Still Here! (but not there)

Oh MY!

My poor, poor neglected blog.

I had no intentions of letting it go for so long, but we've had a major shake up in the Foxy-Buffalo household and my every waking moment has been consumed by the details of it for the past five months.

We've moved to Vancouver!

British Columbia!

CANADA!

The country of my birth, the place where my heart and soul have longed to be since I left 15 years ago. 

Being from Alberta, and having spent my entire adult life in Kansas, the prairies are most definitely a part of my core make-up. I will always feel nostalgic for the soft rolling hills and seemingly never-ending fields of wheat that make up the Kansas countryside. 

But having said that, somehow arriving in Vancouver immediately felt like coming home. 

It's exactly where I'm supposed to be. 

The Pacific Northwest has wooed me with its many magnificent charms. On Tuesday I went out to run an errand and in a matter of about four delicious afternoon hours I inhaled the salty soul-cleansing air of the ocean, photographed the lush green moss of the sun dappled forest, and sucked up the electric energy of Vancouver's downtown hustle and bustle. 

This place was made for me.

I don't even mind the rain. 

A good pair of wellies, a rain coat, a hot cup of chai and a fire to come home to... I have everything I need to survive a "Raincouver" winter quite happily.

:)

How did we end up here, you ask? Well the Foxy one, being the hot commodity that she is, landed a faculty job at the University of British Columbia. So hopefully we'll be staying well into the foreseeable future.  Of course there have been sacrifices and while it's been relatively smooth as far as international moves go, it hasn't exactly been easy. Stephanie's having to work incredibly hard (and will for a few years at least), we left behind all of our Lawrence and Kansas City friends and family, we have no childcare here (ouch), and my work was put on hold while we got our lives packed up and resettled. But I'm slowly getting my new studio into working order. I will soon be back in production mode, but at a much slower pace (since, as I mentioned, I have no childcare at the moment and a very busy three-year-old). Hopefully I will at least get the shop back open in the next week or so. To those of you who have been waiting for me to finish up custom orders, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so patient. 

♥

Now that I have my computer space set up again, I will be back to blogging regularly and will keep you posted about when the shop will be back online. I'm *this close* to being there. I'll tell you, my hands are itching to pick up the torch again!

I've missed you. 

It's good to be home.

Pretty Things

This weekend we braved the heat to take in the local vegetative goodness at the Lawrence Farmers' Market. We came home with an armload of peonies. 

They're downright obscene, lounging about in the dining room, flaunting their garish colors and ridiculously large blossoms without shame.  I'm almost embarrassed to look at them.

But we couldn't resist their charm.

Anyhoo...

In shop news... I will have a small shop update tomorrow consisting of these three items in varying shades of green:

(From left to right: turquoise, sterling, feather & jade, chrysoprase & amethyst)

I'll be adding these little ditties to the shop tomorrow morning (once I've photographed them). But they won't be there for long. I'll be closing the shop and pulling all of my inventory at the end of this week so I can start building my inventory for the Strawberry Swing on June 1st and 2nd. So if there's something you've had your eye on... now's the time! 

See you in the shop in the morning!

xo

Ah, finals week(s). One down and one to go! 

I've been in the studio in between study sessions and will have some new work for you hopefully tomorrow. These ones won't be in the shop for long, though. I'll be closing it up next week so I can start building up my inventory for the Strawberry Swing! 

Here's what I'm working with RIGHT NOW:

Jade, turquoise and chrysoprase echoing the colors outside of my studio window. ♥

I also realized that I haven't even posted the last two pieces I made! This one has already gone to its rightful owner (a lovely lady, I assure you!) but it's a beauty and I have to let you see it!

That stone!! Be still my heart. Dendritic quartz and citrine set in sterling.

And then this one is available in the shop now:

Mookaite jasper set in sterling silver on 28" of black suede with and adjustable handmade sterling D Ring buckle. She's pretty bad-ass. ;)

Okay! Back to work! More soon!
xo

How to Spend a Sunday

Get up before sunrise (and the children), build a fire, 

sip coffee, spend two hours chatting with the love of your life.

When the kids wake up, snuggle by the fire

Enlist some help and do some gardening.

Admire your work.

Play with the dog.

Splash in puddles!

Then go inside, take a hot bath, and snuggle up on the couch!

xo

Slacker!

Oh boy... it's been a really long time since I've blogged!

But I promise it's not because I'm lazy. We've had so much going on!

My parents came to visit over spring break and we had such a beautiful time. 

There were picnics:

Educational field trips:

 (sorry, you know I can't resist!)

And theatrics!

Although apparently neither the girls nor Stephanie were impressed ;)

 Tough crowd.

 (but they sure are pretty!)

Since my last update I've also made (a little) jewelry:

(Chrysoprase and Sterling, in the shop now)

And I worked on a large custom piece that took a whole week of studio time to complete (and was so worth it! I'll share pictures when I can).

AND I revamped the Buffalo Lucy website. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I do have one other piece of exciting news to share! This spring I'll be participating in my first show! I'll have a booth at the Strawberry Swing Indie Craft Fair! Click on the "blog" link on the top right corner of their page and you can see their blog feature on me as well as a bunch of the other artists that will be at this show. I hope to see some of you there in Kansas City on June 1st and 2nd!

That's all for now! I'm checking major to-dos off my list left and right (taxes? check! midterms? check! Post midterm papers? check!) and will have new work for the shop shortly. I've got a leather and mookaite bracelet near completion on my bench right now--hopefully in the shop this weekend or on Monday).

Ta ta for now!

xo

Busy, busy...

Midterm week is upon me. Oh, and I still haven't finished my taxes. And I'm way behind on the laundry. And we have house guests coming on Friday and the place is a disaster. 

At least the house guests are my parents and will forgive a little dust and the piles and piles of laundry. 

I will likely not have any shop updates this week, but I managed to add one new item to the shop last week. These lovely, jangly, dangly sterling and garnet numbers:

I love these earrings. They make me think spring because they look so great with a messy up-do and bare shoulders. The hoops on these  babies are forged from heavy gauge sterling wire and give them a weighty substance without making them too heavy. The garnets dangle from delicate sterling wire and accented by organically shaped, light weight sterling bars. I've filed notches into the hoops and bars and then oxidized the silver to add contrast and interest. 

I promise these will become some of your favorite earrings! 

In the shop now. 

Okay, back to studying!

Oh Wow, Hello March!

Apparently February was not my month to blog!

As I type this, Jeff Buckley is crying achingly into my ear, "oh that was soooo reeeee-aaaaal," while the biggest, fluffiest snowflakes I've ever seen are fluttering past my window. 

Yesterday it was 70 degrees. 

So much happened in the last month that I had every intention of blogging about but just never made the time.

The month of February in pictures:

(a birthday present for my beautiful birthday girl)

(sold)


(sold)

(pink and blue sold, yellow available here)

And I think that about sums it up! February was good to me. My family is beautiful and amazing in every way. I made things and people bought them. We had every type of weather I love (snow, thunder, sun and warmth). What more could a girl like me ask for?
 I am blessed.

Here's to another beauty of a month!

xo

At this moment...

These adorable little hands are tucked under that adorable little chin while tiny snores escape that adorable little nose.  All snuggled up under my arm right here on the couch (I'm typing one-handed).
♥

I made a couple of things last week.  I actually worked on three (plus some made-to-order wedding rings), but the porcelain  jasper necklace didn't quite get completed. It should be ready sometime next week.

So this week was all turquoise, baby!

A nice big, chunky ring:


And some swishy swashy feathery earrings:

(sold)

Oh, and I have a new friend!  His name is Tonka (short for Tatanka). Here he is celebrating Kansas' birthday last week (taken with my iphone):

He's kind of a party animal.

Speaking of parties... who's watching the Super Bowl today?

not me