Projects

This Whole Thing Makes Me Sad

When FabGrandpa and I first got together, we lived together first. We had both been married twice before and while we knew we wanted to be together, we were scared to take that final plunge so soon. We did plan to get married but had not set a date yet.

Then, when he had been living with me for about six months, he and his daughter were in a bad auto accident. He had a broken hip, five broken ribs, two ruptured discs in his neck and a concussion. He was in the hospital for thirteen days, nine of it in intensive care.

The day before the doctors let him go home, he had a very serious talk with me. He was worried that I would not want him to come home to my house to recuperate. I thought it was odd of him to even ask, because I loved him and couldn’t imagine him not coming home there. I told him he could, but that we needed to get married. The day that the wreck happened, the people at the hospital wouldn’t allow me to go in to see him in the emergency room because I was not his wife!!! So, as soon as he was able to stand up without support, we got married. Our first rings were gold bands we bought at Wal-Mart.

He was not able to return to work for almost two years. One day while I was at work in Atlanta, the attorney called me and said he had a check for us from the other guy’s insurance company. I went to pick it up. It was a large check, the largest one I have ever held in my hands! When I got home, I gave it to FabGrandpa, because it was his money and the check was made out to him.

The next day, when he picked me up from the park and ride lot, he gave me these wedding rings, and every penny of the rest of the check. To me, it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. Even though we both considered the money to belong to us both, he made that elegant gesture of giving me everything he had. And that is what makes it so sad for me to know that I have lost one of those precious diamonds. It is worth the world to me.

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Jewelry Making Class

Karen · 12 Comments

Lynda and I went to our wire wrapping class on Saturday. The lady who taught the class makes some really pretty stuff, but she does not allow you to take pictures. I was going to show some of the process of making the bracelets we made, but she told me to “put away my camera”.
I can show the finished product:

I made the bracelet on the right with silver and gold wire in the class. I came home and made the one on the left with silver and copper wire. I definitely need some practice but they are ok for a beginner.

Here is what the clasp looks like. The one I made in class looks a whole lot better than the one I made at home later. Again, it just needs some practice.

These bracelets are 7 and a half inches long. I think I need to make mine 8 inches to fit my “plus size” wrist.

Then, today, I used a different pattern but the same concept to make this bracelet for FabGrandpa. I used a piece of sterling silver patterned wire and gold wire in it. This was really hard to make because it was hard to keep all the wires together and to keep them from bunching up while I was making the binding wraps. I got really frustrated with it and walked away from it three times before I was able to finish it. I like the way the clasp on this one looks.

Here is the front of his bracelet. I can see the mistakes in it, and my father in law probably will too, but then again, it does look pretty good for a beginner, and FabGrandpa liked it.

So, tell me what you think. Will I be able to master this?

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I’m Getting Ahead Of Myself But I Gotta Show You This!

Karen · 8 Comments

I want to tell you about my visit from Gaelyn from Geogypsy, and how we went to the gem and mineral show in Quartzsite, but I am just too excited about the stuff we Lynda and I have been making that I am jumping ahead to show you:

I love pink things, and this here necklace is pink. It is made with rose quartz and glass and crystal beads. It turned out really good, better than I thought it would.

(click on the pictures to see them better)

This one is made with Chinese turquoise nuggets. I like to take old things apart and use the parts in new pieces, so the chain used in this necklace came from a junkstore find. It looks really good, too.

A few years ago, my mother-in-love, Nana, gave me some lessons in wire wrapping, (Thank you, Nana!) but I have not done much of it until now. I made the bracelet below with the green beads, then Lynda made the one with the purple beads. Mine turned out pretty good, except that the beads I used were too big so it made the overall bracelet too big. We are going to a wire wrapping class next week to learn how to do some other things, and we can hardly wait to go!

I bought these 18mm turquoise beads at the show, because I had an idea for a necklace in my head (yeah, that happens too much). I spent today making all those little curly links for a chain, then Lynda showed me how to make jump links, which is a pretty handy thing to know. I have been making each one separate, which is a major pain in the arse! But look how easy it is here:

And here you can see a little bit of the chain and how the beads look with it. And I put that tape measure in there so you see how big the beads are. It is going to be awesome!

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Going to Quartzsite

Karen · 5 Comments

Some years ago when I first met my mother and father in-law, they went “out west” every year for a few months in the winter. They were the first ones who told me about Quartzsite, and all the fun they had out there, camping in the desert with their friends, and going to the gem and mineral shows, and the flea markets. I was hooked! Yes, Poppa, it’s y’alls fault!

So, on Friday, I got to go there myself for the first time. I was like a kid on sugar filled kool-aid, I was that excited.

We saw this 1963 Cushman motorcycle at the flea market there. FabGrandpa told me all about how his dad used to work on them at his second job, after he got off work at the Navy.

Wow, it still works, and had the original paint, and they only want $4,000.00 for it. What a great deal.

The flea market had lots of neat stuff. I bought some vintage skeleton keys, and here is what I did with them:

(Click on the pictures to go to my Etsy store)

But the best part was going to the bead and rock stores. Lynda and I had such a good time in there. I bought a bunch of stuff, so did she, and we have been spending all our free time in the cargo trailer, I mean Girlie Playhouse, making stuff:

This one is made with polished rocks and glass beads. I have put a lot of new things up in my Etsy store today, go take a look.

We only went for a few hours, but we have plans to go back soon. My head is spinning with ideas for new stuff.

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And The Winner Is…

Karen · 7 Comments

Back on December 18th, I announced my Etsy store opening, and offered a contest to win a “Wait Book” in the color of your choice. I put all the names of people who entered the contest in a paper bag and drew one name out. And the winner is:

Christine of Chris’s Coop! Whooooo Hoooo! Yay Christine! So, Christine, you can email me at FabGrandma at gmail dot com and we can discuss which color you want from the choices I have available.

Y’all stay tuned, I have more stuff to put up for sale in the coming week. I am having so much fun making things to stock my store with!

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The Girls Workshop

Karen · 8 Comments

(Lynda at her jewelry workbench)

Lynda and Charlie have a cargo trailer that they pull behind their motor home. While they are traveling, they drive their car up into the trailer, and pack up their crafting tools. When they park somewhere, the car comes out, and they set up Lynda’s workshop, where she makes jewelry out of silverware and wire wrapping. She’s pretty good at it. Charlie makes fountains and other stuff.

(My sewing table)

Today, we got to work, well, they did mostly, of setting up the workshop. They let me put up my sewing machine and sewing stuff on the other wall. I am so excited about this set-up! Now, Lynda and I can sit out there, in our girlie play-house, and make our crafty stuff, and just have a good old time!

After we got it all set up, I made another Wait Book. This one has is made from a Noah’s Ark print fabric with solid brown. It’ll be for sale in my Etsy store .

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My New Project–An Etsy Store

Karen · 14 Comments

I have been wanting to open an Etsy store for some time now. I love to make things because for some reason I have a need to keep my hands busy. When I am not writing, I am usually making something. So, a lot of my spare time for the last couple of weeks has been spent doing the behind the scenes stuff to get my store open.

So, for your viewing and shopping pleasure, click here.

Please take a minute to go over there and look around. I have more things I want to put on there, and because I am always making something, there will be new stuff up there frequently. I would also appreciate any feedback on my store, good or bad, and any suggestions you may have to make it better.

Also, I am going to be having a contest! yes, a contest, to promote my store. If you would like to have an entry to win a “Wait Book” in your choice of colors, all you have to do is

1. Write a little bitty blog post with a link to my Etsy store. Here is the link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6518503

2. Leave me a comment here to let me know you have done it. Remember I will need your email address to be able to contact you if you win.

That is it. The contest will run until January 2. I will pick a winner randomly to win the prize.

Edited to add: I DO ship to Canada and Everywhere else, but I did not know how to add that option to my listings. I will fix that as soon as I can, but don’t not enter the contest because you don’t live in the US. I’ll ship anywhere.

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Finished Shopping

Karen · 14 Comments

I started and finished my Christmas shopping today. All the gifts have been got, and wrapped, and put in shipping boxes, and addressed. They are going to Ft. Lewis, Washington; Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; Denver, Colorado; Villa Rica, Georgia; and Douglasville, Georgia. The kids are scattered out all over the place.

I only made one gift this year, but it is something I have wanted to make for its recipient for some time. I call it a “Wait Book”.

He is a rather rambunctious little guy, and needs something to hold his attention when he is waiting for something. Whether it is when he is sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office or waiting for dinner to arrive when he and his parents go out to eat, he really needs something TO DO.

He likes to draw, paint, and color. He likes to tell stories about the drawings he has made. So, I made him this little book:

It will fit in his Mommy’s purse, or he can carry it himself with the handles. It holds a refillable pad of paper and 16 crayons. There is a place for every crayon, so they won’t fall out and get lost. He likes orange. A lot. I made him a quilt for his room a couple of years ago that has a lot of orange in it. No wonder they call me the FabGrandma!

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