It's been such a fantastic long weekend! Yesterday we spent a good amount of time visiting with our friend Aimee at the Bizarre Bazaar (and did some shopping too!) and then I got to spend some quality time with Alice while the foxy one went off to work in the screen printing studio for a while (I'll post pictures of her work this week!). After dinner I had a little time in my own studio and finished this:
It's already in the shop and my 15% off coupon code (BLACKFRIDAY) works through tomorrow, Cyber Monday.
I have more to share with you from the weekend but I'll save it for another post.
Love to all!
xo
Well!
I've had quite a productive week so far! Three new pieces for you:
First, one of my favorite stones ever, Tiffany stone (also known as Bertrandite), simply set in rusticated sterling silver:
I knew as soon as I got this stone that I would set it like this. The stone speaks for itself.
And this one came from an idea I tried to execute way back in March, but I was so new to smithing that I made a million and one mistakes and despite my attempts to make something of it (all the way up until late this summer!), I finally decided to scrap it. Here's the same idea in it's new (and properly executed) form:
Yellow jasper and sterling. Sits pleasingly and comfortably asymetrically:
And finally, a necklace similar to the custom order I completed a couple of weeks ago:
Resin (I did not make the resin cabachon), amethyst, turquoise and sterling
Hoping to get these in the shop a little later tonight (gotta get the kiddies in bed first!). Oh! And if you haven't already, join my email list (link to the form in the sidebar on the right) because I'm going to be sending out a discount code to email list members in the very near future.
PS. I know I missed list it Tuesday. Next week!
PPS. It's almost Friday! :)
PPPS. A note about pricing: the price of silver has almost doubled since I bought my first piece of silver sheet less than 1 year ago. The prices of handmade sterling silver jewelry items may seem like a lot (especially if you're not used to buying handmade), but I use expensive, quality materials and each piece takes many hours to complete. I use a formula based on the cost of the materials and the time put into the piece to arrive at a price. Feel free to send me a note if you have any questions about prices (or anything else!).
First of all, the kids ARE alright. Thank you all for your kind words and healing energy for Alice. She is feeling much better and even had her first day back at "school" (ahem, daycare) today. The mamas finally got a little rest and, thanks to our fabulous au pair (sounds much more sophisticated than "housemate who babysits," doesn't it?), we got a much needed night to ourselves last night!
We finally saw The Kids are All Right! I have to say, I went into this movie with huge reservations. When I first heard that there was a movie coming out about a lesbian couple whose kids contact their sperm donor father I was lit with excitement to see it. Especially since the two lead roles were played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, two of my favorites! But my bubble was burst when I heard that part of the storyline involves one of the two having an affair with a man. Thinking this would be just another hollywoodized version of lesbian life (we must want to sleep with men at least some of the time, right?!), I was less enthusiastic about seeing it.
But I had it all wrong! The movie is fantastic and does an amazing job of showing that this family is just like any other. An affair affects them (the whole family) in the same way it would any family. It shows that we deal with the same issues as straight families... the hard work it takes to sustain a long term relationship, the hard work it takes to raise children together...
It made us laugh because we could see ourselves in the characters. We could see our quirks, our flaws, our fights, our kids. It made us laugh at ourselves. And then we left the theater in tears because it made us cry for all the same reasons.
So all in all, a fantastic movie that does a fantastic job of showing a family like ours just like it is: fabulously imperfect and average.
Go see it!
In other news...
I never did get a chance to list that Indian aventurine ring that I made last week. I was planning to wait and do one big shop update with some other new things, but my plans to actually *make* those other new things got sidetracked by life. So I'll try to add the ring to the shop this evening.
The other thing I finished last week was this custom piece I made for someone special...
Citrine, garnet, aventurine and sterling:
This one won't be in the shop, but I will make more like it in the future.
Right now I'm working on some chunky new rings.
Happy Canada Day to all my lovely Canadian friends and family!
It's homesick day to me...
But tonight we're celebrating with homemade poutine! Well, it's not really homemade... I guess assembled is more like it. For those of you non-Canadians out there, poutine is a Canadian delicacy that simply must be tried to be appreciated: French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. Excuse me while I wipe away the drool.
Of course, there is nowhere in Kansas (that I know of!) to procure this delicious treat, so we recreate the meal of our Canadian wedding night but purchasing a giant order of Five Guys fries, topping it with a jar of Heinz homestyle turkey gravy, and muenster cheese (no cheese curds to be had around here either!). Pop in the microwave for a minute or two and enjoy this heart-stopping (um, literally!) treat. Trust me, you must try it before you judge!
On another note, I've just added this delicious treat to the etsy shop:
Red line agate, sterling silver, and punctuated by a mint green bead of aventurine.
Now don your toque and go celebrate this glorious day!
xo
What a lovely weekend! On Saturday one of our daughters' favorite people came over and took the girls downtown for Earth Day festivities... which allowed me to finish this:
I love this stone. It's a gorgeous blue Chinese Turquoise with black matrix that makes you feel like you're wearing an ornamental (though slightly inaccurate) version of a map of the world around your neck. A pretty pink tourmaline compliments the focal stone and both are set in oxidized sterling silver. The chain has a lobster claw clasp, is fully adjustable, and is punctuated by a bead of rhodochrosite. I am once again left with the feeling that this just might be my favorite piece so far. How am I going to part with these?!
Speaking of parting with my work, I am getting ready to announce a date for the grand opening of my shop. I will not have as many pieces as I'd like to open with, but I'll start with what I have and then you can look forward to frequent shop updates as I create new pieces. I just have to work out a few details and then I'll update with the big news.
The rest of the weekend was as delightful as Saturday. Yesterday we all ("we all" includes Lilah the skinny brown dog and Spooky the cat-who's-not-really-a-cat) took an evening walk through our beautiful historic neighborhood. Who couldn't love Lawrence in the spring?! The walk was followed by a surprise tea party, hosted by the lovely Ms. Aidan and complete with place cards and party favors.
We made the fuzzy little puppies on Friday evening.
Yep. I have it pretty good.
Finished a new ring over the weekend but haven't had a chance to get any good pictures of it yet. It's too dark tonight; maybe tomorrow. It's a pretty little (ahem, big!) purple African jasper and sterling piece.
Speaking of photos, I finally got one of the Foxy necklace being modeled:
She's being all modest and won't let me post her face. But you get the idea. This at least gives you an inkling of the size of the necklace. I think it's being worn to the full length of the extender in this photo. It can be worn shorter too.
I have a midterm on Friday (Western Civ) and a gem show this weekend (woohoo!) so it will probably be next week before I have any new pieces to share. But they're all tumbling around in my head with Antigone and Gilgamesh just begging to be released.
I'm a few days late with this post, but Happy Birthday to the funniest, smartest, sexiest, wittiest, fills-my-heart-with-joy-iest woman I know!!
I love you, Foxy.
And here is the necklace I made for her:
Mosaic Turquoise, Peridot, Rhodochrosite, and sterling. 100% made from scratch, each piece sawed by hand from silver sheet except for the chain (which I buy in bulk!).
I'll post some pictures of it being modeled as soon as I get some. She did wear it all day yesterday, even after she changed into her jammies (she knows how to make her smithy wife feel good). I just didn't manage to snap a shot of it.
I'm really pleased with how it came out. And I love the very feel of it. It's weighty and smooth and satisfying to hold. Stephanie compared it to an old pocket watch in terms of weight and size and the way it feels in the hand. An apt comparison, I'd say! I'm glad this one will be staying in the family.
And for those of you who've asked, I will be opening an Etsy shop at some point in the near future. And I will be doing custom listings. Check back here, or follow me on twitter for updates.
xoxox
