Can I Lie Down Now?

Whew!

What a month!

The Etsy Vancouver show was a huge success (it even maybe made me want to do more shows... maybe). I was shocked at the turnout! I don't know what the actual numbers were, but I didn't get a chance to sit down and take a breather for the entire 7 hours! My devoted wife and children were kind enough to bring me lunch but I was only able to sneak in a couple of bites between swarms of people at my table. It was lovely! :)

I was so busy, in fact, that I didn't have time to take many photos. But I snapped a couple:

(my little helper back there!)

I was very happy with my little set-up and got so many compliments from kind shoppers! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough product, but it turned out to be just right. Not so much that it was overwhelming, and not so little that I ran out of anything (actually, that's not true, I ran out of many sizes and styles of stacking rings, but I brought a LOT of those, so I did my best! ;) ). 

I was so busy in the month leading up to this show, trying to build up my inventory so I'd have a tablefull, that I literally worked until 2 and 3 in the morning (after coming home for dinner and to help put the children to bed) more nights than not. It was madness. But long hours in the studio is the best kind of madness I can think of. I almost didn't do the show because I knew how much work it would be starting from scratch, and meeting my clients face-to-face is a little out of this hermit's comfort zone - but I'm so glad I did it. As is almost always the case, stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new was absolutely worth it. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to my amazing wife for giving me so much time and taking on so much of the lone-parenting duties over that month! Especially since she's also working ridiculously long hours as a tenure-track assistant professor. I love you honey!! 

And now that I've caught back up on orders… and sleep… I've spent the last three days taking and editing photographs of the pieces I have left and listing them in the shop.

Here are just a few of the new items I've listed over the last two days:

Shield Rings in Labradorite, Prehnite, and Moonstone 

 Glass Seed Bead Strand Necklaces

 Gemstone Studs

Lots of Rings! 

 Sterling Stacking Rings

 This necklace (one of several new necklaces!)

 Labradorite, labradorite, labradorite!

So head on over to the shop and check it out. Some of the items are made to order but many of them are one-of-a-kind and ready to ship. 

First Fruits

The first fruits from my new studio. Finished, photographed, and listed in the shop!

I have several other pieces in various stages of completion on my bench which may or may not make it into the shop this week. I probably won't get as much time in the studio this week (I've got appointments, parent/teacher conferences, house guests to prepare for and Canadian Thanksgiving to shopping to do!), but I feel pretty good about what I finished last week!

More soon!

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

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

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!)

New Tools!

My lovely and amazing wife bought me a dapping set for Christmas.

Ohhhh!! It's so fun!!

I made these for myself (they're actually copper!):

I've been wearing them almost every day since I made them. They're super light and versatile. I will make some of these for the shop soon, I promise. BUT last night (my first time in the studio in 2011!) I made these:

The story of how these came to be: The first thing I did with my dapping set (the night I made those copper earrings) was to take one of the small silver disks that I use for the signature buffalo button I put on the back of all of my pieces, and dome it. I practiced this a few times before moving on to doming a larger piece of metal. So anyway, last night when I went back into my studio to work,  I had a few of these tiny silver dishes sitting on my bench. It struck me that they'd make great little earrings. So I soldered some posts onto them, cleaned and sanded them, and there you have it! I'm wearing a pair today and I absolutely love them. They're small and simple but just interesting enough to solicit a second glance:

These are listed in the shop now!

I know it's been a while...

But I think I can make it up to you!

I have a bunch of goodies to share with you today. Finally! I've been a little under the weather the last week, and I'm still working on catching up, but I did want to try to get some of these things posted, lest you think I've abandoned my little ol' blog.

First of all, I've been a busy beaver in the studio. I added these to the shop today:

Carnelian (swoon!) cabs set in rusticated sterling silver (what else?!). I love these even more than I thought I would. The color is amazing and the weight of them is somehow pleasant. Not the kind you'll forget you're wearing but you just might smile a little as they swing to-and-fro beneath your lobes. ;)

AND

Just in time for the holidays, Buffalo Lucy is now offering Gift Certificates!

AND

I haven't forgotten about List it Tuesday! Here's this week's list (click for a bigger version):

So THERE!

xo

Still here...

And I've actually updated the shop twice this week!

Just a few juicy little treats for you, but something none-the-less!

Teeny tiny little earrings in carnelian and aventurine. There are a few pairs of each available (and I made a pair of each for myself!). They're great little everyday earrings. You'll forget you're even wearing them. As I mentioned, they're in the shop now. I'm still working away on some custom pieces but I wanted to make you (and me!) a little something too.

I have some very big news from last week! Our littlest peanut, Alice, took her first independent step! Those of you who know me only through my blog don't know that Alice was diagnosed with a very serious brain disorder in utero. Doctors did not expect her to survive until birth and warned us that if she did make it, there was a high probability that she would not have functional use of her arms or legs (among other just as dire predictions too numerous to list). Well, Alice is now 21 months old, crawling into all sorts of trouble, perfectly healthy, happy as a clam, and TAKING STEPS!!!

In other news... we are getting ready for a trip to Newfoundland in two weeks. I am SO excited. Most of my extended family hails from the glorious rock but I haven't been since I was teenager. I cannot wait to see it again. I cannot wait to share it with Stephanie and my girls. I cannot wait to take pictures and share them with you. I cannot wait to see all of my relatives, some of whom I haven't seen in 18 years! I can. not. wait.

I will most likely be closing the shop while I'm away. I'll post order/shipping deadlines in the next week or so. I do hope to get a couple of more items listed before I leave but I'm not sure if that will be possible. We'll see. Speaking of that, I'm off to the studio now...

xo

PS: Forgot to mention... At the request of a few people, I've added that little Google Friends widget over on the right to make it easier to follow my blog. So follow me. Please. So I don't look like such a loser! :)

Back to the Bench

Well, it seems for each easy day I have in the studio, I have one frustrating day. When my back started feeling better last week I spent a little time working on a pair of earrings (current torch situation=small items only) and I was utterly encouraged when I quickly and easily bezel set my first cabochon. Well, last night I sat down to finish the other earring and just could not get my torch to cooperate. Thankfully, I placed my order for my "real" jeweler's torch this morning. I should have my Smith little torch set up and ready to use by Wednesday. Can't. Wait.

Here's what I did accomplish during my few hours at the bench this week:

Obviously, I still have some finishing work to do on them (sanding, finishing, and oxidizing; not to mention the obvious missing "leaf").

And here's the problem child:

Hopefully by the end of the week I'll get these finished. And with my new torch I'll hopefully be able to finish the ring I started a couple of weeks ago too. I'm much more excited about that than the earrings. Watch this space!