Harry Potter, Twilight and So On


Its currently raining here in Michigan which motivates me to get to work on some more pieces. I guess I am probably one of the last persons to read Twilight. Being a Harry Potter fan I haven't been that interested. I've watched some of my 6th grade students really get into the book which I guess is a good thing since I teach language arts!

This summer I've been reading Greg Iles' "Blood Money", a thick book, which I like and it's quite intense. I was looking for something easier/quicker and decided to finally start the first Twilight book. It hasn't grabbed me like everyone else said it would but I'm only on chapter three.

Here's a ring that I listed on Etsy this morning with a kind of Twilight flavor to it.

Repair and Create, and On the Road Again

My flexishaft has been sick and is currently in repair. Hurray! Today I get to pick it up at my favorite jewelers supply, Armstrong Tools, in Livonia. Luckily the shaft needed replacing at a cost of about eight dollars. I'm off to pick it up.


Mary and I just completed the Ann Arbor Street Fair this past weekend. I demo's riveting, a type of cold connection. We had a blast, tons of people attending the four different fairs. We're off to do a two day show in Garden City, MI for their Arts Council. This is the first year for this event, so we're trying to get in on the ground level if it becomes a hit. I'll be in the basement completing pieces for Saturday this week.


At the end of next week we're off to do an art fair in conjunction with the River Raisin Jazz Festival, in Monroe, MI. This fair is a two day event and I must drive about one hour to get there. After two day I'm usually dog tired.


I am including pics of my first shipment to my first out of state gallery, the Artisan Studio in Clinton, Tennessee. I was fortunate to have been contacted by them to represent my jewelry. In addition to this one I am currently at On the Ave, a gallery and restaurant featuring the art of Michigan artists in Jackson, Michigan.
























The second pic shows the jewelry to be sent, the first shows it ready to be shipped. I'm very excited to see how my jewelry is accepted.

http://www.gardencityart.org/
http://monroemainstreet.com/calendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=260&year=2009&month=08
http://www.artfair.org/
http://www.theartisanstudioclinton.com/

New Items

These rings came out great! I will be posting them in my Etsy store over the next couple of days.

I've really come to love working with natural stones in my jewelry and I'm becoming quite a rockhound. Now I have to organize all these!

Simple Post Earrings

I love the simplicity of post earrings. Here are some I just finished and will be on sale in my Etsy store.

Peach Moonstone & Sterling

Gray Freshwater Pearl & Sterling

Malachite & Sterling

Carnelian & Sterling


Black Onyx & Sterling

http://facetsbykathryn.etsy.com/

My Wish for All

Kathryn Ruffin

Facets by Kathryn.etsy.com

My Workshop

Its always great to buy handmade, even in this economy. For many crafters/artisans they have a love/hate relationship with their workspace. I thought I would post some pics of my workshop in it's cleaned up state. Since these pics were taken I have gotten a new, real, metalsmith bench which I am so proud! I will post picture of it when I have cleaned it up

A side view of my worktop and beloved tools.

The soldering station where I play with fire. I use a Smith Little

torch with an oxygen/propane mixture

My polishing station where everything comes up bright and shiny. Also pictured is my drill press make holes in anything. Lastly is my minature rolling mill to flatten, texturize and roll out wire. This is a work in progress as I am still making friend with this tool.

There you have it, where I spend a great portion of my free time and money. Oh, and on the other side of the room is the other things I have to use occasionally, the washer and dryer!

I will post pics of my favorite hand tools in a future post, stay tuned as I showcase them.

Exercise 101, Day 5


Well I've been to the fitness center five days. On Friday I learned all the machines to do the lower body workout. All of these are machine based and boy have I lost a lot of strength in this area! I walked on the treadmill for 35 minutes(including cooldown) at a speed of 2.7 miles per hour. Just my luck there were two young women in their late 20's visiting the gym. They proceeded to start on the elliptical machine for about 25 minutes, then one machine down from me they started running on the treadmill, and I do mean running at about 5-6 miles per hour!!

In my middle-aged mind I could see myself giving her a quick opps push off the machine, but what the heck, I was once young, in shape and thought myself invincible too!! Felt great and went home satisfied.

In the picture above are some copper pieces that have been in my studio since I took an etching class this summer. I could never figure out what to do with them until now. Decided they would make great pendants. So now is the before and after pics of some of the pendants that will be in my shop shortly.

This completed pendant will be on sale in my Etsy shop soon, so check it out.