Raff Chat «

A new addition to the family

Meet Angela/Munky, she came to us a few weeks ago in need of a safe place.

Angela’s human was going through a health crisis and Angela had been going through a very stressful time, attacked by another cat, put upon by dogs and beset by fleas. We agreed to foster her and give her a place where she could get some peace.

I have to admit, she’s a bit of a mess, thin, and seems to have an over grooming problem. Apart from that she’s settling in well, she’s slowly got her appetite back and is settling down.

What about Raff?? He didn’t know what to think at first, and naturally Angela was very wary of him. We introduced them very slowly and now she’s been with us about four weeks the two of them are actually starting to enjoy each other. She’s getting called Munky as much as Angela now, a tribute to her funny little face and personality, it’s also looking more likely that she might not be a foster but a full time family member.

We’ve still got a few hurdles to overcome with her, mainly the grooming problem. One major problem with life I’ve always thought is that we can’t speak to these animals and get a good understanding of what they want/need/are trying to tell us.

Maybe it was the new year, maybe it was a desire to learn something new and maybe it was just that I want to understand Miss Munky a little better, but I registered for a course on animal communication, yes, I’m going to try and talk with the animals! I know a lot of folks will think that is a very silly thing and a lot of nonsense but I do know I’m a sensitive person and decided I’d like to give it my best try — more on that in another post

I should say that Angela did go to the vets, was treated for her fleas and given a clean bill of health before we took her in.

New Camera, New Pictures – that’s my Boy!

Since I use a camera for work, and since I’ve been using borrowed equipment for the last few months the time and opportunity had come for a new camera!

I just got a Nikon D5000 – it’s actually a discontinued model but has some really nice features and I was lucky enough to find one fairly locally.

I have to say up until now I’ve been more of a point and shoot photographer, the mere mention of f-stops and exposures turns my brain to a fog despite the fact that I’m usually pretty good with techy stuff. All that may be about to change! Already I have to say I LOVE this camera and the photos I’m getting with it. Using Auto, Program and Scene modes you really don’t need to know anything technical – just fire away and get a beautiful photo. But the ease at which I’m getting these photos has me wondering what I could achieve with a bit more know how and some thought.

This morning’s subject is Raff, – should have cleaned the poor lads eyes before I started clicking but as you can see he was having way to much fun to be interrupted. These are pretty much straight from the camera & resized – I did run a Photoshop ‘sharpen’ filter just because with web pics I think it really helps to bring out the details even more. I found the ‘pet scene’ mode on the camera easily – it allows the lens to focus without the distracting focus assist light, and after the first shot I easily managed to set the flash to off, so only the first shot is taken with the flash on.

Ta-ta! Isn’t he beautiful

Err... would you mind turning the flash OFF please!

Oooh catnip in a llama!

BrrrMEOOOWWWW! Catnip!!

Mum says she can't believe she caught me with my tongue out

Ahhh ..sigh.. the exhilaration...

After catnip comes yoga

and after yoga come compliments -- Dad says I look younger in this picture

My feet look so small! Gosh, I am a handsome boy aren't I?!

An Award from a Friend

I have received a blog award from my friend Meghann of Little Studio Jewels! Hop on over there to see Meghann’s wonderful creations, she’s currently working on a series of jewellery pieces inspired by great women from history.

Thank you Meghann

The Award is the Premio Meme Award, and I am to tell you Seven things about myself – oooo… ..errrr – here goes! I’m an animal lover so will try and make them all animal based.

I don’t like watching movies with animals in them because I’m sure they are going to get hurt or killed in the plotline.
When I was a child there were donkey rides at the seaside – I really didn’t like them, I was terrified I was going to fall off – I much preferred the ones where you sat in a vehicle and got pulled along.
My first pet was a white mouse called Twinkletoes.
My most unusual pets were rats – we probably had close to 30 – (not all at once!) and they are the most wonderful little creatures – they really are like miniature dogs – only more clever!
I call little dogs ‘rat dogs’ because they remind me of our rats.
While swimming in the Adriatic a little crab grabbed hold of my toe!
I’ve never ridden on an elephant.

There you go! More than you ever needed to know ;o) I’m supposed to tag seven people but will say instead that if you read this consider yourself tagged! Leave a link to your blog in a comment so that I can hop over and read your seven bits about you!

True Value in Lampwork Beads

A recent blog post by fellow bead maker Mallory really made me stop and think about the value of the beads we create.

If you have any interest in beads you have probably come across really inexpensive glass beads in your travels.

If you don’t know much about beads you might be fooled into thinking they are great value, and might also be wondering why beads such as mine are so much more expensive. I’ll explain why!

Many of the inexpensive beads come from China where they are

mass produced,
created from low quality glass
not annealed (an essential part of the process) and
not cleaned

Each bead I create has come from thousands of hours of learning and practising.

My first torch and accessories cost approx $150
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That kept me going for a little while, but I soon needed to upgrade to my present torch that uses both propane and oxygen.

New torch, Nortel Mega Minor $150

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Oxygen Concentrator to create the oxygen needed $550

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Hoses to hook it all up $40

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Regulator for the fuel $100

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Kiln! For annealing glass $760

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And we haven’t bought any glass yet!

Ventilation – $700

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That is just the equipment! Add to this the cost of fuel for the torch, electricity for the kiln and supplies such as mandrels and bead release.

Tools!! We all need tools – prices vary from under $10 to over $100

Eye Glasses! Needed to protect our eyes from the flame – $150

THEN comes the glass – this can range in price from $7/lb to $100/lb depending on the type !

Add to this

time spent learning this art,
cost of lessons which can be $200 per day
the little bit of ‘me’ that goes into each and every one
time spent creating and cleaning each bead by hand
days wasted when Muse is on vacation and beads are horrific!
other incidentals that go along with making these one of a kind pieces of wearable art

Each bead that I offer for sale is the very best of what I make. I’m very critical about what I consider to be a sellable bead and many just don’t make the cut for one reason or another.

: Lampwork bead with murrini – $38

You’ll soon realise that Lampwork beads are PRICELESS!

When you consider purchasing a bead or set of beads from any lampwork artist please take a moment and reflect on what is included in that price – you’ll soon understand why these beads are truly a remarkable value. You are purchasing one of a kind pieces of art that can last for generations to come.

Wordless Wednesday Back at Paula

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Artistic Inspiration from the bank??

David was reading his mail the other day. He had something from his bank. Imagine his surprise when I yelled ‘STOP!’ – ‘Don’t throw that away I want it!’ – or words to that effect.

He handed the sheet to me with a rather puzzled expression on his face, while I grinned with glee!

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Inspiration??
Well opening a kid’s account wasn’t exactly what was on my mind – but THAT dog spoke to me! All at once I saw how I could construct a dog bead I truly liked!

And I did!
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I truly like him! He makes me smile! Not least of all because I’ve struggled so much with dogs.

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Like my monkee’s he’s made with a nice big hole running horizontally through his head. This means he can be worn easily on a chain or cord AND that he’ll always face the right way, he’s not going to swivel round on you while you are wearing him. He’s a decent size too!

I was so delighted I made another!

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I changed the colours up this time so he looks a little dobermanish.

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I don’t know how I can translate this into other breeds at the minute – but I’m happy with this starting point.

Thank YOU St. Mary’s Bank!!! Or more precisely thank you to the artist who drew the original pup!

It all began with this curious note. .

I’m working on a new Monkee story to go with my next series of Monkee beads.

I won’t give too much away, but will say that the whole adventure started when Mylo Monkee received the following items in the mail.

Would YOU believe him?

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What would YOU do if you were Mylo??

Quick fix clasp for elderly or stiff fingers

This Mother’s Day I made some beads for my Mum. She’d mentioned that she’d like one so I thought I’d surprise her.

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I wanted to give her a choice and something that she could easily switch out when she wanted.
Mum’s problem is that she has trouble putting necklaces on because of the clasp.

She has one I made with a magnetic clasp that she really likes, so I wanted to use one of those.
Problem was the magnetic clasp made it impossible to slip the beads or pendants off and on.

Here’s what I came up with -

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All you need to do this is

a ready made chain
two split rings
a magnetic clasp

I removed the clasp from the necklace by taking the ring that holds it in place off . Then added a split ring to that end of the necklace and added one part of the magnetic clasp to it.

I then took the magnetic clasp, threaded the second split ring onto it and added the necklaces original clasp back onto this split ring.

THEN, the clasp can be hooked into the necklace as it would normally, BUT you don’t need to use it to take the necklace off and on – you use the magnetic clasp for this.

IF you want to change the bead or pendant that is on the necklace you can simply unhook the clasp and slide the bead or pendant over the small end of the chain – nice and simple!

This was a much more successful Mother’s Day project than THIS

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But more on THAT later. Suffice to say you should never try to cook Angel Food cake in a toaster oven — but you already knew that right?? D

A cat and his octopus

Yesterday Raff made some new friends.

When I got home I found that Meghann of Little Studio Jewellery had stopped by and left a package for me. Well, for Raff and I would be more accurate.

It was a lovely thing to find as the day had not been a good one up until that point. I excitedly unwrapped the little packages that were tucked into a pretty gift bag with brightly coloured tissue paper.

There was a teeny tiny crocheted teddy bear (for Raff), Octothello the crocheted octopus (for Raff!), the cutest little crocheted sock monkey (MINE! All MINE!) and at the very bottom of the bag was some home made chocolate and peanut butter fudge.

I haven’t got a picture of my little sock monkey yet because Mixy monkee leaped up and stole him from me.

I haven’t got a picture of the fudge because it’s all gone…. I shared with David – honestly!! It really was sooo rich and creamy and delicious!

So we are left with Raff and his new friends whom Meghann had sprayed with natural catnip!

Raff sniffed, and looked, and looked and sniffed, he tried to eat Octothello’s leg then went to roll in the teddybear.

After that he crawled up and curled up on my knee – worn out and ready for a nap – until he felt something upon his back.
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He tried to ignore it…

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But it wouldn’t go away…

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He decided he really liked the little teddy but wasn’t so sure about this other interloper.

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It was obvious though that it wasn’t going away, so in the end he gave in, and they all had a lovely nap together!

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Thank you Meghann! Beads are coming your way and in the meantime I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

If anyone is a WordPress geek I’m desperately seeking help. My hosting co had big problems with the server I’m on last Thursday. My blog is up and running again, but since then I can no longer upload images through WordPress ( I’ve got a trouble ticket in, but suspect it’s going to be one of those elusive techy problems that no-one seems to have an answer for. I’ve found a work-around, but it really is a W.O.R.K. around and a real pain to get images into a post.

-20 means no beadmaking!

Yes, that’s what the thermometer is reading as I make my morning tea. I think the glass might be a little shocky out in the sun porch today! My ventilation system can’t come quick enough.

We had six squirrels at our birdfeeders yesterday – all at the same time! I felt bad for them as David had said he heard that acorns were in short supply this year. I made some peanut butter sandwiches to take out to them and felt like I was in a scene of Alfred Hitchcock’s lesser known movie ‘The Squirrels!’. They were all perched high in the tree looking down at me, except one who squawked at me from a lower branch.

Our birdfeeders are starting to look pretty shabby!