Beyond Excited About My Next Adventure

Can you tell what it is?  I bought an asbestos-free block, flux and silver solder.   I still have a few things to buy, including a pickle pot, pickle solution, copper tongs, a "3rd hand"...

I'm going to hone my soldering technique.  It's been years since I've taken my metal smithing class, but I still have my old notes and text book.   I'm also inspired by this book, Chic Metal by Victoria Tillotson.

Stay tuned!

Amazine.com

So what is Amazine.com?   Simply put, if Pinterest and Blogging got married, Amazine would be their awesome offspring!  

Amazine allows you to create/curate your own online 'magazine.'  It's still in the beta stage so they're working out some kinks, but it's a pretty cool place to play.

You can log in with your Facebook page, your Twitter page, or an email account.  You can also link your Pinterest page.  Like Pinterest, there is a bookmarklet app that you can add to your browser bar to copy 'stories' to your Amazine.

For example, I selected an item from my ArtFire shop, used the bookmarklet app to create a story (yes, it links back to my AF shop).

• To check out Amazine, visit  http://www.amazine.com
• To visit my Amazine page:  http://www.amazine.com/user/1235056

Fun with wire!

Dainty bow rings.... I had a blast making these out of 22 gauge wire (14K gold filled and sterling silver).   I'll be listing these in one of my online shops soon.  Stay tuned....

Even grownups need a toy box

...or seven.

While others in my area were at Mardi Gras parades catching beads, I was at home playing with beads -- and wire.

I hate taking product photos!

So the rebranding is coming along nicely, I think. I have new banners and avatars done for my ArtFire shop, my Etsy shop, my personal website, and of course this blog.

However, yesterday I set up my photo studio, took over 300 photos of various items and experimented with different white balance settings. Every single one of photos has a blue tint. Every. single. one. Sigh...

Clearly I still haven't grasped the concept of white balance. I have no intention of using a photo editing program to tweak 300+ photos, so today, it's back to the drawing board. This time I'm only taking a dozen photos at a time. Stay tuned...