there's no place like home

i am happy to announce that my work will now be carried in there's no place like home, a sweet little boutique in durango.

i brought my stuff over there yesterday.

here i am with my new display.

here's what i brought them:

necklaces

bracelets

rings

earrings

several other talented local jewelry artists display their work there and i am excited for the opportunity!

today we went for a great family ski.

hazel is amazing; she skied the entire lower loop at chicken creek, about 3 miles.

june tries very hard.

check out hazel's awesome retro boots!

hope you are all having an awesome weekend.

my new "spur of the moment" collection

i have been trying for a while now to come up with a simple earring design using rivets. it has finally come together! right after i finished my first prototype my friend kaia stopped by. she picked it up and said "it looks like a little spur." so i decided to call this the "spur of the moment" collection.

in prehnite, lepidolite, and aquamarine

personally, i've always found that my spur of the moment decisions tend to be my better ones. the things you decide to do before your rational mind kicks in and tells you all of the reasons why you shouldn't do them often lead to the best experiences.

spontaneous choices tend to lead us on to growth or excitement that may otherwise not have happened.

maybe these pieces can spur you on to be a little more impetuous, a bit more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, impulsive even.

this little aquamarine spur i incorporated into a charm necklace

with one of my bar charms with a smoky quartz set onto it and a sweet little star

i am excited about them!

p.s. if any of you fellow silversmiths are doing any of this "micro-riveting" as i am calling it, perhaps you could advise me on how to keep the wire from bending as i rivet it?

salt lake city, emily, and blind pilot

i had a wonderful weekend in salt lake city!

olive was a fabulous co-pilot.

it was so fun having her along. i have always enjoyed doing these little trips alone, but she is the perfect companion.

saturday morning we went for a truly beautiful ski up mill creek canyon.

we took a break and had lunch at emily's friend melissa's cabin

(i loved the contrast of this green with everything frozen.)

emily's the greatest.

martha scanlon opened for blind pilot and she was amazing!

good ol' israel (and kati)

ryan

luke and ian

dave

i've never seen another band that seems to enjoy playing music together as much as these guys do. they smile at each other and laugh throughout the set. they just put out really great energy and every time i see them they get better.

at the end they invited martha up for another song.

and then i had a beautiful drive home...

i hope everyone is well!

riveting again

these are some new pieces i made this week.

i am delighted to say that i have been riveting again, love it so much.

this ring is quite magical.

you almost might think there is no stone in there at all. when in fact, there is a delicious faceted moonstone, not rainbow moonstone, just the good old fashioned regular moonstone.

tension set and riveted into place,

just like magic.

and this prehnite piece,

rather victorian looking, i think.

i set the stone "upside down", pointy side up.

and this tranquility ring,

with the deepest blue kyanite i've ever seen.

and a faceted lemon yellow prehnite ring

these pieces are actually not going into the etsy shop; they are for the new store i am going to have my work in. however, if you absolutely love one of these and feel you can't live without it, please don't hesitate to let me know, and we can talk.

tomorrow, olive and i leave to go to salt lake city to see emily, her lovely family, and blind pilot (with martha scanlon opening)! very exciting!

hope you all have wonderful weekends as well...