Thursday, August 4, 2011

new pieces!

yay! i finally completed some new pieces today. due to the remodel, there is considerable chaos around my house. it was great to finally have a full day out in the shop today, preparing for the telluride farmer's market tomorrow.

this is a custom piece with a gorgeous chrysoprase.



and another custom, memorial necklace, with a glorious faceted prehnite.



the "balance" ring,
with a beautiful chalcedony





a new "in the arms of buffalo bill" ring,
with a stunning turquoise cab that patty gave me for my birthday.




(i just might have to keep it...)

a new "without darkness" ring,
with prehnite with epidote





some new charm necklaces

and new pmc pieces

i will be listing some of these in my shop, but please feel free to contact me if anything grabs you; i can reserve it for you!

and here's what's happening with the remodel...

here you can see the "mudroom", which has served as my sewing room, an office, junebug's nursery when she was tiny, a toy room, and a room for the dogs. when they dug down, it became clear that the foundation was rotted through and they are tearing it down tomorrow. oh dear.

(when i said i wanted a second bathroom this wasn't really what i had in mind.)

pouring the concrete for the new porch

molly loves all the trenches and is just digging to her heart's content.

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the equipment fairy

my horoscope for the year, in my we'moon, said wonderful things about possibilities and generosity this year. one part of it was, "other people's resources will be generously available, from inheritances to bank loans; seriously consider using this support to establish a fresh and enduring base of operations during '08-'09." i had forgotten all about it until all these amazing things started happening for me, making everything possible for me to live my dream as a silversmith staying at home with my children.

shortly after our huge remodeling project was finished, another wonderful thing happened. i was "in the right place at the right time" (another lovely coincidence) and met sharon king. she just happened to have every tool i could ever need for my silversmithing, all top of the line, very high quality equipment, sitting in her garage gathering dust and needing a new home. after talking for a while, we agreed that she would VERY generously not only sell her equipment to me for a screamin' deal, but finance it as well. i now pay her a small monthly payment and my shop is 100% set up! (please see photos.) THANK YOU SHARON!!!

the amazing sharon king. if only there were more folks like her in the world...

the amazing sharon king.  if only there were more folks like her in the world...
this is sharon, who made it possible for me to have all of this incredible new equipment.

the bench

the bench
here is my incredible new bench, with drawers full of fantastic new files and mandrels, and SILVER, and pliers, and hammers...

my magnificent new torch!

my magnificent new torch!
here is the lovely new smith torch. i am still getting used to using it; it is quite different from my old acetylene torch.

my insanely powerful buffing wheel

my insanely powerful buffing wheel
this machine, too, will take some getting used to. it almost threw me across the room the first time i used it!

the foredom

the foredom
and this is my wonderful new foredom, an amazing tool!

the BIG remodel!

my studio/shop is set up in the 100 year old barn behind our house here in dolores. i knew it would be a cold winter out there if we didn't make some changes soon. to make a long story short, some very generous people, including the mayor of our great little town, my husband, and my visiting father, pulled togehter for me and really made it happen. we built a small room in the barn that is very well insulated and has a woodstove.

before

before
here's what we started out with...

dad and glenn, working hard

dad and glenn, working hard
my fabulous husband, glenn, and my wonderful father, jim, hard at work

little helpers

little helpers
simon (canine) and maybe (feline) were a big help throughout the project!

jim rules!

jim rules!
here's the lovely mayor of dolores, jim, who really made the barn remodel possible by supplying the materials up front.

insulation queen

insulation queen
here is katie, one of my apprentices, helping out

moral support

moral support
sarah, my other lovely apprentice, stopped by to offer moral support (and beer) to the workers...

(almost) completed shop

(almost) completed shop
we still need to do all the finish work (tape, mud, trim, paint, add a door...) but here is the "finished" shop!