my trip to san fran!

i recently returned from a wonderful visit to san francisco.  i had such a fantastic time.  i went there to visit friends, and to see music, and to visit with the president of three jewelry galleries.

the drive there was, of course, spectacular.  i love the desert.

i spent as much time at the beach as i possibly could.

on thursday night i went to felton, ca to see simone felice (ian and james' brother, former member of the felice brothers) and conor oberst at a tiny little mexican restaurant called don quixote's.

oh, conor.  conor ended up having the entire mystic valley band with him for all three of the shows that i saw, which was amazing.

on friday i went to the hardly strictly bluegrass festival in san francisco to see conor again. (i spent a good deal of my time in this city being lost.  i had intended to arrive sooner and catch a few other acts, but it was not meant to be.)

because of the crazy crowds, we ended up watching conor's set from the hill up behind the stage, which was actually pretty cool.

on saturday i went back to the festival.  justin townes earle was the first set that i saw, and i can tell you that i fell in love with him.  he was incredible.

olive had a great time during his set with her new boyfriend.

next i saw the lumineers, who were amazing, of course.

then i went for a beautiful hike...

and back to the beach for the sunset.

so incredible!

sunday night i saw conor (and the mystic valley band) one more time, at the fillmore theater in san francisco.

monday morning, before i left town, i had a very promising meeting with the president of three amazing jewelry galleries in san francisco.  i am afraid to say too much until i know more, but i think i got the closest thing to a "yes, we'd like to carry your work" as i could have expected.  i will keep you posted on that!

the mcphee shuffle

we had a lovely day at the lake today.

 hazel was having such a great time she did a little dance for us.

we saw a little bear cub on the drive out.  see his little butt?

three wishes. part two

so, you know how i said how much i love this ring?  well, i admit it; i have been wearing it.  i just really love it.  when i made it, i was really thinking about what my three wishes would be.  and while i was wearing it, i found myself absentmindedly rubbing it and thinking about my wishes, focusing on them, putting energy into them.

i know you have no reason to believe me, just my word, but i have to tell you that yesterday, after three days of wearing this ring, major things happened that lead toward all of these wishes coming true!  cross my heart.  i cannot tell you what my wishes are (because then they may NOT come true after all) but i can tell you that...

one of them has to do with this

and one of them has to do with this

and one of them has to do with this.

and so, to further the magic of the three wishes, i made the three wishes necklace,

with prehnite, labradorite, and rainbow moonstone.

three stones

three chains

three wishes

rub that little lamp to your heart's content.

and see if your wishes come true.

the bear and autumn and dreams and wishes

i have not only finally had the opportunity to be out in the shop for good, long periods of time without interruption, but i have also been feeling really inspired lately, which is a good combination.

this weekend i made these pieces.

the bear piece was inspired by the bear tracks i have repeatedly seen up at the boggy draw trail lately when i am riding my bike.  

i hate this photo, because it is clearly taken of a dead bear's foot, but when i really looked at the tracks, i was so surprised to see how human-like they really are.  so i tried to find a photo of an actual 

bear foot. when i first saw the tracks i wondered what someone was doing on the trail barefoot.  then i thought maybe they were wearing those five-finger shoes.  then i realized what they really were.

the intuition necklace,

with turkish dendritic opal and faceted labradorite

there is so much folklore, myth, and power surrounding the bear in many different cultures.  most commonly, bears are said to represent, motherhood, protection, freedom, solitude, and intuition.  because of where i am in my life, i chose to let my encounter point me towards the intuition aspect.

and so i put  quote from  delphine de girardin on the back.

"intuition is the nose of the mind."

i am tempted to say that this will be the first in a series of such pieces, but if i say that i will jinx myself and never make another one like it.  so i won't.

the second spring necklace,

with artisan glass, hessonite garnet, faceted smoky quartz, and brass

this is such a dainty and sweet piece, a reminder of the fleeting beauty of fall.

the hold fast to dreams bracelet,

with a stunning labradorite and kyanite

this is a new design, a "wrap cuff" bracelet, inspired by a mistake i recently made when making some custom wedding jewelry.  it is a cuff design, but continues to wrap around your wrist.  it has some give so that you can tweak it to properly fit your own wrist once it is yours.

the inside has the fabulous langston hughes quote "hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.  (i loved a sweet boy named langston when i was in college...)

two small faceted labradorites adorn the ends.

the blues are fantastic.

and i a made a new three wishes ring,

with ruby, mexican opal and artisan glass

(which i have fallen in love with)

you know the story. the great, big, all powerful, genie appears to you after you rub the lamp, offering you three wishes, anything you want. so what would yours be? what would be the three things you would wish for in all the world? this ring is to represent those wishes, whatever they may be. it is to remind you of the three things you want most in the world, even if they are things you already have. and i guess the really important question is, what will you do about those three wishes if the genie doesn't show up?

here you can see the flash of the opal.  magical.

with aladdin's little lamp there at the bottom

(though junebug said it was a teapot)

did i mention that i love this one?

these are all in the etsy shop now, my friends!