A Little Color

Upon completion of a drawing, I consider whether a picture's appeal will be enhanced by color or if the adding color will become a negative distraction. I've ruined many good drawings by coloring them in the past. Now I scan the piece before I add color this way I can create prints, if nothing else, out of the black and white drawing should I be unhappy with the painted version.

Adding color can really bring a piece to life. The colors I choose often reflect the mood I'm in. For this reason I often give it a day before painting.

Above is an example, before and after, of one of my drawings. I don't always draw out my pieces first--only if I think I'll like it more as a black and white piece. More often I outline and detail after I paint.

What's New? Here's the Latest...

I have several projects I've been working on the past couple of weeks in addition to my day to day busyness.

Currently in the midst of making pendants out of portions of my artwork. Feeling crafty yourself? You can purchase downloads of the same images I will soon be creating into magnets and necklaces. The pendants will make great inexpensive stocking-stuffers come the holiday time!


I just got done uploading several new paintings. I'm really enjoying flower themes and ladybugs.

In the next couple weeks I'd really like to begin restocking my gem shop. I have some morganites, sapphires (mellees) and much more I'd like to add.

Lastly, I've made some major discounts in my jewelry shop. I'm really hoping to clearance out some of my pieces before adding any more. I have some custom jobs I'm needing to get started on and hope to do so also within the next couple weeks.

While I'm a stay-at-home-mom and not employed outside my home, I stay extremely busy during my day. I have three wonderful kids, but between therapy, school functions, church and day to day chores, finding time to stay on top of shop updates is not easy.

Thank you all for your support! It means more than you know.

Here They Are!

My new pendants. They should be listed some time this evening.

New Stuff to Be Listed Soon

New pendants...finally! I've spent the last couple days and managed to wrap up more than a few pendants. Not sure how many I'll end up doing. I'm planning on a show later in August and thought I should add to my inventory.

In this photo I have spectrolite/labradorite, agate, blue chalcedony with apatite, Oregon's Owyee Jasper, and Peruvian Pink Opal. I hope to get at least these listed tomorrow.

Emma's Garden

Sunday my daughter Emma will be 2! My latest painting, an 11x14", I've named after her. These are some of the colors in her room and I'm now really toying with the idea of doing a bug theme rather than a french-chic. After painting her walls I felt the color purple came out too bright for my initial plan...

Anyway, I've listed my latest painting in my shop. It is listed at $65. It took me 6 hours straight to complete this and the photo doesn't do it justice. Unfortunately my scanner is not large enough to capture a better image of it so I had to rely on my camera which tends to wash out the color. I plan to have this scanned elsewhere so I can retain an image for Emma should I go the bug direction.

I currently have 2 smaller paintings called "Into Summer", parts 1 and 2 in my shop for $10 each. They were the initial paintings that sparked my desire to create something on a bigger scale.

Prints: Their Debut

I just got done stocking my shop up with tons of prints! Some of the prints I'm now selling were never sold as originals in my store. I've gone with the more affordable-for-all option of using the photographic paper for prints rather than the pricier giclees. My prints are on Kodak Professional Endura paper. The Endura paper is made to last up to 200 years if kept in a dark space out of sunlight, and up to 100+ years with typical display! The colors are bright and overall, I'm happy with them. My scanner doesn't tend to grasp the crisp lines and often exagerates color but this can all be seen in most of the first photo images of each painting in my shop. I don't mind this as it makes images more vivid.

Pricing is as follows:

3.5x5" is $ 3.75

5x7" is $ 6.00

8x10" is $10.00

How It's Made- Painting Edition

I thought it would be fun to show some of my paintings from start to finish. I don't always paint my work this way. Sometimes I'll do stippling first. Lately, this is how my paintings have come to be. First I start with a sketch. Typically I see the basic idea of what I want before I even pick up my paper.

I really like to use watercolor pencils for more detailed work. Today I began working with a green pencil for the leaves.

Once I've sketched what I want with my water color pencils I begin to paint; fanning color where I want it. I also use watercolor paints as well. Below is what my paintings look like prior to breaking out my markers.

With my archival pens I can bring out the details I want. I prefer using pen because I like how it looks against the paint.

On these paintings I tweaked the colors a bit and removed some color from my roses. I've cut out my paintings and have since named and listed them in my Etsy shop.

All together almost 8 hours went into these. Most of my time is spent detailing my paintings with pen. I paint because I enjoy it and work mostly at night while my children are sleeping. Iam not sure what I'd do with all of them when finished so I've been selling my work in my Etsy shop. I love bright colors and nature. Please check out more paintings of mine in my shop: EmBound Art

Packaging with Love

Unlike a lot of online shopping places I've found Etsy sellers tend to take great pride in the presentation of their handmade goods. Whether it's secure packaging, free samples, or added touches like gift wrapping or personal notes, receiving a package in the mail from an Etsy seller often leaves me feeling pretty special. And honestly, I'm more likely to return to a seller if free samples or a gift with purchase is included with an order. I'm a sucker for deals. I want my customers to feel the same custom personal touches when they receive their order as I have.

Each of my handmade jewelry orders are delivered in handmade cloth bags by Ole Bag Lady, another Etsy seller. Inside the bag I like to include a personalized thank you note with the tissue wrapped jewelry. Attached to the tie on each bag is a sterling silver wire formed signature heart. The bag then is wrapped in tissue once more. and placed in a padded envelope. Shipping confirmation is used on each order.

There are a variety of patterns of the bags I use. So the bag in the photo may not be the same bag you'll receive.

NOTE: Remember April is my anniversary month and I have a drawing going on and lots of new items. MANY clearance items too!

Ready for Spring?

I sure am! Spring is by far my favorite season and I'm taking advantage of the new leaves on the trees and bushes. I've been super busy capturing nature and creating some unique pieces using precious silver clay (99.9% pure silver) from PMC and Art Clay. I not only have some cool leaves made from the ones in my back yard, but some adorable ID bracelets featuring genuine gems of sapphires and one with an alexandrite set in the middle of a flower, butterfly or dragonfly.

My PMC and Art Clay pieces are all made by hand. They are formed by hand, sanded, "hand" fired, hand burnished, and polished.

I'll be spending the next day or so listing most of these pieces in my shop at http://Embound.Etsy.com/.

STOREWIDE CLEARANCE SALE

This is by far the biggest sale I've done so please take a minute to browse my store at www.Embound.etsy.com. UP TO 50% OFF!!

I've been very slack in blogging, however, I do have some announcements:

I have some new paintings I hope to have listed within the next couple weeks. I haven't had time with the holiday to scan and photograph the images.

I am considering letting my gem store fade out. Some of the exotics I have are becoming harder to come by or replace so those may be pulled first.

I hope to add to my jewelry store soon. As with painting, wire wrapping takes more time than I've had lately. I have purchased some supplies and plan to get moving soon.

More new pendants are here. This includes some iron meteorites. I love the meteorite metal against the sterling silver. These are great conversation pieces as well as collector's items. These meteorites are Sikhole-Alin found in Russia in 1947 and were a witnessed fall. .

As you can see I also have some dichroic cabs wire wrapped. These are fun colors! I've been accenting my pendants lately with tourmaline rondelles. http://Embound.Etsy.com/.

More Just Listed...

I just got done stocking up my gem store as well as adding new items to my jewelry store. Only ONE wire wrapped pendant in the bunch. I have a lot of gems in castings listed and a couple pairs of earrings.

Ammolites are Here!

More ammolites will be listed soon and will be UNDER $40! My last ones sold out. These are rare beauties found only in Alberta Canada. Watch for the ammolites to be listed very soon. They are wrapped in solid sterling silver and accented by a lustrous dangling genuine round freshwater pearl. Contact me if you would like a specific one listed sooner for you.

The photo shows only one angle of color. These stones (from ammonite fossils) put many opals to shame, and like fine fiery opals, have a play of color depending on the direction they are viewed in. Ammolites are in their natural form so the surfaces may show inclussions (exclussions) and some pitting or chipping. They are backed with their matrix.

Labor Day Listings

Last night and today I've been listing like a mad woman. Here are a couple of MANY new listings using stippling and watercolor pencils. The painting above took 5 hours to complete, just to give you an idea of the attention it got.

I think the paintings look softer in person which is why I try to include a photo of the piece outside of the scanner. I've been on this bug kick and my husband was happy to see last week when I painted fish. I'd like to attempt some frogs and eventually animals.


My oldest son is so honest. He'll tell me what he thinks looks good and what looks "weird". These got the thumbs up from him and he's asked me not to sell them. Please take a moment and check out all my new listings at www.EmBoundArt.Etsy.com. I'm still waiting for my first sale in this store. Also visit my original EmBound store where I have quite a bit of hand crafted pure and sterling pieces at www.EmBound.Etsy.com or www.EmBound.net.

Finding My Style

Lately my niche has been using a stippling technique (thousands of tiny dots put together to create an image) to put my visions on paper then, sometimes, painting it. Stippling can also be seen in a couple of my Art Clay silver projects, albeit not much. This has been really hard on my eyes though. I've just got my new glasses prescription and still finding it a strain. I have such shaky hands so drawing alone hasn't been my thing. Anyway, I don't want to get stuck on butterflies and ladybugs forever but for now I'm having fun with it. Fall time will bring new inspiration I'm certain.

Here is a before and after painting from one of my projects. These paintings will be available in

my store soon at http://www.emboundart.etsy.com/.

Your Kids HERE!

You might have seen some of my "picture necklaces" (for lack of a better name). Here is one I made for myself showing my three children. I put my oldest son in the middle holding his little brother and little sister's hand. I made them with various heights to reflect their birth order.

The retangular background is made from Art Clay, which you may know by now is 99.9% pure silver once the piece is fired and the binder has burned away. Each piece is stamped ".999FS" for 99.9% Fine Silver on the back.

I use solid sterling silver beads and chains. Why do I specify "solid"? I'm finding many sellers out there are using the word sterling silver in their descriptions only later to state--or not state--reference to the plating of their jewelry. My supplies are purchaced from trusted vendors so my customers can be sure they are purchasing unique pieces which made with quality materials to give them many years of enjoyment.

If you would like to purchase a custom necklace, please "convo" me in my Etsy store with what you would like to see and I will give you a price quote. Just for example, the piece you see here will run roughly $35.

New Items!

It's time for me to begin listing once again. These projects were completed last week but due to our family vacation I wasn't able to get them listed. Each of the pieces except for the wire wrapped tri-colored fluorite are made from Art Clay. Art Clay is similar to PMC (a brand standing for Precious Metals Clay). Art Clay is 99.9% pure silver once it's fired.

The picture necklaces you see are made from Art Clay and sterling silver wire. I use the wire to draw my designs for the clay.

If you would like something custom made for you, feel free to convo me in my Etsy store. I'd be happy to draft something up for you. I made myself a necklace with stick figures of each of my children. I will have to show that one off soon.

I invite you to visit my store today and in the coming days to see what's new.

Fine Silver Flowers

I'm getting ready to start a new project involving my happy little flowers. The only design I currently have listed is for this necklace:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25876543

I will be experimenting with some other necklace designs and a ring. These flowers are made using precious metal silver clay (99.9% silver once the binder is burned off through the firing process). The centers of the flowers are detailed with swirly sterling silver wire.

On order, hence the reason for my delay in production, is a fine silver stamp to mark my pieces assuring the wearer the purity of the silver.

There is quite a process to working with precious silver clay. First off, you have to work fast as the material dries out quickly! It can take a lot of time to sand and get textured the way you want the piece. Once complete, each flower is as unique as its wearer. I hope people will find these pieces as much fun to wear as they are to make.

Ocean Treasures

This last weekend we took our 3 kids on an RV camping trip to the Central Oregon Coast. If you've never visited the soft silky sand dunes of Florence and Dunes City, Oregon I encourage you to consider vacationing there. No need for the stair master! Your buns will get a great workout hiking the dunes. The prize for reaching the peek of a small dune on Saturday was seeing the powerful majestic Pacific ocean and the treasures it yielded.

The particular beach we visited is one of my favorite. It's quiet (aside from the roar of the waves) and I find time just to walk and talk with God. The beach floor is filled with sanded down broken sea shells. Just what I'd come for. Walking the coast I was flooded with inspiration. Here are some of the pieces I've come up with as a result:

Each Ocean Treasure has been naturally shaped and sanded by the Pacific Ocean and thoughtfully wrapped in sterling silver by me!

Adventures in PMC (Precious Metals Clay)

It was actually low temperature, slow dry Art Clay I used. PMC and Art clay consists of particles of pure silver and some enviromentally safe binders that once burn off from firing, leave the artist with 99.9% pur silver. So, prior to diving in, I carefully researched the product. I'd seen some beautiful pieces of jewelry made by artists online and was certain I too could create a unique masterpiece.

So my clay arrived, I had my design all mapped out and I was rearin' to go! The clay was harder than I'd thought it would be so I kneaded it in my hand in hopes of softening it. This may have been my first big mistake because it seemed the clay was becoming drier.

As much as I tried to create my design, the clay cracked and fell apart. I added a bit of water to it but it seemed the material was now pasty with little hard chunks. Frustrated, about all I felt I could do was roll the clay on my mat and create something different. I came up with a cross. Quickly I grabbed my "scratch and dent" irradiated diamonds and pressed them in, careful each one would be secure in the clay.

I then took a hair dryer and dried the clay for about 40 min. on high. From there I filed my cross. It had an amateurish look to it, but it was my salvaged work of art. I let it set out and continue to thoroughly dry until around noon the next day (about 12 hours).

To fire my piece I used my gas stove top and some metal wire netting my husband picked up at the hardware store. I followed instructions I read online. I lit the burner to see where the red from the heat was then placed my pieces there (after first turning off the stove). When my cross and other pieces were "cooking" they eventually became a pinkish-peach in color. I knew this was the time to begin the timer. I made sure each piece was like that at least a few minutes and watched making sure they didn't turn red hot.

When the timer beeped, I placed my pieces in a dish of cool water and heard each make a popping noise from the temperature change. Once cooled I filed away the white surface creating a mat finished pure silver creation. I buffed the parts of some items I wanted shiny. I later wire wrapped them, but my poor cross never did look like I'd hoped. Nonetheless, I like it.

I'm not too discouraged. I read up on PMC and Art Clay a bit more and learned I shouldn't "play" with the clay but work with it right away. I can worry about perfecting edges when I sand the dry piece rather than while it's soft.

Each of the pieces displayed have been offered in my Esty store:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25529626

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25447783

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25445558