One More Thing From Our Visit With Geogypsy

A while back, Gaelyn wrote about getting a deal on a pair of cut glass earrings. I admired them when she posted a picture of them on her blog.



When we were up there visiting last week, she gave them to me. I have to say, I adore them. They are clip ons, perfect for me because my ears aren't pierced. My maternal grandmother was from Austria, so I like to think that maybe someone I am related to had a hand in making them, and somehow they made their way to me after all these years.


You just never know. Thank you so much, Gaelyn!

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.

Jewelry Making Class

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?

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

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!

Going to Quartzsite

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.

Project 365 Day 50 Preview ??

I am starting a new project soon. This is part of it. More later.

They Don't Call Me The Fab Grandma For Nothing

I am a Fab Grandma because I make things for my grandchildren and for myself. I make quilts, aprons, jewelry,dolls, home made soap, and other things. Here is a picture of a necklace I made last night.