For more info or if you can't attend, but would like to donate, please visit www.the3day.org!
Showing posts with label RI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RI. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day Fundraiser!
This blog post is for anyone local to the Providence, RI area. I will be participating in a vendor night to raise money for a team walking in the Breast Cancer 3 Day. The Divine Ta-Ta Sisterhood Team will receive a minimum of 15% of the night's profits to put towards their team donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure.
For more info or if you can't attend, but would like to donate, please visit www.the3day.org!
For more info or if you can't attend, but would like to donate, please visit www.the3day.org!
Monday, January 12, 2009
A Sea Glasser's Passion
Okay, I admit, I have a bit of an obsession. Sea glass, to me, is more beautiful than any precious gem in the world. I see the stunning photographs taken by other collectors and artists and I drool. The rainbow of colors, the way the frostiness sparkles when the sunlight hits it... the amazing discoveries people make- from bottle stoppers to children's marbles, hand painted pottery shards and old electrical insulators, what might this have been at one point in history- what will I turn it into now that I've found it?
The winter months are difficult for me, I am perpetually cold and suffer from seasonal affect disorder. I need the warmth of the sun and the smell of the ocean; when I don't get it, I see myself start to shut down. I hibernate and my work is less inspired and less frequent. This weekend, as yet another winter storm approached, I decided it had been long enough. I was in extreme withdrawal and had to get a fix. So, I bundled up the kiddos and headed for the beach.
The sun was surprisingly strong and the wind was mild- the tide was -3 and the beach was scattered with rocks and glass- perfect! We walked and searched for about 20 minutes, covering maybe 200 yards until their little noses were frozen, their cheeks bright red. We called it a day and went home with only a few shiny treasures in our pockets to show for our efforts.
Back at home, rinsing off our finds, the smell of the ocean hits me and I can't stop thinking about it- tomorrow is Saturday, Ed will be home to watch the kids, I'm going to see if I can get some "me time"! Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband who understands my passion and shares the feeling of tranquility that hours of wandering on the beach in search of hidden jewels can provide. "Go, honey. Have fun." he tells me. God, I love that man!
The tide is not so low this day but the rock piles are plentiful and the few combers who are out braving the snow flurries are armed with metal detectors or dogs on leashes. I am optimistic! Within a few feet I find a starfish, frozen in the sand- I grab my baggie out of my coat pocket and toss it in, another few feet and I find a frosty green bottle neck! I wander around with my head down, glancing up only periodically to check my position in relation to my starting point and to other people.
My mind lets go of all it's stressors- there are no bills here, no fighting kids, no dirty dishes. I don't feel the cold because the sun is shining down despite the tiny swirling snowflakes that are surrounding me. In my head I design pendants and fantasize about decorating the new home we'll soon buy with all of my finds. My bag is filling up quickly with frosted goodies, sea life and driftwood.
As the afternoon light starts to fade and the beach becomes empty I glance at my phone to check the time and decide to hit one more section of stones before I turn back towards the car. I pop my phone back into my pocket and resume scanning the ground in front of me. It's getting colder, I can feel my joints aching and I repeat to myself "one more good piece, not until I find one more good piece".
I am approaching the end of the stones, the sand is smooth and untouched in front of me. I start to turn around and as I do, I spot a tiny speck of blue peeking out- oh my gosh, oh my gosh, my heart is pounding, bend over, grab it quick! (As though there were someone else racing to beat me to it.) A flawless piece of cobalt blue! I am ecstatic! Blue is not found very often in southern RI, I myself have probably only come across a handful of pieces in all my years of hunting.
I take off my gloves and inspect it- totally smooth, frosty and round, it feels like heaven in my hands. Okay, I am satisfied now, I can head home. I clench the glass tightly in my fist and begin my long trek back to the parking lot; daydreaming about what this gem in my hand will become now that it's mine and wondering when next I'll be able to escape for another day at the beach.
The winter months are difficult for me, I am perpetually cold and suffer from seasonal affect disorder. I need the warmth of the sun and the smell of the ocean; when I don't get it, I see myself start to shut down. I hibernate and my work is less inspired and less frequent. This weekend, as yet another winter storm approached, I decided it had been long enough. I was in extreme withdrawal and had to get a fix. So, I bundled up the kiddos and headed for the beach.
The sun was surprisingly strong and the wind was mild- the tide was -3 and the beach was scattered with rocks and glass- perfect! We walked and searched for about 20 minutes, covering maybe 200 yards until their little noses were frozen, their cheeks bright red. We called it a day and went home with only a few shiny treasures in our pockets to show for our efforts.
Back at home, rinsing off our finds, the smell of the ocean hits me and I can't stop thinking about it- tomorrow is Saturday, Ed will be home to watch the kids, I'm going to see if I can get some "me time"! Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband who understands my passion and shares the feeling of tranquility that hours of wandering on the beach in search of hidden jewels can provide. "Go, honey. Have fun." he tells me. God, I love that man!
The tide is not so low this day but the rock piles are plentiful and the few combers who are out braving the snow flurries are armed with metal detectors or dogs on leashes. I am optimistic! Within a few feet I find a starfish, frozen in the sand- I grab my baggie out of my coat pocket and toss it in, another few feet and I find a frosty green bottle neck! I wander around with my head down, glancing up only periodically to check my position in relation to my starting point and to other people.
My mind lets go of all it's stressors- there are no bills here, no fighting kids, no dirty dishes. I don't feel the cold because the sun is shining down despite the tiny swirling snowflakes that are surrounding me. In my head I design pendants and fantasize about decorating the new home we'll soon buy with all of my finds. My bag is filling up quickly with frosted goodies, sea life and driftwood.
As the afternoon light starts to fade and the beach becomes empty I glance at my phone to check the time and decide to hit one more section of stones before I turn back towards the car. I pop my phone back into my pocket and resume scanning the ground in front of me. It's getting colder, I can feel my joints aching and I repeat to myself "one more good piece, not until I find one more good piece".
I am approaching the end of the stones, the sand is smooth and untouched in front of me. I start to turn around and as I do, I spot a tiny speck of blue peeking out- oh my gosh, oh my gosh, my heart is pounding, bend over, grab it quick! (As though there were someone else racing to beat me to it.) A flawless piece of cobalt blue! I am ecstatic! Blue is not found very often in southern RI, I myself have probably only come across a handful of pieces in all my years of hunting.
I take off my gloves and inspect it- totally smooth, frosty and round, it feels like heaven in my hands. Okay, I am satisfied now, I can head home. I clench the glass tightly in my fist and begin my long trek back to the parking lot; daydreaming about what this gem in my hand will become now that it's mine and wondering when next I'll be able to escape for another day at the beach.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Silversmithing...
Today I took some bold (baby) steps. For me anyway- I've dreamed for ages now of learning to silversmith, to become a true "jewelry artist". Even though I love beading and wire wrapping and will always do it, something made me feel like I just wasn't doing enough to consider myself a real designer. I need to forge my own pieces and push myself to learn new skills. Maggie once told me someone [rude] said "any monkey can string beads" and while I am defensive, thinking "we all have to start somewhere- at one point you [rude person] learned to string your first beads too!" somewhere in the back of my mind I've thought "do monkeys wield torches and saws?"
So, after a long winded intro I get to the point- I took a few classes this summer- both revolved around ring making but because there was only one other person in the class, we had lots of chat time with the instructor and she took some time to teach me a few things besides soldering. Based on my experiences, I've decided that I like the sawing and filing as much as I do the soldering and in that vein, today I purchased some tools so I can begin doing some metal work.
One of the things my instructor, Amie Plante, told me was that there's a terrific place to buy supplies right here in RI. It's called The Contenti Company and the prices are very reasonable- in some cases even much cheaper than some other supply places I've used. They have a giant selection of saws, files, hammers, punches, soldering supplies, etc etc etc. Today I bought two files made by a company called Grobet and a bench block. To date, I've been using a tiny little anvil for the small hammering I do to my pendants and it is truthfully pretty aggrevating to work on.
Over the past week I've also won some auctions for tools on eBay- I bought a sawframe and some blades, a third hand base and tweezers for soldering and a benchpin. I can't afford my torch yet so I decided I'd get the basic things I needed to just work with sheet metal and I'll work on improving my sawing techniques and maybe I'll make a few sellable pieces that can earn me some money towards the torch!
The torch kit I am looking at is made by Gentec- It is a propane/oxygen combo (I'm told that acetelyne suppliers in the North East are becoming increasingly expensive and harder to find) and is just under $300. So anyway, that's my babble on tools and supplies and plans for today- I'm very excited to start this new chapter and will post with the progress I make soon!
-Tara
So, after a long winded intro I get to the point- I took a few classes this summer- both revolved around ring making but because there was only one other person in the class, we had lots of chat time with the instructor and she took some time to teach me a few things besides soldering. Based on my experiences, I've decided that I like the sawing and filing as much as I do the soldering and in that vein, today I purchased some tools so I can begin doing some metal work.
One of the things my instructor, Amie Plante, told me was that there's a terrific place to buy supplies right here in RI. It's called The Contenti Company and the prices are very reasonable- in some cases even much cheaper than some other supply places I've used. They have a giant selection of saws, files, hammers, punches, soldering supplies, etc etc etc. Today I bought two files made by a company called Grobet and a bench block. To date, I've been using a tiny little anvil for the small hammering I do to my pendants and it is truthfully pretty aggrevating to work on.
Over the past week I've also won some auctions for tools on eBay- I bought a sawframe and some blades, a third hand base and tweezers for soldering and a benchpin. I can't afford my torch yet so I decided I'd get the basic things I needed to just work with sheet metal and I'll work on improving my sawing techniques and maybe I'll make a few sellable pieces that can earn me some money towards the torch!
The torch kit I am looking at is made by Gentec- It is a propane/oxygen combo (I'm told that acetelyne suppliers in the North East are becoming increasingly expensive and harder to find) and is just under $300. So anyway, that's my babble on tools and supplies and plans for today- I'm very excited to start this new chapter and will post with the progress I make soon!
-Tara
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