a few things

I'm really close to finishing a little collection of jewellery I've been working on.  I have ten pieces completely soldered so there is just the sanding, polishing, stone setting, photographing and pricing to do.  I'm hoping to have everything finished by this time next week.

Besides making jewellery I've been doing all the "end of year" stuff.  Our pottery classes finished for the year last week.  The classes have been so relaxing and such a contrast to working with metal, the clay is so soft and the glazes are so unpredictable, it has been fun experimenting without worrying about the cost of materials.  My little ones have made wonderful things like spherical teapots,

and mermaids,

I made some little saggar fired pottery cups.  A saggar firing is when you place your pots into a saggar/container which is filled with sawdust, seaweed, oxides and organic materials, and then fired in the kiln.  I wrapped my cups in copper wire before I put them in the saggar, I love how they turned out, almost like batik fabric.

And I've been taking some photos.

Of the stormy seas (it has been coldest first week of summer in forty years).

Of birds; our new house is high on the hillside amongst the birds' nests and hollows.  I've always had to look up to see the birds and now I'm level with their homes. I'm hoping for a telephoto zoom lens for Christmas so I can photograph the little birds leaving their nests and learning to fly.

And photos of my little ones doing their end of year things. 
My daughter's piano concert.

And that's about it.  I'll be back soon with some jewellery to show you.