...float...fly...grow...

first of all, thank you to all of you lovely lurkers who came out to leave comments; it warms my heart. i just love knowing that you are all there, checking in on my work and my life, and that it somehow adds something to your life. it's a wonderful thing, these cyber relationships.

more green. what's up with me?

a new "without darkness" ring,

with a gorgeous chrysoprase

you might notice that i have been making the same pieces over and over again lately. the messages on the pieces that i make are affirmations. i offer them to you, but i need them just as much. stamping these words into silver makes them somehow more true.

i wanted to make some pieces to represent what i am going through right now. i realized that these vintage carved cabs are perfect. sometimes they look like feathers... float. sometimes they look like wings... fly. sometimes they look like leaves... grow. and right now, i am floating like i am in freefall. i do not know what's going on or what will happen next. when i am feeling confident about the choices i've made, i am flying, soaring, certain everything is right. and either way, whether i am unsure or certain, i am growing.

the "float...fly...grow..." necklace,

with a beautiful, vintage, hand-carved variscite cabochon

the green is luscious.

and a sister ring,

also with variscite, of a mintier variety

yum

i just love it.

just like it's going to float, or fly, or grow, right off of my finger...

and a new "child of the universe necklace,

with an incredible golden prehnite

(just keep on stamping it...)

and these coyote pieces, for cynthia. (you should check out her blog.)

you darkness, that I come from,
love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
and then no one outside learns of you.
but the darkness pulls in everything:
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them!-
powers and people-

and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.

I have faith in nights.

~ranier maria rilke

so hazel learned how to read and there is no stopping her! the other day i was at the gym at the same time as the "silver sneakers" class, and it occurred to me that these elderly folks would probably love to hear hazel read.

blanche got to hear both hazel and june read...

carol asked hazel how many boyfriends she had.

and hazel really enjoyed herself too. they all kept telling her what a good reader she was and how they couldn't believe she was only five. she wants to go back again soon.

we are going to spend the weekend in a yurt in ridgway.

see you monday!

beauty

patty returned home from tucson with some real beauties for me...

these are the faceted ones.

intense golden prehnite on top

chrysoprase on the bottom.

golden prehnite

i've never seen it anywhere else except from this australian vendor, shamus. it is so incredible.

ahhhh... chrysoprase...

(if any of these stones are screaming your name,

please feel free to contact me about setting them aside for you.)

and i received these glorious cabs from teresa in the mail today.

aren't they lovely?

i am really struggling these days. there are so many transitions happening in my life. so many strings have been cut, and loose ends are flying around everywhere. lots of loss. lots of change. lots of overwhelmingly sad acceptance taking place. it is really difficult. i try to look at the positive aspects of these changes and stay strong, but sometimes, sometimes i just want to crawl into a little hole where no one can touch me. i have known all my life that i am different from most people. and a long time ago i accepted that very few people were ever going to understand me. and that has been very painful over the years. i am too honest and too intense for most people. i am at my best when i am by myself. but when i do find folks that i connect with, i cling to them tenaciously and it is therefore especially painful when they exit my life. but that is where i find myself today and i again go back to acceptance. i cannot change other people; i only can choose to make changes that are best for myself and my family, whatever the outcome may be.

when i am feeling like this, i know that the best thing for me is to get out to my shop and create. but unfortunately, it hasn't really been happening. first i was sick, then the girls were sick, then i went on my little trip. i am now quite behind on custom pieces, etc. and i need to get caught up before i can just do what i need to do out there. soon...

p.s. i may have spoken too soon about the gallery; i am still pondering it...

p.p.s apparently yesterday was "delurking day". if you are a precious lurker here, i encourage you to come on out and say hi. leave a comment. i'd love to know who you are, why you are here, what it is you like about my blog, how you found me, anything really. whatever you'd like to say. pretty please? i have a sneaky suspicion that it might just cheer me up to hear from all of you lovely folks that i know are visiting ;) and, of course, i adore all of you regular commenters; your feedback means so much to me.

gentle compassion, release, change, and growth

the "release and grow" ring,

with an absolutely incredible prudent man plume agate.

terry at lost sierra cut this stone for me a long time ago to use for a belt buckle. but somehow it wasn't meant to be a buckle, and now it is a ring.

it has a beautiful dome and i put it on a nice wide band.

just look at the colors and pattern.

there is such depth and intricacy to this stone.

(you should zoom in on it.)

plume agate is said to provide for a gentle release of those conditions which have been inhibiting ones growth. it's amazing how we hold on so tightly to things that would do us so much good to be rid of. release and grow... let it go...

it is quite large.

i love it.

a new "child of the universe" ring,

with prehnite and epidote

the apple green of this stone is so fabulous,

and the black inclusions are such a lovely contrast.

again, from the desiderata, max ehrmann

the "compassion" ring,

with rose cut rainbow moonstone

moonstone has so many wonderful properties. one of them is to provide for spiritual nourishment and a loving compassion to assist one through changes.

beautiful flash

~buddha

and a "be the change" necklace,

with rose cut labradorite