Workshops, Websites and Worms

Despite several days without sleep due to overdue prescriptions, computer failure due to worms (viruses) and late night ambulance runs, I was able to function enough to teach two workshops over the weekend.

Saturday morning, I had a lot of fun teaching a group of women from around the area how to save money and add value to their handmade jewelry by making their own jump rings, chains, clasps and ear wires.

Most of the women were suprised at how easy these things are to make themselves and how inexpensive, compared to buying them ready made.

Several of the women stayed for the afternoon class (and a few new ones arrived) where I taught basic jewelry design. I was fading fast by this point, so it got a bit dry to start, but I think everyone had fun once we got to the hands-on portion of the workshop and most of them went away with some very nice finished pieces, while others took home several "works-in-progress."

In the midst of all of this, I finally got the go-ahead on my website, so I have spent most of the day trying to build my own website, which is difficult, even with templates. I am NOT the most computer/technology savvy person around, and most of this stuff is Greek to me.

I think I finally have a decent looking home page, but I still have four pages and a shopping cart to go. Yikes!

I like the color scheme I picked out -- burgundy, hunter green and tan. These are the colors I had initially intended to use for the caboose, but budget woes put the cabosh on that.

I started out using a red and black template, but after cruising through the "what color works best for a website" info on the web, I found that black is hard for older eyes (like mine) to read from, red is considered jarring and gray, burgundy and brown are considered soothing, solid and elegant.

I looked at the gray generic templates and just couldn't get excited about them, but then I found this gorgeous one with my favorite colors, and I knew I was home. Think cherry wood, hunter green leather and the rich look of expensive parchment and you will have the colors of this site. It took all day, literally, but I finally have my home page set up. I am sure it could be more high tech, but I'll start small and revamp as I learn more. Wish me luck!

Coming Soon: http://www.dawnebryant.net/!

Tired of the cold, dreary weather, I was dreaming of warm sunny summer afternoons when I designed a neckband out of bronze wire and wrapped hammered bronze droplet components around it for a necklace that reflects the light as the wearer moves. I titled it " A Summer's Afternoon Rain."

It is gently snowing right now, so my hubby could get called out early, therefore, I had better be prepared to get up early to take my daughter to school. Her father usually does that, since our son is a night owl and generally gets to bed late, and therefore, so does Mom.

Good night and happy creating!

Trim paint, summer creations and waiting on electricians

The painting continues, as does the waiting for an electrician so I can prepare the interior of the caboose. I climbed up on the roof and painted the east and west ends of the cupola this weekend. After much debate I decided to paint the aluminum window frames and the old caboose numbers yellow. Good choice! Wow, what a difference that made! The yellow really pops those windows and numbers out and ups the visibility factor 150%!

I am now in the process of trim painting the remainder of the caboose -- all the spots the roller can't reach (which are numerous) and I plan to paint the windows on the ends of the caboose red, since the ends are yellow. Hopefully that will make them pop as well. I may do the doors red as well, but I am undecided on that one. The hand rails on the side of the caboose may go yellow too, and the railings on the ends may go red. Still up in the air about that.

All of my supplies for the interior of the shop will begin arriving Monday, and I have nowhere to put them. The caboose does not lock yet, so I can't store them there, and there really isn't room in our tiny two-bedroom trailer with the leaky roof. Fun!

I am still in dire need of an electrician that will WORK with me -- meaning break down the total bill into parts, so I know what my costs were for what. I have only found one electrician with the time, and he is unwilling to do that one small thing for me, which makes me unable to use him without a bookkeeping nightmare. Also, if he is so unwilling to bend on that one thing, how impossible will he be to work with on other things? He also did not want to do just the interior of the caboose, and the landowner has dug the trench for the electrical himself to save us both money. So, the hunt for the elusive electrician goes on. I am waiting on a bid from a gentleman who seemed both very knowledgeable and very easygoing, but time drags on with no word from him. HELP!

On the other hand, a friend offered me some combination AC/Heat units he has in his barn that came from a hospital remodel many years ago. They worked when they were put in there, and I am welcome to them. So, the heat/AC problem is solved, once the wiring is done so I can plug them in, that is.

I was up until the wee hours last night as PMC design ideas kept pouring through my brain. I scribbled down three pages, front and back, so I have plenty of fodder to work with when the stuff arrives. Fun! I am so excited!

I did manage to make four pieces for the "Summer" Expressions theme event at http://www.jewelrylessons.com/ and that was fun too. Two were pieces that fit into my "Prairie Skies" collection and one belongs in my "Sandhills Scenes" collection.

I am trying to get enough jewelry made to put some in my first one-man art show at the Robert Henri Museum in Cozad, NE as well as in my shop, the Thedford Art Gallery and the Wild Rose Gallery in Broken Bow, NE, as they have requested I bring more pieces over. Yikes!

Laundry and dishes are calling, so I had better get them taken care of, then I had better get to work on my entries for our annual open art and photography show, my show in Cozad and to take to my folks. Happy creating!

Pleasant surprises, and some not so pleasant

I signed the loan papers Friday evening and will deposit the money in the morning. I am now (gulp) a business owner, along with the joys and the tribulations that come along with that.

On the joy side of things, it turns out I did all my profit and loss projections using numbers from the larger loan amount I went after (purposeful on the part of the REAP people who gave me the loan), so my loan payment turned out to be nearly $240 less than I had projected. THAT kind of suprise I will take any day! :)

Another joy was discovering the hardwood oak floors under all the grime in the caboose. Pretty! I want to sand them down and stain them, but my hubby thinks I am biting off more than I can chew. He thinks I should just paint them. He did, however, work really hard to get all the dirt, grime and old paint off them with the pressure washer this weekend. The look much better, and once they are dry, I'll take some new photos.

I will pick up red/orange/whatever implement paint at the ranch supply store tomorrow, as it is cheaper than regular paint and covers rust well. It is also impervious to the elements, so it is the perfect choice for the exterior of the caboose. Whatever version of red it turns out to be, it will be coupled with John Deere yellow or a similar color of exterior paint on the ends and on the cupola. I had thought I would spray on the paint, but my father-in-law thinks it would be easier to roll it on. I think I will spray the ends (extruded metal on the decks won't take a roller well), then roll the red on the sides (covering any overspray from the yellow).

On the tribulation side of things, when we removed the "boiler" from the corner, it turned out not to be empty, and not to have held water -- it was a diesel tank and it was full of red diesel. So, the owners of the building drained it into 5-gallon buckets, but it leaked all over the floor inside. We got most of it up with the power washer and some degreaser.

Another tribulation was that when we took the old diesel stove out and removed the plywood plank it was sitting on, we found that the plank covered a very large burn hole in the floor. I made sure the caboose owners knew about that one! I sure wouldn't want them to think I did it with the wood stove!

The plumber came to put in the toilet, but the used (hardly used and very clean) one we planned on putting in was too big, and of course, the newer smaller ones, cost approximately $60 more than the older larger style does. So, my $350 bathroom plumbing bill just went through the roof -- because a lot more man hours will now be involved, and I have to buy a brand new toilet.

The local electrician is too busy to take on another job, and there isn't another "local" guy, so I am now going to make the round robin of calls to electricians from neighboring communities to find someone with time on their hands, who can drop everything to help me get this thing wired. I'm already looking at mid July before I can be up and running, and that is IF we can find someone to run the electrical and wire the caboose, and IF we can find someone to run the water line and put in a septic tank (and do it all cheaply -- as the estimates for both are $8000 but I was only awarded $2500 towards that).

Then, to make matters worse, I sit down to make out my orders and I find gold has QUADRUPLED in price since I applied for the loan, so my "gold stock" line item is woefully inadequate.

But, the extranneous items are now out of the caboose -- no more desks, stools, diesel stoves or tanks, and no more iron whatevers soldered to the walls. The floors and walls are clean and we covered over two of the leaking windows with plastic, which should prevent further floor damage due to water.

Next weekend I will paint the exterior while the family goes camping.

This week I have to take the pressure washer back to the rental agency (65 miles away) and buy paint and Father's Day gifts on Monday and hurry back for my daughter's t-ball game in the afternoon; work at the gallery on Tuesday and get my state pieces ready to go; drive the state pieces to the state show in Kearney (120 miles away) on Wednesday and get back in time to take my daughter to the rodeo 65 miles from home (in the other direction) that evening. Thursday will be a momentary chance to breathe. Whew!

Saturday I would like to take a landscape pastel course at the state conference, but it is probably full already, and pick up the state entries (hopefully leaving one or both of mine behind for the traveling show because I received Awards of Excellence). Lofty dreams, since I have never won an award at the state show.

I HAVE, however, been hard at work creating pieces for the upcoming "Summer" challenge at http://www.jewelrylessons.com/.

I have two seraphinite pieces and two lapis lazuli/sodalite pieces so far.

Now I had better work some more on my orders so I can keep my budget in line.

Happy creating!