it worked!

well, i did it. it took me a lot of figuring and finagling, but i got it. i am so very pleased with how it turned out. it has the most lovely feel to it, so solid, but lightweight.

in my opinion, this setting was the perfect way to show off this incredible stone.

it is such an alluring piece, a study in contrasts. geometric but organic; large, but not weighty; faceted on top and smooth around the edges; modern, but so graceful.

you will not believe this stone until you see it in person!

for some reason, i will always connect prehnite with the desiderata, so this one has my favorite "be gentle with yourself" on the back.

i also finished the "the wings we lack" bracelet, similar in design to the "lioness"

my horse's feet are as swift as rolling thunder

he carries me away from all my fears

and when the world threatens to fall asunder

his mane is there to wipe away my tears.

~bonnie lewis

this bracelet is to honor that beautiful special bond between a woman and her horse.

(pam brown)

amethyst, turquoise, kyanite, citrine, iolite, peridot, apatite

so sweet.

also, we gave the girls late naps so that they could stay up late and go see some music with us last night.

our good friend, erik (hazel's favorite!) was there

the crags are awesome!

hope you had a great weekend!

an enormous compliment!

well, just as soon as i made my "indian summer" necklace, it ended. it seems fall/winter has arrived. it is now cold and rainy here; it will snow any day now. when jim remodeled my shop/studio, he removed the crazy old wood stove that i had. he said that he couldn't, in good conscience, put it back in; it wasn't safe. so, it is now very chilly out in my shop, and i have no stove. luckily, good ol' patty has saved the day again. she is giving me a fantastic old stove, that even has a cooking surface on top, for tea, potpourri, etc. hopefully it will get installed tomorrow because it is currently:

in there.

(incidentally, if you click on the above link, notice the temperature! and then i was complaining that i needed an air conditioner...)

i got a delightful compliment yesterday. this is a snippet from an e-mail i received:

I am trying to control myself with your jewelry, but all the pieces I have I just love so much….I get compliments on them all the time. I used to collect a few pieces of Jes Maharry jewelry – are you familiar with her? This was quite a while back when she was somewhat unknown (and MUCH more reasonably priced). I just don’t care much for her jewelry anymore – it seems to be mass marketed, and the prices have gone up so high that it has kind of left a negative feeling with me towards her jewelry… anyway, I have sold several of her pieces on ebay and this has funded my “silver sparrow” collection.

surely you know jes maharry's work? she used to be a HUGE inspiration to me, before i got started silver-smithing. i loved the feel of her work, and the messages her pieces conveyed. i even wrote her a letter when i first decided to get serious about making a living with my jewelry, asking for advice, etc. she never wrote me back. what a wonderful note to get from a beloved customer!

so now, i am all bundled up, even have a hat and fingerless gloves on, and heading out to work. i have a full day out there today and i can't wait! i am going to attempt a hollow form ring today, with this stone...

an absolutely incredible faceted golden prehnite

see how the back is made to be set in prongs? but i don't much care for prongs, so i am going to try a hollow form. i've never done one before and am not exactly sure how to go about it, but i will let you know how it goes, and hopefully have a finished piece to share with you tomorrow. i also have several totem pieces i am working on and hoping to complete today.

have a lovely saturday!

indian summer

i have this unwritten rule for myself that if i see something i really love that costs a bit more than i'd like to spend, i have to walk away from it. if i can't stop thinking about it, i can go back and get it. this stone, a parrot wing jasper, cut and cabbed by dolores' very own larry sanchez, owner of my local silver and lapidary shop, was a perfect example. i first saw it when he was about halfway through making it and i LOVED it. (such a veritable cacophony of colors!) when he finished it and i saw the price, i realized it was a bit out of my range. but then i heard he was going to show this week, and it was going with him, and i knew if i didn't buy it, someone else would.

when i first saw this stone, i just thought it was sexy, ya know? something about it... not lewd, but a bit racy, suggestive... i don't know, maybe i'm losing it, spending too much time around stones... but this design came to me based on the shape of this stone, that stone needs to be sitting in just the right spot. it speaks to me...

of love and longing

of longevity, brevity, and loss

of desire~

fulfilled

unfulfilled

abandoned,

and the (w)hole that's left behind

it's a piece about the things you want to keep but can't, the things you want to last but won't, like the indian summer we are currently experiencing here. (that's why it's a bit more southwest-y than i usually like to be, with the turquoise, and the coral, etc.) maybe these trees want to keep these leaves, now that their colors are so tremendous, just now fully appreciated in all their glory, now that they know they will be gone...

(sir thomas wyatt)

when you wear it, it jingles and jangles delightfully.

it will make its way to the shop tonight.

my parents' visit

so we had a very lovely visit with my parents this weekend.

we went to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins

the girls had a tea party with pops

they wore their dress-up clothes and rode the great pumpkin train in durango while glenn and i were camping

hazel and i put on a little concert, see how she's singing and playing the tambourine?

also, do you remember this necklace? it sold on etsy last february. well, i was walking into the gas station here in dolores and a woman was walking out and she was wearing it! how hilarious. she lives in another part of the state and was just driving through, on her way to moab, stopping for gas. i said "hey! i made your necklace!" it was great...

a special surprise

my lovely parents came to visit this weekend. and, as a very wonderful treat, invited glenn and i to go away for the night.

we went to a very special canyon

on the lower dolores river

we rode our bikes

i slept in, stayed in "bed", drinking coffee and reading

i sat by the fire, writing in my journal

we played music

and more music

and more music

my fingers hurt from all of the music we played

the fall colors were prime

and we had a really great, much-needed time together

my "new" bracelet

this used to be a necklace. i never took it off. it is called the "spirit of understanding" and was made by robert rogers. i turned it into a bracelet about 2 years ago by soldering a ring to his feet.

after ian actually looked at, and admired, the "among the white storks" necklace, i decided it could no longer be for sale.

so i very slowly and painstakingly formed the stork portion of the necklace into a cuff-ish bracelet, with the "spirit of understanding" on the other side.

after doing some research about storks, i am so happy to have this on my wrist. they are supposedly harbingers of happiness and prosperity. according to egyptian mythology, they are a symbol of "the unique individual character of each human being". in hebrew, stork means "kind mother". and, according to chinese mythology, storks are able to snatch up a worthy man and deliver him to a blissful life...

opal, chalcedony, kyanite, prehnite, and bertrandite

i finished up some various pieces today, mostly using stones i got at the denver gem and mineral show.

the "i am the ocean" ring,

with the most beautiful opal

i am you: you are ME. you are the waves; i am the ocean.

know this and be free, be divine

(sri sathya sai baba)

i cannot capture the amazing flash in this stone with my camera...

the "love is a mirror" ring,

with an incredibly gorgeous, high dome, golden prehnite

i am in a very pensive, contemplative period in my life right now. i wanted to make a ring that resembled a mirror, to symbolize reflection and introspection.

isn't it?

prehnite is a stone of remembering.

and this golden prehnite is like none i've ever seen...

i made a new "winged heart" ring,

with a totally stunning tiffany stone, complete with a beautiful druzy in the lower right corner.

(kahlil gibran)

this is the "second spring" necklace,

with a gorgeous, hand-carved opal flower

(albert camus)

this is a custom piece with the most lovely kyanite cab

and this custom piece with a mouth-watering piece of turkish chalcedony

i hope you love it, m'dear!

all of these pieces are on their way to the shop...