Custom Locket - Ginger Meek Allen

This whole process started with my wife saying "I'd love a locket". That is the first and only time I've heard my wife say something she would like that wasn't related to the house, or for someone else, or for the furniture, etc…you get the idea. Something for her that was honestly for only her.

So that started the quest for a custom locket maker. In 10 years of being married (17 years of knowing) my wife, I finally had a 'great' idea for a present for her, and some off the shelf locket just wasn't going to fit the idea of what I wanted to get her.

So I started the search for a custom locket maker. Googling "custom locket maker" is completely useless, unless you want a locket engraved. "Silversmith" was equally disappointing. Eventually got around to googling "Metalsmith" and found Ginger Meek Allen's website.

After reviewing her website and some reviews of her work, I contacted her. She was friendly and interactive within the first email. She was eager to start a new project, and genuinely wanted to include us in the process. Basically everything I wanted in a custom piece of jewelry.

She and my wife worked for a couple of weeks to get down roughly what my wife wanted. Ginger sent regular photo updates of progress.







It turned out beautifully.

Overall the experience was extremely friendly. Ginger was open to ideas that my wife brought up, and my wife was introduced to several other ideas that Ginger had. I can't recommend Ginger enough to anyone out there. Especially anyone that wants unique, one of a kind, personalized jewelry made for their loved ones.

Test Post - While Tattling on Isderf

Okay, so Isderf can't seem to post anything... so I figured I'd throw a little snippet your way while I see if this is going to work or not.

So the other day Isderf is working in the garage and my lights are dimming off and on so he must be using his homemade-from-a-microwave arc-welder.

He's got it timed, it allows him to weld for 2 WHOLE minutes and then needs 10 minutes to cool down. Of course, he's already gone thru one fan and we had to go to the Reuseum to procur another. If you haven't been, it's a great place to get cheap used parts and pieces for a variety of things. They have old computer parts, chemistry flasks, INL leftovers and even a glass melting furnace (a bargain at $999). If you have a significant other that can see exciting new projects in the smallest of items - I suggest you not mention it and delete this visit from your history.

Anyways... Isderf comes limping in after a while and since I've seen this I'm-trying-to-get-by-you-without-drawing-attention walk before, I stop him to find out what's wrong.

Turns out, he's splattered himself, just his foot but he does have a few small holes there now.

The funny part is that he splattered his foot because he went out to weld in flip flops and shorts. Needless to say, he went back outside in Carharts and leather boots. While he was changing, he told me that he'd watched a video early in the day and the guy had gone on and on about safety until he obviously got bored and stopped listening.

Unfortunately, I think that happens a lot.

Dancing Isderf

I just can't resist the temptation.
So, many of you probably don't know, but Isderf recently spent a week in Costa Rica. Now, he says that they were working, but I'm not sure how much work actually got done.

As can be seen on this video...


Isderf is the red-head in jean shorts, his boss is the guy in front with the black shirt. This is a momentous event, as not many have ever seen Isderf dance - family only while playing Just Dance on the Wii with his daughter!


And this doesn't look like work!

Although, he seemed to have lots of fun and brought us back some nice souvenirs! Next time we get to go too!

EVERYTHING has a use... or so he says.

In light of the fact that it's been a while since I've blogged and we lost all our apple cider press pictures for that blog... I've decided to post something I wrote in 2007. I've edited it a bit, but it's still pure Isderf... enjoy.

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Recently, I had the joyful experience of having my husband home for an extended period of time. Do to a holiday shut-down at work and some oral surgery, he was home for almost two weeks.

I used this time to finish many projects that had been sitting around half done, as I now had someone to keep the little people (aka my children) from helping. Not that I don’t appreciate help, but little people help equals twice as much work.

One of these projects included cleaning out under the bathroom sink. I’m sure some of you have a project similar to this. A spot where all the extras go, everything piles up, and it’s easier to just buy another than to brave the depths and risk losing a hand.

Unfortunately, I made a grave error. My thinking was that my husband would keep the little people away until nap and then he could help. You’d think that after knowing him for 12 years, I would have known better. (It's been almost 17 years now and I still make mistakes like this!)

Armed with a garbage can and the clear intent of throwing away anything that had not been used in the last year, I started pulling everything out from under the sink. I had make-up from junior high and samples of everything from bad perfume to bathroom wipes. Checking expiration dates and chucking anything else that I hadn’t laid eyes on in a while, I was on a roll. Then, my husband walks in.

He calmly sits down next to me and politely asks if I’d like any help. Just when I thought everything would go well, he reaches into the garbage can and starts pulling things out.

First, he finds a small pump lotion dispenser. As he digs for the bottle that matches, he quietly asks himself how much the pump dispenses and if it would be enough to actually measure and, of course, if he had the means to measure it. (I didn’t know what he wanted that dispenser for until he read this article, he wanted to use it to try wool carding – one of his many hobbies that he’s thinking about starting.)

At this point, I’m frantically hiding things and trying to finish up my project without transferring all the offending items straight to my husband’s horde of things he may use.

Then, he spied a sample envelope containing fake suntanning lotion. His eyes got big and he made the appropriate “ooohhhhh” sounds. Before I could stop him, he had the envelope torn open and was squirting lotion up his arm. He rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed. The stuff wasn’t going away and he had quite a mess. At that time, he decided that he should probably read the directions. The directions stated that the user should rub the lotion in until the white vanishing cream disappears.

My confused husband looked at me and said, “Vanishing cream?”

He had neglected to tear the package completely open and only one of the enclosed lotions had come out. So he remedied the situation and was rubbing more lotion on his arms.

I should probably take the time to tell you that my husband is white. Not just Caucasian, he’s WHITE. As in, put on your sunglasses before you see him in shorts, white.

Well, thank goodness for either old (expired in 2001) lotion or not reading the directions, because my husbands arm remained close to its original color, just dirtier. Although I’m sure he would have come up with some appropriate response had it turned 10 shades darker than the rest of him. He’d probably tell people that he’d been injected with Native American DNA and was just waiting for it to spread throughout!

About that time, the phone rang and I was left to quickly throw everything else back under the sink and make a quick trip to the garbage outside. I guess I’ll have to wait for another time to clean out all the hidden treasures under my sink. Probably some time when my husband is at work and my kids are grown. I wonder what I’ll find then and what I’ll have to worry about Isderf trying out next!