some rain must fall...

every once in a while, an idea will come to me and then pretty much make itself come to life. when that happens, i am so excited and frantic to get it out of the realm of my head and into the real world that i almost can't contain myself. i work in a frenzy, but a very focused, calm, directed frenzy. i am only the hands and the vehicle for the piece to become.

in this case, it started with the cover of the blind pilot cd. after seeing them, i was inspired to do some sort of raincloud piece.

at the same time, i was becoming very fascinated with the properties of laguna agate, particularly in relation to depression. in her book love is in the earth, melody says this about laguna agate:

"... it can be used to increase flexibility in ones life and ones body and mind. in addition, it assists in decreasing the shallowness of ones character. it enhances precision and provides stimulus to intellectual pursuits... laguna agate has been used to help one return from the depths of depression to a state of openness and acceptance of what IS.

in addition to those properties, this particular laguna agate has a "self-healed fracture", which means that it broke while it was forming and then repaired itself. when i learned that, i had to have it. that is very symbolic to me, as someone who has battled depression my entire life.

when the stone arrived, i looked at it and it all came together. i realized this was what would make the raincloud piece possible. how could i look at that gorgeous stone and see anything but rainclouds? stormy skies? turbulence mixed with calm?

then i had to find the just right words to put on the back. in the end, it was henry wadsworth longfellow who got it just right. (the runner up, also his words, was "the best thing to do when it is raining is to let it rain.")

i felt compelled to put my sparrow stamp and initials on a raindrop. i worked straight through on this piece, from start to finish. it turned out exactly how i had envisioned it. every last detail happened how i hoped it would. so there it is. "some rain must fall". i am so very very pleased with how it turned out.

winner!

and the winner is.... shannon! yippee! the universe was smiling on shannon today. it just so happens that she was watching the girls this afternoon so i could get out to the studio. hazel must have had good shannon vibes on her hands when she picked the name out of the basket. ;~) what are the chances? well, i am so glad. as much as i really wanted all of you to win, shannon is a friend and i know she deserves this piece and will wear it well.

thank you so very much to everyone who entered and left such encouraging comments. you are all so sweet. i hope that you will continue to come visit me here and i look forward to getting to know you all better!

prehnite pretty

i LOVE prehnite! it is just so beautiful and glowing and otherworldly, and a "stone for dreaming and remembering". i made a couple of pieces with it over the weekend. here is one of them.

glenn (my husband, for those of you who don't know yet) is back to school this week (as a teacher, not a student). it's been a bit of an adjustment. he was "in charge" of the kids all summer, and i pretty much worked full time on my jewelry. i could be out in my studio everyday, from 10-4, longer if i needed. it took a while to get used to not being with the girls, but i CHERISHED all the time in my shop. now, he is gone from 6-6. i love my sweet children, and i am glad to be with them again. we are re-establishing our little routine of snuggle, breakfast, nice long walks in the double bob every morning, followed by june's morning nap and book time in the recliner with hazel. then lunch, then to the park or the library or to the store, then afternoon nap for both girls (aaahhh...) then coloring or sandbox or swinging or some other engaging activity until dad gets home. however, i am missing my time out there desperately. i know i will transition into this, but how will i have time to make all of my new ideas? hazel starts school (1 1/2 days a week) next week and june will go to daycare one of those days. plus, glenn's school district decided to try 4 day weeks this year, so i will have fridays in the studio. i will probably also have to take sundays... it worked before and it will work again... it's all about the balance... any advice?

ode to jen, superstar!

this here is a piece that i made for jen (of nightlightbeads.etsy.com). she makes many of my lampwork beads and cabochons and she is FABULOUS! she wanted me to make her a necklace with 3 of her cabs and 3 stars. it felt like a science project, in a good way. i had to figure out a way to make the stars big enough to set the cabs in the center without the entire piece being enormous. (it is, actually, still pretty big at 2".) this is how it turned out and i love it!

jen, you better be ready to feel like wonder woman, with super powers abounding, when you wear this!

i love blind pilot!

how adorable is he with his little ukulele?

on tuesday, one of my very favorite bands, blind pilot, came to telluride. crazy! they are a sweet and lovely 6 piece "alternative folk" band. they have fabulous musicianship, amazing lyrics, and are also just really nice people. i made israel (the singer) a pick, with some of his lyrics, "we are only strumming water on this most unlikely chord", on it. he is very shy, and he appeared to be very touched by it. he said it meant a lot to him; it was really cool.

before we went to the show, we went out to dinner. we told the waiter we were on a date and we had a babysitter and we were going to see one of our favorite bands. he said we needed some jager shots. he bought them for us. i was a bit drunk when i gave him the pick. this is a VERY terrible picture of me, but it's the only one i have, so i am sharing it with you. (notice the pick in his hand...)

giveaway!

because i would like to attract more folks to my blog, and get a better idea of who is already coming, i am hosting a giveaway this week! this lovely piece, features a beautiful glass cabochon with olive green, red, turquoise, and black, made by teresa (at tajones1463.etsy.com). above that is nestled a sweet little turquoise cabochon. there are several sterling balls and a "bullseye" ingot as well. on the back, apropos, is stamped "be free indeed", along with my sparrow and initials. the pendant, which measures 1 1/2" x 1", hangs from a nice, 17" link chain.

so, here's how it works. in order to win, all you have to do is leave a comment under this here post. very simple. i am just going to do an old-fashioned drawing. (my dear hazel, 4 years old, will be doing the actual picking of the name.) if you leave a comment, i will enter your name once. if you become a follower of the blog, i will enter your name twice. if you also tell me how you came to the blog in your comment, i will enter your name 3 times.

the drawing will take place next tuesday, august 25th, at 5:00. i will announce the winner here and you can e-mail me (silversparrowdesigns.gmail.com) with your address so i can send it to you. good luck!

evening in estes...

this is a ring i made in honor of our trip

hazel eddie enjoy a morning cup of kids' coffee

kerry & kendra

hazel & bobby

junebug & i

kite flying at 12,000 ft.

june can hike too

the hitchhiker

eddie is precious.

spider dodger again...

well, aside from not being able to make anything for a week, while my sketch book fills up with ideas, one terrible thing about being away from my studio for that long is that the spiders are back!!! oh, dear, they have moved back in and taken over. i think it shall be dubbed "spider dodger studio" once more...

vacation!

i am going away for a week. a bit of luxury camping in estes park. by luxury i mean showers, heated pool, game room, wi-fi... crazy. anyway, we desperately need it. i will leave you with this photo of a drawing hazel did today. she said it was a "female wearing a lantern necklace"...

what could be more important?

so i made an important decision today. i am not going to put my stuff in the two new galleries. i realized, as i was writing a note to my dear mancos customers, apologizing for the empty shelves, that it just didn't make sense. i am barely able to keep up with what i am doing right now, with etsy and the artisans gallery. why would i add to my load? but the real reasons are these:

i feel i've barely seen them this summer; i've just been so busy. so i am sticking with what i got! and i brought a bunch of pieces that i was making for the new galleries into mancos today. here are a couple that will be in my etsy shop tomorrow. oh, and p.s. i am having a big sale this week, to show my love and appreciation for my dear customers!