okay, the final count is in. i will be taking to moab with me:

~91 pairs of earrings

~ 92 stacking rings

~15 "regular" rings

~34 cuff bracelets

~20 "regular" bracelets

~61 necklaces and

~1 belt buckle

here's a sample of the stacking rings (with tiny glass flowers, made by teresa).

i knew that i had been working my tail off, but i didn't realize the real extent of my creations until diane, shanti, and sarah helped me wash, count, sort, and price everything last night.

these are the bracelets i made with some of teresa's flowers. i LOVE them!

and today, to celebrate hazel's last day of preschool, we went to the lake and then got ice cream.

i know you are sick and tired of hearing about moab. i will do one more post about it, to share photos with you and tell you how it went and then you will not have to hear about it anymore! i have been pretty concerned about whether or not i would have enough inventory. now that i (ahem) know that i do, i can just relax and enjoy myself this weekend. thanks so much for putting up with me and for all of your encouragement and continued support. you gals are fantastic! wish me luck!

a VERY productive day!

look at what i made today!

hand carved vintage variscite leaf and amethyst

turquoise

another "two faces" necklace: black rock desert agate on one side...

and larimar on the other!

a labradorite "resolve" necklace

hand carved vintage chrysocolla feather

again, two faces: crazy lace agate on one side...

and regency rose plume agate on the other!

all of these are, of course, for moab. however, if a piece is screaming your name, let me know and if it doesn't find a home in moab, i can save it for you! (unless it's this last piece, because i pretty much think i have to keep it...)

(look at this amazing confluence. glenn said it reminded him of us, very different but flowing in the same direction.)

i hope you all had as lovely a weekend as i did ;~)

my other saviors

i know that i have mentioned my "wednesday night girls" before, but i feel the need to do so again. they are my dear friends and they come over each week to help me out when i need it. and if i don't need help, we work on whatever kinds of projects they would like to do. and always, whether there is work to do or not, we drink some beer and hang out, and have a great time. this week i kept talking about how great trevor was and i think i hurt their feelings. so i wanted to pay homage to them too. i don't know what i would do without them!

katie

and sara.

shanti and diane also come when they can. it works out that usually one or two women can't make it; my shop is quite small!

i've been working so much getting ready for moab, i've hardly had time to be with the girls. i took a break to go hang out with them at the river. i have to admit, however it turns out, i will be glad when next weekend is over! sunday trevor and i will finish stacking rings and spiral earrings and then i will focus on some bracelets and some one-of-a-kind necklaces for the rest of the week. i figure i can only make as much as i can make and it will have to be good enough, right?

oh, and here's to coming out of your shell!

this little guy was hanging out on the chair outside, wings still damp.

cicada necklace?

i hope you have a fantastic weekend! it is glenn's birthday tomorrow so he's going for a big hike in the morning and then we will meet in telluride to hang out.

happy birthday, love of my life!

hazel's little graduation

so hazel graduated from preschool yesterday. crazy. i know it probably seems weird that they had an actual ceremony and caps and gowns (and even played "pomp and circumstance"), but she was so dang proud of herself. i cried. i am sure it sounds terribly cliche', but i just couldn't help thinking that i will simply blink and then i will be standing at her high school graduation, then college...

this is her sweet little best friend, kianna.

about my displays

after i posted this photo, many of you commented on and asked about my displays. i thought i would share a bit about them with you. (in the front of the photo are some beautiful sign holders)

when i started showing my work at the artisans gallery, i knew i needed a unique and "rustic" way to display it. my friend meg, (also known as "ironmaegan") who had made some displays for me in the past, was very busy and suggested i call her friend brandon to see if he could do something for me. remember brandon? he made the rose for his girlfriend for v-day? he went above and beyond what i hoped for and made me some gorgeous displays.

over the past year he has made me quite a few, always for a very good price; he's a very good guy and has become a friend.

these are difficult to see because i photographed them at the gallery, but you get the idea.

in the back is a screen for earrings. look at the intricate tendrils at the corners.

here he is at work today in his shop, making my new ring displays.

i even helped a bit!

look how beautiful they are!

i had been struggling to come up with a good way to feature my rings that went along the displays i already had and brandon made them a reality. yay!

an inspirational visit to the denver museum of natural history

i have always been a bit of a loner. in high school, i had several very good friends, but spent much of my time by myself. one thing that i used to love to do was to go to the denver museum of natural history and geek out. i would hang out in the "gem and mineral hall" or sketch all of the amazing animals. i also spent a lot of time admiring the gem carvings of vasily konovalenko. the recent visit to the museum with my parents brought back a lot of memories.

you could stand inside this "crystal cavern".

a huge rock with rhodonite crystals

fabulous agate slabs

geodes

check out this amethyst!

these are amazing.

aquamarine crystals

amazonite, in its "natural" surroundings

but always my favorite place in the museum was the room with the gem carvings. these are INCREDIBLE! each and every part of every sculpture is carved from gemstones, with an occasional gold or silver accent.

her body is something called "beloretsk quartz"; her hair is rutilated quartz; his hat and mittens are jasper; his boots are obsidian; the sheet is rose quartz.

his bucket is petrified wood; the brush is agate and amethyst; his face and hands are jasper; his shirt is lapis and the apron is howlite.

her boots are red picture jasper; her blouse is variscite; her skirt is nundoorite; her hair is onyx; her "kerchief" is goldstone; her instrument is made of tiger eye, petrified wood, gold, and silver. his shirt is opal and his jacket is lapis.

have you ever seen anything like these? are their similar sculptures in other museums? i am just as fascinated by them now as i have always been and would love to learn more about them!