I hope you had a very merry...

We certainly did:

 

 (No, we didn't get another dog! That's Penny, our friends Laura & Michael's dog)

I've been spending lots of time with the kids while they're out of school so I'm short on new work at the moment, but I'll be back in full force in a few short days.

Enjoy these last few days of 2011, my friends!
xo

What a week!

Well!

It's been a pretty great week, although I haven't gotten nearly as much done in the studio as I'd hoped.
But I did finish a couple of these necklaces, which are in the shop now:

But in other news, a number of pretty great things that have happened to me this week:


1) I got my grades back for the semester and got straight As!

2) I hit 99 sales on etsy. A feat that seemed impossible when I first opened my shop and watched those first few sales slowly trickle in. Will I make it to 100 before the end of the year?!

And, most exciting of all...

3) My FIRST EVER INTERVIEW was published in the winter issue of the 

Kansas Creative Quarterly!! Go check it out; I'm pretty proud of it!

I had hoped to get a few more things listed in the shop before the end of this week but I'm not sure that's going to happen. I've been busy on custom orders, Christmas shopping, and other holiday prep so the sweet little necklaces above might be it for now. 

If I don't get a chance to post again before the big day, Merry Christmas!!

(oh she tries to look pretty, but the poor girl is never going to win any beauty contests).

xoxoxoxo

Hooray for Holidays!

"Uhh... has anyone noticed there's a tree in the living room?"

Things are feeling Christmas-y around here!

I'm finally finished with school for the semester and after a short break from the studio in order to finish some end-of-semester assignments, it feels good to be back at the bench.

I hope to have at least a couple of new pieces to share with you by the end of the week.

And just a quick PSA: Please place orders by this Friday, December 16th if you need them by Christmas. I might be able to get orders placed at the beginning of next week to their recipients on time but won't be able to guarantee it, so better safe than sorry!

(US orders only, unfortunately I can no longer guarantee Christmas delivery for international orders).

Holy Cow!

It's December!! 

I have a lot (and I mean a LOT, I'm kind of freaking out a little bit) of school work to do in the next week and a half so you probably won't see much in the way of new metal work until mid-month. 

But I promise it will be worth the wait. 

Until then, my head will be buried in books and research papers.

And my mouth will probably be full of these gingerbread cookies that I made yesterday.

Thankful

It's been a beautiful weekend.

I hope all of my American friends out there had a happy Thanksgiving! We certainly did.

I'm having a Black Friday sale today in my shop. Use code BLACKBUFFALO for 20% off anything in the shop all day. I'm also offering free shipping all weekend long. 

Support small businesses this season!

xo

That time of year...

We left the comfort of our warm home yesterday afternoon to do some shopping for our Thanksgiving feast, but on the way there we passed the park where Alice likes to play. She knew where we were and got quite upset that we weren't stopping. We decided to stop and let her play for a minute, thinking the cold would be too much for her and she wouldn't be all that interested once we got out. We were wrong. She wasn't bothered a bit. As you can see, the mamas were.

It's supposed to be in the 60s again on Thursday... 

I added a couple of pairs of earrings to the shop this morning, but not sure I'll get much else in there in the next little while. We have family coming for Thanksgiving, and then I have two major papers due in the following weeks. Of course, I said I wouldn't be in the studio at all last week either and that turned out to be a big fat lie.

Copper and sterling. Find them here. 

And now for a bitter sweet burst of color:

Vintage yellow glass, garnet, and sterling. Here. 

Have a lovely week, my friends!

xo

It calls my name...

The bed is beckoning me this morning. 

I'm not usually ready to go back to go back to bed by 9:30 but something about this morning... 

Single parenting again this week. And a boatload of homework piling up (turned in a paper last night though! One down...). Not sure how much studio time I'll get in, but we'll see. I tend to come apart at the seams when I spend too long away from my work. 

For now, I'm off to run a few errands before it's time to pick up the munchkin.

Happy Tuesday, sleepy heads!

xo

The Making and The Being

Some days in the studio, when things go just the way I will them to, when my saw makes my silver sing, when metal responds to fire without melting (except when I want it to), when solder flows and parts align... some days in the studio are really, really good.

Yesterday was one of those days.

It's hard to describe the feeling of seeing something I imagined, and then sketched, coming to... be. And some days it all happens so effortlessly.

Yesterday, I finished this ring. 

It's hard to say which part feels better: the act of creating a thing, or holding it in your hands afterwards and basking in "I made this..."

Sterling and New Mexico Apache Rhyolite. 

Size 8.5 (wears best on a middle finger) and available in the shop now. 

Lucky

Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve to be so lucky.

First of all, look at how damn cute my kids are:

(Aidan as Cleopatra)

(Alice as... Brian Setzer? She refused to wear a costume so we just went with a punk/rockabilly theme. She played the part pretty well, don't you think?)

This was the first year that she actually walked to trick or treat.
♥ 

 (her tattoo says "moms")

Aidan liked that she got to wear makeup.

~~~~~

In the studio this week I've been working on way too many projects and have only finished one of them. A going away gift for my dear friend Aimee:

(sterling and dyed coral)

I feel so lucky to have met her and gotten to know her during her time here in Lawrence. She's an incredibly talented artist, she's (as Foxy put it last night) devastatingly funny, and best of all, our families get along together perfectly. In fact, they feel more like family than friends. (but the kind of family that gets along, not the kind of family that's full of drama and conflict! ;) ). 

We're going to miss them terribly. 

But I can't wait to visit. I'll finally make it to NYC!

Safe travels, Artysville girls! We love you!!

xo

(PS. I will be listing some of these Aimee-inspired dangles in the shop too!)

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Honestly, I'm at a loss for words.

 It seems like a cliche to call her a "miracle child," even though that's exactly what she is. And, actually, it feels wrong to even bring that up on her birthday, even though every year it's impossible not to think, "take that, medical community!" 

But she's so much more than  a child who overcame (and is overcoming) major medical obstacles. 

She's Alice!

She's the sweetest girl you'll ever met.

She's joy

She's curiosity

She's perseverance

She's discovery

She's love

She's happiness

We celebrated her birthday yesterday so we could concentrate on Halloween today. I'd say she had a pretty good day. Spent the morning at the park (where she preferred to play with leaves over playground equipment).

Then we went to the toy store where she got to pick out a few things with her birthday money!

Big sis had some fun too

Then dinner at Alice's favorite restaurant (she loves Thai!)

Then home for presents and cake

And we all had fun with her new toys!

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet girl. 

Oh, and happy Halloween! Costume pictures tomorrow! ;) 

Just Some Stuff

The past few days around here have consisted of the following:

Yardwork,

A going away party for some dear friends

 (it was sad and fun all wrapped in to one colorful package),

And the making of this ring

Sterling and a stunning glow-y green cushion of fluorite. It's pure magic, I tell you!

  In the shop now (sorry, sold!). 

I've got a few other things under construction in the studio, including a pair of jasper earrings and a ring so big it will knock your socks off. Not sure if I'll finish them this week, but I'll sure try!

Hope your week so far has been both productive and pleasurable!