first ski of the season!

glenn's parents are visiting and they graciously offered to have the girls do a sleepover at their hotel so glenn and i could have a date.

we went up to telluride for a twilight/ full moon ski!

we were very happy.

it was so absolutely wonderful to be skiing again! as you know, there are few things that bring me such happiness. it is one of my very favorite activities. if you've been around this blog for a while, you are probably saying to yourself "oh great. here we go again. everyday, pictures of kristi skiing..." yes, well, i'll try to keep it under control.

i'm not sure who was more delighted, glenn...

or simon.

(sadly, molly can no longer ski with us. her arthritis has gotten really bad and it is sometimes difficult for her just to go for a walk.)

just when we thought we'd have to turn around because it was getting dark, the moon decided to come out after all and we got to go much further than we expected to. afterwards we went out for a beautifully romantic dinner.

thank you so much, ed and kathy!

before we left, i finished some pieces for the upcoming show and the gallery, and some for etsy. i made a bunch of lantern earrings.

"thistled spring"

"bluebird", with aquamarine

"almond", with beautiful, neutral colored botswana agate

these i am selling as a set.

this is a lovely lantern made with a gorgeous botswana agate.

and a "chocolate frosted" one as well.

these will all be making their way into the etsy shop throughout the day (or maybe tonight). i am on my out to the studio for a nice long day!

arky!

so arky came through for me again! he came over this morning. we had coffee and he regaled me with stories from his old silversmithing days for about two hours. what a sweetheart!

it might not look like much, but that blue box has hardly even been unpacked yet.

and his stones! the treasures hidden in that box were remarkable.

in the end, this is what i got from him. a LOT of silver...

and these stones, many of them cut by arky long ago.

there's dinosaur bones, amethyst, chrysocolla, amethyst, crazy lace agate, opal, fire opal, fire agate, turquoise, variscite, and more...

i would be embarrassed to tell you how little i paid him for all of this. i told him that i felt like i was robbing him and he said that i was like a daughter to him, and that he was proud of me, and he was happy to pass it all on. he asked that i just make him a bolo tie before he comes back in the spring.

thank you, arky!

so i've continued with the smaller, christmas-gift-ish pieces this week. for my upcoming show, for the gallery, and now too for etsy. it's fun! i haven't made these types of pieces for a while now.

sweet little bloom stacks,

in green...

and violet

sweet little bloom trio necklace

with peruvian opal

and another sweet little bloom necklace

all made with teresa's lovely artisan glass flower cabs!

on their way to the etsy shop now...

also, you know arky, in the sidebar over there, off to the right of the screen? well, i ran into him the other day and he said he had loads of silver, just hanging around in his camper, wondered if i needed any, for about half the going rate right now... he's coming over to the shop tomorrow! also, dear patty found a woman on craigslist who is selling LOTS of old silversmithing equipment for a screaming deal so she and i are taking a little mini road trip on sunday to go check it out and hopefully come home with some cool stuff. yay!

four winds

this is the "cassadega" ring

with apatite

the stone is gorgeous, the design inspired by the bright eyes song four winds

...cast on a school of meditation built to soften the times

and hold us at the center while the spiral unwinds

it's knocking over fences, crossing property lines

four winds, cry until it comes

and it's the sum of man

slouching towards Bethlehem

a heart just can't contain all of that empty space

it breaks, it breaks, it breaks...

the "release me" ring

with beautiful, puffy rainbow moonstone

i have recently had a profoundly powerful spiritual experience.

it involved releasing some very old negative energy from my body.

it was a very personal experience, and i won't go into details, but it inspired these pieces

the "release me" necklace

are there things you hold onto without meaning to? thoughts, feelings, beliefs that cling to you (or you cling to them) and you wish you didn't? maybe you try to fight them back, send them away, but they continue to return. for a while you think you've overcome them, moved on, but they creep back into your mind when you least expect them.

these pieces are to help you release them. let them be gone and never return. rainbow moonstone is said to assist with clearing negative energy; allow it to help you release your burden.

and this is a custom piece,

the "sweet mountain tranquility" brooch

with turquoise and golden rutilated quartz