...and more hearts...

here they are, all finished...

for some reason or another, the firing of this entire batch didn't exactly go so well. i have spent the last two days repairing these hearts. i have refired, soldered, pickled, soldered again, filed, fired again, etc. repeatedly fixing and repairing and then trying again. needless to say, it has been very frustrating. but, finally, they are completed, and i am very happy with them.

the "your ruby heart" flapper bracelet,

with a tiny ruby, a very fancy faceted rectangular amethyst, a gorgeous faceted sea foam green chalcedony, and a sweet little lavender lantern.

the "true" necklace,

with a beautiful rainbow moonstone

and a flashy teardrop labradorite

and the "your amethyst heart" ring

all of these pieces are rugged and tattered and torn. they are imperfect and rustic and a bit flawed (like your own heart?) and i love them just as they are. henceforth, these 11 pieces shall be known as the rugged heart series, even if just to myself and whoever is reading this right now. there's so many cheesy metaphors for hearts and challenges that i could say about these pieces, but i will keep them to myself. just know that these 11 hearts are pretty special. i'll be listing these three in the shop tomorrow for a few days.

i hope you are all having a great weekend!

hearts!

this is the time of year when you start to see hearts all over etsy. usually i do not jump onto the valentine's day bandwagon, but this year, thanks to my beloved pmc, i am hopping aboard.

i got a bit carried away with the pmc yesterday.

i had a blast upstairs in my office and before i knew it, 3 hours had passed. i tried some new techniques, creating small eyepins and inserting them into the clay while wet to make rosary-type connectors with hearts. it seemed like such a good idea, but i ended up spending many more hours today redoing them because for some reason it didn't work.

this one i made for myself and incorporated into my "flapper" bracelet that i never take off.

with a tiny little blue sapphire.

i know the "sutured heart" image is not terribly unique, but it really speaks to me. it's like the next step up from the hole in your heart. you've got the wound, but now it is healing.

your sutured heart necklace,

with a tiny little amethyst.

like the sun image in the hole in your heart necklace, the stitches to me represent the positive that comes from heartache and pain. the strength and courage that you are forced to discover within yourself in order to heal from your hurt. and within healing, of course, lies growth.

and the "your flaming heart" necklace,

with a tiny little peridot.

this one is about your passion, whatever it is that ignites you. this is a celebration of the things in your life that really get your blood flowing and your heart pumping, the things that excite you and make you feel alive, the things you couldn't live without and will never give up.

and the "be fri" necklace.

did you have one as a kid?

i made this pair for hazel and her sweet little bff, kianna, as a christmas gift.

when i was a kid, i was "be fri" and dear megan shackelford was "st ends". i cherished that necklace that we bought at spencer's. i thought it would be fun to replicate that.

hazel and kianna at hazel's birthday party this year

these pieces will be in the shop later tonight.

vacation

we had a truly wonderful 2 weeks off together. for most of the winter break we stayed home, which is unusual for us. we relaxed a lot, and read a lot of books, and went to bed early and woke up late. we skied a bit, but there's no snow within a 50 mile radius right now. we haven't had snow in 3 weeks. i am so sad.

but last weekend we met my dad up in crested butte.

and there it snowed!

and there we skied!

the girls had a blast snuggling their pops.

and big ed (a.k.a. poppy) and kathy (a.k.a. apple)came to visit us!

it was wonderful.

big ed got me my very favorite christmas present of all (unless you count olive, who is now being considered a christmas present from glenn):

(this is not it.)

this is my old disc cutter. rusty and old and warped and quite impossible to use. when i told poppy about my new account with dogIDs.com he asked how i made the blanks and i told him about my crummy old disc cutter. he came out to my shop with me to try to fix it, but we determined it was unfixable. so he got me this one:

my new disc cutter

shiny and clean and smooth and beautiful and oh-so-efficient.

i just want to cut discs all day.

THANK YOU, poppy!

look how perfect they are.

i hope you all had wonderful holidays! tomorrow i should have some new pieces to share with you.

aquamarine to die for

wow! i recently bought the two most incredible pieces of aquamarine i have ever seen.

aquamarine is said to be a "stone of courage". it enhances learning about oneself. it emits a gentle and compassionate energy. seems like a wonderful stone for a new year. these pieces are enormous and i've never seen their equal.

because i originally started making resolve rings to help encourage the keeping of new year's resolutions, i made a couple new resolve pieces for you as well.

the aquamarine courage necklace

with the most gorgeous high dome teardrop aquamarine stone ever

and a wee bit of janis for you...

and the sister ring

look at that high dome!

a new resolve necklace,

with a gorgeous blue green labradorite teardrop

and a bit of everybodyfields

and a delicious little resolve ring

such a flash!

from the original resolve listing:

the back says "resolve". resolve is the verb form of resolution; dictionary.com defines it as "to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something)". labradorite eases transitions. this ring will serve as a reminder for all of those new resolutions you've made.

i am preparing to have my work in a new gallery at the start of february. these pieces really should be for that, but i never feel right about not sharing my new work with you guys. therefore, over the next month, i will list my new pieces in the etsy shop for a few days and if nobody snags them up, i will "un-list" them and save them for the gallery. fair enough?