Merry Christmas

From our family to yours

 

We’re Home!

I know…you probably didn’t even know we were gone LOL!  Sammy and Max knew…we always leave Max home when we travel but I have never left Sammy before and I really missed the little hellion!  Jim’s brother house-sat for us and took care of the dogs while we were gone.  The only bad thing about that is I think Sammy loves John more than me now :-).

Anyway, we left Monday after Jim’s doctor appointment and drove home to Indiana to see my family.  It’s been a rough year and I really needed a hug from my family….those hugs will make everything OK for a while longer.  I miss them terribly but I know I am where I need to be, doing what I need to be doing.  I love you guys!

This year has been full of sickness and sadness and not just for our family but it seems like everyone I talk to has had the same kind of year…. I do hope 2012 is better.

Have a great weekend everyone…I am off to unpack!

Candy Apple Red

Red is my favorite color so here's a treasury curated by moi....
I hope you give it lots of lovin'.

Candy Apple Red Treasury

From My Bench

This is a ring I just finished for one of my customers….Sugilite with 14K gold granulations.  Although the stone is a beautiful purple color, it is not a bright purple as the photo shows…in hand, it’s more of a grape color….hope she likes it!

Fossil Coral ring using some of the discs from my new toy
(custom sized ring – which way do you like it best?)

I’m In Love…Update

It’s been such a brief relationship but I knew from the first pounding of my heart…uh, hammer, that this was going to be a great love affair…

My Swanstrom disc cutter arrived yesterday…Merry Christmas to me from me….visions of sugarplums (uh, designs) dance in my head!

It cuts like butter and it leaves such a nice finish on the top…a nice rounded edge with just a tiny burr on the back side.

Some of my discs and my first seamless ring using the cutter

UPDATE: Here’s a video from Rio Grande showing how to make the seamless ring using the Swanstrom disc cutter….enjoy the magic!

http://www.riogrande.com/VideoPlayer.aspx?fn=Disc-Cutter-Seamless-Ring-VID-psd

From My Bench

Rutilated Quartz Ring
(Custom Sizing)
 
Laguna Lace Agate Necklace & Earring Set
(with my leaves of course)
 

Oh, I “bit the bullet” and ordered the Swanstrom Disc Cutter…I’ll keep you posted….thanks for all the comments I received.  I would have probably ordered the Pepe because it was less expensive but I couldn’t find them in stock anywhere and no one seemed to know when they would be restocked.  In case you are looking for a Pepe, I received this message from one of Pepe’s distributors:

”Thanks for your interest and follow up on the disc cutter.  Unfortunately this is one of our few items that we do not have an ETA on. This company only makes so many of these a year at a time and is never forthcoming about when they are shipping them. When we do receive them, we only receive a very limited number.”

All I Want For Christmas Is…

A disc cutter.

Do you have one?

What brand?

Do you love it?

Is it worth the money?