happy ducks, happy girls, happy me!

we went to feed the ducks yesterday, one of the girls' favorite activities! they had a ball.

i made myself a few treats this week, just because.

a new wedding ring, with kyanite, because of its' amazing properties

inside, it says, "just our flashlights and our love"

this ocean jasper piece is so weighty and wonderful.

and a belt buckle...

very much inspired by an artist i really admire...

and the girls got new matching jammies...

more changes for silver sparrow...

okay. i have just packaged up about 20 pieces of jewelry to ship them to their new home in a pair of galleries up on the front range. i know i said i wasn't going to do it, but i changed my mind. i continued talking with the owner and we worked out a deal that works for both of us. i am a bit nervous because i have never really done that before. we will see how it goes!

so my etsy shop is a bit empty now. for that reason, and the fact that the mancos gallery is EMPTY, and the holidays are coming and i want to get stocked up, and I NEED A BREAK, i will be closing my etsy shop from october 1st through november 1st. i am really looking forward to it~ i won't have to turn my computer on if i don't want to, i will not have to package anything or run to the post office, (as much as i love you all) i will not have to answer urgent convos or e-mails, i can have time in the studio to just CREATE! i can hardly wait!

i will kick off my nice long break by going to the austin city limits festival with my dear friend, crystal!!! just crystal. read: no husband. no children. never really done that before and i can hardly wait!

p.s. everything left in my etsy shop is 10% off until i close up on october ist!

naked with purple on their heads

my dear friend joyce is painting my living room. (it's a long story, but she is selling her house and we desperately want it, so she is helping us to get our house ready to put on the market so it will sell and we can buy hers...) anyway, all of the furniture is pushed to the center of the room and june, who is newly walking, has been taking the opportunity to race on the path around the perimeter of the room on the plastic drop cloth. we were about to get pajamas on and she grabbed that hat and started racing away from me.

oh, you can't get me

not to be outdone, hazel (who, by the way SWALLOWED that lantern necklace at school yesterday!) had to come be cute too

i had a very productive day in the studio yesterday! these are all in my etsy shop.

the process

so yesterday i made a few pieces "production line" style. i don't usually do it that way; i usually make one piece from design idea to completion. but i had a few ideas rolling around in my head and a big long day to work, so i thought it would be fun to document the process. here you go:

start with the stones. clockwise: howlite oval, green artisan glass, flower artisan glass (both made by teresa), prehnite with epidote teardrop

cut backplate shapes from silver sheet with saw.

stamp backplate shapes.

solder bezel onto backplate shape. form rings.

solder piece together.

oxidize entire piece.

then, after buffing the piece and setting the stones, you have your finished product:

just watch them float by. ring

soar. ring

trust. ring

special order custom necklace for chris' girlfriend.

spider drama

okay, first of all, if spiders gross you out, you better skip this post. second of all, please don't think i am completely crazy or have too much time on my hands. just humor me, okay?

you may recall that my studio has been referred to as "spider dodger studio". well, with the remodel, things got better for sure, but now that the cold weather is creeping back, i've been spotting a few more of the 8 legged beasties around. so i have this rule. if they stay to themselves and mind their own business, i leave them alone. if they come after me, i kill them. you may say that's crazy, spiders do not charge people. but you would be wrong. you see, there are these black spiders in my studio that continually come after me. it is the strangest thing. i see them, slowly making their way down the wall, past my tanks, onto the carpet, right at me! i give them time to make sure that's what they're doing, but once they're close enough, i stomp on them. so, always i am keeping an eye out for them. well today i had my camera out in my studio because i was taking some photos of the pieces i was working on (kind of a step-by-step thing i will probably post tomorrow) and i got a bit distracted by these two black spiders that were sharing a web.

i do not know that much about spiders, but i had definitely never seen that before. i just assume she was in her web and he approached. then, he was doing what could only be described as stroking her, then a bit of thrusting and such, then a fight where she was shaking and waving her legs around, then he left, going down the window. then she went after him, then he followed her back to the web. even spiders have lover's quarrels i guess. i found it all rather fascinating. sorry if you do not feel the same. i guess this also means i should expect a bunch of tiny baby spiders some time soon?

me in the denver post

well ooh la la! i just received an etsy convo telling me that i was mentioned in an article in the denver post about colorado jewelry designers. it said something like i was known for my distinctive designs using silver and stone. known by whom i wonder...

...on too swift a wing...

"every day has been so short, every hour so fleeting, every minute so filled with the life i love, that time for me has fled on too swift a wing." that quote inspired this piece. it is HEAVY, comprised of a layer of 16 gauge silver with an 18 gauge piece on the back, with the quote. as i am wearing it, i can so clearly feel the weight of it, an awesome reminder for me to truly BE in every moment and honestly enjoy it, whatever it is, even if it's not exactly what i want at that exact second. the stone is my beloved laguna agate, this time a laguna lace agate, in beautiful shades of brown. i added a small smoky quartz and a bit of stamping. i can't part with this one yet... (you may have noticed that i also unlisted the maven soul ring and the raincloud necklace.)

i am a member of a fabulous local artists' cooperative gallery. one of the members does these great calligraphy pieces with beautiful quotes. one day while i was sitting at the desk, i was admiring a new one of hers that i thought said "may peace reveal a path". when she came in to the gallery, i told her i loved the the new piece and she said "you mean the 'may peace prevail on earth' one?" i still liked the words i originally thought it said and when i saw this fabulous stone (a mexican crazy lace agate) i couldn't help but see a long and windy path. in addition to that, crazy lace agate is said to provide insight into the many paths that are available to us. unfortunately, it cracked when i set it, so it is priced significantly lower than it would have otherwise been. i love how it turned out though. it's big, but i used a 22 gauge silver to keep it lightweight. it's in my etsy shop.

these are the "niagara in a barrel" earrings. i have this very vivid memory of riding the "maid of the mist" when i was about 10 or 11. i went to niagara falls with my grandmother and my cousin, ty. we were on the ferry, wearing our oversized rented raincoats to keep from getting soaked by the abundant spray. i clearly remember standing there, being in total awe of the enormity of these falls, and the POWER that water posessed. the turbulence and the force of the noise was overpowering. i remember asking my grandmother "how on earth did people go over those in a barrel?" i just couldn't fathom it. i pictured those people, all cramped up in there, their bellies tight with fear and anticipation and excitement, knowing what was going on outside, just going with the flow and hoping they survived. i imagined that it was quite calm in there, quiet even despite the outside roar.

and so, these here earrings are to remind us that even when everything is turbulent and crazy on the outside, we can be calm and quiet and peaceful on the inside, holding on for dear life. aquamarine is a "stone of courage" , while kyanite brings tranquility and calming. so there ya go. keep calm and carry on, right?

our little swiss vacation

i got a bit camera happy this weekend. we went to ouray to camp, but when we arrived it was pouring down rain, so we got a hotel the first night.

couldn't be happier

this unwelcoming little sign was on the door at "mr. grumpypants brewery" (in case you can't read it, it says "it's not that we don't like kids, but we don't drink beer at your child's daycare either") glenn, who likes to get a beer at any brewery we see, insisted on entering anyway...

mr grumpypants himself, at said establishment

she's doing it!

all snuggled up in the hotel

there are few things better than a good cup of afternoon camp coffee

the view from our camp, in ampitheater campground

molly and simon love camping

in case you don't already know this about me, i LOVE beavers. they are my very favorite animal. i admire their creativity and industriousness and ingenuity and self-sufficiency and their TEETH. on one of our hikes, i was so sad to see that someone had kicked in this lodge, after all that hard work... there was still a very strong beaver smell; it must have been recent.

sweet new thistles, of the higher elevation variety

fall is coming

molly loves a good swim; simon won't go near the water

this strange little (manmade?) structure was in the crazy mustard colored water. glenn said it's from the iron in the mountains.

these might be some of my favorite photos i've ever taken. i didn't realize it when i was taking them, but there is the perfect reflection of mountains and clouds behind the goldfish.

junebug's first marshmallow...

oh my goodness

more? please?

deleriously good