mission accomplished!

'always do what you are afraid to do.'

~ ralph waldo emerson

it all started here... with the making of a bezel from copper pipe and sheet... and then, a trip to my grandparents' home...when erin issued her challenge - 'inspired by hardware stores' - i knew i wanted in... my first thought was of my dad and grandfather... sir fix-a-lots for sure... so i went in search of something interesting...

 

what i found was these - hold-tite numbering tacks made in 1948... i knew they would fit beautifully in the bezel... for which pipe and solder fit the challenge already!

in preparation for the resin, i also made some headpins... they seem to be all over the place and were perfect for my love of words... i had such a hard time ripping a page out of a book, really... but i did copy them and put them back in it!

ice resin takes 3 days to cure... that means by tomorrow night these will all be done... i have things i want to try with them, but still have to wait... 

what couldn't wait was my entry for erin - the deadline was midnight tonight and the daylight only really lasts until about 4pm for photographing... 

this necklace really became about my grandparents... i was so happy that my first object put into resin was the number 40... they were married in 1940 and without them, none of us would have been here... i was really lucky to have grown up 2 blocks from them - because of this they are/were indescribable anchors... the weight of the pendant is, i think, reflective of this... certainly i would not be who i am today without them... it would have been very easy to go vintage/soft on this... 

but because of the people they are/were, it just didn't fit... what worked were strong colors and stones with healing properties... the fabric of life as woven daily thru joys and trials... a wrapped ring connector to symbolize that as we go through things together we become ever more closely joined... they were ethical & practical people who taught me so much... liberal in their thinking, fair minded... my grandmother took me to register to vote the day i turned 18 yrs old, embedding in me the importance of that privilege... my grandfather called himself my taxi driver... for after he retired, it was often my abba that i called when i needed a ride or was sick at school... i was constantly at their house as it felt just as much home to me as where my nuclear family was... gram helped me make my freshman prom dress and a prairie skirt... and the engineer who graduated from m.i.t. baked... it was in their home that holiday memories were cast in stone... and  where ideas were discussed, never gossip... 

thanks, erin, for this great opportunity...