new endeavors

hello!  it's been so long since i've seen you.  i have really missed you.  but, since i have a week off from work, i thought i could check in and give you an update on my life these days.  so, yes, i have a week off from work because it is thanksgiving break because i am TEACHING FIFTH GRADE NOW.  yep. that's right.  i am a 5th grade teacher at dolores elementary school, hazel and june's school, just a few blocks from my home.

here is my fabulous class.

these are our class pets, a mama degu, alice, and her two daughters, thelma and louise.

and here i am, teaching a science lesson on sublimation on halloween.

(as an aside, glenn was cousin eddie for halloween.)

so, yes.  as you may or may not know, prior to the birth of hazel and june, and prior to the birth of silver sparrow designs, i was an elementary school teacher.  last year i started to really miss being in the classroom.  so i started to sub a bit to see if i really missed teaching or i just thought i did.  turns out i really missed it.  so i applied for a job last spring and i was selected to teach this amazing 5th grade class.  it has been, as you can probably imagine, a crazy transition and a huge challenge.  i struggle with many of the aspects of working in the public education field, but i am a very good teacher and i am proud to be back in the classroom.  i love teaching and i love my class.  (interestingly enough, i have been attempting to run a classroom blog, thesmithscoopdolores.blogspot.com, but it has proven to be a bit more difficult than i had imagined.  it's still a work in progress but you can go check it out if you'd like.)

recently the school had an event and invited bees knees to play.

and we had our family photo taken.

so what else has changed since you last saw me?  we have yet another small dog now, mason.  we got joe to be june's dog, but he absolutely bonded with hazel instead of june.  so, i was recently at the local animal shelter and there was this skinny little precious guy, begging to come live with us.  so we brought him home.

and he is as happy as can be.

and 100% junebug's dog.

so silver sparrow designs is not dead.  she is merely resting her wings, taking a break from flight for a bit.  i still get out to my shop on occasion, it is just not the main focus of my life right now.

my creative endeavors are different these days.  i have remodeled the living room, which was a blast.

i made all of these pillows, along with curtains and table runners, chair covers, etc. 

i'm also on a bit of a crochet kick.  i guess my hands are more drawn to soft mediums these days.

jo, olive, and mason on the first ski of the year yesterday

and look how huge these girls are!

i hope that everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!

summertime

hello!  happy summer!  i recently made many items for an upcoming show.  however, for a certain reason that i am not yet ready to disclose, i ended up not doing the show.  so, i have very many new pieces in the etsy shop.

there are these earrings:

and these bracelets:

a little more detail on the bracelets

also these rings:

and these necklaces:

remember this photo, from a few year's ago?

first aid kit is hazel's very most favorite band.  she named two of our chickens after them, klara and johanna.  she also sang their song, king of the world, in her school talent show this year.  so i took her on a 9-year-old-birthday-girl-road-trip to good ol' omaha, nebraska to see them.

we were not able to meet them again like we did in newport, but i was able to get her as close to the stage as she could possibly be, with earplugs of course.

she was absolutely delighted.

and we had so much fun.

she was a wonderful traveling companion.  (as was jo)

and olive, in her own little way.

hazel and i stayed for a few days and had a blast.  our campground had a lot of fun stuff to do, we went shopping, we went and saw maleficent (which i adored, by the way) 

and we went to the omaha zoo, which is absolutely the most amazing zoo i have ever been to.  if you ever get the chance, you really should check it out.

and, as luck would have it, conor oberst was also playing in omaha two days later, so we also went to see him.  he was amazing as usual.

then we returned back to denver, where juniper was waiting with my parents.  we had some really wonderful time with parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins.

my dad and his beloved olive

all the marcille ladies

 cousins

and mom and i went shopping together

also while in denver we got this precious little russian tortoise, elliott

and when we got home we adopted this amazing little bunny for juniper whom she has dubbed pipkin pumpkin finnegan parsnip smith.

things are well around here, as you can see.  we are currently undergoing a massive overhaul of the backyard.  can't wait to share the results with you.

hope all of you lovely people are well.

mixed metal/ giveaway and facebook promotion

 

so these are my new mixed metal pieces, the ones i alluded to before, with the poll. i love the way they have turned out, such a nice mix of colors. the charms were all made using art clay- copper, bronze, and silver.

 

so, the giveaway. i am giving away one of these mixed metal specimen necklaces. i want to do an experiment. everyone keeps telling me that facebook is the best way to promote your business. so far, that has not been my expereince. so i want to try something. in order to enter the giveaway, first please like my facebook page if you haven't already done so. (my facebook business page is silver sparrow. i'm not the only silver sparrow on facebook, but i think i'm the only one in all lower case letters.) then, once you've liked my page, please share the post that talks about this giveaway. to keep things simple for me, leave a comment on the post telling me you shared it. THEN, if any of your friends share it, they will be entered in the giveaway and you will be entered again, etc. just make sure to leave a comment letting me know, so i have all the entries in one place. yes?

 

 

the mixed metal specimen necklace no.1

copper moon face, bronze heart, silver fern

 

 

 

you can find it here.

 

 

mixed metal specimen necklace no.2

copper feather, bronze disc with a sapphire, silver heart with a ruby

 

 

you can find this one here.

 

 

mixed metal specimen necklace no. 3

copper feather, silver lotus, bronze heart

 

 

 

and you can find it here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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