Adventures in Metal Smithing...

I was a guest blogger at the Spark Journal Blog and posted about my adventures...so i wanted to post it here as well. Is it considered stolen if i still wrote it? ;)

Hey ya'll! Jenipher here from Cherry Runway! I'm beyond stoked that I get to guest blog! Yay!

Okay! So, i've been making beaded jewelry for approx 17 years now and am FINALLY starting to venture into actually MAKING jewelry. So i wanted to share a little bit of my experience taking my first metal smith class. Granted, it's not everything, but it's enough to get your creative juices going!

First off, if you are interested in this type of craft, you need a TON of patience. Which sadly, i have learned i need more of. Alas, i still created a really neat pendant with my limited source of patience.

First you have to sketch our your design. Choose your stone {if you'd like one} and the type of metal you'd like to use. I used Sterling Silver sheet metal. I love trees and i wanted to use some textured recycled metal in my piece. I used a round hole punch [sorry! no image] to punch out circles from random bits of scrap my instructor had.

TIP! ALWAYS keep scraps! Especially sterling ones. Whether it's sheet metal or a head pin. You can melt these pieces or re-use them later.

Once you figure out what shapes you need, your almost ready to use the torch to start soldering. This is my FAVORITE part!! The touch is kind of intimidating at first, and sometimes soldering just doesn't go the way you want it to, but it's so neat to just take pieces of metal and create something beautiful.

Once your all soldered, which takes quite a few steps to do, your piece will look all funky from the chemicals reaction to the heat.. Maybe it might turn black, or green {in my case}. No worries! You drop that lil sucker in this neat chemical they call "the pickle" and it cleans it all up for you!

You might realize pieces have fallen off if they weren't soldered properly, so this may take quite a while longer to finish. BUT this is the gist!

Hooked yet? :)

This is the start of a perdy ring I'm making...

AND THIS! This is the beginning of a piece i was enameling. So cool!

Yay! That was so fun! Thank you again for letting me participate in the blog party! I'm so so excited to see what's in store! Thanks for reading! :)

Sweet Somethings..

I had a tooth pulled yesterday and the medicare they gave me for my sedation made me very ill. Alas, It's so easy to feel extreme joy after such a horrible previous day.



Joy number one: [from my co-worker]

"You're like who we all go to when we need cheering up around here. I was so happy you worked with me the other day, you really cheered me up."

Joy number two: [Katie from Etoile Boutique]:

"Bring in whatever jewelry you like. All of it is amazing and everyone loves it, so you can just bring in anything."

Highlight of my day:

My room mate and his girlfriend just broke up, so he joined Okcupid too. And today he sent me a girls page to see what i thought of her. I thought it was nice he wanted my opinion. :)

AND...

I leave in 8 DAYS!!!
Yay! Life is grand. Now..off to Kung Fu i go.. :)

Have a stellar day ya'll!

11 days!!!!

Eee!! It's almost time!!

I am SOOO excited!!!! This is the BIGGEST show i've ever been a part of. :)



I fly out to LA in 10 days and am MORE then excited! For the show! To see one of my best friend's Brian! To meet booth partner in crime, Andrea! To just GET AWAY! Yay! I'm excited for it all!


Come visit if your attending!!

i <3 giving gifts

My friend Lauren has the most beautiful curly hair I've seen, and when i asked her what she uses to bring out her curls she bought me some. So to say thank you i make her a necklace i thought would strike her fancy!

Ha, it's seriously awesome being an artist! You ALWAYS have potential gifts at your finger tips! How cool is that?






Well, my fancy striking worked out, because later that day i got this message.

"I love love love the necklace! I've actually been looking for a new cross necklace, you read my mind :)"

Mission Accomplished. :)

Have you made any fun gifts for people lately?

Yay! I was featured!!

The talented ladies at Shambee and Jak have blogged about me! Yay!!

Go check out their etsy shop!

SUCH a marvelous day! :)

I had such a super day yesterday. I severely dislike dentists, but my dental hygienist was amazing!! We talked about art, and god and relationships! It was a-mazing!!! Totally worthy of going to the dentist.

To celebrate how "brave" i was, i decided to reward myself with a delicious meal. Everyone at the dental office suggested a sushi place across the street. I'm a very frugal gal, but decided to REALLY treat myself and get a meal instead of just some rolls.



The extra money was totally worthy of my spendage!! Not only did i get all of these Japanese goodies, but it came with Miso soup and salad with ginger dressing too. YUM! I made a lot of FB and Twitter friends jealous by posting about it. ;)



"it smells so good I don't wanna eat it. I just wanna keep on smellin'" -little boy at sushi (about Miso soup)



To continue my unfrugal trend, to be spontaneous and to break my junk food fast, i went to one of my favorite new coffee shops after work. I had a DELICIOUS dessert and a perfect cup of "Sense of Peace" tea. Mmmmm



I was spontaneous AND are junk food! And oh my!!! Is was good!



I blissfully enjoyed my treats and made jewelry at both the sushi places and the coffee shop.





Here are a sneak peek at some of the fun goodies i was making! :)


PS: OMGOSH!! It just occurred to me! I could have California Rolls IN California!!! SWEET!

Panera Endevors.. :)

Saturday Morning



I don't know about you, but i love Saturday mornings...mostly because i LOVE the Farmers Market!

Look around you, there are dozens of fresh fruit and veggie booths here, their colorful allure so striking! But look! back in that corner is ....a pizza vendor?? Although you are generally a fruit and veggie gal, (or try to be) don't get bummed out.Calories don't count on a Saturday morning slice of pizza.


Meet...Delilah



Delilah is your inner diva. She's your classy Manhattan sweet heart. She loves a French Roast expresso, indulges in only the best strawberries, and wear high heels, the higher the better. [Preferably Manolo]

While not all of us could embrace her life style, your alter ego "Delilah" is here to help. These earrings will keep you grounded while dreaming of your life in another world.




I really like these earring sets and I hope you do too!! :)

Let me know what you think!