For seven years I worked in the public schools working with special needs students.  Every one of those years I worked with at least one student that had Autism.  From Asperger to a girl with Rhetts, and levels in between.  I made this necklace with those students in mind.
The beads are blue, and has a puzzle piece, symbols of Autism awareness.
The beads are marble size for easier grip, and have plenty of room to spin.  There is a swirled design that spins as the bead spins. Even the puzzle piece charm can move freely on the chain. I made it long enough to not need a clasp for students with small motor skills issues can put it on by themselves.  As a necklace they can wear it to school as an obsessive object with out the teacher telling them to put it away ten times a day.
I am going to make this a design to be repeated, and you don't have to have Autism to wear one.

To night's story is how I make the jewelry.  Fist I get the supplies out.  The candle is cherry plums scented, not needed in the processes, but it is there anyway.










Looking over the options to see what beads to use.

Now pick the order, tonight I will use a light blue, a neutral brown, and a pearl.  I like doing a pattern in color and size. Then pick the metal, right now my option was silver or gold.  I went with silver.

Then I forget to turn off the flash after I put them on the pin.











Then I use the pliers and bend the pin.

Cutting off the excess.

 I put the next pin on and bend the cut end to a loop.

then put the next set of beads on the pin.















then repeat.

and repeat, FOCUS!

Check the length once in a while.  I have marks on my table measured to different lengths.
Some of the brown beads would not go on to the pin.

It gets longer with each pin.  Yes that's a big bang theory Lenard jump drive in the top of the photo.

Soon it reaches  20 inches.  All the brown beads with holes to small to fit on the pin and all the ends cut off.









Pause here and get called to go to the kitchen to reset the disposal that is clogged only to not have the right allen wrench, and then only to find a cloth had gone into it. Pull out the cloth and reset it again. I am the handy woman in the house.

Get the jump rings and clasp ready.

Finished necklace of blue and pearl bead chain ready to go on sale at etsy.com/waterfallandart.  Well it will be when I get a better photo of it.

That is the way I make the jewelry.  Some times I use chain, depending on my mood.
Like this one I made the other night with butterflies and pearl, also ready to put on Etsy as soon as I get photos.

In last nights post I mentioned the rose.  This is said rose.
My nephew was getting married this last summer.  They hired me to be the official photographer of the wedding.  They were getting married in a town I had never really been.
That morning I drove around town to a couple of locations that I could take wedding photos.  In a garden that was very pretty I found this rose.
The next day at the reception I set up a T.V. to show the slide show of the wedding.  I spent an  hour working on a slide show, and loaded it on a jump drive.  I finished it in plenty of time and then put it in my pocket so I would not forget it.  Then an hour later I changed clothing to go to the reception, leaving the jump drive in my pocket, and drove an hour away to the reception.
Upon finding I forgot the jump drive home, I went into the original file on my computer and used it for the slide show.  Mixed in all the wedding photos of family and friends this photo appears. If anyone wondered why it was included they didn't mention it.

This photo has a story.  I love thunderstorms.  As most people hear thunder they head indoors. I hear thunder, I grab my camera and tripod and rush out into it.  Behind my yard is a open wheat field so I have an unobstructed view.  From experience I know where the storms come from for the best photos.  If its coming out of the desert, over the buttes,  it is going to go right over me.
This night I looked out the window and saw the storm almost to late to get photos.  I grabbed my gear, rushed the half acre to the apple trees at the back of my yard.  I set up the tripod, and put my camera on it.  It was dark out and I could not see the settings.  (I have sense put a flashlight in my camera bag.)  The storm was getting closer. I struggled with the settings, and finally get them where they need to be.  I put my camera on remote control. The storm was passing south, to far away to even hear the thunder. My remote is starting to need a new battery so it doesn't work half the time.  The storm was going over the freeway.  (The red streaks on the left side is cars going by.)  The remote was not working.  I move to the side to get a direct line for the remote. I pushed it 4 or 5 times.  Finally I hear the shutter open, and flash!  Perfectly framed, perfect triple strike, perfectly exposed.  The screen does not do this photo justice.
When a storm gets to this point it goes over the freeway and apartment buildings and to much light pollution.  This is the only photo I got of this storm.
When I was looking for printers in my area I used this photo to test their printing.  Is it listed for to much on Etsy?  Maybe, but it's just a great photo, and anyone can take a photo of a rose, (also a print I offer on Etsy.) but how many great lighting photos?

Some years ago I learned how to make chain mail.  I developed a chain mail ribbon and joined it with beads to make this design.  This peace for sale on Etsy I made a few years ago for someone who knew someone I knew in a chat room.  She requested purple pearl beads.  Before I could get a final sale I lost contact with both of them.  There it sat in its box for a few years until I opened the shop and offer it for sale now.

Introducing Waterfall and Art

Welcome to the new Waterfall and Art blog!  Two of my hobbies in life are photography and making jewelry.  I have recently started selling my finished results on Etsy.com.  I hope to use the blog to give back ground to photos or jewelry. take a look at my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Waterfallandart  and visit my facebook page.