent to the Omaha World Herald and hopefully they will come to do a story on me for their statewide section. I also hope to join GROW Nebraska soon and have them build me a website. They are a great cooperative marketing group that operates here in Nebraska.

I have created some new copper pieces and some new Prismacolor pendant pieces, as well as two "knitted" pendants.

I'll have to get a lot more made in the next two weeks if I am going to take my stuff to that horse sale! She said she thought my silver and my stone jewelry would both sell just great. She also thought I should take my belt buckle prototype. She said tiny belt buckles (western) as pendants are all the rage right now too.

It is late and I am tired, so I had better close. Happy creating!

99.9% Sure I'm A Business Owner!

I was informed yesterday that my final loan call will be held at 9 a.m. Monday, but that it is basically a formality -- the decision has already been made, essentially -- that I will get the loan. So, as early as next Wednesday or Thursday, I could have a check in hand and be on my way to being a business owner.

So, time to find a plumber and an electrician (and possibly a painter) to do all the necessary work on the caboose.

It is also time to begin cleaning! The place is filthy -- but it will be hard to clean without running water! I wonder if there is a hydrant nearby with a bunch of hose available.

To keep my mind from racing, I have been doing some wire wrapping and I made my daughter a pendant and wrapped a cabochon that was given to me because it was damaged. I was really happy with the way both of them turned out -- which is not generally the case with my wire wrapping.

The first piece was a black onyx briolette teardrop and it turned out okay. I was working with a tutorial from Lisa Barth, and it was awesome. I actually came away with something wearable.

The second piece was a tumbled pink stone my daughter brought home from a field trip -- quite a challenge shape-wise, and I made it rather fancy, because my daughter loves "fancy" things. It also turned out to be reversible, which is cool.

The third was a petrified bog teardrop cabochon with a small crack in the center, given to me by a very nice man named Robert who has a shop called SilverLeaf on Artfire. I wrapped it to hide the flaw and showcase the colorations. He will cut me two more to match for earrings. It will make a pretty set.

Better get to bed -- it is LATE or early, but my restless legs wouldn't let me sleep.

Sales, Smiles, Sunburn and Sighs

Smiles all around as we had a GREAT week at the gallery with lots of visitors and a large number of sales.

In the past two months I have sold four stone necklaces out of the gallery, as well as a 16x20 framed photo. I also sold out of notecards in the gallery as well as the motel that sells my cards in the lobby. Several other members had large sales too -- so everyone is extremely happy.

My latest sale was a one-of-a-kind Owyhee picture jasper necklace that looks like the Nebraska Sandhills where I live. The focal stone looked like rolling hills, with a soapweed growing in the foreground. It was strung with gold-filled corrugated beads along with desert jasper, cream fossil and black onyx beads with a handmade gold-filled chain and clasp and matching earrings. It was called "Soapweed and Sandhills."

I also sold a pearl bracelet and a pair of earrings through my Etsy shop, so the last two months have been good to me. :)

The caboose has been moved and I realized, while on my way home from serving as an EMT at the 50th Annual High School Rodeo out at the Thomas County Fairgrounds this weekend, that it is almost invisible to people coming from the east and west. I have been wracking my brain to come up with a solution to this problem -- but no luck so far. I think it means the caboose needs to be painted red and yellow, but since the lettering does not show up well on the red, I'll have to change it up a bit.

I think I'll paint the ends of the caboose red but trim it out with yellow on the railings, soffit and landing, as well as on the stairs. The sides will be yellow, with red trim and red lettering outlined heavily in black.

I will also put up HUGE signs -- especially to the east and west, angled so they can be viewed from the overpass as well. I see a big investment in plywood and stencils coming up! I'll use the same paint I use on the caboose to tie it all together.

I need to do another mockup of the caboose with the new paint scheme to see how it looks.

We had a good weekend, with a family fishing trip on Sunday. We didn't catch any fish, but we did catch a lot of sunshine and the sunburns that go along with that -- despite copious amounts of sunscreen. The kids had fun playing in the water in the livewell while hubby and I tried many fishing applications to entice the walleye to bite. We ended up catching three short fish we had to throw back. It was a day of family fun despite the fact that we didn't have fresh fish for supper.

The sighs come in from the waiting portion of this whole process. I am by nature, an impatient person, so this several month long loan process has me tied up in knots. I am still so positive that I can make a go of this business, but the past few days the waiting has gotten to me and despite surprisingly good P/L projections, the doubt has had time to creep in -- not doubt that I can manage the business -- but doubt that the loan will be approved. I can't see why it wouldn't be -- the numbers are good -- but I just want this so badly that it scares me!

My husband was even surprised by the numbers that came from a very conservative P/L projection and is now fully on board with the idea -- after realizing I could actually contribute to the family coffers instead of possibly just putting us into debt with the loan.

I think he was simply humoring me before -- although he was supportive -- and now he is excited about the prospect as well.

The board hopefully will convene this week to consider my loan application further. If they agree the business is viable, we will proceed on. If they don't, I am dead in the water -- which would be SO disappointing -- for me as well as for the owner of the caboose who is really excited about the possibilities with this business as I am.

I guess I will just keep praying, as I have a number of area residents who are also waiting with high hopes and a number of repair jobs for me to do.

I guess for now I will just prepare the 4-cheese lasagna I am taking to the community dinner at noon and try to keep my mind off this whole process for a little while. I will also work on a new picture jasper necklace to replace the one that sold.

So, I'm off to cook and create!