ooh la la...

check out where we are staying for the conference in phoenix:

SWANK HOTEL!

it is going to be so much fun!

IT'S PICK SEASON AGAIN!

so the crazy holiday guitar pick rush is here again. as funny as it sounds, i am actually glad that there are so many copycats on etsy. while i have still received quite a few orders for picks, i haven't gotten nearly as many as last year, which is good because i was seriously stressed out this time last year. the orders now are much more manageable! (i was just looking at this post from last year: http://silversparrowdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/12/me-elf.html)

i made these yesterday and have 22 more to do before i leave town on wednesday. piece of cake!

glenn has a conference in phoenix next week. the girls and i have decided to go with him. i think it will be a nice break for us, and very warm. so, i have a lot of work to do before we go, but then i will get 5 days off to spend with the family!

stuff for the gallery

i had a very productive day yesterday making new things to bring to the artisans gallery in mancos. it has been a while since i brought anything new in. i made some fun, small, glass flower pieces, some stacking rings, and some spirals.

i think i'll make some of these for the etsy shop too. they are fun to make and inexpensive.

belt buckles!

well, here they are! i finally worked up the courage, and found the time, to make some belt buckles for the shop!

this is the "pledge to the wind" buckle, with a portion of one of everett's poems on the back.

and my studly husband modeling it...

you've seen this one before...

and this one...

they're all in the etsy shop now!

touched

maybe you remember this ring. it's the "just our flashlights and our love" ring. inspired by conor oberst's song at the bottom of everything.

well, shortly after i listed it, i was contacted by a very sweet lady, rhenn. i got a convo from her, describing how she HAD to have this ring and she too adored conor oberst and that i somehow reminded her of her future self. so we arranged a payment plan. she put notes in her shop announcement(RainbowKandy.etsy.com) about how she was having a sale to save up for this ring. and, she wrote this very touching blog entry about why she needed to have it. (after reading this, i realized that she very much reminded me of myself at her age) anyway, it is on its' way to her today and i am honored to have such a lovely person wear this ring.

juniper wishes you a happy friday

a certain kind of peace

i recently came across my old sketchbook/ journal from late high school and early college. wow! what a trip. smelling of sandalwood and covered with dancing bears and jimi hendrix, but missing the sweet little wooden flower i had painted and glued on the front, it blasted me back about 15 years. inside it, i found a poem. a gem of a poem that really allowed me to be back in my skin at the time i wrote it. i was a starving college student. i had dreadlocks and lived in an old quonset hut where you walked downhill in the kitchen, the bathroom sink came off the wall periodically and when it rained i had to sleep on the left side of my bed so as not to get wet.

here is the 19 year old hippie musing in its' entirety:

i' been thinking about change

i' been thinking about masks

i' been thinking about maturity

that comes when no one asks.

i' been wonderin' about people

i' been wonderin' about love

i' been wonderin' about the moon

who controls from up above.

i' been pondering relationships

i' been pondering friends

i' been pondering beginnings

and pondering ends.

i' been broodin' over knowledge

i' been broodin' over "facts"

i been broodin' over religion

and what it is mine lacks.

there's a certain kind of peace that comes with knowing you don't know,

a contentment that accompanies the anticipation of knowledge,

but i'm beginning to wonder just what it is i'm supposed to learn in college.

so i went out to my shop last night with that poem resonating in my head, chuckling to myself, and this is what i made. it seems a whirlwind of activity and questions and wondering. it brings to mind a quest and i can imagine frodo wearing it. in the center is a beautiful rio grande texas agate, a stone i'd never heard of before. it is a fascinating swirl of purples and grays and magentas. quite stunning.

it's in my etsy shop.

new flower pieces!

after taking a break from flower pieces for a bit, i find myself wanting to make them again. i listed two new ones last week and they both sold almost immediately. the new cabs i got on friday inspired me to make some more new pieces this weekend.

i am absolutely in love with this ring. it is dainty, feminine and delicate, antique-ish and victorian, yet strong and dark and modern. (i know i say it all the time, but i may not be able to part with it...)

i couldn't choose between my two design ideas for my next "without darkness" piece, so i made both of them. this one features a beautiful gray, purple, and blue flower with an amethyst sidekick.

my favorite part is the handmade, wire-wrapped chain

and i adore the turquoise and brown combination in this one

have a lovely day!

lovely day

today was a lovely day. i got new cabs from teresa...

i had the first fire of the year in my wood stove in the shop...

a wonderful cup of coffee in the afternoon, made by my fabulous husband...

and my very contented kitty, there to witness it all...

i can't wait to share with you what i made today. have a wonderful weekend!

ode to the beaver

okay. go ahead, chuckle if you like, but i have a thing for beavers. they are my very favorite member of the animal kingdom by far. i find them simply fascinating creatures. i am not exactly sure when it got started, but i know reading the book lily pond , by hope ryden sealed the deal. it is an her account of the four years she spent observing one particular beaver family in their pond. i also read another amazing book, about a woman who actually raised beavers in her flooded basement around the 1950's, but i cannot for the life of me recall the title or author. ( as a little aside here, because the memory just came to me, when i was student teaching at a school down the street from my good friends', dan and rachel's, house, i came into my classroom one morning to find a sweet little beaver sculpture waiting for me on my desk, crafted entirely out of zucchini! made by dan, of course. )

they mate for life. they raise their children together and all live in their sweet little handmade lodges. they are crafty as heck! industrious, resourceful, efficient, and so cute. several native american tribes have creation myths that involve a giant beaver creating the entire world. there is a lovely beaver family that lives in my town. years ago, before i had kids, i used to go down to the pond, set apple slices all around the edges, and sit with my binoculars and wait for them to come eat them. i could watch them for hours. they actually got very comfortable with me and would come quite close. i had names for them. uncle tupelo was the patriarch. nancy was his wife...

i've wanted to make a piece honoring beavers for awhile, but nothing came to me. when i saw these gorgeous brown willow creek jasper tear drops, i saw a pair of beaver tails. they measure 2 1/4" from top to bottom. i wore them around town today, just to test them out, and let me tell you, they were busy as little beavers themselves. twisting and twirling and swaying and swinging, they were non-stop and very delightful.

i also made a couple of new rings yesterday.

this one with one of patty's incredible vintage bisbee turquoise cabs

and this one with a fabulous round ocean jasper cab

john, patty, and hazel

i have a new nephew!!! this here is traci's brand new little munchkin, john michael... he is so precious. at her ultrasound in june, traci was told she was having a girl, so this little guy was a bit of a surprise! so very cute...

i'd also like to share that i made a lovely new friend, patty. she is a new jewelry artist at the artisan's gallery. she's a very dear lady. she also happens to have an incredible collection of vintage cabs, mostly turquoise. the girls and i went to visit her today and she sent me home with a wonderful treat bag...

these were all made in the 1970's. the feathers are AMAZING, hand-carved and just gorgeous! i am so excited to start using them in my jewelry. (the oblong piece of turquoise in the center on the right is already a ring. you can find it in my etsy shop tomorrow!)

and, last but most certainly not least... i'll give you three guesses what hazelnut's got on her head...

productive day

well, yesterday was my first full 8 hour day out in the studio in a looong time. i was quite productive! here's what i made:

this was a custom order. a customer saw the one n my shop that sold this summer and asked me to make another. for some reason, i really loved this one more than the original.

it's funny. when i first came up with the design for my lanterns, i thought they would be a huge hit. there is just something so appealing about them to me. and i did sell a few right away, but then a lot of them just sat in my etsy shop for a while. they continued to be very popular at the artist's cooperative gallery i am a part of though so i have continued to make them steadily. now, all of a sudden, they are selling on etsy again. so i made a few simple necklaces and 4 pairs of earrings. they are so satisfying to make and i am quite pleased with this batch.

cherry red. handmade glass

faceted rose quartz

tumbled baby blue handmade glass

imperial red jasper

tumbled chocolate handmade glass

boulder opal

(i LOVE these!) prehnite and tourmaline

and this ring... a good friend asked me to design an engagement ring using this beautiful 3 mm emerald. evidently we were not on the same page because when i finished it he said it was not at all what he had in mind (i suppose my designs do tend to be a bit un-traditional.) so, i am selling it in my shop!

emerald, peridot, iolite.

past, present, future.

the inside says "my heart is yours forever".