Embroiled with the Evil Empire

My sincere apologies for the incredible long absence from my blog (long, even for me!) .. besides being crazy busy over the last several months, I had a long and frustrating battle with Verizon over my dial-up connection. Initially, the problem manifested itself with frequent disconnects .. this as long ago as last winter. The course of additional actions on my part throughout winter and early spring included wiping my hard drive and reinstalling EVERYthing all over again (fearing a recent Trojan detection may have been the culprit in my connection's erratic behavior), deciding to forego reinstalling any software that wasn't necessary or regularly used, and installing a new modem in my laptop. After all the frustration and time & money spent, it turns out none of this was necessary. It wasn't until after the new modem was installed that I finally began thinking about the possibility of my connection, because not only did I continue to have problems, but they were getting worse. Sometime in early July, I couldn't connect at all. I wasted countless hours dragging my laptop to the local library (or using my husband's office computer) for credit card sale processing, online banking, ordering, answering emails, etc. Little jewelry was being produced during this period while I tried to just keep up with administrative activities I was normally able to accomplish first thing every morning in my studio.

My adventure with Verizon began in mid-July with the first of many calls to customer repair. Having worked in the telecommunications industry in Albany, it was quickly evident that I knew more than many of these customer service reps., which only added to my frustration, as none of them were willing to concede to my certainty regarding the situation. The one argument I continued to hear was that "Verizon does not guarantee data, only voice transmission" .. and they assumed that would be that. Sorry .. not the case. I'm a bit of a bulldog in that regard. Especially when my business was at stake. I couldn't continue running into town three to four days a week for online-related work .. my inventory was suffering!!

After about eight or nine calls to customer repair .. during several of which I was certain I was gonna bust a vein .. I had managed to create three repair "tickets". None were successfully completed. What should have happened with the first repair ticket was a complete point-to-point test .. from our home to the nearest Central Office. What actually happened on both the first and second repair tickets totally ignored the line from our house to the ready access terminal on a pole in our yard. I had to speak to a supervisor in order to get a technician to test from the Network Interface Device (NID), or the demarcation point, at our home, where the connection to Verizon actually begins. The line from the NID to the ready access terminal in the yard is called the "drop" .. and by plugging my laptop directly into this line and bypassing the house wiring I was able to determine that the problem was most certainly NOT inside wiring, but the drop! On the third ticket, the technician conceded that something indeed was wrong - but also, as an aside, mentioned it'd be too much trouble to repair because the drop is buried. There it was, in a nutshell. Too much trouble to repair!! Not the kind of thing you mention to a bulldog ... especially one who's telecom savvy.

As this third ticket, like the two before it, was closed (accompanied by an automated message delivered to our home phone that the ticket had been closed "successfully") with no chance of a fix, I gave up. As a rural home owner, I thought our only choice was a dial-up connection, but I found an alternative in a wireless modem through AT&T (I'm sorry now I didn't think to go with a Wi-Fi connection, since my laptop supports it). It plugs directly into a USB port in my laptop, and actually allows me to use the laptop anywhere there's a signal. Very cool uptick! After a 30 day trial period, I decided it'd probably be fine and went with it. It's not as fast as a cable connection, but it IS better than dial-up. So perhaps everything happens for a reason : )

Not the end of the story, however. We only occasionally get calls on our home phone .. we both have cell phones; and most people who know me use my cell number. I would say 85% of the land line's use was dial-up connection. So (thank you Carrie and Darryl for the idea - I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it!!), I called AT&T to see about switching my Verizon mobile phone to AT&T service. And as part of the deal we turned our home number into a mobile phone and added it as a second phone to this account ... and disconnected the Verizon land line entirely. As my old friend and Sprint Long Distance partner in crime, Mark Foss, would say, "my heart soared like an eagle" at the thought!! And there's more ... when we received our "final" invoice from Verizon for the land line, they had tacked on a $91 charge for "inside wiring repair visit". I smiled inside, for I knew this one was a battle I could actually win. My first action was to call Verizon customer repair and explain that this charge was unwarranted under the circumstances .. what I got was "inside is inside, the charge applies". I loved it. Onward and upward to the Public Service Commission's site to lodge a formal complaint. This is the pertinent piece in that complaint:

"It is my understanding that the NID belongs to the public switched telephone network provider (Verizon in this instance) .. and the fact that it is located inside rather than outside our home should not be a reason to charge us for an "inside wire repair visit" in order to perform point to point testing, which should have been done during the first open ticket. Third, inside wiring was not the problem; I had disconnected the inside wiring and tried to dial-up direct through the demarc, and still had no success .. and told them so. Additionally, the tech, during the third open ticket at which time he finally came to test at the NID, agreed that something was definitely wrong from the demarc point out. When I suggested the problem was in the drop, between the NID and the nearest Ready Access Terminal out in our yard (and that this cable is buried), he commented that it would be "too much trouble to replace." "

We received a call from a Verizon higher up located in Syracuse the very next day. Ain't life grand? The fee was waived.

And that should have been it, right? Wrong .. there was still Verizon wireless, from whom I received a "final" mobile invoice earlier this week, with a $170 charge for "Early Termination". Well, folks, long before I decided to switch my wireless service from Verizon to AT&T, I called Verizon wireless about some other long, ongoing error I had only just noticed on my wireless invoices and asked in passing when my contract was up. Turns out it had expired back in April and I'd been running on month to month ever since (I probably would have waited to do the switch, otherwise). So .. not only did I get an immediate $86 credit for the "ongoing error" I'd discovered during that initial phone call, but I also just got the $170 waived when I called this week and suggested I knew better with regard to this charge .. didn't even have to go the PSC for that one!! : )

The cost in lost time has been enormous during these last couple of months, but I feel like I've come out on the winning side against the evil empire! And the additional good news is that the signal strength for ATT's network is significantly stronger out here on the Oswegatchie River than Verizon's ever was .. no more dropped calls! Life IS good.

I'll try to get a new piece or two up within the next week or two .. thanks so much for your patience!

Gold and Sapphires Revisited

I had purchased a couple new display pieces specifically for photographs, and they just arrived; so I had to give this necklace one more try. They work much better than the black display devices, which seem to suck up all the light and mess up the white balance. I have to admit, the necklace looks a bit better against the white ... but ya still have to get up close to really see this piece. And it's tough to get up close in a shot like this. So .. double click on either pic ... and get up close.

Gold Rain

Here's another one that really needs to be seen close up .. I haven't done a double strand necklace in a looooong time. Don't know what got into me, but I really like the outcome. It's made with pearls and 14k gold filled tube spacers (called "liquid silver" when done in sterling) and ends in a circular filigree box clasp.I have a tendency to favor bracelets and silver when new ideas hit. So I've been pawing through my gold and gold filled materials lookin' for something to trigger the light bulb phenomenon. I'd forgotten I had those tubes .. and gold and pearls always look great together.I spied some smoky topaz briolettes that I might dangle from some 14k gold (read: not gold-filled) chain next .. warm and elegant comes to mind. Gold is like that. Stay tuned.

Studio on the Weir

A denizen of the area stopped to chat with me at the Remington Museum on June 14 during the Festival on the St. Lawrence and upon seeing the address on my business card asked where, exactly, I was "out there". We're about five miles south of Ogdensburg and while still close to the "city" (and I use the term loosely), we are most definitely "out there. So I told him we were the big brown place that could be seen from the bridge over the Oswegatchie River. "The big A-frame", asks the denizen? Well .. yes, but no. Not an A-frame, exactly. So I suggested to Denizen to keep an eye on the URL shown on the card and I'd post a couple photographs of the place from the side (from the bridge it does look like an A-frame). The one below was taken last fall .. from the other side of the river. The one above was from last summer .. that's Cara in the lower right .. keeping the river safe from any Amish daring to float their fishing boats close enough to the shore to trigger her territorial sense. My studio is beneath the deck on the left .. that two-pane horizontal window looks right in on my soldering area. I get a great view of the River year 'round .. which is very nice summer or winter. The door is on the other side. On a dry summer day, I'll open it and get a wonderful breeze .. on a hot, hazy, humid day all I get is rust on my tools. Sad, 'cuz I like the fact that fragrance floats deliciously on the air on days like that .. but when I bought that gallon of Evapo-Rust a year or so ago, it wasn't my intention to empty it. Small concession for such a great location though.

Cluster Bangle

And now for something completely different ... well, sorta. It's still a bangle, which I love doing, but a whole lot different, design-wise.

Once again, it was a lampwork bead that got me started. They're perfect for this application because they tend to have larger holes. I loved the colors in this one and was easily able to find several beads to echo the purple and soft blue green shades .. and there's about 8' of fine-gauge wire keeping all those little beads on. I used amethyst, aquamarine and amazonite and popped on one of my logo charms as a signature. There are a LOT of beads in this .. the piece ended up costing out at about $225, but it's definitely a one-of-a-kind piece!

Another funky entry ..

This bracelet echos the bracelet posted a few weeks ago called Gold Coast. As it often happens, someone saw the gold version and asked "do you make one in silver"? Story of my life .. if it'd been this version out there, someone would have inquired about a gold one. But they're fun to make, and it pumps up the inventory volume everytime I follow up on a remark like that .. so here we go.

I call it Sweet Summer Folly .. dunno why. It began with that very cool little round lentil lampwork bead and just moved on from there. The hand faceted purple stone is, of course, amethyst and the glowing pea green round bead is resin .. I just love those resin beads. They really do glow!

I made this one with 18 gauge rather than the 16 gauge I used for the gold version .. it's about the same length as the gold bracelet, but just a tad lighter. The "garage springs" and the eye pins running through the coiled beads use half hard wire, which is a whole lot more springy than the dead soft version I normally use .. the half hard wire makes up for having used a smaller gauge. I'm really liking the coiled wire clasp embellishment. It's been fun coming up with new ways to use those wire skills!

Like snowflakes and fingerprints ..

I got a slow start this spring with the PMC leaves .. I thought the thing to do was to catch 'em as they came out; but it seems leaves (for my purposes, anyway) are just a tad too tender at that stage. The thing that's most important to me besides size and shape is veining. There are a vast array of really interesting looking leaves out there that have absolutely no veining, (at least not protruding veining) and so are useless to me for this purpose. And new spring leaves kinda fall into that category. Just not fully developed enough for the clay. So, I had to wait. And within a very short period of time, the thing that becomes apparent is that a good chunk of your best specimens have been destroyed by critters. Then the hunt begins in earnest! As I found a lot of great samples in August in September last year, I know they're out there. But you do have to search a little harder.

With the exception of the larger birch in the center - which was sent to me via the US postal service on a damp paper towel inside a ziplock baggie as a memento gift from a tree with a sentimental connection to the gift recipient - these leaves all came from the three-acre property where we run Cara leash free. It boasts mostly maples - and in so many varieties I can't even identify the specifics with a good tree book - but has an interesting variety of oak as well. And then there are all the cool little things springing up among the honeysuckle, or popping up right in the middle of an open, grassy area. There's a nice mix and a large enough area to find some attractive little possibilities.

But even with all I have available to me there (not to mention the additional three acres on which our home sets), I now find I'm much more aware of the flora when I find myself in a place where an intriguing variety presents itself. Cara and I accompanied Ed to the Remington Museum Saturday morning while he took care of some minor chores there; and I and found myself looking at the incredible garden at Kid's Place next door with new eyes. All kinds of possibilities .. though with Cara in tow, I didn't have the chance to take a closer look at that time. Perhaps this week when I'm out running errands ..

But, back to the leaves at hand. These were just cut and dried .. nothing else. If you click on the pic, you can see the rough edges. I think I might patinate these, so I may not spend as much time cleaning them up as I normally do. And the slightly darker leaf in the upper left corner is clay .. clay clay, I mean, not metal clay. A local potter gave me a huge hunk of the stuff to play with, and we thought we might collaborate on the leaf thing in a slightly different medium (have I mentioned this before?!?) I also went out and found a LARGE oak leaf and cut out what would end up being a sort of "trinket leaf" rather than something you wear around your neck. A little something to put next to a bathroom or kitchen sink for rings or on your dresser for loose change. But after I'd draped it over a large plastic ball of Cara's to dry .. and got very excited about the possibilities .. I broke off a segment when cleaning it up with a piece of fine sandpaper. I broke off a chunk of that very funky red maple in the lower left corner, too, during the same process ... but I discovered that metal clay repairs much better than clay clay. So .. I have a large hunk of useless dried leaf with nothin' for it but to maybe pulverize it down to powder and make slip with it. Hate to waste it.

I'll make the bails this week .. I have a really cool informal, don't-know-what's-gonna-happen Art Fest at Mare's Wares Pottery on July 1, and I'd like to have them completed by then. If you're actually in the north country and are around on Tuesday, July 1, stop by! She's right on Route 37 in Morristown (you can't possibly miss her big brown sign!!) .. and she's hired a band, a great food vendor, a brand new porta potty (she was very excited that it was not only a new unit, but that it boasts a sink!! .. it's the little things, folks) and there'll be 15 or 20 artisans on board trying to make a living and having a ball in the process. In case you're wondering, it's Canada Day. And we get a lot of Canadian traffic up here on the border with our northern neighbors. Plus, a lot of folks with homes along the St. Lawrence River take that week off for the July 4th holiday and come up early. If the weather cooperates, I think we're gonna have a major event on our hands! Come on up!!

Gold and Sapphires

While I feel I've definitely improved on the photography front, there are still occasions when I find myself stumped. Recording an image of this stunning piece seems to be one of those occasions. I thought of using the elegant black plastic hand once again, but the piece is so delicate, it just barely shows up as being part of the picture .. at least not without an extreme close-up. The other issue - once again - is sparkle .. or rather lack thereof. It's been a humbling adventure, this photography thing .. I have a lot of respect for those who do it well.

I'll try this one with the hand and see how it goes .. I probably should have just tried it while the tripod and camera were all set up, but I tend to get ... impatient. It's the Type A thing ... or maybe it's just ADD.

Anyway, I tried a couple different things here .. mostly so the piece could be seen in its entirety .. one shot on the clear support above and another on the milky white one below (I really need to get a black background before I can use the black surface successfully, otherwise everything reflects back onto the black surface. If you go back to early shots last year, I did take a few photos with it using natural light from a shop window).

I can't even begin to express my frustration at my inability to show this for the delicate but exquisite piece it is .. especially since it was so long in the making. I had purchased these lovely little 2.5mm faceted sapphire rondelles back in 2003 or 2004, just because I couldn't resist their sparkle - and because I had been slowly adding a strand or two of precious gemstones to my inventory at every wholesale show or two I was attending back then, and these were a great find. However, after purchasing them, I couldn't for the life of me think of a way to use them that would set them off. It would have been unthinkable to just string 'em up on wire and add a clasp .. just too darn boring for such beautiful little stones. So, I broke up these little segments with 14k gold chain .. and if you click on the photo, you can see tiny little 14k gold granulated spacers at either end of the stone segments. The clasp is unusual, too .. it's called a pelican clasp. This one is 18k, but I only just found a place where I can get them in 14k in three sizes (they're hard to find). If you clicked on the photo to enlarge it, you'd also see two tiny little 22k gold stardust beads on the ends of the chain where the clasp is attached.




















There's a thread going on my favorite jewelry forum on photography, and one woman eschewed all the expensive lighting, light cubes, light clouds, etc. for natural light out on her deck. She just places the piece on rice or coffee beans to set it off, and actually comes up with some pretty nice photos. I'm afraid this piece would get lost between the grains or beans .. but it has set me to thinking ... stay tuned!

Viking Knit meets Glass Blower

I've finally found a way to distinquish my fine silver Viking Knit necklaces from the sterling versions .. hand blown glass cones!

I had seen some glass cones in one of the many jewelry magazines that arrive in my mailbox occasionally and got very excited .. until I visited the web site and saw how much they wanted for them. Egads!!! A pair of them were significantly more than a pair of intricate Bali silver cones (more than three times the cost) .. the site offered a 20% wholesale discount, but the cost remained exorbitant.

Still .. even though they were a little roughly hewn, the thought stuck with me.

So I got the bright idea of contacting a local glass blower .. we finally connected in February and clicked immediately. I ended up spending much more time there that afternoon than I had planned - not only picking out some bright spring glass colors once he decided he could and would make them for me, but finding a wealth of little artistic commonalities which ended in his inviting me to come and make use of his studio any time in my enduring quest to learn how to make glass beads and pendants.

I picked up eleven pretty and colorful pairs of them in April and have only just gotten around to attaching them to a fine silver weave I initially brought along with me back in February to show him what the larger end diameter needed to be. I'm really pleased with the end results (so to speak) .. not only are they superior to the versions I'd seen in the magazine, but (while still more than a pair of sterling silver cones) they were also a lot closer to wholesale in price.

Here are the rest of them .. patiently awaiting their own fine silver weave to embellish. I have some ideas for necklaces that use only a partial segment of Viking knit .. the rest being chain or beads. In that way, the cone colors may be used to complement another segment of the necklace .. like rose quartz, lapis, amethest, opal, or any number of other shades. And I'm already thinking about the possibilities of warm, Autumn glass colors and 14k gold-filled wire for
the fall!!

Redux

This is a repeat of a piece I made about seven or eight years ago .. except this time I made the clasp, too. The piece from which it is derived is just a tad darker with shades of garnet and jet included -but basically they both shimmer in shades of blue and lavender crystals. And, per usual, the picture doesn't do it justice. Even my little "sparkler" light couldn't make the thing pop the way it does live and in person. Trust me .. it sparkles!

What prompted me to make it were the inquiries whenever I wore mine. I had made multiple versions five or six years ago in different shade families (once when I found some 5mm vermeil granulated spacer beads, I even made a stunning version in Autumn shades with a gold-filled clasp), and they all sold very well. But .. well, we move on, don't we. Being the curious Type A, over achieving, anal-retentive, perfectionist that I am, it's difficult not to be lured into learning new skills and processes .. and then working hard at making them my own. And with so many wonderful artisans out there willing to teach them to you, how can you resist?!?!

Though, having said that, returning to a comfy design or skill set is kinda like finding a favorite pair of old jeans at the bottom of your drawer or closet .. you'd forgotten they were even there and how good they feel when worn.

And sometimes when revisiting an old, comfortable skill set, you may find yourself so relaxed in the steps and motions you find your mind is able to let go of the task at hand and feel around at the outer edges .. and it often happens that this is when the lightbulb comes on over your head.

Due to the whole thyroid thing this winter, I was feeling a big "squished" creatively, and so reverted to some old skill sets and designs to allow some relaxed creativity to emerge. As it happens, it seems to have worked! Yay!! This little creative rush I've been experiencing, combined with a recent increase in Synthyroid, has helped tremendously. Having fun again .. ideas are beginning to flow .. now I just gotta keep up with 'em!

















This bracelet, called Pizzazz, is another old friend. A gallery owner in Lowville (one of my Adirondack Artisans Guild homies) had requested a couple of these when she saw one I had left in inventory. I made a couple for my display there, then dug through my Bali bead collection and made a couple more. The intricacy of these beads never fails to astound me .. and they make for a really unusual piece.

If you're reading this on my blog rather than in an email "post update", click on the pic and check 'em out up close .. all those little dots and wires are added one at a time. The process of adding all those little dots is called granulation, and I've tried it .. it ain't easy. One .. dot .. at .. a .. time!! I'd have to shoot myself after a few hours of doing that .. and the silver artisans in Bali, Turkey and Thailand who do this kind of work do it all day, every day. Well .. practice really does make perfect! With silver at inflated levels, these aren't the cheap thrill they once were, so I haven't yet tried a necklace .. though it's been in the back of my mind, so watch out.